Thanks to Sheng Hong, Minglan was lucky to witness the act of the angelic b.i.t.c.h for over ten years. Concubine Lin was able to irritate w.a.n.g shi very easily with all kinds of excuses. Minglan was certain that there had been a few times Concubine Lin wanted to receive the punishments such as standing or kneeling for a long time. Getting a few bruises would fit in with Concubine Lin"s wish even more. After that, when Sheng Hong came back, he would definitely have a serious quarrel with w.a.n.g shi.

Mama Fang said secretly that Concubine Lin"s treatment was far worse than before. At that time(before Yao Yiyi transmigrated to the ancient times), Concubine Lin didn"t need to do anything except for shedding tears in the presence of others(to imply how much grievance she had suffered) or staying sentimental(expressing how sad her life had been) or even putting on a sad look on her face. Then Sheng Hong would definitely get emotional and went to defend her against the injustice by reproaching w.a.n.g shi or presenting lots of gifts or money to Concubine Lin.

Minglan concluded: All the angelic b.i.t.c.hes needed one or a few men who were willing to protect them firmly. Those men were always easily moved by the concessions those angelic b.i.t.c.hes had made or the considerate words they had said and then continued to fight the forces of evil.

Actually, Minglan felt that Concubine Lin was not capable enough since the latter had only managed to instigate Sheng Hong to fight for her. The concubine in the top level was even able to draw the children of the madam to her side and let those kids speak out against injustice for the woman who had jeopardized their family. That really was impressive.

In a word, the fighting style of the angelic b.i.t.c.hes required them to hide behind others the whole time and ask for help from the "righteous persons". Once they went to the battlefield by themselves and made threatening gestures, they would be called not angelic b.i.t.c.hes but cannibals.

Therefore, Minglan felt excited somehow right now. She knew that she would run into lots of trouble in the next few days, but she was still expecting those things to happen in high spirits. She was really curious about what Old Madam Qin who was known as a wise and generous woman would do when there was no one she could use as her p.a.w.ns.

A few days after the funeral, Gu Tingye, with the paper which recorded how the family property would be divided in his hand, said straightly in front of everyone in the room, “I want to know when Fourth and Fifth Uncle will move? If you need help, just tell me. I"ll definitely lend my hand.”

Fifth Old Master who had had a hard time lately got furious at once when hearing that, “Boy, are you trying to drive us away now?”

Gu Tingye did not even bother to utter a word. He shook his sleeves in anger and took the hand of Minglan who was pretending to be a tame girl. Then, they both left.

As the saying goes, “Great waves are able to sweep away sand”. Only at a critical moment like this would everyone expose their true colors.

After Gu Tingye had acted arrogantly, Fifth Old Master who still had the conceit of a scholar showed his backbone right away by insisting on moving away in a loud voice. He even said decisively, “Even if you want me to be here, I won"t stay anymore.” Hearing that, Fifth Old Madam felt quite anxious. After failing to persuade her husband, she could only stall the time with the excuse: the mansion which was distributed to us has been empty for too long, it should be at least furnished or repaired for a while.

Gu Tingyang who had been threatened in the Imperial Prison had been hiding in his room drinking and having fun with his beautiful concubines and maids all day long. He never came out. Madam Yang didn"t say anything as always. Since the members of the Fifth family couldn"t reach an agreement, Gu Tingdi and his wife could only prepare for moving at a very slow speed.

Hearing that story, Minglan smiled and turned around, “Like I said, Fifth Uncle truly is a lofty person, but Fifth Aunt is a hypocrite.”

Gu Tingye said, “When Sister-In-Law Yang married into the Gu family, someone said that Fifth Uncle is not sophisticated enough but always keeps his promise as a n.o.bleman. However, Fifth Aunt is just a mother who pampers her child too much.”

Minglan agreed with that a lot. Then she couldn"t help but ask, “Who said that?”

With a gloomy look on Gu Tingye"s face, he replied sadly, “My father.”

In contrast with the chaos in the Fifth family, the Fourth family seemed quite peaceful. Fourth Old Master lay on the bed moaning and groaning all day to "recover his body" as if he didn"t hear Gu Tingye"s words that day. The whole family also kept silent the whole time.

Minglan twitched her mouth without giving any comments on the people of the Fourth family, feeling contempt for them inwardly.

After around half a month, Old Madam Qin gradually recovered from her "illness" and started to visit all the members of the Gu family. She coaxed and comforted them and persuaded the people of the Fourth and the Fifth family to stay sincerely. She also told them that Gu Tingye only uttered those words casually that day and everyone should not take them to heart.

When Minglan came to give obeisance to Old Madam Qin, the latter mentioned this again.

“It has been a hundred days since Tingyu pa.s.sed away, so it is not inappropriate to begin construction. Since His Majesty has already granted you the land between our mansion and the Cheng Manor, when are you and Tingye planning to break the wall and combine the two mansions?”

Minglan knew she would ask that and replied smilingly, “The land and the wall will not run away. There"s no hurry to do that.”

The look in Old Madam Qin"s eyes changed, and she fiddled with the beads on her bracelet, “I know there"s no hurry, but you have to make a plan. It"s not right to leave it like this all the time. We are a family after all, the wall between our mansions shouldn"t exist.”

Minglan covered her face with her sleeve and chuckled, “Old Madam, what are you talking about? The Gu"s people live in Jinling, the Qing City and the capital. There are so many walls which separate all our family members, but it doesn"t mean that we are not relatives. We are tied by blood. Once anyone in our family runs into a problem, we will do our best to help. A wall wouldn"t influence our blood relationship. You have considered too much.”

Old Madam Qin got dazed first and then forced a smile, “That"s right.” After pausing for a while, she showed a distressed look again, “There"s another thing. Your Fourth and Fifth Uncle did have made mistakes at that time, but now those are all bygones, we should hang the inscribed board of our mansion again. These days, I"ve always dreamed of Tingye"s father and couldn"t help but feel ill at ease. Now our family has regained our influence relying on Tingye"s power. Otherwise, otherwise… I don"t dare to meet his father when I die.” Saying this, she already got tears in her eyes.

Most of the people would be touched by that look of an elder. However, Minglan only looked outside the window while saying slowly, “Is it Old Master"s wish? I don"t think so. No one has treated his last words seriously, right?”

Hearing that, Old Madam Qin changed the look on her face right away.

Gu Tingye was never the person who would submit to humiliation. Since he had already pleaded for the people of the Gu family and held the funeral for Gu Tingyu, which gave him a lot of grievances, he had straightly exposed all the things in front of Gu"s clansmen who were from Jinling and the Qing City to vent his anger.