Chapter 528 Mencius' Father Faints
The Yongchang Earl's Mansion.
Meng Dongyuan married Zhao out of necessity. He disliked and was dissatisfied with her. He had no interest in the wedding night. He would drink the wine offered by the guests, but they stopped offering him more wine when they saw that he was drunk. Now he walks unsteadily and has to be helped back to the bridal chamber by his servants.
Zhao had been waiting for a long time. Seeing that her husband was covered in alcohol and his face was flushed, she knew he was drunk. She had no choice but to have the servants take him to bed first, and then have the servants leave.
She stepped forward and asked gently, "Husband, are you alright?"
Meng Dongyuan groggily opened his eyes and saw Zhao Shi dressed in a red wedding gown. For a moment, he was confused and mistook the person in front of him for Dong Shi. He immediately reached out to take her hand, murmuring, "Huiyun... Huiyun..."
When Zhao heard her husband call out "Huiyun", her face darkened. She was not Huiyun, but she knew that her husband's ex-wife, Dong, was named Huiyun.
When her husband divorced Dong, there were many rumors. Some said it was because of the heir Meng Chengxing, while others said it was because her husband Meng Dongyuan was destined to have bad luck in marriage, so he could not grow old with any of his marriages and every wife he had would have something happen to him.
She didn't really believe in fate. After all, when she married her ex-husband, she went to a temple to draw lots, and the lots were all very auspicious. But her marriage wasn't very happy, and her ex-husband died of illness when he was only in his early thirties.
She took her daughter back to her parents' home, but her family looked down on her. She had no choice but to remarry. She didn't want to marry into families with poor conditions. Meng Dongyuan was the best one she thought. His family had a title, and he had an eldest daughter who was the wife of the Marquis of Changxing. His son was not very good at studying, but his second son, Meng Chengzhang, was the top scorer in last year's provincial examination. With the support of his brother-in-law, the Marquis of Changxing, he could become successful. She, as his stepmother, could also benefit from his success.
Furthermore, her daughter Yunying is fourteen years old this year and will be of marriageable age next year. She needs to find a good family to elevate her daughter's status. With her family's background, the Meng family is the best family she can find. Otherwise, as a widow with a daughter, even with her family's connections, it would be difficult to find a satisfactory marriage.
The stepdaughter of the Earl of Yongchang and the stepsister of the Lady of Changxing, this was the best status she could secure for her daughter.
Thinking of this, Zhao suppressed her displeasure and decided not to argue with her husband for the time being. She said softly, "Husband, I am not Huiyun, I am Qianyi."
Who is Qianyi?
Upon hearing this, Meng Dongyuan strained his eyes to look at the bride before him. In a daze, he remembered that his wedding today was not to marry Huiyun, but to marry Zhao Shi, whom he did not like, due to his mother's orders. He immediately became more sober and frowned: "Zhao Shi, what are you doing here? You, you get out of here. This is my and Huiyun's room."
Zhao originally thought she could just endure it, but she never expected her husband to treat her like this. On their wedding night, he wanted to kick her out, making her lose face. If her husband succeeded tonight, the whole mansion would laugh at her tomorrow. How could she continue to stay in the Meng family after that?
She was both angry and aggrieved, unable to control her temper, and said angrily, "Since you still care about your ex-wife, why did you divorce her and marry me? Open your eyes and see clearly. I am now your lawfully wedded wife, this is our bridal chamber, and I did nothing wrong on our wedding night. If you insist on kicking me out, then I will go and ask my mother to come and judge this matter!"
When Meng Dongyuan heard her mention his mother, he was also annoyed. It was originally his mother's idea to marry Zhao Shi, and he was forced to marry her. Now Zhao Shi wanted to use his mother to pressure him. He didn't dare to talk back to his mother, but he dared to talk back to Zhao Shi, otherwise he would look too cowardly.
He staggered to his feet, pointed at Zhao Shi, and said, "You dare? If you dare, I'll divorce you tomorrow!"
Zhao was stunned. Her husband's series of startling words left her momentarily speechless. But she quickly realized she was right and calmed down, becoming fearless: "I haven't committed any of the seven grounds for divorce, how dare you divorce me! Even if we take this to the authorities, it's Meng Dongyuan who was in the wrong first. If you're willing to lose face, we'll go see the officials right now!"
Meng Dongyuan had married several times, and each of his wives was gentle and compliant. Even Sun, that vicious woman, was usually gentle and considerate and would never speak to him like that. Now, Zhao, who had just married into the family, was acting like a shrew, which he naturally couldn't stand. Her attitude of always wanting to go to the authorities reminded him of his troublesome eldest daughter, who had once threatened him in the same way.
He was immediately enraged and raised his hand to slap Zhao Shi in the face. However, Zhao Shi was not one to stand still and take a beating. When she saw that he actually wanted to hit her, she was first startled, and then she took a few steps back with lightning speed.
Meng Dongyuan missed his target, stumbled and fell to the ground, hitting his head on a nearby table, and immediately fainted.
When Zhao saw him lying motionless on the ground, she was immediately terrified, her face turning pale. She was completely at a loss and didn't know how to react. After a while, she came to her senses, calmed herself down, squatted down, and reached out to check her husband's breathing. She found that he was still breathing, and then went to call the maid. She told the maid, "Quickly, go find the family doctor. The master fell down after getting drunk."
The maid was taken aback when she heard this, and then quickly went to find the family physician.
On his wedding night, during the bridal chamber, Meng Dongyuan fell unconscious. This could not be kept secret. Immediately, a maid went to Rongfu Hall to inform Old Madam Meng. Meng Chengxing and Meng Chengzhang also received the news. After learning about the situation, the three of them immediately went to Meng Dongyuan's courtyard.
Although Madam Meng had many complaints about her son, he was still her only son among her three children, so she cared about him a bit. Moreover, it would be disgraceful for such a thing to happen on such a joyous occasion. She just hoped that her son would be alright and that she wouldn't have to bury her son again.
She rushed to her son's courtyard and found that her two grandsons had already arrived. The Ling family physician had just arrived as well. When she saw that the Ling family physician was about to bow to her, she quickly said, "No need for formalities. You should go and see how the Lord is doing."
The physician from the Ling family nodded in agreement and, without further delay, immediately went into the inner room to prepare to treat Meng Dongyuan.
When Madam Meng went in, she saw Zhao Shi, who was still wearing her red wedding dress, standing guard by the bed with a worried expression. She was furious to see that Zhao Shi was alright. Why was it her son who had fallen instead of Zhao Shi?
She hardened her face, glared sharply at Zhao Shi, and angrily accused her: "Zhao Shi, how have you taken care of your husband? You've only been married into the family for a short time, and you've already caused my son to fall and is now unconscious. If anything happens to my son, I won't let you off the hook!"
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