Legend of Concubine’s Daughter Minglan-Chapter 346: The Kang’s Lady Is the Last One Who Could Enter into This Family (I)
Translator: Ning LL
Imperial Doctor Lin inherited the professional knowledge of treating external and internal injuries, giving first aid treatment and nurturing bones and muscles, which made him the most popular imperial doctor among the military officers. Danju followed the steward of the outer yard out of the mansion. Then she invited Imperial Doctor to the Chang family straightly. Only until the evening did Danju come back.
“Madam, you can rest assured. Although Nian’s condition seemed a bit dangerous, he’ll be OK.”
Nian wasn’t like the normal delicate schoolboys. At the time when the coach had tipped over, he had pressed against the wall of the coach at once and jumped out. Luckily, he had only had a few flesh wounds and the vital parts of his body such as his head, chest and belly weren’t harmed.
Minglan suddenly remembered something and asked in a hurry, “What about his hands and feet?” There wasn’t Regulations on the Protection of the Disabled in the official circle in the ancient times. A man with a damaged appearance would never be able to be an official. Danju gave a wry smile, “His legs and feet are fine, but his arms… Imperial Doctor Lin said that Nian’s humerus in the upper right arm was broken, so was his left wrist.” Minglan got anxious at once. A scholar should never have his hands injured!
Then she asked right away, “Is that curable?” Danju stepped forward and said, “Don’t worry, madam, I watched Imperial Doctor setting Nian’s bones and splinting his arm. Imperial Doctor said that as a young boy, Nian hasn’t reached the fullness of his stature and that his bones haven’t completely knitted together. As long as he rests and recuperates well, he’ll be as good as he was before the accident.”
Minglan finally let out a sigh of relief. Then he asked the steward of the outer yard to bring two hundred ounces of silver to the Lin’s mansion as well as a lot of compliments and pleading words. The steward said to Imperial Doctor Lin that Momo Chang was the only elder from Gu Tingye’s mother’s family and pleaded with the Imperial Doctor to take a good care of the boy. Imperial Doctor Lin, having declined the silver for a long while, took it at last. He also promised that he would visit the Chang family very often. Then Minglan asked the accountant to send five hundred ounces of silver to Momo Chang, so the latter could afford the medicines and the consultation fee.
“Tell Momo Chang not to worry and that she can come to me if she needs anything. If the silver is not enough, she can send someone to tell me. Also tell her that she’s a family to me and she should feel free to ask anything.” Minglan said to the person who would pass her message, “Tell her that she doesn’t need to concern about me and the only thing she needs to do is taking a good care of Nian.”
After the others all left, Minglan sat on the brocade bed in a daze. When she finally came back to her sense, she found his lips numb and aching. It turned out that she had bitten them too hard. She couldn’t help but feel resentment. ‘Those two women better have nothing to do with this, otherwise I’ll definitely plan a counter sabotage. I’ll teach them the Law on the Protection of Minors.’
Next day in the morning, Minglan ordered someone to kill the chicken, prepare the wines and set off firecrackers. Since Gu Tingye was not here, she could only ask Gu Tingwei to sacrifice all those things.
After the simple sacrificial rite, the feast began. The male guests were seated in the outer hall and female guests would eat in the inner flower hall. There were two extra tables being set for the children. After the Gu family’s property had been divided up, this was the first time the Gu’s men reunited with each other and every one of them had their own thoughts.
Old Fifth Master felt the fine wine in the glass tasting like coptis, with his eyebrows knitted tightly. He had been protected by his eldest brother for almost his whole life. After he had lost the protection, he finally realize how difficult life could be. He had thought that Gu Tingyang, his eldest son, was an honest and decent man despite of his mediocre talent. Little did Old Fifth Master realize that his eldest son was actually a lecher who had fooled around with every girl in his yard, spent money as fast as he could, and was a frequenter of all the whorehouses in the capital. Old Fifth Master found that so humiliating. Before, Old Fifth Master’s eldest brother had covered up those things, his eldest sister-in-law had hidden them from him and his wife had protected their son, so he had known nothing about what his son had done. Now… He suddenly glared at Gu Tingyang. The latter who feared his father a lot dropped the shredded tripes and lettuce with vinegar on the table with his hand trembling. Gu Tingdi who sat beside him didn’t feel a thing and was still drinking with Gu Tingwei.
As Old Fifth Master thought of his second son, he got depressed again. He had thought that Gu Tingdi was a clever and capable man who could be considered as the support of the whole family. However, after the Fifth family moved out of the Gu’s mansion, Old Fifth Master found that Gu Tingdi was just a shrewd and calculating man. Gu Tingdi could still stay calm about the things that had nothing to do with him. However, once his own family interests were involved, he would haggle over every penny. Not only had he criticized his brother for going to the whorehouses and squandering the money, but he also started to skimp on his father’s entertainment money.
Gu Tingdi and his wife analyzed the expenses with account books in their hands— After they declared how much the income of the family was and how much the cost was, they claimed that everyone in the family needed to stay within a budget… Hearing their words, Fifth Old Master only felt his blood freezing. However, he also knew that they were telling the fact, so he had to send most of his hanger-ons away reluctantly and cut the expenses on the ancient books and the expensive ink.
Fifth Old Master sighed and proposed a toast to his Fourth Brother. After they both took in the wine, Fourth Old Master also sighed.
Fourth Old Master’s eldest son was an ingenious man who listened to his wife’s words and would never cooperate with Fourth Old Master’s indecent habits like his younger brother. So Fourth Old Master was unable to order about his eldest brother now and would get a long face from the latter when he wanted to watch the play. However, his eldest son was the only person he could rely on now. His youngest son did share the same interests with him, but that young man was doomed to be a prodigal son but had the ambition to be a genius in the business circle. As a result, his dad had to pay the debt he had owed! Fourth Master still hadn’t figured out those accounts in a mess.
The ambience during the meal was rather bleak. Gu Tingwei was the only one who stayed cheerful and the others were all not in the mood of eating.
Compared to the men, the women seemed a bit more alive. After everyone sat down, Minglan got dazed at once. This was a family banquet, but Old Madam Qin had brought Aunt Kang here and also told Zhao’er who came over with Aunt Kang to eat at the table of the Gu’s ladies.
Old Madam Qin introduced Aunt Kang to her sisters-in-law and the young ladies, “ This is Minglan’s aunt. She happened to be free today, so I invited her here. It’s always good to have more people on a banquet.” Aunt Kang smiled gently, “Forgive my rudeness.” Fourth Old Madam glanced at Minglan silently and then echoed with Fifth Old Madam and welcomed Aunt Kang.
After the Gu’s families lived separately, people of Fourth and the Fifth family should be considered as guests of the First family, so Zhu shi and Shao shi should serve dishes according to the rules, but Old Madam Qin stopped them. The women sat in different tables according to their seniority. Old Madam Qin and her sisters-in-law and Aunt Kang sat on the same table, Minglan and the other young madams were at another table and the last table was for the ladies who hadn’t got married. There were a few basins of ice cubes in the corner of the room, beside each stood a young maid who would fan the basin with a big leaf fan to offer some cool breeze in the room. A female performer was invited to sing songs in front of the hall. The dishes were all light and flavorful, which suited the guests a lot.
After the drinks had been through three times and the perform had been ended, the ladies left the table and played with each other at another place. Only Kang Zhao’er was called over by Old Madam Qin to have a chat with the guests there. Then the women there started to shoot the breeze.
“Today, I’ll have to give a toast to my Eldest Sister-in-law Xuan!” Second Madam Di asked First Madam Yang to raise the glasses with her, “I heard that my nephew Zheng has done a great job in his position, even Old General Fu has praised him.” Second Madam Di drank up the wine, followed by First Madam Yang. After Second Madam Di sat down, she winked with a smile, “If my nephew’s wedding is imminent, you can’t hide it from us!”
First Madam Xuan didn’t say anything, but there was a definite complacent look on her face. Shao shi got confused about their conversation. Second Madam Di had been helping her husband dealing with the properties of the Fifth family and was well informed. Clearly, she must have heard of something. Then Shao shi asked gently, “Did she guess it right? Our nephew is going to get married?” First Madam Xuan only smiled without saying anything. Second Madam Di put a piece of cheery fillet in her mouth and chuckled, “I have said too much. I can say no more, no more…”
Shao shi was still in a trance. Zhu shi was the clever one. She pondered for a second and then said smilingly, “Is that Old General Fu’s daughter?”
