In the last year of her previous life, there had been no water supply in the mountain area where she had lived . Yao Yiyi had to fetch water by herself in the well . The rough well rope had worn through her hands which should be used for holding pens, and the wounds on her hands turned into calluses . At that time, she had to walk for five or six hours a day . Every night when she took off her shoes, she would see bleeding blisters all over her feet . After soaking her feet in the cold water, she only felt terribly painful . When she wore the high heels, the sole of her feet would hurt . After she changed into sneakers, it was her heels that hurt . Her legs kept trembling like the feeble string . When she lay on the bed, she even couldn’t feel her legs .

As a modern girl, every time she got tired, she would just fall into sleep . In the meantime, she felt at ease because she knew that she did have helped some people . She even dreamed about showing off her heroic stories in front of those girls who couldn’t even tell the green onions and garlics apart in the cla.s.smate reunion . Yao Yiyi could even wire a fence!

However, now she had lots of maids serving her, she didn’t feel joyful because of the satisfaction brought by tiredness anymore . Even if she still got exhausted sometimes, she only felt anxious and worried all the time . After all, the political circle wasn’t very steady lately .

The politics in the ancient times often accompanied with deaths . Minglan had witnessed the guilty officials being taken to the capital under escort in chains and the families of the guilty officials being broken up and ruined . The ladies who had used to have tea and chat with her had been sentenced to Jiao Fang (A government inst.i.tution below Ministry of Rites that is responsible for music, dance, etc . performances for feasts and celebrations, also an official brothel) and even become prost.i.tutes due to the sins of their fathers or brothers .

Every time Minglan thought of that, she felt very grateful to her father . Sheng Hong wasn’t greedy for the official ranks, he never seized any chance to seek private gain, nor did he squander wantonly . He could be considered an upright official, but was also very sophisticated . Not matter how many mistakes he had made or how many shortcomings he had, he had fulfilled his duty as a man in ancient times by offering his wife and children safe and wealthy lives .

Speaking of the Sheng family, a few days ago, Minglan had sent the festival gift to her parents’ family since the Dragon Boat Festival was coming . After that, Xiaotao had come back with the news that Sheng Hong and w.a.n.g shi had been bickering again because of the arrangement of Changfeng’s marriage .

Though Changfeng was an illegal son, his good-looking face, his graceful manners and his refined style of conversation made him very attractive (He was just like a younger version of Sheng Hong who had captivated w.a.n.g shi’s mother the moment he had shown up) . As young as he was, he already become a Ju Ren (the candidate who pa.s.sed the imperial exam at the provincial level) . Not only were his brother and father very competent, his sisters all married to big families . So it was only a matter of time that he pa.s.sed the Imperial Exam . Therefore, after Sheng Hong had leaked words about his intention of letting Changfeng get married, lots of families responded right away .

However, Sheng Hong knew what kind of a person Changfeng was . Thus he said that the personality of Changfeng’s future wife should be the prime factor taken into account . The family background of the girl didn’t need to be very powerful, but the girl herself had to be virtuous, cultured and steeped in propriety . It would be better if she could have a rough character .

“A boy like Feng needs someone to discipline him . ” Sheng Hong said implicitly, “His wife should be able to control the overall situation for him (like withstanding her mean mother-in-law’s bullying) and restrain his misconducts (stop him from ignoring his study for those love affairs)!”

w.a.n.g shi was stunned how specific Sheng Hong’s requirements were . Then she teased him scornfully, “Master, why don’t you find Feng a mother?”

“I never expected you to find him a wife anyway . ” Sheng Hong said in anger . Even if he trusted that w.a.n.g shi had a good intention, he didn’t trust her judgement of people .

--After hearing that, Minglan buried her head into her quilts while laughing . She could even picture the scene of Sheng Hong and w.a.n.g shi quarreling .

However, Sheng Hong couldn’t go to visit Changfeng’s future wife by himself . So he had to ask Old Madam Sheng for help . However, Old Madam Sheng was enjoying raising her great grand-son and playing with her great grand-daughter lately and didn’t want to get involved . As a result, Sheng Hong was still trying to persuade her .

Actually, if Concubine Lin hadn’t ruined herself by her own wisdom, Sheng Hong actually adored Molan and Changfeng a lot . It was true that one should never be too greedy . . . When Danju brought dinner into the room, she saw Minglan already fall asleep with a brochure in her hands . Then Danju put a blanket on Minglan and stepped out .

At the end of the Xu Hour (9 p . m), Gu Tingye and his personal guards arrived at the estate at top speed . Those military guys who had just come back from the parade ground all looked tall and strong on their fine horses with combative looks which they used to have on the battlefields . As Ba Laofu saw those men, he behaved even more obediently and smiled until his face went stiff . He kept bowing to Gu Tingye when he led the latter to the room .

All the servants in the Estate led the horses into the stable right away . The rest of the guards went to take a rest in the side rooms . As they walked on the road, they suddenly saw Gongsun Meng and the Tu Brothers stepping forward to greet them .

“Brother Xie!” After Gongsun Meng shouted that, he put a hand on a young man who was around twenty and said warmly, “You guys finally came!” Xie Ang turned around and patted Gongsun Meng with his large hands smilingly, “Meng!” As Xie Ang saw the two men behind Gongsun Meng, he said loudly, “Big Brother Tu, Second Brother Tu!”

Tu Long was a strong man around thirty . There was a scar extending from his forehead to his nose, which made his smile look very scary . He laughed loudly and said, “Don’t feel proud of yourself! Meng wasn’t concerned about you . He’s concerned about what happened on the parade ground . ”

Hearing that, Gongsun Meng got depressed right away, “My uncle didn’t allow me to go . I thought that protecting Madam was an important task too . However, Madam only told me to escort the luggage with those maids!”

“You don’t know how lucky you are!” Tu Hu said with a cheeky grin, “Your uncle meant good for you . You have to study hard and practice martial arts diligently . Then you can pa.s.s the imperial martial exam! My brother and I couldn’t read, the exam is never going to be our thing!”

Although Gongsun Meng was very tall, he was only fourteen years old now . So this boy stopped feeling down right away and only asked Xie Ang everything happening in the parade ground .

“By the way, Brother Xie, it’s already very late . Why did you guys come back here anyway?”

Xie Ang kept walking while saying with a smile, “General Gu doesn’t feel safe about this place . We don’t know the details about this Estate anyway . ”

“Stop covering up for him . How could General Gu not feel safe about this place with all those guards here?” Tu Hu said in a low voice and grinned, “I guess General Gu just missed Madam so much . ”

“How dare you gossip about General Gu!” Tu Long glared at his brother and scolded, “It’s easy to explain . Madam has lots of affairs to handle in this Estate . General Gu was afraid that Madam was too young to hold everyone in awe, so he came here to back her up . ”

“Madam is more intimidating than General thought!” Gongsun Meng shouted, “Madam is even more strict than my uncle when she lectured me to study! I couldn’t say a word to retort her!”

He remembered one day, Minglan had said to him smilingly, “Pang Juan and Sun Bin are both Gui Guzi’s disciples . Pang Juan who didn’t like to read books quit studying and went to lead troops as a general . Sun Bin studied hard and finished his study at last . When he left school, he defeated Pang Juan easily . Meng, you want to be Pang Juan or Sun Bin?”

Meng had got dazed for a while and then asked, “Pang Juan was defeated by Sun Bin because he didn’t study hard?”

Sir Gongxun, who was also Meng’s uncle had stroked his beard while chiming in smilingly, “That’s right!”

The day before, Meng mumbled that he wanted to escort Gu Tingye or Minglan instead of those luggage . Minglan still persuaded him with a smile, “Meng, tell me, which one is more important, the objects or the people?”

“The people, of course!”

“Whose martial skills are better, yours or the Tu Brothers’?”

“It’s the Tu Brothers’, of course . ”

Then Minglan stopped talking while staring at Meng as if she was staring at a five-years-old kid . She even shook her head pitifully .

Sir Gongxun still stroked his beard and said, “That’s right . ”

Every time Meng faced a situation like this, he would feel himself like a child . He, as dejected as he was, could only shrink in the corner in a daze . Only after a long while would he come back to sense .

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