Lady Kelpi Translations

Get ready for my all-time favorite C-Drama adaptation! The Legend of the Concubine’s Daughter Minglan, or The Story of Minglan, is a huge honker of a web novel written by the same author who wrote Love Like the Galaxy.

A note on the speech in this novel, it’s weird. Everyone in the family refers to people in the third perspective for the most part, and call them by their official titles a lot of the time. Only when they’re alone with loved ones will the address them more casually.

ALSO A HUGE WARNING: There is some controversy about halfway through the story starting at around Chapter 100 onwards. Without spoiling too much, I just want to remind everyone that we can’t judge the actions of characters with a modern lens. After Minglan gets married, her husband does what a husband does during that time (Ming/Zhou Dynasty). If you want to know more, you can go to the Novel Updates page and read the reviews there to get a better idea.

The first five chapters have a bunch of exposition, so I’ll be posting them all at once to get them out of the way. Without further ado, ENJOY!!!

Chapter One:
Someone got a promotion, someone died… and someone traveled through time.

The watchman’s clapper had just struck dusk and the Sheng family mansion in Quanzhou continued to light lanterns. In the main hall of the west courtyard sat an old woman with gray hair, her hands wrapped in prayer beads, and her simple clothes were somewhat out of place with the wealth and elegance around her. At this moment, at the head of the room the master of the Sheng family, Sheng Hong, was seated.
[The time of dusk is 7-9pm. Ancient Chinese timekeeping was in blocks of two hours.]

“Blessed by our ancestors, this son has received an excellent performance evaluation this time, and the decree for promotion will come down by the end of the month.” At this time in early summer, Sheng Hong was dressed in an ochre-colored thin summer shirt and his words were very respectful.

“It’s not a waste for you to have been working outside for these years. It’s the most difficult thing to climb from the sixth rank. After passing this level, you can be considered a middle-level official. Where are you going this time? Do you have a clear idea?” Old Madam Sheng’s tone was flat and didn’t fluctuate.

“Uncle Geng Shi already wrote a letter to report that it should be the magistrate of Dengzhou.” Sheng Hong had always been cautious, but when he mentioned this, he couldn’t help but show his joy.

“In that case, I truly have to congratulate Master. The position of governor has always been based on the fifth rank, but you can become a governor of a state with a sixth rank. It’s not only because your ancestors have accumulated virtues, but also because of the people who support you,” Old Madam Sheng said.

“Naturally. The gift lists of several noble uncles and aunts in the capital have been drafted, please take a look at them.” Sheng Hong took out a few plain notes from his sleeve and handed them to the maid standing beside him.

“Master has become more and more sophisticated in handling affairs in recent years. He can make up his own mind. Remember one thing, a gentleman’s friendship is as light as water, silver should be used in a proper way, etiquette should be comprehensive, neither humble nor arrogant, and close. Those elderly people have been rolling in the officialdom all their lives, and have been refining their skills. Over the years, they have given you a lot of help, not only because of your father’s affection when he was alive, but also because of your own strength, they are willing to contribute.” Old Madam Sheng gasped for breath after saying these words, the mama* next to her immediately picked up a tea cup and pressed it to her mouth, gently placing one hand on the old woman’s back.
[A mama is an elderly maid.]

Upon seeing this, Sheng Hong panicked and urgently said, “Mother, take care of yourself. Your son owes his life to your upbringing. If it weren’t for Mother’s righteousness, this son would only have been living a rough life in the countryside now. I have to show filial piety.”

Old Madam Sheng was silent, as if in a daze, and after a while she said, “I can’t say it was righteous or not, but it’s all about our relationship with your father. It isn’t good to make his tomb desolate in a hundred years. Fortunately… you’ve finally made progress.” Her voice was weak and gradually trailed off.

Sheng Hong didn’t dare to speak up and there was a moment of silence in the hall. After a while, Sheng Hong said, “Mother is in full bloom in spring and in autumn. In the future, blessings will surely extend. Please relax and take good care of yourself.” As he spoke, he looked around and couldn’t stop his frown. “Mother, it’s too plain here, it looks like a nunnery. Listen to your son. The old ladies of ordinary people abstain from eating meat and pray to Buddha, but they are also very lively. Why should my mother be so self-sufficient? If someone were to see this, they would think the son is unfilial.”

“It’s lively and comfortable in my heart,” Old Madam Sheng said. “If people’s hearts are deserted, it’s useless to dress up as lively as possible, but the ears of deaf people are just decorations.”

“It’s all because your son is unfilial and cannot control his wife,” Sheng Hong whispered.

“I don’t blame you,” Old Madam Sheng said. “I know your filial piety, and I don’t blame my daughter-in-law. I’m not her proper mother-in-law so I don’t have to put on any airs. I’ll see you in three days. She’s tired and I’m tired too. You don’t have to worry about people saying you are unfilial. I had a reputation for being unfilial in my early years and many people know my temper. Being so far away makes everyone comfortable.”

“What did you say?” Sheng Hong said urgently. “What does it mean to be a proper mother-in-law? The mother is the legitimate wife of the father, the legitimate mother of the son, and there is even more kindness from reproduction. Everything is the fault of the son and daughter-in-law. Mother must not speak like that.”

Old Madam Sheng seemed a bit impatient and waved her hand lightly. “Don’t worry about these trivial matters. Your promotion is around the corner and you need to take care of it. You have worked in Quanzhou for many years and gained many insights. Before you leave, you must have done all etiquette. Everyone is in the same officialdom, and if you don’t see anyone tomorrow, don’t be cold to your colleagues’ hearts. It’s better to get together and disperse.”

“I also think the same way. When I first arrived in Quanzhou, I felt that the climate in this area was hot and the people were rough. It’s simple, and it’s close to the coast, so it’s convenient for fishing, salt and shipping. Although it isn’t as rich as south of the Yangtze River, it’s rich in people’s wealth. After living here for so many years, I’m a bit reluctant to leave.” Sheng Hong smiled.

Old Madam Sheng laughed. “That’s true,” she said. “I have lived in the north all my life, and even in the beautiful Jiangnan. I don’t want to go. I never expected to become accustomed to living here in Quanzhou. The mountains here are high and the emperor is far away, and the days are leisurely. Before leaving, I’ll sell this big house and buy a small villa with better scenery. It won’t be ostentatious, but there will be a place for elderly care in the future.”

“That’s an excellent plan,” Sheng Hong smiled. “I think it’s great, so I’ll handle it later.”

Old Madam Sheng’s rules were strict. As she spoke, the maidservants and mamas in the room were silent. The mother and son spoke for a while, and Sheng Hong moved his lips several times to mention something, but stopped. The room suddenly became cold again. Old Madam Sheng glanced at him, gently stirring the tea leaves with the teacup. The mama beside her was very observant, gently calling the maidservants and mamas to go out and personally drive everyone to the side of the second room. After giving orders to several first-class maids, she returned to the main room. She heard Old Madam Sheng saying, “…you finally agree to say it. I thought you were planning to keep this from me until death.”

Sheng Hong stood with his head down and a worried expression on his face. “I regret not listening to Mother’s words at the beginning, and it was my lack of virtue that caused the house to be uneasy.”

“Is it just that the house is restless?” Old Madam Sheng raised her voice slightly. “I didn’t expect you to be so muddle-headed, you clearly know how big or small this matter is!”

Sheng Hong was taken aback and bowed. “Mother, please guide me.”

Old Madam Sheng straightened up from the red sandalwood soft couch. “I didn’t care about things, and I didn’t want to be annoying by meddling. It has nothing to do with me which one you like. I never ask about the right or wrong in your room. But in recent years, you’ve gone beyond what is proper. Go outside and ask which household treats their concubines like you do! You give her face and respect, give her land and properties, she has a son and daughter and is no worse than a legitimate daughter-in-law! If there is no distinguishing between your legitimate wife and concubine, our rules will be overturned, wouldn’t it lead to a family disaster? Very good, someone finally died today, a bloody corpse and two lives…what do you say?!”

Sheng Hong was full of shame and repeatedly bowed. “This is all your son’s fault. I was confused and always thought she was alone and relied on me. It’s really pitiful. She would rather be a concubine for me than a legitimate wife. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, and she came from a good family, so she is better than ordinary concubines. I didn’t think that love would harm her and make her even more indecisive, your son really knows his mistake.”

Upon hearing the last few words, Old Madam Sheng sneered and didn’t speak. She picked up her teacup and blew it gently. Seeing this, Fang Mama approached and said, “Master has a kind heart. How could old madam not know this? This matter has dragged on for a few years and if we don’t make it right, everyone will have a bad life in the future. Old Madam is an elder and some things are inconvenient to say. Today, let this old woman take care of it and talk to Master clearly. I hope Master won’t blame me.”

When Sheng Hong saw Fang Mama speak, he hurriedly said, “What did my mother say? Mother has done her best for the Sheng family over the years and you have served her with all your heart. You are like an elder to me. If you have anything to say, just say it.”

Fang Mama didn’t dare accept what he said and bowed to the side. “This old lady will speak. Concubine Lin’s mother and Old Madam originally met in the boudoir. Speaking of it, they were only friends. They were not better than the other sisters in their boudoir, and after getting married, they had no contact at all. Later, her husband’s family was guilty of misconduct. Although they did not confiscate property or kill the members, their family also declined. That year, the man in charge of Old Madam Lin’s family passed away, and she fell under her knee again. Unmarried, temporarily without any support, she lived a desolate life with her daughter. Before she died, she went to Old Madam’s place and only asked her to take care of her daughter’s feelings on that day. Anyway, her relatives were like wolves and tigers, causing harm to the girl. Old Madam is a person who doesn’t eat meat and prays to Buddha and her heart is most benevolent. She agreed and brought Concubine Lin into the mansion. In those years, our Old Madam treated her like a daughter, choosing the best for everything she ate, dressed, used, and even kept talking about buying her a dowry and finding a good family to marry into.”

Upon hearing this, Sheng Hong’s face turned red, as if ashamed. Fang Mama sighed. “Who would have thought that Concubine Lin was someone with grand ideas? She didn’t want to find several households, but secretly had a relationship with Master. Old Madam didn’t say anything, so Master didn’t take it amiss. The whole thing was completely unknown to our old madam. When the woman cried angrily to Old Madam, she realized that the girl she had raised around her was so unruly.”

Sheng Hong was ashamed and blushed, unable to speak.

Fang Mama said warmly, “Originally the legitimate wife and Old Madam were not like today. I think that when Madam came to our family, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were polite, but when that happened, it seemed Old Madam deliberately went to wipe the face of the wife. Raising Concubine Lin was to ask the master for a young wife. Later, Master married Concubine Lin and she became part of the family, she had children and lived a more decent life than Madam. Madam couldn’t help but attribute all her grievances onto Old Madam, and she didn’t have much contact anymore. Old Madam is really cold hearted.”

Sheng Hong let out a loud puff and knelt down in front of Old Madam Sheng in tears. “Your son deserves to die for his sins. He caused Mother a lot of unhappiness and made her feel aggrieved. Your son is unfilial.”

As he spoke, he repeatedly kowtowed. Old Madam Sheng closed her eyes and raised her hands towards Fang Mama. She quickly went to Sheng Hong, but he refused to get up and continued to plead guilty. “Get up first,” Old Madam Sheng said. “As a man, you don’t really know about the inner residence, get up. There’s no overnight revenge between mother and son.”

Sheng Hong got up but his forehead was already red and swollen. Old Madam Sheng sighed. “I also know that when you were a child, you relied on Concubine Chun for your livelihood, and life was not easy. At that time, I didn’t even care about my own son, and I didn’t know that the shameful behavior of servants deceiving others had caused you pain. Now, your wife is not a generous person. It is because you always fear that Concubine Lin and Little Feng would be wronged and be bullied by servants, so you gave them real estate and fields. How could I not know your good intentions, so I closed my eyes and mouth, pretending to be deaf and dumb all these years, just like a dead person.”

Sheng Hong sobbed. “No matter how you relate to this, your son is immoral and Mother’s heart is like a mirror. Every sentence speaks to your son’s heart. The son is afraid of his wife… that’s why he spoiled them a bit, broke the rules, and deserves to die.”

“If you die, who should we rely on as orphans and widows?” Old Madam Sheng gestured to her mama to bring Sheng Hong a chair and help him sit down with tears in his eyes.

After Fang Mama put a hot towel on Sheng Hong’s face and served tea, Old Madam Sheng continued. “Not to mention the kindness of heaven and human nature, you don’t want to think about it. You are just now in your early years, and your career is not smooth sailing, but there are no twists and turns. Among the few people who were in office with you at the beginning, there were few who were as smooth as you, and how many people are still suffering, jealous of you, waiting to pick your mistakes? Moreover, Concubine Wei was not a servant girl bought by the family. She was also from a decent family background, originally from Jiangnan. She was meant to be the legitimate wife of a family, but if it weren’t for the family’s difficulties, or even being poor, she wouldn’t have been a concubine. Now, she entered the house five years ago and died tragically. If someone were to take action against this matter, incite her maiden family to cause trouble and say you don’t manage your family well and waste life, can you still be promoted smoothly?”

Sheng Hong was startled and began to sweat profusely. “Fortunately, Old Madam understood and stabilized the Wei family in time, so that her son had no worries.”

“The Wei family is also kind-hearted. They didn’t make noise when they heard about Concubine Wei’s death. They only wanted to take the body back and bury it on their own, but I refused. The Wei family didn’t even want the extra money I gave them, saying that they didn’t have the face to take the money their daughter died for. They just asked me to take care of little Ming girl and they would be very grateful. That family is miserable, I felt sad when I saw them.”

Old Madam Sheng took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes, and Fang Mama personally brought a teapot from outside to refill the water, adding water to both moist porcelain floating pattern tea cups and carefully covered them with the lids. She sighed. “Concubine Wei was a kind person, and the girl she raised is also pitiful. Since her mother passed, she’s been burning with fever for the past two days in a row, muddle-headed and waking up stupid, not saying a word. That day, I was ordered by Old Madam to see her. I only saw the maidservant outside laughing and joking, and there was no one in the room to serve her. As soon as I entered, I saw the girl get out of bed and pour water to drink by herself! This four or five-year-old child, she can’t even reach the table. She crawled onto the stool to pour herself water. It really was pitiful!” Fang Mama also wiped away tears.

Sheng Hong remembered Concubine Wei’s past tenderness and kindness and felt great pain in his heart. He blushed and said, “I wanted to send her to Madam’s residence, but these days, little Ru’er is also sick and Madam’s place is in a mess. In a few days, Madam will send for her when she’s free.”

Old Madam Sheng took a calming breath and said slowly, “What’s the matter? Does little Ming girl want to be held or carried on a back? Madam has as many maidservants at home as she wants and can give orders that will be obeyed. She’s using all sorts of excuses to not care for little Ming girl, probably afraid to be seen as pretentious.”

Sheng Hong stood up again cautiously, not daring to speak. Old Madam Sheng glanced at him with a tone of coldness in her voice. “You don’t talk about her, and you won’t persuade her. It’s just that you are not upright and are robbed of everything by her. At the beginning, you broke the rules yourself and spoiled a concubine and treated her with the same prestige as a legitimate wife of the family. What did Madam say? I can’t help but think about it – why? When everything was okay, it was your concubine who raised children herself. Once the biological mother dies, suddenly this decorative legitimate mother is remembered? Madam is not at fault for being angry. The past happened, I don’t care about that, but I will ask you two questions, and you answer honestly.”

Sheng Hong quickly said, “Mother, please speak. Even if you ask tens of thousands of questions, I’ll answer honestly.”

“First, Concubine Wei’s corpse had two lives lost, are you just going to forget it? Or, do you want to take someone’s life?” Old Madam Sheng stared at Sheng Hong intensely.

“It has to be calculated carefully. How can such an insidious person in this family be forgiven lightly? She can harm Concubine Wei and our child within her today, and tomorrow attack others. How can I tolerate such people in the Sheng family?” Sheng Hong gritted his teeth as he replied.

Old Madam Sheng’s face softened slightly and she paused for a moment. “Good. Second, what are you planning on doing in this situation where there is no distinction between legitimate and concubine?”

Sheng Hong took a breath. “Mother is brilliant. When I came back, I saw Concubine Wei’s body covered in blood and the child who suffocated in her womb. My heart is filled with remorse. The servants dared to be so arrogant but there were no strict rules to restrain them. If the upper beam isn’t straight then the lower beam will be crooked. I have made up my mind and must clean up our family’s moral standards.”

“Okay, good, hearing those two things from you is enough.” Old Madam Sheng’s heart was slightly moved. Knowing that Sheng Hong was a good person, she stopped talking and nodded repeatedly. “If you want to be an official for a long time, if our Sheng family wants to have continuous descendants, we must govern the family strictly. You should know that many of the large aristocratic families often have internal corruption. We can learn from that.”

“What Mother said is correct. I had been worried about my performance evaluation, but now a big stone has fallen in my heart. Let’s take time to sort out what happened the day Concubine Wei went into labor, starting with the maidservants.” Sheng Hong’s tone was calm, but his heart was furious.

“No, we can’t investigate now.” Unexpectedly, Old Madam Sheng rejected the idea. Sheng Hong was surprised and asked, “Why is this? Should we tolerate these stubborn slaves?”

Old Madam Sheng gave Sheng Hong a thoughtful glance. “You have been serving in Quanzhou for several years, and everyone knows the basics. Female relatives in the family have been in contact with each other for a long time. Many maids, women, servants, and maidservants were bought locally. How can others not know? Although you have a good relationship with most of your colleagues, there are also those who secretly hate you. Just after your concubine died on the front foot, there is a massive reorganization of the servants on the back foot. Is this not showing others that your house is not peaceful?”

Sheng Hong became alert and said, “Mother reminds me that I almost made a mistake. If we were to tidy up our house in Quanzhou, we would have to sell people. I’m afraid the whole state would know about it. When we arrive in Shandong, how about we deal with those stubborn slaves? No outsider will know the truth.”

“Exactly. So, keep quiet at this moment. You need to stabilize this family and go to Dengzhou to take office in peace. When the decree is issued, you will take the official seal, and our family will settle down in Shandong. It won’t be too late for you to continue your attacks.”

“This reminds me that I have not spoken about myself to you in many years. Today, I have said this, and my heart is very clear. In the future, I will have to rely more on Old Madam to manage my family. I will need to come and consult with you more,” Sheng Hong said sincerely.

“No, I’m already a half-dead person. If it weren’t for the commotion this time, I wouldn’t have done much about it. From now on, everything on my end will be the same. Just ask Madam to greet me three times a month. You can take care of your own affairs and manage your own home. I will just quietly pray to Buddha and not eat meat.”

Old Madam Sheng seemed a bit tired, leaning against the back of the soft couch and closing her eyes slightly. Her voice gradually weakened. A copper unicorn incense burner was placed on the sandalwood table in the corner, quietly spitting out cloud-like smoke.

…

The author has something to say:

Nowadays, most of the farming texts are modeled after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because the customs and habits of the Ming and Qing dynasties are mostly similar, which is true. Recently, in order to write a story, I checked some information and found that in fact, judging from the status of women and the inner house, there are still many differences between the Ming and Qing dynasties. When I have time, I will discuss it with everyone.

First of all, my farming story is an empty dynasty, during the Zhou Dynasty, most of the customs and systems were modeled after the Ming Dynasty society. Due to the many contraversies among historians regarding the customs of the Ming Dynasty, some aspects of this story are not very accurate. Please don’t delve into them.

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I am both excited and terrified to be posting this! Excited because it’s a great series, terrified because it’s SO LONG! Updates will be every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 5:00 PM CST.

Next Chapter: It can be said that half of the martyrs who died in the line of duty were actually cast into this kind of birth. It’s time for the Yellow Stripes institution to fight against corruption and promote integrity.