"Then why are you talking about it now?"
"Because I believe in Lord Hou. Since he has allowed Heng'er and I to live until now, he will not take our lives again!"
Xu Junying lowered his eyes: "... All those who know about it will not disclose it easily: Mother Wang treats you as her own child and protects you with all her strength, she can't say it; Zheng Meiyu, I allow her to have wild thoughts. I asked her to take charge of Tsinghua College at the beginning, just to give her an expectation. Before this expectation is met, I asked her to keep her mouth shut, she can do it; as for the eldest wife, the seventh son died for the country and was pardoned. His lifelong reputation cannot be ruined in her hands, and there is Heng'er. In order to take care of Heng'er, she is more cautious than anyone else! Only you, using the excuse of forgetting the past, don't care about anything, just for your own happiness, and follow your heart... Qin Meiniang, life and death depends only on you. You must take into account the honor and disgrace of the Xu and Qin families, and you cannot ruin the future and reputation of those around you! You were seriously ill before, and you didn't have to die, but you chose to die. We had an agreement, do you remember?”
Mei Niang shook her head: "I don't remember this at all, please tell me clearly, Lord Hou!"
"Actually, I hope you don't remember anything. Just be like this now, calm and at ease. That's great!"
Xu Junying rarely smiled: "But now that we have come to this point, we have to talk about it. If we talk about everything, maybe we can get along better in the future."
Mei Niang nodded: "You are sincere, I may not be unable to keep my promise. Take this opportunity to make it clear, and never mention the past again. Let's live in peace and live our lives in peace."
Xu Junying looked at her: "I am sincere, can you keep your promise? So far, I have never lacked sincerity, but I can't see how you can keep your promise. I don't want to mention anything else. When you were sick and wanted to die, you said: give me a clean world. Mother Wang and the maids, even Heng'er, are all at my disposal. I can sever all ties with the Qin family and pretend that we have never had any connection... If you could be reborn, you would never meet me again! Did you do it? As soon as you came back to life, you turned the Xu Mansion upside down. Everyone in the capital knows that I, Xu Junying, have a wife who came back from the dead. What should I do with you? You used your mind to cater to the old lady and the wife, and the housekeeper is in power. Don't think I don't know your thoughts. You and the wife must have conspired to keep the position of the principal wife, win over the two concubines, and embarrass cousin Lan. You just don't like Zheng Meiyu, otherwise she would have been used by you. You started to plan for Heng'er. Heng'er is the eldest great-grandson. If I don't have an heir, whether he is enthroned or not, he will be the prince! Am I right? Qin Meiniang, you are reborn, but you broke your promise. Not only do you meet me every day and live with me, but you also scheme against me!"
Mei Niang lowered her long eyelashes. She didn't expect that Qin Mei Niang was also a cruel person. She was so determined that she followed Lao Qi and refused to say a good word to Xu Junying. She cleared the scene and left neatly, but she came here to find something to do. There was nothing to say. How unlucky!
He sighed and raised his eyes: "You can't blame me entirely for what happened in the past... But you're not entirely right, I did have some ideas for Heng'er, but I didn't conspire with the Madam to do anything... I didn't know about Ruyi's child, I was almost dying at that time, you know - I've figured it out now, Heng'er, he doesn't have to be the prince, inherit the title. There is more than one way to success in life. As long as you have talent and ability, you can always find a shortcut of your own. I believe Heng'er can have a good future. The problem now is you and me, let's set a charter."
"What charter?"
"… Thank you for your generosity and forgiving my sins. Our fate has ended. I am staying in the Hou Mansion without knowing why. It is embarrassing for everyone. I don't know what will happen in the future. Please be merciful and let me leave! I will remember your kindness and keep my mouth shut… Just pretend that I have never been to the Xu Mansion. Not a single bit of this mansion will leak out from my mouth!"
Xu Junying looked at her steadily: "You are allowed to leave? Where are you going?"
"Anywhere is fine, it's up to me!"
"You are my wife, Madam Hou. How can you do whatever you want?"
"So I'm begging you for a letter of divorce! I know that a marriage granted by the Emperor and a lady of high rank cannot be divorced casually, but you can!"
Xu Junying narrowed his eyes slightly: "Qin Mei Niang! Is this what you call living in peace and harmony, and living a down-to-earth life? I said so much to you tonight, but you turned it into wind in your ears and didn't listen at all. You can't understand what I mean, right? Let me make it clear: you can only be my wife, Xu Junying, for the rest of your life. You will live in this mansion until you grow old, and don't even think about leaving!"
Mei Niang turned her eyes and looked at the tightly closed doors and windows, and took a breath: "Hou Mansion, just like your room, it will suffocate me! What are you worried about? I have to have face too, would I destroy my reputation? I'm not stupid, I don't want to live a good and peaceful life and cause trouble? After leaving the mansion, I will keep my promise and have nothing to do with you and Hou Mansion. Is that not enough? Well, let's pretend that Qin Mei Niang died again after returning to her parents' home, and then I will live as Cen Mei Mei, okay? You have to give me a way to live. God is kind, you, do good things too!"
Xu Junying's chest rose and fell sharply, and a murderous look rose on his face: "You have nothing to do with me anymore, and you live as Cen Meimei! You have planned this long ago, right? Since you took over Xiankelai, who helped you get to this point? Zhang Jingyun, or Lingxuzi? It can't be King Qi, you were hiding from King Qi!"
Mei Niang quickly shook her head: "No! They are gentlemen, your good friends. Money is easy to get, but a true friend is hard to find. Don't lose your true friends because of misunderstandings!"
Xu Junying sneered: "Gentleman? A friend's wife should not be deceived! On the one hand, I call you my friend, and on the other hand, I have private dealings with you. You are truly a close friend!"
Mei Niang was helpless and anxious. She accidentally ruined the friendship of many years. It was not her intention.
"They can be your friends, so why can't they be my friends? To tell you the truth: I begged them not to tell you. I needed time. If I wanted to leave, I had to plan. The help they gave me did not damage our friendship. They cured my brother, sister-in-law, and mother's old illness, that's all. If you think they are sorry for dating me without telling you, I don't agree. I am me and you are you. There is not much difference between you and me, except that you are a man and I am a woman. The conditions for making friends are sincerity, loyalty, and mutual affection - wait, wait, let's change the word: mutual interest, okay? In this way, we can be friends. Of course, there is a need to pay attention to gender separation..."
Xu Junying was already very angry, and was confused by her roundabout way of talking. He didn't quite understand what she was saying, so he interrupted her impatiently:
"What nonsense! How can a man and a woman be friends?"
Mei Niang squinted at Xu Junying and whispered, "You are not very old, but you are so old-fashioned and feudal. There is nothing to talk about!"
Xu Junying asked: "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing, I just want to remind you: friendship is precious, be careful not to lose it!"
Xu Junying took a deep breath and said, "I know how to tell what kind of friendship is precious. What were we talking about just now? Abandonment, leaving the house? That's impossible! I've told you very clearly, don't waste your breath!"
After talking for most of the night, Mei Niang found the word "abandonment" to be a minefield, and she couldn't get over it. Mei Niang also lost her patience: "Xu Junying, what you are doing is immoral! There is no love between us, but you hold on to me and waste my youth. What is that?"
Xu Junying's eyes widened, and his facial expression changed several times, with shock, anger, and surprise mixed together, and his words became incoherent:
"You, you actually called me that? Am I immoral? Is divorcing my wife a good thing? You've also seen Bai Jingyu, why is she afraid of being divorced? You must understand the reason!"
"I'm not Bai Jingyu! My brother and sister-in-law allowed me to go home, but I don't necessarily have to rely on my parents. I can be independent and with Heng'er, we can live a good life!"
"You still want to take Heng'er with you?" Xu Junying was angry and amused: "Just like your status as the wife of Marquis Weiyuan cannot be changed, the same goes for Heng'er. He is my eldest son, who dares to question it? How can I let him leave with you!"
Mei Niang was sleepy, her eyelids were heavy, she was irritable, and she was extremely thirsty: "Then what do you want? If I have any conditions that can be exchanged, I am willing to agree to it!"
Xu Junying looked at her: "Do you want some tea? There's some in the bedroom over there. I'll go get it..."
Mei Niang slammed the table and said, "No, no! Explain the problem clearly. I don't have time to argue with you like this every day!"
Xu Junying gritted his teeth, his face flushed. "Qin Mei Niang, you're going too far! What else can I say? There is no love between us. I wasted your youth! Then who wasted mine? If you say you are heartless, why did you show me kindness? You stopped cousin Lan and Zheng Meiyu from approaching me, you were considerate and caring to me, and you took the trouble to knit woolen clothes for me to keep warm... How can you explain these?"
Mei Niang was stunned for a moment. Thoughtful and caring, is that true? That was in the past, he actually remembered it! The sweater she knitted was made by Wang Mama and Cui Xi. She rubbed her eyes, a little embarrassed:
"That, that's just an illusion, don't take it to heart..."
She bit her lip and said, "You could say that everything I did was intentional. If not, and you simply ignored me, how could I gain the respect of the people in the mansion and get the right to be the housekeeper? This is the only result I want!"
I simply broke up with him and explained it more thoroughly to dispel his misunderstanding. I only found out tonight that Xu Junying is actually a bit stupid. He actually... What does that mean? This is too easy to hook up! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)