Chapter 274: Monarch and Ministers

The old lady hugged her in her arms and said, "Okay, okay, we have our ancestors, don't be afraid, your brother Junying scared you, it was in the dark, how could I let you go? This child is really something, a whole room of people are waiting for you to come back for dinner, and as soon as you come in, you roar like a thunder god, the older you get, the worse you become!"

Xu Junying said, "Grandma, I really have to send her away! Not to mention that Meimei can't stand being scared by her, I'm worried about her being out there. She's a naive girl who doesn't know etiquette, doesn't know how to act, and has no respect for her parents. She has a sword hidden on her body. What if she hurts someone?"

The old lady looked at Xu Junying and said in a deep voice, "Hurt someone? A Yao has lived with the Queen Mother in the palace for a long time, and then came to the Hou Mansion to live with me for so many days, how come she didn't hurt the Queen Mother, didn't hurt me? And the people around her, your sister and the others, aren't they all fine? As soon as she arrived at Qinghua Courtyard, she said she hurt someone? There are still your guards in Qinghua Courtyard, she is a weak girl, who can she hurt? You look at your grandmother who is too old to understand, and the one in your room is an unvirtuous jealous woman! She can't bear to see that you have a young and beautiful relative sister to stay in the mansion for two days, and A Yao just came, and she can't tolerate it. Call her and tell me, how did A Yao hurt her? Where is the injury!"

Wu Ziyao cried, "Grandma, ancestor! I didn't hurt her, I just wanted to dance with the sword for her to see, and as soon as I drew my sword, Bai Zhan came, took my sword, and asked the guards to tie me up..."

"Oh, stop crying, you little brat, your crying makes grandma feel distressed." The old lady patted her and said, "Bai Zhan, huh? You are such an ignorant little servant, you dare to bully your master, wait for me to deal with him!"

Xu Junying looked at the old man and the young man coldly and said, "Grandma, you don't have to worry about this. The dignity of Tsinghua Dean and Madam Hou cannot be violated. I don't want to wait until A Yao really commits a crime before punishing her. Let's go now!"

He took a few steps forward, reached out and pulled Wu Ziyao up, dragging her towards the door like a chicken or a duck.

Wu Ziyao didn't expect Xu Junying to do this. She struggled and cried, "Grandma!"

The old lady felt her arms go empty. She was stunned for a long time and said angrily, "Let her go! She is my guest, Junying. If you take her away, you are unfilial!"

Xu Junying paused for a moment, without even turning his head, "If that's the case, please forgive me, Grandmother, for being unfilial!"

He pressed the acupuncture points on Wu Ziyao, who was still moving, and asked the maids in the corridor to bring a warm sedan chair over, and put her in. He looked at the little rabbit and lamb following behind him and asked them to bring the sedan chair as well, and then told Baoju:

"Press the acupuncture points, hand it to Ji Qing in the palace, and then relieve her pain!"

Baoju nodded, took the order and led everyone to carry the sedan chair away. Xu Junying stood in the corridor and listened to the chaos inside. The old lady was crying again. Master Xu Er and others kept comforting and advising her. He sighed lightly, thinking that going in at this time would only add fuel to the fire, so he decided to leave.

He was thinking along the way: What is filial piety? Is it just obeying orders regardless of right or wrong? If he had to break up his own little family and let go of happiness and joy just to honor his elders, he would not do it. The elders who asked him to do so did not seem to be worthy of respect.

Walking into Tsinghua Courtyard and smelling the aroma of food, he felt refreshed and a smile appeared on his face unconsciously. Cheng'er saw him coming from afar in the corridor and reported to the house in a crisp voice:

"Master Hou is back!"

Then he heard Meimei's gentle and sweet voice: "Heng'er, father is back, why don't you go to greet him!"

A chubby little figure ran out in a hurry, opened his arms and threw himself into his arms with a laugh: "Father!"

Xu Junying picked up Heng'er and saw Meimei coming over with a smile. She held his arm and said affectionately, "My husband is back. Come in!"

His lovely wife and young child, one hugged his neck, the other hugged his arm, their bodies leaned against each other, the body temperature was transmitted to each other, like an electric current touching the acupuncture points all over the body. Xu Junying only felt that his blood circulation was smooth and comfortable, his body was warm, and his heart was as sweet as eating honey.

There was no one else in the room, so the maids were asked to leave. Meimei personally helped the father and son wash their hands and faces, then they sat down to eat. She served soup and dishes to her husband and son, and then she picked up the bowl herself. Xu Junying immediately picked up a dish for her with chopsticks. When Heng'er saw this, he put the chicken leg in his hand into his mother's bowl. Meimei looked at the full bowl of rice and said "Oh", then smiled with her eyes curved. The father and son also laughed. Most of the warm and beautiful homes in the world are like this. With love, there is incomparable happiness.

The next morning, Xu Junying went to the court in a refreshed mood. He was concentrating on debating government affairs and state affairs. After the court was dismissed, Ji Qing came to invite him, saying that the emperor had something to discuss with him. He followed him, but he did not go to the side hall as usual, but to the harem. He guessed something in his mind. As expected, when he arrived at the gate of the inner courtyard, the emperor stood there with a cold face and his hands behind his back. When he saw him, he shook his head and said:

"Come with me and explain to the Queen Mother. Why did you send someone back here in the middle of the night, crying? Just because you live far away, you want me, the Emperor, to take the blame for you? You are capable of doing this. If you anger me, I will issue an imperial decree to take you back!"

Xu Junying followed him and said, "Your Majesty, please don't do this! I have finally managed to coax Meimei to change her mind, and we haven't had a good life for a few days yet, Your Majesty, please pity me!"

"Pity you? You are so sweet over there, but I am so sad. That girl wants to marry you. She said it when she was a child, and she still won't change her mind. The Queen Mother also has this intention. Your old lady said when she went to the palace last time that Meimei can't have children! That girl is at least an aunt of the Emperor. If you don't want a co-wife, you can give her the title of a concubine!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want any concubines or anything like that!"

The emperor turned around and glared at him: "It's not up to you whether you want to do it or not. Go to the Cining Palace and get past the Empress Dowager first!"

Xu Junying lowered his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, please don't just believe what my grandmother said. Meimei is not incapable of having children. She is just weak and needs to be nursed back to health before having another child..."

The emperor snorted coldly, "How can you be so weak? Lingxuzi and Zhang Jingyun have lived in the capital for so long, but they didn't help her recover? You can fool others, but not me. During the days when she was in the palace, I saw that she was very lively and healthy! You have been back here for a long time, and you two are very loving. If it's not her problem, then it must be you?"

"I'm fine!"

Seeing Xu Junying answer so quickly, the emperor couldn't help but laugh: "You don't have to be like this. Being favored is one thing, but you still need to pass on the family line, and having offspring is also very important."

He sighed and said, "I don't think the queen is the most important thing in my heart. But I can't ignore the concubines in the six palaces. The queen was originally a weak woman. It was impossible for her to have children for me. I tried my best to control her and didn't allow other concubines to get pregnant before her. She also fought hard and got pregnant and gave birth to the eldest prince. I wanted to let other concubines get pregnant and give birth to children when the prince was one year old. Unexpectedly, Rong Fei got pregnant due to negligence. After that, I had to stop using contraceptive medicine and let any concubine get pregnant and give birth! They are all my children, and I will love them the same... I am not young anymore, and I have three or two children around me. The queen mother always nags me. You are the same age as me, and you only have one son. It's no wonder that your old lady is unwilling. Meimei has given birth to the eldest son now, and he will be the prince in the future, but you are the dignified Weiyuan Marquis, you should have more sons. You can love Meimei and cherish her. What's wrong with marrying one or two concubines to have children?"

Xu Junying smiled: "Meimei and I will have a baby. In two years, we will have one!"

"Why? Must it be two years later?"

"It may take a while, but we will have children. We can have as many as we want! This is a secret between my husband and me, so Your Majesty, please don't ask!"

"Secret!" The emperor looked at Xu Junying's sweet smile, glared and gritted his teeth: "Just for a secret, you beat A Yao back? Xu Junying, you are going too far. If the Queen Mother issues an imperial decree for you to marry her, I will not care!"

Xu Junying put away his smile and said sternly, "If the emperor issues an order to grant me marriage, I will resist to the end! No matter what crime the emperor charges me with, I will not obey!"

The emperor looked at him and said, "How outrageous!"

Xu Junying bowed and said, "I dare not!"

The emperor waved his sleeves and said, "Go away! Stop pretending! What happened last night? You sent people back overnight and made the queen mother so angry that she was shaking. You are good enough!"

"I was too angry last night. She wrapped a soft iron sword around her waist and went to talk to Meimei. Then she suddenly drew the sword. Don't you think Meimei, a weak woman, would be frightened by her? What if she was accidentally hurt? I didn't beat or scold her because of the face of the emperor, Concubine Zhen, and General Fengguo!"

The emperor sneered, "Do it for my sake? In that case, I still have to accept your favor? Do you know how much effort I put in to persuade the Queen Mother not to be angry last night? Otherwise, I would have attacked your Weiyuan Marquis Mansion overnight to see how you would deal with it? Offending A Yao is nothing, and offending Concubine Zhen is nothing. I don't even bother to care about you, but you are the Queen Mother's maternal relative! Sometimes women go crazy for their maternal family, do you understand?"

Xu Junying thought of the old lady, and even Meimei, who was not his biological daughter, who was trying hard to get into the Qin Mansion. He thought that the attraction of the mother's family was really great, and nodded unconsciously: "I understand! But I didn't think of that!"

The emperor said angrily, "Didn't you expect that? Throwing A Yao into the palace like that is like slapping the Queen Mother in the face. She insisted that I judge and punish you. Do you know what the Queen Mother is capable of? She personally searched the whole palace for me. I...I really wanted to chop you a few times at that time!"

Thinking of what happened last night, he really kicked Xu Junying twice. Xu Junying let him finish kicking, shook his outer robe, and said:

"Your Majesty, calm down! We can talk it out if we have something to say. Why do we have to do this?"

"Hey, hey! You were sleeping with a woman in your arms, and suddenly your mother came running in. What do you think?"

Xu Junying chuckled: "Your Majesty, at that time?"

"I can't love you anytime. It's none of your business!"

The emperor threw a punch, but Xu Junying dodged it this time: "That's Ji Qing's fault, it's your eunuchs and maids' fault for not guarding the door, but it's not my turn to take the blame!"