Molan’s enemy was not dead after all. Before Molan restored herself, Chunge had already adjusted herself and recuperated. After Chunge pricked up herself, she rode into the battle of fighting for Liang Han’s love. The good news was that she had suffered a lot during the delivery and her face was not as beautiful as before. Also, it was very likely that she wouldn’t get pregnant again. The bad news was that she tried a delicate route and attracted Liang Han’s sympathy at once.

Molan sucked a slice of ginseng tablet and pretended to smile. After that, she started to introduce pretty girls to her husbands like an experienced brothel keeper. Liang Han wasn’t a man with a strong will. No matter how much he adored his first love, he was still appealed to those beautiful girls. Xiaohong, Xiaocui and Ahuang, those girls truly made him in paradise. Concubine Chunge was heartbroken, but could quit the battle and stay low-key.

Molan was a capable woman indeed. However, this method hurt not only her enemy but also herself. Although she managed to distract Liang Han’s attention from Chunge, she now had lots of gorgeous girls in her yard. Now her husband didn’t even have the time to stay with her. As a result, she still hadn’t got pregnant yet.

In Minglan’s view, Molan’s policy was not wrong. For a man, falling in love was the biggest thing. As long as there were no real feelings in Liang Han’s relationship with those girls, they would soon become a thing in the past since  he was restrained by the principles and the family rules after all. After he was done with those girls, he would forget about them soon and the position of Molan, his wife, wouldn’t be endangered. However, Chunge was not only Liang Han’s beloved woman but also a treasured concubine with a good family background. That was a double trouble. So it was right to target at Chunge first.

“Luckily, there are lots of children in the Liang family. So it doesn’t matter even if Fourth Sister couldn’t get pregnant for the moment.”

Hualan twitched her mouth and said in low spirits, “She will in these few years. I don’t think she will wait for seven or eight years. Alas, if Concubine Lin hasn’t… Forget about it, she’s our sister after all. I don’t feel like watching her struggling in the Liang’s family.”

Minglan nodded. After a while, she tilted her head slowly and smiled to Hualan. According to her understanding about Hualan, the latter, though sometimes liked to take pleasure in others’ misfortune or act arrogantly, was actually a very decent person. At that time, Hualan hated Molan so much, but now she even started to pity the latter. Something must be wrong!

Hualan felt uncomfortable under her gaze and scolded, “What are you looking at, wicked girl?”

Minglan drew out her words deliberately while saying slowly, “I have read some face-reading books during my leisure time. Today I saw your rosy cheeks as well as your glowing face, so I guess that you must have run into a happy event… Just say it out loud to cheer me up.”

Hualan knew that Minglan was talking nonsense, but she still couldn’t help smiling. With her beaming face and her full figure, she looked very charming and sexy now. She smiled and answered, “You clever girl. There truly was a happy event recently. First, Concubine Zhang in my family got pregnant.”

Minglan was a bit confused, “When did my brother-in-law have a new concubine?”

“How bad your memory is! It’s my father-in-law’s concubine!” Hualan nearly roared those words.

Minglan felt her eardrums vibrating. In no time, she took a tumble and said, “Then, Old Madam Liang, well, I mean your mother-in-law, she…”

Hualan found hard to hide her happiness and bit her lips hard, “My mother-in-law made a scene for sure. However, this matter is different to her. She may be able to bully her daughter-in-law, but she can never hurt her husband’s pregnant concubine. My father-in-law dealt with her first. After that, my husband’s eldest aunt, his grandma as well as a group of elders came over to our home. Some cursed her, some reproached her and some tried to persuade her. Now, my mother-in-law is busy with protecting herself and has been scheming with my eldest daughter-in-law every day…” The Yuan family didn’t have too many properties. Now that the property which would be divided to the First family would be shared, First Master Yuan and his wife finally couldn’t sit still.

Minglan also gave an evil laughter. After a while, she got confused again, “That’s why you are so happy?”

“Not just that.” Hualan seemed quite complacent with her face turning pink, “It’s because of your brother-in-law.” After she paused a bit to calm herself down, she said, “Your brother-in-law has taken fancy on an estate in the suburb which has a great location and flouring land. So he wanted to buy it.”

Minglan applauded, “Purchasing an estate is a good thing.”

“Indeed, but we don’t have enough money.”

Though Hualan said that they lacked money, the look on her face was affectionate. She then continued in a soft voice, “Right before the New Year’s Eve, your brother-in-law traveled to another city for some business affairs and bought a fine horse there. He loves the horse as much as he loves his life and never allowed anyone to touch it. However, this time, he toughened his scalp and sold the horse. After he went back home, we chipped in and then bought the estate. I also felt puzzled about brother-in-law’s sudden decision. However, he gave the deed to the estate to me and said that he has promised that he would make up for my dowry! It turns out that he has been inquiring about a suitable estate for quite a while!” With Hualan’s eyes ablaze and fingers trembling gently, she nearly poured out all her happy feelings.

Minglan uttered ‘Ah’ gently and then praised in a loud voice, “My brother-in-law really is a man of his words!”

Hualan felt very sweet with tears in her eyes, “He said that he finally realized that his parents belonged to all of his siblings, his siblings all had families and only me and our children were devoted to him and that no one could be considered as his partner except for me. He also said that he would never let me suffer and that he would give me a relaxed and happy life.”

Minglan was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe that the man Hualan had talked about was Yuan Wenzhou, the man with a clumsy tongue. Those sincere words even moved Minglan. Then she said, “This is great. Eldest Sister, you haven’t suffered for ten years in vain.”

Hualan took out a handkerchief to wipe the tears on the corner of her eyes and sobbed, “I only hope that he can return my love with his love. I am sincere to him and I hope that he won’t betray me. Now finally…” She choked with sobs.

Minglan was deeply impressed by the woman in front of her and respected the latter a lot. It really was very difficult to educate a decent and filial man like Yuan Wenshao and stop him from being overly pedantic. During the long hard fight, Hualan had been perseverant, consistent and didn’t become a psychopath. At last, she finally defeated her evil mother-in-law. That truly was a moving deed!

“… When I visited Rulan, I also persuaded her like this. I told her that she couldn’t have any evil thought and had to treat her husband nice, be filial to the elders and be kind to her sisters-in-law. Humans are emotional creatures. Her husband is also a sensible person. As long as she could follow my words, her husband would surely treasure her.”

Hualan wiped her tears while uttering those words. Minglan couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. Rulan hated to be given lectures the most, especially the reproachful ones that Hualan always gave. Perhaps Rulan was being sullen right now.

Having put down her handkerchief, Hualan felt herself overwhelmed with happiness and said in a low voice resolutely, “I’m not expecting anything else now. Your brother-in-law said that he might be appointed to another province. By then, we’ll bring our kids and live a joyful life at another city. The most important thing is having a loving family. Before that, I can tolerate all the difficulties my mother-in-law and sister-in-law give to me.”

Minglan had only wanted to hear some anecdotes, little did she realize that she was also educated. She pondered and asked herself if she wasn’t sincere enough to Gu Tingye. Most of the times, she would weigh her own gains and losses first and then think about  Gu Tingye. However, the love from a man could never be more reliable than the love from herself. What if that man was untrustworthy? She would lose everything.

Was that thought too selfish?

Or say, loving herself and being selfish was not the same thing. However, how to judge the scale in relationships?

Minglan was immersed in thought. This was the issue about guidelines and very serious.