Hongxiao and Qiuniang, flushed with shame, both stood up and apologized . Qiuniang murmured in terror, “It’s all my fault . ” 

Hongxiao sobbed in a low voice, “Madam, you are right . Before . . . Alas, there’s no need to say that . Now that Young Lady Rong is with her father and mother now, she’ll be nursed with great care . ”

“Children love to sleep . She just needs to be taken good care of . We can feed her with the foods of nutrition, ease her anxiety and let her exercise more . I believe she’ll be fine . ” Minglan fiddled with the tea cup slowly and continued, “Tell her to sleep longer in the morning . She’ll be livelier after eating the breakfast . Then you three can come to give obeisance to me . I’ll ask someone to send a stew to your yard . You two should supervise Rong eating it . Qiuniang, please pay more attention to Rong’s diet . ”

Qiuniang answered right away .

Minglan turned to Hongxiao while asking in a tender tone, “You have raised this girl since she was five . Tell me, is she able to read or write now? How many words does she recognize? Has she finished learning the ‘Three Character Primer’”?

Hongxiao trembled right away . She glanced at Minglan then at Rong and stuttered, “Well . . . Actually . . . Young Lady Rong has been in poor health . I didn’t dare to urge her to study . Now . . . she seems . . . to know around ten words . ”

Hearing that, Minglan pulled a long face . Hongxiao, as panicky as she was, stood aside without daring to say anything . Then Minglan eased her tone, “I never expect Rong to be full of knowledge like her aunt Tingcan . However, in a family like ours, Rong, as a lady, should at least not be unlettered . Before the three of you came, I heard that Concubine Gong is a cultured woman from a scholar’s family . At that time, I thought that our Rong was so lucky to have Concubine Gong teaching her manners and knowledge . However, now . . . ”

Minglan sighed deeply and glanced at Hongxiao with a reproachful look in her eyes . Under the gaze like that, Hongxiao didn’t even have the gut to raise her head . Minglan paused for a second and then continued, “They say past is the past . From today, I need you to take charge of her study! You don’t want Rong to be like this when our relatives and friends visit us, do you? We cannot let her stay in the inner yard forever . ”

Hearing Minglan’s reproach, Hongxiao was too ashamed to raise her head . Hongxiao had just claimed yesterday that Old Madam Qin had asked her to take care of Rong . Now those words were like a slap on her face . In the meantime, Qiuniang didn’t even dare to breathe heavily . Minglan said in a stern tone with a serious look, “It’s reasonable for Rong to be shy with me, but she has lived with the two of you for years . Since Old Madam Qin has entrusted her to you, you need to be responsible to her!” Hongxiao and Qiuniang answered with fear . Having instructed a few other things to them, she ordered someone to walk the three of them to the House of Cardamon Fragrance . Only until then did Danju and Xiaotao who had stayed in the inner room breathe a sigh of relief .

Danju walked out smilingly with a few hairpins in her hand . Then she anch.o.r.ed the hairpins into Minglan’s hair while saying, “Even Concubine Lin never dared to talk about rules in front of Madam w.a.n.g . How dare the two of them say that! Madam, you did a right thing by threatening them, otherwise they would a.s.sume you as a soft madam!”

Minglan sighed reluctantly . In fact, she really hated to take advantage of her power . However, that measure really worked with some people . If she treated them softly, they would easily cross the line . “I can only sleep until the Chen Hour (7 a . m . ) from now on . . . ” Minglan sighed regrettably .

Danju put on a long face and started to scold, “Forgive me for saying this! Ever since you got married, you have lived such a lazy life . I never saw you being so leisured even when we were back in the Sheng family . You have to collect yourself, Madam! There are so many people expecting to see you making mistakes!”

Seeing Danju showing fight will on her face, Minglan couldn’t help but feel a bit bashful .

Towards midday, Gu Tingye got off work and went back to the mansion . Minglan helped him get undressed and change into a casual suit . Then she asked someone to set the meal on the table on the brick bed which was covered with a mat knitted by cotton and silk . The couple started to eat lunch in the light breeze which wafted the smell of flowers . Gu Tingye took a sip of the clear wine and said with a smile, “How are you this morning?”

“Perfect . ” Minglan blinked and answered, “For the first time in my life, I had someone giving obeisance to me . ”

Gu Tingye looked at her rosy pretty face and said smilingly, “That’s not difficult . When you and I have dozens of sons, their future wives will definitely give obeisance to you . Your daughters-in-law will have to get in line to give their obeisance to you . Just imagine what it will look like!”

Minglan goggled at him while saying, “You are not the one who has to experience ten month’s of pregnancy . It’s not like you can make babies by talking . ” She didn’t hate giving birth to children . However, she needed to be sure that she was in a good condition when she was pregnant . After all, there was no department of gynecology and obstetrics in ancient times . She didn’t plan to lose half of her life for giving birth to a child .

Gu Tingye said in a low voice with a teasing look on his face, “I did more than talking . ”

“We are in the middle of lunch!” Minglan blushed right away .

“The desire for food and s.e.x is part of human nature . Well done, honey . ” Gu Tingye said that slowly .

Minglan glared at him for a long while, then she couldn’t hold her laughter anymore and said, “You! You . . . Gosh, I wish your daughter could be half barefaced as you do!”

The look on Gu Tingye’s face turned depressed, he said, “Rong . . . is still like that?”

“She doesn’t talk, she turns a deaf ear to everyone, she doesn’t know how to read at the age of eight, she hasn’t learned the needlework yet . And I really don’t expect her to be able to receive guests . It’s like she has been neglected the whole time . ” Minglan continued after pondering for a whie, “You said she had a strong character when she was younger . Now I think the reason why she’s so dispirited is . . . eh . . . these year . . . Since she’s with us right now, we’ll help her to recover . ”

“ . . . Manniang, what a cruel-hearted woman!” With an ironic look on his face, Gu Tingye continued, “What are you planning to do?”

“Wait . ” Minglan answered resolutely, “Wait until she grows up, until she figures out that time is the best cure for everything . I believe she’ll be fine after a month, or a year, or even several years . Today I have ordered Qiuniang to take care of her diet and daily life . I also told Concubine Gong to teach Rong to read . The most important thing for her is getting strong first . When she gets older, we can find her a good teacher . ” Even a modern girl like Minglan had also become a decent lady in the ancient times after ten years’ of training, so she still had confidence in Rong .

Gu Tingye frowned . Actually, he didn’t have too many ways either . When he had been a little boy, every time he had been naughty or lost his temper, Old Master Gu would flog him right away . However, Gu Tingye couldn’t do the exact same thing to his daughter .

Minglan continued, with a helpless look on her face, “All the ladies from famous families have n.o.ble temperaments by living an extravagant life . They eat the best food, wear the most expensive clothes and are served by the most reverent servants . It is said that one’s living condition could change his temperament . Those ladies’ n.o.ble and imposing characters are all influenced by environment . ”

Gu Tingye nodded slowly, showing his agreement . Minglan’s words sounded rough but were reasonable . Also, he could sense her kindness when she talked about that . Then he smiled and said, “I’m just afraid that she’s so stubborn and not willing to be filial to you . ”

“I don’t need her to be filial to me . ” Minglan seemed not mind about that .

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