So Mei Xuanqi turned to look at his wife. Yuan Zhixi knew that it was not easy to respond to this. Although the old lady was sensible, it was rare for her to stand on the side of justice and not help her relatives in many cases.
But after all, his son is his biological son. Even if his bones are broken, his tendons are still connected. If he publicly said that he didn't want to follow Mei Xuanqi, even the old lady would probably have some resentment.
So Yuan Zhixi lowered her head and said, "This time, my husband has hurt the children. Ask the children. I, as their mother, will follow them."
These kids had just been beaten so badly by their father that none of them wanted to pay any attention to him anymore.
Mrs. Mei suddenly said, "The children are still injured. Let's wait until they recover and then ask for their feelings."
He added, "Zhixi and Shuxin are happy."
Mei Xuanqi saw that the old lady did not ask him and Weng Hui to get up, so he knew it was okay for him to kneel down. So he said, "Mother, Aunt Weng is not feeling well. Please let her get up too."
The old lady said, "Since you are not in good health, you should cherish your blessings. Don't you think that doing something like stealing someone else's hairpin is not scary enough? And you even caused trouble in the plum garden, making the whole family restless?
Since you are devoted to her, why don't you just take her away from the Mei family? Why do you have to drag your wife and Shuxin along?"
Mei Xuanqi didn't dare to respond, for fear of losing his wife and Shuxin.
The nanny helped the old lady sit down, and Zhixi served her tea personally.
Old Madam Mei looked at Aunt Weng and said, "I heard that the Second Master tied the child up in your yard and whipped him just to vent his anger on you.
So, these children were beaten so badly, and the last people to plead for mercy were the doctors. I want to ask Aunt Weng, did she faint from a heart attack at that time?
Aunt Weng said, "Second Master is angry because the child disobeyed him and refused to apologize. I dare not disobey Second Master."
Old Madam Mei said, "You are quite clever. Why should the child apologize? As the eldest son of the second wife, isn't it natural for Yinzhou to teach his bullying and insulting brother a lesson?"
"You've taught your own child the wrong way, and yet you're still putting on a new excuse with all your heart."
As soon as the old lady entered the Plum Garden, several old maids came out to greet her. Mei Xuanqi didn't take it seriously at first, but now he thought that these old maids had been reporting things to the old lady all the way to Yuan Zhixi's yard, and only left when they were almost at the door. They probably had already reported what happened in the Plum Garden to the old lady one by one and told her everything.
Mr. Mei Erye didn't know much about what happened between the children. He only knew that Mei Ruolin and Mei Yinzhi had a conflict, and Mei Yinzhou helped Mei Yinzhi to beat people up. Now, after listening to what the old lady said, including the insults and bullying, it sounded like Mei Ruolin's fault.
The old lady said, "Just kneel here and compare yourself horizontally and vertically. It's much more comfortable than being whipped."
Suddenly, a clear child's voice said, "Grandma!"
The petite Mei Ruolan ran towards Old Madam Mei, who hugged her tightly. "Why are you here? I'll go see you in the yard later. How's your injury?"
Mei Ruolan said, "Ruolan can't wait any longer. The wound doesn't hurt as much as before." Then she took two steps back and bowed politely to the old lady.
Then she looked at her father and Aunt Weng kneeling one after the other. No one had taught her how to greet her kneeling father. The little girl thought for a moment, then knelt down in front of her father and gave a half-body bow: "Greetings, father."
Mei Xuanqi thought to himself: The old lady really doesn't give me any face at all.
Seeing Mei Ruolan's usually fair and rosy face now pale, with her hands wrapped like two buns, he hurriedly said, "Hurry up and get up."
The old lady also said repeatedly: "Come here, grandma, I have something to ask you."
Mei Ruolan stood up, and the old lady hugged her and asked, "If grandma lets your father take Aunt Weng and Mei Ruolin to live out, what do you think?"
Shuxin couldn't help but feel nervous after hearing this, fearing that the child might say something wrong.
Mei Ruolan asked, "Is my third brother still living at home?" Because the two branches of the family had not separated, Mei Yinzhou, the eldest son of the second branch, was the third child in the family.
The old lady said, "Of course, Yin Zhou still lives at home."
Mei Ruolan said, "I dare not say whether my father's affairs are good or bad. It's all up to grandma. But Ruolan wants to live with my third brother. Wherever he lives, I want to live there too."
The old lady said, "So our Ruolan likes your third brother so much."
The little girl lowered her head and said, "Third brother is like a father... just like the father I think of in my heart..."
Old Mrs. Mei asked, "What do you mean?"
Mei Ruolan said, "Father belongs to Ruolin. He would hold him in his arms, lift him up high and ride on a big horse, take him out, buy him all kinds of delicious food and fun things, and even put a longevity lock on him. Ruolin often comes to show off... Father never smiles when he sees me, and that's not right. Father never smiles when he sees Aunt Shu and me, and always has a cold face...
Father hates Ruolan... Father doesn't like Ruolan and wants to move away. It doesn't matter if he doesn't want Ruolan anymore, Ruolan has a third brother.
Seeing that I envied Ruolin, my third brother would let me ride his big horse, and he and my fourth brother would take turns carrying me.
Third brother would share with Ruolan any delicious food or fun things he got from outside.
I didn’t understand the lessons in the girls’ school, so my third brother taught me.
She felt hungry before mealtime, but her aunt didn't allow Ruolan to eat first, saying that she wouldn't eat well before mealtime.
It was my third brother who took me to the big kitchen to steal food. In order to cover my escape, my fourth brother went out to take the blame.
The last time I climbed a tree and secretly went to the river to fish, it was…"
Mei Yinzhi, the fourth brother lying in the inner room, shouted anxiously, "My dear sister, you don't have to say these things."
After hearing this, Mrs. Mei was silent for a while, then she told the nanny, "Go ask the children if they all think the same."
After a while, the children's personal servants and maids came over one by one to reply, and they all said the same thing, to follow their mother and third brother.
Old Madam Mei said, "The eldest brother is like a father. It's a situation where you have lost your father and are without one. Now that you are such a grown-up father, your father is here, but in the hearts of the children, he is no longer there... It's really unfair to the children..."
Then he said, "What sin have I committed..."
Mei Xuanqi felt bad after hearing Ruolan's words. He was nice to Ruolin because he felt that sooner or later, he would lose his mother. Now he would be happy as long as the child was happy.
He was biased and indeed neglected other children.
However, he also loved these two older sons with all his heart. Although he couldn't let go of the past at that time, he also planned to live a good life with Yuan Zhixi. Especially Yinzhou, he was his first child, and it was the first time he felt the identity of a father. How could he not love him?
But Zhixi wasn't going to let him have a good time. How did the third and fourth children come about? One was barely able to get by, and the latter was directly raped. What else could he do? If only the mother of these children would show some kindness...
Then Yin Zhou's personal servant came back to report to Old Madam Mei, saying, "Old Madam, our young master originally said that there's no need to move out or divide the family, but he's not sure if his idea is appropriate, so he wanted to ask Grandmother's opinion."
Mrs. Mei was really surprised. Yinzhou said that he didn't want to move out and there was no need to divide the family?
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