Cui Si and Cui Xi came up and helped Mei Niang up with Bai Jingyu. Mei Niang's eyes were red as she walked quickly towards Ji Qing. Ji Qing was startled. Seeing that she was coming too fast, he could not help but take two steps back. Bao Ju had already come behind him and whispered to him, "Why don't you hurry up..."
Ji Qing turned around, but Mei Niang stepped forward to stop him. Ji Qing was embarrassed. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he was not as fast as a weak woman. He had to stop and ask, "Madam Weiyuan, do you have any questions?"
Baoju said: "Our great grandmother..."
"It's none of your business!"
Mei Niang stared at Baoju, tears welling up in her eyes, ready to fall: "If you can call Xu Junying to come, you can speak, but if Xu Junying doesn't show up, you, you and Bai Zhan, are not allowed to make a sound in front of me!"
Baoju choked. Seeing this, Ji Qing thought, this is bad. The Weiyuan Marquis and his wife must be having a quarrel. Why should he get involved
But when Mei Niang asked him for the imperial decree for divorce, Ji Qing pointed to the square door and said, "The official in charge of ceremonies just took it away! It's true. The wrong imperial decree must be taken back to the palace and destroyed!"
Letting go of Ji Qing's whisk, tears finally fell. Mei Niang felt so desperate that she wanted to cry. The freedom was so close to her, but she couldn't even grasp it!
Baoju and Ji Qing watched from a close distance as Mei Niang's tears fell like pearls from a broken string. They were shocked and stood there at a loss as to what to do, not knowing whether to leave or stay. Baizhan stood farther away and quickly waved to Cuisi to come up. Cuixi and Cuisi came over and saw that Mei Niang was silent and crying non-stop. They were also shocked and wiped her tears while trying to comfort her.
A tall, handsome man wearing a golden crown and a red robe with dragon patterns walked in from the square door opposite them. Seeing Mei Niang with tears on her face, he froze for a moment, then suddenly swung the whip in his hand, anger flashing in his eyes, and rushed over to point at Ji Qing and Bao Ju and cursed viciously:
"What the hell did you do?"
Ji Qing and Bao Ju saw who was coming and quickly bowed and saluted: "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi!"
The King of Qi did not even look at them, but asked Mei Niang: "What did they do to you? Tell me, I will help you vent your anger! What did that damn imperial edict say?"
Cui Xi felt uneasy when she saw him getting too close. She exchanged glances with Cui Si and together they helped Mei Niang take a step back. The King of Qi glared at the two girls but did not get angry. He turned to glare at Ji Qing and said, "Recite the imperial edict for me!"
Ji Qing didn't want to get entangled with the King of Qi, and it wasn't a confidential matter, so he recited the contents of the imperial edict in a few seconds. The King of Qi snorted:
"They are both very similar in that they specialize in forcing people to do this kind of thing!"
Ji Qing lowered his head and said nothing. If the Prince of Qi was not happy with something, he would dare to contradict the Emperor in front of him. So what would he not dare to say behind his back
The King of Qi looked at Mei Niang and saw that she had stopped crying. He raised his lips and said, "Why are you crying? Did you change your name because of crying? Don't you like that name? Just change it. Fortunately, you are still surnamed Qin. I would like you to change your name to Qin Er. It is easy to write and easy to call. It is very convenient. I only practice writing those two characters now!"
Mei Niang wiped away her tears, her voice a little hoarse: "You can call me whatever you want? But we need to distinguish who is who! I... I just want the Queen Mother's decree, if you want to divorce me, then divorce me. Why take it back now!"
The King of Qi's eyes flickered, then dimmed. He had rushed to see what had happened after hearing that the imperial decree had changed. But he ended up hearing that another imperial decree had been issued, and his plan had failed. He felt greatly disappointed and very angry.
The King of Qi also asked Ji Qing for the first imperial decree. Ji Qing was overwhelmed and had to explain again that the eunuch had been taken away. The King of Qi pondered for a moment, turned around and walked away. He stopped in front of the square door and looked back at Mei Niang. Mei Niang also looked at him. The King of Qi nodded and said, "Don't be sad, I will find a way. If you don't want to live here, don't live here. Do you really treat me like a bird and lock me up?"
After hearing these words, Mei Niang felt better and breathed a sigh of relief. She thought that there was no need for her to be too nervous. Even if she missed this opportunity, she would probably have another one.
Ji Qing looked at Mei Niang in disbelief, a little bit unconvinced that she had such a relationship with the King of Qi. The King of Qi obviously came for the wife of Weiyuan Hou, but didn't he dislike women? He was gay!
Baoju tapped Ji Qing on the waist from behind, and Ji Qing came to his senses. He bowed slightly, said goodbye and left.
The men of the Xu Mansion, Xu Junlang, Xu Junxuan and Xu Junqiao, carried the old lady to the inner courtyard early. When they didn't see Prince Qi, the female relatives followed them in to serve. Bai Jingyu was worried about Mei Niang, so he ignored Xu Junlang's hint and didn't leave. Xu Junya and Xu Junting were still there. When they heard that Prince Qi was coming, they had never met him before, so it was not easy for them to go up to pay their respects. Prince Qi was unreasonably arrogant. He broke into other people's homes and treated them as bystanders. The guards who followed him in stopped everyone he didn't want to see aside without saying a word. Bai Zhan was not spared and was stopped at the wall. Ji Qing was someone close to the emperor, so the guards of course recognized him. Baoju, Cui Xi and Cui Si were standing with Mei Niang. If they were taken away, it would definitely affect Mei Niang, so they just let them do as they pleased.
Bai Jingyu stood in the corridor and watched Prince Qi talk to Ji Qing and Mei Niang for a few words, and then left in a blink of an eye. In a quick glance, she took a closer look at Prince Qi, and sure enough, the rumors were true, he was extremely handsome, with an upright figure, and his arrogance and nobility complemented each other, forming a fascinating, cold and gorgeous temperament, making him look like a god in heaven. No wonder all the noble ladies in the city were fascinated by him. Several unmarried girls in the Bai residence, including her two younger sisters, also vied with each other to participate in the beauty pageant organized by the Queen Mother in the name of various flower shows, knowing that the purpose was to select a princess for the Prince of Qi.
But Bai Jingyu was a little confused at this time. The Prince of Qi suddenly came to the Xu Mansion just to say a few words to the grandmother. The man with such cold eyes said words of comfort to the grandmother, and his tone was so gentle. And the grandmother was crying because she couldn't get the first imperial decree to divorce her. What was going on
Could it be that the eldest sister-in-law was willing to be divorced? Why? The confusion in Bai Jingyu's eyes gradually turned into bewilderment.
Two people collapsed in Jinhua Hall at once, the old lady and Zhuang Yulan, who were drowsy as if they had suffered a heatstroke in summer. Zhuang Yulan was sent to the room, and after waking up, she burst into tears, and sobbed softly when she was tired. The old lady lay on the couch in the second hall, silently with her eyes closed, only her chest rising and falling rapidly, letting Ruixue and the others know the anger and unwillingness in her heart.
Lunch was served and then taken away. Zhuang Yulan had no appetite and the old lady reluctantly drank half a bowl of pearl rice porridge.
At 3 p.m., the second master Xu finally came back. After hearing what had happened, he hurried to Jinhua Hall to pay his respects to his mother and ask about her health. Old lady Xu asked Ruixue to take a pillow and put it on her back while she sat down and talked with the second master Xu Xiping.
The old lady said, "Where did Junying go? Why doesn't anyone know? Are all the people in Qinghuayuan dead? I want to wait for him to come back and ask him to take me to see the Queen Mother and ask what's going on."
Xu Xiping said, "Mother, please be patient. You know that Junying is carrying out the emperor's orders. It is normal for him to not come back for a few days and nights. He may not come back for several years if he goes to the border to fight!"
"Don't interrupt me! I just asked you to find him and bring him back to see me. Lan'er has been saying for months that she wants to be his wife. The Queen Mother promised her well, but she recently granted the marriage, but suddenly promised her to someone else, someone she doesn't know at all. What should I do? How can Lan'er bear this?"
"Mother, this is an imperial decree to grant the marriage. Do you still want to refuse it?"
Old Madam Xu said in a hateful voice: "The imperial decree to divorce my wife can be withdrawn, so why can't this be changed? Lan'er has already been married to Junying. If you give her to someone else, it would be like stealing my wife, and it would create hatred!"
Xu Xiping hurriedly said, "My mother! If you say that, you will really ruin Lan'er's reputation! It is true that Junying is willing to listen to you and wants to marry Lan'er as a concubine, but the emperor and the queen do not allow it! I heard it with my own ears that day, the emperor said to Junying: The emperor has only one queen, Junying, how many wives do you want? Concubines are allowed, but wives cannot be remarried!"
The old lady was startled: "When did you hear it? Why didn't you tell me?"
Xu Xiping didn't know what to say for a moment. He paused and said, "Alas, isn't my son busy? I heard it a few days ago and didn't have time to say it, and now it has become like this!"
The old lady snorted, "How busy can you be? The palace has been busy these days, and the emperor can't go to court as usual. What are you busy with in the government office? You'd better be careful about this and don't cause trouble again. Junying settled the matter for you last year, and several men in the mansion have just been recommended for official positions. You have to think about them!"
Xu Xiping nodded in agreement, but he had something in mind, and continued to advise his mother: "The Empress Dowager's decree is actually the will of the emperor, and it cannot be disobeyed. Otherwise, our Xu family will be punished, and the old and the young will not be able to bear it! I have heard that the man Lan'er was given to marry was a foreign official favored by the late emperor. Now that he has returned to the capital, the emperor cannot look down on him and has promoted him to a higher position. Knowing that he recently lost his wife, he wants to give him an extra grace and marry Lan'er, which is reasonable!"
The old lady said sternly, "Who knows how old the late emperor's favorite is? Our Lan'er is such a good girl, but she has to marry him. She is really at a loss! There are many princesses and princesses in the royal family. If you want to show mercy, why not marry your own daughter? Why did you choose our Lan'er!"
"How can a princess of the royal family be willing to marry an old man in his forties or fifties?"
Seeing the old lady staring at him, Xu Xiping realized that he had said something wrong, and hurriedly said, "In fact, it is understandable that the Queen Mother likes Lan'er. Aren't we related to the royal family? The royal family is willing to marry a girl from their relatives' family. That is a favor. On the other hand, the Zhuang family can legitimately rely on the Queen Mother for help in the future. The man that Lan'er is marrying is of high rank, from the second rank. Lan'er's uncle is the governor of the third rank. In the future, relying on this son-in-law, there are many places for us to help!"
The old lady finally understood what was going on and nodded slightly: Er'er is right, she can't marry a handsome man, she must marry someone with a good reputation. After all, it was the Queen Mother who arranged the marriage, and she is marrying a newly promoted second-rank official in Beijing. No matter what, this marriage is only beneficial to the banker!
The old lady heaved a sigh of relief. After the disappointment, she regained hope. She asked Mother Ji to go to the kitchen to prepare a table of delicious food. She told her to comfort Yulan tonight and to actively prepare for her marriage from tomorrow. The Queen Mother's decree was too hasty. The wedding must be completed in three days. (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)