A Cat Fight

Big Madame seems to have given up on persuading her daughter, who is just as stubborn as her. Rulan explains she has no interest in marrying the count because 1)she has seen her older sister have problems in her marital house 2)it would be hard for anyone, and she even might feel bad for Ming Lan because as an illegitimate daughter she will be at the mercy of her relatives. ---Ming Lan continues to give gifts from the Marquis house to everyone. Mo'er is throwing a tantrum and rudely rejects them (this feels like a set up to me, Ming Lan KNOWS Mo'er wants to marry this guy). Worse, Ming Lan's servant triggers Mo'er where she is most vulnerable, by basically saying that no matter what Mo'er does she will never be like Ming Lan who has a great character and dignity (remember, Mo'er has this big inferiority complex)--Mo'er then runs to confront Ming Lan IRONICALLY she accuses Ming Lan of lacking virtue and being in danger of dragging the family down--Ming Lan is defensive and then Mo'er FREAKS OUT and gets into a fight and tries to CUT HER FACE--this is the scene Big Madame walks into.......Ming Lan indeed has a cut on her face--Concubine Lin comes in, and then Mo'er becomes the victim and even accuses Ming Lan of starting this fight and hitting her first!!Old Madame intervenes and Mo'er thinks she is off but she is about to be interrogated...Master Sheng is brought in to sit in on this interrogation....and so Mo'er changes her story AGAIN and now says she didn't realize what she was doing. Ming Lan says she believes that this is in retaliation for offending her at the Jiju match. She reports she threw mud at her at the Jiju match....but it was all to protect her reputation....and Mo'er confirms that Ming Lan did it on purpose (confirming it happened), so then Ming Lan says it was because she was about to attend a man gathering.....Ming Lan did it for the family! CONCLUSION: Ming Lan was smart in framing her argument because instead of defending herself she instead appeals to her father placing reputation above all else---Ming Lan wins this match

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