When Madam Qin said so, she naturally had her own considerations.
If Lan Miao really caught the eye of the Emperor and entered the palace as a noble lady or something, the status of the Lan family would rise a notch. After the rumors died down, Lan Xin's marriage prospects would also improve.
However, there was no need for her to spell these things out to Lan Xin.
Lan Xin was a noisy person. She would make a fuss at the slightest sign of trouble. If she knew that Lan Miao might enter the palace, she would surely make a huge ruckus.
"Listen to your mother. Your father and I won't do you any harm," Madam Qin said, patting Lan Xin's hand. Her eyes grew calm. "Now go. I have things to attend to."
"Yes, Mother," Lan Xin replied obediently, nodding her head.
She understood what her mother meant. They still hoped she would enter the palace. But her mother didn't seem to realize that even if she managed to enter the palace, with such a disgraceful elder sister, who in the palace wouldn't look down on her?
She left the room, taking Moyun and Mocao with her.
Moyun and Mocao didn't know what was on Lan Xin's mind and didn't dare to ask. Instead, they lowered their heads and walked with her. After a long while, Lan Xin returned to her own Mingya Studio, and a determination formed in her heart.
"Lan Miao can't be allowed to return like this," she said.
"What does the young lady plan to do?" Moyun knew Lan Xin's character well and immediately replied, "Is there anything this servant can do to share the young lady's worries?"
Lan Xin raised her jade - like finger and showed a fearless smile. "Go and get some paper and a brush. I'm going to write an invitation and send it to the Marquis's Mansion. I'm going to meet Lan Miao in person."
"Yes, young lady." Moyun and Mocao immediately went to fetch paper and a brush.
The cold wind blew through the grass and trees, dampening the drizzling green grass. Inside the Mingya Studio, the fragrance of ink spread far and wide.
In the Marquis's Mansion, the autumn frost covered the tiles, and the grass and leaves were frozen.
The sunlight in the Chunxi Hall was bright and warm, but it couldn't reach the old lady's room. The painted window was covered with blue gauze, and the light was hazy. It was already late in the morning, but the old lady could only lie in bed.
After a series of events, she had been listless.
Especially after learning that the Lan family was going to take Lan Miao back, she fainted in anger. After finally waking up, she kept shouting to see Lan Miao.
Lan Miao was sitting beside her bed, peeling an orange. With lowered eyes, her expression was calm, showing no sign of emotion.
The old lady let out a hoarse sound from her throat and gave a cold laugh. "Lan Miao, do you hate me?"
Lan Miao raised her eyebrows slightly but remained unmoved.
"How could you not hate me?" The old lady's voice was hoarse, and every word seemed to be squeezed out with difficulty. "I made you keep your widowhood for my son. You must be unwilling, right? You've endured it for five years. Why couldn't you endure it for a lifetime?"
"Xue'er is, after all, the offspring of the eldest son. You can't take her away. She has to stay in our Wen family genealogy."
"Back then, I asked you to have a child with the third son. You refused. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't have been able to escape. You must hate us."
The old lady kept rambling on, as if she wanted to pour out all the words in her heart like boiling oil to scald Lan Miao.
But the more she rambled, the calmer Lan Miao became.
She didn't stop peeling the orange. After peeling it, she looked at the orange - colored pulp and took a light bite, eating it herself.
It was very sweet, sweet to the point of bitterness.
Lan Miao stopped listening to the old lady's later ramblings. Instead, she stared at the old lady in bed, with a question in her mind.
She wondered if Wen Hongxin had told the old lady that it was the Emperor who was behind the Lan family's decision to take her back. She thought it was unlikely, otherwise the old lady wouldn't have said these things to her.
Since the annulment of the engagement, Wen Yuanning had devoted himself whole - heartedly to his official career, as if he had cut off his emotions and realized the importance of his future. The old lady and Wen Hongxin had both ordered everyone in the mansion not to mention Lan Miao, for fear of stimulating Wen Yuanning and making him do something extreme again.
Lan Miao's silent act of peeling and eating the orange fell into the old lady's eyes. Suddenly, the old lady realized that she really couldn't control Lan Miao anymore.
Filled with anger, she shouted, "You... Did you hear what I said?"
"I don't want to listen. I've heard a lot in the past, and there's no need to listen now." Lan Miao stood up, bowed to the old lady, and then was about to leave. Her graceful back showed great determination.
"You... Stop! No, you can't leave. You have to keep your chastity for the eldest son for a lifetime... You'll be a ghost of our family for a lifetime..."
The old lady's hoarse shouts behind Lan Miao were like a reflection of herself. But had she ever thought that she herself didn't even have the Wen surname?
After walking out of the bedroom, the old lady's heart - rending words still followed her like a curse.
Seeing this, Nanny Li at the door quickly went in to attend to the old lady. In front of Lan Miao, she didn't even dare to breathe loudly. Shuangle glared at her several times before following Lan Miao out of the Chunxi Hall.
She looked at Lan Miao worriedly.
"Madam, did the old lady not allow you to leave?"
"She can't stop me." Lan Miao looked calm on the surface, but the old lady's words still made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"Madam, there's another thing I need to tell you. Miss Lan Xin of the Lan family is waiting for you in the Pinglan Courtyard. She sent an invitation yesterday and came today. I don't know what she wants," Shuangle said.
Shuangle used to be from the Lan family, so she knew how Miss Lan Xin had been doted on since childhood. She was also worried that Lan Xin had come to cause trouble for the madam.
"Madam, if you don't want to see her, I'll ask Miss Lan Xin to go back. I'll say you're sick or taking care of the old lady," Shuangle said, racking her brains.
Lan Miao couldn't help but chuckle.
"I can't avoid her. I'd like to hear from her what the Lan family's attitude towards me really is."
"Well... You really can't avoid her if you return to the Lan family," Shuangle said and then fell silent, guarding Lan Miao as they rushed back to the Pinglan Courtyard.
The usually quiet and peaceful small courtyard seemed very turbulent today because of an unexpected guest.
Lan Xin was sitting in the main hall, looking around with a sideways glance.
Mocao and Moyun were standing beside her, showing the same contemptuous and disdainful expressions as Lan Xin.
In Lan Xin's eyes, the Pinglan Courtyard was just like its name, dull and uneventful. There were neither rare flowers and exotic plants nor strange rocks and artificial hills in the courtyard. The decoration of the main hall was even simpler and more plain, all in a simple and elegant style.
It really didn't look like the residence of the chief lady of a marquis's mansion.
Even the maids' rooms were more imposing than this.
"Such a simple decoration. It's just for show," Lan Xin said casually, which made Shuangxi, who was serving her tea, feel annoyed.
Shuangxi's wound on her hand hadn't fully healed yet.
She slammed the teacup on the table, with an expression that seemed to say "Please leave quickly."
Lan Xin glanced at her and let out a cold snort.
She picked up the teacup, took a sip, and immediately spat it out.
"Shuangxi, this tea is too strong. I don't like it. Bring me another cup."
"This tea was prepared for the madam. If Miss Six can't get used to it, don't drink it. I'm the madam's servant. This is the Marquis's Mansion. Miss Six has no right to give me orders," Shuangxi replied in a cold voice.
Lan Xin was obviously angry. "Who do you think you are? Aren't you and Lan Miao begging Father to let you return to the Lan family? When you go back, you'll be our family's servant. How dare you disobey my orders!"