Crossing Over to Yamada Love

Mo Lan ignored the Second Madam and looked at the old Marquis and the others. Seeing that they were deep in thought after hearing her words, she knew that they all understood her meaning.

She continued softly, "As for Xia Yu, I don't know anything about her past. The Marquis said he wanted to give me maids, and I chose the four I knew. Her parents wanted to redeem her, and if Xia Yu had been willing, I wouldn't have stopped them; I would have happily released her. But when I asked Xia Yu, she said she would rather die than become a concubine for the Sixth Young Master, saying she had already expressed her feelings to the Second Madam. She said she was willing to serve me for the rest of her life. Marquis, under these circumstances, if I insisted on making my own maid a concubine, how would that be any different from forcing her to die?"

Upon hearing Mo Lan's question, the old Marquis nodded and said in a deep voice, "You are right. Our Marquis's mansion has never forced any maids to become concubines."

Hearing the Marquis agree with Mo Lan's words, the Second Madam curled her lip, thinking to herself: What do you mean there isn't? You just don't know. Several of the young masters took in maids who were unwilling at the time, but in the end, what happened? They all obediently accepted their fate and followed the arrangements.

Ignoring the expressions of others, Mo Lan continued speaking to the Marquis: "The Sixth Young Master barged into Lan Courtyard. He, a mere boy, barged in without permission. Putting that aside, why did he fall? I think everyone inside the room saw it clearly. Yes, I deliberately placed the stool there, but I feel that was too lenient. For someone who wanted to ruin my reputation, I truly feel I haven't done enough. If I had let him do as he pleased, then the Marquis would probably be discussing my marriage with the Sixth Young Master with Grandmother now, instead of sitting here listening to our arguments."

Mo Lan's words were very impolite, but everyone in the room understood what was going on. They all secretly resented Sixth Brother for being so bold, trying to bully Mo Lan in broad daylight. This also showed how much the people in their household looked down on the Wang family, and how they all dared to come and bully them.

The second wife ignored Mo Lan's words and pointed at her, shouting, "You're talking nonsense! It was clearly you who tried to seduce Sixth Brother but failed and got angry, so you tripped him with a stool. You're spouting nonsense and framing Sixth Brother. You really have no shame at all."

Mo Lan looked at the Second Madam and asked coldly, "Madam says I seduced Sixth Brother. Did I seduce him to Lan Courtyard? Did I seduce him to get close to me? Madam, you need to provide evidence for your words. You keep saying I'm a vixen. What vixen have I done? You say I seduced Fourth Brother and that I took a fancy to Mingda. Madam, you need to provide evidence for your words. You slander people's innocence like this. Have you ever thought about how sad and heartbroken the people you framed are?"

Hearing Mo Lan's words, the second madam looked at her disdainfully and said, "You? You have the nerve to be sad? I see you're doing just fine. I didn't wrong you, you're just a vixen. You are..." Before the second madam could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a furious shout: "Shut up!"

The person who spoke was none other than the Second Master. He was utterly disappointed in his wife. She had made such a scene, yet instead of showing remorse, she continued to find fault with everything. She was even insulting Lanlan, which infuriated him.

The old Marquis also looked coldly at the Second Madam and said, "Sister-in-law, you must not interrupt before Lanlan explains things clearly. If you speak out of turn again, don't blame your brother for not giving you face."

The second wife wanted to argue a bit more, but since the Marquis had said so, she swallowed back the words she was about to utter.

Seeing that the Second Madam was silent, Mo Lan continued, "The Sixth Young Master and Steward Xia were arguing incessantly, forcing me to release Xia Yu. My grandmother had no choice but to get out of bed and come out to see them."

When Grandma entered the outer room, not only Sixth Young Master, Steward Xia, Granny Cui, but also the Second Madam's maids and servants, none of them bowed to her. Instead, they cursed her incessantly. Only after Xia Yu reminded them to bow did they reluctantly do so. Before Grandma could even tell them to get up, they all stood up, hurling insults like "Get over here! Kneel down! You little hussy! You little bitch! May you die a horrible death!" They even tried to hit and verbally abuse Xia Yu. "May I ask, Madam, is this how they should behave?"

When the old Marquis heard Mo Lan's question, he said coldly, "Steward Xia? What a Steward Xia! I didn't know there was a Steward Xia in the manor. Sixth Brother trespassed into the inner courtyard. I order the steward to give him ten strokes of the cane in his courtyard and not allow him to leave the manor for three months. Give each of the two old women twenty strokes and twenty slaps to the face, and the maids thirty slaps to the face. After that, they will all be re-educated on the rules and demoted to lowly servants. Do you remember?"

The old Marquis's last question was directed at his wife, and his tone was somewhat cold, clearly indicating his dissatisfaction with how she had managed the inner courtyard.

Lady Hou hurriedly agreed, as she had no say in anything today and could only follow the Marquis's orders.

The second madam wanted to speak, but seeing the icy expressions on the faces of the Marquis and the second master, she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word. She hated Mo Lan even more; if she had said a few words, everyone around her would have been punished.

Mo Lan, seemingly oblivious to the Second Madam's resentful gaze, continued, "Grandma was furious. She felt it was too much for them to speak to me like that, considering I'm a young lady from a respectable family. So she ordered someone to slap them. During the slapping, some of them were indignant and even started fighting with Granny Bai and Xia Yu. Steward Xia also stepped forward to question Grandma and the Marquis. At that time, Grandma hadn't been threatened with any mistreatment. They treated Grandma like this, and right here in Lan Courtyard! Do you think they were right? In the end, seeing that Grandma was too angry to handle the situation, I had Granny Bai see the guests off and apologize to the Marquis's wife, saying that Grandma was feeling unwell and wouldn't be paying her respects that evening."

I had just said a few words of comfort to Grandma, and before Grandma could recover, a maid came to report that the Second Madam had arrived and that we should go out to greet her. We dared not delay and quickly got up. Grandma felt dizzy when she got up, but she still ordered me to help her up so we could go and greet the Second Madam.

The second mistress immediately blamed my grandmother upon seeing us, saying that she was arrogant and didn't respect me, and that she hadn't even come out to greet me. My grandmother and I apologized and hoped the second mistress wouldn't be angry, but she ignored us, saying that I didn't act like a proper young lady and said many unpleasant things. My grandmother argued with her for a bit, and then the second mistress said that we were some unknown outsider who had taken over the identity of the old lady of the Marquis's mansion to act arrogantly and wanted to drive us away.

Grandma said we weren't imposters, so the second madam used her status to pressure Grandma, saying that if Grandma agreed to my marriage with Fourth Brother, then all would be well; but if she didn't, she would definitely not give up and would not let us live a good life.

Grandma was heartbroken and said that if her second sister-in-law were still alive, she would never have treated her like this. Grandma was wrong to say that, but she did not mean it. The second madam was furious and ordered her maids and servants to beat Grandma.

In their desperation, Bai Mama and Xia Yu started fighting with the maids and servants. If it weren't for their loyalty, Grandma would probably be badly injured. Seeing that the maids and servants couldn't get to us immediately, the Second Madam ordered Chen Mama to beat us. The Marquis knew that Chen Mama was burly and strong; how could Grandma withstand a slap from her? Left with no other choice, I took out my dagger and clashed with Chen Mama. Then the Second Madam smashed things in the room and chased after Grandma, beating her relentlessly.

Lanlan felt that continuing this commotion wasn't a solution, so she begged the Second Madam to stop, suggesting they talk things out. But the Second Madam wouldn't let them go and even hit her grandmother. Even though her grandmother wasn't a senior member of the Marquis's household, she was still respected and treated with deference in their family. No one in the family had ever raised their voice at her, let alone laid a hand on her. Since entering the Marquis's household, the Second Madam had been causing trouble for her grandmother every day, and today she had even resorted to violence. Did they come to the Marquis's household just to be bullied? If that's the case, what are we doing here? Lanlan thanked the Marquis and Madam on behalf of her grandmother for their great kindness. "We'll leave now. We won't cause the Marquis any more trouble."

After speaking, Mo Lan bowed and then helped Wang Shi, and the two went to the inner room to pack their things.

It's not entirely Mo Lan's fault. She and Madam Wang never wanted to cause trouble. She came to the Marquis's mansion with Madam Wang intending to stay for a while, allowing Madam Wang to enjoy some family time before they returned. But since arriving, the Second Madam has been constantly finding fault, belittling her grandmother daily. The Heir Apparent's wife is also always stirring up trouble. Even the Second Madam's maids dare to insult her grandmother. Not to mention the Second Madam herself—yesterday Wang Ming begged the Second Madam to let her marry into the mansion and suffer, and today the Sixth Young Master barged into Lan Courtyard, even trying to ruin her reputation and make advances on her. If things continue like this in the Marquis's mansion, it's truly meaningless. What's the point of staying here? These miserable days are better left unbearable. She really wants to stay in the capital. Living in Xue Lingfeng's little courtyard is much better than here.

“Sister, please sit. It was your brother's oversight in neglecting the inner courtyard and you. I apologize to you here. If you feel that I have acted unfairly after I have dealt with this matter, you can leave then.” After hearing Mo Lan’s words, the old Marquis stepped forward and helped Wang Shi up, preventing her from entering the inner room.

The second master also stepped forward and said emotionally, "Lanzhi, you can't leave even for the sake of me and my elder brother. Don't you really acknowledge us? It's not easy for us siblings to see each other again."

Hearing their words, Wang's face was also covered in tears. Looking at her two brothers, she cried, "Brothers, how could Lanzhi not miss you? For decades, Lanzhi has longed for her family so much. We're finally reunited! Do you know how happy Lanzhi is? Lanzhi really didn't want to trouble you two. Lanzhi, Lanzhi, that old scoundrel, he... he really..." Wang suddenly couldn't continue. She gasped for breath, her eyes flashed, and she fell backward.

Mo Lan had noticed Wang's shortness of breath, and now that she saw her grandmother suddenly faint, she hurriedly used all her strength to catch her from behind.

When the old Marquis and the second master saw that their sister had fainted, they quickly grabbed Wang Shi and pulled her up so that she did not fall to the ground.