Meimei and Xu Junying ate their breakfast in silence. Seeing that Xu Junying still had two dim sum on his plate, Meimei put down her chopsticks and said, "Master Hou, eat slowly. I'll go outside to see Heng'er!"
Without waiting for him to say anything, she quickly got up and left. She felt suffocated. After listening to Cui Lian and Cui Xi's words, this bad feeling had been lingering in her mind.
What the hell is Xu Junying doing? He just packed up and left, ignoring the old lady's feelings? He can't afford to make the old lady angry to death!
She couldn't afford to be branded as unvirtuous and unfilial. It didn't matter if she had to bear the burden herself, but if she dragged a good son and grandson like Xu Junying along with her, her sin would be too great. She didn't want that!
Bai Zhan brought the eunuch Huang from the palace and said: The Empress has ordered that the wife of Marquis Weiyuan has worked hard these days, and from now on she does not need to enter the palace to accompany him without being summoned. Just take a good rest!
Eunuch Huang also brought a large number of reward items, including silks, satins, gold, silver, jade and jewelry, as well as fruits and exquisite snacks from tribute from various places. Xu Junying also came out to see, and together with Meimei, thanked the Queen for the reward. Meimei took Heng'er from Cuisi's arms and asked her and Cuilian to deal with the reward items. She carried Heng'er and walked under the flower stand. Xu Junying followed behind. Heng'er leaned on Meimei's shoulder, stretched out his hand to him happily, and giggled.
Xu Junying said: "Do you want your father to hold you? Okay, come on!"
She reached out and hugged him. Meimei's arms felt empty. She turned back helplessly, looking at two faces, one big and one small, smiling very similarly. She didn't know what to say.
Xu Junying put Heng'er on the stone table, holding his arms with his hands, and let him kick his feet and practice walking, while talking to Meimei: "You have been taking care of Heng'er these days, and you have to go to the palace to accompany the queen. You have worked hard!"
Meimei shook her head: "In the palace, we just chat and stroll around the imperial garden. It's not hard..."
I wanted to say casually, "You're really hard-working when you're working outside," but I controlled my mouth in time and didn't say it.
There was no sun today, but the wind was blowing. Xu Junying tightened the bellyband for Heng'er, and pulled the lapels of the inner and outer clothes to cover his belly. Meimei bit her lip and smiled: Usually grown men are clumsy and slow when doing this kind of thing, but Xu Junying does it quickly and well. He is extremely smart and can learn anything.
The nurse came over, bowed to the two of them, and said, "It's windy outside, let the maid carry Heng'er back inside!"
Xu Junying handed Heng'er to her. Heng'er refused to go at first. He grabbed Xu Junying's clothes and climbed onto him, but he looked at Meimei and hummed. Meimei coaxed him, saying, "Be good and listen to me. Follow your mother to find Sister Cuisi. I'll play with you later!"
Heng'er stopped making a fuss, and the nanny took out a rattle again. He held it in his hand, and the nanny held him in her arms, shaking the drum "dong dong dong" as they walked away.
Cui Xi came over with the little maid, placed two cotton pads on the stone bench, wiped the stone table, put snacks on it, and then quietly left.
Meimei said, "Master Hou, please take a seat!"
He sat down on the stone bench first. More than 20 days ago, Xu Junying left the capital. It seemed that the conversation between the two was not finished yet, so let's continue!
Xu Junying sat down, took the teacup handed over by Meimei, drank a sip of hot tea, and said: "What do you want to tell me? You all know everything that happened after I left! Fortunately, I left my precious colt Baizhan behind, and I feel relieved to have them with you. You didn't do anything wrong, and even if you did, I will take the responsibility. As long as you and your child are safe, I have nothing else to ask for!"
Meimei looked at him and said, "Xu Junying, let's be frank and talk as equals this time, okay?"
Xu Junying nodded: "Okay!"
Meimei turned her eyes and looked around. Cuixi had taken everyone away, leaving only the two of them in the yard.
"You are so good to me, who do you think I am? I just borrowed Qin Mei Niang's body to live again. I can respect the elderly and love the young, and take care of my brother and sister-in-law on her behalf, but I don't intend to accept you on her behalf! I have nothing to do with you, and you promised to let me go. You are a gentleman, you can't break your promise, and you shouldn't be fickle-I could have left. The Queen Mother issued an imperial decree to allow you to divorce your wife. What a good reason, you and I both wanted to get it done quickly, but the Emperor issued an imperial decree, took the imperial decree, and locked me up in the palace to accompany the Queen. That was you who did it, and you went too far! If you were there at that time, if I could beat you up, I would have done it!"
Xu Junying forced a smile: "If you want to do it now, you can do it!"
Meimei waved her hand gently, like shooing away flies and mosquitoes: "I don't bear grudges overnight, let's talk about the matter and be serious!"
Xu Junying's face turned cold: "Qin Meimei—"
Meimei looked at him and said, "Is it Cen Meimei, your emperor friend who made a mistake, or did you do it on purpose?"
Xu Junying lowered his eyes: "After all, you look like Qin Meiniang. You can't have no relationship with the Qin family. You should still have the surname Qin!"
He quickly raised his eyes and stared at her: "Can't I be good to you? I like you and love you, so I will be good to you... A gentleman? I'm not! The gentleman you mentioned is Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi! I have to do this to keep you. I can tell you that if you end up with Zhang Jingyun or Lingxuzi, they will not be gentlemen and give you to others!"
Meimei glared at him, "How can you say that about someone? You are judging others by your own standards! We are just normal friends, including the King of Qi, we are all friends! Qin Mei Niang is beautiful, and she is not the only beauty in the world. Do you think everyone loves her beauty as much as you do? Whoever gets her would lock her up and hide her, wishing that only he could see her, and no one outside was allowed to take a peek!"
Xu Junying tried to hold it back, but finally burst out laughing: "This is nonsense!"
"You actually love Qin Meiniang very much, but you hate her because of love, and you can't let her go. You want me to replace her and be your wife, but I am not her after all. I want to be myself and not someone else! You are not destined to be with her, and you are destined to be with me! I want to leave the Hou Mansion, not only because I can't stand your elders, but also because of you..."
Xu Junying looked at her straightly: "What's wrong with me? Am I not good enough? I said that I can learn and change!"
Meimei couldn't bear it, but she gritted her teeth and said, "Don't forget, when you first forgave Mei Niang, you wanted to raise her and her son in another courtyard, and marry another wife and have children... Don't you mind... that Mei Niang was once your brother's woman? Can you hold her without any distractions and sleep in the same bed with her?"
Xu Junying's pupils gradually dilated, as if he had been electrocuted, and he sat there motionless. Meimei hardened her heart and continued:
"I'm sorry! I can't imagine what that would feel like. I don't think I can, and you should be even less able to do that! You're so nervous about me now, it's nothing more than a man's possessiveness and vanity. Just as you said just now, no one would give up a beautiful woman! You hold on to me like this, treating me as your private property. When one day no one competes with you and you get tired of it and don't care, you will marry someone else, and my mother and I will end up in the same situation as before. I've already thought of that outcome, so I'm looking for a way out and insist on leaving. It's not that you're not good enough, it's... It's not my fault. Staying with you might not be a bad choice, but I'm too stubborn and can't stand your love in this way! We're definitely not a good match. If we separate now, you marry another lady and I stay away. We'll never meet again in this life, and we'll each find happiness! If we're forced to be together, I really don't think the outcome will be good. No matter what, I'll definitely be the one who gets hurt the most in the end!"
Xu Junying said slowly: "I understand what you mean! You mean: With Qin Meiniang's appearance, you can marry anyone except me, Xu Junying!"
Meimei was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "That's what I mean!"
"What you care about is whether I will treat you as Qin Meiniang... In fact, even if you didn't say it, I also had some doubts. Now that you have said it, I have never treated you as Qin Meiniang!" (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)