Chapter 431 Still Charming
The news of Mei Qingyun being divorced and returning to the capital spread like wildfire.
Mei Qingyun was invited to a banquet by some of the young ladies she knew in the past. Back then, everyone was young, but now they are around thirty years old. Those young ladies are now married to other people, while Mei Qingyun has gone from being married to someone else to becoming a girl of the Mei family again.
Without the identity of being a daughter-in-law of the Wei family, she was just a girl from the Mei family. At twenty-nine years old, she was still called Miss Mei by others, which was ironic in today's society, since others of that age would be almost grandmothers.
Mei Qingyun naturally knew that those people wanted to see her make a fool of herself, but she still went to the banquet.
Today is the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet hosted by the Lady of Jing'an Marquis. It is also her first public appearance since returning to the capital. She dressed up nicely and went out.
Her pride wouldn't allow her to be a coward. Didn't she say she was afraid to go out? Then she would go out and show them what she was made of. After all, she couldn't hide away forever.
After Mei Qingyun arrived, everyone's eyes fell on her.
She was dressed in a light purple dress, with a white jade plum blossom hairpin in her hair and hibiscus jade earrings inlaid with pearls. She walked gracefully with lotus-like steps, still as dignified and gentle as everyone remembered.
That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that she doesn't look old. At twenty-nine years old, she looks no more than twenty-four or twenty-five. Her skin is like cream and her face is like a lotus flower, making her exceptionally dazzling among her peers.
More than a decade has passed, and Mei Qingyun remains the most dazzling among them.
The ladies were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
When Lady Jing'an saw Mei Qingyun, her smile froze. She really hadn't expected Mei Qingyun to still be so graceful, and even more so to have the mature charm that came with her age. When she smiled gently, even women couldn't help but take a few more glances. If her husband saw this, what would happen? He would probably lose his soul again. After all, her husband's favorite concubine did bear a striking resemblance to Mei Qingyun.
At this moment, the expressions of Meng Jinyao's two sisters-in-law, Zhang and Chen, were somewhat subtle. It was fine for the Lady of Jing'an to invite the three sisters-in-law, but inviting Mei Qingyun at this critical juncture was just asking for trouble.
Meng Jinyao was also somewhat surprised. If she had known Mei Qingyun was coming, she wouldn't have come. After all, recently, while people were belittling Mei Qingyun, they were also dragging her into the conversation, making their meeting somewhat awkward. She had only gone out to the banquet today because she was bored at home and had her two sisters-in-law with her.
Zhang said softly, "Third sister-in-law, I really didn't know she would come too, otherwise I wouldn't have persuaded you to come out and relieve your boredom."
Meng Jinyao gently shook her head: "Sister-in-law, I'm fine."
Mei Qingyun noticed the change in everyone's gaze, and her pent-up feelings finally eased. She calmly walked towards Lady Jing'an. She had seen this person on the street a few days ago, and she had a past grudge against her. She only slowly remembered this person after receiving the invitation, but she couldn't remember how she had offended Lady Jing'an.
She said gently, "Sister Yao, it's been so many years. How have you been?"
Lady Jing'an responded with a smile: "I'm fine. I was worried about my sister after hearing about what happened, but now that I see she doesn't seem to be troubled by it, I'm relieved."
Mei Qingyun's smile faltered, her eyes lowered, and her expression darkened. She quickly smiled again, her tone tinged with bitterness and guilt: "It's also my fault for delaying him for so many years. Fortunately, it's not too late now. He can find a good match again and have a legitimate son."
Her words made it difficult for Lady Jing'an to continue her sarcasm; she couldn't very well say that the other person deserved it. So she simply said, "Sister, don't overthink it. You didn't want this to happen either."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lady Jing'an changed the subject: "My sister has been away from the capital for many years, so there are probably many people you don't know. Let me introduce you."
After speaking, Lady Jing'an introduced each of the ladies in the family that Mei Qingyun might not recognize. When she got to Meng Jinyao, she paused for a moment and then said, "This is Lady Changxing, the wife of the Marquis of Changxing. Her surname is Meng, and her family is the Yongchang Earl's Mansion."
Mei Qingyun smiled gently: "Sister Yao, I know Madam Gu. We met before in Huzhou."
Meng Jinyao responded with a smile: "Yes, we met a few times when we were in Huzhou."
Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished, not expecting that they actually knew each other. Indeed, it was normal for them to have met when the Marquis of Changxing returned to his hometown of Huzhou with his wife.
Everyone had expected a good show when the Marquis of Changxing's new love met his old flame, but the two of them remained calm and even smiled as they talked. The audience was somewhat disappointed, as the show was over before it even began.
However, Mei Qingyun was only outwardly calm; her heart was far from at peace. Every time she saw Meng Jinyao, she was struck by a blow, as if being reminded of her past foolishness. She should have known better than to break off the engagement. That way, she would have gotten the boy she liked in her youth, and even if he recovered from his illness years later, she could have had a reason to say that she was too old to have children.
Every step in life involves choices. One wrong choice can change the course of your life. After tormenting each other with Wei Heng for so many years, she is now back to being a girl from the Mei family, surrounded by rumors and gossip.
Now that she's in this situation, the only thing she can do if she remarries is to marry a widower and become someone else's second wife. Otherwise, who else but a widower would accept her? There aren't any men her age who are decent enough but not yet married. And teenagers, she's old enough to be someone's mother, so why would they look at her? Even if she could have children, they still wouldn't want her.
The more Mei Qingyun thought about it, the angrier she became. She felt frustrated and resentful towards Wei Heng. Why did he have to become such a corrupt official? He had ruined the Wei family. She suddenly realized that if Wei Heng had been a good official and the Wei family hadn't fallen into trouble, they could have managed to get by, and she wouldn't be worrying about marriage at her age.
Everyone was admiring the chrysanthemums, and those with talent would compose a poem or write a lyric, appreciating each other's poetry and getting along very well. However, someone asked a cheeky question: "Miss Mei, I heard that Lord Wang, the Junior Grand Tutor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, sent a matchmaker to propose marriage the day before yesterday. Is that true?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Mei Qingyun. Some had heard rumors, but many others had not.
Mei Qingyun was somewhat embarrassed, but this kind of thing couldn't be kept secret, so she simply nodded slightly: "It is true."
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Madam Wang is still here, how could Lord Wang do this?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that Lord Wang already had a wife, yet he sent a matchmaker to the Mei family to propose marriage, which meant he wanted to take Mei Qingyun as a concubine.
In an instant, a storm of shock swept through everyone's hearts. Back then, how many scions of noble families wanted to marry Mei Qingyun as their principal wife? Now, someone wanted to take her as a concubine, showing her such contempt.
Even if she is old and unable to have children, she can still be a legal wife. There are widowers older than her, and with her talent and looks, it wouldn't be a problem for her to marry someone else as a second wife.
Therefore, the lady who had previously ridiculed her behind her back now felt some sympathy for her, thinking it was too pitiful for her to be divorced at her age.
Lady Jing'an asked, "Sister, then...then you didn't agree, did you?"
Mei Qingyun calmly replied, "My mother has already refused on my behalf."
As expected, no one was surprised. Someone as proud as her could never be a concubine. Back then, Lord Wang must have been one of her admirers and probably even proposed to her. Now that he saw an opportunity, he rushed over.
She refused when he asked to marry her as his legal wife, let alone as a concubine.
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