Translator: Iris
Considering the protracted war with the women of the Gu family, Minglan refused the man’s all kinds of flirting and turned her back to him after the night fell and the candle went out. She held the quilt and slept through the night with her body curled up like a shrimp. Gu Tingye found that quite funny but also annoying. However, he was not a lustful man anyway, so he just put his arm around her shoulder and fell asleep too.
The next morning when Minglan woke up, she found the quilt which was supposed to be in her arms changed into a strong arm and there was a long leg on her belly as usual. After she rubbed her eyes for a long while, she pushed(and kicked) the man to wake him up with her hands and feet-- Normally, if he didn’t need to do the morning report, Minglan would try her best to get up with him together and sent him off after breakfast.
While Minglan was looking into the mirror after she had washed her face, Gu Tingye came out from the shower room with a weird look on his face. He waved his hand to dismiss the maids in the room and walked toward Minglan in large strides. After that, he rolled up his sleeves and said to Minglan with a meaningful look in his black eyes, “If you want to eat ham, just tell me. You don’t have to do this.”
There were three light tooth prints on the dark brown skin of his strong arm on which the veins could vaguely be seen. Minglan felt that the three prints which were in perfect order were all grinning at her.
She felt guilty right away and didn’t remember when she had done this at all. However, she didn’t want to admit that she wanted to eat ham either, so she braced herself and said, “Well... People need to show their resolution before fighting a great war. This is my way of showing my resolution.”
Gu Tingye had wanted to let her go. However, hearing this girl’s irrational argument, he put on a long face on purpose with his eyes squinted and said, “That’s right! Now it’s my time to show my resolution!”
At last, Gu Tingye compared the tooth prints on his arms with the ones he had just left on Minglan’s shoulder, finding the two groups of prints quite similar. Then he expressed his satisfaction right away. Minglan covered her shoulders which were as tender as tofu and stared at the man with an aggrieved look on her face while using her eyes to say, ‘Ehhhh, you bad person, when I bit you, I was in my dream and totally unintentional. But you are definitely intentional.’
The depressed look on her face amused Gu Tingye a lot. He held her in his arms and kissed her for a long time while touching her, which almost made him lose control. As a result, there was no time for him to eat the breakfast, so the man only took a few bites of the Shumai and left. When he was about to walk out, Minglan wanted to wipe his mouth with a handkerchief. However, the man kissed on her face on purpose. Minglan who failed to dodge got her face full of the crumbs of the food.
Danju carried a basin over and helped Minglan wash her face and apply fragrant cream on her face. As Danju did those things, she complained about Gu Tingye in a low voice with an indignant look on her face. Mama Cui who stood beside them, face wrinkled with smiles, glowered at Danju and said, “Young girl, you know nothing! Don’t talk nonsense.”
The newly married couple should be deeply attached to each other like this. A few days ago, Mama Cui felt that Minglan’s sulky mood had influenced Gu Tingye, which made Mama Cui get a bit anxious. Now seeing that the couple was even more affectionate toward each other, Mama Cui finally got relieved.
When the people of the Gu family arrived at the Cheng Manor again, they noticed that Minglan was very different today because she was even more friendly to them!
While she heard those women airing their grievances, she expressed her deep sympathy and encouraged them by saying that nothing serious would happen(No one is going to die). After that, Minglan started to deal with her own family matters calmly such as asking the stewards questions or paying wages.
During the stay of the Gu’s women, Minglan also opened the storeroom twice. The first time was to take out a few pieces of the fur in fine quality as well as the list of presents which she had prepared long ago. Then she ordered someone to send those things to General Bo’s mansion to congratulate them on the birth of the new baby in that family. Bo’s family always kept a low profile, so they probably wouldn’t give a huge banquet when the baby became one month old or hold the Shower Day for the baby 3 days after its birth.
The second time was to put something into the storeroom.
After the feast Minglan had held for opening the mansion, she finally knew the advantages of being in high position. These days, she had already received seven or eight lavish gifts from Gu Tingye’s former subordinates who worked in the local government and always sent local specialties to him every winter or summer, Gu Tingye’s current subordinates who sent gifts to him using all kinds of excuses and his distant relatives or friends.
Minglan wasn’t unfamiliar with this situation. The people of the Sheng family had also prepared the gift lists and sent presents to their relatives. However, no one could call that bribery since that was merely making friendly contact with others in order to find support for the careers of the Sheng’s men. The people of the Sheng family knew that those prestigious relatives of them didn’t lack those presents, but they were sensible enough to know they couldn’t play dumb and send nothing to the people who helped them.
Right now, the circumstances were reversed. Minglan became the one who received the gifts. However, it hadn’t been a long time since she was in the privileged class, so she was still not used to taking those gifts for granted.
“Official Fu is too kind to us.” Minglan talked to a servant smilingly with a gift list in her hand, “Official Fu and our Old Master have fought brutal wars together and been on good terms all the time. He didn’t need to send us so many things.”
“Madam, you are right.” The servant in decent clothes seemed to be around thirty. She gave obeisance to Minglan reverently and said, “Our Old Master’s body condition isn’t very good so he hasn’t contacted frequently with his old friends over the past few years... Our Old Master said that General Gu is a very promising guy before. Now it seems that our Old Master’s words are quite right. He is also happy for Old Master Gu for having a son like General Gu.”
Minglan chuckled while glancing at Second Madam Bing and Zhu shi, finding the looks on the two women’s faces quite awkward.
These days, the families which used to have a close relationship with the people of Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion gradually changed their attitudes toward the Gu family. After Gu Tingye had discussed with Gongsun Baishi, he decided to help the innocent families who had been implicated and closed the door to the families who had only themselves to blame.
Old Master Fu and Old Master Gu used to be colleagues. The members of the Fu family had worked in the army for generations, which meant that they had also been affected in the affairs of the Gu’s family.
After Minglan had said some courtesy words, she asked the servant to bring some highly nutritious medical materials and foods back to Fu family.
Returning gifts was also a subtle thing. If she gave back the gifts she had received, she was trying to say, ‘Don’t bother me. We are not that close.’ If she accepted the gifts and returned the gifts of the same value, she meant to say, ‘Thanks for your kindness, but let’s keep each other at a distance.’ Now that she presented the Fu family with something in return, she was trying to imply that she was willing to accept the kindness from that family.
As for the ones who accepted the gifts and didn’t return anything, they were either great friends or superiors of the givers. There might be other reasons for that, but all in all, people sent gifts to each other only to help meet each other’s needs.
After Minglan had sent her guest off, she was quite satisfied with herself, feeling that she had learned many things after getting married.
Then, she ignored the sarcastic words of Second Madam Bing and asked Zhu shi to taste the snacks warmly, “This was made by the crisp cheese which was sent from the north. I heard the people in northern area ate the cheese directly. But I feel that the flavor is too strong and has a slight smell of mutton. So I asked them to make snacks with it.”
Zhu shi, face turning stiff, picked a snack and tasted it reluctantly. Second Madam Bing bit her lips and said, “Sister-in-law, you really are in a carefree mood now. Your uncle and brothers-in-law are about to suicide in anxiety, but you are still unconcerned. What is your heart made of?”
“What a nice speech. My heart is just like the ones of all the other women.” Minglan turned around slowly and said with a slight smile, “Second Sister-in-law, since you have already been so blunt, I’d like to speak my mind too.”
As Minglan smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress, she looked at Second Madam Bing and said,
“I am just a woman who can not interfere with the official business. I’ve said everything I could say and done everything I could do. If my husband disagrees with me, do you think I can force him to listen to me?”
Seeing that Second Madam Bing was still in anger, Minglan said sternly, “After all, I have already got married and should obey my husband. Even if my parents’ family is in conflict with my husband, I have to take my husband’s side. Second Sister-In-Law, you can ask any married woman whether they would fight against their husbands for others. I know my words don’t sound nice, but the truth is always not pleasing to the ear.”
Second Madam Bing who knew that Minglan was right couldn’t make any argument. After she had opened and closed her mouth for several times, she finally wanted to say something. However, Minglan interrupted her smilingly, “Perhaps you have the guts to do that, Second Sister-In-Law, but I have been just married to my husband for less than half a year and not given birth to a child yet. I can only behave cautiously and dare not cross the line. So please forgive me for not being able to help, Second Sister-In-Law.” After saying that, Minglan gave a wry smile to show how helpless she was.
The key to avoid offending others when rejecting them was: Having a nice attitude, keeping a firm principle and speaking things clearly. In this way, Minglan could make it clear that what they had requested was truly out of her reach and that they could only blame their own fate. Since those women were still Minglan’s sisters-in-law and there was no way she wouldn’t meet them in the future, Minglan didn’t want to make the relations too tense between them.
Translator: Iris
Considering the protracted war with the women of the Gu family, Minglan refused the man’s all kinds of flirting and turned her back to him after the night fell and the candle went out. She held the quilt and slept through the night with her body curled up like a shrimp. Gu Tingye found that quite funny but also annoying. However, he was not a lustful man anyway, so he just put his arm around her shoulder and fell asleep too.
The next morning when Minglan woke up, she found the quilt which was supposed to be in her arms changed into a strong arm and there was a long leg on her belly as usual. After she rubbed her eyes for a long while, she pushed(and kicked) the man to wake him up with her hands and feet-- Normally, if he didn’t need to do the morning report, Minglan would try her best to get up with him together and sent him off after breakfast.
While Minglan was looking into the mirror after she had washed her face, Gu Tingye came out from the shower room with a weird look on his face. He waved his hand to dismiss the maids in the room and walked toward Minglan in large strides. After that, he rolled up his sleeves and said to Minglan with a meaningful look in his black eyes, “If you want to eat ham, just tell me. You don’t have to do this.”
There were three light tooth prints on the dark brown skin of his strong arm on which the veins could vaguely be seen. Minglan felt that the three prints which were in perfect order were all grinning at her.
She felt guilty right away and didn’t remember when she had done this at all. However, she didn’t want to admit that she wanted to eat ham either, so she braced herself and said, “Well... People need to show their resolution before fighting a great war. This is my way of showing my resolution.”
Gu Tingye had wanted to let her go. However, hearing this girl’s irrational argument, he put on a long face on purpose with his eyes squinted and said, “That’s right! Now it’s my time to show my resolution!”
At last, Gu Tingye compared the tooth prints on his arms with the ones he had just left on Minglan’s shoulder, finding the two groups of prints quite similar. Then he expressed his satisfaction right away. Minglan covered her shoulders which were as tender as tofu and stared at the man with an aggrieved look on her face while using her eyes to say, ‘Ehhhh, you bad person, when I bit you, I was in my dream and totally unintentional. But you are definitely intentional.’
The depressed look on her face amused Gu Tingye a lot. He held her in his arms and kissed her for a long time while touching her, which almost made him lose control. As a result, there was no time for him to eat the breakfast, so the man only took a few bites of the Shumai and left. When he was about to walk out, Minglan wanted to wipe his mouth with a handkerchief. However, the man kissed on her face on purpose. Minglan who failed to dodge got her face full of the crumbs of the food.
Danju carried a basin over and helped Minglan wash her face and apply fragrant cream on her face. As Danju did those things, she complained about Gu Tingye in a low voice with an indignant look on her face. Mama Cui who stood beside them, face wrinkled with smiles, glowered at Danju and said, “Young girl, you know nothing! Don’t talk nonsense.”
The newly married couple should be deeply attached to each other like this. A few days ago, Mama Cui felt that Minglan’s sulky mood had influenced Gu Tingye, which made Mama Cui get a bit anxious. Now seeing that the couple was even more affectionate toward each other, Mama Cui finally got relieved.
When the people of the Gu family arrived at the Cheng Manor again, they noticed that Minglan was very different today because she was even more friendly to them!
While she heard those women airing their grievances, she expressed her deep sympathy and encouraged them by saying that nothing serious would happen(No one is going to die). After that, Minglan started to deal with her own family matters calmly such as asking the stewards questions or paying wages.
During the stay of the Gu’s women, Minglan also opened the storeroom twice. The first time was to take out a few pieces of the fur in fine quality as well as the list of presents which she had prepared long ago. Then she ordered someone to send those things to General Bo’s mansion to congratulate them on the birth of the new baby in that family. Bo’s family always kept a low profile, so they probably wouldn’t give a huge banquet when the baby became one month old or hold the Shower Day for the baby 3 days after its birth.
The second time was to put something into the storeroom.
After the feast Minglan had held for opening the mansion, she finally knew the advantages of being in high position. These days, she had already received seven or eight lavish gifts from Gu Tingye’s former subordinates who worked in the local government and always sent local specialties to him every winter or summer, Gu Tingye’s current subordinates who sent gifts to him using all kinds of excuses and his distant relatives or friends.
Minglan wasn’t unfamiliar with this situation. The people of the Sheng family had also prepared the gift lists and sent presents to their relatives. However, no one could call that bribery since that was merely making friendly contact with others in order to find support for the careers of the Sheng’s men. The people of the Sheng family knew that those prestigious relatives of them didn’t lack those presents, but they were sensible enough to know they couldn’t play dumb and send nothing to the people who helped them.
Right now, the circumstances were reversed. Minglan became the one who received the gifts. However, it hadn’t been a long time since she was in the privileged class, so she was still not used to taking those gifts for granted.
“Official Fu is too kind to us.” Minglan talked to a servant smilingly with a gift list in her hand, “Official Fu and our Old Master have fought brutal wars together and been on good terms all the time. He didn’t need to send us so many things.”
“Madam, you are right.” The servant in decent clothes seemed to be around thirty. She gave obeisance to Minglan reverently and said, “Our Old Master’s body condition isn’t very good so he hasn’t contacted frequently with his old friends over the past few years... Our Old Master said that General Gu is a very promising guy before. Now it seems that our Old Master’s words are quite right. He is also happy for Old Master Gu for having a son like General Gu.”
Minglan chuckled while glancing at Second Madam Bing and Zhu shi, finding the looks on the two women’s faces quite awkward.
These days, the families which used to have a close relationship with the people of Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion gradually changed their attitudes toward the Gu family. After Gu Tingye had discussed with Gongsun Baishi, he decided to help the innocent families who had been implicated and closed the door to the families who had only themselves to blame.
Old Master Fu and Old Master Gu used to be colleagues. The members of the Fu family had worked in the army for generations, which meant that they had also been affected in the affairs of the Gu’s family.
After Minglan had said some courtesy words, she asked the servant to bring some highly nutritious medical materials and foods back to Fu family.
Returning gifts was also a subtle thing. If she gave back the gifts she had received, she was trying to say, ‘Don’t bother me. We are not that close.’ If she accepted the gifts and returned the gifts of the same value, she meant to say, ‘Thanks for your kindness, but let’s keep each other at a distance.’ Now that she presented the Fu family with something in return, she was trying to imply that she was willing to accept the kindness from that family.
As for the ones who accepted the gifts and didn’t return anything, they were either great friends or superiors of the givers. There might be other reasons for that, but all in all, people sent gifts to each other only to help meet each other’s needs.
After Minglan had sent her guest off, she was quite satisfied with herself, feeling that she had learned many things after getting married.
Then, she ignored the sarcastic words of Second Madam Bing and asked Zhu shi to taste the snacks warmly, “This was made by the crisp cheese which was sent from the north. I heard the people in northern area ate the cheese directly. But I feel that the flavor is too strong and has a slight smell of mutton. So I asked them to make snacks with it.”
Zhu shi, face turning stiff, picked a snack and tasted it reluctantly. Second Madam Bing bit her lips and said, “Sister-in-law, you really are in a carefree mood now. Your uncle and brothers-in-law are about to suicide in anxiety, but you are still unconcerned. What is your heart made of?”
“What a nice speech. My heart is just like the ones of all the other women.” Minglan turned around slowly and said with a slight smile, “Second Sister-in-law, since you have already been so blunt, I’d like to speak my mind too.”
As Minglan smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress, she looked at Second Madam Bing and said,
“I am just a woman who can not interfere with the official business. I’ve said everything I could say and done everything I could do. If my husband disagrees with me, do you think I can force him to listen to me?”
Seeing that Second Madam Bing was still in anger, Minglan said sternly, “After all, I have already got married and should obey my husband. Even if my parents’ family is in conflict with my husband, I have to take my husband’s side. Second Sister-In-Law, you can ask any married woman whether they would fight against their husbands for others. I know my words don’t sound nice, but the truth is always not pleasing to the ear.”
Second Madam Bing who knew that Minglan was right couldn’t make any argument. After she had opened and closed her mouth for several times, she finally wanted to say something. However, Minglan interrupted her smilingly, “Perhaps you have the guts to do that, Second Sister-In-Law, but I have been just married to my husband for less than half a year and not given birth to a child yet. I can only behave cautiously and dare not cross the line. So please forgive me for not being able to help, Second Sister-In-Law.” After saying that, Minglan gave a wry smile to show how helpless she was.
The key to avoid offending others when rejecting them was: Having a nice attitude, keeping a firm principle and speaking things clearly. In this way, Minglan could make it clear that what they had requested was truly out of her reach and that they could only blame their own fate. Since those women were still Minglan’s sisters-in-law and there was no way she wouldn’t meet them in the future, Minglan didn’t want to make the relations too tense between them.
