Jinhua Hall was bustling with activity. The yard was filled with old women, servants and maids. Everyone had a smile on their face, as if something happy had happened. As soon as I reached the door of the second hall, I heard Mrs. Xu's happy laughter and the clear and sweet voice of a girl.
Cui Xi helped Mei Niang up the stairs, and the maid in the corridor announced in a low voice: "The grandma is here!"
The room was silent, and the joyful voices disappeared instantly. Mei Niang stretched out her index finger and rubbed her forehead: Is this grandma's character so bad? She refused to even laugh anymore.
Mother Ji opened the warm curtain from inside and said with a smile, "Grandma, please come in! The old lady is just saying that you should wake up by now!"
Mei Niang showed a gentle and graceful smile, walked quickly into the house, and before she could look at the people surrounding the old lady in all the splendor and beauty, she knelt down in front of her, leaned over and said:
"Granddaughter-in-law pays respects to grandmother!"
This is what Mother Wang taught her: When she got to the upper room, she should bow deeply to let the old lady calm down, and she should not blame her too much for causing the smoke to fume the purple-leaf forest.
The old lady had a stern face, her eyes were scattered, and she didn't know where the focus was. She just said lightly: "Get up!"
Mei Niang stood up, and three or four people stood up at the same time and saluted her. Mei Niang looked and saw that they were all beautiful and clever girls about fourteen or fifteen years old. They wore embroidered satin quilted silk brocade jackets, gold necklaces inlaid with pearls and gems, and had hanging buns and double spiral buns commonly seen in young girls. They also wore brightly colored gauze palace flowers, red gold hairpins, and pearl and jade ornaments. She knew that these were the young ladies in the Hou Mansion.
Before she could get to know them one by one, she heard a loud voice outside the door announcing, "Second Madam is here!"
The old woman opened the warm curtains. Mei Niang looked over curiously, but she didn't see anyone. A lively and cheerful voice came in first: "Oh! Our home is still the best. The old lady's warm room is so comfortable!"
Hearing this voice, the girls regained their joy and shouted in unison: "Second sister-in-law, come quickly! She missed us so much that she returned to her parents' home and left us behind!"
A beautiful lady wearing an apricot-yellow satin silk gown, a pink Yao silk eight-panel skirt, and a golden-threaded phoenix-spreading-wings beaded hairpin on her head, with a bright rosy face, came in, giggling sweetly, and knelt down to kowtow to the old lady, saying:
"Greetings to the old lady! It's obvious that the old lady doesn't miss her granddaughter-in-law at all. Look at all the flowers and brocade around her knees. It's so lively and joyful. How can she still remember her granddaughter-in-law?"
Old Madam Xu laughed and scolded: "You have such a big mouth! You are used to eating good food but you still act cute. You obviously don't care about us, but you still make a mess at home. Now you can say anything. I hope I don't blame you!"
The second grandmother kowtowed again and said seriously: "Thank you, old lady. I will never do such a thing again!"
The old lady raised her hand and said, "Get up! I don't really blame you. In-laws should help each other. You did the right thing. Your eldest sister-in-law and the third grandmother are fine, but it's a pity for my forest. You three monkeys are going to torture me to death!"
Second wife Bai Jingyu hurriedly apologized and stepped forward to pat her back and rub her shoulders. Mei Niang just stood quietly aside and watched her performance.
Her calmness, quietness and composure attracted one person's attention. On the left hand side of the old lady was a beautiful, graceful and delicate woman, who was wearing a bean green silk brocade robe and had her hair combed into a Chaoyun Jinxiang bun. She didn't have many jewelry on her body, but each piece was exquisite, which made her look more delicate and unique. She tilted her head slightly and looked at Mei Niang. Mei Niang's sixth sense was very sensitive, and she caught her gaze as soon as she turned her eyes. The woman was startled and lowered her head.
Bai Jingyu seemed to have just discovered something. He walked over to help the woman up with surprise and joy, and laughed exaggeratedly:
"Who is this? Oh my, it's true that girls change a lot when they grow up. In the blink of an eye, the old hen turns into a duck! No wonder the old lady didn't miss me, it turns out that the fairy-like, lovely sister Lan is here!"
The woman bowed to Bai Jingyu first, then covered her face with her sleeves and said shyly, "What are you talking about, my sister-in-law? I don't understand!"
The old lady laughed: "She speaks the dialect of the village near the capital, so you naturally don't understand. She is praising you with no ill intentions—Jingyu, you are the sister-in-law, you are not allowed to be naughty. You know that your cousin Lan is different from other girls. She has learned the rules well since she was a child and never listens to the village dialect!"
Bai Jingyu smiled sweetly and turned his eyes to look at Mei Niang.
Mei Niang had already turned her gaze away from her before she looked over and looked at her cousin Lan with a slight smile.
After all, I am the eldest grandmother, and she is just the second grandmother. If she can ignore the eldest sister-in-law, then that's fine. Let everyone pretend.
Mei Niang walked forward and took Cousin Lan's other hand, smiling gently, "That's right, you've grown so tall in the blink of an eye, I can't even recognize you!"
Everyone in the room was sweating: not only did she not recognize him, she had never even seen him before!
Zhuang Yulan's father was the nephew from her mother's side who was the most beloved and valued by Old Lady Xu. Unfortunately, he died young and left her as his only daughter. Old Lady Xu loved her and often took her to live with her. When Xu Junying married Mei Niang, Zhuang Yulan fell ill and was taken back to Jinling by her uncle that same day. Since then, she has never come to her aunt's house in the capital again. However, when Xu Junying accompanied the old lady back to their hometown to worship their ancestors, he went to the Zhuang Mansion to see her.
Old Madam Xu coughed and said, "This is my niece's daughter from my mother's family. Her name is Yulan. Junying has called her Lan'er since she was a child! Lan girl, meet your eldest cousin's wife!"
Zhuang Yulan pulled back her hand, stepped back, leaned forward lightly, and said softly, "Meet my cousin-in-law!"
The hand that Mei Niang had held was aching slightly, causing her head to ache slightly as well: Is this beautiful woman in front of her, who was chosen by Cousin Ying at first sight, her natural enemy? She trembled when she heard her name, and felt even more uncomfortable when she saw her.
Wasn't she dying? My great aunt sent someone to pick her up, saying that she was here to comfort my cousin Ying, but my cousin's wife was fine, and she looked ten times healthier than her!
Bai Jingyu also bowed slightly to Mei Niang and said, "Hello, sister-in-law! I was very happy to hear that you were back, but I couldn't come back right away... I'm really sorry, but I prepared a gift and sent it to your courtyard as an apology!"
Mei Niang smiled and said softly, "We are a family, you are so polite! You have not offended me, why should I apologize? I was sick before, and you took care of me. The maids told me about it. I will remember your kindness in my heart!"
Cuixi, Cuisi and Cuilian, the three maids who came with the dowry, were all clever and capable, and their loyalty to Mei Niang was beyond reproach. Among them, Cuisi was the most clever, outspoken, and could not hide anything. She had found an opportunity to tell her who was kind to her and who was not kind to her during her illness. The attitude of the second wife's housekeeper towards Qinghua Courtyard could not be said to be very good. It had everything it needed, but when Wang Mama wanted to make a nourishing soup for the patient, she asked for some good medicinal materials such as ginseng and cordyceps, but the housekeeper never gave them to her. Even if she did, it was just some crumbs and powder, saying that the old lady and the ladies had used it too much and there was no more. Those housekeepers were the second wife's people. As a mother-in-law, how could she dare to disobey the will of the first wife without the second wife's approval
Mei Niang was not the kind of person who would hold a grudge, but seeing Bai Jingyu acting so pretentiously and glancing at her as soon as she came in, and pretending not to see it, she felt unhappy and couldn't help but criticize her with words.
Bai Jingyu's face changed and she lowered her head. Before she could think of anything to say, Mei Niang took a rectangular red brocade box from Cui Xi behind her and handed it to the old lady with a smile:
"A friend from the northeast of the city gave Master Hou an old mountain ginseng. Master Hou said that such a high-quality product is rarely seen in the palace, let alone in our mansion. It is even more unheard of in the pharmacies in the capital. Master Hou asked his granddaughter-in-law to bring it to honor her grandmother!"
She glanced at Ruixue, and Ruixue came over to take the brocade box and opened it in public. Against the backdrop of red silk, the two golden ginsengs over a foot long dazzled the eyes of the connoisseurs around.
No idea what kind of friend he was who gave him so many rare treasures at once. Mei Niang guessed that the man was either too generous or too stupid, or he had lived in the mountains for generations, and the entire mountain was his family's breeding farm, specializing in growing ginseng.
The old lady's eyes were filled with joy, and Bai Jingyu was also stunned. She was a daughter of a rich family. Her great grandfather who had just passed away was a retired official of the imperial court. Her own grandfather was named Bai Yi, but he was actually a wealthy businessman. The two brothers had a good relationship and would never separate. The Bai family was powerful and wealthy, and was extremely rich. Who in the whole capital didn't know about it? Coming from such a wealthy family, what rare things had she not seen? But the two old mountain ginsengs that Mei Niang took out were of a long age and of high quality, which Bai Jingyu had never come across before.
Mei Niang heard Old Lady Xu say in a gentle and loving tone: "It's hard for Junying to think of grandma first in everything. I'm about to die, so I don't need such good things. Your mother is not in good health, and you have just recovered from a serious illness. Take it back and nourish yourself!"
Mei Niang smiled sweetly, "Grandpa Hou said there will be more next time, and I will give it to mother then. My granddaughter-in-law is young, and everything she eats is nutritious... Good things must be given to grandma first. Grandma is our family's ancestor and the Buddha. Only when grandma is healthy and long-lived, and looks after us, can we, the children and grandchildren, be joyful!"
The maids around the old lady, such as Ji Mama and Ruixue, had already seen the transformation of the grandma, so they were not surprised. However, Bai Jingyu and the young ladies of the Xu Mansion were stunned. How could Qin Meiniang change so much? In the past, she was modest and cautious, always wanting to hide herself, not showing her feet when walking, not showing her teeth when smiling. As the eldest grandson's wife of the eldest son, she never dared to walk in front when she came to the upper room to greet, and bowed her head and greeted with everyone. When the old lady said "go back", she would walk away like the wind, as if she had received a pardon, and would not stay for a moment. Such a person who could not be on the stage, this time she came back from the dead, and became a spirit. What she did and said was so clever that even Bai Jingyu could not compare to her.
Old Madam Xu touched the old mountain ginseng with thick roots in Ruixue's hand, motioned for Mother Ji to put it away, and said to Mei Niang with a smile: "This child has a sweet mouth! I have to live to be a hundred years old so that I can look after you monkeys every day!"
Mei Niang smiled even sweeter, walked up to sit next to the old lady, grabbed her arm and kneaded her muscles, and said in a sweet voice:
"What's a hundred years old? There were ancient people who lived to be a hundred and fifty, so my grandmother must live that long too! Watch my brother Heng pass the imperial examination, get married, and have great-grandchildren... Tell his descendants to honor grandma well!"
No matter how shrewd and calculating an old lady is, she can't stand the flattery of her children and grandchildren. Old Mrs. Xu laughed so hard that her hair was shaking with pearls and jade. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief and patted Mei Niang's hand:
"You little sweetheart! You coaxed my old lady into doing that. Hurry up and have someone serve the meal. You serve me. From now on, I have to eat an extra bowl of rice at every meal. Otherwise, how can I live to be 150 years old!" (To be continued)