After saying this, he turned back to the East Courtyard. Baoju followed him and accidentally dropped a scroll in his arms to the ground. He wanted to pick it up but couldn't free his hands. Seeing that Lord Hou had walked far away, he hurriedly said to Cuilian:
"Pick this up!"
Cui Lian was very nervous, wondering when her grandmother would be back. She had no time to care about Baoju. She ignored him and turned away. The little maids also ignored her and followed him.
Baoju was anxious and angry: "You, you guys..."
Ruizhu ran over from the Moon Cave Gate: "Master Hou asked me to get some things!"
Baoju asked her to pick up the scroll on the ground, and asked her to take a few things from her arms, saying, "It's a good thing you came, otherwise I don't know what to do. That scroll is my favorite, and it fell on the ground, and none of them helped to pick it up!"
Ruizhu glanced at Cuilian and the others and said, "We are almost no longer a family, so of course I won't pick it up for you!"
She lowered her voice, but the sharp-eared Ping'er still heard it, and immediately chased after them and replied:
"Sister Ruizhu, please explain clearly: who is a family member to whom, and who is not a family member to whom? Who refused to pick it up for him? Did you hear him calling for someone to pick it up for him?"
The little girl followed behind Baoju, and her voice was so sharp and crisp that it went straight into his ears and scratched his eardrums. He could only hear a bunch of tongue-twisting "who's who" but couldn't make out what they meant.
Ruizhu's face turned pale: "You little bitch, what did I say? I didn't say anything!"
"You said it! You said 'we are almost not a family anymore', and I'm not deaf!"
Cui Lian pointed at Rui Zhu and said, "What do you mean? Qinghua Courtyard has been renovating and tidying up the rooms these days. What exactly is the purpose? Grandma told us not to say anything, but you came here to gossip! You said that a new grandma is coming, right? A new concubine will be your backer, right? We are going to be driven out, and our grandma is no longer a member of this family? Is that right? Did you all hear clearly? Rui Zhu from the East Courtyard, this is what she said?"
"Yes! That's what Sister Ruizhu said!"
The little girls said in unison. Ruizhu started crying. Baoju was stunned. He subconsciously felt that he had caused some trouble and tried to run away. Cuilian caught up with him and stopped him. Her almond eyes were gentle and affectionate. She pursed her thin red lips and smiled slightly:
"Brother Baoju, you heard it just now, too!"
Baoju looked at Cuilian, his face flushed, and he shook his head and nodded in panic: "I didn't hear it! I heard it..."
The little girls burst into laughter, and Baoju left Ruizhu, who was crying so hard that she couldn't find her way, and ran away.
Baoju returned to the East Courtyard. Xu Junying had already changed his clothes. Ruibao came in and hung up his official uniform. Xu Junying asked Baoju:
"What's going on over there? There's so much chirping and chattering!"
Baoju put down his things, calmed himself down, and reported the truth: "… Ruizhu said something she shouldn't have said, and the little girl over there is arguing with her!"
"What did Ruizhu say?"
Baoju glanced at him anxiously: "Ruizhu said, 'We are almost not a family anymore.' Then the little girl started to make a noise, saying that a new grandmother is coming and she wants to drive the old grandmother away... I think Cuilian deliberately started this by using Ruizhu. I'm afraid it will spread all over the garden tomorrow. If the old grandmother leaves the East Courtyard in the future, it won't be her own decision, it will be..."
"Is this the result Cui Lian wanted?" Xu Junying smiled and said, "You guessed wrong, go down. Ruibao stays!"
Baoju closed the door and went out. Ruibao stood there anxiously with his head down. Xu Junying sat at the table and tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingers:
"Why did Ruizhu say that? Tell me how you heard it!"
Ruibao knelt down slowly: "Master Hou..."
Xu Junying said, "The old lady has eight maids who have been around her since she was eight years old. She loves you and is willing to give you and Ruizhu to me, so how can I bear to embarrass you? You two have never broken off contact with Jinhuatang. Jinhuatang knows everything about me. As for Jinhuatang, I'm only asking this once, and you won't tell me either?"
Ruibao sobbed softly, "Master Hou, please forgive me! If Mother Ji wants to ask about this, we have to answer. I don't know what Ruizhu said, but I, I didn't dare to tell her everything about this... This time, it was Ruixue's birthday two days ago. Ruizhu and I went to congratulate her. The sisters sat down and talked about it. When it came to the great grandmother, Ruixue said that the great grandmother was actually very good and virtuous. She had already discussed it with the old lady and let the upper room in Tsinghua Courtyard be given to the new grandmother to live in, and she would find another courtyard for herself..."
Xu Junying frowned: "She, told the old lady? Did the old lady agree?"
Ruibao said: "It must be true, otherwise Ruixue wouldn't have said that!"
Xu Junying nodded: "Okay, go down. You and Ruizhu, be polite to the girls over there in the future, and don't talk casually."
"Yes! I'll remember it!"
Mei Niang still couldn't make it to Jinhua Hall in time, so Cui Lian sent a maid to Jinhua Hall to inquire about the news. She also took a box of pastries and asked Cheng'er to take it to the third grandmother's yard to say hello on behalf of the eldest grandmother and to find out whether the third grandmother had gone to Jinhua Hall. If not, when Hou Ye came back and asked about it, there would be a place for the eldest grandmother.
Mother Wang brought Ping'er with her as usual, and was responsible for connecting the west courtyard to Tsinghua Courtyard.
Mei Niang returned to Tsinghua Court and asked some questions, then went into the inner room to bathe and change clothes. Cui Si and Cui Xi took off the cloth bags on their backs and gave them to Cui Lian to put away, and then went to wash themselves. Mother Wang came back and took a look, then felt relieved, and took Cheng'er and Ping'er to the kitchen to prepare food.
Mei Niang and her servants all figured it out. Some sat on the couch, reading books, some traced red lines, and some crocheted sweaters. Mei Niang began to scold Cui Lian:
"What's the point of making such a scene? Do you want others to feel sorry for us? I was hoping that this thing could be done quickly and quietly, but if you do this... just wait and see, that person has a sense of shame, and he might not let me move out!"
Cui Lian stood at the side, twisting her hands, tears flashing in her eyes: "I just don't want grandma to leave Qinghua Courtyard! Why should others live in the main courtyard while grandma lives in the side courtyard? Grandma is the wife of the marquis who was married in a formal way, what is she? A concubine, a later one, it's too late for the emperor to grant the marriage! Why should grandma give in? Even if you divorce her and leave the marquis's mansion, you have to leave from here, the position of the principal wife, with dignity!"
Mei Niang was stunned. Cui Xi and Cui Si also stared at Cui Lian in a daze. Outside the door, Xu Junying had already lifted the door curtain, but did not step in. He only heard Mei Niang say:
"Girl, you really impressed me. I only knew you were smart, but I didn't expect you to have quite a bit of personality."
Cui Si asked, "What is personality? Don't I have one?"
Mei Niang said: "The personality here means very different."
"Then who am I like?"
"You are also... You are also very different. Oh, forget it, I can't explain it clearly!"
The master and his servants chuckled. Xu Junying lowered the door curtain and waved to the corridor. The servants and old women he had driven away came back. Xu Junying said, "Let them know!"
The old woman shouted loudly: "Master Hou is back!"
The room was not so messy this time, and I didn't look at Xianmen's account book tonight.
Mei Niang got down from the bed and Cui Xi put on her embroidered shoes. The three maids lined up behind her and took a few steps forward to salute the marquis.
Mei Niang said, "Master Hou has had dinner in Jinhua Hall. Have you heard the good news?"
Xu Junying nodded: "My third brother's wife is pregnant. My third brother said that you contributed a lot to it. Let me convey his gratitude on his behalf!"
Mei Niang smiled: "Third Master, you are too polite. I have received a lot of help from Rulan before, but I never said thank you."
Xu Junying glanced at the girls standing side by side and said, "Why, you won't give me a cup of tea?"
Cui Xi hurried over to make tea, and after a while she brought a cup of tea and placed it in front of Xu Junying: "Master, please have some!"
Xu Junying looked at Mei Niang: "You don't want to drink?"
Mei Niang shook her head: "I haven't eaten yet, I'll drink the soup later."
Xu Junying looked at Cuilian and said, "Why don't you go to Jinhuatang for dinner?"
Cui Lian lowered her head, and Mei Niang replied: "I went to Rulan's place and talked with her for a while. Other sisters-in-law also came to congratulate her. We were so busy chatting that we missed dinner. Jingyu and cousin Yu are here at Jinhua Hall, so it's OK!"
Xu Junying suddenly asked, "The pills Lingxuzi gave you last time will help relieve the pain in your body. Do you have any more?"
Mei Niang's heart skipped a beat, but she put on a bewildered expression: "What pills? Who's in pain? Is this the box that Lord Hou gave me a few days ago? And, I only took two pills!"
Xu Junying looked at her face carefully and could not find any flaws. He said, "It's not that. Don't you remember Lingxuzi?"
"Lingxuzi," Mei Niang read it again, "How can you not remember? There is another friend of yours who diagnosed my pulse. It was because of their arrival that Ru Lan's Xijiang Xuelan was moved to the backyard."
"The other one is Zhang Jingyun." Xu Junying's eyes did not leave Mei Niang's face: "You may not know that Zhang Jingyun is the eldest son of the Jingguo Mansion. Last time I saw a girl on the street, whipping the fourth son of the Jingguo Mansion with a whip. That girl... her last name is Cen. Today I found out that her name is Cen Meimei!"
Cui Xi and Cui Si were sweating with nervousness. Mei Niang was stared at by Xu Junying and looked a little flustered. She turned her head away and said gently:
"That girl is amazing! If you think she's good, you can ask someone to ask her to come back and be a concubine if she has a clean background and some foundation!"
Humph! He must have smelled something. Maybe he met Zhang Jingyun Lingxuzi today and he saw him. Then let's play with him for real and let him investigate. There are so many families with the surname Cen. Even if he finds the Cen family in Dongcheng, what's the use? The Cen family is right there, and someone lives there. It's impossible to ask for marriage. How can a merchant's daughter who runs a restaurant be worthy of his noble family
Xu Junying was stunned for a moment, and lowered his eyes in dismay: How could she think that? She actually understood it this way... Asking him to come back and be a concubine? What did she think of him!
Cui Xi secretly glanced at Mei Niang. Cui Si took great effort to suppress herself, keeping a timid expression on her face and not laughing out loud. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)