Chapter 267: Advice
267 Advice
A simple meal? Meimei raised her head, a cold light flashed in her eyes. This old woman was pretentious and wanted to stab people from time to time. What kind of family is the Qin Mansion now? Qin Boqing is the new champion. He has won three first prizes since the current emperor ascended the throne. He is a lucky omen of the current dynasty. The emperor regards him as a treasure. What do you think of you, an old lady from the Hou Mansion? It’s okay to have resentment in your heart for not being able to step on your granddaughter-in-law, but is it necessary to be so contemptuous of the Qin Mansion people? People are sincere and do their best to bring valuable gifts to pay New Year’s greetings, but you don’t even mention hosting a banquet to entertain them. You just say a simple meal. What does it mean to the maids and servants in the room? How will the Qin family feel if they hear it?
Xu Junying held her hand tightly and whispered above her head, "Please be quiet! This is the New Year's Day, the whole family is here, and my mother-in-law cares about her reputation the most. You can't embarrass her, can you?"
Meimei raised her eyes and glared at him. Xu Junying continued, "Just think of her as your own dear grandmother. She is old and said something wrong. Think about it and forgive her, okay?"
Her own grandmother? Meimei's mind searched for a thin figure, a kind smile, a head of gray hair pinned neatly with a hairpin, always clean and refreshing, with rheumatism that made her legs and feet inconvenient and her wrists inflexible, but every time she heard Meimei call to say she was going home, she would immediately list a long list of Meimei's favorite dishes, saying that grandma would start preparing them, and your mother would help me, and you can eat them tomorrow when you come back... Meimei's eyes were slightly red, and she lowered her head and sighed secretly:
Why are grandmothers all over the world different? Is it me, or is it the Xu family's grandmother, who is not good enough?
Fortunately, the New Year banquet for guests, which was treated as a simple meal, was held according to the standard of the Xu family's New Year. Meimei first sent Cuixi to supervise and inspect it. After seeing the dishes served like water, she knew that the old lady didn't do it too much, so she was relieved. Because it was the menu of Jinhua Hall, the old lady had never let her interfere in the food of Jinhua Hall after she fell out with her. This was the same as her. Her Qinghua Courtyard was also very cautious about food before. It was a little better after the Houfu was divided into two houses. However, the kitchen staff had to conduct strict investigations and interviews, and they had to know the details of the people in order to enter. The people who managed the kitchen had to use their confidants. After all, Madam Cai was pulled back by her, leaving two apprentices who had already finished their apprenticeship in the kitchen of the West House. Bai Jingyu had no choice but to give Madam Cai a lot of benefits to let her refuse to return to the Houfu. Madam Cai just smiled and said nothing. It was obvious that she wanted to return to the Houfu, so she had to let her do it. However, it was agreed that the kitchens of the two houses would communicate with each other and teach the apprentices if there were any good recipes.
After dinner, they drank tea and chatted. The men were in another room, and the women would still sit in the painting hall where the old lady usually liked to sit. Madam Qin talked with the old lady and the second wife on the upper floor, while the girls and wives just teased the two lovely children in the Qin mansion and talked with the top scholar grandmother Feng. The two children were very well-behaved. With Heng'er and the following children by their side, they felt relaxed and happy. They didn't feel uncomfortable in the unfamiliar environment. They blindly obeyed the instructions of the adults, laughed when they were told to laugh, and jumped when they were told to jump. When they were babbling, they chirped some words that no one understood, which made everyone laugh. The result of such excitement was that they felt sleepy in a short while and wanted to ask Feng to hold them. Meimei knew that the children wanted to sleep, so she took them back to Tsinghua Courtyard. She walked to the couch to bow and leave. The old lady said, "Go, take the children to sleep for a while. It's rare for the in-laws to come here. We need to talk more!"
Madam Qin nodded with a smile: "My nephews will quarrel, please take care of them! I'll talk to the old ancestor and come over soon!"
Meimei then led Feng out, each holding a little child. Heng'er was taken care of by Cuisi and Xialian, and they got on the sedan chair and returned to Tsinghua Court to rest.
As soon as the aunt and sister-in-law left, the old lady told the girls and wives to go back and rest. The second wife also wanted to take the opportunity to leave, but was kept by the old lady. All the maids and servants were sent away. After that, the old lady said something to Madam Qin, but no one knew it except the second wife.
In the afternoon, Mrs. Qin returned to Tsinghua University and talked to Meimei with a worried look on her face. Meimei was so angry that she rolled her eyes.
The shrewd old lady took this turn when she heard that Madam Qin was coming to visit, hoping to persuade her daughter through Madam Qin to let Xu Junying take a concubine!
The old lady said to Mrs. Qin, "You are also a person surrounded by children and grandchildren. You have two legitimate grandchildren and a legitimate granddaughter at once, which makes your children complete! But look at Junying. He is so old, but he only has one son, Henger, and he doesn't even have a concubine daughter! The second wife has many children and grandchildren. She has several grandchildren, but the eldest grandson of the eldest house, who is a marquis, has difficulty in having children. As a grandmother, I feel so bad. I can't sleep at night because of them! Junying is a respectable person in the outside world. He has only one son, but I can't take a concubine or a maid, and I'm ridiculed by my colleagues for this. If it was my in-laws' wife, what would you think? My own grandson, I feel bad! But what if I worry about him? My granddaughter-in-law is resentful of me because of this. A grown-up son is not under the control of his mother, let alone a grandson who is born from another mother! He dotes on his wife, disobeys his grandmother, and listens to his wife. I don't blame them for being unfilial, but how could they, the young couple, know the seriousness of this? Now that they are young, they only seek love and enjoyment, and don't care about their descendants. The century-old mansion is destroyed in their hands. I don't know it! In a few years, Junying will be thirty years old, and it will be too late to regret. I am old, and I have tried my best but failed. I can only feel sad and helpless. The Qin family is also a famous family in Yuezhou, a family of scholars and etiquette. The daughter is also very well educated, but jealousy is the biggest taboo of a virtuous woman. If the wife of the in-laws wants to get an advantage, she can persuade her - since she is unwilling to be taught by her in-laws, she should listen to her mother's words? Now that we have only one child, Heng, what should we do if something happens to him? After that serious illness, the wife The doctor told Junying that she was too weak inside and might not be able to reproduce. They just ignored it. Junying had been back from outside the Great Wall for more than a year, and the couple was still loving and loving, but there was no movement. The wives in the mansion were giving birth and getting pregnant, but they were willing to take a concubine and give birth to a child. If there were any children, they would be under her name. If Junying had more offspring, it would only be good for her. How could she not understand? Alas! I will die with my eyes open in the future, just for them! I have no face to see his parents, I am sorry for my ancestors!"
At the end of the old lady's speech, she couldn't stop crying. Mrs. Qin felt so ashamed that she couldn't persuade her anymore and could only sigh along with her.
She knew that her daughter was not on good terms with the elders of the Xu Mansion. After her daughter recovered from her illness, her temperament changed drastically. Sometimes she would not listen to soft or hard words, and even she could not persuade her. Every time she went back to her parents' home, her mother would teach her. She just had to be good, and she could not do anything about whether she obeyed or not. Sometimes she thought that her daughter was too weak before and suffered a great loss. Perhaps she had too much resentment towards the elders of the Xu Mansion, which made her like this. After that, her life got better and better. It was really not good to be too weak. Instead of watching her being bullied, it was better to let her bully others and just pretend not to know. But the old lady sent people to the mansion to complain several times. After hearing what Wang Mama said about the bold things she had done before, even the second wife dared to scold her. That was really not ordinary savage and fierce. The Marquis even divided the Xu Mansion into two for her. The old lady must hate her very much! It is true that her daughter was born by herself, but she will grow up. If she raises a child but not a heart, what kind of personality will she become? How can a mother control it? After all, she was the wife of the Marquis, a first-rank imperial lady, and was deeply loved by the Marquis. As a mother, she couldn't persuade her, so what could she do? Every time her daughter came back to her parents' home, she was full of smiles and joy. Although Mrs. Qin was happy, she felt a dull pain in her heart when she thought about the situation that her daughter was not liked by the elders in the Marquis's mansion and could not be taken care of by the left and right. She went to the temple on the first day of the new year to pray for her daughter and got a lucky sign. The master who interpreted the sign told her: "After the Lantern Festival, on the 16th day, send blessings from her parents and brothers to her home, and you will get the greatest blessing!"
Of course she wanted her daughter to get the best benefit, no matter what it was, as long as it was a blessing.
Before coming, she had thought a lot: now is different from the past. Even if the elders in the mansion don't like their daughter, they can't use family background to suppress her. The Qin Mansion is no longer the Qin Mansion of the past. Therefore, she specially prepared, not sparing money, and gave the old lady, the eldest house, and the second house the most expensive gifts at the time. She wanted to meet the old lady with a neither arrogant nor humble attitude, but she thought that harmony was more important. After all, her daughter had married into the Xu family and would live in the Xu Mansion for the rest of her life. As a mother, she could only hope that her family would be harmonious and prosperous, and that she would live a happy life. If she could take the opportunity to win some favors for her in front of the old lady, so that the old lady would change her mind and treat her daughter more kindly, that would be her wish. Therefore, she did her best to please the old lady and did everything she liked. Although she didn't like to talk much, she didn't expect that she would say many nice words. The old lady was happy to hear it, but when she said these words in the end, she was ashamed and didn't know what to do.
If you don't teach your daughter well, she will be known as unvirtuous and jealous in her husband's family. She can't give birth to a child herself, but she still prevents her husband from taking a concubine to have children. This is a serious crime!
But what can a mother do? The Qin family is a family of scholars and poets, and men can also take concubines. Mrs. Qin only gave birth to Qin Boqing and his sister, but Qin's father never mentioned taking concubines? An elder in the family asked about it, and she had carefully persuaded her husband, but her husband refused. She was glad that she married a loyal man, but she didn't expect that many years later, her daughter would still face this situation!
But if her daughter is really infertile, then Lord Hou must take a concubine. The Xu family will never allow them to have only one child. As a mother, she cannot allow her daughter to stop her husband from taking a concubine and reproducing offspring because of her willful jealousy. This does not make sense in terms of both emotion and logic!
Madam Qin replied to the old lady: "Don't worry, Grandma. If it is just this point, I will teach her! Offspring are the most important. Since she is temporarily weak and unable to have children, she should take a concubine for the Marquis and take someone in the room. This is the right thing to do!"
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