Mei Niang was just complaining in her heart when something unexpected happened at the table. This time it was Xu Junying who smiled and placed the plate of walnut kernels in front of Zhuang Yulan and said:
"Lan'er loves to eat this. I heard from the imperial physician that if you eat more walnuts, your hair will be black and shiny. Sisters, take a look. Who among you has hair as good as Lan'er's?"
Hearing Xu Junying calling her "Lan'er Lan'er" affectionately, Zheng Meiyu's face darkened, and Zhuang Yulan blushed and lowered her head. The young ladies in the Xu family looked at each other, and the talkative Xu Xiaomin started to yell:
"I was wondering! My sisters and I all have blond hair, but how did Sister Lan manage to grow such beautiful black hair? It turns out she has this secret recipe, but she didn't tell us!"
Xu Xiaorong also said softly: "That's right, what if Sister Lan just told us sisters quietly?"
Zhuang Yulan hurriedly explained: "I didn't know there was such a secret recipe. I have liked eating walnuts since I was a child. My cousin Ying often cracked walnuts for me..."
Xu Junying said: "Sisters, please don't blame Lan'er. How did she know? I also heard it from the palace doctor later!"
Old Mrs. Xu laughed and said, "What's the value? Are you afraid that there are no walnuts? You can eat as many as you want. If you want to eat them, I will buy some tomorrow and pile them up in the yard for you monkeys to gnaw on!"
Xu Junya said: "It seems that Rulan's hair is not dark enough. I will go back and tell her to eat more walnuts!"
Mei Niang was moved by him and couldn't help but say, "Third Master, you don't have to eat walnuts to have black hair, black sesame, black rice, and black beans will all work!"
Xu Xiaowan grabbed her and said, "Sister-in-law also knows this? No wonder her hair is so black, shiny and smooth! Please teach us how to eat it."
Mei Niang picked up a sour plum and put it in her mouth, smiling, "The quality of a woman's hair is not only inherited from her parents, but also very important to nourish her hair. The girls in our family do have slightly yellow hair, but it's harmless and it's another kind of beauty. Maybe someone likes girls with yellow hair? But it's not difficult for you to make your hair black. Just fry black sesame seeds, black rice, and black beans, pound them into powder, mix them together, and use them to cook rice paste. Eat it every day and persevere. It will not only nourish your hair, but also your body. I guarantee you will have a strong body!"
Xu Xiaowan said happily: "Really? It's that simple!"
Mei Niang nodded: "There is an even simpler way: eat Polygonum multiflorum. But that is medicine, it tastes terrible, it is better to eat rice porridge, believe me, it is right!"
Xu Xiaomin stared at Mei Niang blankly: "Sister-in-law, you know so much!"
Mei Niang said casually: "When you grow up to my age, get married and become a mother, you will understand a lot of things!"
As soon as she said this, she saw Zhuang Yulan and Zheng Meiyu beside her had strange reactions. One face turned pale, and the other turned red. Xu Junying glanced at them coldly with a look of blame in his eyes. Xu Junya, Xu Junxuan and several other girls from the Xu family tried their best to pretend to be calm. Some ate fruit, some drank tea. How could she have imagined that Zhuang Yulan was the same age as her, and Zheng Meiyu was only half a year younger than her, and they had not even married yet, but she was already a mother. With just a few words, she unconsciously made them feel ashamed.
Old Madam Xu coughed lightly, turned around and asked Mother Ji: "Is Lan'er's medicine ready? You can drink it one hour after dinner. Serve it while it's hot, don't wait until it gets cold!"
Mei Niang was startled: "What kind of medicine did cousin Lan drink? But she has to avoid certain foods? She just ate mutton..."
Zhuang Yulan glanced quickly at Old Mrs. Xu, and her pale face turned red again: the medicine she was taking did require her to avoid certain foods, and she could not eat beef, mutton, fish or meat, but she completely forgot about it in order to have dinner at the same table with Xu Junying!
Old Mrs. Xu sighed secretly and glanced at Mother Ji, who then understood: There is no need to decoct medicine tonight.
It will be of no use taking medicine after eating mutton.
Old Madam Xu asked Xu Junya: "How is Rulan? Is she feeling better?"
Xu Junya replied: "It's just... abdominal pain, I feel better today."
He glanced at Mei Niang with a smile and said, "When I came to pay my respects to my grandmother, she was already able to get out of bed and drink chicken soup!"
Mei Niang smiled and asked Cui Xi to ask Rulan carefully when she sent ginseng to her. Rulan had dysmenorrhea. She had always had it like this. This time it was worse than any time before. She had to lie down on the bed. Mei Niang thought that she was too nervous. In addition, it was cold and windy and snowy all day, and she didn't pay attention and caught a cold. In the afternoon, when she was choosing hot pot dishes in the kitchen, she asked the maid to pick a black-bone chicken to kill, stew it and send it to Rulan.
I will talk to Rulan when I have time and ask her to ask a good doctor to take a good look and prescribe some medicine to regulate my body. For women, dysmenorrhea is not a small problem, it is related to the important matter of having children.
Old Mrs. Xu sighed, "What's going on in this family? There are all kinds of illnesses, but I am still fine, and yet you two are so delicate. How can I be at ease?"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "Don't worry, Grandma. I'm still here. I won't fall down again if I get up this time!"
Xu Junxuan chuckled: "Sister-in-law is really good at joking."
Old Madam Xu snorted, "Don't talk nonsense. Take good care of yourself. If you get sick again tomorrow, I won't let you go. I haven't had enough hot pot yet!"
Mei Niang hurriedly assured him, "Don't worry, grandma. If you like it, your granddaughter-in-law will make it for you every day... By the way, today I saw a pile of vegetables in the kitchen food storage room. The bottom layer has wilted. In such cold and dry weather, the greens and cabbages will not rot too quickly if they are stored in the cellar. But they are wilted and can no longer be eaten. What should I do? It's a waste!"
Old Mrs. Xu said, "It doesn't matter if it's broken. The village will send it back. People like us don't care about that!"
Mei Niang thought for a moment and said, "It will take a long time for the wrapped cabbages to grow in the fields. It would be a pity if they go bad! My granddaughter-in-law knows how to make kimchi. Why don't I teach them how to make kimchi from the leftover vegetables? Press them into jars and bury them in the snow. Next year, when the greens are scarce, we can eat them. It will be refreshing and appetizing, okay?"
Old Mrs. Xu's eyes lit up: "Pickled cabbage? That's really delicious! I ate it outside when I was young. The sour, spicy and sweet taste has never been forgotten. But no one in our family knows how to make it. If you know how, go and teach the old woman to make it!"
"Okay, granddaughter-in-law will do it tomorrow."
Old Madam Xu looked at Mei Niang and said, "It's rare that you are so careful. In fact, being the head of the household requires you to be as thrifty as you are. Although our family is big and powerful, the expenses are also huge... Now your mother-in-law is sick, Jingyu and Rulan are not feeling well either. You never showed up and refused to take charge of the household affairs, and you brought Heng Ge'er with you. Alas! There is no one who can make me worry less to manage the household!"
Mei Niang clenched her hands in her sleeves, and as if she had made up her mind, she met the old lady's gaze: "My granddaughter-in-law is in good health now, and Heng'er is very well-behaved and obedient, and doesn't like to cry. If needed, my granddaughter-in-law is willing to help, and manage the household affairs together with Jingyu and Rulan, so as not to cause trouble to the old lady!"
Old Madam Xu nodded slightly and looked at Xu Junying: "What do you think, Ying'er? If you care about Heng'er, grandma won't force Mei Niang to do anything."
Xu Junying raised his lips and smiled, "It's ok for Heng'er, he has a wet nurse and maids to take care of him, but Mei Niang knows nothing, how can she manage the household? Jing Yurulan is not feeling well, she will be fine after a while of recuperation, the housekeepers are all very capable..."
Mei Niang looked at Xu Junying: What does it mean that he doesn’t want her to be the housekeeper
Isn't the eldest grandson's wife the one who should be the housekeeper? Qin Meiniang used to be incompetent and courageous, but now it's different. It's not that she is greedy for power and likes to show off. She loves to manage this family and wants to hold the housekeeper power in her hands. In fact, she wants to take the opportunity to find some ways to make some extra money for herself. She needs money and dreams about money. Having money in her hands is the hard truth!
After drinking the digestive tea, Xu Junya was worried about Ning Rulan, so he bowed to the old lady and left. The old lady had eaten too much for dinner and wanted to go to bed early, so she simply sent all the grandchildren away and said to Zhuang Yulan:
"You should rest early. Remember to take medicine tomorrow."
Zhuang Yulan responded, glanced at Xu Junying, and said softly, "I'll see my cousin Ying and his wife off!"
Xu Xiaomin was standing next to her. After hearing this, she turned around and pulled Xu Xiaowan and Xu Xiaorong and said, "No one will send us sisters off. Let's go by our own way!"
Zhuang Yulan was embarrassed, and Old Madam Xu laughed and scolded: "You little monkey, you sisters always come and go together, who do you want to see you off? Ruixue, go and tell the maids to light the lanterns as it is dark and slippery, and take good care of the young ladies back to their rooms, so that they won't fall!"
Xu Junxuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, grandma. Your grandson and sisters are with you, watching over you!"
Old Mrs. Xu said: "And there is the cousin from the Zheng family..."
Xu Junying glanced at Zheng Meiyu and said, "Zheng's cousin is going the same way as us. We will send her back to her mother's home. Grandma doesn't have to worry."
"Okay, then go ahead and come back tomorrow!"
Everyone left the room and stood in the corridor, saying goodbye in a lively manner. They went their separate ways in groups of three or five. Zhuang Yulan was left alone in the corridor. She stared blankly in the direction where Xu Junying, Mei Niang and Zheng Meiyu had disappeared, feeling extremely sad.
Last night Xu Junying came to Jinhua Hall. There was no Mei Niang and no Zheng Meiyu, only Xu Junxuan and a few girls beside them. She could sit beside Xu Junying all night like before, drinking tea, talking and playing chess. No one paid special attention to them. Xu Junying still treated her as gently, considerately and meticulously as before. She was very happy and invited him to have dinner together in the upper room tonight. He came, but she did not expect that Zheng Meiyu also came to pay her respects to the old lady. She was not unaware of Zheng Meiyu's feelings for Xu Junying, but she was not afraid of Zheng Meiyu. Zheng Meiyu came from a prominent family, but now it has been going downhill. She came from a noble family. Her uncle was the Minister of Rites, and the current empress dowager was her grandfather's distant cousin. What could Zheng Meiyu compare with her? What she was really worried about was the current wife of Weiyuan Marquis, Qin Meiniang. She heard that she used to be a wooden beauty, ignorant of the ways of the world, and that cousin Ying was completely bewitched by her appearance and married her on impulse. But now that she had met her, she was not as unlovable as the legend said. On the contrary, she was the most eye-catching and shining star in the entire Xu residence.
Would Cousin Ying dislike such a woman? Could she really be Cousin Ying's wife, on an equal footing with Qin Mei Niang, as her great-aunt had said
Her great aunt loved her the most in the world. When Qin Meiniang was seriously ill and dying, she quickly sent someone to pick her up. Cousin Ying admitted that he remembered her, Lan'er, but no one expected that Qin Meiniang would come back to life and stand in front of her alive and well. She almost fainted from anger again, but after all, she was no longer the Zhuang Yulan of more than a year ago. She had died once, and this time she would not be the weak woman who cried and was sad alone. Because of her cousin, she fell seriously ill and missed her marriage, which led to her being ridiculed by Qin Meiniang. She was still unmarried and not a mother at the age of seventeen, and she lost face in front of the young ladies and masters of the Xu family. She hated it so much in her heart that she wanted to fight for it and take back what was supposed to belong to her. She would leave the superficial matters to her great aunt, but in private, she would firmly grasp the heart of cousin Ying! (To be continued)