Chapter 282: The Marriage of Sister-In-Law (3)

Minglan also built a swing with double seats on a soft grassland in front of the House of Cardamom Fragrance. However, she specified that the two girls could not play on the swing when the sunlight was strong and she would take the swing down immediately once they broke that rule. The two girls agreed to that seriously. Minglan also asked the carpenter to make a large wooden basin which was two and a half feet high and five feet in diameter for the two girls to play water in the room. The girls in ancient times had never seen something like this and were both crazy about the water games. After they put on their underwear, they jumped into the basin and never wanted to get out.

Kids were the ones who were the most unlikely to stay sad the whole time. Day by day, Xian gradually got cheerful with smiles on her face all day. Since there were no strict elders in the Cheng Manor, the two little girls were like the pupils who were enjoying their summer vacation. Every day, they jabbered like the sparrows, making the whole mansion a lot more lively.

Children still needed playmates.

Minglan fell into a trance with her hands holding her chin while staring at the two girls. Their faces both got chubbier and a bit suntan and their eyes were full of vitality. Minglan was glad for the girls while thinking, ‘They are less than ten, there’s no need to teach them rules so soon.’

Let alone that ever since Xian came, Rong’s study had got even better.

Summer days were always long. When Minglan and Gu Tingye started their great business of creating a baby, Old Madam Qin became socially active again. She took her daughter to attend all kinds of social activities and brought Minglan with them every time.

Minglan was well aware of this kind of social occasions, since she had also attended some before she got married.

Minglan felt that it was inappropriate to refuse Old Madam Qin since this mattered for Gu Tingcan’s marriage, so Minglan just regarded those occasions as an opportunity for her to expand her contacts. What was more, every time Minglan saw Gu Tingcan’s delicate and proud face, she felt much cooler on the hot summer days. The reason why Old Madam Qin had brought Minglan with her was that she wanted to show how harmonious the Gu family was.

Unfortunately, even if Minglan was willing to cooperate, Gu Tingcan was still too young and naive to pretend to be close to Minglan. Lots of the women from other families were sensible enough to sense the estrangement between Minglan and Gu Tingcan. Even the ones who didn’t have sharp eyes, if not so ill-informed, should know that Gu Tingye’s family and the other Gu’s people still lived separately and hadn’t combined their mansions.

That truly was a subtle situation.

Actually, Minglan didn’t have any chance to talk on such occasions. In the social meetings among the noble ladies and madams, seniority should be given priority to. The ladies who hadn’t got married mostly didn’t talk much since they had to stay gentle, obedient, quiet and smart. As for the young madams who had just got married and hadn’t given birth to a child like Minglan, they should stay even quieter.

As a result, Minglan could only sit upright with a tender and shy smile on her face as if she was just a beautiful plant while the only thing she needed to do was chiming in from time to time.

The most troublesome thing for her was that some women always asked her, “… Why do you still live separately? Why haven’t you combined your mansions?”

Every time Old Madam Qin heard those questions, she would sit there with a gentle look while waiting for Minglan to give an answer to everyone. It should be admitted that Old Madam Qin was quite popular with others, so there were lots of people raising questions like that. Some might be purely curious, while some….

“Beginning construction and building mansions are of great importance. I wanted to ask a geomancer to choose a best date to start the work.” On a tea party in Marquis Zhongjing’s mansion, Minglan answered that.

The old master of Marquis Zhongjing’s family was the brother of Old General Zheng. Although the Zheng family divided their family property long ago, the two families were in a close relationship. The people of the Zheng family had always been cautious and careful and never got involved in the affairs in the imperial court. What was more, they had Zheng Jun and Zheng Xiao, the two brothers who had followed the right leader, which made them favored by the emperor a lot.

No matter what those women were thinking, they wouldn’t continue asking the same question since Minglan had already given an explanation.— This was Gu’s family affair after all, and others shouldn’t be overconcerned. Nevertheless, there were still a few blunt women saying smilingly, “It doesn’t have to be so troublesome! You merely need to demolish the wall.”

Minglan replied with a worried look, “Alas… I know it would bring us lots of trouble, but our master serves the army and has earned his official rank by fighting brutal wars. I always worry about him. As a matter of fact, the construction work might also affect one’s fortune, I think it’s better to be cautious.”

Lots of the women there were families of the generals. Hearing Minglan’s words, they felt that they shared the same feelings with her. Theoretically, the families of the generals went to the temples more frequently than the families of the civil officials.

Eldest Madam Zheng who always stayed dignified and serious also nodded slightly to express her concurrence. Old General Geng’s wife also patted on her chest while praying to Buddha. Then she said, “The Gu’s girl is right. I have also invited a Taoist master to practice geomancy in my mansion lately.”

Ever since Old General Geng came to the capital, everything had gone wrong in his family. No wonder his wife would get a bit anxious.

All the women there had been intrigued by that topic and started to discuss which Taoist master was the most skillful one or which temple attracted the most prayers or which Buddhist possessed the greatest power of the Buddha. Minglan lowered her head while feeling guilty secretly, ‘I didn’t mean to encourage the superstition.’

As all the other women were in a heated discussion, Old Madam Qin’s face gradually turned sullen, but she still had to hide the expression in her eyes.

The real decent noble madams wouldn’t question others so closely. Sometimes when Minglan ran into some women from the shabby families who had no sense of propriety, she would lower her head smilingly and didn’t even bother to utter a single word. Once those women saw that she didn’t want to talk about this subject, they would be sensible enough to change to another topic. Once in a while, she would be pestered by someone endlessly. Then she would look to the host right away.

If the host could solve her problem, it would be the best. If the host couldn’t save her, then she wouldn’t associate with this family then. Until now, there was not a single problem Minglan couldn’t solve.

No matter how popular Old Madam Qin was among those women, they still wouldn’t offend Gu Tingye’s wife.

The most awkward situation happened in Marquis Dongchang’s mansion, which was also Old Madam Qin’s parents’ home.

A young madam of a collateral branch of Marquis Dongchang’s family kept bothering Minglan with those questions and even criticized Minglan sarcastically for declining with all kinds of excuses and making a fuss.

Minglan had no intention to tolerate the people of this family, so she retorted at once with a cold smile, “Madam, you really are a warmhearted person. Master and I are both not in a hurry to deal with the construction affairs in our own family, why do you seem so anxious? Don’t your family rules forbid you to poke your nose into others’ business?”

That woman seemed quite fierce and looked like a shrew. She wanted to quarrel with Minglan again. However, Minglan felt that speaking one more word with that woman would be a humiliation to herself. Then, she stood up right away without uttering a word. Well, she hated to make friends with the people of the Qin family anyway.

Marquis Dongchang’s wife, who was also Old Madam Qin’s eldest sister-in-law, saw that the situation had got a bit tense, and stepped forward for mediation at once. Only then did everyone forget about this matter. Meanwhile, Old Madam Qin didn’t dare to go too far. She wanted to combine the two mansions only because she wanted Gu Tingcan to marry into a noble family. If she really fell out with Minglan, she would only get the opposite to what she wished.

After Minglan had observed for a long time, she basically knew about Old Madam Qin’s intention.

There were three men whom Old Madam Qin found suitable to be her son-in-law. The first one was the grandson of Marquis Zhongjing, who was the nephew of the Zheng Brothers and one year older than Gu Tingcan. This young man had a strong figure and a handsome face with a heroic character. The second one was the second son of Earl Changxing, whose mother was the legal daughter of the Liang family which had two commanders and three scholars. The third one was the third son of Minister Ge, who was already in a high position at a young age.

Before a man, especially a heir of a noble family, married a woman, his family members would definitely inquire about the woman’s character and behaviors.

The Zheng family asked Little Shen shi— because she was sort of an acquaintance of Minglan. Little Shen shi said frankly, “How would Minglan know about that girl’s character? They never really talk.”

“How’s that even possible?” Young Madam Zheng asked in surprise, “I heard that Madam Gu follows the rules strictly and gives obeisance to Old Madam Qin every two or three days. You also told me that she has taken care of her widowed sister-in-law and cared for her niece, how…”

“Sister-in-law, it’s not like what you think.” Little Shen shi chuckled, “General Gu really is a generous man. His Majesty got three pieces of snow ginseng and granted my big brother and General Gu each a piece. The latter has sent it to his widowed sister-in-law and Old Madam Qin right away for nourishment. What else do you expect him to do? Old Madam Qin is his stepmother after all. The problem lies with the Seventh Lady of the Gu’s family. She seldom comes out when Minglan gives obeisance to Old Madam Qin. Even if she does, she never talks much.”

Young Madam Zheng stopped talking then.

Madam Fu cared about her son’s future career. Then she asked her nephew, Fu Qinran.

Fu Qinran remained silent for a long time and only uttered a few words, “Second Master Ye and His Seventh Sister… are not familiar with each other.”

Madam Fu still didn’t give up and asked again, “What about the lady’s character?”

Fu Qinran answered, “She’s good at composing verses and poems, painting and writing.”

Madam Fu had asked about Gu Tingcan’s character, but Fu Qinran only told her what the girl was good at. That answer was obvious enough. Master and Madam Fu were both quite disappointed.

Ge family seemed to find the lady of Marquis Jinghai’s family more agreeable and was almost halfway through the engagement.

In Minglan’s view, it was better for Gu Tingcan to marry a man whose family background wasn’t that powerful because in this way, if Gu Tingcan had a quarrel with her husband, her parents could still stand up for her. She could also marry a man with a good temper who could tolerate Gu Tingcan’s prideful character.

After Old Madam Qin had contacted those families several times, she felt that their attitude had been deliberately vague, so she had no choice but to give up her first preference.

In fact, there were lots of great choices for Gu Tingcan except for those three families, such as a general’s family, or a commander’s family as well as a prestigious family in the area out of the capital. However, Old Madam Qin didn’t want Gu Tingcan to marry far.

Unluckily, the families which were not familiar with the Gu family had no idea of Gu’s Tingcan’s character, so they could only listen to the rumors. Once they knew that the people of the Gu family had lived separately in two mansions, they also got a bit hesitant about accepting Gu Tingcan.

Minglan stayed leisurely as always, but Old Madam Qin gradually got restless. On several occasions, when Minglan went to give obeisance to Old Madam Qin, she could feel the anxiety despite the latter’s calm appearance. However, no matter how obviously or implicitly Old Madam Qin had hinted, Minglan only played dumb.

In certain situations, Old Madam Qin even got off her high horse and nearly pleaded to Minglan in a sad tone. The worried look on the loving mother’s face really was touching.

This was the first time that Minglan found how hard-hearted she could be, because she had no intention to pity Old Madam Qin and only beat around the bush with a leisurely look.

Everyone should be responsible for the choices they had made.

Old Madam Qin had chosen to treat Gu Tingye like that. Then she shouldn’t regret today. Gu Tingcan had chosen to treat Minglan indifferently. Then she shouldn’t blame the latter for not putting in a good word for her since Minglan truly didn’t know this sister-in-law very well.

In a word, Old Madam Qin and Gu Tingcan should have nothing to complain about.

After Minglan counted the days with her fingers, she reported to Gu Tingye that Old Madam Qin’s attitude wasn’t as firm as before. Then, Gu Tingye proposed to divide the family property to the elders in his family clan.