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Disclaimer: I don't own the C-Drama "The Story of Minglan" nor any of its characters, all the rights go to their legitimate owners (there are a couple of OCs in this story but their role is very minor).
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Shen Minglan observed Rong’er worriedly as they ate lunch together that day. The woman had allowed her daughter to leave with her cousin, Xian’er, earlier that day because a servant had arrived with news of foreign merchants having arrived at the Capital the previous day, bringing a variety of exotic things with them. The girl had departed absolutely excited about the possible marvels she was about to see and returned absolutely dejected about what she actually saw, or at least that’s what Minglan had thought at first. However, watching her expression closely after they sat down for their meal, she felt there was something other than that at fault, Rong’er was more than dejected and, whatever it was that was actually bothering her, the girl didn’t seem willing to tell Minglan.
“What did you see at the market?” She asked.
“Nothing much” her daughter replied. "It was too crowded, we couldn’t come too close to any of the stalls.”
“I see” Minglan said. “I’ll send someone to search for those merchants later, perhaps there’s something you and Xian’er want to buy.”
The girl nodded unenthusiastically. “Mother, may I be excused? I don’t feel very well and I’m not very hungry.
Despite knowing that the girl was trying to avoid talking about what was bothering her, Minglan nodded. “You are excused, go to your room and rest for a while. If the pain continues after you wake up, I’ll send for a doctor.”
Nodding as well, Rong’er rose and left the table, followed by Xiaoyao, her new personal maid who was about her age. She hadn’t been with them too long, but Rong’er and her had grown very close, very fast. After they left, Cui Ru'an looked at her, clearly concerned about the girl as well.
“I’ve never seen our Young Mistress like that before” she said. “She’s always been a happy girl, what could’ve happened today.”
“I’m not sure” Minglan answered, taking another bite of the food. “My first guess would be that Xian’er and her have had a fight, but they are both closer than sisters and I’ve never seen them do so.”
“Indeed, plus I can’t imagine what kind of child fight would leave someone so sad” Ru’an said. “From Xiaoyao’s expression she seems to be as confused and worried as us.”
Minglan nodded and remained pensive for a few seconds. “Still, have a talk with her when she leaves Rong’er resting, I’m going to Ningyuan Manor to talk to Xian’er.”
“Yes” Ru’an replied, giving a small bow and signalling the other servants to clear the table after Minglan got up.
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After reaching Ningyuan Manor, Minglan waited patiently in the main hall as the servants informed her Eldest Sister in Law, Lady Shao, and her daughter of her visit. Tingwei and her wife, Lady Zhu, were away visiting her family home and wouldn’t return until night time. After a few minutes of waiting, Lady Shao and Xian’er appeared.
“Second Sister in Law. Sorry to make you wait, I wasn’t feeling very well and Xian’er was taking care of me” The Gu Tingyu’s widow greeted her warmly. Although when their Mother in Law had been alive the woman had done everything she could to keep her distance from her, after the woman’s death, Lady Shao had become far more friendlier towards her and even often accepted her invitations to have lunch or tea with her and their Third Sister in Law.
“Eldest Sister in Law” Ming Lan greeted with a polite smile. “I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s something I need to ask Xian’er about.” She looked at her niece, who looked nervous and clearly knew what she wanted to ask about.
“Ask Xian’er?” Lady Shao asked, a bit confused. She looked at her daughter before sitting down and back at Minglan once she was seated. “What about?”
“She and Rong’er went out this morning to see some exotic merchants. Rong’er has returned home, clearly sad about something. Something she doesn’t want to speak about. I was hoping Xian’er could tell me about it, if she knows.”
“Xian’er told me they couldn’t see much of the merchant exotic products, perhaps…” Her Sister in Law began to speak but watching her daughter’s expression, she immediately figured out that wasn’t the case. “Xian’er did something else happen? Did you have a fight with Rong’er?”
The girl shook her head. “No, Mother.”
“Then why is Rong’er like that?” Her mother asked. “Tell us what happened.”
“I can’t tell you” The girl replied, shaking her head.
Lady Shan was about to scold her daughter, but Minglan spoke before she could “Did Rong’er ask you not to tell?” She asked the girl in a kind tone of voice. From the girl’s conflicted expression, Minglan could tell she wanted to tell them what happened, but was holding her tongue. The girl remained silent. “I’m really glad you are such a loyal friend to your cousin, but you aren’t doing her any favours right now. I need to know what happened so I can try to make things better.”
Xian’er bit her lip, the conflict inside her growing more intense. “Second Aunt, I… I promised her…” She said, her voice pleading.
Minglan looked at the girl and sighed. “Alright, then tell me this. Why does it seem that Xiaoyao doesn’t know what is going on? She and your maid, Xiaomei, are to be with you at all times when you are outside. If she neglected her duties, she must be punished. Xiaomei herself may also have to be interrogated.”
A panicked look replaced her conflicted one and Minglan had to suppress the feeling of guilt she felt at the moment, she didn’t like to threaten people, even when she absolutely had to. “Neither Xiaoyao nor Xiaomei were with us when the incident happened because they were paying for our tea!” The girl defended the servants, scared of them being punished because of her silence..
“What incident?” Her mother asked, more gently than before.
The girl sighed. “After not being able to watch what the merchants had brought, Rong’er and I were a bit thirsty so we went to a restaurant to have some tea.” She began to tell what happened. “We were having a pretty good time, but suddenly some people nearby began to talk about Rong’er. About Rong’er, about her birth mother and what the woman had done. They said, Rong’er was shameless because she remained with you and Second Uncle after that. Said she should’ve either tried to live on her own or taken her own life. They began to wonder if she had the same abilities as her birth mother, if she would be able to warm a noble’s bed as well as that woman had.” Some tears escaped her eyes. “Rong’er’s face went absolutely white while hearing them, but when I tried to confront them, she stopped me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the restaurant. Before Xiaoyao and Xiaomei came out, she made me promise I wouldn’t tell you or Second Uncle what happened. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for telling me, Xian’er. I know you didn’t want to tell me because of your promise to Rong’er, but you’ve done the right thing.” Minglan approached her niece and patted her comfortingly. Looking at her sister in law, she added. “Eldest Sister in Law, I must go now, I have to deal with this situation. I will visit you soon, if you need anything before that don’t hesitate to send for me. I hope you get better.”
“Thank you, I hope you can comfort Rong’er. We’ll see you soon.” Lady Shao replied, her voice showing concern for her niece.
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Upon returning to her own manor, Minglan saw Cui Ru'an waiting to report what Xiaoyao had told her. Cuiwei was with her, judging by her expression the elder servant had clearly filled her in on what was going on. “Madame, like we suspected, Xiaoyao doesn’t seem to know what’s wrong with our Young Mistress, she says that before Xiaomei and her went to pay for some teas they’d had the Young Mistress and her cousin were talking happily and laughing together and that when they turned around after paying they had exited the restaurant and were clearly unhappy about something.”
“That matches what Xian’er has told me” Minglan replied, heading for her daughter’s quarters.
“Milady, what happened to the Young Mistress?” Cuiwei asked. “What did Young Mistress Xian’er tell you?”
“Apparently, while at a restaurant having tea, they heard some nasty comments. Some people were speaking about what Zhu Manniang did, they called Rong’er shameless for continuing to live with us after what her birth mother did.” Minglan summarized what Xian’er had told her for them.
“Zhu Manniang” Cuiwei spat the name of the woman like poison. “Even dead, she still causes problems for us.”
“Should we send for Granny Chang?” Ru’an asked her. “Her presence has always had a calming effect on our Young Mistress.”
“She hasn’t fully recovered from her cold, I don’t want to bother her if it isn’t absolutely necessary.” Minglan answered.
When they reached Rong’er’s door, they found Xiaoyao standing outside her mistress’ room with a very worried expression on her face. “Is Rong’er still sleeping?” Minglan asked her, prompting the servant’s attention to look at her.
After curtsying, the servant shook her head. “No, Madame. She seems to have had a nightmare but she didn’t tell me what it was about and threw me out of the room. I hear crying from the other side.”
Minglan remained silent, indeed Rong’er’s sobs could be heard from the outside. “Stay here” Minglan told Cuiwei, Ru’an and Xiaoyao before entering her daughter’s quarters.
If she heard her enter, Rong’er didn’t attempt to look at her. She just laid in her bed sobbing and hugging one of her pillows for comfort. Approaching the bed, Minglan sat beside the girl and put a hand on her back, rubbing it comfortingly. After this, Rong’er did turn to look at her.
“Mother” she said, somewhat surprised about seeing her there. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tried to regain her composure. “What are you doing here?”
“You’ve had me worried ever since you returned from the market” Minglan answered.
“Do you… Do you know what happened?” Rong’er asked. Minglan nodded.
“Xian’er told me” She answered. “Only after she thought we would punish Xiaoyao and Xiaomei if she didn’t though.” She quickly defended her niece’s act. “Why didn’t you tell me about what you heard at that restaurant?”
“I didn’t want to bother you with such a trivial matter.” The girl answered.
“Anything that has you this depressed, is something you can always talk to me about” Minglan countered. “Those things will never be trivial to me, you are my daughter.” She added, putting special emphasis in the four last words.
“But I don’t deserve to be” Rong’er replied.
“Rong’er, you shouldn’t pay any mind to those malicious comments” Minglan said, trying to grab the girl’s hands, but the girl moved them away.
“The comments are true. My birth mother did harm our family. She caused Second Brother’s death, tried to kill Father and Third Brother.” The girl argued, her tears beginning to flow down again. “And, as her daughter, I never even tried to atone for any of those sins. I… I even mourn her death from time to time.”
“You tried to save Chang’er and you saved Tuan’er” Minglan grabbed her daughter’s shoulders. “You’ve got nothing to atone for! Even if you did, so what? What were you going to do? Leave? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? How difficult it is to survive on your own?” By this point there were also tears in her eyes. “How devastating it would be for your father and I to lose our precious daughter?”
“Mother…” Rong’er tried to find a reply.
“No matter what other people say, it doesn't matter who gave birth to you, or that you sometimes mourn the death of that woman. You are my daughter! You are Sheng Minglan’s daughter and there is nothing you have to be ashamed of! Understand!” Minglan spoke again before she could.
Hearing her, Rong’er’s hugged her with all her strength and cried her eyes out while Minglan comforted her. A few minutes later, the girl stopped crying. “Can I really be here?” She asked, still a little uncertain.
“Of course. Until the time comes when you find someone worthy of having you as his wife, this is where you should be” Minglan answered, stroking her daughter’s head tenderly. Then, when Rong'er's stomach grumbled, she chuckled. “Let’s find you something to eat.”
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I hope you've liked my second story for this site, if you did, please show it some love. Don't hesitate to leave some comments with your opinions about it. I will write more stories about this drama if this does well, but I might also write them if I feel like doing so. Until next time!