Chapter 292. V4C292: Leading Character and Supporting Character (I) Translator: Ning LL

Minglanwasnotbraggingabout hergenerosity, but if she could get rid of those annoying relatives of Gu Tingye, she really was willing to give up the ancestral property of the Gu’s family. Money could be made again, but those relatives were the troubles she foundithard to dump.

This day, Minglan went to give obeisance to Old Madam Qin in Daylily Garden as usual. As they were chatting, they mentionedcombining the two mansions together. Old Madam Qin had thought that Minglan would beat around the bush, but to her surprise, the latter agreed directly and even started to talk about the progress of the construction.

“ThisTaoistZhangwas recommended by Madam Geng. He has done fortune-telling a lot of times. She said that thisTaoistis an honest manand never leakssecrets. He’sdifferentfromthe unprofessionalTaoists whoalwaysswindleothers.”

Zhu shi, the pregnant woman, chimed in, “I’ve also heard ofTaoistZhang.Thatyear when my parents expanded two manors, they also invited him to do the fortune-telling. They said that heis a very efficientTaoistand could guarantee the prosperityand good fortune in the family.”

Old Madam Qin was glad to hear that, so she said, “Have you already found the group of masons?”

Minglan answered with a smile, “Luckily, First Madam Zheng has recommended a group for me. Before New Year’s Eve when our Empress’s sister married into the Zheng’s family, they renovated half of the mansion by strengthening the walls and beams of the rooms and making the heated brick bed well-ventilated. Now the Second Madam of that family also said she livesvery comfortably there. Those masons are not only skillful but very dependable.Never have they proposed a fake price on the materials. I already sent someone to invite them with the recommendation letter from the Zheng’s family.The leader of the masons has already agreed to work for us. A few days later, they would come here to measure the land and make a drawing first.”

Old Madam Qin suddenly stopped fiddling with the teacup lid, saying, “… Wejust talked about starting the construction the day before yesterday, you already madefull preparationsfor everything. You truly have acted fast. But, is it OK to let so many strangers get into the mansion?”

Seeing the look on Old Madam Qin’s face, Shao shi asked gently, “Mother, is there anything wrong?”

“Nothing could be wrong with the people who are recommended by the Zheng family, it’s just…” Old Madam Qin put down the tea cup and stroked the Buddha beads, “Minglan, you haven’t married into our family for too long, so perhaps you don’t know that there is a group of masons who often worked for our family when your father-in-law was alive. I have planned to send StewardMoto tell you this.”

Minglan, with a shocked andawkwardlook on her face, covered her mouth and said, “Oh my, I really don’t know that. What can I do now? I’ve already told First Madam Zheng about this; it’ll be inappropriate to change the masons now.”

Old Madam Qin stared at Minglan for a long while and then said slowly, “They all said that you are young and inexperienced, but I don’t think that’s true. Tingye is busy with his business and has no time to deal with the construction affairs now. I have thought that a young madam like you would have difficulties in handling such a great matter. Never did I know that you didn’t ask any of the elders in the family and finished everything all by yourself.Theyoung generation really should be respected…”

Minglanpretendedthatshe didn’t understand those words, followedWang shi’s behavior in front of Old Madam Sheng (Only that Wang shi truly couldn’t understand Old Madam Sheng’s words) and said with an innocent smile, “Thanks to you, mother.”

Minglan now finally understood why Old Madam Shengbecamemore and more straightforwardwhen scolding Wang shi. An idioticsister-in-law who couldn’t bedriven away truly was able to drive her mother-in-law who used to be a lady of a noble family into a fiery woman.

Shao shi seemed not comfortable with an atmosphere like this and turned her head slightly. Zhu shi lowered her head and touched her belly. Gu Tingye was ayoungand powerful man who had grudges against his stepmother.Then, how could his wife be obedient to Old Madam Qin?

Old Madam Qin also knew that it was not wise toturnagainst Minglan right now, so she just played dumb, thinking thatshecouldwaituntil her daughter got married.

In this case,Minglan wouldn’t ask for troubles either. These days she had been quite busy. Now only did she have to handle her family affairs,butshehad to take care of the construction work in the family. Between Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion and the Cheng Manor, there was an idle small yard andamountain forest. The primary job should be demolishing most of the walls and fences which stood between the two mansions and connectingthe bounding walls to surround the empty rooms and the mountain forest in the middle.

That was not a difficult thing to do, but the labor cost would be quite large. Thebarrenmountain and forest needed to be planned. Some places should be surrounded,andsome pieces of land should be bulldozed in order to plant some trees or flowers. After the roads were paved, the rest of the land would be utilized to build pavilions, terraces and towers.

‘Justtakeit easy.’ Minglan wasn’t in a hurry to do the work and planned to finish the construction slowly.‘Doaccordingto one’s abilities and the money one has.’ ThatwasMinglan’s principle.

As a woman, it was still inappropriate for Minglan to show up too often. Therefore, Hao Dacheng, the head of the stewards, could onlyrun in and out of the mansion dozens of times a day. Minglanfeltparcheddue to the long speech she had to give. However, as the master of the mansion, Gu Tingye had only inspected the construction site twice (on the way back home), leafed through the drawings three times and uttered some useless wordslike‘Make the door smaller’. After that, he left and continued to serve the country.

Life had to continue, and the construction work was also carried onata steady pace.

Autumnwasthecrab season.The royal family presentedpastries,sweet potatoes,chestnuts andchrysanthemumsto all the noble families to show the infinite royal graciousness. The families which were favored by the emperor all received other presents besides those.

Minglan received six pots ofchrysanthemumsindark green, golden yellow, bright purple, pink red and plain red as well as ten baskets of fresh crabs. Because of theplentifulprizes, she needed to go to the Royal Palace toexpressher thanks to the royal family.

No matterwhetherthe people of the royal family wanted to meet her or not, she still had to follow the etiquettes, otherwise she would be regarded as a disrespectful person.The next day afterher request of going to the Royal Palace had been permitted by the Imperial Household Department (whichwas such apity), she got up early in the morning. After she haddressedherself, she went to the Royal Palace in sedan.

After she went through the imperial inner gate, she had to get off the sedan. With the heavyheadwear and an empty belly, she still had to walk a long way in the imperial city while making sure that the look on her face remainedscared and joyful the whole time—That really was verytorturing.

Minglan would rather be rewarded less.

Only

With the guide of the imperial servant, she finally enteredan imperial room. There were already two noble ladies in first-rankmadam’s clothes sitting inside. One was around forty years old with a fair and delicate face whom Minglan didn’t know. The other one was Zhang shi, the wife of the Empress’s brother. It had been quite a whilesinceMinglansawher.

The two women seemed close to each other and also looked the same.

Minglan tried her best to givea polite smile to them and then moved to a seat at thehighestspeed which was allowed by the imperial rules. After that, she raised her head elegantly and smiled to the noble lady in front of her. No soonerhadshe chatted with Zhang shithana maid walked into the room and announced loudly, “Pleasemoveto the Palace of Tranquility.”

Minglan felt her heartsinking, because Palace of Tranquility was the place whereEmpressDowager lived. The three of them stood up right away. Before they left, Zhang shi smiled to Minglan, “This is my mother.” Actually, Minglan had already guessed it out.Then she gave her obeisance to Zhang shi’s mother right away, “Duchess Ying, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Duchess Ying held Minglan’s hand gracefully. While she was walking, shemeasuredMinglan with her eyes and chuckled gently, “You really are beautiful. They all said that Tingye has married a great woman. Onlytoday do I know that those words are true.”

Minglan then had to utter some modest words withared face.

It was not appropriate to talkmuch in the Royal Palace.Thenthey followed the maid silently. After a short while, they arrived at the Palace of Tranquility. After the maid reported their arrival, they enteredthe palace in succession. They knelt down,gave obeisance,andthen stood aside in silence.