309. V4C309：Manniang, Tingcan, Dowry, Ancestral Property and Minglan’s Happy Life (I)
Translator: Iris
Being held up by a tall man like Gu Tingye, Minglan only felt herself being scared out of her wits and could only hold his neck tightly and grab his collar with her thin fingers. She could see the ground which was a few feet away from her over his shoulder. As she looked down from the high place, she saw the florid peony patterns on the thick pile carpet dangling in front of her eyes. She almost screamed but couldn’t let out a sound due to scare. At last, she could only squeeze out the words, “Let me down!” ‘You son of a bitch!’

The man laughed so loudly that the maids who stood outside the door all felt ringing in their eyes. As Lvzhi and others sensed the happiness in his laughter, they all looked at each other with astonishment in their eyes.

Only until he span for a few rounds did he hear Minglan’s scream. Then he saw the little girl in his arms clawing at him with her eyes widely opened like a terrified squirrel. He came back to his sense right away and reached out his arms to hold the girl in his arms and then put her on the bed gingerly.

“… Did you feel uncomfortable? I went beyond myself just now. Do you feel dizzy?… What do you want to eat?… Do you need to have a rest?… Just lay down…” The man started to lose track of his words while keeping putting the cushions behind Minglan’s back, making the latter sit up from the lying-down posture. Minglan who was turned from side to side after being spun couldn’t help but say in an angry voice, “I am totally fine, not feeling dizzy at all. I am hungry now. Why do you tell me to rest when I haven’t eaten dinner? How am I able to lie down with so many cushions behind my back?”

Gu Zijin stood up right away to let Minglan lie down. After that, he didn’t know what he should do and could only walked around in the room for seven or eight rounds with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he remembered something and thumped his palm with his fist, “That’s right! I should invite the imperial doctor here!” As saying this, he stood up right away and ordered the servant to fetch the invitation card.

Minglan held the fluffy and soft cushion in her arms while raising her head to look at the ceiling on which carved a colorful and delicate pattern by gold and silver. There were lot of bats which symbolized the fortune beside a fruitful pomegranate tree which was a symbol for blessings. A large dumb bat was leading a few little bats, beside them was the mother bat which had a resigned face. What a lovely family.

When the imperial doctor arrived, Minglan had just finished eating dinner.

All the dishes were tasteless to him. Meanwhile, Mr. Gu seemed to still be in a daze and didn’t eat a lot. However, the people around him were startled by him. Sometimes he lowered his head and chuckled to the bowls and plates. Then he took a glance at Minglan with a beaming smile. As she looked at Minglan again, he suddenly frowned. Then the look on his face turned quite joyful at once, which was scary to others.

Minglan remained very calm and ate the food in a good mood. Perhaps because she had been out for a whole afternoon, she had a great appetite. She even drank two more bowls of the soup and refilled one bowl of rice. After she wiped her mouth clean and washed her hands and mouth, the imperial doctor arrived.

The imperial doctor was called Doctor Zhuo, with a square and fair face. He had been highly valued by Duke Ying’s family and introduced to the Shen family. This doctor was in the prime of his life with a lot of experiences. Gu Tingye stood there with a sulky face as if he was not the man whose wife had just got pregnant but a man who was about to become a widower. He had wanted to invite the Old Doctor Zhang from the Imperial Hospital, but the latter was on duty in the Imperial Palace right now. It was not like Gu Tingye could knock on the imperial gate.

Sir Zhuo took Minglan’s pulse through a handkerchief beside the curtain. After a while, he gave out a smile and gave obeisance to Gu Tingye, “Congratulation, Master! Madam is pregnant! It has been two months.”

Gu Zijin raised his hand and said, “Thanks, doctor.” His short-lived brother had died in June. After that, Gu Tingye had observed mourning for his brother reluctantly and lived a sexless life for three months. Right now, it was the mid-December. God truly blessed this family.

The look on his face was calm, but he truly felt happy now. After Doctor finished giving the diagnosis, Gu Tingye invited him to the study and asked a lot of questions for a long while. Only when Doctor Zhong was about to burst into laughter did Gu Zijin let him go and offer him a large sum of money.

At night, Gu Tingye didn’t discuss the business affairs in the study. After he took a bath, he got on the bed right away. His speech was always sharp, which made him a master in quarrelling. However, he was not good at comforting others. Right now, he didn’t know what to say and only hugged Minglan tightly. The girl only felt the man’s wet breath spitting to the back of her neck and his strong chest attaching her back. In the meantime, he put his large hand on her belly unconsciously. Although they both remained quiet, Minglan could still feel his delight.

In the peaceful and harmonious ambience, Minglan gradually got sleepy. While she was half-asleep, she suddenly heard a slight sigh as if the man was getting sentimental now. She got curious right away and turned around to face him, “Why did you sigh?”

In the middle of the night, the room was very quiet. After a long while, Gu Zijin said in a low voice, “I suddenly remembered Chang.”

In the dark, Minglan opened her eyes all of a sudden, feeling herself being dragged from the drowsy state at once. She had been curious about this subject for so long. However, Gu Tingye seemed to very cagey about his son, so she had to restrain her curiosity. It never occurred to her that he would bring that up by himself.

“… Rong has lived with us for many days. Although she never mentioned about her brother, I know she must miss him a lot. By the way, how’s Chang and his mother doing right now?” Minglan asked gently, feeling her heart being scratched by a cat.

After a long while of silence, Gu Tingye lay flat and said, “Properly fed and clothed and live safely in the manor. That’s all.” He sounded quite sad.

“Master… did you regret?” Minglan got closer to his chest. In the cold winter night like this, she only wanted to attach herself to his warm and sturdy body.

“No.” His word sounded strangely calm.

Gu Tingye reached his arm to let Minglan rest on it, “I met Manniang went I was sixteen. Ten years has passed. I know exactly what kind of person she is.” After he paused for a second, he seemed to give a bitter laugh in the dark, “Although she is just woman, she’s cleverer than most of the men. If she wants something to happen, she would get twice the result with half the effort. If she wants something to fail, no one is able to stop her. I… cannot let you and our child be under the risk in the future.”

This time it was Minglan’s turn to stay quiet. After a while, she said softly, “This is the second time I hear you praise her. Is she… really that capable?”

After that, she felt a large hand on her face. The callus made his hand gnarled, giving her a numb feeling on her tender skin. Gu Zijin’s voice sounded super indifferent in the cold night, “She has the guts and always shows a great intelligence in an emergency. She could tolerate the things that normal people couldn’t, and her act is always able to fool others. Even the men in the gang never stopped praising her. During the ten years we spent together, she almost never exposed herself. If I didn’t investigate her on purpose, I would still have no idea of her true color.”

Minglan was instantly an internal storm of contrasting emotions. Then she said dully, “Everyone is good at something.” Manniang should major in acting. That woman truly got some skills.

Hearing her taking in a sad tone, Gu Tingye chuckled and held her in his arms tightly. After he rubbed her with his body, he said intimately, “My foolish girl!”

Minglan’s face contorted being kneaded by him and she couldn’t even say things clearly. Then she raised her hand to block him but failed because she was not strong enough. After that, she tickled him on the waist. He couldn’t help but laugh, then he pressed on her chubby little hand.

After the two of them laughed for a while, they stopped and rested in each other’s arms quietly. Gu Tingye watched the dark curtain swaying like the ripples on the river in spring under the dim light which streamed through the window.

He suddenly remembered the first time he had met Manniang.