Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Molan was pregnant, but she had no idea that Minglan was holding a grudge against Lin Qige for what happened to her mother in the past. She only found out about this when Ruolan came to visit her.

Rulan sighed, looking very strange, "After all these years, I finally realized that the situation in our family is abnormal."

"Most of the families outside have many wives and concubines, and many children, but there are almost no ones who favor concubines over wives, and there are no legitimate children who are almost the same as illegitimate children. So I really don't know what Minglan has been thinking all these years. Why does she think that she should be superior to her brothers and sisters?"

Molan couldn't help but sigh, "Maybe she didn't want to admit that she wasn't loved by either Daddy or Madam. I still remember some of what happened to Madam Wei. It seemed that when the eldest sister was betrothed, Minglan wore a thin, ill-fitting dress and wandered around the eldest madam's yard. Then Daddy found out that Madam Wei's share of the salary was deducted."

"But later my mother said that only two points of the share in their courtyard were deducted from the share in front of Wei Xiaoniang, and no one had ever touched the things in front of Minglan. Finally, my father found out that Minglan's share and her mother's share were sold by her mother for more than half to help the Wei family."

Rulan suddenly realized, "So she really has nothing, that's why she made such a fuss!"

But Rulan immediately thought of Old Madam Sheng, "That's not right. Ever since Minglan was raised by the old lady, her life has been better than that of her elder sister. At least the old lady never thought of teaching her elder sister how to arrange flowers, make tea, or play polo. Instead, she taught Minglan all these things!"

Molan really doesn't know how to evaluate Old Lady Sheng, because this old lady claims to be clear-headed and wise, but in fact everything she does is very unexpected. Anyway, Molan doesn't think she is wise at all.

However, Molan can really say a few words about Minglan's affairs, "As the saying goes, if you don't return to your hometown when you are rich and powerful, it is like walking in the night in brocade clothes. I'm afraid that all the good things the old lady has done to Minglan are just like this to Minglan."

Rulan was even more confused. "Although the old lady hid her kindness to her, didn't Minglan also pretend to be so insincere all those years?! They had to do that, but no one forced them. In the end, it's all our fault!"

Molan could only reluctantly explain for Old Lady Sheng: "Perhaps it's because the old lady knows that she can't treat everyone equally, so she hides her preference for Minglan."

Rulan was amused by Molan's words. "People's hearts are biased, just like father favors you, the eldest sister and the fourth sister. Although I feel uncomfortable, I also know that although father favors you more, he has never treated me unfairly."

"I don't know why, but it seems like some things always change when they are in the hands of the old lady."

On the contrary, Ruolan has already made up her mind to stay away from Old Madam Sheng.

When Rulan left, Molan still packed a box of warming and nourishing medicinal herbs for Minglan and Old Madam Sheng. Of course, the gifts given to Rulan and other people in the Sheng family were not comparable to those given to Minglan and Old Madam Sheng. Rulan herself had two new sets of clothes made and a set of twelve-color paints.

Rulan went to Weirui Pavilion first after returning home. As soon as she saw Wang Ruofu, she took out a pair of small glass wine pots that had been stuck in an ice basin along the way. "These two bottles of wine, the bottles were specially found by Fourth Sister, and the wine was brewed by Fourth Brother-in-law himself! Fourth Sister also asked me to put them in an ice basin to cool them along the way, thinking that I could let you drink them when I come back."

The two flat glass bottles have lifelike Baoxiang flower patterns on the front and back, and are wrapped with silver honeysuckle ornaments on the four sides, making them look delicate and lovely, especially against the purple-red wine inside.

Wang Ruofu almost couldn't bear to drink after seeing this. "This pair of glass bottles, even if they are just used as decorations, will be very impressive!"

Wang Ruofu thought about it, then turned around and told Mother Liu to find the white jade Guanyin statue that Wang Ruoyu had compensated her for and send it to Molan. The white jade Guanyin statue was something that Wang Ruoyu had extorted from her sister-in-law when she got married. Because she had snatched Ruolan's marriage, this thing was sent to the Sheng family as an apology.

When Rulan heard that Wang Ruofu was going to send a white jade statue of Guanyin, she didn't dare to mention Molan's promise to help her find a suitable man among the newly-appointed Jinshi. However, Xi Que and Huang Ying were very concerned about her marriage. When Rulan returned to her own courtyard, she turned around and told Mama Liu about this, which naturally reached Wang Ruofu's ears.

For this reason, Wang Ruofu quickly added another box of rubies and sapphires to send to Molan.

And what Molan said about seeing Rulan was not discounted at all. Shi Ying was an important minister of the emperor and a graduate of the imperial examination system. Although he was suddenly promoted three levels for his contribution in saving the emperor and was criticized by others, his character and talent were truly outstanding. Therefore, although the new spring examination was postponed to summer because of the rebellion of Prince Yong and Prince Yan, Shi Ying actually attracted many more candidates who came to visit him.

Shi Ying was only a new nobleman with shallow roots. Even many people in the court were wondering whether Shi Ying could maintain his current status and royal favor after the emperor passed away and Crown Prince Zhao Zongquan ascended the throne.

Molan and Shi Ying both knew all this, so when the government asked Shi Ying to be responsible for arranging the candidates who had come from afar and missed the spring examination, Shi Ying accepted the task without any hesitation. Not only did he accommodate those candidates who had come from afar and were embarrassed because of the delay, he also created a very comfortable environment for them to prepare for the exam.

Fortunately, Molan was pregnant and it was not easy for her to go out to visit guests or entertain guests, and Shi Ying had ready-made excuses to turn down many invitations, so the couple had a really good time during this period.

When Molan was eight months pregnant, Shi Ying went to the Sheng family and asked Lin Qinshuang to come and help take care of Molan. Of course, she did not forget to invite Wang Ruofu, but Wang Ruofu knew that Molan would definitely want to spend more time with Lin Qinshuang, so she stayed for a few days. Seeing that Molan was fine, the couple had found a midwife, a wet nurse and a doctor, and arranged the delivery in an orderly manner, so she used the excuse that the Sheng family had something to do and went back first.

But she was still worried that the two newcomers, Molan and Shiying, would not be able to do the job, so before leaving she repeatedly told Molan to send a message to Jiying Lane when the attack took place so that she could come and take charge of the situation.

Wang Ruofu was purely considering Molan and Shi Ying, and Lin Qinshuang could only feel grateful, so she simply asked Wang Ruofu to keep a second-class maid by her side to help run errands and deliver messages when the time came. This made Wang Ruofu feel relieved.

After Wang Ruofu left, Lin Qinshuang couldn't help but sigh, "In the past, the Madam and I were really at loggerheads, but I didn't expect that things would change when it came to you and Rulan, and even the Madam and I reconciled."

Seeing that everyone around her was her friend, Molan spoke her mind, "In the final analysis, the conflict between you and the eldest lady was all caused by the old lady behind the scenes. If the old lady hadn't been thinking of you, you wouldn't have taken the risk of getting involved with Dad. And afterwards, the old lady had many ways to get you to leave, but she forced the eldest lady to drink your tea."