The Legend of the Concubine’s Daughter - Chapter 214

Old Madam Qin sighed slightly with pitiful look on her face. Then she said to Minglan, “Your Eldest Sister-in-law and I have no other ways. I have to ask a favor from you today. When you go back to your mansion, can you ask Tingye to help with your Eldest Brother’s disease? He knows lot of people. Just tell him to find a great doctor who can treat his poor brother.”

Hearing that, with Madam Shao’s eyes brightened, she looked at Minglan earnestly as if she got hopeful again. Minglan’s heart jolted all of a sudden. Ever since she had entered into this room, she had been one hundred percent alert. Having pondered for a short while, she said gently, “Of course. But I’d like to know which doctors my sister-in-law have already invited. I don’t want Tingye to find the same doctors. That will only hold the treatment up.”

Madam Shao found her words quite reasonable. Then she started to told the name of the doctors she had invited one by one. As she was saying that, she also got depressed– She had visited all the famous doctor families in the capital and the famous clinics in Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Hebei Provinces. She had invited the president of the imperial hospital and also the well-known country doctors. Over the two to three decades, she had nearly invited all the doctors that could come.

After saying that, Madam Shao saw the awkward expression on Minglan’s face. Then she knew that the thing she had asked for was beyond Minglan’s power.

“We will still look for doctors, that’s for sure. But…” Minglan thought for a while and then said cautiously, “As the saying goes, people of the same kind fall into the same group. The people Tingye often meet with everyday are all his brothers in the army. And the doctors he’s able to find are only good at traumatic injuries. Old Madam is an experience woman, Third Sister-in-law’s parents have lived in the capital for a long time. And don’t forget about our uncles and aunts. We can gather together to think where we can find a good doctor. As long as we have a name, Tingye will come to invite that doctor. I mean, putting our heads together is better than thinking of a way by yourself.” Gu Tingye might not know about any outstanding doctor, but if they give him a name, he might be able to invite that doctor over easily because of the influence he had.

Madam Shao understood what Minglan had tried to imply and agreed on that by nodding and saying, “It’s the best we can do.”

With light flashing in Old Madam Qin’s eyes, she glanced at Minglan and sighed, “Your Eldest Brother only have two brothers. I hope Tingye could come more often to visit his Eldest Brother. Maybe Tingyu will get better.”

Minglan smiled shyly and replied, “I’ll talk to Tingye when I go back.”

Seeing her answering so quickly, the other women had nothing else to say. Zhu shi couldn’t help but size up her new sister-in-law carefully. Right now Minglan was sitting there quietly. Most of the time she only listened to others and chip in from time to time. She never talked too much and only talked about the necessary things. Every words came out from her mouth were rather reserved. She seemed to have agreed to everything but actually agreed to nothing.

Zhi shi gave out a wry smile secretly, feeling that her mother-in-law’s plan might come to nothing.

Suddenly, the maids outside the room reported loudly, “Young Lady Rong is here.” The four women turned their heads, seeing Gong Hongxiao and Qiuniang entering the room. Rong who wore a light yellow jacket embroidered with chrysanthemum was walking ahead of the two women. The little girl still seemed feeble with her head lowered, speaking nothing.

“Come give obeisance to your mother.” Zhu shi said that with a smile.

Rong lowered her head and gave her obeisance. When she squatted down, she couldn’t help sway, seeming unwilling to do so. Then she said in a very low voice, “Madam.”

The girl’s stubbornness made Qiuniang sighed slightly. The latter also bowed to Minglan gently. Meanwhile, the quick-witted Gong Hongxiao stepped forward and gave her obeisance affably with her lovely voice, “Madam, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Minglan nodded to the three of them smilingly, saying, “I heard from Third Madam that you have all packed your large cases. Now go pack your other things and we can go back to the Cheng Manor today.”

Qiuniang was completely overjoyed, eyes filled with happiness. Gong Hongxiao raised her head to look at Minglan and bit her lips. It seemed that she wished to speak something but stopped on a second thought. Minglan, bothered to hear what she would say, pretended not to see that. However, Old Madam Qin said kindly, “Second Madam is a nice woman. You can tell her everything.”

Gong Hongxiao bowed to Minglan while saying in a reverent tone, “I want to bring two of my maids with me, they are called Jinxi and Wu’er… They have come to this mansion with me when I got married. I, I don’t want to leave them…” Her voice sounded lower and lower.

Minglan noticed keenly that Rong turned her head to look at Gong Hongxiao quickly and then lowered her head immediately.

Hearing that, Old Madam Qin looked at Minglan with a smile while making eye-contact with Minglan. The latter replied with a smile and said, “As long as Old Madam and Eldest Sister-in-law agreed with that, I won’t say no.”

Old Madam Qin, having nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the two concubines of Gu Tingye and said to Minglan softly, “Their lives haven’t been easy over these years. Tingye left for so long and they never heard from him ever since then. Since we didn’t know what happened to him, the two stubborn women insisted on waiting for him. Alas… I know you have good heart. Please show mercy to them if they make any mistake in the future for the sake of their affection to Tingye.”

Her words were full of compassion and kindness. Hongxiao and Qiuniang, as grateful as they felt right now, both looked at Old Madam Qin with their eyes filled with tears.

Gu Tingye had left Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion for three years. However, how the two concubines had been treated during the first two years was completely different how they had been treated during the last year. Minglan, having been impressed how Old Madam Qin had managed to utter those hypocritical words so fluently and naturally, made up her mind to learn from her mother-in-law. After that, she copied Old Madam Qin’s sincere tone and soft voice, showing a beaming smile on her pretty face while saying, “Don’t worry, mother, even if you don’t say so, I would never mistreat them!”

Old Madam Qin held Minglan’s hand with an amiable smile in her eyes, “Good girl!”

Zhu shi covered her mouth and chuckled. Madam Shao put on a satisfied look on her face. Hongxiao and Qiuniang expressed their thanks reverently. Hongxiao even took out a handkerchief to wipe the tears on the corner of her eyes to add more emotional factors to the scene. The maids who stood by the sides all grinned. It seemed that everyone had assumed that the harmonious atmosphere was real. As the saying went, life was like a play– Minglan felt that she did have a harmonious day.