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Getting out of the Hall of Peaceful Ages, Hualan went to Wang shi’s place. Wang shihad long lit up thermal floor and hurriedly ordered servants to serve tea and handwarmer when her daughter Hualan entered the room. Seeing there was only Wang shi in the room, Hualan asked, “Where is Zhuang Jie’er?”
Wang shi pulled her daughter to sit on brick bed and smiled, “She hangs out with your younger sisters. They moved aside tables and chairs in the room to make an open space and play ‘blindman’s buff’. There are Mamas standing by. Don’t worry.”
Hualan took the handwarmer that Caihuan handed her and turned to Wang shi, smiling, “I have nothing to worry. I guess this game is started by sixth younger sister. Last time I came back Molan and Rulan were impatient to play with the kid.”
“Your sixth younger sister herself is a child. She happens to enjoy playing with little Zhuang.” Looking at the door, Wang shi waved to order the servants in the room to leave. The last one Caihuan put the curtain down and guarded at the door.
Wang shi walked to Hualan and sat down near her, carefully examining this eldest daughter who was wearing fresh makeup with moisturized eyelashes. She asked in a low voice, “You told Old Madam everything?”
Hualan, exhausted, sat closely next to Wang shi and answered with her eyes half-closed, “Grandma has a pair of sharp eyes. How could I possibly hide it from her? So I just confessed.” Noticing that though her daughter looked tired, she was in a bit higher spirits, Wang shi knew the talk yielded desirable results, so she asked, “What did Old Madam tell you?”
Hualan opened her eyes and smiled, “Grandma is indeed of insight and experience. Hearing the mass situation of my in-law’s family, she only taught me two things. The first is to unshoulder the management of domestic affairs.” Wang shi got nervous instantly and cut in, “She is so unwise. How can you give it up so easily since you finally got your hands in it after years of effort?”
Hualan sighed, “I didn’t want to give up either, but grandma is right. The Mansion of Marquis Zhongqin after all doesn’t belong to my husband. No matter how well I manage it, the fruits will be reaped by others. It’s unnecessary to exhaust myself and waste money on it. In addition, the top priority for me is to bear a son.”
Wang shi snorted, “Of course it is. I know this as well. Old Madam’s words are nothing constructive.”
Hualan rolled eyes at her mother and huffed, “Mom, your words are unconstructive. Grandma didn’t just tell me this but also advised me on practical methods. She told me she is well-acquainted with the Old Madam of He family in Baishitan. The Old Madam He’s original family is Zhang family that has been the imperial doctors for three generations. Old Madam He has learnt medication since she was young and was especially apt at women’s diseases. As she is a woman and couldn’t be a doctor like a man, so this is known to few people after she got married. This time, grandma pulled strings for me to ask help from her.”
Wang shi immediately displayed joy at the news, “Really? I indeed had no idea about it. Luckily Old Madam knows it. At present, though you have a legal son given birth by a concubine, it’s better to have a son of your own. In the past, in order to save your face, we couldn’t openly find a doctor for you. Besides, the doctors are all men who couldn’t examine you carefully. My poor daughter.”
Shimmers of hope glistened in Hualan’s eyes and she said with joy, “Grandma told me not to make it public, so I’ll only have to come back when Old Madam He is invited here. This is why I should give up managing domestic affairs so that it’ll be convenient for me to come back at any time as well as tuning my health condition at a low pace.”
Wang shi clasped her hands and chanted, “Amitabha, Supreme Lord of Taoism. Finally, there is hope for my daughter. Old Madam is most reliable. If she believes Old Madam He is capable, the chances will be no less than eighty percent.” As Hualan was facing this task of getting a son, Wang shi didn’t care much if her daughter could manage domestic affairs.
Hualan lazily leaned on Wang shi’s shoulder and said like a little child, “Mom, I feel so happy that you settle down in the capital. I finally have someone behind me.”
Wang shi held her daughter in arms, loving her so much, but scolded her on the surface, “Why you never told the truth in letter and pretended to be tough? Your mother-in-law should be so biased toward your sister-in-law who was taken good care of many years before she could give birth to a daughter. Yet, just a few years later after you lost a child, she hurriedly crammed a lover to your house. Luckily, you’re not stupid and slapped the lover in the face by letting your maid give birth to a son before your mother-in-law could say anything.”
Hualan complained with much hatred, “My sister-in-law is mother-in-law’s niece; of course they are more intimate. Currently, there is no more officials in her family, but she still likes to put on airs.” Wang shi patted on her daughter’s back and smiled, “Good for you to understand this. Your husband is capable, so in the future if your house separates from them, you’ll enjoy a good life. At present, don’t be mad at them. It’d be better to give birth to a son first.”
Hualan was also very expectant and said, “Hopefully.”
Wang shi lovingly held her daughter for quite a while, cherishing this moment very much. As her thought went far, she said, “Now your brother has settled down. When your younger sister marries to a good family, I’ll then ask for no more.”
Hualan looked up and stretched her voice after a light sneer, “Mom, why not just marry Rulan to my younger cousin since now grandma is still healthy and aunt won’t turn her down? You’ll definitely be laughed at by aunt-in-law if you change your mind.”
Wang shi became angry from shame, pretending to beat Hualan, and cursed, “You selfish girl! You married to a Marquis family. Why couldn’t your sister also marry to a good family? Though your uncle is nice, the family is less prosperous than when your grandfather was alive. Besides, that boy is too honest and numb, I’m afraid your sister won’t like him.”
Hualan smiled and evaded Wang shi’s slap. She held herself and said, “Even though uncle is not a high-ranking official, grandpa has accumulated for the family great amount of wealth. It’s good that cousin is honest and numb because he won’t think about taking concubines.” As speaking she turned a bit sad, “Mom, do you think that I enjoy my life in the marquis family? In the end, the Mansion of Marquis Zhongqin is degrading. Any prosperous marquis family would show off with fanfare. You always blamed me for being bad-tempered, but in fact Rulan is no better than me and less pretty. How could she put up with it in a noble family?”
Wang shi could tell that her daughter didn’t lead an enjoyable life by her exhaustion, so she just sighed and fell into silence for a while. Hualan spread a smile, “However, I really didn’t expect that sixth younger sister could become such a pretty one with lovable manners. A few years later, I’ll take her to social. It’s likely she’ll find a good match. Grandma will definitely be happy.”
Her eldest daughter’s praising about Minglan and belittling about Rulan made Wang shi stare at once, “Don’t bother. Old Madam had plans about Minglan’s marriage long ago. It’s the grandson of He family in Baishitan. Right, also your cousin of your aunt’s family and a son of your aunt-in-law’s family. For this, Old Madam specially visited hometown and made Minglan my legal daughter in the family pedigree.”
Hualan, hearing Wang shi spat out three candidates for Minglan’s future husband in one breath, was a bit shocked and smiled soon, “What happened to Old Madam? Years ago, she only liked people of learning, but aunt and aunt-in-law’s are business families. The He family is nice and big though they don’t have too many officials of high-ranking. Yet, do they like Minglan?”
Wang shi laughed and said with joy, “That’s right! When trying to find a match for that bitch, Old Madam didn’t pay much attention. Now it’s Minglan’s turn, she is all clear. In the end, she is biased to Minglan and doesn’t want her to suffer. Right, the grandson of He family is from a side branch.”
Hualan raised her slim eyebrows and said disapprovingly, “Mom, are you becoming numb after fighting with concubine Lin for so many years? How could she compare with my sixth younger sister? She lives here merely due to Old Madam’s pity for her. Without money or background or any connections, even if she wanted to pick a wealthy family, they were out of her league. However, sixth younger sister is a daughter of our own family and direct granddaughter of grandma with father, brothers, madam, and sisters. Though not comparable to me and Rulan, she is competitive enough.”
Wang shi pulled a long face and retorted, “Why do you care so much about her? You and she aren’t sisters of the same mother!” Hualan threw up her hands and joked about it, “I have no choice because the sister I share the same mother with isn’t distinguished.”
Finishing that, Hualan acted mischievously to step aside. To her surprise, Wang shididn’t get irritated but just sighed, “Alas, what you said is exactly the same with your father. He also told me to take Molan and Minglan to the 70th birthday party of Marquis Xiangyang in a few days.”
Hualan was stunned but understood in an instance, “Father’s idea makes sense. It’ll be helpful to our family if we could find a good in-law, but…if Molan marries to a good family, wouldn’t that bitch be more complacent?”
The mother and daughter looked at each other with same thing on their mind. In fact, Wang shi had wanted to interfere but she feared that, once the fame of Sheng family’s daughters was damaged, it would affect Rulan who should get married after Molan.