Minglan understood what her grandmother meant, but she shook her head and said, “Everyone out there knows about my ident.i.ty. So I don"t need to puff myself up. We still don"t know what will happen when I marry into that family. But I"m sure I can live with it even I don"t have a huge amount of dowry. But I"m more concerned about you. You are getting old and it"ll be better if you can keep more money with yourself, grandma.”

Old Madam Sheng was touched by Minglan"s words. However, she still said toughly, “I have my own savings. You don"t need to worry about me! I only prepared a large amount of dowry for you because you will marry into a family which is way more prestigious than us!”

Thinking of what Hualan had been through in Yuan family, Minglan spoke with a stern look, “Grandma, you have to listen to me. If I am a lucky girl, I won"t be worried about being short of money. If I don"t get lucky, I will only give all my dowries away no matter how much I have! I think you should save more money for yourself. Your body is not in a good condition, what if… what if the maids don"t take good care of you or hurt you by accident. The money will help you by then!”

Those words sounded harsh and even a bit unfilial. Minglan would never utter those things unless there was no other way. Old Madam Sheng understood Minglan"s thoughts. So she said in a low voice with tears welling up in the corner of her eyes, “It"s OK. They wouldn"t dare to treat me without respect!… Also, your eldest sister-in-law knows about the ethics. She is always filial to me. Now I only concern about you, foolish girl…”

With Minglan"s eyes also filled with tears, she pretended to be cheerful and said with a smile, “I heard from Xiaotao that there was a popular saying in their village which went, marrying a man, wearing his clothes and eating his dishes. After all, I will marry to a dignitary family, I won"t live in a poor and pedantic life!”

Old Madam Sheng burst into laughter when hearing of that. Then she straightened her face and said decidedly, “Fine! Since he has racked his brain to get you, he won"t let you starve!”

After that, they had a long conversation. And at last, they finalized that only the manor and the mountain forest would be in the dowry. Also, Old Madam Sheng insisted on presenting Minglan more silvers and a several boxes of precious cloth which were treasured up by her for years.

After all, the dowry was easy to be nailed down since it only included properties. The people who would go with Minglan to Gu family were harder to decide.

When Hualan had got married, she had gone to Yuan family with Caizan who had been sent by w.a.n.g shi and Cuichan who had been Old Madam Sheng"s favorite maid along with all the inferior servants and maids from the Luxuriant Pavilion. Ten years had pa.s.sed after that, Caizan had become a concubine and given birth to the eldest illegal son, which made her a threat to Hualan. Meanwhile, Cuichan had married to the most powerful steward in Yuan"s manor and become the most reliable maid of Hualan.

Molan was an exception. Neither w.a.n.g shi nor Old Madam Sheng had given her any maids. So Molan had only brought the servants and maids from the House of Mountain Moon with her.

Now it was Rulan and Minglan"s turn to get married. So w.a.n.g shi sent Caipei to Rulan and Caihuan to Minglan, like what she had done with Hualan. Old Madam Sheng sent Cuiping who was the most experienced one to Rulan. As for Minglan, she already had Xiaotao and Danju who had come from the Hall of Peaceful Ages. She also had the four girls who had been taught by Mama Fang. Also, Cuixiu would also come to Gu family with Minglan. Therefore, Old Madam Sheng didn"t send anyone else to Minglan.

Caihuan was a beautiful girl who had almond eyes and peach color cheeks. Old Madam Sheng got angry at the first glance of this pretty maid and said resentfully, “What is your mother up to?!”

Minglan comforted her at once, “Actually, this maid is not even as beautiful as Ruomei, not to mention me, a dazzling beauty who could make the fish sink and wild geese fall!”

Hearing what Minglan had said, Old Madam Sheng staggered and almost fell headlong from the bed.

Minglan was still pondering about the things about the maids when she came back to the House of Clear Dusk. She asked Danju, “Old Madam Sheng has already picked up the maids who would come to Gu family with me. I need you to ask if there is anyone who"s not willing to leave their parents or has already had a desirable man. Tell them this is the last chance for them to tell me that.”

Xiaotao who stood aside cut in hurriedly, “Danju and I will definitely follow you, lady!”

“Of course!” Minglan glared at her, saying, “You shut up. I"m asking Danju now!”

However, Danju showed a reluctant face while twisting her fingers. Minglan was stunned and asked, “You don"t want to come with me? If so, you can say it.”

Danju was freaked out. Then she waved her hands and replied immediately, “No, no, no! How can I leave you, my lady! It"s… Yancao and Ruomei.”

With Minglan"s eyebrows knitted, she said softly, “Just say it! There must have been lots of people asking you to put in good words for them.”

Even since she had been engaged with Gu Tingye, she suddenly became popular. Lots of maids and servants were eager to follow her to Gu family and wanted to send this message to Minglan. Xiaotao had a reputation for being naive and straightforward. Letting her send the message might get the opposite effect. Luzhi always had a sarcastic ridicule of her speech. Those maids and servants were all afraid of being sneered by her. As a result, Danju, as gentle and kind as she was, became the most suitable person to finish the task of pa.s.sing on the message.

With an embarra.s.sed expression showed on Danju"s face, she splattered, “Ruomei… was bought from the outside. Also there"s this thing with master Changfeng… now she only has you to rely on, my lady.”

Minglan was buried in her thoughts. Ruomei was the first one Mama Fang wanted to remove from the list. According to Mama Fang"s saying, Ruomei was too pretty and also knew how to read. A proud girl like that might cause trouble in the future.

“What about Yancao? Haven"t her parents already found a suitable guy for her?”

The expression on Danju"s face turned even more awkward. She said in a soft voice, “… she said she didn"t want to leave you, my lady. And she really wanted to serve you for a few more years.”

Hearing her words, even Minglan"s face turned darker.

Xiaotao had already made the bed and was using a green flower china incense burner to warm the room. Hearing their conversation, she turned around and said, “Yancao"s mother has entered into our manor a few days ago. I saw them whispering in the room for a long time. So, it turned out that they were talking about this.”

Being exposed all of a sudden, Danju felt embarra.s.ses immediately.

Minglan looked over and saw Danju lowering her head and standing silently. Then Minglan said slightly, “You are just too soft-hearted.” Danju who was totally panicky under Minglan"s gaze couldn"t hide herself anymore. Then she murmured, “We have grown up together. She told me that I couldn"t leave them alone when I got the chance to enjoy my happiness.”

Minglan"s heart sank as she heard that. After a moment of silence, she said, “We can bring Ruomei with us, but not Yancao.”

Danju showed a shocking look on her face. Minglan stared at her and continued, “… Let Luzhi to replace Yancao from tomorrow. Also, tell Yancao to get ready for her wedding. After all, she has served me for a long time, I won"t stint money on her dowry.”

Danju agreed to that. However, before she opened the curtain and left, she couldn"t help but turn around and say, “My lady, Yancao has been devoted to you during these years. And she hasn"t made any mistakes.” It had been ten years Danju had served Minglan. She knew that as easy-going as Minglan might seem, this fifth lady actually had a strong state of mind. Once Minglan had decided on something, it was hard to change her mind. Even so, Danju still wanted to try her best to help Yancao.

“I know.” Minglan sat in front of the mirror with her dainty and fair elbows resting on the table, saying slowly, “But I can"t stand her having such intentions. Where we are about to go is a powerful n.o.ble family. Sometimes even the innocent people could be tempted by the large profits, let alone she is someone who"s easy to be swayed. By doing this, I can still keep the friendship between me and her.”

Minglan was never scared of being tricked or betrayed. She"s just afraid that the one who did that to her was someone she trusted and loved.

In the beginning of February, the spring chill had gradually faded away. On the second day Wen Yanjing and Changfeng took the examination, w.a.n.g shi came back from Fengtian. Although she seemed fatigued with the long journey, her florid face was still glowing with joy.

“My mother has suffered from coughing these days, so she won"t come to witness the weddings of the two girls. But she told me that she would bring your aunt and your cousins to come here when it gets warmer!” w.a.n.g shi said that with her eyebrows dancing with pleasure. Sheng Hong also chuckled with gladness as he heard w.a.n.g shi"s words.

The large crabapple stone Ruyi round table was fully piled up with furs and woolen cloths, which seemed quite expensive. There were also a few boxes of ginseng which were tied by red threads. w.a.n.g shi kept babbling, “… Here, here. These are all the gifts your grandmother gives you. Pick anything you like. Those furs are from the animals which were hunted in the last winter! Minglan, don"t stand there. Your grandmother missed you a lot. She said that you should also pick something from those gifts!” w.a.n.g shi had gained a complete victory this time she had come back to her mother"s family. After she had begged for her mother"s forgiveness while kneeling on the ground, her mother"s heart had been melted. At last, w.a.n.g shi and her mother had cried on each other"s shoulder and made up with each other.

Then Minglan stepped forward with a smile and went through those heavy furs with Rulan. Those stuffs touched soft and warm. So Minglan praised that the gifts were really high quality goods. However, as she talked, she kept wondering why w.a.n.g shi was in such a good mood. For what she knew about w.a.n.g shi, the reconciliation with w.a.n.g shi"s mother wouldn"t cheer this woman up that much. There had to be something bad happening to others which made w.a.n.g shi feel pleasant. Was it possible that cousin w.a.n.g and cousin Kang had a problem with their marriage? Maybe cousin Kang didn"t get along well with her mother-in-law?

As Minglan was thinking about that, Rulan approached to her abruptly and whispered to her ears, “Sixth sister, I don"t think cousin Kang was having a good time in w.a.n.g family!”

Minglan got amused. Then she tilted her head and whispered back to Rulan, “Great minds thing alike!”