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Minglan immediately loosened her grip on her grandmother’s arm, jumped off the soft couch and dropped to her knees. Then, Fang Mama with a straight face walked out of inner room with a ferule in her hands, which frightened Minglan.

“Reach out your left hand!” Old Madam Sheng took the ferule and said coldly.

Minglan timidly stretched out her left hand. Old Madam Sheng held the ferule up and asked solemnly, “Do you know what mistakes you have made?”

Minglan looked at the shining brass ferule confusedly and thought to herself, ‘I often make mistakes. You should give me a hint or I can’t figure the answer out myself.’ Fang Mama kindly reminded, “At noon, Second Young Madam Kang told Old Madam that you encountered the pirates on the journey.”

Minglan helplessly closed her eyes and realized why her grandmother was so angry. Yun’er had reported the incident to Old Madam Sheng in such a short time, which caught Minglan on the hop. She lowered her head and admitted her mistakes, “I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have acted recklessly and put myself in danger.”

“It is good for you to know that.” Old Madam Sheng was just and stern. Admitting the mistakes was only the first step in her disciplinary code, followed by physical punishment, an admonitory talk and copying books. If Minglan refused to correct her mistakes, there would be more punishments waiting for her. But because of her good attitude, Old Madam Sheng decided to reduce the penalties.

“Silly girl. Old Madam punishes you because she loves you.” Fang Mama gently applied some ointment with the fragrance of gardenias to the palm of Minglan’s left hand and slowly grumbled, “This time you were so lucky because the incident happened on the way from the capital to Youyang and persons in the know are all our people. It won’t get out as long as we deal with the servants properly. When Second Young Madam Kang told Old Madam about this incident, Old Madam was so scared that her hands trembled and she couldn’t hold the teacup steadily. The incident is behind you now, but you should learn a lesson from it and change your impulsive temperament. If you keep acting on impulse, Old Madam will always worry about your safety and can’t sleep well at night.”

Minglan was a psychological adult and knew what was good for herself. She felt guilty about angering her old grandmother. So, after painting her palms with the ointment, she slipped into Old Madam Sheng’s bedroom with a beaming countenance. She tried her best to fawn on Old Madam Sheng by making a bow and giving a curtsy, just like a small rural dog wagging its tail to please its master. At last, Minglan climbed into Old Madam Sheng’s bed and clung to her, lightly shaking her arm to beg for mercy.

After having stayed with Old Madam Sheng for so many years, Minglan was skilled in pleasing her grandmother by playing the coquetry and acting like a spoiled child. Old Madam Sheng always gave in to her little granddaughter. There was no exception this time. Her anger slowly cooled and she slapped Minglan on the shoulders to vent her remaining anger.

Fang Mama judged that if Old Madam Sheng beat a mosquito with the same strength, the mosquito would, probably, die. But for a human being, it was the same as being bitten by a mosquito.

Because First Old Madam Sheng was seriously ill in bed, Pinlan didn’t release her nature. Instead of climbing trees to catch birds or jumping into streams to catch fishes with Minglan, Pinlan stayed in the inner mansion obediently. When Minglan practiced calligraphy and copied books, Pinlan booked down the expenses of stores. While Minglan was doing embroidery, Pinlan used an abacus to calculate the total amount. Minglan, who was writing or embroidering, looked graceful and charming. Pinlan counted copper coins and bank notes with the look of a philistine businessman.

The two girls made a striking contrast. Pinlan fell into despondency on account of her inelegance. Minglan said sincerely, “To be honest, I prefer to do your work.”

Sheng Yun came to see First Old Madam with Taisheng every few days. Sheng Yun stood near the bed, looking at her moribund old mother and crying piteously. Taisheng was in charge of comforting his sad younger female cousin.

Certainly, it was not Minglan.

Pinlan was old enough to understand the meaning of shyness. When she saw Taisheng, she blushed and changed her rude way of speaking. She restrained herself and pretended to be gentle, lovable and virtuous in front of her aunt, Sheng Yun. However, in the eyes of Minglan who was a professional of disguise, Pinlan still had a long way to go.

In the depth of winter, an icy wind blew hard across the open spaces and the whole courtyard was salted with a thick fall of snow. First Old Madam Sheng’s condition got worse. In her bedroom, it was warm in the heat of charcoal fire. But the air was heavy with sadness. First Old Madam Sheng had been in a full coma since last night. Her chest slightly heaved, which showed that she was still alive. Sheng Wei and Li shi stayed by her bedside since last night.

There were a few slender, soft feathers on the silver plate on the bedside table. The servant who was in charge of decocting herbal medicine and feeding it, put the feathers under First Old Madam Sheng’s nose to check whether she was still breathing or not. Sheng Yun leaned over the side of the bed, sobbing quietly, as she kept calling, “Mother”. In the room, this old dying woman lay on the bed quietly. The younger generation including her son, daughter-in-law, daughter, grandsons and granddaughters were standing or sitting around her except for the pregnant Kang Yun’er who was excused from waiting upon beside the sickbed in case of being infected.

Suddenly, First Old Madam Sheng’s breathing became rapid, the sound of wheezing echoing in the quiet room. Sheng Wei rushed to hold her and asked, “Mother, what do you want to say? Sister and I are both here.”

First Old Madam Sheng’s eyelids flickered laboriously, and then she abruptly opened her eyes. She caught Sheng Wei and Sheng Yun with her skinny hands and struggled to sit up, a strange red flush suffusing her sallow and emaciated face.

Sheng Yun tightly held her mother and asked with sobs, “Mother, what do you want? Just tell me.”

First Old Madam Sheng murmured something, her eyes unfocused as if she were staring inside at her memories. Suddenly, she screamed out aloud, “…Hong! My daughter!” Her mournful screams frightened all her children and grandchildren in the room.

First Old Madam Sheng behaved like someone possessed, shouting hoarsely, “Hong… It’s all my fault! I failed to protect you well.”

Sheng Wei and Sheng Hong were already in tears. First Old Madam Sheng coughed violently and fell backwards onto the bed weakly, an intermittent hoarse voice issuing from her throat, “… Hong, you can rest in peace. I have avenged you! I found that bitch! She murdered you, so I searched several provinces for her… I finally found her! She thought she could live a happy life after taking away our money. Ha ha… No way! I sold her to the dirtiest whore-house. After her death… I burned her dead body and threw her ashes away… I have avenged you… I have avenged you…”

She laughed but her soul was crying. Minglan couldn’t imagine what a deep hatred First Old Madam Sheng had been carrying these years, which drove her to utter those words in such a venomous tone. She was always kind and amiable in eyes of her descendants.

First Old Madam Sheng’s breathing weakened. Gradually, she couldn’t breathe. She summoned up all her remaining strength to growl, “… Sheng Huaizhong… You were infatuated with woman’s beauty and put the concubine above your wife. You disregard your children’s lives. I will sue you in front of King of Hell!” Her voice was full of hatred.

After a screech of gasping, First Old Madam Sheng trembled for a few seconds and closed her eyes. She stopped breathing.

The servant checked her respiration with the feather and shook her head at all people in the room. Sheng Wei and Sheng Yun watched First Old Madam Sheng’s haggard face, recalling the miseries their mother had suffered in her life, and couldn’t help weeping aloud. The younger generation followed them to cry. Servants waiting upon outside also began to cry when they heard the wails inside.

Minglan buried her head between Old Madam Sheng’s knees and cried softly. She hadn’t experienced the sufferings of First Old Madam Sheng, but she felt an indescribable sorrow in her heart. This woman’s life was gone.

All the funeral affairs were arranged in advance. Cleaning the body, dressing her in grave-clothes, setting up mourning hall, putting her in a coffin and carrying the coffin to the cemetery, which were all arranged in perfect order by Li shi and Wen shi. Sheng Wei had a good reputation in the town as a result of helping the weak and the aged. He always took the lead in the relief of the poor. The Hu family was also rich. So the funeral was held in a high-profile way. 51 Buddhist monks were invited to recite passages from scriptures in the ancestral mansion for 35 days.

All people who had fame and prestige in Youyang City, from the magistrate of this prefecture to small businessmen, came to express their condolences. Sheng Wei had meant to wait for Sheng Hong and Changbai, hoping that they would ask for leave and return to hometown to attend the funeral. But when the day of the burial arrived, they still didn’t come back. So he had to bury his deceased mother first.

Several families who were on friendly terms with the Sheng family, offered sacrifices on the route of a funeral procession. Lots of garish funeral sheds were set up on the way to the cemetery. The funeral procession carried the coffin and made the circuit of Youyang City. Then they went to the suburbs and finally buried the coffin in the ancestral cemetery of the Sheng clan.

The day after the funeral, word came that Prince Jing owning the fief of West Anhui started an armed insurrection against the imperial court on the excuse of Emperor tampering with the late emperor’s testamentary edict and taking the throne by unrighteous means. Prince Jing had plotted for a long time and kept a large number of soldiers and weapons in his manor. For a time, flames of war raged everywhere in Anhui Province. The rebel army marched north towards the capital city and the water route and land route from the capital to Jinling (Nanjing) had been cut off by them.