Chapter 165 Request for Imperial Instructions
Xu Junying said, "The royal family attaches great importance to the three-day baby-baptism ceremony. Today, there is no court session. Officials of the third rank and above can bring their wives to the palace to watch the ceremony. The auspicious time has been set relatively early. You have been too tired these days, and Heng'er is with you. I have already told the emperor to let you rest at home... The queen heard that you did not enter the palace, so she sent someone to bring some of the best supplements in the palace and asked me to bring them back to nourish you. They are all placed in our courtyard. There are many imperial wives who came to the palace to congratulate and watch the ceremony. Several ladies who had some contact with you in the past asked about you. I can only say that you are not feeling well. Someone may come to visit you in the near future. You must treat them well."
Mei Niang glared at him: She would leave this place if she was entertaining a ghost, and she was pretending to be a housewife and showing off in front of others. She would never do such a boring thing.
Yesterday at the Qin residence, she was nervous, busy, and happy. She was dizzy and had no memory of the three-day baby baptism ceremony in the palace today. She slept so well that she woke up only when Cui Xi called her in the morning. No wonder Xu Junying ran out without eating breakfast. He deliberately didn't ask her to go to the palace with him, so she missed an opportunity to meet the queen.
Xu Junying knew her thoughts very well. Since he already knew her intentions, he still tried to keep her. Did he think she was the second Qin Meiniang?
"The royal family invites all the officials and ladies to the baby-baptism ceremony. Why do you keep the news from me? I'm fine, but you told outsiders that I was sick. If they believe it and come to visit me, how should I explain it? If they come, I have to think of ways to take good care of them. How much time should I spend entertaining them? If they happen to be busy and take time out to come and visit me, wouldn't that be a waste of their time and my own? What's your intention?"
Mei Niang's angry questioning woke up Xu Junying, who was feeling tender and charming in his heart. His expression instantly became solemn: Now is not the time to show deep affection. He needs to be careful and not do anything too obvious. If Mei Niang notices something and annoys her, all the previous efforts will be wasted. The three-month alliance was not just a casual remark. With Heng'er and Qin Boqing's fame as a bond, if she can calm down and live with him in the Xu Mansion for three months, he believes that he can move her with his true feelings. But now things have changed. The eldest wife is sick, Heng'er easily comes to her side, Qin Boqing has finished the examination, and has twins. The fortune of the Qin family seems to be soaring. Mei Niang has gained the trust of the queen and even the emperor, and the King of Qi is also making trouble... If she wants to overthrow it now within the three-month period, Xu Junying may not be able to stop her. He had originally thought of fulfilling her wish, asking for a divorce and letting her leave the Xu Mansion. The reason for doing so was just to give her a chance to be Cen Meimei again. Wasn't she on good terms with the Queen? He could use the excuse that he didn't want to disgrace the reputation of his natal family, so he could leave the Qin family and set up his own household, asking the Queen to give him another name. After that, she would only live in the Cen Mansion, and he would get close to them in the name of Heng'er's father. With him by his side, who would dare to make plans with her? In the end, she would be his, and he could marry her with three matchmakers and six betrothals, and Cen Meimei would be his wife in the true sense.
But after all, he had limited ability and could not control everything in his own hands. First of all, Mei Niang refused to listen to his arrangements and insisted on lumping him together with the old lady, no matter how many times he explained it openly or secretly. With the help of Zhang Jingyun, Lingxuzi and even the King of Qi, she was eager to leave because she had other choices. Even without Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi, she would have met other men, and he did not want to make any other choice except Cen Meimei.
So he had to keep her and trap her in the Xu Mansion first, whether she was willing or not. He couldn't afford to lose. If he let her out of the mansion and accidentally lost her, how could he live a good life in this life?
Xu Junying looked at Mei Niang and said, "I've said before, I just want you to rest for a while. There are too many people in the palace today, and the queen hasn't fully recovered yet. She only saw the wife of Duke Dingguo, and the other ladies only saluted and greeted outside the palace gate. You may not be able to see her if you go..."
"How do you know? If I go, the Queen will definitely come to see me."
"Meimei" Xu Junying glanced outside the pavilion: "Don't talk like that outside. Who are you? Why does the queen want to see you? Others will think you are arrogant and spoiled by your favor."
Mei Niang sneered: "Being spoiled and arrogant? Xu Junlang's concubine gave birth to a son, and she dared to bully Bai Jingyu. That's being spoiled and arrogant. Do you think I'm like that? No more words.
She looked at Xu Junying and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this - when are you going away?"
"It's still unclear... It involves military secrets. I've just told you enough. Don't mention it to anyone else."
"I can keep it secret, but please promise me one thing."
Xu Junying's eyes flashed: "You say"
"You also heard what happened in Jinhua Hall just now. I offended your old ancestor. She was so angry that she almost fainted. Now she hates me very much. If I stay in your house for one day, her hatred will increase. Anger and hatred are harmful to the body. In a few days, the old lady may fall ill. The ancients said that filial piety is the first of all virtues. You are a filial son and a virtuous grandson. You will not let your grandmother get hurt. I just found out that I don’t like her at all. If she blames me again, I don’t mind making her angry. You go on a long journey, and you will be away for more than ten days. I think something will happen during these ten days. I am afraid that this time when Weiyuan Hou returns to the mansion, it is not someone else who dies, but your grandmother. In order to avoid the tragedy from happening again, I think: why not let me take Heng'er to live in the Cen residence for a while, what do you think?"
"Can"
Xu Junying hesitated for a moment and then agreed. Mei Niang was stunned: I heard it right, he did agree.
It was really unexpected. It seemed that everything could be accomplished by citing the ancestors. I couldn't help but probe further: "I don't think that March Covenant is necessary..."
Xu Junying smiled: "You said it would be fine for three years"
"Can't you hear me? I was just being sarcastic. Your ancestors would be pissed off in three days. If I were to stay in your house for three months or three years, I don't know what kind of chaos the Hou Mansion would be in."
Mei Niang's expression was very serious. She had to be serious now. Xu Junying was going on a long journey to work for the royal family. The imperial decree might have to be postponed. The longer the night, the more trouble she would have. She had to find another way out and also take back and clarify what she had said casually when she thought it was a sure thing.
Xu Junying looked at Mei Niang with a calm expression: "How can the covenant be easily changed? Even if there is a need for change, we have to wait until I come back from outside."
"Wait until you come back? That will take a long time..."
"It won't be more than three months. Besides, I've only been gone for more than ten days. Starting tomorrow, you can temporarily not go to Jinhua Hall. You can go to Qiuhua Courtyard when you have time."
"I will stay at the Cen residence tomorrow. I haven't seen Lin Runan for a long time. I have to go see her. The affairs of the Hou residence are now in the hands of Bai Jingyu. She does a better job than Ning Rulan. There are many people serving in Qiuhua Courtyard. Is the eldest lady's illness..."
"no"
Xu Junying looked serious and looked at Mei Niang, "Don't make wild guesses. No one would harm her. She was not in good health to begin with. She had a stroke in her brain at an early age. Zheng Meiyu's death shouldn't have happened to her. The bad thing was that she took the wrong medicine for more than one or two days. On the day she fell ill, she took a pill that counteracted the medicine, which caused a serious illness. The imperial physician could only slowly treat her with acupuncture and supplemented it with decoctions. Her life can be saved, but I'm afraid she will have to lie in bed for the rest of her life."
Mei Niang was silent for a moment: "Will it be like this in the future? This is hard to believe. Who would want to be sick like that, unable to move? It would be better to die. I just think it's a coincidence. The symptoms are too similar to Zheng Meiyu's."
Xu Junying lowered his eyes: "If Zheng Meiyu is not dealt with and she is released, she will still harm people in the future with the protection of the Madam - even if she dies, the residual poison is still there. I asked Mother He, most of the medicines taken by the Madam were taken care of by her, which embarrassed the imperial physician. Those medicines have all been replaced. Who else has the courage to do this except her?"
Mei Niang was shocked: "Is she crazy? Even her aunt who loves her so much would harm her..."
“I don’t know about this either.”
Xu Junying didn't want Mei Niang to know, maybe this was his fault: Zheng Meiyu once asked him for the headache and dizziness medicine she brought out from the palace, saying that she wanted to take it back for her father, but he didn't give it to her. The medicine in the palace was precious and effective, but you couldn't get it just because you wanted it. He only supplied the headache medicine and several other pills for clearing the mind and replenishing qi to the old lady and the first wife, and the second wife asked for them indirectly from the old lady. Zheng Meiyu couldn't get it, so she probably planned to replace her entire box of 24 pills with the first wife, one pill a day, which was equivalent to taking pills randomly made by street vendors for unknown purposes for nearly a month, but the first wife had no idea.
Xu Junying and Mei Niang sat opposite each other in the water pavilion. They talked for a long time but could not reach the result they wanted. Xu Junying was very patient, but Mei Niang became impatient in the end and wanted to leave. It was too boring to talk with Xu Junying and they always couldn't get to the point.
Over at Jinhua Hall, after Mei Niang left, Old Lady Xu held her heart and gasped for a long time, then pointed at the door with trembling fingers and said to the people in the room:
"You have all seen what kind of girl was born to what kind of family. She is unruly and shrewish, with a sharp tongue and no sense of propriety. She married into a family like ours. Her ancestors had done good deeds for several lifetimes, but they still don't know how to cherish such a shrew. She has no respect for her elders and ignores family rules. She has no virtuous behavior of a woman at all. She makes a lot of noise at home, but I have to endure her anger. It is my fate to be angry to death. If she goes out in the future and behaves like this, it will be a disgrace to my Xu family and ruin the reputation of my grandson. How can I tolerate her? Come on, help me get dressed. I want to go to the palace to see the Queen Mother."
Zhuang Yulan, Ji Mama and others hurriedly helped her to dress. Because Fang was nearby and the Fifth Master had recently assumed office, they told Fang to go back and call the Fifth Master. The old lady went out of the second gate, got in the car, and, escorted by the Fifth Master and his men, rushed to the palace.
The second master had just returned from a trip outside the city yesterday. He was resting in Aunt Yan's room when he suddenly got the news. He thought that the old lady must be going to the palace to discuss Junying's marriage to a concubine. He was shocked and quickly jumped out of the bed, put on his shoes hastily, tied his clothes and ran out. When he got to the second gate, the old lady's carriage had already left the house. The second master was so anxious that he stamped his feet:
"My mother, you are so stupid. What will happen if the emperor finds out that his son didn't stop him in time?"
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