Chapter 260 Offspring
As time went by, the incident that the second master of the West Mansion had caused a while ago finally came to an end without causing much impact. It turned out that the censors saw that there was a lot of noise, and some tried to submit a memorial, but it was like a stone sinking in the water, without a single bubble. They knew that although the Xu family had two mansions, they could not write two Xu characters with one stroke. The two mansions were close together, and the Hou Mansion would still protect the West Mansion. Xu Xiping was originally a useless official. If he was touched, people would only think that this was a provocation to Xu Hou Mansion. Since the higher-ups did not move, the censors who submitted the memorial also let it go, and just regarded it as nothing.
Xu Junying had Baoju check the woman's background several months ago, and warned the official who introduced Xu Xiping's widowed cousin, and asked his superior to change his position. The official really wanted to get close to the mansion through Xu Xiping, but he didn't know what happened, so he had to admit that he was unlucky. The woman's husband died and she was driven out by her husband's family. She only had Xondi, an honest farmer in her family. She was not compatible with her sister-in-law, otherwise she would not have come to live with her cousin and her husband. She wanted to send her away, but she became pregnant with Xu Xiping's child. Xu Junying had no choice, and it was time to go out for work, and the old lady at home also needed his uncle to coax her, so he had to make some arrangements and let her go.
Meimei said it well, truth will eventually come to light, but he had not expected the Second Wife to do this. He had thought that she would at most cry and make a scene in front of the Old Lady, and then the Old Lady would make the decision. The heir of the Xu family would have to move into the mansion after birth, but the widow would not be able to do so. Unexpectedly, the Second Wife humiliated the Second Master unexpectedly and brought him back with her.
Isn't this bringing the concubine into the house for the Second Master?
Meimei frowned and said, "It's not that simple... Bringing people in will make things weird."
In October, the third grandmother Ning Rulan successfully gave birth to a boy. The second master and the second mistress were delighted to have a grandson, so they held a grand celebration in the West Mansion. The full moon banquet lasted for three days, and a troupe of actors and jugglers were invited to entertain the mansion for five or six days. The West Mansion gave extra money and wine to the servants as rewards, which were distributed to the Hou Mansion. Taking advantage of the festive atmosphere of the West Mansion, everyone in the Hou Mansion was smiling and extremely happy.
Xu Junying and Meimei went to Xifu to congratulate and attend the wedding banquet. Every day, they watched Xu Junya's joy and felt the strong festive atmosphere of Xifu. After returning, they kept hanging around in front of Meimei:
"Three years? Three years to get pregnant or three years to give birth? Meimei didn't make this clear."
"It's very clear, I'll get pregnant again in three years"
Xu Junying made a bitter face: "Do we really have to wait that long? Why do I feel like I will be very old in three years?"
Meimei calmly sat on the couch and crocheted a sweater for Ning Rulan's son: "I'm not afraid of getting old, so what are you afraid of?"
"How about we compromise? How about a year and a half? Two years is fine too."
"You want to regret it again? There is no last time. I used up all the time when I went to the Imperial Temple to burn incense last time."
Xu Junying sighed: "I'm not regretting it, I'm regretting that if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have agreed to three years with you. Let's change this."
"What do you mean? Don't you think it's worth it?"
"No, no."
Xu Junying pulled the wool for her flatteringly: "But if I insisted on changing it to two years, would you agree?"
"Even if you changed it for one year, I would have agreed. Three years was just a random number."
Meimei teased him deliberately: "A gentleman's word is his bond. Since you have already agreed, you must abide by it - set an example for Heng'er."
Xu Junying was stunned for a long while, then he started to dance with his hands, as if he had an itch but didn't know where it was, and he couldn't scratch it, so he just touched Meimei with both hands, rubbing here and there:
"Okay Meimei Heng'er doesn't understand anything now, let's change it, shall we?"
"No"
"Changed?"
"No change"
"Will you change it?"
“Resolutely not change”
The final result was that the two of them struggled on the couch for a while, Xu Junying snatched the wool from Meimei's hand and threw it away, then carried her directly into the bedroom.
In November, the woman in the West Mansion who was seven months pregnant suddenly fell accidentally, causing premature labor. She gave birth to a boy, who did not cry or make a fuss when he was born, and died within a day, just like the child Xiangxue gave birth to Xu Junlang before. The second master was trembling all over and beat all the maids serving in the yard. The child was half-dead and he could not get any information out of her. After making a fuss for a long time, the matter was beyond redemption, so he finally let her go.
The Second Wife, Aunt Yan, and the other wives just let him make a fuss and disappeared without even a trace, only letting the maids stay by his side to help him deal with the rest of the matters. The Second Master was helpless and could only comfort the woman with a few words, asking her to take good care of herself and wait until she recovered.
The old lady who was concentrating on chanting Buddha's name in Jinhua Hall opened her eyes slightly when she heard what Mother Ji said, then quickly closed them again and chanted "Amitabha" several times in succession.
Half a month later, the second wife asked Mama Zhao to take five thousand taels of silver to find the woman. The woman was not a fool. She took the silver without saying a word and quietly left through the back door led by Mama Zhao.
Living with the second master in the outer house, she could still enjoy a few days of good life. After entering the West Mansion, she had nothing to do with wealth and honor. When the master was a little careless and ignored her, she was oppressed and bullied. She ate leftovers and drank bland, cold well water. The maids were as sharp as scissors and insulted her every day. Several women with luxurious clothes and cold faces came to give her a few slaps in the face from time to time. She knew the wife of the main house, but she couldn't tell the two concubines apart. Sometimes when the concubines didn't come, they sent people around to beat and scold her... How could this be called climbing up the ladder and enjoying happiness? It was like falling into a prison in hell. She had had enough of the days of fear and was unwilling to stay for a moment. Before, she had a child in her belly and thought she had something to rely on, but now there was no reason to stay, otherwise she would die one day without knowing how.
The second master couldn't find the woman and flew into a rage. He beat and scolded the woman again. This time, the old lady called him to Jinhua Hall and gave him a lecture. She said that it was God's will. He and the child were not related as father and son, and his relationship with the woman was just a fleeting one that could not be exposed to the public. It would be better to let her go. As a grandfather, he should save some face for his children and grandchildren and not let him do such things that would bring disgrace to the family again.
From then on, the Second Master would lock himself in the outer study room every day after returning from the yamen, and would ignore everyone. The Second Madam? Of course she would not disturb him. His sons would visit him from time to time. He would see them if he wanted to, and would send them away if he didn't want to. Aunt Yan and Aunt Tang would take turns to pay their respects and visit him, but they could only say a few words through the door. He was kept cooped up for nearly a month. It was the dead of winter, and the New Year was just half a month away. He finally came out and entered the inner courtyard, but he only rested at Aunt Yan's place. He didn't go back to the main house, Songya Courtyard, or Aunt Tang's courtyard. When the Second Madam heard the report from the maid, she sneered and sent for Aunt Tang, telling her to go out and pass on the message, for sure the Master would abandon Aunt Yan and run to her side.
Aunt Tang did exactly what she was told. She said that Aunt Yan drugged the premature baby and drove the person away. The second master was very sure of this and beat Aunt Yan so severely that she couldn't get out of bed for several days. The second master was so angry that he didn't want to spend the night at Aunt Tang's place. He and the second wife each occupied half of the yard in Songya Hall and lived their own lives. The Second Wife saw that the winter night was cold, so she sent a newly bought maid, Bizhu, to warm his bed. The Second Master saw that Bizhu was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with plump and fair skin and pretty eyes, and was already satisfied. He went to bed and hugged her and made love with her tenderly. He heard Bizhu moaning in pain. When he got up the next day, he saw blood on her white handkerchief. He realized that it was just after sex, and was even more delighted. He rewarded her with a fine jade pendant from his body, and went out to the hall to talk to the Second Wife. The couple had breakfast at the same table, and their conversation was as good as before. In front of the Second Master, the Second Wife rewarded Bizhu with two pieces of silk and satin, asked her to make two good clothes, some valuable jewelry, and two boxes of fine rouge and powder, and told her to only serve the master from now on and not to care about other things. This was to make her a servant in the room. Bizhu's face was flushed, and she bowed and thanked for the reward.
The second master got the young and beautiful Bizhu. He returned home on time every day. After changing his clothes, he went to Jinhua Hall with the second wife to pay his respects. Then he went straight back to Songya Hall. Bizhu was also with him in the study. Aunt Yan said that she was seriously ill and refused to go even when people invited her. Aunt Tang was not in his heart to begin with, and it was even more difficult for her to see him.
The second wife went to see Bai Jingyu and sighed, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have been so stubborn and kept a close eye on him. What if I had given the pearl to him? It would have saved us from all the hassle and almost produced a bastard."
Bai Jingyu took the hot tea from Xiangyun's hand and presented it to her, smiling, "That's fine. It's better this way now. Madam, it's right to let Concubine Yan handle that matter. The master has become cold to Concubine Yan. If he neglects her, it will be easier to deal with. Concubine Tang only gave birth to two daughters, and that's all she has in her life. It's just that Bizhu..."
The second wife took the tea and motioned her to sit down: "Don't worry, Mother Zhao will make arrangements, Bizhu won't get pregnant"
"Has mother forgotten Xiangrui?"
Bai Jingyu saw the Second Wife's vigilant eyes sweeping over him, knowing that he had said something wrong, but he had to bite the bullet and said: "My daughter-in-law didn't want her to get pregnant, but she just had a way to get pregnant, mother must be on guard."
The second wife drank her tea and nodded: "I don't need to worry about this. It's tiring for me to be a mother. For you, I have to be on guard against everything even when I am old."
She put down the teacup, looked at Bai Jingyu's belly, and said, "It hasn't shown yet. Now Lang'er is satisfied with you. Just take care of him peacefully and take care of the affairs in the mansion slowly. If you have another child or grandchild, Lang'er will love you even more."
"Yes, my daughter-in-law thinks so too."
The second wife walked to the door and said, as if she had just remembered something, "You are pregnant and have Dajiex by your side, so you should let me take care of Wei'er so that you won't be too tired. I will take him away today and tell Junlang tomorrow."
Bai Jingyu followed the second wife to Wei'er's bedside, and asked the nurse to carry him back to Songya Courtyard with his grandmother. He watched them leave and sneered in his heart: "You old woman, would I harm him? Do you think I'm as stupid as you? Just take it, I don't care."
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