w.a.n.g shi covered her face with a handkerchief and sobbed in a lower voice, “Of course I don"t dare to interfere with the men"s business, but this is relevant to Changbai! He, he… I heard that most of the people in that area are brutal, Changbai has never met someone like them…”

“Shut up! What the h.e.l.l do you know!” Old Madam Sheng, furious at w.a.n.g shi"s foolishness, held the tea cup in her hand tightly and even wished that she could throw it to w.a.n.g shi to wake the latter up, “Although County Ze is remote, it also means that it is not a vital communication hub. Since that place is not so important, there wouldn"t be any conflict of interests. As long as Changbai could be safe and healthy, he can develop the place, help the people there build up strength, build bridges, pave the roads and encourage farming. By doing that, he will make a lot of achievements. What do you want him to do in those wealthy places? Seek money?”

w.a.n.g shi got dazed hearing that, “Rea, really…?”

Seeing that, Old Madam Sheng could only sigh, “Do you think the lives of the magistrates in those wealthy counties are easy? The human relations are extremely complicated and all sorts of forces are hard to deal with in a land flowing with milk and honey. Our family hasn"t gained a strong foothold now, Changbai will be restrained in so many ways and live a difficult life in those rich places.”

w.a.n.g shi gradually stopped crying, still with a worried look on her face, seeming not fully convinced. Old Madam Sheng then got impatient and said straightly, “This thing is already settled. You should stop exaggerating in case Changbai and his wife would feel ill at ease when they leave home. Don"t scare them.”

“They will leave together? Changbai"s wife will go with him?” What concerned w.a.n.g shi really was strange. As she rubbed her eyes, she grasped the second key point at once and complained,

“A daughter-in-law should stay at home to serve her father-in-law and mother-in-law!”

“Of course they will go together!” Old Madam Sheng glared at w.a.n.g shi and cursed, “Do you think that remote place is the paradise? Will you feel at ease if Changbai doesn"t have his wife taking care of him there? You really want him to go there alone? Shut your mouth and let me continue. Do not let him marry a concubine at once, it will only bring him trouble on the road. Why don"t you find a few considerate servants and maids for the couple?”

Hearing that, w.a.n.g shi blushed at once and lowered her head with embarra.s.sment. Then Old Madam Sheng added with a sarcastic look, “Don"t worry, if a man wants to marry a concubine, his wife will never be able to stop him. Now I want you to stop stirring up trouble. If you have nothing else to do, why don"t you visit Rulan more often? She"s going to give birth to her baby soon.”

Minglan stood by the side with her head lowered the whole time. Now that her grandma was reproaching her mother, it was inappropriate for her to chime in, let alone that she totally agreed with Old Madam Sheng"s words. Mrs. w.a.n.g was like a clock which always malfunctioned at the critical time without fixing.

After they had chatted for a while, Old Madam Sheng rushed w.a.n.g shi into greeting Gu Tingye, saying that Gu Tingye seldom came to the Sheng"s mansion and that w.a.n.g shi should at least make a greeting to him. Having heard that, w.a.n.g shi went to her room to wash her face and put on make-up.

Old Madam Sheng kept Minglan in the House of Peaceful Ages. After they chatted on the household stuff for a short time, Old Madam Sheng went straight to the point, “I heard that the people of Marquis Ningyuan"s family will divide up family property soon. Hasn"t His Majesty allocated funds to your family for the construction work of the new mansion? It has been two months, why haven"t you combined the two mansions?”

Minglan gave a wry smile. She knew that Old Madam Sheng would ask her that, so she just told the truth directly, “We thought about dividing up the family property long ago. Tingye would never agree to live with those people. However, we still haven"t figured out the excuse to drive them away… Alas.”

No one had expected that.

When Gu Tingyu was about to breathe his last, all the relatives of the Gu family in Jin Ling and City Qing had arrived at Marquis Ningyuan"s mansion. However, at that time, Gu Tingyu suddenly struggled to get up from his sickbed and took out two pieces of paper from his pillow in front of everyone.

On one piece of the paper was written all the detailed property of Marquis Ningyuan"s family, including the estates, the silvers, the stores and the valuable objects which had been handed down by their ancestors ever since he inherited the t.i.tle.

At that moment, Old Madam Qin"s face turned a bit pale.

The other piece of paper was an old copy that Gu Tingye"s grandpa and grandma wrote about thirty years ago when they planned to divide up family property, which stipulated how much property including the estates, the silvers and farmlands would be allocated to the few legal families(the First, Fourth and Fifth family) and the illegal families(they had already moved out of Marquis Ningyuan"s mansion).

The people of the Fourth and Fifth Family changed the look on their faces at once.

Gu Tingyu asked his uncles to check the seal on the paper while he could still breathe.

Although at that time he had already been at his last gasp, his mind was quite clear and his speech was flawless, “Second Brother has wandered outside for years, there are so many things in the family he doesn"t understand. Now I feel it necessary to make things clear to him. As long as he could take good care of our family, father will rest in peace.”

The room fell into silence. Everyone was clear about what he was up to.

“… The former Master of the Gu"s family, truly was an outstanding man.” Old Madam Sheng said slowly with her eyes half closed.

Minglan sighed, “Tingye… was annoyed about this.”

Gu Tingye had the confidence that he was able to cope with those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds although he knew that it would be hard and he would inevitably court the criticism of others. However, Gu Tingyu had helped him deal with those people, at the risk of offending Old Madam Qin.

Now, Gu Tingye had to remember that favor, even if he didn"t want to.

“Are they willing to leave?” Old Madam Sheng asked in a low voice while leaning against the back of the chair.

“They have to be, even if they don"t want to.” The clear answer sounded quite indifferent.

Old Madam Sheng suddenly opened her eyes and stared at Minglan straightly with a shrewd look, saying in a heavy voice, “What will you do?”

Minglan stood straight proudly and said with a smile, “Now, we have the Red Iron Edict and the inscribed board which was presented by His Majesty. As long as they don"t leave, I won"t demolish the walls of the Cheng Manor. They want to live with us together? Only in their dreams!”

“So…” Old Madam Sheng changed to a calmer look and asked with interest.

“I can stall for time, so can Tingye and all the people in the Gu"s family except for…” Minglan suddenly chuckled gently, “Lady Tingcan.”

If Gu Tingcan still wanted to marry into a decent family, she"d better hurry now, otherwise she would really become an old lady then.

Old Madam Qin was good at playing innocent while using others as her shield all her life.

This time, Old Madam Qin would have to get rid of her own helpers on her own. As the whole thing came to light, everyone"s true colors would be exposed. If Old Madam Qin wanted to fight Minglan in the future, she would have to do it all by herself. By then, Minglan would be willing to take that challenge!

After a long while, Old Madam Sheng smiled tenderly, “This is what you want?”

Minglan replied with a firm look, “He gives me honor and trust, I can not enjoy happiness without doing anything.”