Lady Kelpi Translations

Chapter Seven:
This is the Kind of Reincarnation She Should Have Had!

“Minglan, little girl, please bring me an orange and peel it for me.” Little Rulan sat on the swing.

Minglan sat on the stone stool watching the sky without any movement. Rulan called out a few more times, but when she saw that Minglan didn’t respond, she picked up a small stone and threw it at her. Minglan’s shoulder hurt and she turned her head to see little Rulan grinning at her. “You little fool, why don’t you peel an orange for me?”

Minglan looked up at the sky silently, walked slowly to the side, and picked up an orange to peel it. She was blocked by a hand that stretched out obliquely. The hand was delicate and beautiful, and ten sharp nails were stained with a light red balsam color.
[Balsam, or Impatiens balsamina, is a type of flower. It’s also known as Touch-me-not.]

“Rulan, you’re bullying Sixth Sister again! Get off of that!” Hualan angrily walked over and pulled Rulan off the swing. “What did Father say before? Among sisters, Sixth Sister is the youngest. Us older sisters need to be more considerate of her and take care of her. But you, you bully her all day long! Be careful, or I’ll tell Father!”

“Who bullied her? I just told her to peel an orange!” Little Rulan stood up and crossed her arms.

“Are the servants all dead that you need to ask a master to peel an orange?! Or is the girl next to you particularly valuable and unable to handle it?!” Hualan’s beautiful big eyes glared at her, and the three or four servant girls who were originally standing by to watch and laugh all bowed their heads, shrinking to one side in fear. “I saw Sixth Sister about to start peeling an orange, and you all couldn’t work. Why don’t you stop them?! What a capable girl, now she’s starting to laugh at the master’s joke. I’ll go back to Mother tomorrow and ask for you to stay home and study all day!” Sister Hualan scolded sharply.

Rulan immediately disagreed and began to pull at her sister’s sleeve. “Eldest Sister,” she shouted, “you must not bully my people! I’ll tell Mother! You’re embarrassing your own sister for a little fool born to a concubine!”

“Go tell! I’ve long wanted to tell on you. It doesn’t matter if a concubine gave birth to her, Sixth Sister is our youngest sister. Besides, Father brought her here to Mother, so she is our own younger sister! Talking about being born from a concubine, be careful Father won’t beat you up!” Hualan’s index finger forcefully poked Rulan’s forehead.

Like an orchid full of vitality, yet unable to refute, Minglan lowered her head, staying silent as she pretended to be foolish.

Although Hualan and Rulan were sisters by the same parents, they were different in appearance. Hualan looked like Sheng Hong, bright and beautiful, and had a heroic look between her eyebrows. Rulan looked like Madam Wang and had a round face. Her eyebrows were straight and her looks were somewhat ordinary. When she got older, her looks might develop modestly. The gods obviously didn’t treat the sisters with the same mother and father fairly. No matter their appearance and ability or their parents’ favor, the sisters were not as good as each other. Minglan hoped that the imbalance in Rulan’s heart would not become more serious.

In fact, it wasn’t that difficult to make a living by Madam Wang’s side. Sister Hualan and Brother Changbai already had their own yards, and Brother Changdong was still in the stage of drooling. Minglan only needed to deal with little Rulan. She was not actually a bad person, she just liked to show off her personality and be praised every day. However, she couldn’t afford to provoke her older sister and brother or Concubine Lin’s two children. The little brother Changdong, who couldn’t even stand on his own, was boring, so there was only the unlucky Minglan left to order around.

Whenever this happened, Hualan would descend from the sky like the Great Sage of Qi Tian to uphold justice. She might not necessarily like Minglan, but she couldn’t stand to see the arrogant appearance of Rulan. As a favored eldest daughter, she had authority in the Sheng Mansion second only to her three elders. She scolded her younger sister, punished servants, and was adept at it.

Minglan was very grateful to this beautiful and dignified older sister in her heart. She was a true proud daughter of heaven, with all her looks, family background, and courage. She sincerely hoped that this older sister would always be so happy and proud in the future.

Now, every morning, Minglan was carried by her mama and taken by Madam Wang to greet Old Madam Sheng. Before that, the concubines in the household had already greeted Madam Wang. The interval between Concubine Lin’s greetings was regular, three days of greeting and then two days of leave. The reason was very simple – physical discomfort. If Sheng Hong had stayed overnight in her room the night before, she would support her waist and say she was tired. If he didn’t visit the night before, she would support her chest and say she was tired. Every time Concubine Lin would come to greet Madam Wang, she needed to use half a day to mentally build herself up so as not to get angry and rush to scratch Concubine Lin’s charming face. This challenged Madam Wang’s cultivation.

On the other hand, little Minglan was only five or six years old, without a favored mother. She was young and dull, and Madam Wang didn’t have the need to bully her. Of course, she didn’t take special care of her. Anyway, she ate and slept with Rulan, but observant people could still see the difference.

Every meal was served with dishes that Rulan liked, and Minglan would eat without the right to choose her own dishes. All the clothes of Rulan were new, while the ones for Minglan were ninety percent new. If there were any fresh fruit cakes, of course, they should be eaten first by Rulan, and the rest be given to Minglan. As for jewelry such as gold, silver, and jade locks and chains, Minglan never saw them. However, every time she went out, Madam Wang would put something around her neck and head to recharge her appearance.

The mama next to Minglan was a lazy and careless woman who often asked for help from the east to the west. She sent two more orders but didn’t like it. The little serving girls were just like others, but they were lazy and ineffective. They often used Minglan’s audible voice to say ‘whispers,’ such as ‘once left, once right, never finished, it’s killing people,’ ‘you really think you’re born a wealthy lady,’ ‘it’s just a concubine’s child,’ ‘let her calm down, who is impatient to serve her,’ and so on.

Minglan didn’t say a word, treated it as if she wasn’t listening, and continued to use her command. Because Sheng Hong wasn’t completely at ease with Madam Wang, he would occasionally visit Minglan. At this time, Minglan would be honest and polite and say, “I’m thirsty at night, and my nanny won’t give me water to drink… Did you give me crabapple dew last time? I didn’t see any of the snacks that Mother gave me. The nanny said that her little grandson liked them, so she took them away… Nanny said that she would mend the gap in my clothes when she was free.”

Sheng Hong’s face immediately fell, and Madam Wang was also extremely embarrassed. She was busy with Hualan’s coming-of-age ceremony recently, so she had no time to take care of Minglan. Whenever she got angry, she punished all the maids who caused her to lose face. Suddenly, at first the maids refused to accept it and continued to treat Minglan poorly. Minglan didn’t take it seriously and continued to report. However, twice, the servants were honest and Minglan’s life became better.

Filing a lawsuit was a technical activity. In modern workplaces and ancient prosperous families, good lawsuits could improve one’s life, but bad lawsuits could have the opposite effect. There were tricks to this. Firstly, the object of the complaint should be accurate. Minglan knew from the beginning that Madam Wang did not care about her seriously, just as long as she was kept alive. Sheng Hong still remembered the benefits of Concubine Wei, and felt guilty that she had died as young as she was. Therefore, Minglan’s object of complaint was Sheng Hong. Secondly, the goal of the complaint should be clear. Minglan only accused the maids and nanny, but didn’t mention Madam Wang at all. Instead, she often said that Madam Wang was giving her this and that and the servants were slacking off and playing games. Madam Wang’s listening was also okay. Finally, and most importantly, pretend to be foolish. Since waking up, Minglan had been dull and foolish, with a slow and unresponsive speech and a completely unfounded appearance. She was safe this way.

It gradually became summer, the sun was hot, and the heat was scorching people’s skin. On that day, Minglan took a nap in the inner room while two servants on duty chatted aimlessly in the outer hall.

“The coming-of-age ceremony for Eldest Miss was really impressive. It’s said that Madam had invited all the respectable ladies in Dengzhou. There were only two rows of sedan chairs at the entrance. In order to avoid the heat of foreign guests, Madam even bought dozens of carts of ice to cool them down and sent ice bowls around. Master also specially went back to the mansion to observe the ceremony.” This was said by a young maid in her early twenties.

“Madam specially ordered a set of headgear from Cuibaozhai. Mama said it was the first Zhucui Tower in the capital, and I don’t know how much it cost. She also said that the embroidery on it was a flowing cup embroidery, and every pattern on it moved when she walked. Eldest Miss’s life is really good. Sister Xiaomei, do you think our miss will…” A round-faced seven- or eight-year-old girl said.

“Hey, how can the girls compare? Eldest Miss is a legitimate daughter…”

Minglan lay in the inner room listening to the conversation of the maids. The two maids, Qiuyu and Xiaotao, were assigned to her by Madam Wang. The older one was originally a third-class maid from Madam Wang’s residence, while the latter was just promoted from the family courtyard and she was about the same age as Minglan. Thinking of this, Minglan puffed out her cheeks.

Due to the need to rectify the interior of the Sheng Mansion, Sheng Hong wished to replace all the servants. Except for a few capable confidantes of Madam Wang and Concubine Lin, nearly all other second and third-class cleaning maids were replaced, and then new ones were selected from the family courtyard to supplement. Those who looked smart were given to the first few young masters and young ladies, and when it was Minglan’s turn, only this foolish little peach remained.

However… well, Minglan turned her small body over on the bed.

Minglan wasn’t able to see Sheng Hualan’s coming-of-age ceremony, but she could imagine the scene. She was not particularly jealous or envious, but when she was sleeping in a daze, she would think that Sheng Hualan’s background was the best child for a woman who had time traveled.

After completing the ceremony, Madam Wang devoted herself with infinite enthusiasm to search for her eldest son-in-law, occasionally exchanging ideas to Sheng Hong and Old Madam Sheng. Whenever this happened, Hualan would hide her face in embarrassment and return to her courtyard. Minglan couldn’t help but sigh that society had indeed made progress. When Mother Yao held up a photo and told Yao Yiyi about the blind date, Yao Yiyi participated throughout the process and had the final veto and decision-making power. But even though Sheng Hualan was so favored here, she could not intervene in her marriage. For the first time, Minglan saw what it meant to be a matchmaker under the command of her parents.

After a period of discussion, Sheng Hong and his wife had two final candidates in their hands. The fifth grandson of the Guogong family and the second son of the Zhongqinbo family. Before the couple could discuss the outcome, Lord Qiu Jing, who was then the governor of Kaifeng, came to propose marriage for their son.

“Hau’er has just come of age and is not in a hurry to choose a son-in-law. However, for Lord Qiu’s proposal, we had to hurry up. Either we agreed to the marriage of Lord Qiu’s family, or if we didn’t, we had to have an explanation.” Madam Wang sat at a bat flowing cloud ebony table, with several red and foreign gold posts piled up in front of her, and the tassels of the dragon and phoenix golden hairpins on her head couldn’t help but tremble.

“Brother Qiu is my age, and our two families are already well acquainted. It was inevitable that this marriage should have been formed, but…” Sheng Hong walked around the room, holding a foldable fan made of boxwood.

“But what? Speak quickly,” Madam Wang said urgently.

Sheng Hong sat opposite of Madam Wang and took a shallow sip from the white porcelain tea cup on the table. “I have seen Second Young Master Qiu before, and his appearance and conduct are all worthy of Hua’er. I originally didn’t like Hua’er marrying into the Crown Prince’s residence. Although it’s wealthy and prestigious, the family is ultimately locked up and Hua’er is arrogant. If she really married into that place, she might not be happy. We were in charge of the Qiu family, and we’re not afraid of Hua’er being wronged. However, this time I went to the capital and saw that it was not appropriate.”

When Madam Wang heard about the difficulty of Hualan marrying into the duke’s family, she nodded repeatedly. At last, she took the fan in her hand and gently slapped it on Sheng Hong. He slowed down and whispered, “Nowadays, the Empress has no sons, so it’s impossible to be legitimate. The longest and most expensive ones that come next are the Third and Fourth Princes born by Consort De and Consort Shu. The Emperor has not yet established a crown prince, but because the Third Prince is weak and has no children in their forties, while the Fourth Prince who has children are born half a day later. Now, the Emperor’s body is still strong and healthy. If there is a mountain tomb collapse in the future, the close courtiers around those princes may be up to something.”

Madam Wang was completely ignorant of court affairs and asked in a daze, “What’s the matter with this marriage? Lord Qiu Jing is a foreign official.”

“But Qiu Jing’s elder brother is actually the teacher of the Third Prince!” Sheng Hong was irritable, and he actually wanted to confide in his wife. However, his wife’s thoughts were not in sync with his. Concubine Lin was in sync with him, but she was just a concubine.

After thinking for a moment, Madam Wang couldn’t help but turn pale in shock and said, “Master, this is indeed not appropriate. Whether His Majesty has appointed the Third Prince or not, as long as the Third Prince cannot give birth to a son, the throne will have to be given to someone else in the future! I heard that the Fourth Prince isn’t a Buddhist.”

Seeing that his wife had finally taken the lead, Sheng Hong nodded. He sighed. “I often persuaded Brother Qiu Jinxiong. It’s okay for external officials like me to make friends with some officials in the capital, but don’t get involved in the matter of establishing a crown prince. There are so many nobles in the capital, and a few of them have been involved! At the beginning, Emperor Xian ascended the throne smoothly, but he also took several inconspicuous titles and removed many first-class and second-class officials, let alone us. I advised him several times, but Brother Qiu couldn’t listen, and instead, we went with him. My elder brother is twice as close to the Third Prince. I know that the Third Prince is kind-hearted, virtuous, and filial, but…”

“But he doesn’t have a son!” Madam Wang promptly added. “Without a son, no matter how virtuous the Third Prince is, it’s useless. Lord Qiu is also too confused. The dispute over the throne is not a game; I see that the Fourth Prince will definitely be able to rise to the throne.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Sheng Hong suddenly shot back. “Brother Qiu and the officials around the Third Prince were not all confused. They knew that if the Third Prince had not been legitimate, they would have already established a reserve, so they came up with an idea.”

“What idea?” Madam Wang asked.

Sheng Hong lowered his voice more. “It’s no secret that they encouraged several ministers to advocate outside to imitate the story of Emperor Yingzong of Song.”

Madam Wang wrung her handkerchief and said angrily, “Don’t drag me anymore. I don’t know a basket of words. How could I know the story of Emperor Yingzong of Song?”

Sheng Hong hesitated and helplessly explained, “That is to say, if the Third Prince ascends to the throne but never has a son, let him adopt a son from his brother. The Son of the Emperor is not only these two princes, but the younger princes below all have sons. Anyway, they are all the grandchildren of the emperor.”

Madam Wang smiled and clapped her hands. “That is a good idea. Those young princes and their maiden families are humble and not very attentive to His Majesty. The throne is out of luck, and it is most appropriate to adopt their son. But… can this be done? Can the Fourth Prince agree to it?”

“The few who advocate for adoption have already become thorns in the eyes of the Fourth Prince. They are not afraid. If the Fourth Prince ascends the throne in the future, then the Qiu family…” Sheng Hong didn’t continue, but Madam Wang also fully understood.

“This is a bet. If you win, the Qiu family will ascend, but if you lose, the Qiu family will be completely defeated. Why gamble? The Qiu family is now both wealthy and prosperous.” Sheng Hong sighed.

“We can’t agree to the marriage of the Qiu family. The Qiu family is willing to gamble, but we can’t gamble with Hua’er. If we don’t do it well, our whole family will also be implicated.” Madam Wang’s thoughts suddenly became clear and she took out a crimson embroidered sunflower sweat towel from her waist and pressed it against her forehead carefully. Suddenly, she looked up and asked, “Master used to be kind in the officialdom and often made friends with people. There’s no one who can get married now?”

“No, not at all,” Sheng Hong said. “When I was still in Quanzhou, I carefully calculated my group of friends in the same field, but none of them were suitable.”

“They all weren’t suitable?” Madam Wang asked.

“What did you say about picking a son-in-law that day?” Sheng Hong glanced at her. “To have a good family background, good parents-in-law and sisters-in-law, the most important thing is that the younger generation of the family should have the ability to study, or have an official position, or have an industry that can handle affairs, or have a martial arts title. Most of my friends in the past are scholars. My peers don’t have many high official positions, good official voice, and have poor family backgrounds. But those with a large family background have already been appointed by the elders. Brother Liu of the Court of Judicature and Revision is suitable, but his legitimate son is still young, so he could marry Rulan in the future. Alas…”

Madam Wang’s expression was somewhat awkward. “Master, don’t worry. Isn’t there another family here? The Duke of Lingguo is good. Although they are only the third generation since the Grand Ancestor was conferred the title, the Zhongqin is actually the original duke. However, their family’s current situation is not good. They have long been rejected by the emperor, so it’s better not to pick them. The Duke of Lingguo’s Mansion is good, prestigious, with a prosperous family background.”

“…That is something I haven’t seen before.” Sheng Hong slowly opened the folding fan. “When I was young, I lived in the capital with Father and Mother. I had studied in the private school of the Lingguo Mansion with Elder Brother Wei. I didn’t like the family much. The outside looked shiny but the inside was filthy, and the school was also very dirty. Elder Brother Wei and I left after only six months. When I went to the capital to work this time, I heard that the Lingguo mansion was becoming even more unbearable. The family has a large population, with lots of servants, and a few young men who are prosperous and honorable. There are more than twenty daughters-in-law and maidservants serving in a house the size of Changbai’s. They’re all so extravagant, going out all the time and their inner pockets are almost empty! I just revealed to Uncle Geng Shi that Hua’er had just had her coming-of-age ceremony and they came to me and told me that they had the intention of marriage.”

Madam Wang was startled. “You mean, they took a fancy to the dowry of our daughter?”

“It’s hard to say, not to mention that their family has been greedy for their daughter-in-law’s dowry not once or twice,” Sheng Hong disdained.

“But it will ultimately be the government office,” Madam Wang said with hesitation. “If it weren’t for the difficulties we face now, we wouldn’t be able to compete with Hua’er, who is such a glamorous family.”

Sheng Hong sneered. “If it’s just a shortage of money, I wouldn’t be like this. It’s just that the descendants of that family are really unworthy. In such a big family, there are not many people who study martial arts and plan. The old duke and his wife are okay, but they have a few sons… Hmph! The big house is extravagant and indulgent, and father and son have always been mocking each other. The second house, oh, the second house was the one who came to propose marriage. One of the second house’s elderly people is constantly begging for a mistress, and will sexually harass the maids and daughters-in-law in the house. When I was in the capital, I heard that he even begged the intimate servant girls in his daughter-in-law’s rooms to sleep with him. It’s really insulting, he’s the worst scumbag.”

Madam Wang’s soul shattered upon hearing this. “Why did they rush to propose marriage to our sixth-grade magistrate’s family in a grand mansion? I’m afraid even the respectable families in the capital would refuse to marry their daughter, right?”

“Madam, you are right this time,” Sheng Hong put his fan away and shook his head.

“That can’t be Zhonqin Uncle’s Mansion. His Yuan family is now in a cold and tight family,” Madam Wang said angrily.

“That’s not true,” Sheng Hong finally became interested and began to speak fervently. “I went to visit Zhongqin’s residence this time and met some of his sons. The eldest son had proposed the daughter of the Imperial Academy to offer wine to Mei’s family. The second son looked good, calm, courteous and dignified. At an early age, he got a job in the commanding office of the five cities. I went to ask the commanding officer about his character and talent. You know that Dou Laoxi is arrogant, but he also praised Yuan Wenshao.” After a pause, he sighed. “The young man was implicated in his family background, and ordinary officials and aristocratic families dare not marry them. They almost looked down on the others, and a decent young man dragged on until he was almost twenty years old and had not yet started a family. It was probably because I made a point in front of Dou Laoxi. The next day, the Yuan family entrusted someone to explain the matter.”

Madam Wang remained sullen. “As you said, ordinary officials and aristocratic families dare not marry them. They are now powerless, want money but have none. Why are we rushing this?”

“Nonsense! If it weren’t for the difficulties they are facing now, we wouldn’t be able to turn to Hua’er,” Sheng Hong retorted Madam Wang’s words. “His family was also unlucky. During the reign of the late emperor, he accidentally got involved in the rebellion of the Yi King and was robbed of his rank along with several aristocratic families, leading to a few years of downfall. Later, after the accension of the current emperor to the throne, he granted amnesty to the world. After searching through the old case, he found that several princes and uncles, including the Zhongqin family, were indeed unjustified and implicated. However, he was still criticized for not being diligent in handling affairs and not behaving properly, which was enough to deprive him and his family ten years of silver and rice salaries have become neglected.”

“Since you speak the truth, why bother marrying his family?” Madam Wang’s mouth was flat.

“What do you know? Most of the descendants of Wang Gong’s family with titles like this are incompetent. Due to the shadow of their ancestors, they do not want to study, practice martial arts, or strive for progress. After two or three generations, they will no longer be like themselves. However, because the Yuan family has encountered difficulties, their only descendants are more capable of understanding things than others. Only those who have experienced hardships know the difficulty of establishing a career. I see Yuan Wenshao is very good.”

Madam Wang still hesitated and turned her head without speaking. Sheng Hong walked over and supported her shoulders. “Hua’er is our first daughter,” he said softly. “How can I wrong her? I remember back then I was just a small deputy governor and was assigned to that bitter and cold place. When Hua’er was born, we couldn’t even find a decent wet nurse. I was studying and preparing for exams while working as a servant, and you had to take care of me and Old Madam. Hua’er was so obedient at that time, never crying or causing trouble. When she was a little older, she would also help you as a council member and say a sentence of punishment. In terms of heart, among my many children, the one I love most is Miss Hualan.”

Madam Wang’s eyes turned red when she remembered the difficult days before, and Sheng Hong’s voice also trembled slightly. “At that time, I thought that no one can be wronged by Hua’er. I don’t want to use Hua’er to climb the dragon and support the phoenix, I just hoped that she could marry a responsible man, live in harmony with the husband and concubines, play the qin and the flute harmoniously, and have children in the future. I want her to have a smooth life.”

The words were soft and kind-hearted, and Madam Wang couldn’t help but shed tears. She lowered her head to wipe away tears as Sheng Hong continued, “The Yuan family, no matter how bad it is, will eventually be protected by a title. If the official career is not smooth, at least an uncle’s office can rely on it. If Yuan Wenshao is successful, there will still be glory, wealth, and honor waiting for Hua’er in the future.”

Madam Wang was persuaded, wiping her tears with the corner of her handkerchief while angrily saying, “A poor person has been talked about like a flower by you. You understand things better than me, and if you ask me to inquire about the character of Yuan Wenshao, he is already twenty years old. I don’t know how many people there are in his room. If there is a mischievous and domineering person, I won’t listen. My Hua’er won’t marry him and suffer.”

“Good, good.” Sheng Hong hugged her affectionately. “If that boy is greedy for flowers and lusts, I will be the first to refuse. We must carefully consider and find a top-notch son-in-law for Hua’er.”

…

Next Chapter: Hualan, Molan, Rulan, Minglan….