Chapter 45 "I would like to make things difficult for others, but..."

The doctor was taken aback. "Young Master Meng, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

Meng Xu said coldly, "Didn't you say the mother's body was weak? Why can't we have an abortion to allow the mother to recover?"

"That's not how it works," the doctor said earnestly. "Madam Su is more than three months pregnant and her body is weak. Whether she can abort the pregnancy is another matter, but I'm afraid that if she takes a bowl of abortifacient medicine, she might lose both her and her unborn child! As long as she takes good care of herself now, she will be safe after this period of time."

Although Meng Xu was speaking to the doctor, his gaze remained fixed on Li Keying.

His face looked terrible, and as soon as the doctor finished speaking, he couldn't help but clench his hands at his sides.

The doctor's words were relayed verbatim, and Meng Yuanxiao stood there dumbfounded, staring at his elder brother in disbelief.

By the time she came to her senses, Li Keying had already turned and left without saying a word.

Meng Xu stood frozen in place, his gaze following Li Keying. Only after she had walked away did he turn his gaze away and look at Meng Yuanxiao with a cold face.

The meaning is self-evident: to prevent Li Keying from overthinking, Meng Yuanxiao was sent to keep her company.

Meng Yuanxiao really didn't know how her elder brother had become like this. She glanced at the side courtyard behind him and said sarcastically, "Brother, you should go and keep Su company. I'll take care of things here, so there's no need for you to worry about me."

Having said that, he didn't want to talk to him anymore and turned to chase after his sister-in-law.

Following his sister-in-law back, Meng Yuanxiao wanted to speak, but didn't know what to say.

When they arrived at the courtyard where Li Keying lived, they discovered that the people serving her sister-in-law had changed to several unfamiliar faces.

Meng Yuanxiao asked in surprise, "Sister-in-law, when did all the people around you change?"

Li Keying glanced at the maid who was standing to the side with her head down, not daring to utter a sound, and said in a low voice, "I overheard those maids talking about Wu Tanhua in private. I asked them a few questions, and your elder brother got angry and sold all those maids off."

After saying that, he sneered, "Now everyone around me has become a mummified babble, not daring to utter a single word."

Meng Yuanxiao was surprised. She had originally wanted to say something to comfort her sister-in-law, but she hadn't expected to say the wrong thing so easily, and she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Upon entering the room, Meng Yuanxiao suddenly recalled his sister-in-law's words in the private room of the teahouse: "Just consider it keeping my sister-in-law company, okay?"

Her heart skipped a beat, and she blurted out, "Sister-in-law, did you already know?"

Li Keying paused slightly, but did not answer. She pulled Meng Yuanxiao over to sit on the couch, added water to the silver teapot and brewed tea. Then she casually picked up a book on military strategy from a small table and opened it.

Although her gaze was fixed on the book, she was clearly distracted.

Once the tea in the teapot was just beginning to boil and wisps of steam were rising from the spout, Li Keying said, "I didn't know, I just expected it."

Ever since Meng Xu brought Su Shi into the household, she had been waiting for this day.

I thought I would be sad, but when the day actually came, I felt more relieved.

When Madam Su first entered, whether to appease her or for some other reason, Meng Xu did not go into Madam Su's room.

She forbade him to enter the bedroom, so he stayed in the study. However, after some time had passed, and after getting drunk again, Meng Xu finally stepped into Su's room.

The next day, he came to find her, drunk, saying that he stayed in Su's room on purpose to provoke her, and angrily questioned her why she wasn't angry, and whether she didn't care about him at all.

She just found it funny; a leopard can't change its spots, yet it tries to pin the blame on others.

That day she ignored him, and they parted on bad terms. And then…

She couldn't be bothered to care about what happened after that.

Li Keying's beautiful, aloof face was slightly pale, and she said apologetically, "Yuanyuan, your sister-in-law shouldn't have brought you back to the Meng residence today."

If she had known she would run into something like this, she wouldn't have let Meng Yuanxiao come back and suffer the same disgusting experience with her.

Meng Yuanxiao naturally wouldn't blame her. She held her sister-in-law's hand, unsure of what to say for a moment.

Li Keying looked at her for a long time before saying, "Yuanyuan, your elder brother has never been my everything, and the Meng family can't hold me back."

After saying that, he raised his hand and poured a cup of tea for himself and Meng Yuanxiao.

The tea was steaming hot. Li Keying was slightly lost in thought for a while before saying, "The water used to brew the tea is melted snow from pine needles. I used to like to use snow water to brew tea when I was in Fengzhou, but I forgot about it last winter and only remembered it when the last snow fell after the New Year."

After a moment of silence, her eyes reddened slightly. "The snow in the capital is just as good, but I'll never taste it again."

Meng Yuanxiao's eyes welled up with tears.

Meng Xu instructed someone to send the doctor away, and then Feng's maid came. "Young Master, Madam requests your presence."

When Madam Feng called him over, it was clear that news of Madam Su's pregnancy had already reached her ears.

Meng Xu dismissed the maid with a sullen face, stood there for a moment, and then walked towards his mother's courtyard.

After walking a short distance, they ran into Meng Zheng. Meng Zheng looked like he had just returned from outside, with a blade of grass stuck to his shoulder.

"If you're not on duty, where have you been fooling around?" Meng Xu rebuked him coldly.

There was a tree nearby. Meng Zheng leaned against it, crossed his arms, and glared at him. "Big brother, you still have the mind to care about me?"

This was the first time he had called Meng Xu "elder brother" since returning to Beijing, but his tone was full of sarcasm and gloating.

After saying that, he glanced in the direction of the side courtyard and said with a smile, "Big brother, have you forgotten? I'm not on duty today, so I'm naturally going to watch the martial arts champion parade."

Seeing Meng Xu's sullen face and his displeasure, Meng Zheng smiled with satisfaction, "Congratulations, big brother, I'm going to be your second uncle from now on."

Meng Xu: "Get lost."

Meng Zheng raised an eyebrow. "Big brother, you didn't care about our brotherly bond before and tricked me like that. What, now that you've made such a fuss over another woman, are you trying to blame it on your younger brother?"

His words were incredibly irritating. Meng Xu stared at him for a moment and said coldly, "With your temperament, you might cause trouble at any time in the Imperial City Guard."

"Didn't you not want to stay in the capital before? I've already spoken to people and found you a new job outside, one that has a better future than your current job in the Imperial City Guard. You should prepare for it soon."

Upon hearing this, Meng Zheng froze, his expression immediately turning cold.

He clenched his fists, straightened his body, and after a long while, sneered, "Brother, you should take care of your own affairs. Don't worry about your younger brother's business."

He smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I will leave the capital one day. Brother, there's no need to rush. Even if you don't send me away then, I won't stay."

After saying that, he glanced in the direction of Li Keying's courtyard, gave Meng Xu a provocative smile, and turned to walk away.

As Cui Xintang emerged from the yamen, Qingzhu immediately came to greet him.

Cui Xintang was out on official business today, and it was not yet time to leave the office. He still had to return to the Ministry of Revenue to handle some official matters.

Only after reaching the carriage did he ask, "How is the Lin family's matter being handled?"

"Your Majesty, there's still some trouble at the cloth shop. Perhaps the princess has spoken to the yamen officials, but I can't see them or say anything. It will require Your Majesty's personal intervention," Qingzhu said.

"By the way, Miss Lin is very anxious. She says she knows nothing about what happened yesterday and wants to see you, Master..."

Before Qingzhu could finish speaking, Cui Xintang gave him a cold glance.

Qingzhu was stunned for a moment, then realized that she had spoken out of turn again, and immediately swallowed the rest of her words.

Cui Xintang asked the question casually, then ignored him and got into the carriage.

Qingzhu wanted to ask Miss Lin if she had a reply, but seeing her master's reaction, she didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly jumped onto the carriage to get going.

With a flick of the whip, the carriage slowly drove away. Qingzhu couldn't help but grumble inwardly, the Lin family was truly inconsiderate, no wonder their master was angry.

When they were quiet before, and didn't linger around the young mistress, didn't the master help them with everything he could?

However, Miss Lin has always been sensible, so why did she suddenly become so unreasonable and insist on coming to our door at this critical juncture, when the troubles at the government office have not yet been resolved?

Did you think that getting your master involved would be a safe bet? Ha! Now that you've angered your master, he's washing his hands of the matter.

Qingzhu, ever the chatterbox, thought to himself and casually said, "Master, did you say that it was Young Master Lin who sent a letter to the Lin family? What did he say? Tsk, Young Master Lin is never quiet. Should I have someone give him a good beating?"

He rambled on and on in his own language, but Cui Xintang inside the carriage didn't respond to a single word. Qingzhu, feeling embarrassed, wisely shut up as well.

The carriage had traveled a short distance when it was suddenly stopped halfway through the journey.

The person who came was a servant of Princess Langyue. The servant stopped the carriage and said, "Greetings, Young Master Cui. Her Highness the Princess requests a chat with you."

Cui Xintang frowned and said in a low voice, "Please inform the princess that I have official business to attend to and need to return to the Ministry of Revenue to report to my superiors. I will pay my respects to the princess another day."

The attendant, however, remained unhurried, taking a letter from his sleeve and handing it to Qingzhu. "Young Master Cui, don't be in such a hurry to refuse. Read this letter first before making a decision."

Upon seeing the words on the envelope, Qingzhu's face stiffened, and he immediately jumped off the carriage and handed the letter to Cui Xintang.

The letter was sent by Lin Yu. It was originally meant for him, but somehow it ended up in the hands of Princess Langyue.

Cui Xintang's gaze fell on the letter in his hand, and his hands, which were resting on his knees, suddenly clenched.

A moment later, Cui Xintang followed his attendant into a teahouse, walked around the corridor, and met Princess Langyue in a secluded private room in the back courtyard of the teahouse.

The princess was dressed in a man's round-necked robe and black boots, as if she had just come down from the polo field.

Seeing him enter, the princess twirled the teacup in her hand and scoffed, "I thought that since I hadn't been able to invite Young Master Cui for so long, he really didn't care about the Lin family anymore."

Cui Xintang remained expressionless, performed the curtsy, and the princess stared at him for a moment before pointing to the armchair beside her, "Sit down."

After he sat down, the princess asked, "Have you read the letter? I didn't know that Young Master Cui cared so much about the Lin family. He was willing to go to so much trouble for Miss Lin's good-for-nothing brother."

"It's truly rare for my former brother-in-law to have gone to such lengths as Mr. Cui."

These words were not without sarcasm, but Cui Xintang's expression remained unchanged. She placed the letter back on the table, her tone completely calm, "The Lin family consists of orphans and widows. Why should the princess make things difficult for them?"

“I’m willing,” the princess sneered. “I’ve never been one to be trifled with. You made me lose face so badly back then, and you expect me to swallow my anger? Anyone who makes me unhappy, I’ll make them ten or a hundred times more unhappy.”

“Since it’s because of that Lin family, then she should suffer. As long as I’m not satisfied, she won’t have a good time.”

After saying that, she raised her eyebrows and said meaningfully, "I would like to make things difficult for others, but is Young Master Cui willing?"

Cui Xintang: "..."

The princess smiled meaningfully before glancing at the letter on the coffee table. She picked it up with two fingers, looked at it a few times, and slowly began to speak.

"It's quite a coincidence that Young Master Lin happens to be in Yunping County. I wonder if there's any reason for this? However, Young Master Cui must have seen him when he last visited Yunping County, right?"

"Young Master Lin said in his letter that he wants to return to the capital, and that the Xu family has contacted him several times. What do you think would happen if I brought him back to the capital, Young Master Cui?"

"..." Cui Xintang's heart suddenly tightened.

Half an hour later, after leaving the teahouse, Qingzhu carefully observed her master's expression and asked cautiously, "Master, do we still need to go back to the yamen?"

“I’m not going,” Cui Xintang said in a deep voice. “I’m going to the Meng residence.”

As Meng Yuanxiao left her sister-in-law's courtyard, she felt heavy-hearted and extremely uncomfortable.

He had originally intended to go find his mother, but after a moment's hesitation, he gave up and returned to his own courtyard in silence.

Feng had people keep her courtyard tidy every day, just as it had been before she got married.

Back in the courtyard, Meng Yuanxiao kicked off her shoes, collapsed onto the couch, and buried her face in her arms, looking sullen.

The crabapple blossoms in the courtyard were in full bloom. Hong Shao picked two branches and put them in a vase. "Miss, the crabapple blossoms in the courtyard are all in bloom. Would you like to go out and take a look?"

Meng Yuanxiao was listless and turned his face away, not wanting to talk to her.

A moment later, footsteps were heard outside, and soon someone came in.

Meng Yuanxiao scrambled up from the bed, thinking it was her mother, but instead saw it was Granny Lai, who was by her mother's side.

Her almond-shaped eyes dimmed, and she pursed her lips without speaking.

Granny Lai came in, looked her up and down, and said with a smile, "Miss, Madam knew you were back and wanted to come see you in person, but she happened to be unwell today, so she sent this old servant to come and see you."

"Madam instructed the kitchen to prepare your favorite snacks. Miss, please stay at the Meng residence tonight and have breakfast at Madam's courtyard early tomorrow morning."

Meng Yuanxiao pursed her lips for a long time before saying in a low voice, "I understand, thank you for your trouble, Granny Lai."

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "How is Mother?"

"Miss, don't worry. Madam just caught a chill; she has chest tightness and a headache. She'll be fine tomorrow after a rest," Granny Lai comforted her.

Granny Lai sat for a while and then left. As soon as Granny Lai left, Meng Yuanxiao's eyes reddened.

Hongshao rarely saw her young mistress looking so dejected, and not knowing how to comfort her, she was getting anxious when she heard the urgent meowing of a cat in the tree in the courtyard.

Hongshao went over, opened the window, and looked outside. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Master, that little beast somehow got up in the tree and can't get down!"

Meng Yuanxiao glanced out the window and saw a tabby kitten, still nursing, trapped in a tree, meowing in fright.

Meng Yuanxiao blinked and instructed Hongshao, "Move a chair and take it down."

The master and servant carried a chair to the tree. Hongshao stepped onto the chair, but she was too short and clumsy, and almost scared the little tabby cat into falling off the tree.

Meng Yuanxiao was getting anxious and said with disdain, "Hongshao, how can you be so clumsy? Get down, I'll do it."

After Hongshao came down, Meng Yuanxiao stood on a chair, tiptoed, and stretched out his arm to carefully reach the tabby cat.

But just as her hand reached for the tabby cat, a pair of large hands suddenly landed on her waist, lifting her off the chair.

Meng Yuanxiao was startled when his feet suddenly dangled in the air. He cried out in surprise, and then landed steadily on the ground in the next instant.

She instinctively protected the kitten in her arms before turning away with a frown.

I thought it was my second brother, but it turned out to be Cui Xintang.

Meng Yuanxiao was stunned.

Cui Xintang glanced at her arms, his face showing a hint of disdain.

He snatched the kitten from her arms and tossed it to Hongshao, who was standing there dumbfounded, before frowning and saying, "You've gotten smarter again?"

Meng Yuanxiao ignored him and turned to go inside.

Cui Xintang gave Hong Shao a cold glance before following her into the house.

With his long strides, he caught up with Meng Yuanxiao in a few steps, entered the house, closed the door behind him, and then picked him up.

Startled by the sudden lift of his feet off the ground, Meng Yuanxiao instinctively clung to his neck. "Brother Tang, what are you doing?"

Her tone was annoyed, but Cui Xintang ignored her and simply carried her over to sit down on the armchair.

Meng Yuanxiao glared at him with a stern face, and Cui Xintang said helplessly, "Didn't I scold you?"

Meng Yuanxiao didn't want to talk to him, and only asked, "Brother Tang, how did you know I was here?"

He hadn't even changed his clothes, and it was this hour, so he must have come over as soon as he finished his duties at the yamen.

Cui Xintang raised his eyebrows. "Brother Tang is so good at divination. After leaving the yamen, he just did a quick calculation and knew that Yuanyuan had returned to the Meng residence today."

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

Cui Xintang stopped teasing her. "Did you go see the martial arts champion's parade today?"

"Hmm." Meng Yuanxiao's voice was lazy, as if she didn't want to talk to him.

Was the martial arts champion good-looking?

Meng Yuanxiao pouted, "It's not pretty, not pretty at all."

"..."

Meng Yuanxiao pursed her lips and asked, "Brother Tang, how did you know that I was the one who threw that flower when you were parading through the streets three years ago?"

Cui Xintang seemed to recall something seriously, then laughed and said, "That flower was thrown straight at my head, hitting my head painfully through my hat. I just wanted to see which girl was so fierce."

Meng Yuanxiao choked.

Cui Xintang found it amusing. "Who told me so early on that she had already booked a private room there, wanting to see me at my most glamorous?"

"..."

Cui Xintang chuckled, took her hand and squeezed it, his large palm holding her hand and the jade bracelet on her wrist.

Ever since she learned about the Lin family's affairs, Yuanyuan has refused to talk to him or say a word to him, but she has been wearing the bracelet he gave her.

"What else did Yuanyuan do today?" he asked.

Meng Yuanxiao suddenly thought of Miss Lin, whom he had seen in the private room of the teahouse.

She asked, "Brother Tang, isn't today a day off? Are you at the yamen all day?"

"Mm," Cui Xintang replied casually.

Seeing her suspicious look, he paused and continued, "Today, I'm not the only one at the Ministry of Revenue; several colleagues are here as well. The summer tax will be collected in two months. The court has formulated a new tax law, but the Ministry of Revenue needs to formulate the regulations for its implementation first."

After saying that, she lowered her voice and said, "Many people in the court are against it. A few days ago, the Princess even summoned the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister to the palace and scolded them. After being scolded, they will surely make trouble for those below them when they come back."

Meng Yuanxiao was stunned.

Cui Xintang stroked her waist with his large hand, "In addition, the imperial court has issued an edict to encourage refugees to return to their hometowns or settle down locally, and to lease the land that the court has taken back to these refugees for cultivation. The imperial court has issued an edict, and how to do it is up to the Ministry of Revenue to consider. These are exactly the duties of your husband."

"Shangguan originally intended to host a dinner party at a restaurant today, but I declined. They are at the restaurant now. If Yuanyuan doesn't believe me, your husband will take you to see for yourself."