Do you know: I should be fat and you should be thin!

Shouantang!

"Greetings to the old lady!" Zhou Ning bowed with his hands clasped and stood in front of the hall.

Grandma Sheng did not get up and accepted his bow without hesitation.

"How many people have toiled for 2 to 30 years, enduring until they are about to retire, before they can finally wear this purple robe? Now, the entire capital city of Bianjing should envy you. Did you come here today to use the charge of deceiving the emperor to pressure my son and take Ming'er away?" Old Madam Sheng asked.

Zhou Ning said, "Nothing can be hidden from the old lady!"

Grandma Sheng said, "I've prepared the contract; please take a look."

The housekeeper presented the deed to Zhou Ning with both hands, and Zhou Ning accepted it with both hands and examined it carefully.

The document details that Minglan will serve as a concubine for three years, with a payment of one string of cash. During this period, she will be allowed to return home to spend half a day with her grandmother every seven days. In addition to these previously agreed-upon conditions, several other requirements have been added: 1. Her appearance must not be damaged during her time as a concubine; 2. She must not be beaten indiscriminately during her time as a concubine; 3. If she becomes pregnant during her time as a concubine, she will not be required to stand in the traditional standing order... 7. She may bring three maids to accompany her during her time as a concubine!

These are all rare rights for women who become concubines.

But in Zhou Ning's eyes, there was absolutely no problem.

He has experienced a situation where women are superior to men, so what is there to be dissatisfied about now that he can have one wife and multiple concubines?

"No problem, I'll sign!" Zhou Ning said.

Grandma Sheng said, "That girl Yanran praised you to the skies; I hope you won't disappoint me!"

Madam Fang brought out the Four Treasures of the Study (writing brush, ink stick, inkstone, and paper), and Zhou Ning signed the contract.

"Ming'er is at Mucangzhai. Mama Fang will take you there! The three maids who serve her are called Xiaotao, Cuiwei, and Danju. They are all her usual servants. Danju's indenture is still with me. Take it to Ming'er." Old Madam Sheng handed a copy of the indenture to Zhou Ning.

Zhou Ning bowed again and went with Fang's mother.

Outside the courtyard of Mu Cang Zhai, five girls—Xiao Qing, Xiao Mei, Xiao Tao, Cui Wei, and Dan Ju—gathered together to guard the door and chatted idly!

Upon seeing that Madam Fang had brought Zhou Ning, they quickly bowed.

"Young Master Zhou, this old servant will see you off here," said Mama Fang.

Zhou Ning bowed and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Mama Fang!"

Seeing that Zhou Ning was still so amiable even in his purple robes, Madam Fang smiled, nodded, and quickly left.

Zhou Ning said, "Xiao Tao, Cui Wei, Dan Ju, go and pack your Sixth Miss's belongings, and come back to the manor with her."

The three women were prepared, and the old lady had given them all instructions, but they didn't expect to leave today, so they immediately started packing.

Yu Yanran and Minglan came out after hearing the commotion outside the courtyard.

"My lord, you've arrived!" Yu Yanran said, unsurprised.

Both of them had friends in the Sheng family and would often bump into each other.

Minglan was too embarrassed to call Zhou Ning by his name in front of Yu Yanran, so she bowed instead.

"Sixth Sister, there's no need for such formalities. I'll take you away today, so Yanran won't have to keep running back and forth. You'll have to help her out a lot," Zhou Ning said in return.

"That's wonderful! By the way, someone from the palace came today, saying that by imperial decree I am being granted the title of Lady of Jiahe County, a second-rank official. My husband's birth mother was also posthumously granted the title of Lady of Gao'an County. I have hung the imperial decree in the ancestral hall," Yu Yanran said.

"Your Majesty's grace is boundless. I was thinking of finding an opportunity to request an official title, but I didn't expect that Your Majesty has already bestowed one upon me, not even forgetting my deceased mother." Zhou Ning said, bowing towards the north.

Yu Yanran said worriedly, "My lord, Madam Wei said that many officials' wives will be coming to celebrate these days, and I'm a little nervous."

"Why are you nervous? There are only a handful of First-Rank Lady-in-Waiting, and they're all old ladies. They won't be coming. Besides them, you're a Second-Rank Lady-in-Waiting. No other woman coming to celebrate is more distinguished than you. Just treat them with courtesy. They're the ones who should be nervous," Zhou Ning said.

After talking with the two women for a while, Sheng Changbai still came looking for them.

Sheng Family Study!

"Brother, your neck is still injured, it's best to talk less," Zhou Ning advised.

Sheng Changbai dismissed the servants and scolded, "Foolish! Do you know how dangerous it is to continue being so lustful? Count how many concubines you've had before? What? Have you forgotten the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty now that you've become a high-ranking official? Let me ask you, how many concubines can a second-rank official take?"

Zhou Ning said, "According to the Great Zhou's laws on concubinage, ordinary people are only allowed to take one concubine if they are over forty years old and have no children. Taking a concubine before meeting these conditions is a violation of the law. Scholars can have one wife and one concubine. Officials below the fifth rank can take a maximum of two concubines. I am a second-rank official, and the legal limit for me to take four concubines is four."

Sheng Changbai asked, "So how many do you have now?"

Zhou Ning said, "Including my fifth and sixth sisters, there are only four legally registered concubines through legal marriage procedures. I have never had any unregistered concubines or entertainers, so I have not violated the law!"

Sheng Changbai said, "This is only so far! You were only promoted to the second rank today, but you've been eyeing my fifth and sixth sisters for years. Do you still admit that?"

"Why wouldn't I admit it? I told you three years ago that I wanted both of them!" Zhou Ning said.

Sheng Changbai said earnestly, "Then what else are you still thinking about? You really can't take any more! I know many officials have exceeded the limit. If they don't get involved in court factional struggles and offend the censors, even if they take slightly more concubines than their rank allows, they usually won't be held accountable, maintaining the unhealthy state of 'if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate.' But once someone deliberately reports them, they will be demoted or dismissed! You've entered the central government at such a young age. When Grand Chancellor Han retires, you'll have a chance to become prime minister. You should be even more careful and not be greedy anymore..."

After a while, Zhou Ning was released and hurriedly went to fetch his two concubines to prepare for their escape.

The noble concubine was the highest rank among concubines, and was clearly distinguished from ordinary concubines and lowly concubines.

Because concubines had to come from respectable families, mostly women from official or scholarly families, and definitely not maids or prostitutes.

Concubines could participate in some formal family banquets and attend social occasions for officials' wives. If they were favored, they could also receive the title of Lady of the Court, and their treatment was far superior to that of ordinary concubines.

Wang Ruofu personally saw his youngest daughter off to the carriage. In addition to giving her Zhou Ning's six-courtyard house, he also prepared regular silver, a large amount of land, several shops, and a four-courtyard mansion for her. He told her that if she suffered any grievances, she should come back and talk to him.

Ru Lan nodded repeatedly, indicating her approval!

Old Madam Sheng couldn't bear to part with Minglan, so she didn't come to see her off. Instead, she had Fang Mama deliver several plots of land, houses, shops, and stores to her.

In particular, she leased a manor on the outskirts of Beijing, which had 600 acres of fertile land and a small grove of trees on the side, and planted fruit trees there. It was her favorite place, and she gave it all to Minglan.

Two little rich girls!

The group returned to the Zhou residence, where there were two empty courtyards available for them to choose from.

Minglan doesn't mind, let Rulan choose first!

But Rulan was not satisfied. The nice courtyard she had originally chosen had been taken by Rong Feiyan. That was a good courtyard that, along with Yu Yanran and Wei Zhineng, surrounded Zhou Ning in a triangular arrangement!

The remaining two courtyards are too far from Zhou Ning, separated not only by Rong Feiyan, but also by a large garden the size of a football field!

Seeing that Rong Feiyan was also a concubine and her sister was Consort Rong, Sheng Rulan approached Zhou Ning, wanting to exchange her with Wei Zhi's Fangxiang Courtyard.

Wei Zhi was exempted from the ranks of lowly concubines because she had reformed her ways, but she was still just an ordinary concubine, whose status was indeed below that of Wei Zhi.

Zhou Ning initially thought it was nothing and went to discuss it with Wei Zhi. However, the usually gentle and understanding Wei Zhi was unwilling to make the change, saying that she could give up anything, but Fangxiang Courtyard held beautiful memories of the two of them together. Her eyelashes fluttered, and tears streamed down her face.

"No, don't cry! I won't change it! I'll go talk to Fifth Sister right now. She's so insensible! How could she take over the courtyard?" Zhou Ning comforted her and quickly left.

Upon learning that her favored concubine wouldn't be replaced, showing no respect for her as a noblewoman, Rulan pulled out her trump card—the deeds to all the land deeds of her entire household—and, abandoning Zhou Ning, went to confront Yu Yanran!

In matters concerning the inner quarters, it is still up to the eldest daughter-in-law to make the decisions!

Yu Yanran was in a dilemma. Wei Zhi had worked hard and helped her a lot over the years, and she had seen it all. Although she had not borne any children for her husband, she had long been accustomed to this helper.

Besides, her employment contract is about to expire. If we force her to change it, she might not renew it when it expires. Then the master's beloved concubine will be gone, and who knows if the master will blame us later?

The other one is the eldest daughter of the Sheng family, who also holds the land deeds for the entire mansion. Although neither the Sheng nor the Wang families have a single high-ranking official in purple robes, the Sheng family and the Hai family are allied through marriage. The Hai family has four members who have passed the imperial examinations, so even officials have to take them seriously.

Yu Yanran thought to herself, "My lord, what should I do? How could you give away the entire family's land deeds?" She looked to Minglan for help.

Minglan shook her head. She wouldn't do something that would offend people, especially her own sister. She pointed to the location of the Lord and told her to go find Zhou Ning!

With trouble brewing in his own backyard, Zhou Ning had no choice but to call an emergency meeting!

......