Chapter 12: Chapter 12

The commotion at the Study quickly drew the attention of others. Ming Yulan and Du Xian soon arrived. Seeing the scene before them, they instantly understood what was happening.

Two Errand Boys were holding Ye Qiuniang, about to escort her out. Ming Yulan stepped forward to block them and asked hurriedly, “Father, what are you doing?”

Old Patriarch Ming cast her a nonchalant glance. “This little girl has been quite restless since arriving at our Ming Family, distracting everyone in the household from their work and ruining our Ming Family’s reputation. I naturally can’t spare her. I’m sending her to our estate’s farm to do some proper farm work for two or three years. Once she’s tempered her temperament and settled down, she can return.”

Ming Yulan instantly understood that her father’s action was solely because of yesterday’s events. Her heart skipped a beat.

Raised in luxury and doted upon, Ming Yulan was inherently simple in nature due to the straightforward relationships within the Ming Residence. Although she was displeased by her husband’s wandering eyes on the young girl, Ye Qiuniang had indeed done nothing wrong. To blame an unrelated person just to restrain her husband still made her somewhat uneasy.

“Father, it wasn’t anything major. Besides, Rou’er needs her here. Just discipline her strictly later; why be so serious about it?” Ming Yulan said uneasily.

If his daughter had stepped forward at this moment to reveal the truth of yesterday’s events, perhaps Old Patriarch Ming would have felt even a glimmer of hope in entrusting the Ming Family to her. But seeing her evasive and unargumentative stance, the Old Patriarch sighed heavily.

“Serious? Yulan, do you truly think managing a household is child’s play? Has the Ming Family remained standing all these years by tolerating unspeakable matters?”

Hearing the hidden meaning in the Old Patriarch’s words, Ming Yulan’s face turned pale, and she was instantly speechless. Beside her, Du Xian kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable.

But it was Ming Rou, kneeling on the ground, who remained unyielding. She hugged the Old Patriarch’s leg, her eyes red. “Grandfather, Jiujiu did nothing wrong. I can vouch for her.”

“If she did nothing wrong, then who did!” The Old Patriarch stared directly at her with eagle-like eyes.

Ming Rou had never seen her grandfather look at her so expressionlessly. She was terrified. But turning her head to look at Ye Qiuniang pinned at the doorway, she still gritted her teeth, suppressed her fear, and said in a trembling voice, “Jiujiu did nothing wrong. The wrong was done by—”

Before she could finish, she was cut off by two voices shouting.

“Rou’er!”

“Ming Rou—”

Listening closely, one voice was her mother, Ming Yulan, and the other was her father, Du Xian. Urgent expressions were on both their faces.

Suddenly, silence fell all around, no one daring to make a sound. After a moment, the Old Patriarch said expressionlessly to Ming Rou, “The matter is settled today. There’s no room for discussion. Considering her past diligent care of you, I’ll allow you to visit her once a year.”

Ming Rou was clearly defiant. But she saw the Old Patriarch squat down, looking directly into her eyes. “Ming Rou, you can be defiant today, but you are not yet qualified to negotiate with me, let alone think you can change my decision. Unless one day you have the power in this household to stand as my equal, only then will you have the right to speak.”

Watching the light in Ming Rou’s eyes extinguish bit by bit, the Old Patriarch narrowed his eyes and stood up abruptly, swaying slightly. Then he strode out the door.

Ye Qiuniang was also pushed out by A San and A Si.

Seeing her daughter slumped and kneeling on the ground, Ming Yulan went to help her up, only to be pushed away forcefully.

Looking at the back of her daughter’s small, stubborn head, Ming Yulan’s heart ached. She turned to look at Du Xian, who stood aside as if it were none of his concern, her eyes reddening. In the end, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Ming Rou had never imagined her separation from Jiujiu would come so suddenly. Moreover, in her eyes, Jiujiu, demoted to the estate farm and having offended the Family Head, would surely have a hard life there. Thinking about how beautiful Jiujiu was, and afraid she might be bullied by others, Ming Rou couldn’t eat or sleep soundly for a long time. She lost a considerable amount of weight, making her already small face look even smaller.

Old Patriarch Ming saw this and felt heartache, but he only hoped her mind would toughen, her sights broaden, and that she wouldn’t ruin her health pining over childish friendships.

Amidst her guilt, Ming Yulan was also displeased. The medicinal soups she sent to Ming Rou’s room day after day remained untouched and went bad. Finally, suppressing her anger, she confronted her daughter face-to-face. “Rou’er, Ye Qiuniang is just a lowly servant girl. Do you value her so much that you neglect your own health? I, your mother, who gave birth to you and raised you for all these years, am I less than a mere little servant girl?”

“What’s there to compare?” Ming Rou didn’t even bother to lift her eyelids, looking listless. “You are you, she is she. Why compare us together?”

“Then why haven’t you taken even a sip of the soup your mother made? Isn’t it because you’re angry at me over her?”

“Mother, you think too much. I simply haven’t felt like drinking soup lately,” Ming Rou replied coldly.

Hearing her daughter’s evasion, Ming Yulan felt a surge of anger but had nowhere to vent it. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. Her husband and daughter had both drifted away from her, one after the other unwilling to be close. She believed she was always obedient to her husband, her heart solely his. How many other wealthy wives could be so utterly faithful to a Live-in Son-in-law husband like her? Yet why was he still fixated on those slutty wild chickens outside?

And this daughter, whom she doted on immensely—she had endured ten months of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth, and nurtured her as she grew. What fault had she committed to deserve the same cold treatment from both of them?

The more she thought, the angrier she became. “Rou’er, you’re becoming more and more ill-mannered and untaught.”

At her age, Ming Rou was most resistant to lectures. Moreover, her beloved Jiujiu had been sent to the estate farm, primarily because of her parents. She was less afraid of her mother’s harsh tone and retorted rather boldly, “How am I ill-mannered? I study the classics daily and never do things against morality or my conscience. Compared to some who appear respectable on the surface but commit beastly acts behind people’s backs, I don’t see what I’m doing wrong.”

Hearing the implication in her words, Ming Yulan’s face fell. “Rou’er, Ye Qiuniang is nothing but a lowly servant girl. How dare you make up such stories about uninvolved people for that Little Slut? When you say such things, do you have any consideration for the parents who bore and raised you? Have you thought about who your true closest kin are?”

“Uninvolved people? Mother, you can call the perpetrator an uninvolved person without changing your expression!” Ming Rou looked at her mother in disbelief. “Perhaps Mother thinks Jiujiu’s status is lowly, but she is my lifesaver. Yet our Ming Family, to cover up unspeakable deeds, sent my lifesaver off to that farm. In any case, none of the sage books Rou’er has read taught me to do such a thing. Or does Mother think you have time to teach me the principles of being a human being?”

“They say it was an Auspicious Marriage, but who knows if it was really her doing? The person you are slandering is your father! As a child, how can you say such things?”

“Why can’t I say it? Grandfather said that in this family, only those surnamed Ming have the final say. Since you think Jiujiu doesn’t suit you, you can speak about her. Then why can’t I speak about Father? He relies on you for his livelihood, just like Jiujiu! What’s the difference?” Ming Rou said righteously.

“Wretched child!” Ming Yulan was furious. She slapped towards Ming Rou’s face.

Ming Rou was agile and dodged away.

“You!” Ming Yulan was enraged. “You dare dodge!”

Ming Rou quickly ran to the door and stood leaning against it. Though a little frightened, she remained defiant. “Except for that whip I took for Jiujiu last time, I’ve never been hit since I was little. Mother, you actually want to hit me for an outsider? I’m going to tell Grandfather and have him judge who’s right!”

Hearing the words “outsider,” Ming Yulan was fuming. “Outsider, outsider! He is your father! How can you speak of him like that?”

Despite her anger, Ming Yulan didn’t dare let the matter escalate. After all, the Ming couple were the ones in the wrong here. Old Patriarch Ming had already sent the daughter’s favorite servant to the farm to quell the issue. If this blew up again and angered the old man, it might bring unnecessary trouble.

Ming Yulan suppressed her anger. “Rou’er, I truly don’t know why you’re so biased, treating your parents this way for an outsider. You disappoint me greatly. You must know, he is your father. Without him, you wouldn’t exist. Even if he was momentarily blinded, no major wrong was committed. You diligently study the sage books, don’t you know that the grace of birth and upbringing is greater than heaven?”

“If someone acts unworthy of their elders, why should I practice foolish filial piety?” Ming Rou wouldn’t yield an inch. “Mother defends Father only because he is your Live-in Son-in-law husband, the person you love. But Jiujiu is also the person I love, the Auspicious Maid bride Grandfather found for me. Their status should be equal. Why should my Jiujiu be treated as lowly and disposable?”

“You— this is simply unreasonable! How can their status be compared like that!”

Unable to out-argue her, and feeling she had neglected her child’s upbringing for years, leading to this warped understanding of human relationships, Ming Yulan suddenly felt inexplicably guilty. She didn’t dare continue the argument, but her daughter’s way of thinking gave her a headache.

In her understanding, women were supposed to rely on men for survival. Now that her father was still alive, she didn’t need to worry about household matters. If her father passed, naturally, her husband would bear the burden, and she could just comfortably be a wealthy wife in the inner courtyard.

Even though she only had one daughter, Rou’er, wasn’t she a daughter too? When Rou’er grew up, they would just find her a son-in-law to bring into the family. What difficulty was there in that?

But her daughter didn’t think that way at all. She was even obsessively thinking about that lowly Auspicious Maid servant girl, truly believing she could marry her in like a son. Didn’t she know she would have to find a husband to marry into the family when she grew up?

With a headache oncoming, Ming Yulan turned and went back to her own courtyard.

After the argument with her mother, Ming Rou felt even more depressed. Lying on her bed, her thoughts ran wild. After a while, she smelled the fragrance on her pillow. Suddenly sitting up, she pulled a small cloth sachet from under the pillow. Opening it gently, a fresh, clean fragrance greeted her, refreshing her mind and soul.

It was the Spirit Herb, the scent she had loved most since childhood. It was the herb Jiujiu had specially picked for her from the mountain. For years, this scent had accompanied her, just like Jiujiu herself, always by her side.

It was just a pity that the herb was still here, but Jiujiu was not.

Thinking of this, Ming Rou’s expression turned dejected. Her mouth pursed slightly, and she lay down on the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Her eye sockets grew warm and moist.

She missed Jiujiu so much!