Chapter 291 Deliberate
After returning from a visit to Prince Qi's Mansion, Meimei became much more obedient. She no longer went out every day. She stayed at home to accompany Heng'er, served as the director of Ziyun Hall, and let Liu Jingyun rest. She lived an ordinary life as the wife of the marquis according to the routine.
After watching a polo match, she actually fell in love with the exciting and thrilling scene. She always wanted to go and watch a polo match wherever there was one, but not at the Prince Qi's Palace.
That day, the King of Qi was afraid that she would be lonely, so he only played one game and came up to accompany her. At first, she was very helpless and embarrassed because of Lin Runan's face, but she ended up watching the game and was so excited that she cheered and jumped for joy and forgot everything. Zhao Bao was Zhao Bao and Cen Meimei was Cen Meimei, as if they were free of worries and independent of each other. How happy they were and how they interacted with each other had nothing to do with others. They were happy as they liked, drinking, pointing and shouting at the people and horses on the field. As long as the people from the King of Qi's mansion won the game, they would clap their hands to celebrate, and when other teams took the ball, they would slam the table and curse. After the game was over and they were beaten back to their original state, Meimei realized her loss of composure. She was squeezed into a seat close to the King of Qi. That was when the two teams were competing for the last ball. When the tension was intense, she stretched out her hand and waved it around, which affected the King of Qi's judgment on the direction of the ball. He caught her and pulled her over. With her high concentration, she didn't even remember to return to her seat...
Embarrassment was inevitable, and she scratched her head and wanted to run away, but the King of Qi held her back and led her out of the stadium through a passage blocked by a large number of palace guards.
Shangyunzi, she just likes playing basketball and doesn’t know much about polo. Why is she so obsessed with it?
A few days later, there was another polo match at the Prince Qi's palace and he sent someone to invite her. She asked Bai Zhan to decline the invitation, saying that she was busy with palace affairs and had no time.
She was not afraid of the King of Qi, but felt safe with him. However, she realized that maybe he did not think so. He initially regarded her as Jian Yu. What about later and now? Even if we do not pursue this point, the one who should be so close to him should be Lin Runan, not her Cen Meimei!
They each belong to someone else, Zhao Bao belongs to Lin Runan and Cen Meimei belongs to Xu Junying.
Old lady Xu was acting out of character. She sent people to invite Meimei to Jinhua Hall every few days, to keep her for dinner and chat with her, treating her with the expression of a kind elder. Meimei felt very uncomfortable, but it was not easy to openly ignore her, so she could only perfunctorily invite the sisters-in-law and the girls to sit in Jinhua Hall for half a day every time she went. The old lady was naturally happy, but she soon discovered one thing, that is, the girls and wives would not take the initiative to talk to A Yao. Even the two girls who had accompanied A Yao for some time were very indifferent to her.
The old lady thought that Meimei had deliberately instigated it. She was about to blame her, but she saw that Meimei had forgotten the past and was talking and laughing with Ayao warmly, asking about her health. Ayao was smiling and looked like she completely believed her. She almost suspected that her eyes were blurry and asked Mother Ji what was going on. Mother Ji also shook her head and didn't know. The old lady couldn't help but feel confused and felt that her brain was really not enough.
During this period, the son of the second master and the second mistress of the Xu family was one month old, and the West Mansion was celebrating with great fanfare. The old lady took A Yao with her specially, and stayed in the West Mansion for three consecutive days, going there early and returning late. In her words, she wanted A Yao to absorb as much joy and good fortune from the West Mansion as possible, so that she could conceive a child for Junying, which would be a blessing from the ancestors.
Zhuang Yulan showed up once, looking much stronger and with a rosy complexion. She was still dressed in gorgeous clothes, looking like a dignified and elegant official lady. However, her five-month-old son was not brought out. Fang secretly told Meimei: There was something wrong with the child. He didn't cry or open his eyes when he was born. Now he is five months old, but he still can't be taken out. His whole body is soft, he can't turn over by himself, and he is afraid of light...
Meimei was shocked, remembering that the old lady had said before that Zhuang Yulan got heart disease because of Xu Junying, and she had been taking medicine since then. Could it be that the drugs affected her pregnancy, resulting in congenital deficiencies in the fetus?
After taking so many medicines, there should be some residual drug toxins in the body. If it were modern times, Zhuang Yulan should have been examined by a doctor to make sure her body was suitable for pregnancy before giving birth. She should not have rushed into pregnancy and childbirth. Speaking of which, if Xu Junying had not insisted on keeping Meimei and married Zhuang Yulan, after three years, Xu Junying would have been normal, and the drug toxins in Zhuang Yulan's body would have been completely eliminated, and perhaps she could have given birth to a healthy baby.
Meimei raised her eyebrows at this thought. Is it Xu Junying's fault again? He indirectly hurt Zhuang Yulan again. Cousin, be careful about loving your cousin when you are not sure about him!
Xu Xiaojuan also brought her family back to attend the wedding banquet. Meimei was shocked to see the four of them. Xu Xiaojuan and the children had not changed much, but Li Zhao had changed drastically. He was so thin that she could hardly recognize him. In Mrs. Zheng's room, Meimei tentatively asked Xu Xiaojuan and Li Zhao what was going on. Xu Xiaojuan snorted and said, "That little girl Luo Xiangying fell down the stairs and lost her baby. She has been crying all day to win his sympathy. A few days ago, Li Zhao actually "I followed Luo Xiangying's instigation and got me drunk and I fell asleep. The two of us took all the valuables at home and tried to elope. But God saw us. We were spotted by our fifth brother who was on a business trip and were taken back to the official ship. My eldest brother was not at home, so my fifth brother found my second and fourth brothers and sent a letter to have Luo Xiangying handed over to the city government. She was executed for adultery and Li Zhao was reprimanded and told not to do it again. If he angered the Xu family, he and the entire Li family would be punished. He would never be able to turn things around in his lifetime!"
Meimei looked at Xu Xiaojuan's smug face, and then came out to see Li Zhao's disillusioned and disheartened look. She could not help but look up at the sky in silence. What kind of thing was this? Could she blame the Xu brothers for bullying others? Was Li Zhao right to abandon his wife and children? Forget it, she didn't want to think too much, so she just followed their old rules: men were responsible for the outside affairs and women were responsible for the inside affairs. It would be good enough for her to manage the affairs of the inner court!
Ten days after the full moon banquet at the West Mansion, another good news came. The wife of a colleague of the Second Master Xu Junlang came to the mansion for the wedding banquet and saw Xu Xiaowan, the third lady of the Xu Mansion. She specially prepared generous gifts and went to the door, wanting to introduce the third lady to a matchmaker. When the old lady heard that the man was from the Wang family, a big family in the capital, she was very happy. However, Xu Xiaowan was not very satisfied after hearing the news that Xu Xiaomin overheard from behind the screen. The man was a bastard, born to a concubine, and ranked fifth. Although his father was a third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he was born to a concubine and was worse than her. She was also a bastard, but her mother was a concubine. At least she had the title of a lady of the Hou Mansion. She prayed secretly in her heart, hoping that the old lady would not agree easily.
As expected, the old lady hesitated and refused to speak again, but the second wife urged her, "Junlang has also seen the child and said that he is handsome and has a very good character. Our third daughter is just like that. And what happened last year in the garden by the eldest brother-in-law has spread out and others have heard about it. It's good that someone came to ask for it. Should we agree to it?"
The old lady angrily said, "How could something like last year be spread to this day? Who was the gossiper who spread it? Investigate it for me! If you find out, cut off her tongue and beat her to death!"
The second wife held her back and advised: "Alas, it's been so long, where can we find out? Forget it, don't let the old ancestor get angry and get sick!"
The old lady was angry for a while, and then she was in a bad mood. She waved her hand and said, "It's your daughter. You can handle this matter. Go and find out whether the fifth young master is well-liked in the mansion. Don't let the third girl marry into the mansion and become a bully. She will blame you, the second wife, as her mother. But after hearing this, she didn't ask Xu Xiaowan and Aunt Tang anymore. The marriage was settled within a few days and the wedding was held before the New Year. Xu Xiaowan was in great pain and cried for several days. Xu Xiaomin was very sad watching from the side.
In early July, Xu Junying returned home exhausted, and at this moment a piece of good news came from Jinhuatang, shocking him and Meimei.
Wu Ziyao lived up to the old lady's expectations and became pregnant!
The old lady knew that Xu Junying would come into the house in the evening, so she immediately asked the kitchen to prepare dinner, and specially asked Ruiyu to come and invite her grandson and his family to have dinner at Jinhua Hall. Xu Junying refused, saying that he was too tired after returning from a long journey, and Meimei said that she had to serve her tired husband and had no time either.
After hearing Ruiyu's reply, the old lady smiled at Ayao and said lovingly, "Look, your brother Junying is destined to be busy and tired! He must be tired after running around for so long. Let him rest. It won't be too late to come back tomorrow! Come on, grandchildren, granddaughters-in-law, and maids, let's eat!"
While the old lady was having a feast, in the upper room of Tsinghua Courtyard, Meimei was also serving her husband and son attentively. As parents, it was hard to tell what emotions they were in. Heng'er was the most excited and happy. While eating, he would politely ask where his father had gone, whether riding a horse was fun, and whether Dahei was well behaved. Xu Junying was somewhat affected by the news of Ayao's pregnancy. He responded to Heng'er in a disjointed manner, looking at Meimei, and took the opportunity to say, "Meimei, I'm sorry! I didn't expect it to be... Don't be sad, and don't worry, I will take care of it!"
Meimei smiled at him gently: "I'm fine, just enjoy your meal, and try this, it's a new dish!"
When preparing to rest at night, Xu Junying and Meimei played games with Heng'er on the big bed. He had some thoughts in his mind. When he was not at home, Meimei would take Heng'er to sleep together. He wondered if it would be the same tonight?
Heng'er was tired from playing and yawned. Meimei took him into her arms and said, "My dear, do you want to sleep? Come and hold me. Let's go to sleep!"
Xu Junying became anxious when he saw this, and whispered in her ear, "Do you really want him to sleep with you?"
"What else? You don't hug him!"
Xu Junying was overjoyed and quickly reached out to hold Heng'er over: "I'll do it, I'll do it, go to sleep obediently, your father will take you back to your room!"
Heng'er refused: "Heng'er wants to sleep with father and mother!"
"Be obedient, I'll take you to the East Courtyard in a couple of days!"
Xu Junying had already put on his shoes and got out of bed. He quickly walked out of the bedroom. When he reached the door, Xia Lian was already waiting outside. She bowed and took Heng'er away.
Xu Junying closed the door, quickly returned to the bedroom, and pushed Meimei down on the bed, pretending to spank her. Meimei dodged with a smile: "Why are you spanking me?"
"You did it on purpose! You told Xia Lian to wait outside, but now I've been anxious for nothing!"
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