Mother Ji nodded and said, "The Zheng family came and was met by Mrs. Yu when they entered the second gate. The Zheng family woman only said that she wanted to see the madam, and didn't say anything else. It was our mother Lin who was more thoughtful. She followed quietly in from the second gate, pretending to go to Qiuhua Courtyard to look for someone. She heard the eldest madam crying, and saw Chunyue running out and shouting: Where is Madam He? Go find Madam, the madam has fainted! The maid brought in hot water, and when she came out, she covered her mouth and whispered: Miss cousin is gone!"
Except for the old lady, Xu Junying and Mei Niang, everyone in the room was stunned. Zhuang Yulan's face changed. She looked at Xu Junying, picked up a handkerchief to cover her mouth, closed her eyes and started to cry.
Old Madam Xu looked at Zhuang Yulan, then glanced at Mother Ji. Mother Ji hurried over and gently patted Zhuang Yulan, whispering, "Don't cry, girl... This is our Jinhua Hall, the old lady is here!"
Zhuang Yulan suddenly stopped crying, lowered her head, and lay motionless.
Mei Niang looked at her, bit her lip, and searched her sleeves for a long time but couldn't find the handkerchief. Then she remembered that she had given it to Heng'er to play with on the road. She had to raise her sleeves to cover half of her face. Everyone thought she was very uncomfortable. In fact, she was really uncomfortable, but she was just trying to hold back her smile.
Cousin Zheng died and the first wife was not well, so Xu Junying naturally couldn't sit still, so he stood up and said goodbye, wanting to go and accompany his mother.
Old Madam Xu looked gloomy, and said after a long while: "It has come to this, what can you do if you go? Your cousin Yu just caught a flu, which can be cured with three or five doses of medicine, but the Zheng family is so poor, a good girl died just two days after being sent back! Qiuhuayuan is in a bad mood now... You are an important official of the court, and you have to go back to the government office to handle official business tomorrow, so you don't have to go! If you are worried, let Mei Niang go to see and take care of her. After a day or two, when your mother is better, you can go again!"
Zhuang Yulan's hands, which were tightly gripping her sleeves, loosened a little, but when she heard Xu Junying's words, she became nervous again.
Xu Junying said, "Grandma, you are right. Qiuhuayuan is not in a good mood right now. But as the eldest son, I have to go and take care of it. Please rest assured, I am strong and nothing will happen to me. Besides, I will ask someone to go to the clinic to invite two doctors to come. One is to diagnose my mother, and the other is to prescribe a prescription to expel evil spirits and remove filth. Pick some herbs and burn them in various courtyards in the mansion. It should be helpful."
The old lady nodded and said, "This is exactly what she should do! Your mother doesn't care about anything now, and Mei Niang looks like she doesn't know anything. It's just hard for you. You're busy with official business outside, and you have to take care of the family when you come back... Alas! This is why the older generation always reminds you to marry a capable and virtuous wife! It will be easier after this period of time. Then Ying'er, go and do it. Be careful. Tell your mother to let her rest assured. As for the Zheng family, the mansion will send someone to look after them!"
After listening to his grandmother, Xu Junying bowed and turned to look at Mei Niang: "Take Heng'er back to Tsinghua Courtyard. Cousin Yu is gone, and mother must be very sad. She was not in good health to begin with, and now she has no strength to take care of Heng'er. You should take care of him!"
The old lady agreed quickly: "Let his mother take care of Heng'er herself. When Qiuhuayuan is over, if your mother-in-law is still willing to take care of him, we can talk about it later!"
Mei Niang pretended not to care, lowered her eyebrows and replied docilely: "Yes, granddaughter-in-law listens to the old ancestor!"
After Xu Junying left, the sisters-in-law sat with the old lady for a while, talking only about light-hearted and funny topics, and tried not to mention Zheng Meiyu. Ruiyun served hot tea again, and the old lady asked Ruiyu to bring out some fruits. A large blue and white plate was divided into eight grids, each grid was filled with pine nuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, red melon seeds, black melon seeds, some preserved fruits and sugar grains, placed on the round table, the grandparents and grandchildren sat around together, talking and laughing, drinking tea and eating snacks.
While chewing, she suddenly heard a child crying outside. Mei Niang was startled for a moment, quickly put down the melon seeds in her hand, stood up and wanted to go outside, but she saw figures swaying behind the flower and bird screen blocking the door. Ruixue had carried Heng'er out before, but this time it was Xia Lian who carried him in. Xia Lian looked a little flustered, and Heng'er pouted his little mouth, with tear marks on his face and tears in his eyes. His two chubby hands were tightly clasped together. When he saw Mei Niang, he opened his mouth and cried again.
Mei Niang took him over, rocked and patted him gently. Heng'er looked very aggrieved, and the more she coaxed him, the louder he cried. Mei Niang had never seen him like this before. She took the handkerchief from Xia Lian's hand, wiped his tears and snot, and coaxed him in a soft voice. She was in a panic for a while and was sweating.
Seeing this, the old lady grabbed a dried peach and handed it to Zhuang Yulan: "Child, just use candy and fruit to coax her, go and help her!"
Zhuang Yulan came over, took a handkerchief and put the peach in front of Heng'er, smiled and said softly: "Heng'er, do you want to eat some fruit?"
Heng'er's tears had just been wiped away, and he could see clearly that he had stopped crying. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the dried peach, and put it into his mouth to bite it. Mei Niang said, "Oh, Heng'er, you haven't washed your hands yet!"
Bai Jingyu hurriedly stood up and told the maid, "Go, bring some hot water and a clean towel!"
The old lady laughed and said, "Little kid, why bother beating him? Let him stop crying first!"
Zhuang Yulan stretched out her hand: "Come here, Heng'er, I'll take you to eat candy, there are a lot of them over there!"
Heng'er let go of Mei Niang and let Zhuang Yulan take him away. Mei Niang said, "Careful, cousin Lan! He's very heavy. Don't let him fall!"
Zhuang Yulan was holding Heng'er and was very happy: "It's not heavy, I can hold it!"
Walking to the old lady, the old lady gave Heng'er another candy. Mother Ji brought Ruiyu in with hot water and said with a smile:
"Brother Heng, come and wash your hands. Just now, while picking up the flowers and plants carved on the stone railing in the yard, Xia Lian accidentally slipped and fell with him. Her little hands turned red from slapping the ground. I think it hurt a lot."
The old lady stopped smiling and looked at her sternly. Xia Lian immediately walked to the open space, knelt down, lowered her head with tears in her eyes and said, "It was my fault that my brother fell!"
Zhuang Yulan asked Jinsuo to come over and hold Heng'er, while she wrung out a hot towel to wipe Heng'er's hands. As she was wiping, she screamed, "Oh, the skin is peeling here! No wonder Heng'er cried like that! Xia Lian, why are you so careless? This happened right under our noses, and you let your son fall. If you didn't keep an eye on him on weekdays, you don't know what would happen to him. You won't tell me when you get back!"
Xia Lian turned to Mei Niang crying and kowtowed: "I was wrong! Please punish me, Madam! I was just careless today. I usually take good care of my son and didn't let him fall!"
Mei Niang said calmly: "Heng'er's hands peeled a little. I saw it, it's not a big deal. Children just need to learn to walk, and they will fall much harder than this... You are taking good care of Heng'er, don't worry, leave Heng'er to me, get up!"
Xia Lian was about to get up, but when she looked up, she saw the old lady's face darken, so she lowered her head and knelt again, not daring to stand up immediately.
The old lady said, "Grandma is kind and easy to talk to, but you can't just ignore it! My son is precious, if you don't learn your lesson, I will not forgive you if you get hurt. From now on, no matter which son it is, the mistress is the same mistress. If you don't take good care of him, I will catch you and punish you. Remember?"
Xia Lian was stunned for a long while before she finally understood what the old lady said. She kowtowed and said, "I'll remember it!"
"Get up!"
Xia Lian stood up and retreated behind Mei Niang with her head down. Zhuang Yulan breathed a sigh of relief, a gentle smile appeared on her face. She looked at Heng'er who was held by Jinsuo, and handed him two dried peaches. Heng'er took one in his left hand and one in his right hand. He was just growing teeth and wanted to bite hard objects, so he enjoyed chewing them.
Mei Niang looked at her coldly, snorted secretly, and ignored her, letting her play with Heng'er there. Although the elder one was a little afraid of drunken tea, at least he had managed to get her done, and they would be married soon. The younger one wanted to be bribed with a few candies? It's not that easy!
Bai Jingyu said to Fang: "Is Shen Ge'er feeling better these past two days?"
Fang smiled and nodded: "Much better, but I won't let you touch that place. I scream in pain if I touch it a little bit!"
The old lady said: "Let them be more diligent and apply the medicine more often, so that they can get better faster. Don't let the children suffer for too long!"
Fang bowed her head and said, "Yes! My granddaughter-in-law will follow the teachings of our ancestors and ask them to apply the medicine a few more times a day when we go back!"
Mei Niang looked at Fang. Bai Jingyu knew that she didn't understand what was going on, so she smiled and said softly, "Shen Ge'er can run and jump, but he ran too fast the day before yesterday and fell on his knee!"
Mei Niang smiled at Fang and said, "It will be fine soon. Shen Ge'er, remember to run slowly next time."
Fang smiled and said, "Yes, he fell down there, and he always remembered it and would avoid it whenever he walked past it!"
Bai Jingyu said: "When my elder sister first learned to walk, she never fell, and now she can walk steadily."
The old lady nodded and said, "Girls should be like this. They should be pampered and behave in a dignified and elegant manner from a young age. They will learn good manners in the future. Lan'er was brought up in this way! It's a pity that her wet nurse died early, otherwise you could let her help take care of your elder sister and you would be relieved!"
Bai Jingyu smiled: "What a pity!"
The old lady continued, "Ladies from wealthy families are different. You are virtuous, filial, sensible, and have a good temperament. I know that Lang'er has been ignoring you recently, and your mother-in-law is also confused. Don't worry. When Wei'er grows up, she will still be raised by your side. You are the legitimate mother, and no matter how many children the concubines have, they only respect you as the mother. The old ancestor is here. If you have anything to say, just ask your mother-in-law to come and talk to me!"
Bai Jingyu lowered his head: "Thank you, old ancestor, for making the decision for your grandson's wife! But it's good that your grandson's wife has a big sister!"
"My eldest sister is a girl and will eventually get married. If you can't give birth to a son, you will have to rely on Wei'er. Raise him by your side since childhood and he will be your biological son in the future! As for the aunt who gave birth to him, she was spoiled by your master when she was young. After a few years, you can do whatever you want to her. I told you the other day that you were fighting, crying and quarreling like that. It was a waste of time and made people laugh at you!"
Bai Jingyu blushed: "It's my granddaughter-in-law who is ignorant and has caused trouble for the old ancestor!"
The old lady sighed: "You are still young, take your time!"
Mei Niang was too lazy to listen to what they said. She watched Heng'er bite the preserved fruit and spit it out, making the table full of it. Zhuang Yulan and Jinsuo took good care of him. Xia Lian didn't dare to approach him. She was impatient. Xu Junying took advantage of Mrs. Zheng's illness to give Heng'er to her. She was happy for a moment and asked Cui Xi to pass on the message that she would not go to Ziyun Hall this morning. She wanted to accompany the old lady for a while, but things were different now. She no longer had the mind to mobilize all the funny cells in her body to cater to the old lady and make her happy. On the contrary, the longer she sat in this room, the more difficult it was to bear the dull atmosphere inside. (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)