Though they had agreed on a small scale feast, Minglan still got a long list of the people they had to invite. Two days before the feast, she gave out a stack of paper. There was a large circle around which were many people’s names being drawn on each of the paper. Obviously, the pictures were stimulation of the tables. Liao Yong’s wife found the pictures a bit childish, but was also impressed by Minglan’s subtle idea.

“I’ve already scheduled sufficient staffing. There were fifteen tables for male guests in outer yard, eight tables for female guests in inner yard and five spare tables. Madam, what do you think?” Liao Yong’s wife reported that reverently with her head lowered, “We didn’t set up a stage and only invited a few female performers and a group of musicals to stay in the outer yard in case the guests want to watch the play. Also, the places for the coaches and the horses, the dinning rooms for the servants of the guests, the people in charge of guiding the guests in the outer yard and calling the seats were also fixed…”

Minglan sat upright in front of the desk while checking the items on the menu and accounts, the expenditure and the personnel’s names while giving advice and reminds softly. Hearing her organized words, the elder servants and the maids who stood in front of her didn’t dare to make light of her immediately and answered all of her questions with honesty.

As the day of the feast got closer and closer, Minglan became more severe than before and put on a straight face all the time. Every day Gu Tingye got nothing to do after work, he liked to tease her. But she wasn’t in the mood to respond him. After he had observed her for a few days, he said suspiciously, “You don’t have confidence in yourself?”

Having stopped gritting her teeth, Minglan exhaled heavily and said in a bitter tone, “You are truly sharp sighted.”

The situation now was quite special. An illegal daughter like Minglan normally wouldn’t have the chance to learn about how to handle family matters, treat guests or attend social activities from their legal mothers from their childhood. Most illegal daughters were raised up in the inner yard and only studied how to do the needle work, read and write. After that, they would get married. Therefore, most of the men from the real prestigious families were not willing to marry an illegal daughter.

After all, an illegal daughter could never compare to a legal daughter in terms of their knowledge, talents and qualities. Of course, there were geniuses who became well-educated through self-study.

Minglan drooped her head while shedding tears secretly. It was so sad that… she was not a genius.

Old Madam Sheng did have taught Minglan about the family affairs for a while. However, Old Madam Sheng always held a free and easy attitude toward life. Much less over the past ten years, both of them had only wanted Minglan to be a wife of a man from a middle class rich family.

According to their assumption, the biggest event Minglan would need to handle in her married life would be a family meal with her sisters-in-law. And Minglan would only need to gossip with the girls in her own yard about their kids or their husbands’ concubines.

And during the seesaw battle between Minglan and her mother-in-law, she, as an illegal daughter, would learn all the duties for a daughter-in-law after being criticized and reproached– However, that was also impossible for Minglan.

It was like a man who had only wanted to be a workshop director in the countryside suddenly became the CEO of one of the top enterprises on the Forbes List. The reality was seriously divorced from his expectancy. However, the president of the company was a hands-off boss who didn’t even offer any pre-employment training!

Damn it!

Although it was just a simple meal, the guests who would arrive tomorrow were all wealthy and respectable people. Some of them might come here only to find faults in her. Minglan had to brace herself up to prepare everything carefully. She had written down numerous plans. She kept pondering about the identities of each guest and how to treat them. Also, she needed someone to sort the tables, chairs, the vessels for wine and for dishes. The snacks and the tea should be available all the time during the meal. The kitchen fire should be guarded cautiously. After Minglan had checked if there was any omission in her plans with a few stewards over and over again, she finally felt a bit relieved in the last two days.

“What if I mess it up?” Minglan asked that, laden with anxiety.

“So what?”? Gu Tingye, feeling her question quite ridiculous, approached her to kiss on her knitted eyebrows. However, Minglan pushed him away and shouted with a bulging face, “It’s not you are the one who’s going to mess it up.”

Gu Tingye held her little hand while kissing her tender fingers. Minglan really wanted to use her bare hand to pull down two of his front teeth but was intimidated by the scary white teeth. Gu Tingyhe, with one of his hands around Minglan’s waist and the other touching her face, said seriously, “Don’t worry. Let me ask you this. If you mess up, will I divorce you?”

“Eh… I don’t think so.” Minglan tilted her head. Last night he had been so passionate that he had even wanted to die on her body, which made the deltoids of her waist and legs still aching now.

Gu Tingye, being not satisfied with her hesitant answer, pinched on her with his large hand fiercely. Minglan moaned and tried to escape, but was held tightly in his arms. Then he asked smilingly, “Will His Majesty punish you for messing it up?”

Minglan shook her head quickly, “No.” The emperor would bother to care about that.

“Then what are you afraid of?”

“Someone will mock at me.” Minglan bit her lips and uttered that in a low voice, “They will gossip about me.”– “An illegal daughter from an ordinary family truly is useless!” That was what they were going to say.

“Even if you do it perfectly, there wouldn’t be anyone criticizing you?” Gu Tingye raised one of his eyebrows and asked calmly.

Minglan was stunned. Then Gu Tingye held Minglan in his arms while leaning on the bedside, saying with a scornful look on his face with a smile, “The ones who are kind to you wouldn’t mind if you make small mistakes. They can always understand your difficulties. As for the ones who only want to find faults with you, even if you are a goddess who falls in the world, they would still disdain you for eating half of a pork joint in one meal. You do have a good appetite, by the way. Well, if the Seventh Goddess is like you, her husband Dong Yong can never afford to feed her…”

“You, you, you…!” At first, Minglan kept nodding while listening to him. However, when she heard his last few words, she blushed with anger and shame right away. Then she turned around and didn’t want to talk with him anymore– Sheng Minglan had been prudent for her whole life. And she regarded eating half of the pork joint a stain in her life, which she would like to forget forever. But this man had to mention about that from time to time.

Gu Tingye laughed loudly while watching her red face burning. There were a few potted plants from the western country on the sill. The warm spring in the April to May was the season when the fragrance of the plants was the strongest. As the aroma was wafted along by the breeze, the room was filled with pleasant smell, making people feel extremely relaxed. Gu Tingye coudn’t help holding Minglan even tighter. With his head attaching to the top of Minglan’s head, he said gently, “What else you don’t understand? Just ask me.”

Minglan pondered for a while in his arms. Then she took out the guest list from her sleeve and pointed to a row of names which had been circled by cinnabar, saying, “I never heard of these guys before. They are your friends and colleagues, right? Tell me about them.”

Gu Tingye took over the paper and started to introduce breezily, “… Brother Fu Qinran is the eldest son of one of the branches of Earl Changxing’s family. We have studied in the private school together. A bit pedantic indeed, but a nice person.”

“Hmm, mate in the class.” Minglan nodded.

Gu Tingye laughed and pointed to other names, “Brother Chengyong is Brother Duan’s younger brother. He and him, and these guys have followed me since I was in the Fifth Military Camp.”

“Hmm, mates in the battlefield.” Minglan concluded that.

Gu Tingye paused for a second,finding her words quite reasonable. Then he continued, “They used to be the military officers of His Majesty when he hasn’t ascended the throne. After that, they were transferred to garrison the frontiers of Xuan Fu and north area. Recently they has just come back to the capital to report their work. When we all stayed in Eighth Prince’s mansion, we always went out to drink and hang out together…”

‘Hmm, mates in the whorehouse.’– Before he finished his sentence, Minglan thought that secretly.

“… But that was merely a disguise to fool the outsiders.” Gu Tingye suddenly disclosed, “The border of Prefecture Shu was not peaceful. There were bandits making troubles all the time. My fellows who were afraid to put His Majesty in trouble had to think twice before they upheld the justice since they were in Lord Shu’s territory at that time. They felt aggrieved all day. Therefore, they always changed their clothes and sneaked out to kill a few robbers to vent their anger under the guise of hanging out with me. There was one time Brother Geng almost lost one of his arms. His wife almost killed us with a kitchen knife.”

After Gu Tingye had finished his speech, he smiled in a daze, seeming to be recalling his dramatic past. Minglan was loss for word with her face turning red and her head lowered. She was reproaching herself for making false assumptions of Gu Tingye and his friends.

Seeing the changes on Minglan’s face, Gu Tingye lifted one of her pink and soft ears with a dangerous smile on his mouth, “Little girl, have you taken my words the wrong way?”

Minglan was tingled suddenly. Then she raised her head immediately and said with a stern look, “There’s no such thing. I always think my husband as an upright and noble person!”

Gu Tingye let go of her ears. Though he knew that this girl’s words were always unreliable, he still felt comfortable hearing that. Then he couldn’t help but glare at her and say, “It’s such a waste that you are not an obsequious adviser.”