Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

Seeing the old lady like this, Minglan thought she had said something too harsh, so she knelt down and kowtowed, "Grandma, please don't be angry. It was my granddaughter who said the wrong thing. I am unfilial, please punish me."

The old lady wiped her tears, helped her granddaughter up from the ground, hugged her in her arms, patted her gently, and said, "No, you didn't say anything wrong, you see it very clearly. It's just that being strong and independent is easy to say, but even men can't do it easily, let alone us women? If you really want to make yourself confident and live your life with your back straight, you can't lack the right time, right place, and right people. Some of these can be calculated, but some can only be relied on fate. I feel sorry for you and don't want you to suffer so much."

For the first time, she hoped that Minglan would not be like her, who would not look back once she set her mind on someone.

But now that things have come to this, it seems that nothing we say or do can change them.

The old lady felt the back of her hand was slightly wet. She held Minglan's face and wiped away her tears. She said, "If that day really comes, you must come back, no matter what means you use. I will prepare a hidden place for you, so that you don't have to look at anyone's face and live a comfortable life."

A tear as big as a bean rolled down her cheeks again. Minglan asked while sobbing, "Grandma, do you want your granddaughter to be a mountain king?"

The old lady's worries were dispelled by her: "I think you are now a lawless mountain king!"

Minglan: "When the time comes, grandma will be the great king, and granddaughter will be the little king. We will dominate the mountain and command the beasts!"

The old lady pouted: "There is only the king, but no soldiers. How can you dominate the mountain with an empty official hat?"

Minglan: "Why don't we have any soldiers? Madam Fang is the commander of the imperial guards, Madam Cui is the general of the cavalry, Cuiwei is the general of the auxiliary state, Xiaotao and Danju can both be the vanguards. With them here, we can catch any wild boars, pheasants or big fat fish in the mountains and roast them all!"

The old lady laughed out loud at her amusingness.

The two quarreled for a while, and the old lady said sternly: "Tomorrow, when your second brother's marriage is settled, I will take you back to my hometown in Youyang."

Minglan snuggled obediently in the old lady's arms: "Yes, Grandma. What are we going to do when we get back?"

"I want to record you as the eldest lady in front of the elders of the Sheng family. This way, you will be the legitimate daughter of the Sheng family, and no one will be able to look down on you in the future."

Minglan: "I have my grandmother to protect me, who can look down on me?"

The old lady said: "Of course we don't have it at home. But we women have to leave our parents and go somewhere else when we live in this world. I want you to be able to hold your head up high wherever you go."

Minglan hugged the old lady's waist tightly, her chest felt full and warm, and she couldn't even utter a witty word.

……

In the evening, Mu Cang Zhai.

Minglan held an embroidery frame and stared at the candlelight in a daze.

Xiao Tao joked, "Girl, if you come any closer, you can use the canvas as firewood."

Only then did Minglan come back to her senses.

"What are you thinking about, girl?" Danju walked to her side and moved the candlestick away.

Xiao Tao answered quickly: "Maybe the braised pork elbow is so delicious, I was just thinking of the recipe."

The two of them chuckled.

Minglan glanced at the two of them and said, "You're talking as if you didn't eat anything."

Xiao Tao came close to her and said, "The food at Fan Lou is really delicious! What a pity, Second Brother Gu is going to Yuzhou soon, so I don't know when I can eat there again."

Minglan poked her head and said, "Eat, eat, eat. You only know how to eat. I was thinking about what Gu Tingye said. Do you think that if the fourth sister suffered a loss at the hands of someone and no one was willing to stand up for her, would she be able to endure it?"

Danju shook her head: "In Madam Kong's class, the Fifth Miss's desk was just a little closer to the Fourth Miss, but she still stepped on the Fifth Miss in front of the Master. If she really suffered a great loss, she would have cried out in front of the Master."

Minglan nodded in agreement: "What if the person who makes her suffer is too strong and she doesn't dare to offend him, then what will she do?"

Xiao Tao immediately said: "She will take out her anger on anyone she dares to offend." After all, such things have happened too many times in the Sheng Mansion.

"Who would she dare to offend?" Minglan pondered.

"It must be the servants! These people have no one to rely on and no place to seek justice, so they can only be bullied by her." Danju remembered what the people from Linqi Pavilion said to her during the day, and shook her head and sighed.

Minglan hummed and remained silent for a while, then suddenly said, "Do you think she dares to bully me now?"

Xiao Tao straightened up instantly: "How could she have the guts? Ever since the Duke of England's wife came to our house, even the master has been much more polite to you, young lady. The fourth young lady is now bedridden, how could she dare to bully you?"

Minglan: "But she must be very unwilling, right? She is suffering from illness, but I am rising step by step."

Danju nodded fiercely: "I heard from the people in Linqi Pavilion that the day she found out that you were the head of the family, the fourth girl smashed a lot of valuable things in her room. It was really a sin!"

Minglan: "She is unwilling, but dares not to offend me, so she can only instigate father. But father will not do anything to me for the time being, so what will fourth sister do?"

Xiao Tao: "Is there any other idea to harm you?"

Minglan: "Poison me? Or spread rumors about me and ruin my reputation?"

Xiao Tao: "It's hard to poison us. We have always been eating from the same stove with the old lady. The people in Shou'an Hall have signed a death contract. Their lives and property are all here. There is no way she would harm us. As for the rumors... the young lady is now protected by the Duke of Ying and his wife, so if she wants to say anything about you, no one will believe it, right?"

Minglan: "Will that harm the people around me? For example...you?"

Xiao Tao snorted, "I'm not afraid of her! I'm with the girl every day, she can't hurt me even if she wants to."

Danju: "Me too. We are not afraid of her."

Minglan: "No, you still have to be careful. We have spies all over the yard now. Although there are people from Wei Rui Xuan blocking us, they may find a loophole to attack you two. You must check your room every half a day to make sure nothing is missing, let alone anything extra!"

Danju and Xiaotao nodded at the same time: "I understand, girl."

"Grandmother, Mr. Jing'an, and Changdong are also possible targets. Grandmother has so many people guarding Shou'an Hall, and Changdong has the eldest lady and second brother guarding it. It will be very difficult for Linqi Pavilion to take action against the two of them. However, you two should help me make a trip tomorrow and tell Mother Fang and Sister Xiaodie to strengthen precautions recently."

Taoju: "Okay girl."

"As for Ms. Jing'an..." Minglan clenched the cloth in her hand slightly, "She lives alone in a small Taoist house. The most she sees is the tablets in the ancestral hall. No one follows her around, and no one in her family cares about her. It would be very convenient for Linqi Pavilion to attack her. It can be said that she is my biggest weakness at the moment."

Xiao Tao said worriedly, "Then...then how about I move in with Master Jing'an today?"

Minglan: "What kind of talk is this? If they ask you to become a nun later, won't I be heartbroken?"

Xiao Tao hugged Ming Lan's waist sweetly and said, "But there's no one guarding us. What if Lin Qi Pavilion really attacks Jing An Jushi?"

Minglan thought for a moment and said, "Go back and find Sister Xiaodie and tell her about this. If she agrees, the three of you can agree on an order and take turns to guard the Taoist temple of Jing'an. If you see anyone suspicious coming in or out, report it immediately."

……

In a blink of an eye, more than a month passed. Xiaotao, Danju and Xiaodie worked in three shifts to guard the small Taoist room. They were especially worried that Lin Qige would take action at night, so they stayed up all night to stare at the door of the Taoist room. Sure enough, their fate paid off and they found someone from Lin Qige - Ayan.

Xiao Tao was very shocked at first: Lin Xiaoniang actually let such a young child come out to harm others!

Minglan was also very angry, thinking that Lin was taking advantage of their soft hearts and would not hurt the child.

They took Ayan back to Mu Cang Zhai for interrogation, but Ayan said nothing. When they asked Jing An, she also said nothing. Minglan was so angry that she had no choice but to let Ayan go and threatened her not to come again.

But within two days, the child came again.

Xiaodie was on duty that night. She didn't say anything, but looked carefully and actually found that Jing'an was giving food to Ayan.

There was basically no conversation between the two of them. When they met, one stretched out his hand and the other gave food. One sat down to eat while the other stood and watched. After eating, they both went back to their rooms without saying goodbye. They had such a tacit understanding!

Later, the two of them met secretly in the middle of the night for several times in a row. Minglan was puzzled and asked Danju to ask the people in Linqi Pavilion. She learned that Ayan could not even get enough food in Linqi Pavilion, and then she understood what was going on.

"But Ms. Jing'an doesn't have much food of her own. How can she save enough to feed Ayan?" Xiaotao felt hungry for Ms. Jing'an when she thought of this.

"Do you think everyone can eat as much as you do?" Minglan laughed at her. "But it is certain that Jing'an Jushi is not full. According to the information you reported, the two of them meet quite frequently."

"Miss, would you like to add some money to Ms. Jing'an's share?" Danju suggested.

"No," Minglan shook her head. "I am the housekeeper for the mistress, but I give Jing'an a special share. It is not only unreasonable, but also gives people a reason to criticize me. Besides, if Jing'an knew, he would definitely refuse."

"We can't let Mr. Jing'an stay hungry all the time!" Xiao Tao was still worried about Mr. Jing'an's hunger.

Minglan: "Well, let's make some more cakes and send them to the small Taoist room, just like we always do, and there's no need to say anything."

Xiao Tao: "Doesn't that mean we're using your share?"

Minglan: "I have my grandmother to support me, so I have enough money every month."

Xiao Tao pouted: "Why do the people in Linqi Pavilion want us to raise her? She is Lin Xiaoniang's own granddaughter, why doesn't she help her? Humph!"

Danju: "It is said that Miss Lin loved Ayan very much at the beginning, but it seems that she was just putting on an act for her master? After coaxing her master back to Linqi Pavilion, Miss Lin completely ignored her."

Xiao Tao screamed: "Is this something a human would do?"