Chapter 118: Chamber of Secrets
Mei Niang followed Xu Junying and bowed to the old lady. The two walked out of the door together. Zhuang Yulan followed behind with her head down as usual. Mei Niang saw Xu Junying go down the stairs without looking back. She was not used to the lack of the caring and considerate words before leaving. She could not help but say to Xu Junying who stopped and waited:
"You didn't say goodbye to Cousin Lan, she's still standing there!"
Xu Junying turned his head to look at her: "Stand if you want, what does it have to do with you?"
Mei Niang was speechless, his tone was too unfriendly. She didn't know what would happen next. It was better for her to stop playing and focus on dealing with him. She just wished for the best.
She walked forward with her head down, Xu Junying followed behind her. She had to walk faster. In the past, he always walked in front, but tonight... he did it on purpose!
Being driven like a duck was really a bad feeling. Mei Niang couldn't stand it anymore, so she stepped aside and stopped, saying she was tired. She asked Cui Xi, who was leading the way with a lantern, to come over and help her walk, and said to Xu Junying, "Master Hou, go ahead, we will follow slowly!"
Xu Junying stretched out a hand, and before Mei Niang could figure out what was going on, he grabbed her wrist. She instinctively clenched her fist to try to break free, but Xu Junying didn't use much force, but she couldn't break free no matter what.
Xu Junying said calmly: "Cui Xi will lead the way with the lamp, and I will support your grandmother!"
Seeing Cui Xi standing still, his voice turned cold: "Didn't you hear me? Do you want me to say it again?"
Cui Xi called out softly, "Grandma!"
Mei Niang knew that the attentive Cui Xi had seen her struggle, and she didn't want her to worry, so she said, "Then let Lord Hou hold me, it's the same!"
Cui Xi then bowed and walked away holding the lantern.
Xu Junying said: "How can I be the same as them? Let's go, I have something to say when we get back!"
As he quickened his pace, Mei Niang tripped over her long skirt and angrily shook off her hand that he was holding: "I am not better than you, I am a woman... Try to wear a skirt and see if you can walk so fast!"
Xu Junying saw Cui Si beside him turned her head away, thinking she was laughing secretly. He had no choice but to slow down his pace again, patiently keeping pace with Mei Niang. He remembered something and said to Mei Niang, "Recently, a foreign envoy came to visit. Among the tributes presented were some children's toys. The emperor gave Heng'er a few of them. I just took them to Qiuhua Courtyard. He liked them very much."
Mei Niang nodded and responded casually: "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Lord Hou!"
Her hand tightened and she felt Xu Junying used some force, but he didn't say anything else and kept holding her hand. Mei Niang clenched her fist and let him pull her back to Tsinghua Courtyard like catching a criminal.
Xu Junying didn't let her go, and took her to the east courtyard: "Let's go to the study and talk!"
Mei Niang couldn't help but follow him: "If you want to talk, why not say it in the upper room? Do you want Ruizhu Ruibao to go and tell the old lady everything we said tomorrow morning?"
"Don't worry about this. Send those girls away and let them wait in the upper room first!"
Xu Junying gently withdrew his hand and pulled Mei Niang closer. Mei Niang could feel the heat radiating from him: "Rui Zhu and Rui Bao are the old lady's people. I don't want them to know. If they know, they will not survive!"
Mei Niang was stunned for a moment, turned around and told Cui Xi and Cui Si to go back, and she obediently followed Xu Junying into the moon cave gate.
The East Courtyard was silent and full of shadows. The only room with light was Xu Junying's bedroom, Wen Jinxuan. The corridor was empty. With the help of the light leaking through the leaves, Baoju's figure was seen flashing at the end of the corridor and disappearing into the darkness.
Xu Junying pulled Mei Niang into the room, turned around and closed the door, then let her go. Mei Niang rubbed the wrist that he had grabbed and looked around. It was still the same as the last time she came, simple and tidy, a standard military living room. But in Mei Niang's opinion, it seemed too cold and she might not be able to sleep if she lived here.
Xu Junying pointed to the chair next to the table and said, "Sit down!"
Mei Niang said, "Talking here? Why don't you go to the study? I haven't been to your study yet!"
Xu Junying looked at her: "Have you forgotten this too? Zheng Meiyu said that when I was not at home, she often went to the study with you to read books!"
Mei Niang looked away: "I'm telling the truth, I haven't been there!"
Xu Junying walked past her and headed for the treasure chest on the right wall. Mei Niang thought he was going to take something from the treasure chest, but she saw him reaching into an empty chest. She couldn't see his hand movements clearly, but she heard a creaking sound, and the wall next to the treasure chest actually moved, revealing a door. Mei Niang was surprised: A dark room! In her previous life, she had only had the opportunity to see a mysterious place in movies and TV shows, but now it appeared before her eyes.
The inside of the door was not as dark as she had imagined. There was a warm light shining through. Mei Niang looked at Xu Junying, who nodded. She walked in curiously. Once she passed the door, she was disappointed: What kind of dark room is this? It was just another room with a door and a window, but there were bookcases on all four sides, with all kinds of books and classics neatly stacked. A desk was placed behind the curtain, with pens, inkstones, documents and a candle on the desk, shining alone.
"It's just an ordinary study, why go to all the trouble to build a secret door? It's so mysterious that I really thought..."
"Why?"
"Thought you had a secret room with treasures."
Xu Junying looked at her deeply: "This door, this study was originally sealed, but later it was deemed unnecessary, so it was rebuilt so that people could come in from the outside. The secret door was kept so that people could walk in directly from the bedroom. Apart from my father, I was the only one who knew about this door. Later, the seventh brother also knew about it. I told him!"
Mei Niang lowered her eyes: "What does Lord Hou want to tell me?"
"I have a lot to say to you, please sit down first!"
Xu Junying moved a chair for Mei Niang to sit on, and then he walked around to the back of the desk and sat opposite her: "No one is walking around in the entire East Courtyard. If anyone dares to leave the room without permission, Baoju will deal with it!"
Mei Niang looked through the closed window and door: "What if my people come looking for me?"
"They can't enter the Moon Cave Gate!"
Mei Niang breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, please tell me what you want to say!"
Xu Junying didn't know how to start for a moment. There were too many questions and he couldn't answer them in a hurry. Fortunately, the night was long and he could ask them one by one.
"Why do you want to take over Cen Meimei's shoes?"
"I'm not exaggerating. I might be the only one in this country with this name!"
"But you are Qin Mei Niang, a woman of seclusion in the past and now the wife of Weiyuan Hou. How can you be related to the original owner of Xiankelai, Cen Guiquan from Lingnan?"
Mei Niang glanced at him and said, "My grandmother - my maternal grandmother, her surname was Cen! I met Brother Cen completely by chance. He returned to his hometown to show his filial piety and refused to hand over Xiankelai to someone else. So I became the young master, took over Xiankelai, and took over his house. That's it!"
Xu Junying looked at her incredulously: "He trusted you so easily and entrusted the cyclamen to you?"
"It's not an entrustment, it's a sale. Xiankelia is now the property of Qin Fengshi, the eldest young lady of the Qin family and the wife of Qin Boqing. I am just a second-hand owner!"
"Second-hand owner?"
"Well, it's just a custodial position, one level higher than Manager Lu!"
Xu Junying's lips twitched slightly, and he quickly returned to normal: "It will take a lot of money to buy out Xiankelai. I had someone check your account today, and there is no deficit on the account. Where did you get the money?"
Mei Niang said: "I said I would not embezzle a single cent from your Xu Mansion!"
Xu Junying snorted, "You have no evidence, and you refuse to tell the truth, right? You wrote a note and withdrew 350,000 taels from the account office in my name. Is that for this?"
Mei Niang pursed her lips: Damn accountant Zhu Laosi, he swore and vowed, but still sold her out!
Xu Junying saw her lower her head and smiled slightly, but his voice was still cold: "You are so bold, it's ok to borrow money from my name to do business and make money, but you even schemed against my own family. The second master, me, and my brothers have all hosted banquets in Xiankelai, how much money we spent, and you dare to take it all!"
"That's none of my business. It's Shopkeeper Lu who's in charge of the daily income and expenditure. He only knows me as Cen Meimei and doesn't recognize... Qin Meiniang!"
Mei Niang straightened her sleeves leisurely. "The money in the mansion is just sitting there for nothing. I only borrowed it for two months. Please note: it was borrowed! I have to pay it back. The accounts are balanced and the money has been returned to the treasury. As for the expenses of the Marquis and the gentlemen in the mansion at Xiankelai, I will inform Manager Lu and pay them back in full after I have calculated them clearly!"
"Did I tell you to pay it back? How should you pay it back? Tell them that Xiankeliao was originally the property of the eldest lady in the mansion, and that you took their money by mistake before. How will they look at you? The people in the clan, the old lady, the second master and the wife will not tolerate you doing this!"
Mei Niang raised her head to look at him. Xu Junying's eyes were stern: "Send Xiankelai out immediately. I will get Heng'er back for you. You should take good care of him from now on and be your wife in the mansion. Don't run around anymore!"
"Impossible!" Mei Niang reacted fiercely, "That's my career, I won't let it go!"
"Career?" Xu Junying sneered, "What kind of career do you need as a woman? Isn't the huge family business of the Hou Mansion enough to keep you busy? You said you like money, but what do you need so much money for? It won't be much to support your parents. Thanks to the emperor's kindness, I now have a double salary, one for public use in the mansion, and one for Baoju. If you like it, take it!"
What's the point of getting a fixed salary? Is it better than running a cyclamen freely? The feeling of being prosperous and making a fortune is too good! Mei Niang refused without thinking: "I don't like it! You give it to the new grandmother, I..."
"Qin Mei Niang!"
Xu Junying slammed the table. He was smiling just now, but now his face turned green. "If you insist on doing it your way, not only the people around you, but also all the managers in the yard, the maids and doormen you use, and the coachmen you hire will all be troubled by you!"
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