Chapter 278 Idle
After the Dragon Boat Festival, Xu Junying suddenly had to leave Beijing for a few days at the order of the emperor. He still did not inform his family and left without saying goodbye. Meimei had heard him say this the night before, but he first asked Meimei not to ask, and then said that he would go out before dawn the next day, and all she needed to do was prepare a few sets of clothes for him.
Meimei was dissatisfied: "In this peaceful world, the emperor sits firmly on the throne, and you don't have to do secret guards and spies yourself. What else do you need to hide? I really don't understand you!"
Xu Junying smiled and said, "If you know everything, then I will have nothing to do."
The couple said goodbye reluctantly and were reluctant to go to bed late at night. When Meimei fell asleep and woke up again, her pillow was empty and Xu Junying was gone.
For the first time, I felt a sense of loss in my heart, and worry and concern came over me.
Life went on as usual. She still took Heng'er to Qiuhua Courtyard, and went to Ziyun Hall as a director. She asked Liu Jingyun to sit beside her and help. Fourth Grandma Gan was timid, but Liu Jingyun was capable and better than Ning Rulan. In the afternoon, she also asked Liu Jingyun to accompany her to Jinhua Hall. The old lady looked kindly at Liu Jingyun, but had no expression towards Meimei. After Meimei bowed and greeted, she remained silent and stood quietly aside, watching Liu Jingyun and Fang serve the old lady tea and snacks, which made Liu Jingyun feel uneasy. She heard from Sixth Master that the old lady and the eldest sister-in-law didn't like each other, but she didn't want to be caught in the middle, fearing that her appearance would make the old lady and the eldest sister-in-law more distant.
On the 15th, the old lady wanted to go to a temple outside the city to ask a monk to perform a Buddhist ceremony to pray for Zhuang Yulan's child. She needed to fast for seven days, so she didn't leave any food. She just talked with her granddaughters-in-law for a while and then let them go back. Meimei relayed Xu Junying's words to the old lady:
"I have some military matters to attend to. I will stay in the Xiaowai barracks for a few days. I will be back home in about ten days at most. Please don't worry, Grandma!"
The old lady paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and nodded slightly: "I understand."
After leaving Jinhua Hall, Meimei and Liu Jingyun walked side by side. Meimei asked her with a smile, "Why were you looking at me all the time just now?"
Liu Jingyun lowered her head and said, "I will go and serve the old lady first, and then the fifth sister-in-law will come up. The eldest sister-in-law cannot come closer, for fear that this will make the eldest sister-in-law and the old lady even further apart!"
"It's already like this, I don't care. Just do your job well. Don't worry about me, the old lady likes you. That's good... I was afraid that she would dislike you because I asked for you on behalf of the Sixth Master. Now that it's like this, I'm relieved!"
Liu Jingyun said softly: "I admire you, sister-in-law... The old lady may have some problems, sister-in-law, don't worry too much, as long as you have a clear conscience!"
Meimei nodded: "I thought so too, thank you for understanding. Speaking of which, you haven't been married to the Hou Mansion for a full month. Have you gotten used to it? Will it affect you if I invite you to Ziyun Hall? I'm just afraid that you will be bored. By the way, I'll let you get to know more people in the mansion. Will Sixth Brother say anything?"
Liu Jingyun said hurriedly, "How could it have any impact? I am so happy to be able to accompany my sister-in-law! Now the old lady wants to be quiet and eat vegetarian food. There is no need for us to come often. Auntie always lets me go back to Wenhua Courtyard to wait for Sixth Master to come home. She refuses to come and live with us, saying that she is used to living in that small courtyard and having Auntie Lin to accompany her. Sixth Master will come back as early as possible every day to accompany me. He also said that if I am too idle, I will come to find you. I went there once, but left before I reached the gate of the courtyard."
"Why?"
"I saw my eldest brother coming in, so I didn't want to disturb you."
Meimei couldn't help laughing: "You little rascal! Sixth brother treats you very well, right? Before he got married, he would often go out to meet his literary friends. Now, let alone the gate of the mansion, he doesn't even step out of the courtyard gate!"
Liu Jingyun blushed, lowered her head and said, "Sixth Master said he wanted to thank my sister-in-law, but I should be the one who said this. If it weren't for my sister-in-law's earnest advice, I would have missed this marriage and Sixth Master, which would be the biggest regret of my life!"
Meimei smiled and said, "So, you don't blame me for lying to you? I actually really want to go to your yard to play, but I'm afraid you'll complain to me and say that I didn't keep my promise. I originally promised you that I'd marry you in eight months, but who knew that the brothers... You have to know that the people in this mansion are all domineering. If they can't get away with it, they'll take the initiative. I can't do anything about it!"
Liu Jingyun chuckled: "I heard from Sixth Master about my eldest brother marrying my eldest sister-in-law. It was forced by the situation. Didn't my eldest brother have to go to the battlefield? Maybe it was not satisfactory at the beginning, but now you are still loving and happy. Sixth Master and I will be satisfied if we can be half as good as you!"
Meimei looked at her and said, "You're satisfied with half of it? No one would believe you!"
Liu Jingyun's face turned even redder: "Sister-in-law..."
Meimei pointed ahead and saw Xu Junxuan coming from behind the flower-shaded path: "Look! The groom is here to pick up the bride!"
Xu Junxuan walked closer, looked at Liu Jingyun with a smile, and bowed to Meimei: "Sister-in-law!"
Meimei said, "It's just right that you're here. Take the bride back. I'll go over there to see Second Madam!"
Liu Jingyun hurriedly said: "I'll go with my sister-in-law!"
Xu Junxuan said: "It's getting dark, let me take you there, and we'll come back together at night!"
Meimei looked at them and said, "I just wanted to meet and talk and then come back. You want me to stay there until night? It doesn't matter. You can go back. I have Cuixi and Cuisi, as well as maids. It's my own yard. What's there to be afraid of? You can go by yourselves, or you can go and have dinner with your aunt. Xiaorong doesn't come back often after she got married. She is always thinking about you. You should feel more relieved!"
Liu Jingyun no longer insisted, and Xu Junxuan said, "Well, sister-in-law, be careful and come back as soon as possible. It's hard to see the road at night!"
"I see!"
Meimei said with a smile, turned around and saw Cuixi, then remembered and said to Liu Jingyun: "Those sets of embroidery the other day must be made as soon as possible, they are dowry, if they can't be made in time, I will give them to you, someone is getting married next month!"
When Liu Jingyun received the embroidery that day, she heard Cui Si's brief explanation and said with a smile, "Don't worry, it should be done. I'll go to the shop and get it back tomorrow!"
Watching Meimei go over there surrounded by the maids, Xu Junxuan reached out to hold Liu Jingyun's hand. Liu Jingyun said embarrassedly, "There's someone behind us!"
Xu Junxuan turned his head to look at the maidservants following him, and had to withdraw his hand, smiling and saying, "Then let's go quickly. Let's go to mother's place. If we're late, she might have finished her meal by herself again."
Liu Jingyun nodded, and the two of them walked side by side, leading the maids to the courtyard where Aunt Zhou lived.
Meimei went to Bai Jingyu's residence, but saw that the whole yard was full of people. Bai Jingyu's wet nurse Huang Mama was scolding a maid kneeling on the ground in the corridor. When she saw Meimei coming in, she quickly put on a smiling face to greet her:
"Oh, it's grandma! It's getting late, it looks like it's going to rain, and there are too many mosquitoes outside. Let's go inside!"
While leading the way, a maid pulled up the bamboo screen door. Huang Mama made way for Meimei, who walked in. She smelled a choking smell in the room, and the air was unusually hot and noisy. Bai Jingyu was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, and Xu Junlang was standing by her side, looking at her worriedly. Huang Mama walked forward and said,
"Replying to Second Master. Grandma is here!"
Xu Junlang was startled and quickly stood up. Only then did he see Meimei. He quickly bowed and said, "Sister-in-law is here! I'm so sorry..."
Meimei smiled and waved her hands: "I came to see why Jingyu hasn't given birth yet. You guys are so busy, is she going to give birth? And what's that smell in the room? It's so stuffy, can Jingyu stand it?"
Xu Junlang smiled bitterly and looked at Huang's mother: "Ask her. I just came back not long ago and I don't have time to ask."
Huang Ma leaned forward and said, "To answer the eldest grandma: it was the maid who mistakenly took the incense and threw it into the incense burner. She wanted to save trouble and put a few more pieces in. After being scolded, she tried to extinguish the incense pieces, but accidentally burned her clothes... Now the smell can't be removed no matter what she does, and the second grandma is so sleepy that she fell asleep again."
Meimei looked at Bai Jingyu, reached out and touched her forehead, and said, "Are you asleep? I think you are fainted by the smell! Can't you sleep somewhere else? Why do you have to sleep in this room? Why don't you take better care of her? The second wife is about to give birth, so we can't be careless. We can't leave careless people around. Where are the maids?"
Xiangyun leaned over and said, "To answer the eldest madam: I was only out for a while, and this is what happened when I came back! The second madam is used to staying in this room, and she said she wanted to move to the side room, but she refused to go!"
Xu Junlang said, "Sister-in-law doesn't know. Just like someone gets used to a pillow, Jingyu gets used to a certain room and doesn't want to change. When she moved here before, it took her one or two months to sleep well!"
Meimei broke into a cold sweat. Is there such a problem?
She looked around, said something to Cuisi, and instructed Huang Mama: "Open all the screen windows, call a dozen people in, and have them fan everywhere with Pu fans, as hard as they can. Also, call a few more people to bring the incense basket to the yard, clear out all the incense ashes inside, and then bring it in!"
Huang's mother was stunned for a moment, and Xu Junlang said, "Grandma can't hear you? This is what we should do!"
Mother Huang said: "But there are a lot of mosquitoes..."
“Do it!”
Huang Mama quickly asked the maids to come in and did as Meimei said. Bai Jingyu woke up slowly and saw the scene in the room. He stared blankly for a while and saw Meimei sitting in front of the bed, smiling and saying:
"Sister-in-law? What are you doing?"
Xu Junlang hurried over to help her up: "Are you awake? Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, I just felt sleepy all of a sudden, and I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes. When did my husband come back?"
"I'll be back soon, and my sister-in-law will come to see you. How can you sleep in such a stuffy room? My sister-in-law asked them to get rid of the strange smell."
Meimei smiled and said, "Are you sleepy or are you sick of the smoke? Why don't you go to another room to rest? Just stay here. I don't know how you will spend the night if I don't come!"
Bai Jingyu was embarrassed: "I can't sleep well in another room. I heard from the old people that it's not good to move when you're pregnant, otherwise your stomach will be restless and it will be difficult to give birth!"
Meimei was startled: "Could it be that even the things in your room cannot be moved?"
"Well! Better not to move."
Finally understanding why Huang's mother hesitated just now, Meimei couldn't help but look at Xu Junlang, and Xu Junlang also looked at her and said, "I didn't know there was such a taboo, so it should be okay, right?"
Meimei smiled and said to Bai Jingyu, "It's a good omen. If you don't believe it, then there is nothing to worry about! Jingyu, forget about the taboo. The Second Master and I don't believe it, so don't believe it either. We've moved your room! Anyway, you're going to give birth soon, so relax, everything will be fine!"
At this time, Bai Jingyu saw several maids carrying in a cleaned smoking cage and was so surprised that he was speechless.
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