At the hour of You, the attendant walked up to the King of Qi and said something. The King of Qi put down his drumstick. Mei Niang breathed a sigh of relief, as she had wanted to run away for a long time.
The King of Qi said to Mei Niang, "I have to go to the palace, so I'm leaving now. Princess Su De returned to the capital yesterday, and I may come later tomorrow... tomorrow."
"It doesn't matter. Business is more important. Your Highness has learned some essentials now. The new drum is not yet finished. If you need to practice, you can come anytime. If I'm not here, they can accompany you!"
The King of Qi glanced at her gloomily and asked, "Do I come here to play the drums for them to accompany me?"
Mei Niang lowered her eyes: "Then... take a rest tomorrow."
The King of Qi thought for a moment and said, "I do have some things to do tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. How about this? You just rest and I will have someone call you when I come. You can stay in the courtyard over there, just one door away, it will be very convenient!"
Mei Niang lowered her head and smiled bitterly: Whether it is convenient or not, you will know it only when you try it. In order to teach you to play drums, I have used up all the time I spent taking care of Xiankelai. It’s not as important as meeting my lover in secret!
After seeing off the King of Qi, Mei Niang asked Lin Runan, "Who is Princess Su De?"
Lin Runan looked at her and shook his head and sighed, "You really have forgotten too many things! Princess Sude is the younger sister of the Emperor and the Prince of Qi. After she married a consort, they moved to their fiefdom together. I heard about this when I was out walking around the streets yesterday. Her consort died not long ago, and the Empress Dowager took pity on her as a new widow, so she asked the Emperor to summon her back to the capital."
"A widow? She's still so young!"
Mei Niang thought, the emperor is the same age as Xu Junying, and Princess Su De is one or two years younger than the King of Qi, only seventeen or eighteen years old. She has become a widow before her life has even begun? This is too much!
Lin Runan said calmly, "What about a widow? A royal daughter will never have trouble finding a husband. The Queen Mother and the Emperor will decide. At most, she'll find a consort in a year or two!"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "Yes, why should we worry about her? We have people of our own to worry about!"
Lin Runan looked at her warily: "Who are you worried about?"
"I have many people to worry about. Which one do you want to ask?" Mei Niang said with a smile, and suddenly her face straightened up:
"Zhang Jingyun may have passed your message to the Queen. She should invite us to meet before she gives birth!"
Lin Runan said sadly: "I am now the daughter of a criminal, how can I see her?"
Mei Niang said: "If she wants to see me, there will always be a way!"
Lin Runan nodded: "Yes! I want to see her. If you want to summon me to the palace, I am not afraid!"
Mei Niang reached out and held her hand: "I'll accompany you!"
The two good friends were standing and talking on the stone path in the yard. Cui Xi came over in a hurry, looking anxious: "Girl, it's getting late, we should go back!"
Lin Runan held her tightly and said, "It's not too late to leave after dinner!"
Mei Niang then remembered that she had to have dinner at Jinhua Hall tonight, and hurriedly pried her hand away: "Let's do it another day. Today really won't work. If I go back late, I won't be able to see Heng'er tonight!"
Seeing Lin Runan's reluctant look, he tried to comfort her, "I won't come tomorrow, but I will come in two days. For now, you'd better not come to Xu's house to see me. That place is not fun. I'm desperately trying to get out! When you have time, go to Xiankelai. You can ask Manager Lu to serve you delicious food and drinks. There are many candidates taking the exam there. They are young and talented, handsome and elegant, tall and short, fat and thin. You can take a look. If there is one that you like, we will recruit him to be a member..."
Lin Runan listened carefully at first, but in the end she pushed her away: "Go away! I'm afraid of you. It's different when you're married. You dare to say anything!"
Mei Niang took Cui Xi and Cui Si into the carriage and told Lin Amao to be careful and to hurry as fast as possible. Fortunately, there were very few pedestrians on the street at that time and not many carriages. Mei Niang changed her clothes in the carriage and turned into a maid. The carriage also arrived outside the west gate of Xu's mansion.
Mother Yu was walking around in the west yard. When she saw them coming back, she was overjoyed: "Hurry up! Mother Lin has made all the arrangements. It will be fine on the way there. Mother Wang has come to look for you several times and said that if you don't come back, things will get out of hand!"
Mei Niang was stunned for a moment. What was going on? Even Mother Wang couldn't hold back her anger.
When they entered Qinghua Courtyard, Cheng'er came towards them, looked around, stopped in front of them and whispered, "Mr. Hou is drinking tea in the upper room. He said he would wait for Grandma to come back and go to Jinhua Hall together!"
Cuixi and Cuisi were startled, Mei Niang frowned: Is Xu Junying bored or what? Could it be that he has seen something like the King of Qi
I have to think carefully about what to do. Should I continue to be Qin Meiniang, or should I confront him and tell him the truth
Oh! I have to change into this maid's clothes first and go back to the upper room to meet him first.
Mei Niang looked around and asked Cui Si, "Is there one of my coats in the embroidered bag you're carrying?"
Cui Si nodded: "Yes, there are also two handkerchiefs, a scarf, some head ornaments and so on!"
Mei Niang said, "Let's go to the small side yard over there and change clothes in Auntie's room."
Cui Xi was stunned for a moment: "Go to the aunt's room? Is that okay? They will tell the Marquis!"
Mei Niang glanced at her and said, "Didn't you hear what Wang Mama said? After Ruyi lost her baby, Lord Hou never went to their courtyard again... These two were originally second-class maids in the old lady's room, but they are not as smart as Ruizhu and Ruibao. They have received my favor on weekdays, so they should not dare to say anything. Let's go!"
The three of them walked to the small side yard and entered the gate. Cui Si's eyes lit up: There is a well under the shade of flowers by the gate, how could she not remember it? She immediately went forward and saw that there was a small bucket of water in the bucket, so she put the handkerchief in her hand into it to soak it, and brought it to Mei Niang. Mei Niang understood and covered her face with the handkerchief, took off the mask together, and gave it to Cui Si to keep, then turned and walked into the room. The old woman in the corridor thought she was dazzled: It was obviously the eldest grandmother, why was she wearing a maid's clothes and combing her hair into double buns? She wanted to shout but didn't dare to, and stood there stupidly staring.
Mei Niang smiled and said, "You've never seen me like this, have you? I made a bet with Third Grandma. We each dressed up as someone else and walked around the garden to see if the other could find us. I guess I lost to her, haha!"
Ruyi and Xiu'er were sitting in the room doing needlework. When they heard the voices, they hurried out and both bowed to Mei Niang. Ruyi said:
"Madam, are you having fun? I'm boiling water. Can the servants fetch some water for you to wash your face?"
Mei Niang nodded: "Okay, look at my messy hair, let me tidy it up, let Cui Xi come!"
Ruyi and Xiu'er were both chosen to be maids, but only Ruyi served Xu Junying for one night. When she became pregnant, Xu Junying did not want to leave his child without a legitimate mother. Since Madam Zheng was ill and could not take care of her, the old lady decided to make Ruyi a concubine. However, the old lady did not know what she was thinking. She only said that Xiu'er and Ruyi had a deep relationship, and they were inseparable every day and took care of each other. So she simply made Xiu'er a concubine as well. Xu Junying had nothing to say about this. For some reason, he did not come to the small side yard again. When Ruyi's fetus slipped, he came to see her once, but he never came again. The two concubines were discouraged and were allowed not to serve the eldest grandmother. They were locked up in the small side yard every day, doing needlework together, and lived a dull and lonely life. Few people thought of them, and both of them were extremely introverted and cautious, unwilling to actively interact with others. After Mei Niang became the manager, she went to see them once out of curiosity, and felt that the two women were too honest. Apart from the monthly allowance and some new clothes, they would not go to the manager to collect other daily necessities such as tea, sugar, and rouge. The manager would either say that he was too busy or really forgot, and if the money was not delivered, they would not use it. Mei Niang was amazed at their indifference and lack of desire. She was not a real housewife, and did not reject the two concubines. After sighing, she handed the matter over to Cui Xi, and asked someone to deliver all the daily necessities to the small side yard every month. Seeing that they did a good job at needlework, she gave them extra silk cloth and wool thread, allowing them to do whatever they liked. People are not plants or trees, and Ruyi and Xiu'er were naturally very grateful to the grandmother who took care of them a lot.
Ruyi Xiu'er hurried to tidy up the dressing table, while Cuixi and Cuisi deftly recombed Mei Niang's hair, put on her gold and jade hairpins, and changed her outer robe. In less than half a cup of tea, she was back to her usual attire. Mei Niang was in a hurry and did not stay for long. When she got up and left, she said to Ruyi:
"I don't have time to come and see you all the time. If you need anything, just tell Cui Xi. Eat what you need to eat and use what you need to use. Don't let yourself suffer!"
Ruyi lowered her head and said respectfully, "Thanks to Grandma's care, we now have everything we need. I had a cough the other day, and Grandma sent someone to bring me medicine. Now I am completely fine. Thank you, Grandma!"
Mei Niang exchanged a few polite words with them and then left. She returned to the upper room in a serious manner, met Xu Junying, sat down on the embroidered stool beside the table, and sighed:
"It's so tiring! I regret not listening to Master Hou. Managing such a big family is not something a weak woman like me can do. Just patrolling the garden would kill me!"
Xu Junying looked at her coldly: "I asked Baoju to patrol most of the garden for you, but I didn't hear him say he saw you!"
"Baoju? He hasn't come back yet?"
"Just got back. Cui Lian also sent two groups of people to look for you. The Third Madam, the Fourth Madam, and the girls searched all the way back to the courtyard, but they couldn't find you. I really don't know which garden you went to!"
"Of course they can't find me," Mei Niang took the tea bowl handed over by Cui Lian, opened the lid and took a sip, and said calmly: "I am in the small side yard. The needlework of the two concubines Ruyi and Xiu'er is very good. I like it very much. I sat and admired it for a long time!"
Xu Junying looked at her, and probably thought she was telling the truth, so he looked away.
Mei Niang said: "When you have free time, please go to the small side yard more often. That small yard is nice, with fresh air and flourishing flowers and trees..."
If Xu Junying wants to take Zheng Meiyu as his concubine, he might as well get closer to these two simple concubines. They may not be as pretty as his rotten cousin, but at least they are kind-hearted, dozens of times better than her.
"Didn't you say that the courtyard is too humid? Choose another courtyard and let them move there!" said Xu Junying.
Mei Niang was startled: "Why do we need to move? Tsinghua Academy has plenty of houses..."
Was it Zhuang Yulan or Zheng Meiyu's idea? They kicked out the concubine before she even married in. Without the support of the old lady or the madam, would they dare to do this
Then he thought again: There might be no benefit in keeping the two concubines in Tsinghua Courtyard. Instead of living here and waiting for the new mistress or concubine to come in and torture them to death, it is better to get out as soon as possible. It would be best if Xu Junying could show mercy and return their indentures, give them some money, and let them go home and marry good men. That would be a good deed.
But now she really doesn't have time to think about others, so forget it, everyone should accept their fate, no one can do anything about it. (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)