Ming Lan Uses An Actual Sword to Protect a Friend in Labor

SPOILERS AHEAD

1)The Big Madame Sheng is thoroughly humiliated by Old Madame for ignoring her repeated requests to a)stop helping Auntie Kang and b)allowing her to visit. She is commanded to kneel all day, in front of the servants. This is humiliating because she is the head of the house.

2)The Evil MIL considers what steps to take next since Auntie Kan has proven useless. Her servant explains that Ming Lan is a formidable opponent. So Evil MIL says at this point there are only two choices: a)utterly destroy the enemy or b)choose her own path (I think that may imply she herself dies). She explains that her husband loved her elder sister the most, even though she wasn't that great, but he still let her die to save the family. She states that no matter how great a person is, how virtuous and kind, in the end people will love who they love (i.e. he never loved me) and he was only so easy to manipulate because her sister died. She says that seeing how passionate Gu Ting Ye is reminds her of the old master and her sister. She decides to kill Ming Lan in order to cripple Gu because at this point she no longer cares necessarily about winning.

3)Evil MIL breaks down in tears, making her more empathetic, because it seems that the only thing she has ever had is her son, and so she essentially wants him to have the world (let us not forget that people who do bad things often rationalize their crimes)

4)Meanwhile, Big Madame Sheng sobs in the arms of Hua'er and complains that in the end it is always her suffering. She can't help but go to her sister because her sister at least validates her. But Hua'er tells her that Auntie Kang is evil and that Old Madam is just thinking of her and the family--her sister never does anything for them and only hurts others. Plus, Ming Lan is a good person they don't Auntie Kang to receive help from Ming Lan

5)The Wang family comes to visit, but Ming Lan leaves suddenly because her friend the wife of General Weibei is going through child birth. She gets there immediately, While she heads over there, her husband lectures her for sneaking in a daughter of his as a concubine secretly and her son even begs her to stop these games (this is important) but Auntie Kang is unrepentant and defends herself, saying she does it all for the family

6)Ming Lan arrives and sees that the household is without anyone in control. She sends someone to go fetch back the general and the Duke and Duchess (the parents of the woman in labor//the duke is also a general). they then learn that the imperial physician is detained by consort Lancao and they are saying he has gone (seems awfully familiar)......7)Ming Lan supports this woman (can you believe we didn't have pain numbers until the 19th century for birthing?!). We learn that she is in premature labor after an altercation with the consort. It has turned the baby sideways. Now I am not a doctor, but that isn't at all right (they will probably need to use forceps or just yank it out, an incredibly painful thing to experience and dangerous). Ming Lan is does not buy the lies that the doctor is gone. So she takes matters into her own hands. She grabs a sword and prepares to do battle..

8)Now what she is doing is extremely risky. She brings a bunch of servants with her to get the doctor. The consort and her brother appear to say they sent him home. She has the courtyard searched and holds a sword to the consorts throat. they find the doctor and bring him back. because she is followed by the brother in law of the consort, she cuts him and angrily tells him she saw this trick before and won't see a repeat

9)Ming Lan is such a bad ass. She guards the door with her sword into the dark hours. The general is lectured by the duchess who accuses him of not properly protecting her daughter from sinister thoughts (the daughter is special because she is their only child and she had her late in life--hence they will do anything for her). The duchess is so grateful to Ming Lan she insists she call her auntie.

10)The general is quiet, head bowed in the face of these angry women (it is a little funny because he fights battles) and in typical male fashion is useless when it comes to that critical time--he just paces back and forth helplessly while listening to the sound of his dying wife. The duke/general arrives and collapses, both believing she is about to die.....and then they hear a baby's cries----she survives.

.11)The Duke, with his wife by his side, calmly tells the General that he must get rid of his consort (but this is no easy thing, Lady Zhou's older sister died for the empress). So then he asks for an amicable separation and reminds him that his daughter did not have to marry him and they could easily have her remarried. he refuses to separate, so they take their daughter and leave......

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