Chapter 531 Two Faces
A moment later, a maidservant brought in water and toiletries, and respectfully said, "My lord, please rise."
Meng Dongyuan sat up with a tense expression. Suddenly, his hand touched his waist and felt a little pain. He reached out and touched and pressed it, then frowned and lifted his shirt to find several bruises on his waist. He had no idea when he got them.
Upon seeing this, the maidservant hurriedly said, "My lord, I didn't know you had fallen and bumped here last night. The ointment was only applied to the area where you hit your head."
Meng Dongyuan was a little confused. Were the bruises on his waist from the fall last night? But why did he feel that these bruises didn't look like the kind of injuries one would get from a fall? When he fell, he didn't seem to have hit anything in his waist area.
However, before he could even think about the problem, the maidservant came forward to help him get up, applied ointment to him, and then helped him wash up. He was so dizzy that he was like a tool, cooperating with the maidservant.
After a long while, Zhao came in and saw that he was dressed. Without caring that he had just woken up and hadn't eaten or drunk anything, she said directly, "Husband, you're all dressed? Let's go and serve tea to Mother first."
Meng Dongyuan frowned, looking displeased: "You go first to serve tea. I'm a little hungry, I'll eat something first before I go."
Zhao Shi, however, did not comply with his wishes. Who told him to treat her like this? She certainly could not be gentle and considerate. It was better for him to go hungry; this scoundrel should starve to death. She immediately invoked the elders to pressure him: "Husband, we should have gone to offer tea this morning, but you have not woken up yet, which has already wasted half a day. Mother has been waiting for so long; how can we let her continue to wait? In my opinion, we should go to offer tea first and then come back to eat, to show our respect and filial piety to our elders."
Meng Dongyuan couldn't refute it. If he insisted on eating and made his elderly mother continue to wait, that would be disrespectful and unfilial to his elders. With his elders present, it was only right for him to eat a little later.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said in an annoyed tone, "Let's go."
Zhao Shi slightly curled the corners of her mouth and followed Meng Dongyuan's steps. She and Meng Dongyuan were destined to be estranged as husband and wife, but in the current situation, she still had a slight advantage and was not bullied by Meng Dongyuan to the point of being unable to fight back.
The maids were trembling with fear, sensing that something was off between the master and his wife. It seemed that the master really didn't like the wife. The fact that he didn't smile during yesterday's wedding ceremony was the best evidence of this. But the strange thing was, if the master disliked the wife so much, why did he still marry her?
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Rongfutang.
When Madam Meng didn't receive tea from her daughter-in-law that morning, she was displeased. However, when she heard that her daughter-in-law had sent someone to say that her son hadn't woken up yet and that her daughter-in-law was still taking care of him closely, her displeasure vanished. She felt that Zhao was a good daughter-in-law, even though her son had treated her like that last night, Zhao was still gentle and considerate towards her son.
It was past noon, and Old Madam Meng was preparing to take a nap. She was exhausted from dealing with guests yesterday, and then there was that incident last night. Her son had a new wife but still couldn't forget about Dong Shi. She was so angry that she couldn't sleep all night. Now she was very tired, but then she heard a maid report: "Old Madam, the Earl and Madam are here."
Madam Meng was taken aback. Realizing that her son and daughter-in-law were probably coming to serve tea, she immediately perked up and instructed, "Quickly go and welcome the Earl and his wife in."
A moment later, Zhao and Meng Dongyuan entered the house. She followed Meng Dongyuan and at first glance seemed like a docile wife, while Meng Dongyuan had a stern face, and his displeasure was written all over his face.
Seeing this, Old Madam Meng was also annoyed. The new daughter-in-law had already been married, but she still had a stern face when she came to see her, her old mother. Was she trying to express her dissatisfaction with the daughter-in-law she had chosen?
Zhao didn't care what the mother and son were thinking. She respectfully served tea to her mother-in-law, received her gift, and then stood obediently beside her husband, looking down at the new gift, a jade bracelet. The jade was warm and lustrous, and of good quality, showing that her mother-in-law was very satisfied with her.
Madam Meng said kindly, "Don't stand there, sit down and let's talk."
Zhao nodded gently: "Yes, Mother." After her husband sat down, she sat down in the seat below him.
Old Madam Meng was still angry with her son and ignored him, speaking directly to her daughter-in-law. With a loving expression and a gentle tone, she said with concern, "Qianyi, you really suffered last night. After what happened, you still had to take care of Ayuan. You didn't get any rest, did you?"
Meng Dongyuan was stunned. When his mother served tea to his new daughter-in-law, had she ever been so gentle and loving? The previous three brides had all been aloof and followed the rules after serving tea. But with Zhao Shi, it was all about concern and greetings? And judging from his mother's words, she already knew about what happened last night.
Zhao knew that her mother-in-law wasn't concerned about her, but just wanted to confirm whether she cared about what happened last night. She shook her head repeatedly and replied softly, "Mother, I'm overjoyed, how could I feel wronged?"
Meng Dongyuan: "?"
Is Zhao Shi out of her mind? After how he treated her last night, she was still happy to tell her mother.
Seeing her husband's confusion, Zhao continued, "My husband was being very filial last night, thinking of offering incense to our father to tell him the good news. Who would have thought he would accidentally fall and faint? There aren't many people as pure and filial as you, my husband."
Meng Dongyuan: "?"
He seemed to have fallen and lost consciousness last night, but he didn't go to offer incense to his father. What did Zhao Shi say to his mother? Could it be that he disturbed his mother after he fainted last night, and fearing her wrath, he made up stories?
It seems that Zhao is not only an aggressive shrew, but also a liar who lies without batting an eye. She is two-faced, showing no signs of being a wife when she is with him, neither gentle nor considerate, but acting like a docile lamb when she is with her mother.
Madam Meng replied without changing her expression, showing no sign of guilt: "A-Yuan has been filial since he was a child." As she spoke, she gave a look to her trusted nanny beside her, and then continued, "Qianyi, now that you've married into the Meng family, you'll be the mistress of the Meng family. The management of the household affairs will be handed over to you from now on, and you will be in charge."
Zhao did not refuse. She reached out and took the box from the nanny, and solemnly said, "Mother trusts her daughter-in-law so much, and I will certainly not disappoint her."
Meng Dongyuan was dissatisfied. Who knew if this two-faced woman would embezzle their family property? He said, "Mother, Zhao Shi has only recently married into our family and is not yet familiar with her. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to hand over the management of the household affairs to her so quickly?"
Madam Meng frowned: "Qianyi is your daughter-in-law, the wife of the Marquis of Yongchang. She should be in charge of managing the household affairs. What's wrong with that? Do you want me, at my age, to have to continue worrying about this?"
Seeing his mother's displeasure, Meng Dongyuan quickly said, "That's not what I meant. I'm just worried that Zhao Shi isn't familiar with the business and won't be able to get started."
"You don't need to worry about that." Madam Meng looked at Zhao Shi and said kindly, "Qianyi, if you have any questions in the future, just ask your mother."
Zhao smiled almost imperceptibly and replied softly, "Yes, Mother."
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