Mother He's face flushed, and she leaned forward and said, "How dare I say that the eldest lady is wrong? I am just sad to see the eldest lady like this now. The eldest lady has been strong all her life... She must be very sad. With the eldest lady looking after her, she will feel better!"
Mei Niang looked at Mother He and wondered in her heart: What's wrong with this old woman? Why did she only ask me to take care of Madam Zheng? She said something about being a legitimate relative, and also mentioned how much Madam Zheng loved and valued Heng'er and herself. She was Madam Zheng's first personal maid who came with her as a dowry. Could it be that she also knew the secret? No way, how many people knew Heng'er's life experience
Mei Niang looked around, pulled Mama He and walked seven or eight steps away, away from Cui Xi, Chun Yue and the maids on duty in the corridor. She stared into Mama He's eyes and asked coldly, "What do you mean, Mama? Please tell me clearly! Why did I ignore the eldest wife? What will happen if I ignore her? The master is her eldest son. Hasn't he come here several times and invited several doctors? What else do you want?"
Mother He staggered a bit when she was pulled by her, but she didn't complain. Seeing that there was no one around, she said to Mei Niang sincerely, "I think it's because I don't know how to speak that made Grandma misunderstand! Grandma is a smart person. Now that she has given birth to Heng'er, she should know the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. In the future, some concubines may give birth to illegitimate sons and daughters. Will Grandma treat them the same as Heng'er? The Grandma always disliked illegitimate sons and daughters the most. Usually, when they came to greet her, she was only allowed to stand in the porch in front of the door and salute. But now that the Grandma is ill, they can enter the house and go into the upper bedroom. That day, the two concubines came to visit "The eldest lady didn't know that the eldest lady was sick, but she almost died because she was angry. How could she be willing to let them see her like this? Qiuhua Courtyard was the courtyard chosen by the old master for the mistress. It was the main room. How could these people be allowed to come in and make decisions? No matter whether it was Madam Lin or Madam Zhou, no one could live in this courtyard! The mistress's heart was only here: it was fine if the old master was not free, but no matter how busy the eldest lady was, she could come to Qiuhua Courtyard every day. There were servants to serve and take care of her, and to serve soup and feed her medicine. The eldest lady only needed to say a few words to persuade them not to come too often, and not to come into the room... The eldest lady really didn't like it!"
Mei Niang finally understood, and breathed a sigh of relief, then sighed: As expected of someone from the Zheng family, they have similarities, and their brains are not normal—Zheng Meiyu is vicious, and in order to marry Xu Junying, she deliberately harmed people, and did not even let her own cousin go. Madam Zheng hates her aunt and illegitimate sons and daughters in her heart, and she is almost perverted. On weekdays, when people come to pay their respects and greet her, she doesn't even let them in, but only asks them to stand on the steps and pay their respects. She thinks she is the queen of the eldest house of the Xu family! She is so sick, and the illegitimate sons and daughters-in-law respect her as the legal wife and mother, so they come to take care of her, but she doesn't appreciate it! So seeing these people sitting safely in her upper room, which symbolizes the authority of the mistress, has added to her worries and aggravated her condition? Mother He is the worm in Madam Zheng's stomach. Of course, she holds the same perverted mentality as her master. She is just a slave, and the illegitimate sons and daughters of the Xu family are also masters. She cannot stop them from entering the upper room and getting close to Madam Zheng. She dares not reveal anything in front of Lord Hou, but dares to say these words to Mei Niang. In addition to thinking that Mei Niang is the legal wife like the first wife and should have the same ideas, she also thinks that Mei Niang has been supported by the first wife and has successfully taken over the household affairs of the Hou family. She should be grateful, serve the first wife personally, preside over Qiuhuayuan, and let the illegitimate sons and daughters stand aside to maintain the dignity of Madam Zheng as the legal wife.
Mei Niang said, "Mom, are you worrying too much? Madam has always been wise and well-versed in the rules of our mansion. The men and women in the mansion, even if they are born out of wedlock, are born to concubines. There is not much difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. As long as they are capable, anyone can inherit the title, not to mention taking over the brothers and taking care of the sick and weak legitimate mother. This is due to filial piety. Every time the clan elders hold a sacrifice, this is what the elders in the clan emphasize and admonish! Mom is an old man in the mansion, doesn't she know more than me? But today I was confused! It's getting late, I still have to go to Jinhua Hall to see the old lady, and then go to Ziyun Hall to ask questions. I don't have time to talk more. With Fourth Grandma here, Mom doesn't have to work too hard. Serve well, and I will come to accompany the eldest lady in the evening!"
After saying this, he no longer looked at Mother He, called Cui Xi, and the master and servant left quickly.
You have a good daughter-in-law who is filial to you by the bedside, but you refuse to accept her and insist on waiting for the eldest daughter-in-law to come. You are not Nezha who has three heads and six arms. You are already very tired after being busy for half a day, and you still have to accompany the patient most of the night and serve him medicine. It is okay to do it occasionally, but to do it every day, unless they are your own mother and father, it is impossible!
When they were almost at Jinhua Hall, they met Bai Jingyu on the curved corridor. Bai Jingyu bowed and greeted her. Mei Niang returned the greeting and asked her what was going on with the old lady. She said she didn't want to go there if she didn't need to serve her.
Bai Jingyu smiled but didn't answer. He looked at Cuixi behind Mei Niang and whispered to Xiangyu beside him to go to the front and wait. Mei Niang saw this and let Cuixi go first. Bai Jingyu smiled and said, "Since you are here, you must go in and greet me! I know that my sister-in-law has been a little busy these days. After returning from the palace, she has to go back to her parents' home to visit. She has neglected to greet Jinhua Hall. You must not disobey the old lady when you go today. Just be more obedient like you did before and make the old ancestor happy. It will be fine after you get through it!"
Mei Niang said, "With you taking care of the affairs of the palace these days, I can walk around outside without any worries. I am really tired after coming back from the palace. My sister-in-law is about to give birth to a child, how can I ignore her? Of course I have to go back to take care of her. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is lucky and gave birth to twins smoothly. Even though I am tired, I am also very happy. I returned to the palace very late last night!"
Bai Jingyu showed a look of surprise and envy: "Giving birth to two babies in one pregnancy! In the blink of an eye, she has both a son and a daughter. Wow! Grandma, my in-laws are so blessed!"
Mei Niang smiled, "It's good, it was very hard. She was in pain for almost a day and a night before she gave birth... By the way, I went to the palace this time and met a very skilled doctor. I asked for you, but I couldn't feel your pulse, so I just told him roughly what you said. The doctor said that your illness was caused by a miscarriage. He gave you two prescriptions, but I didn't bring them with me. I'll ask Cui Xi to send them to you in the evening. One is to pick herbs and boil them for soup, and the other is to pick herbs and boil them for washing. Take care of it for a month or two, and you'll get better slowly!"
Bai Jingyu's expression became more complicated, with joy and gratitude, his eyes slightly red, and in the end he only said one sentence: "Thank you, sister-in-law!"
Mei Niang shook her head: "No need to thank me! If I want you to get better, you can take over the affairs of the Hou Mansion. I can't manage the family in the near future. There are so many things to do and I don't know where to start. I know you are smart and capable, and you are a powerful person, but you have your own principles in dealing with things. The Hou Mansion is in the hands of you and Rulan. If you two are of one mind and don't deceive each other, you won't go wrong!"
Bai Jingyu was stunned for a moment, looked at her, and said softly: "Did you hear something, sister-in-law? In fact, it's better for you not to know some things. When it's over, just treat it as if it didn't happen. In the past, it was said that the eldest brother treated you coldly. I saw it with my own eyes and believed it. That was because you were not well after your serious illness, and you and your husband and wife were separated for too long, so your feelings faded. Now I don't believe that the eldest brother ignored you in order to marry someone new. I don't know how to say it. Anyway, I feel that the old lady still can't get what she wants this time. I heard from the second master that cousin Zhuang has lived in the mansion since she was a child. The old lady only let her get close to the first master, the second master, and the third master. But she only likes to be with the first master. When she sees the second master and the third master, she hides away from her. Not to mention the other masters, they don't even look at her. The second master and the others are not stupid. They have long understood the old lady's thoughts. Only the first master seems to understand nothing, but he treats cousin Zhuang the same as the girls in the mansion. There is nothing special about her... Yesterday afternoon, after my eldest sister-in-law and her maids left, two maids from the palace came and talked to the old lady in the room for a while, drank a cup of tea and left. Cousin Zhuang went in to see the old lady and came out. She seemed very happy and told me that she wanted to go to Qinghua Courtyard to appreciate the roses. I accompanied her. When we arrived at Qinghua Courtyard, we only took a look at the roses and said that we were thirsty and wanted to go into the house to drink tea. The gatekeeper opened the door slowly. She took the maids and servants in, but did not dare to move anything. She just sat and looked around. I taught her: take the opportunity to measure the place so that she can buy new furniture. She was a brainless person, so she did it. She also went into the study to see the master's bed. She said that the master's mattress was too old and too thin, so she asked Jinsuo to lead people back to Jinhua Hall to get new bedding from her room and spread it out by herself. I just watched from the side and let her do it... She has committed all the biggest taboos that a lady should never commit. What does it matter if there is an imperial decree to grant the marriage and the old lady is in charge? Just wait and see, she will not be liked by the master, and the master is still yours!"
Mei Niang looked at Bai Jingyu with a headache: "You, what are you doing? Don't meddle in other people's affairs. I'm not like you. I don't mind who wins my favor!"
Bai Jingyu pursed his lips and said, "Really? But I heard from Rulan that the eldest sister-in-law once said to her in front of her: No matter if you are a noble concubine or a good concubine, whoever wants to enter Tsinghua Courtyard will not be allowed to do so!"
Mei Niang was stunned: Rulan actually remembered what was said hundreds of years ago and told it to Bai Jingyu, how unbelievable!
"How could I say anything like that? Don't believe her!"
Mei Niang denied it flatly, and Bai Jingyu couldn't help laughing. They talked for a few more words. It was getting late, so Bai Jingyu said goodbye and went to Ziyun Hall, while Mei Niang went to Jinhua Hall.
Old Mrs. Xu was having breakfast with Zhuang Yulan, Xu Xiaowan, and Xu Xiaomin, while Fifth Grandma Fang was standing by to take care of them.
Mei Niang bowed to the old lady and greeted her. Old Lady Xu raised her eyelids to look at her and handed a plate of four-happiness meatballs to Xu Xiaomin: "My dear granddaughter, have some. It's delicious!"
Xu Xiaomin thanked her grandmother, scooped a four-happiness meatball into her own bowl with a spoon, and glanced at Mei Niang without saying anything. Xu Xiaowan moved her mouth, and Zhuang Yulan handed her a crystal dumpling and said with a smile:
"The dumplings are delicious, please try them, Third Sister!"
Mei Niang hummed in her heart: I didn't turn the tide today, what tricks are the old and the young playing? Bai Jingyu said that the person who came to the palace yesterday must have been sent by the old queen mother. I don't care if they say anything bad about her. If you don't welcome them, just say it clearly. It's best not to come and pay respects in the future, so that everyone doesn't have to pretend to be tired. (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)