The Story of Ming Lan (知否知否应是绿肥红瘦)

The Story of Minglan

Episode 41

Happiness (wedding)

Great greetings to Guye (son-in-law of wife's home).

Where are you going? My wife's asleep.

But haven't you already paid respect to the parents?

She slept late last night and got up early this morning.

Let her nap more.

But Mother Cui said Qin . . .

Is Mother Cui in charge or am I in charge here?

Rules are set by people and as long as I'm here,

your miss can sleep till midday and no one will say a thing.

Yes.

Miss, how are you still sleeping? Hurry and get up.

Who opened the door? Cold.

Oh my, Miss, how are you back to bed again?

If the words get out, you'll be laughed at.

Hurry and get up.

Your husband's already practiced the spear many times in the courtyard. You should be slept out.

Also, Madam Qin's sent someone to call you.

Saying she's having you come and have private women's talk. Come on, good girl.

Good girl. Get up.

Gu Tingye said I can sleep all I want.

Gu House is an aristocratic family of the marquis house. We can't be haphazard.

Or we give something for others to point to our Sheng family as having unruly daugters.

Hurry and get up.

Danju, Xiaotao.

Hurry and brush and put makeup on the miss. Dress.

He clearly said I could sleep more.

What are you doing?

You two can still watch? Hurry and go on.

Look how sleepy you look.

Why are you putting makeup on again?

I want to hold you and sleep more.

The elder asks me to come and share some private talk.

So I'm . . .

I should wash and dress again.

Your husband shall help you put on makeup.

You know how?

You thought all these years I rolled around in vain in those brothels and entertainment inns?

Let me tell you. When it comes to powder and rouge and earrings and accessories,

I think I might be more apt than you.

Let me tell you.

If you don't want to go, then don't go.

We've already paid respect to the parents anyway.

The rest don't matter.

But I should at least go make my presence or else the words get out,

and they will say our Sheng family can't teach their daughters.

And they'll say you don't respect your legitimate mother and you're an unfilial rogue.

I don't even care about that.

Why do you care?

What newly wed bride isn't riled up by her mother-in-law?

I just won't take it to heart.

That stepmother of mine, Little Qin.

She won't be the first to speak.

The first to talk will definitely be the fourth or fifth house.

Especially the fourth house.

She loves to bully the weak and cower to the strong and she's got a firecracker of a temper.

When my stepmother gives her the cue, she'll fire up.

You be careful. Don't get bitten by her.

She's your aunt-in-law no matter what.

Those few are considered easily enough to deal with.

In our Gu House, everyone's skilled in framing people.

Gu so-so went to a brothel and that must be Gu Tingye.

Gu so-so shattered old master's ink tray and it must be Gu Tingye.

Gu so-so wants three thousand taels of expenditure and sure, put that on Gu Tingye's account.

But it's my own delinquency to be blamed too.

I didn't have a good reputation so I could only endure their framing.

Just sit and watch them,

ruin my reputation in the capital completely.

It's not a crazy dog we're talking about.

It's more poisonous than a poisonous snake.

When it bites you, you can't even scream.

That's not what you said before you married me though.

You had me puffed up in pride!

Fine. In a few days, we'll find some pretext, and move out.

We'll move out and things will halt.

Miss, these are snacks offered to you from the kitchen.

Oh my. What's happened to your face?

You! You said you're apt in makeup and accessories.

Xiaotao, Danju, hurry and come.

Rewash and redo the makeup for the miss.

Hurry and wipe it off.

Still laughing?!

Great greetings to Mother-in-law.

I wonder what instructions Mother-in-law has for me to summon me.

What do you mean instructions?

I'm just wanting to have breakfast sent in, and I wanted to invite you,

to enjoy breakfast together with me and the aunts.

A family, nice and cozy together.

Then allow your daughter-in-law to serve you and fourth and fifth aunt-in-law's to eat a meal.

What's there to serve?

We are a military general family. We don't have so many rules.

Come. Send in breakfast.

Big sister-in-law. Look at that memory of yours.

There's another person. We should let Ye's wife see her before we eat.

It's alright to meet another day.

You mustn't! She's already sought suicide once.

Thanks to the maidservants who saw her that she's saved.

If we keep hiding and push it off,

and if she really dies in the future, wouldn't we add curse to them?

That's not too suitable I think.

They are newly weds after all.

How is it not suitable?

Who is this person?

Listening to the gist of fourth aunt, it seems this person is linked to me.

Hongxiao, come on in.

Come on in.

This miss is?

This girl is called Hongxiao.

She used to be Second Son's maid in his room.

Later, when Second Son got older,

she was kept in the chamber.

Then later on more,

Second Son wasn't coming back often.

I was afraid that we'd delay her youth for nothing.

So I returned her slave contract to her.

And gave her money and asset so she can remarry to someone else.

But she's just so devoted and loyal.

Saying she won't no matter what and she has to wait here.

But now Ye is back in glory and married and promoted,

yet she's been forgotten by him altogether.

Tell me, this girl all alone, how will she live?

I really don't know what to do either.

She's resolute and saying she won't remarry no matter what.

This can be considered an act of loyal and chaste conduct towards one's man.

If she really doesn't get any status,

later on, how will she raise her head up and live?

Mother-in-law means,

I should take this Miss Hongxiao back and have her be my husband's concubine?

I was thinking, Second Son is an important subject in the royal court now.

It's true. Everyone, look.

Which high official's house, only has one wife alone?

If there isn't a few concubines around, he has no grandness.

New bride, what do you say?

If she doesn't have a status, it's not so bad.

Hongxiao is a docile girl anyway.

She just wants to stay loyal.

As long as she has a place to go,

then she won't be gossiped and pointed by the people in the manor.

Be merciful, Madam.

Give Hongxiao a survival.

Forgive me that I cannot obey.

This...

They all say Sheng House is an honest scholarly family

but how did they teach their daughter to be so jealous and cruel?

Last night my husband told me he's not intending to get a concubine anytime soon.

If I turn around and bring a concubine for him, wouldn't I court his displeasure?

If I cause my husband to be upset, it means I'm incompetent and it means I'm unfilial.

So on this matter, I really don't dare.

You all hear her. The new bride's only come for one day,

and she's daring to speak like this before the elders! Ridiculous.

Fourth sister, don't be angry.

How about this then? You just take the girl first.

And we can nitpick on it later slowly.

I really don't dare to make this decision for my husband.

How are you undaring? You're clearly stuffing us with words.

Who knows if Ye actually said such a thing.

Maybe you are just making it all up.

Whether he said that or not, once he's back, you can just ask him.

You're a child . . . - What child?

She's already someone's wife. How is she a child?

I just don't get it. Did her parents not teach her before she married?

Once you come to the mother-in-law's home, you should know your place and have propriety.

Let's not talk about other stuff but on the first day after marriage, the sun's at the third pole already,

and she finally comes to pay respect to us and afterwards she doesn't even serve us.

If we didn't call her to come listen to our words,

I think in the future, it'll be hard to see her gold face.

A person like her? And how is she from a scholarly family of honest officials?

Big sister-in-law. You can't blame fourth sister-in-law for being angry.

Ye's bride is a bit outrageous indeed.

Hongxiao has caused disharmony in the house.

Let me go die instead.

Let me die.

Mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law is young and ignorant and I have offended the elders.

But I cannot defy my husband.

I am willing to seek a punishment of kneeling before the ancestors to report my offense and seek repent.

Miss.

Miss, why do you go this length?

They are just more delighted.

A new bride comes into the mother-in-law's house and they are bent on giving you a push off the horse.

Even if I pull myself out of it today, there's more tomorrow.

And if I don't kneel tomorrow, there's still the day after and the day after that.

It's a bother to have them keep on thinking of it.

It's better for me to fall off the horse myself and save some saliva.

That's true, but if we kneel long we are just punishing our bodies.

Guye told me this stepmother of his is a fake Bodhisattva, a tiger with a smiling face.

She intends to kill with a borrowed knife and she intends to salvage her gentle and virtuous reputation too.

If he is right, at this time, this stepmother of his,

should be sitting anxiously and figuring out how she can stop me from kneeling too long.

I understand now, Miss.

The first day the bride is in and she gets punished by the mother-in-law and elders to kneel before the shrine.

If the words get out, the big madam will be called harsh.

That's right.

We've dealt with our Big Madam Wang and Small Madam Lin all these years,

and there's got to be something we learned.

Big sister-in-law, you're too kind and you'll just let her bully you?

It was that rascal Gu Tingye before. Now hes' got a wife.

And now she dares to not listen to you? Is she rebelling?

She's a child. If she does a wrong, we tell her slowly.