Xu Junying brought Heng'er back to the Cen residence. He had fallen asleep in the carriage. Xia Lian came with Heng'er in her arms. When she saw Meimei, she knelt down and kowtowed, smiling like a flower. Meimei held Heng'er in her arms and asked Cuixi to help her up. She said apologetically, "The eldest wife is not feeling well, and it's time to use someone. I was anxious to get you out, but I felt it was inappropriate... so I kept delaying, not for anything else."
Xia Lian leaned forward again and said, "Thank you, Madam, for your concern! I am only here in Qiuhua Courtyard, delivering messages and running errands, just thinking of Heng'er and Madam!"
Meimei nodded and looked at Xu Junying: "Cui Si was beaten today and suffered serious injuries on her face. It seems that she needs to recuperate for a few days. Should we leave Xia Lian here to look after Heng Er with the nanny?"
Xu Junying said, "There are many people in the Madam's room, so Xia Lian will follow the young lady and take good care of Heng Ge'er!"
Xia Lian bowed and replied, "Yes!"
For the first time ever, Heng'er didn't wake up in the middle of the night. Instead, Meimei woke up twice. She reached out to touch him worriedly. Heng'er slept very well, his little chest rose and fell, and his breathing was even and smooth. Meimei looked at him with love and amusement, thinking that Xia Lian was really weird. Ever since the night she carried Heng'er from Qiuhua Court to Qinghua Court, Heng'er had the problem of waking up at night. This time, she carried Heng'er from Qiuhua Court to Cen's house again, and Heng'er was cured. What's the old saying? The person who tied the bell must untie it. She was the one who started and ended it!
Meimei hadn't expected one thing: Heng'er had been in Hou Mansion the whole day and had played too crazy. Also, because he had been away from Qiuhua Courtyard for a long time, it became an unfamiliar environment when he returned there. He refused to take a nap at all, and therefore slept soundly at night.
In short, Heng'er became better. Meimei insisted on letting him turn off the lights and go to bed. For seven or eight days in a row, Heng'er did not get up at night and slept through the morning. Meimei was very happy, but Xu Junying did not express anything. He thought it was normal. Heng'er had made enough trouble and would naturally return to normal.
For many days, Xu Junying was busy during the day and stayed in the study room reading official documents until late at night. He only went home every day to talk to Meimei and Heng'er when they had lunch and dinner. Meimei was willful and refused to go back to the Hou Mansion. Although he was dissatisfied, he could not do anything about her. He could not force her to go back before the 100th day. In the current Hou Mansion, in addition to the sick mother, the old lady did not go to the second room in the west courtyard, but lived in Jinhua Hall as usual. It was really not good to have no capable servant to take care of the family. Thinking of the paper written to Meimei, he had a headache: Not serving the elders? That won't work! At that time, in order to stabilize her, he bit the bullet and agreed. In the future, he would have to find a way to make her delete that!
The days passed peacefully. During the day, when Xu Junying was not at home, Meimei would go out in disguise to check on Xiankelai from time to time. She would not show her true face, but only wear a mask. She also wanted to see Li Qiuge's music hall, but was persuaded by Cuixi. She felt indignant: Is a music hall also a place of pleasure? All kinds of men can go there, with status or without status, scholars, wealthy businessmen and officials. If they have money, they can have fun like crazy, but as a decent woman, they cannot! Forget it, you can guess what the situation is inside. Many of the song show sets are planned by her, so it's better not to watch!
She hadn't been to Xiankelai for many days, and Lu Xiangfeng asked her for a favor. It turned out that she had accidentally said in front of King Qi that she would marry Cuixi to the shopkeeper Lu, and he remembered it. When she was replying and Cuixi was not around, she boldly asked Meimei for her blessing. After considering for so long, Meimei also felt that Lu Xiangfeng was suitable for Cuixi, and intended to let them become a couple. In the future, she would rest assured to let them manage Xiankelai. When Cui Xi was caught and asked, she refused at first, saying that she was not in a hurry to get married and wanted to serve the young mistress for a few more years. Mei Mei said, "You are the oldest of the three maids, only a few months younger than me. In a few years, you will be an old maid. You have been with Manager Lu for a long time, so you should know him better than I do. I haven't said anything to him. He promised that he would respect you and treat you wholeheartedly after marriage, and that you would share the joys and sorrows with your husband and wife, grow old together, and never take a concubine... I think he is good and I sincerely asked for his hand in marriage. You make the decision yourself. Whether to agree or not, reply to him in a few days!"
Cui Xi was not stupid. She dealt with Lu Xiangfeng all day long, so how could she not understand him? After hearing what the young lady said, she stopped being pretentious and said shyly, "It's up to the young lady to decide! You can't marry too hastily... I still want to stay with the young lady."
Meimei smiled: "Of course, so you agreed to it?"
Lu Xiangfeng was called immediately, and they discussed to arrange the engagement first and then marry her a year later. Lu Xiangfeng was so happy that he thanked her profusely and almost bumped into the door frame on his way out. Meimei was also very happy, as it was her first time to act as a matchmaker and it was a success, so she was in a very good mood.
In the Qin Mansion, the number one scholar Qin Boqing was highly appreciated by the emperor for his diligence, erudition, and extraordinary talent, and was appointed as a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy. Once an official becomes an official, the residence must be changed. The Qin family moved to a large mansion in the south of the city, which was decorated inside and outside, and many slaves and servants were added. Every day, high-ranking officials and nobles came and went, as if they had returned to the time when Master Qin was an official.
Meimei was deeply comforted when she saw this scene when she returned to her parents' home. She finally got what she asked for. Qin Boqing worked hard and now his family is prosperous and his fortune is on the rise. There is nothing to worry about in the Qin Mansion!
She hadn't seen him since the Prince of Qi's wedding, not even Lin Runan. She didn't dare to go to the Prince of Qi's mansion. She could only wait patiently. If he came, he would be a friend. If he didn't come, he would have abandoned her.
She had met Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi on the street. They were wearing a mask and men's clothes, riding Xiaobai, and followed by guards such as Baizhan. She just bowed to the two of them across the street. When Zhang Jingyun was about to come over, she hurriedly urged her horse to leave. She sadly discovered that she could no longer be as free and easy as before. After returning from Guiyun Villa, she felt a little embarrassed when facing Zhang Jingyun.
One night, Xu Junying asked Xia Lian to carry Heng'er out to sleep in the upper room, so that they could take good care of him at night. Meimei looked at him strangely, and Xu Junying said, "The child has grown up and should learn to sleep by himself. Heng'er is a boy, so he should do this even more! You will be going on a long trip in a few days, and Heng'er will stay at home with them. He must be used to it."
"I'm going on a long trip? How come I didn't know?"
Xu Junying watched Xia Lian and Cui Xi leave the upper room, walked over and sat next to Mei Mei and said, "Queen Yuezhong is going out to burn incense and fulfill a vow. You are a lady of the outer court, so you will be among the attendants!"
Meimei remained silent. In the eyes of others, this was an honor, and she had no objection. It was a good thing to be able to go out and get some fresh air and open her eyes.
The two of them sat opposite each other. Meimei was flipping through a book, but the vertical traditional Chinese characters really didn't appeal to her, and the content wasn't very attractive, so she gave up and continued to knit. She learned a new pattern from Feng, but it was troublesome to knit, and she didn't want to ask others to do it, so she insisted on doing it herself. She had been knitting for two or three days and still hadn't finished it.
Xu Junying deliberately brought the official documents to sit with her, intending to bring up some topics and talk more with Meimei. Because the old lady came that day and Meimei was so angry that she fainted, he had some resentment towards Meimei, and he spoke less in the past few days, but Meimei was better at keeping her mouth shut than him. He said two sentences and she answered one, and sometimes she just nodded like a mute without saying anything, which made him feel uncomfortable. Finally, there was a topic that she should be interested in tonight, but she just listened and passed it, and didn't ask any more questions, just concentrating on doing her own things. Xu Junying glanced at her from time to time, and seeing her focused and selfless look, he wanted to go over and pry open her mouth and force her to speak.
Late at night, Meimei called Cuixi in and asked her to keep watch. She said something to Xu Junying and went to sleep in the inner room. Xu Junying looked at the official documents for a while and guessed that she should be asleep, so he told Cuixi to go back to her room to rest and not to keep watch in the upper room. Cuixi and the others were already accustomed to the couple's inconsistent instructions. From the initial confusion to the current improvisation, she didn't say much, bowed and went downstairs. Xu Junying closed the door and went back to the study to sleep.
Two days later, Meimei got the confirmed news: not only the queen was leaving the city, but the emperor was also going with her, to a large temple called Pufa Temple in Pingjin County hundreds of miles away to burn incense and fulfill a vow. Because the queen had just become pregnant, the emperor was on a private visit and happened to pass by Pufa Temple. Seeing the majestic temple, the prosperous incense in the palace, and the monks chanting scriptures and performing rituals rigorously, he casually asked for a fortune and got the supreme and honorable fortune. The emperor was overjoyed and prayed silently in his heart: if the queen gave birth to a dragon safely, the couple would come to burn incense and fulfill their vows, and make a golden statue of the Buddha and make Pufa Temple the imperial temple.
So there was this grand journey, with the Imperial Guards leading the way in front, the Dragon Riders following closely behind, the Emperor riding the Phoenix Chariot in the center, accompanied by eunuchs, palace maids, imperial guards, countless civil and military ministers, and imperial ladies. Meimei was one of the twelve imperial ladies accompanying the Empress. Only before leaving did she know that the Prince of Qi and his wife would be accompanying them, that is, Lin Runan was also coming, as well as Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi. Lingxuzi left Lingxuzi in the palace's Imperial Hospital, and Zhang Jingyun brought more than a dozen imperial doctors to go together.
The weather in May is sunny and the flowers are in full bloom. After leaving the imperial city, the summer scenery in the suburbs is breathtaking. Not to mention anything else, just the lush green and colorful wild flowers all over the mountains and slopes make Meimei very happy and feel extremely refreshed.
Xu Junying would often ride his horse to the side of her carriage, approach the side window, and ask her through a thin veil if she felt unwell. He also told Cuixi and Cuilian to serve the young lady well in the carriage, and to let the attendants beside the carriage report to him if anything happened.
The emperor took into consideration the weakness of the empress and ordered the team to slow down. The sun was at its zenith and the team had not yet reached the designated resting place. It was okay to sit in the car, but it felt a little hot. It would be uncomfortable to ride a horse under the blazing sun. Xu Junying took off his coat and put it on the car. He put on a stone blue tight-fitting suit with embroidered python patterns and round flowers with arrow sleeves. Crystal beads of sweat hung on his wheat-colored face, and sweat soaked the collar of his neck. Meimei glanced at him twice from behind the gauze curtain and couldn't help saying to Cuilian, "Bring out the spare handkerchief. Give him one to wipe his sweat."
Cui Lian searched left and right: "Oh, did you forget to bring it? I can't find it!"
Cui Xi went over to help her look for it: "What's wrong? You're losing things!"
Cui Lian was searching while she said, "Madam, please give yours to Lord Hou first. I'll replace it with another one for you when I find it... It should have been brought here, but I don't know where it is!"
Meimei waved the round fan in her hand speechlessly and hesitated for a moment: What is this, a lady's handkerchief? A trick to seduce me!
Who cares? There are so many people outside, who wouldn't sweat? If you wipe it dry, it will still drip, so it's better not to wipe it.
Just thinking about this, Xu Junying raised her sleeve to wipe her face. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed. How about not doing this? This was Heng'er's exclusive move. It was made of satin and didn't absorb sweat.
Seeing Meimei sitting still, Cuilian had no choice but to take out Meimei's spare handkerchief from her bag and hand it to Cuixi. Cuixi paused, stepped on the hem of her skirt when she stood up, and fell down with a cry. She threw the handkerchief onto Meimei's lap:
"Please pass it over, Madam!"
Meimei looked at the two maids, one was busy tying her bundle, the other was struggling on the mat and couldn't get up. She had no choice but to use a round fan to push open the gauze curtain, and picked up a handkerchief from the window and handed it out: "Master, use this to wipe your sweat!"
Xu Junying was calculating how long it would take to reach the resting place. The sun would become more scorching after noon. It would be fine for men like him who came from a military background, but older men like the Duke of Dingguo and civil officials might not be able to bear it. As for the emperor, empress and imperial edicts in the carriage, they were fine now, but in a while the heat would rise and they would be even more unbearable.
Sweat dripped from my forehead. Suddenly, I saw a white silk handkerchief fluttering in front of me. I only had time to see a few delicate plum blossoms embroidered on the four corners. I quickly reached out to grab it. I looked up and saw the curtain move. A delicate white hand retracted into the window. It never wore nail polish, and its nails were naturally tender and pink. It was Meimei's hand! (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)