Cui Xi woke Mei Mei up early in the morning. Before she got out of bed, Heng Er came running in, followed by Xia Lian. Heng Er went to the bed and pulled up the sheets, shouting:
“Hug… Hug!”
Meimei pointed her finger at his forehead and said, "Call me mother!"
"… "
Heng'er pouted and couldn't make a sound for a long time. Meimei couldn't help rubbing her forehead. "Mother" is too difficult to pronounce. It would be better to call her mom, or call her mother. But this is unrealistic. In ancient times, aristocratic families taught children to call her mother properly, and only the stepmother could get this honorific title.
Meimei thought about letting Heng'er call her mother, and Qin Meiniang also called her that, but Madam Qin said that they should follow the rules of the Xu family. Meiniang has been spoiled since she was a child, and she couldn't bear to let her daughter change her way of speaking. Heng'er had to ask for it from a young age, and as long as she called her mother once, everything would be fine in the future.
After washing up, she held Heng'er in her arms and sat in front of the dressing table, playing and combing her hair. Cui Lian took out a few sets of clothes for Meimei to choose from. Meimei pointed to the light willow yellow embroidered jacket:
"This one, paired with the dark purple beaded gold hairpin, will make it look more dignified!"
Cui Lian nodded: "Young Madam looks even more elegant in this outfit."
"What kind of bearing?"
"Mm, so noble and impressive, like a princess!"
Cui Lian tilted her head and spoke whatever came to her mind. She had long been accustomed to speaking freely in Meimei.
Cui Xi tied Mei Mei's hair and glared at Cui Lian through the mirror: "How can you lead the people below you when you are so outspoken? Cheng'er and Ping'er are good at learning from others, don't let them be led astray!"
Cui Lian laughed: "How dare I talk like that in front of them? I'm afraid they will go back and complain to Mother Wang, and then Mother Wang will come back and slap me in the face!"
Meimei sighed, "Is Mother Wang really unwilling to come back? She only sent Cheng'er and Ping'er."
"Cheng'er and Ping'er are both smart and clever. They originally followed the young lady and have long wanted to come back. There is also Xing'er, but unfortunately she is not flexible enough and can only do odd jobs in the yard."
Cui Xi said, "There are too many things to do in the Zhuangyuan Mansion now. Most of the servants are newly bought, and the young master and young lady are still too young. Madam Wang feels sorry for the lady and wants to keep a helper. She said that the young lady has already been given a separate mansion, so there shouldn't be much to do!"
Meimei was speechless. She knew the real reason. Mother Wang had never wanted to leave Mei Niang because she was afraid that she would suffer and be harmed again. Now that she saw that Xu Junying was sincerely protecting Mei Niang and loving the mother and son, she felt relieved. How could she not want to be with a girl who had been raised by her since childhood? She just didn't want her existence to make Xu Junying unhappy, fearing that it would affect the relationship between the couple, so she chose to disappear and retreat back to the Qin Mansion.
Qin Meiniang was actually very lucky and received a lot of true love, but she was ultimately unfortunate because she was not able to enjoy it.
After breakfast, the old women and servants led the way. Meimei, surrounded by Cuixi, Cuisi, Cheng'er and Ping'er, walked out of Qinghua Courtyard. Xia Lian, the wet nurse and several little maids followed behind, holding Heng'er. Cheng'er and Ping'er turned back from time to time to tease Heng'er, making Heng'er giggle. When they reached the fork in the road, Heng'er's laughter turned into crying - Meimei was going to Ziyun Hall, and he had to go to Qiuhua Courtyard to accompany his grandmother.
Meimei turned around and kissed Heng'er on the face: "My dear son, grandma is sick and it's boring to lie in bed every day. You go play with her first. When mother finishes her work, she will pick you up and take you out to visit friends. How do you think?"
Heng'er was still humming, and Meimei said, "If you don't listen, then your mother will go out and won't come to pick you up. Who likes a boy who cries a lot?"
Heng'er kept silent, sniffed, and looked at her with a pout. After a while, he slowly raised his right hand and waved it towards Meimei. Meimei smiled and moved her face closer:
"So good! Give me a kiss!"
Heng'er kissed her and smiled again.
The mother and son waved goodbye. Meimei watched Heng'er and his party walk onto the corridor before she turned around and hurried to Ziyun Hall to finish her domestic affairs as soon as possible so that she could go out of the house to visit the wife of Marquis Changle.
In the West Mansion, after hearing the manager's reply, Bai Jingyu handled the matter neatly and efficiently. He took Xiangyun and two maids with him and passed through the moon-shaped gate into the mansion.
She pulled out the handkerchief embroidered with wisteria flowers on the four sides and two pink lotus flowers in the middle, and sneered: "Sixth Master is a talented man, but what kind of beauty are you? If I let you stay in the mansion temporarily, you are no longer a beggar, right?"
Bai Jingyu thought of Luo Xiangying's charming peach blossom eyes, which made Xu Junlang lower his head in front of her in Jinhua Hall. He was furious and hated this vixen the most. He was just worried that he hadn't found a chance to scold her. Now, you want to discuss marriage? Wait, let's see if the Second Mistress doesn't drive them sisters out of the mansion!
In the courtyard of Xianglan Pavilion, Luo Zhuangshi and Luo Xiangying went to Jinhua Hall to chat with the old lady to relieve her boredom. Luo Zhaoying sat alone at the stone table embroidering. The old lady saw the clothes she embroidered herself and loved her exquisite craftsmanship, so she asked her to embroider a silk cotton cover for her and let her choose any pattern. Luo Zhaoying said flatteringly: "Granddaughter, embroider the fragrant orchids of Xianglan Pavilion for your great-aunt? The flowers are beautiful and elegant, embroidered on the tender yellow satin, and it's as if you can smell their fragrance when you look at them!"
The old lady nodded repeatedly, smiling lovingly: "Okay! You are such a smart child, just embroider the orchid!"
Luo Zhaoying embroidered with great concentration. In order to show her exquisite craftsmanship, she had to finish a quilt cover within two or three days to win the old lady's favor. Only then would she have a good life in the future.
She was not afraid that her younger sister Xiangying would go first, and she didn't care what token she gave to the Sixth Master. The legal wife would only be her elder sister. She had seen clearly these days that the Hou Mansion respected the old lady. Even the Hou Madam, who was in charge of the Hou Mansion's household affairs, had a noble and elegant demeanor and was stunningly beautiful, dared not say a word to the old lady of Jinhua Hall. The old lady paid attention to rules and the order of seniority. How could she ignore it? Moreover, Xiangying was so smart that she privately gave and received the token. She thought this was the countryside of Jiangning. If the old lady knew about this, she would not even be able to be a concubine!
She bit off a piece of colored thread, picked up another piece of colored thread with her right ring finger, and hooked the other piece of colored thread with her long and tender nail like water lily. She threaded the needle and embroidered the bottom flower of a string of orchids. Speculating on the posture of the flower, Luo Zhaoying looked around. There was a fragrant orchid tree in full bloom near the wall of the study in Yuehua Courtyard. She could climb up along the clean and refreshing Taihu stone rockery to observe what it looked like.
Thinking of this, Luo Zhaoying stood up and walked towards the rockery. The Taihu stone was easy to climb, and in a short while, he climbed to the top, pulled down a branch of fragrant orchid, sniffed the clusters of flowers blooming among the branches, and then looked at them carefully.
He seemed to hear some sound in his ear, and Luo Zhaoying couldn't help but turn his head to the lower right, and was stunned for a moment!
Separated by a wall, the academy here can still share the shade of the pandan trees. At this moment, under the shade, a few books are scattered around. On a bamboo lounge chair, two half-naked men and women are making love. The suppressed gasps and moans are ambiguous and passionate. The bamboo lounge chair is overwhelmed, and the fast-paced squeaking sound is even more heartbreaking...
Luo Zhaoying almost fainted. She was not a virgin. She had kissed her senior brother at the age of fourteen. Although they did not dare to go further, hugging and caressing were common. The man's panting sounded like the one made by her senior brother when his hands wandered on her body and his body rubbed against her!
Next door was Yuehua Courtyard, how could she not know who that man was? That cousin-in-law Li Zhao, who had a warm smile and was handsome! And the woman under him was obviously not her cousin Xu Xiaojuan. She had a plump and fair body, and on her chubby wrists that were tightly wrapped around Li Zhao, she wore a pair of thin twisted silver bracelets. She was a girl!
She turned around and left quickly. Her hand loosened and she let go of the fragrant orchid branch, but her skirt was accidentally caught on the corner of the stone. She was pulled hard, and she slipped and jumped. She fell to the ground, pressed her chest with her hands, and took a few deep breaths. Then she calmed down. She looked around and found that the old women were not around. The maid Yudi was sent away by her and did not come back.
She walked to the stone table and stretched out her hand to stroke the skirt on the side of her legs as usual when she sat down. Suddenly, she was shocked again: the jade ring tied with the silk ribbon on the right side was gone! It was given to her by her senior brother. It was the only valuable thing on his body. He gave it to her when they parted!
Over at the academy, the branches rustled loudly, startling Li Zhao and Hongyu who were sitting on the recliners. Fortunately, the class was over, so they quickly got up and put their clothes in order. Hongyu was worried:
"Master, if Grandma finds out about this, Hongyu will be beaten to death!"
Li Zhao hugged her, bit her on the mouth, and smiled, "Keep calm, don't let anyone see it! Grandma won't know, she went to Jinhua Hall, and won't come back until she finishes lunch. Besides, there's Lu Yu watching at the entrance of the academy, what are you afraid of?"
Hongyu twisted her body in his arms and said, "My Lord dotes on Luyu so much that I drew eyebrows for Luyu yesterday but not for Hongyu!"
Li Zhao put one hand into Hongyu's clothes and pinched them hard, causing her to scream. Li Zhao smiled and said, "Why didn't you scream just now?"
"Hongyu is afraid that someone will hear it and tell Grandma!"
Li Zhao stopped smiling, tidied her clothes, and said, "Don't let her know for now... I'll tell her when the time is right. I'll take you and Luyu in anyway. How can we live without two people in the room? She's been having her period these past few days and she can't let me have someone to accompany her?"
Hongyu reached out and gently stroked his face: "Grandma is not kind to you, Hongyu loves you!"
Li Zhao hugged her tighter: "I love Hongyu and Luyu too. I am happiest when I am with you! One day when I become an official and rise to prominence, I will let you wear gold and jade, eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks..."
Hongyu's full moon-like face was filled with happiness: "When the time comes, Hongyu will give me many sons!"
"… "
"No green jade is allowed to live!"
"Why?"
"I love Luyu so much now. If she gives me another son, I won't want Hongyu anymore!"
Li Zhao took a bite of her face and said, "How can I not want Hongyu? Look at this tender, sweet and firm fat. How delicious! I don't like to eat other fat, but I like to eat the fat on Hongyu. I can't want to want Hongyu!"
"Master... cluck cluck!"
Li Zhao bit Hongyu bit by bit, and Hongyu half-heartedly gave in. The two of them struggled on the recliner. Gradually, the laughter died down, and was replaced by heavy breathing, moaning and crying, accompanied by the rhythmic creaking of the bamboo recliner.
At the entrance to the academy, Luyu tightly twisted a silk handkerchief in her hands, stretched her neck to look outside, then turned her head back to look into the academy, cursing softly:
"You little idiot! You're trying to seduce me so early in the morning, and you're still shouting so loudly, you don't want to live anymore!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)