Chapter 235
House Fight (3)
Before Jiang Mingwei could say anything more, Lianhan took the opportunity to interrupt her with a soft and feeble tone: “My Lord… The princess is kind and magnanimous, this slave asks the Lord to not be angry with princess just for the sake of this lowly servant. The princess has been in poor health ever since she got sick during the last winter. Even though the princess has shown signs of recovery, she has been seen coughing these days. The livelihood of Prince Jin’s inner palace depends on the well being of the princess, if the princess ever fell sick due to exhaustion, this slave will not be able to forgive herself. This slave requests the princess to rest and recuperate properly. Princes shouldn’t keep worrying about the household management. Let this slave continue to share some of the princess’s burdens.”
By the time Lianhan was done with her show, Jiang Mingwei was boiling with anger. She had originally believed that Lianhan would obediently return the rights of managing the inner palace back to her again, if that had happened, this matter would be solved at once. But who would have thought Lianhan was going to put on such a good show for everyone to see? Jiang Mingwei was discontented and looked at Xie Xuanji: “My lord, the status of a wife and concubine is different. Please think twice before deciding anything.”
Lianhan also knelt down, unwilling to give up and called out pleadingly: “My lord.”
While Jiang Mingwei and Lianhan were confronting each other, Xie Xuanji stood at the end of the show in complete contrast. He was hesitating on whose side to choose as one was his wife who had the Jiang family behind her, and the other one was his beloved concubine who he couldn’t bear to disappoint. Truthfully, it was a really tough decision…
Feeling caught up in the hopeless situation, Xie Xuanji felt displeased towards both Jiang Mingwei and Lianhan. ‘Must these two women always be at each other’s throats whenever they meet? As a woman, even if they aren’t truly gentle and virtuous, can’t they at least live in harmony with each other?’
As Xie Xuanji was hesitating, a chestnut fell to the ground and rolled beside Lianhan. The sudden appearance of the chestnut in the silent hall had successfully gained everyone’s attention at once.
Mu Mingtang’s fingers still had fine pieces of broken shells, she blinked innocently. Just now, her hold on the chestnut wasn’t firm so it had slipped away and rolled on the ground. Coincidently, it just happened to land beside Lianhan.
“It is not easy to break the shell.” Xie Xuanchen, who seemed to have made himself at home, took a thin skinned chestnut from the fruit bowl and handed it to Mu Mingtang, “The crack had been formed on the shell, a proper pinch should be able to break it. Try this if you want to open it yourself.”
Mu Mingtang took the chestnut, and did not forget to smile politely at the people around her: “haha I was just trying to squeeze the nuts, no need to pay attention to me, you guys continue.”
Mu Mingtang squeezed the chestnut Xie Xuanchen had handed over, and sure enough, the shell cracked open from the middle. It’s just that Mu Mingtang had used more strength than needed, because by the time she had peeled off the skin completely, the seed had broken into several pieces. When she saw Xie Xuanchen peeling a chestnut as a whole, she was very jealous: “Why is your chestnut in the proper state, but mine is in pieces?!”
“Don’t just use too much force, gently squeeze.” Xie Xuanchen said and picked up another chestnut and completely separated the nut from the shell in front of her, “You see, it’s obviously very simple.”
Mu Mingtang started feeling sour and said, “I want to eat yours.”
Xie Xuanchen naturally handed her the peeled nut and casually took the nuts she had peeled off. Mu Mingtang looked at the chestnut which was given by Xie Xuanchen and was amazed, but as she looked up, she found that people who were involved in the ‘house fighting’ were all now looking at her.
When Mu Mingtang met their gaze, she realised that she and Xie Xuanchen seemed to have forgotten about them, so she changed her posture and sat in more comfortable way to watch the show and said: “We didn’t mean to disturb, you continue your discussion, anyway who will get the household rights in the end?”
Xie Xuanji’s face kept changing colours, obviously gloomy. ‘What are Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang doing? Are they here to watch a play?’
Seeing Xie Xuanji’s face, Jiang Mingwei and Lianhan knew that Xie Xuanji was really angry this time, and they didn’t dare to make a sound at that moment, let alone fight for rights.
Xie Xuanji said with a sullen face, “It was extremely rude to argue about these trivial matters in front of the second brother and sister-in-law. I neglected you both, and let you hear these disgraceful things, I feel very ashamed to face you.”
‘Disgraceful things?‘ Mu Mingtang smiled meaningfully, and said, “Yin and yang are compatible, and husband and wife should always live in harmony. Brother-in-law’s house is prosperous, and even if there are any conflicts among the family living under the same roof, there is no need to feel ashamed about it. Such things are very normal and part of all households, what can be called a dishonourable thing?”
[TL Notes: Yin and yang (/jɪn/ and /jæŋ/) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite forces which are interconnected. For more information, read Wikipedia.]
Jiang Mingwei’s face had turned unsightly. When she heard Mu Mingtang’s words, she didn’t know whether to thank or refute. ‘It seems although Mu Mingtang had bad intentions, she is still talking on behalf of me. But why does it feel more uncomfortable when I hear her words?’
Lianhan rolled her eyes and saluted timidly : “What Princess An said was true. This slave would like to thank Princess An.” Lianhan bowed and said timidly.
When Mu Mingtang heard Lianhan’s words, her eyes stayed on Lianhan for a while before smiling without saying a word.
Lianhan was bothered with Mu Mingtang’s gaze, “What does Princess An mean by looking at this slave like this?” She asked.
Mu Mingtang ignored her completely but looked at Xie Xuanji: “Third brother, I’m a royal princess. When did I fall into such a state to have a conversation with a nameless concubine?”
Lianhan’s face changed instantly, while Jiang Mingwei once again felt relieved, she stood up and said, “Sister-in-law, forgive me, the prince and I didn’t mean that. This concubine is arrogant and disrespectful, and doesn’t know any etiquette. Please don’t lower yourself to her level.”
Even Xie Xuanji had to get up and apologise.
When Mu Mingtang clapped her hand to get rid of chestnut dust, a maid immediately handed a wet handkerchief to Mu Mingtang. Then Mu Mingtang rubbed her fingers carefully, as if the other people were not important at all, and her fingers were the most important thing.
After cleaning her fingers, Mu Mingtang looked at Xie Xuanji and said mockingly, “This is your family matter. Your second brother and I can still be said to outsiders. How King Jin arranges his wives and concubines really has nothing to do with us. Of course I won’t care about a mere concubine, but I really don’t want to be implicated by a mere concubine, I hope this will never happen again.”