King Qi and Meimei walked side by side on a path shaded by flowers and plants, chatting quietly. The bright sunshine shone on them, and they felt warm. So they went under the dense wisteria trellis beside the pond, facing the water, watching the fish in the pond sticking their mouths out of the water and blowing bubbles. The dots of light and shadows reflected on the water surface were shining and reflected on their faces. Meimei pointed at King Qi and laughed, "You have patterns on your face. It's so beautiful! You've become a water demon!"
The King of Qi touched his face and asked: "What kind of pattern does it have? What kind of monster has it become?"
"The turtle pattern will turn into a turtle spirit in the water!"
The King of Qi was annoyed: "What's so good about a turtle? You are scolding me!"
Meimei said: "I think it looks good! Turtles are auspicious animals, they are long-lived and spiritual. I used to have two turtles at home, they were so cute!"
"Then you should also become a turtle spirit. Look, you have turtle lines on your face!"
The King of Qi reached out to touch her face and said with a smile, "Here, here! Look, you've even grown a beard this time, haha!"
Meimei dodged, lifted her skirt, and ran on tiptoe along the stream edge. The King of Qi ran faster than her, turned around to meet her, held out his hand for her to hold on, and jumped from the stream edge to the path. The two of them continued walking forward with a smile, and unexpectedly met Xu Junying, who had an expressionless face and an angry look in his eyes, beside a lush flower tree.
Xu Junying had just returned to the Cen residence when he heard at the gate that there were visitors. It was Miss Lin and the Prince of Qi. When he entered the inner courtyard, he saw Cuisi and the little maid playing with Heng'er. Cuisi quickly asked the little maid to make tea for the Lord Hou and asked another to go into the garden to report to the young lady that the Lord Hou had returned. Xu Junying stopped the little maid and walked quickly into the garden. When he turned around the rockery, he saw Meimei and the Prince of Qi chasing and jumping by the stream. The Prince of Qi stretched out his hand, and Meimei naturally grabbed it and jumped over with his strength. The two were so close, and their intimacy made him dizzy. What did he want to do, the Prince of Qi? He stole the imperial edict to encourage Meimei to leave the Xu residence, and he came here to get close to her. Did he think Xu Junying was dead? Maybe it was his idea to marry the princess. Didn't he know that doing this was a taboo? He intends to use the Empress Dowager to cut off the Emperor's arm. If the Emperor sets his mind to punish him, he will be suppressed all his life and spend the rest of his life curled up in a corner!
Meimei was slightly startled when she saw Xu Junying. She didn't expect him to come back so soon. She bowed and said, "Master Hou!"
Xu Junying looked at her without saying anything. He leaned forward slightly and bowed to the King of Qi:
"Your Highness the Prince of Qi is visiting my little house. Junying was out for something and was unable to greet you. Please forgive me!"
The corners of the Qi king's lips twitched slightly, and he snorted: "Marquis Weiyuan, this is not your Xu Mansion, this is Cen Meimei's private residence, and this king's visit to Meimei is none of your business!"
"King Qi is wrong! Meimei is my wife, and we are a family. How can I separate hers from mine?"
King Qi and Xu Junying looked at each other, their eyes were equally cold, as if they had encountered a frost, the temperature quickly dropped to freezing point, Meimei shuddered, looked around, why did the sky darken? It turned out that the sun was hidden in the clouds, and the wind blew, it really became cooler.
Lin Runan, who was in the pavilion, saw the situation and stopped playing cricket. He stood over the railing and looked over here. Meimei said to Xu Junying, "Isn't Mr. Hou accompanying the old lady? Is she feeling better?"
Xu Junying reluctantly retracted his gaze and said calmly: "The old lady is just a little dizzy, it's nothing serious. I said that I will come back as soon as possible to accompany you and Heng'er!"
The King of Qi said, "Did Marquis Weiyuan's trip to the capital go smoothly this time? It seems he has accomplished another great feat!"
He looked at Meimei and said, "You didn't tell me that Weiyuan Hou was coming. Since you invited me, let's have dinner here!"
Meimei looked at him in annoyance: the uninvited guests are always right, so what does it matter what she, the host, says
She waved to Lin Runan who was standing in the pavilion in the distance, and turned to walk along a small path: "Let's go back. Everyone needs to eat, and it's getting dark. Let's go back and make dinner!"
Xu Junying walked to the corridor to let the King of Qi pass: "Your Highness, please!"
The King of Qi followed Meimei down the path and said, "Please go ahead, Marquis Weiyuan, I want to talk to Meimei!"
Xu Junying's face turned green. How could he tolerate this? He stepped forward and blocked his way in front of him: "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it at the dinner table later. I have something to discuss with my wife now!"
After saying that, he turned around and chased after Meimei. Just as Prince Qi was about to catch up, Lin Runan ran over and stopped him in time: "Your Highness Prince Qi! Let's go this way, this way!"
King Qi saw Xu Junying and Meimei turning around the rockery and shook off Lin Runan: "You are such a troublemaker! Do you want Meimei to be bothered by him? He can't marry his cousin now, but he will have many wives and concubines one day. How can Meimei bear it? Why not take this opportunity to completely break up the relationship? It would be great for Meimei to be alone and free!"
"Of course I don't want him to be thinking about someone else while pestering Meimei, but now is not the right time. The emperor has said that if Meimei insists on leaving, she will be punished!"
"Humph! After being in the palace for a few days and receiving the Queen's favor, his mind has changed! What crime can he bring against Meimei? Tell me? Beheading, exile, or imprisonment in the Heavenly Prison? Those are serious crimes and cannot be punished. If he strips her of her imperial decree and keeps her in another courtyard, never to see the light of day, that would be great!"
Lin Runan opened his eyes wide: "Imprison him in another hospital and never see the light of day. That's great! What's your intention?"
The corners of the King of Qi's lips curled up: "What do you think my intention is? She will never see the light of day, and outsiders will not be able to see her. I can just get her out, disguise her and change her name, right? How stupid!"
Lin Runan was not convinced: "Is that enough? You must know that she has a mother, brothers, sisters-in-law, and a son. Doesn't that mean she doesn't recognize them?"
The King of Qi was silent for a moment: "Mother, brother and sister-in-law, son, can you accompany her and protect her for the rest of her life?"
"They can't, can you?"
The King of Qi took a breath, turned around and glared at her: "What are you arguing with me about? Why can't I?"
Lin Runan said calmly: "You can't! Because you are the King of Qi, and she is a married woman. You can't marry her and give her a clear status! So, don't mess with her. She is not a person without opinions. Let her take her time and figure it out by herself. She knows what kind of life she wants!"
The King of Qi was so angry that his face turned red. "What do you know, ignorant woman? The rules of the world are dead, but people are alive. Just make up your mind and that's all! Must we marry her in a formal way? I messed her up? Look at her now. Can she have whatever kind of life she wants?"
Lin Runan's eyes became confused: "What you said seems to be right... I don't know anymore, no more words! Let's go!"
The King of Qi walked forward angrily: "I can't make sense to you. You are just stupid and don't understand!"
Separated by a flower wall, Xu Junying and Meimei walked on the path one after the other. Xu Junying endured it several times, but finally expressed his dissatisfaction:
"Meimei, you can't be like the King of Qi, men and women shouldn't touch each other, and you can't do that in front of Miss Lin and the maids, this is not good!"
Meimei walked forward without looking back: "What happened to us? We were two friends walking together to enjoy the view. He just helped me up. He didn't do anything else. Men and women shouldn't touch each other? I also saw you helping Zhuang Yulan. Why can you do that?"
"That's different. She's my cousin. And Cousin Zhuang was unmarried at the time, but you are a married woman!"
Meimei stopped and looked back at him with a sneer: "Is your cousin your own? Does she count as your biological sister? If you marry her, wouldn't that be incest?"
Xu Junying gritted his teeth: "Stop talking nonsense!"
Meimei sighed, "In your place, men can marry multiple wives, take concubines, and touch unmarried women at will, but married women can't even touch unmarried men. What kind of world is this? It's so unfair!"
Xu Junying was both amused and annoyed: "How can you be fair? There can't be two tigers in one mountain. What if there are two men in one family?"
"It's very simple. If I have two men, we can have two homes, one for each man..."
"Meimei!"
Xu Junying stopped her: "Is your place like this before?"
Meimei saw his face turn red, and she chuckled, still in a cynical tone, "Yes! In our world, a woman can marry ten men and have ten homes. She can live wherever she likes. But men can't do that. The law stipulates that if a man dares to have two wives, he will be sentenced to immediate execution!"
While Xu Junying was in a daze, she turned around and ran forward quickly, turning into a bush and covering her mouth, laughing until her stomach hurt. She originally wanted to sentence him to castrate himself, but then she thought it was too bad of a joke, so she just executed him immediately.
Wiping away the tears from laughing, she walked out of the flowers leisurely. Grandma's weather was too depressing. These people could talk to each other and suppress her as they pleased. Couldn't she have some fun? It wasn't illegal to talk nonsense. She was not afraid of him!
A dark shadow blocked his way, but Xu Junying hadn't left yet.
"Have you laughed enough? You are so rude and dare to say anything. How can such a thing happen in the past and present? Do you think I will believe you? If you do this again in the future, only do it in front of me, not in front of outsiders!"
Meimei lowered her eyes and tried to walk around him, but Xu Junying didn't let her do that. He stopped her and said, "You're walking too slowly. I'll hold your hand and make you go faster!"
Meimei avoided him and hid her hands behind her back: "I can walk by myself, I don't need you to hold my hand! I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere, why are you in such a hurry?"
Xu Junying reached out and grabbed her hand easily: "Why not? Heng'er was crying when I came back just now. Prince Qi and Miss Lin have already gone to the front, and there will be guests coming soon!"
"Why is Heng'er crying? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Meimei was being pulled by him and walking very fast, shouting, "Stop now!"
As soon as Xu Junying stopped, Meimei bumped into him, covered her nose with her hand, closed her eyes and frowned. Xu Junying hurriedly looked down at her: "Meimei, did you get hit? Does it hurt? Let me see!"
Meimei paused for a moment, then let go and pushed him away with all her might: "It hurts so much! Xu Junying, do you know how to respect women? Am I an object that can be dragged away? It's none of your business if Heng'er cries. I want him to cry! Go back to the Hou Mansion to entertain your shitty guest. It's none of my business!"
Xu Junying stared at her blankly, as if he didn't know her: "Meimei, how can you talk like that? It's so rude!"
Meimei snorted twice: "Rude? No no! I can only be regarded as vulgar at best, the real rudeness is still to come! What goes with what wine? What goes with what food? A rude and reckless man like you is very good with a woman like me! Not satisfied, right? Go back to your mansion, find a virtuous and elegant wife, and stop bothering me!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)