Baoju and Baizhan discussed on the way and decided that it was time to go find Jiqing. If they wanted the grandmother to return home, there was no other way except to ask the emperor. So Baizhan led his men to follow Mei Niang's motorcade, while Baoju took advantage of the turn to turn into another street and galloped towards the palace.
Along the way, people rode out from the streets from time to time, caught up with the team, and came to the King of Qi to report to him. They were people from the King of Qi's mansion and Ji Qing's men. The people from the King of Qi's mansion were driven out by the Queen Mother to find the King of Qi, and Ji Qing's men were of course ordered by the Emperor to convey the Emperor's oral order to summon the King of Qi to the palace. No matter who it was, the King of Qi just listened but did not answer. He waved his hand to dismiss the people and continued to move forward. He sent Mei Niang to the Cen residence and watched her carriage drive straight in from the side door. He closed the small bronze door and stopped the guards of the Xu Mansion outside. Then he smiled and walked slowly to the palace with his entourage.
Xu Junya and his brothers stood guard at the gate of the Cen residence for a long time. The gatekeeper only popped his head out and said:
"Please go back, sir. Our master has gone to bed!"
He closed the door tightly and there was no sound anymore.
The Xu brothers have to go to the government office to work tomorrow, and they can't always stand guard at the door without rest. They have no choice but to go back home to rest. Before leaving, they ask Bai Zhan and others to take turns guarding and make sure to protect the grandmother and Heng'er.
Bai Zhan agreed to all of them. Seeing that it was getting late at night, he had to send someone to escort the masters back to Xu's mansion.
After the Xu brothers left, Bai Jingyu saw Ning Rulan vomiting violently, so she sent her back to the courtyard to rest, and told the maids to take good care of her until the third master came back. She hurried back to Huifang Garden. She had just run away halfway through dinner with her daughter Xu Meilian. The matter was urgent. Meilian cried behind her, but she didn't stop. She just let the wet nurse comfort her. Her daughter had a weak constitution recently and coughed every now and then. She had to pay more attention to her daughter. After seeing her daughter, she went to Jinhua Hall again.
When Bai Jingyu arrived at Jinhua Hall, she saw Fang serving the old lady dinner, and the second master and second mistress were sitting beside them eating. The second mistress looked at Bai Jingyu sternly. Bai Jingyu lowered her head, understanding what her mother-in-law meant. She blamed her, the legitimate granddaughter-in-law, for not coming to serve for no reason, and instead letting the illegitimate granddaughter-in-law take the stage.
The second wife was very similar to the first wife in this respect: she would never allow illegitimate children to go to the front. When the second master was at home, the illegitimate children could come in to greet him. When the second master was not at home, even if it was windy or rainy, they could only stand in the corridor in the courtyard and ask for a while, and then let the maid pass the message to send them away.
The old lady dotes on the second master, and the second master trusts and dotes on Aunt Yan, who was raised from a maid. The old lady also looks at Xu Junqiao, the fifth son born to Aunt Yan, differently. Compared with the first wife's illegitimate sons Xu Junting and Xu Junxuan, Xu Junqiao has received many times more benefits from the old lady. Even Xu Junya, the second legitimate son of the second wife, cannot compare to him.
The Second Wife was very dissatisfied with Bai Jingyu and Ning Rulan. She had told them right after they got married that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law should be of one mind and should unanimously exclude the illegitimate son. She wanted them to help their husbands, show filial piety to the old lady and the master, and try not to give the illegitimate son any opportunity to show off. However, these two daughters-in-law could not even do half of what she asked! After Ruolan became pregnant, the old lady didn't need to dislike her like she did Qin Meiniang, so she retired on her own and never went to Jinhua Hall again. Jingyu was better at first, coming every day to stop Fang, but later he relaxed, giving Fang the opportunity to help serve the old lady. Tonight Jingyu simply didn't come, and let Fang stand behind the old lady to serve her. She was attentive and considerate, and laughed and talked, completely treating herself as the grandson's daughter-in-law, which made the second wife very angry. But the old lady was confused and kept praising Fang for being much better than Qin. Fang was also ungrateful. After this praise, she only had the old lady and the second master in her eyes, and actually left her, the wife, aside. Seeing Ruixue standing aside to serve, she didn't even come over to ask. If the second master hadn't been there, the second wife would have driven Fang out.
Bai Jingyu bowed and greeted his elders. The maid brought hot water for him to wash his hands. He walked to the table to serve the soup. He stood beside the old lady calmly and replaced Fang. The second wife snorted softly, then let out a breath, and the chicken soup tasted sweet in her mouth.
Bai Jingyu said to Fang: "I have changed the soup for the master. I will peel a shrimp for the old lady. You go and add some hot chicken soup for the lady. The one in the bowl is cold and not tasty. Please change it!"
Fang came over obediently and started to change the dishes in front of the Second Madam. The Second Madam whispered, "Don't move. Let the Second Madam do it!"
Fang froze. Bai Jingyu looked at the second master and said softly to the second wife, "My daughter-in-law is busy right now. Mother, please let your fifth sister-in-law serve you first. She can do a good job!"
The second master glared at the second wife and said, "Who is different? All the daughters-in-law are equally filial. Don't be so ungrateful!"
The Second Wife was furious. She could not stand the Second Master's preference for the Fifth Wife even more than letting Fang serve her. As the principal wife, she could not suppress Aunt Yan, the Second Master's maid when he was young, in her entire life.
Bai Jingyu's purpose was not to do this. She wanted the second wife to understand: Don't you always help the eldest son Xu Junlang to protect the concubine and suppress the eldest daughter-in-law? Then the concubine's son and daughter-in-law should be served. Why should I serve you wholeheartedly when you look down on me
The old lady drank another half bowl of soup and ate two boiled shrimps. She had no appetite for more rice and turned to ask Ruixue, "Is Lan'er still awake?"
Ruixue said: "Just now, the old lady went in to talk to Miss Lan and came out. The girl cried loudly for a long time, then got up and drank half a bowl of tea, but didn't eat anything!"
The old lady sighed: "It would be nice if Junying was at home..."
The second master said, "Mother, don't think too much. What can Junying do if he is at home? This is the will of the emperor. How can he change it?"
Bai Jingyu paused while peeling shrimps: It would be better if my elder brother is at home, but my elder sister-in-law can't run away at night.
When she went to the gate to chase Mei Niang, she had sent someone to Jinhua Hall to report the news. The old lady, the second master and the second mistress were together at the time, but they didn't make any moves. They didn't go to check in person, nor did they send anyone to stop Mei Niang from leaving. Looking at their calm and composed appearance now, as if nothing had happened, she really didn't understand how they would respond if the eldest brother came back and asked about it one day
After thinking about it, Bai Jingyu couldn't help but said to the old lady, "Sister-in-law took Heng'er and went to live in Cen's house in East City. I heard that the house was the private residence of sister-in-law's grandmother, and now it has been given to sister-in-law... Baoju and Baizhan followed her!"
The second master was stunned for a moment: "Baoju and Baizhan? They didn't follow Junying? Did they say where Junying went?"
Bai Jingyu said: "My daughter-in-law didn't see Baoju and Baizhan. It was the housekeeper in the front yard who said so. The housekeeper also said that the master went out to do errands, leaving Baoju and Baizhan to protect the eldest sister-in-law and Heng'er!"
The second master's face changed slightly. Baoju and Baizhan had followed Junying since they were young, like his shadows. Where did Junying go without these two servants? This time when he went out to do an errand, he left two close followers with Mei Niang, which showed how much he valued his wife and children!
The old lady had been asking the empress dowager to grant her a marriage, and to give Zhuang Yulan to Junying as his co-wife. He never cared about this matter. It was common for a man to have three wives and four concubines. He had one wife and two concubines in his own house, and he also kept a mistress outside the house. He didn't let anyone know because the other party was a widow in her twenties, young and pretty, passionate and romantic. She was originally a distant cousin of a colleague. He saw her at his colleague's house while drinking. He accepted his colleague's kindness that day, brought her out and bought a house outside the city to settle her. He was afraid that the old lady would dislike her because she was a widow and would not allow her to live in, so he lived there temporarily. A few days ago, the mistress diagnosed a pregnancy pulse, and before he had time to be happy, she slipped in the yard and almost lost the fetus. He was busy taking care of the fetus, and in the hustle and bustle, he even forgot to tell the old lady that the emperor did not allow Junying to take a co-wife. Now the emperor and the empress dowager have issued both imperial decrees and imperial decrees for Junying's matter. He was terrified when he heard it. He was really afraid that he would be involved one day. Fortunately, it was all over. Earlier, Bai Jingyu sent someone to report that the grandma was going to take her son away from home. He was still a little angry and wanted to go and tell Mei Niang: What are you making a fuss about? You are lucky not to be divorced. You should stay here quietly and wait for Junying to come back. It is the right thing to do to take good care of your husband and children. Seeing that the old lady was frowning and silent, he knew that the old lady's dislike for Mei Niang had deepened. So he just sat there and did nothing. Forget it. The two grandparents and grandchildren were fighting, and he was getting involved in it. He would not be able to please either side. There were maids and servants, so they would not let Mei Niang run back to her parents' home. Women, if they were angry, they would make a fuss, and then it would be over. She did not dare to go too far.
But I didn't expect that Mei Niang would really dare to run away, and she didn't go back to her parents' home, but actually went to live in some private residence. Junying was not at home. How could she, a woman, just leave without the consent of her elders
When Junying comes back, he has reason to blame the elders at home: they did not take good care of his wife and children for him, allowing them to run around freely. What if something happens outside
Thinking of this, the second master could not sit still any longer: "Those old women deserve to be beaten! And what about the gatekeepers in the front yard? What do they do for a living? They can't stop a weak woman. Let me go and take a look. I'll send away all the useless ones!"
When the old lady saw him stand up, she asked, "Where are you going?"
The second master said, "It's not good for Mei Niang to take Heng'er away from home like this. My son will take Jun Ya and the others to bring her back!"
He looked at the second wife: "The first wife is sick, you come with me!"
The second wife curled her lips, and the old lady snorted, "Why should we accept her? You are not respecting her at all! What is the purpose of such a disrespectful, vicious, unruly and ignorant woman coming here? Let her go, and she'd better not come back after she leaves, otherwise she will be confined to her house! The emperor allowed her to enter the palace to accompany the emperor for Junying's sake, but she is so arrogant, as if the royal family begged her. What an unvirtuous and unfilial thing. When Junying comes back, we must talk to him and lock her up. If she doesn't leave, we will keep her like a cat or dog in a pen! Otherwise, with her arrogant look, she will definitely cause trouble for Junying in the future!"
Bai Jingyu heard this and looked at the old lady's cold face. It was as if he was back to two years ago when Mei Niang first married into the Hou Mansion. The old lady also looked like this. She said in a cold voice:
"I don't want her to serve me tea, and I don't allow her to worship my ancestors. I don't recognize this granddaughter-in-law. Let's see who dares to be nice to her!"
At that time, Zhuang Yulan was lying in the back hall dying, and Bai Jingyu didn't think the old lady was scary. But now, the same face and tone made her feel tight in her heart and stuffy in her chest. (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)