Chapter 9: Masters' Battle (I)

In the following days, Sheng Hong went to the rooms of several wives and concubines in turn.

The eldest lady always complained that Sheng Hong doted on Lin Qinshuang and allowed her to run wild on her head. Recently, Sheng Hong's attitude of treating her equally pleased her. The two of them rekindled the sweetness of their wedding and got along very well. This made Wang Ruofu more tolerant. Seeing her gentle and considerate appearance, Sheng Hong was willing to come to her courtyard more often.

Mingxi was also very satisfied. Sheng Hong would come to see her every other day, eat with her and talk. When he saw Minglan, he acted like a good father. He would pick Minglan up and ask her about the interesting things that happened during the day. He would also see that Minglan's clothes were old and ask people to buy her new clothes. He would also teach Minglan. Minglan was very happy these days. Minglan was happy, and Mingxi was happy too.

Only Lin Qinshuang was not happy. In the past, she was the only one who stood out. Sheng Hong usually only went to her courtyard. She was the only favorite and walked around the mansion. Now Sheng Hong divided the property among the three families, and her favor was simply diluted. This made Lin Qinshuang, who had been proud for a long time, unacceptable.

The one who couldn't accept it even more was Molan. She always boasted that she was her father's favorite daughter. But that day, the mansion needed to prepare winter clothes for several girls and asked them to choose the fabrics. In the past, the manager always let her choose first. Because the eldest sister was humble and never competed with her younger sisters, she always chose first.

That day she waited early for the steward to bring the fabrics for her to choose. She originally wanted to choose two more patterns and make two more dresses. In the end, she waited and waited until she got tired of it. The steward finally came. The fabric he brought was still the blue color she didn't like very much. After asking, she found out that she was the last one to choose. The steward gave it to other sisters to choose first. The eldest sister didn't say anything. It was decent for her to choose more good fabrics for her clothes when she was getting married. Rulan had the eldest lady to stand up for her, but why should she be ranked behind Minglan?

The steward said that the master ordered the sixth lady's clothes to be old and asked them to buy a few more for her, so he gave it to the sixth lady first. Even the eldest and fifth ladies were chosen after her. This not only failed to convince Molan, but also made her extremely angry. The person who had been stepped on by her in the past and whom she had not even bothered to look at was now riding on her head. Molan got very angry at the manager and smashed the house.

When Lin Qinshuang heard the noise and rushed over, she saw the manager kneeling beside him with several pieces of blue fabric scattered on the floor. The house and the floor were also in a mess. Her daughter was still mad and refused to let the manager leave, so she made him kneel.

Lin Qinshuang felt that Molan was too unbecoming, so she asked Xueniang to give the manager some silver and say some nice words, and then she sent him away, leaving behind several pieces of fabric. After everything was arranged, she went into the house and angrily scolded Molan, "What are you doing? Why are you so angry in front of outsiders?"

When Molan saw her mother coming, she rushed over and threw herself into Lin Qinshuang's arms and cried. She cried until Lin Qinshuang's heart softened, and then she choked up and told her what had just happened. Lin Qinshuang's eyes were fierce. The elder one was competing with her for favor, and was restless even with a big belly. The younger one usually pretended to be well-behaved like a little transparent, but once he gained power, he dared to compete with her daughter for materials. This matter could not be allowed to continue, otherwise there would be no place for them in the Sheng Mansion in the future.

As soon as Sheng Hong got home from work, he was invited by Lin Qinshuang's people to leave. They said that the fourth girl had learned a few poems and wanted to read them to her father. She also drew a picture and asked her father to give her advice.

"Daddy!" As soon as Sheng Hong entered the courtyard, Molan came out happily. Sheng Hong also smiled and led Molan into the house. Lin Qinshuang was now at the door of the house, smiling at the father and daughter. The picture was warm.

After seeing Sheng Hong, Molan kept talking about her experiences and interesting things in the past two days, which made Sheng Hong laugh. When they got into the house, Molan took Sheng Hong to the desk, asked her father to sit down, and recited the newly learned poem to him. She also discussed the artistic conception of the poem and some of her own opinions with Sheng Hong, and then asked Sheng Hong for guidance. Sheng Hong was very satisfied that Molan was so studious, and she told her everything she knew.

Among his sons and daughters, Changfeng and Molan are the closest to him. He also loved Hualan very much in the past, but as the girl grew up, she had to learn needlework, housekeeping, and all kinds of rules and etiquette, and gradually they were not as close as when they were children. Changfeng and Molan allowed him to enjoy the family happiness again. Changfeng is a son, and he has high hopes for him, so he needs to discipline him more and not indulge him too much. But Molan is a daughter, and she is well-behaved, smart, and studious. She admires him very much, so Sheng Hong can't help but favor her more.

After talking about poetry, Molan took out her own painting and showed it to her father, "Dad, this is the orchid that my daughter drew, please give me some advice!"

Molan looked at the orchid in front of her mother's window with a guilty conscience. This was the orchid that her mother asked her to draw after she cried yesterday. Her pen power was not good, and she was in a bad mood at that time. This painting... But her mother insisted that she draw, saying that it would be useful. Molan pouted when she thought of it, and felt a little unhappy.

Sheng Hong didn't pay attention to Molan's little thoughts and expressions, and was concentrating on looking at the painting. The painting had many shortcomings, just a child's practice. Sheng Hong couldn't bear to criticize it, so he planned to give some advice.

"Mother, do you still need to make clothes for the girls with these fabrics?" Some people were still looking at the paintings, and Zhou Xueniang walked into the room and interrupted them.

Molan suddenly got angry, "I don't want it! I hate blue the most!" Sheng Hong, who was standing next to her, was startled. Seeing that Molan was angry like an angry beast about to attack someone, he looked up at Zhou Xuenniang and saw the blue fabrics in her hands.

"What's wrong? Mo'er doesn't like these fabrics?" Sheng Hong asked Molan concernedly. Molan's accumulated emotions yesterday burst out in an instant, and she threw herself into Sheng Hong's arms and started crying. She was more restrained than yesterday, either crying loudly or sobbing, with tears in her eyes.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Lin Qinshuang pretended to be angry and said, "Don't try to comfort her, Honglang. This girl is just being stubborn. Yesterday, the purchasing manager sent her a few pieces of fabric for her to choose from, but she refused to accept them and cried when I told her about

it. She is just spoiled by her habits." Molan raised her head from Sheng Hong's arms. She was not happy with what her mother said about her. She grabbed Sheng Hong's sleeve in grievance and said, "Daddy, you know I like purple, Xiangfei red, Begonia red and other colors the most. I always selected the materials that were sent to me before, but this time they gave me the ones that were left over, and the only one left was the blue color that I don’t like. I would rather not have blue. Clothes made of this color are very dull to wear, and I don’t like it!”

After listening to what her daughter said, Lin Qinshuang still felt that what she said was not enough, and she wanted to add fuel to the fire, “If you are so stubborn that you don’t want it, then you can wear old clothes in winter. Why don’t other girls make a fuss about you not being able to accept this or that!” “Of course they don’t

make a fuss about the ones that they picked out for me, and they sent them all to me if they didn’t want them!” Molan retorted.

Lin Qinshuang waited for Molan to finish, then pretended to pause. Then she looked sad, staring at Sheng Hong. Sheng Hong watched her tears rolling down, one drop, two drops, and then connected into a string, "Honglang..." She didn't say she was wronged, but she told all her grievances.

Sheng Hong looked at his daughter who couldn't stop crying, and then looked at his concubine who was about to break. He felt so distressed that he immediately called Dong Rong and asked him to ask the purchasing manager to send a new batch of materials with various colors and styles for Molan to choose. Lin Qinshuang raised her eyebrows where Sheng Hong couldn't see, and there was a moment of pride in her eyes.

After Dong Rong left, Lin Qinshuang said to Sheng Hong, "Honglang, don't spoil Mo'er. It's just the leftover material from the sisters. It's not that it can't be used. It's just that Mo'er is too picky."

Molan wanted to talk back to her mother, but was glared at by Lin Qinshuang and didn't dare to say anything. This was something Sheng Hong didn't agree with. "Our Mo'er has always been good, but she doesn't like this color of material. Just get a new one. Don't be too harsh on her."

Seeing that he didn't understand what she meant, Lin Qinshuang continued, "Will the other girls be unhappy? After all, they have to choose first..." She looked at Sheng Hong's expression while speaking, and emphasized the words "have" and "first".

Sheng Hong was really angry, "Why do they have to choose first? Sisters should be humble and considerate of each other. Since you know that Molan likes red, you should give way to her. Why did Ruolan also choose red?"

"The manager said that it was my sixth sister who chose first. She took away the material I like!" Molan now hated Minglan even more, and deliberately said that Minglan took away the material she liked.

Unexpectedly, Sheng Hong retorted, "It's not Minglan. She picked one of each color and didn't deliberately pick out the colors she liked. She also said that this way her sisters could also pick what they like." Sheng Hong

recalled the scene of Minglan selecting cloth. When the little pink ball saw the cloth brought by the steward and learned that she could choose first, she jumped up with joy, circled around him, and said that daddy was the best. In the past, she was always the last to choose, and in the end only plain colors were left, so that her clothes had no bright colors.

Sheng Hong thought of Minglan's reaction and compared it with Molan's attitude, and realized that he was still sorry for his little daughter. Molan was so sad that she couldn't choose the one she liked this time, but little Minglan was given the ones left over by others so many times, and she never complained. Yier was sensible and had a good understanding of the general situation, and the daughter he raised was also sensible and optimistic. He still paid too little attention to them, and he should be better to them in the future.

Seeing that her father did not speak for her but spoke for Minglan, Molan became even angrier and wanted to continue to say bad things about Minglan, but was stopped by Lin Qinshuang. Lin Qinshuang was surprised by Sheng Hong's protection of Minglan and felt that things were somewhat out of her control. Before she figured things out, she couldn't let Moer act impulsively and Sheng Hong couldn't think that Moer was arrogant and didn't unite the sisters. The steward

sent a few more pieces of brightly colored fabrics for Molan to choose from, but Molan was still unhappy. She felt that Minglan was going to snatch her father away. But she was born by a little woman, how could she compare with her? Her mother was the apple of her father's eye, and the best things in this house should be given to her! Sheng Hong also saw that Molan was not in a good mood, so he told the steward to leave all the fabrics to Molan. Molan smiled a little bit, and her father really loved her the most!