Turning out of this winding corridor, you will arrive at Tsinghua Courtyard. Xu Junying held onto the pillar, his steps floating as he staggered forward.
Good friends Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi came to visit. Originally, they were just having a quiet meal and drinking some wine. But Anyuanhou and Changlehou got the news from somewhere and learned that Zhang Jingyun had caught a live roe deer. Anyuanhou and Xu Junying were not much different in age, while Changlehou was older and they knew each other well. They gathered seven or eight mutual friends and came to ask for roe deer meat. So they had to reopen the banquet and change to a large pot of warm wine. They were all tough guys who had fought for their lives on the battlefield. Drinking together requires being straightforward. Once someone started the conversation, they had to drink. Uncle Xu Xiping couldn't stand it anymore and found an excuse to slip away. Xu Junying didn't like drinking contests, but he was the host, and his good friends Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi were at the table, so he couldn't run away. He was accompanied only by his fourth brother Xu Junting and sixth brother Xu Junxuan. After a while, he seemed a little drunk.
Marquis Anyuan and Marquis Changxing joked that Marquis Weiyuan could not drink much, and that they should ask his wife to come out and have a drink for her husband, and let the brothers see this miraculous person who died and came back to life. Zhang Jingyun, who had been quiet, also asked with interest:
"Lingxuzi and I have come from afar, and we would also like to meet the wife of Weiyuan Hou. Brother Xu, could you please come and see her?"
Xu Junying knew clearly what Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi were really thinking. Zhang Jingyun was the descendant of a famous miracle doctor, and Lingxuzi, the fake Taoist priest, was a medical fanatic. They wanted to see Mei Niang for only one purpose, which was to feel her pulse and find out if there was anything abnormal in her body.
It was fine for An Yuanhou's gang, but he was unwilling to neglect Zhang Jingyun and Lingxuzi. These good friends from the south and the north rarely get together, so he shouldn't let them go home disappointed.
Three groups of people were sent back to the inner courtyard to invite Mei Niang, but they couldn't find her.
Where could Mei Niang go? Could she fly
After being teased by An Yuanhou for a few words, Xu Junying came to find Mei Niang on his own and to avoid drinking at the same time, as he really couldn't drink any more.
In front of the Tsinghua campus, Xu Junying walked along the gravel path and met Mei Niang, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying.
Mei Niang actually ignored him and turned away. Mother Wang and several maids hurried forward to greet Lord Hou. Xu Junying waved his hand:
"Everyone, get out! I want to see how your grandmother treats me... so rude!"
Cui Xi and Cui Si looked at Mei Niang worriedly. Mother Wang pulled them away and said, "Hurry up, hurry up. The Lord has something to say to Grandma!"
Mei Niang covered her face with a handkerchief and wanted to follow her, but Xu Junying stood in front of the courtyard gate and blocked her way:
"No need... to go in, just follow... me!"
Mei Niang avoided him and said, "You are drunk. Ask Ruibao and Ruizhu to help you go back! I, I can't face people with this face. Please move aside!"
"Just keep your head down. No one wants to... see your face!"
Mei Niang was in a bad mood and had less patience. She took advantage of his drunkenness and tried to pull him aside. In her previous life, this would have been easy to do. When she was five years old, her father followed her mother's orders and took her to sign up for a dance class. They found out that there was a Taekwondo class on the same floor, so her father was more thoughtful and signed her up for both. As a result, she gave up dancing after junior high school, but practiced Taekwondo until her senior year of high school, and passed the exam with a fifth-level black belt... Qin Mei Niang's body was too weak and she couldn't use her strength. Just now, she was pushed and pulled by a woman and several maids. She wanted to resist, but she was too weak and almost fainted. This time, she failed to push Xu Junying. Instead, he raised his hand and lightly blocked her. Her body tilted to the side and she almost fell. Mei Niang finally stabilized her heels and cursed in a low voice:
"Xu Junying, you are as annoying as that old lady Zheng!"
Xu Junying drank too much, but as a martial artist, his willpower was not weak, so he did not completely lose consciousness. He heard Mei Niang's scolding clearly, and was stunned for a moment. He pointed at her and raised his eyebrows and said:
"You... dare to scold me? And you even scold... my wife!"
Mei Niang glanced around and saw that no one was coming, so she grabbed Xu Junying's wide sleeves with both hands and led him into the yard:
"Who dares to scold you? If you are drunk, just go back and rest, don't blame others!"
Xu Junying refused to cooperate. Mei Niang pulled hard in front. He braked suddenly from behind. His foot suddenly tripped and his whole body weight pressed down on Mei Niang. Mei Niang was caught off guard and couldn't hold him up. With a cry of surprise, they both fell over the threshold and fell to the ground.
Her body was weak to begin with, and being pinned down by the tall and solid Xu Junying, she thought she was going to faint, but instead she regained consciousness and felt terrible pain all over. Fortunately, the floor was paved with tiles and was very flat, and she landed on her buttocks first while tilted, otherwise she would have broken several bones.
But Xu Junying was drunk and couldn't get up. He lay on top of her and muttered:
"What... happened? Help... me up!"
Mei Niang couldn't move, and pushed him in vain, shouting, "You're crushing me, get up quickly!"
After struggling for a long time, when Mei Niang couldn't hold on any longer and wanted to bite someone, Baoju ran over, horrified:
"Oh! What do you mean? I just went to see the Second Master off, and Master Hou is already so drunk!"
Mei Niang said weakly: "Help your Lord up, I'm about to die!"
The drunk man was as heavy as a cow. Baoju had to use a lot of strength to drag Xu Junying to the side so that Mei Niang could crawl out from under him.
Mei Niang took a breath for a while before she recovered. Her face was pale and she asked Bao Ju to go in and call someone to help her back to her room. She really had no strength left.
Baoju seemed to remember something and said to her, "Grandma, the friends in the front hall of the Lord want to see you..."
Mei Niang was annoyed: "His friends? Friends who drank like this together? I don't know them, so I won't meet them!"
Baoju said awkwardly: "Mr. Hou agreed at the banquet and wanted to invite..."
Mei Niang held Cui Xi and Cui Si's shoulders and walked into the yard, saying without looking back: "No, no, no, no one!"
Baoju went to call for someone to help Xu Junying back to the East Garden. When they reached the Moon Gate, Ruibao and Ruizhu were waiting inside. But Mother Wang appeared from nowhere and said to Baoju with a smile:
"Strong tea is ready in the upper room, and the eldest lady is back. Why don't you help the Lord back to the upper room to rest?"
Baoju didn't know where to go for a moment, and called out "Master Hou". Xu Junying opened his eyes, and couldn't see Mei Niang anywhere, so he said:
"Go... find Grandma!"
Baoju shook his head and said, "Help the Lord to go upstairs!"
Ruibao and Ruizhu looked disappointed. Mother Wang showed no expression but her eyes lit up. She hurried to the corridor without calling out any news. She only signaled Cheng'er, who was standing by the door, to open the warm curtains.
In the room, Cui Xi and others quickly helped Mei Niang wash her face and hands, change her clothes, and comb her hair. Just as they helped her lie down on the soft couch, Bao Ju and others came in carrying Xu Junying.
Mei Niang was shocked: "Why are there so many people coming in? I'm lying here, how rude!"
Baoju was embarrassed: "Grandma, please forgive me: Master Hou is drunk and has no strength at all. We have to support him..."
Mei Niang thought that Xu Junying had just rolled onto the floor, and she couldn't let him lie on the bed with dirty clothes on, so she moved inside:
"Come here and put him here!"
Then he remembered something and said to Baoju, "Wait! You... you guys help him into the clean room first!"
Several people were busy going in and out. Cui Xi and Cui Si helped to take off Hou Ye's outer robe, and placed him on the couch, leaning against the cotton pile with Mei Niang.
Baoju and the others bowed and quickly left. Cuilian used a hot towel to wipe Xu Junying's face and hands, and he regained consciousness:
"Mother Qin Mei, please go out to the front hall to meet my two friends who have come from afar!"
Mei Niang propped her head up with one hand and looked at him: "You knocked me over and made my whole body hurt. I can't go!"
Mother Wang quietly lifted the curtain and came in, and pulled Cui Xi and Cui Si who were standing aside waiting to be served. The three of them walked out of the room. After Cui Lian finished her work and took the basin of water, she also went out, leaving the couple in the room chatting casually.
"I want... tea!"
Mei Niang leaned over and poured him half a cup of warm water from the counter inside: "Drink it."
After Xu Junying finished drinking the water, he said, "Help me... up!"
Mei Niang was annoyed: "Get up by yourself, no one can help you!"
Xu Junying couldn't calm down: "Baoju... I have a guest... Don't neglect me!"
Mei Niang frowned: After basking in the sun for a while and walking for half a day, I was very tired, and then I was knocked over by Xu Junying. My body was in pain all over. I couldn't even lie down quietly to rest for a while because this guy was so noisy!
She shouted outside, "Let Baoju in!"
Cui Xi came in first, walked quickly to the couch and lowered the purple curtain, then Bao Ju came in. It was indeed better through the curtain.
Mei Niang asked, "What kind of guest do you have to meet?"
Baoju said, "To answer Grandma: They are two good friends of Lord Hou, and they are waiting for Lord Hou and you in the front hall!"
Mei Niang said, "Do you think we can get out now?"
Baoju scratched his head: "Please give me some advice, Grandma!"
"Mr. Hou can't walk anymore, and I was also injured by him... Go and tell him who is accompanying the guest in the front hall, and ask him to continue to accompany the guest. If he is drunk and sleepy, arrange for him to stay in the guest house. See you tomorrow!"
"Yes! I'll go right away!"
Xu Junying stretched out a hand, but Mei Niang pulled it back. She gently stroked his forehead and said to Baoju:
"You guys go down!"
He gave Xu Junying a head massage, opened the collar of his shirt a little, and quickly sent him to meet Zhou Gong.
After pulling the quilt over herself, Mei Niang lay on the pile of cotton, thinking about Heng'er, and gradually fell asleep.
They slept long enough from the afternoon until the second watch drum sounded at night. Mei Niang still didn't wake up, but Xu Junying was awakened by the urge to urinate. The alcohol had dissipated a lot, and except for a little dizziness, he had returned to normal.
He thought he was sleeping in the East Garden, but when he turned over, he saw someone lying next to him. He was surprised. He looked carefully with the light from the corridor coming in from the window and found that it was Mei Niang! Then he remembered what happened during the day. He was very drunk and couldn't open his eyes, but he vaguely remembered what happened. Baoju and the others placed him on the soft couch where Mei Niang was lying, and then Mei Niang reached out to touch his face, and he fell asleep quickly... Looking at himself, his clothes were loose and his outer robe was taken off. He quickly got off the couch, put on his shoes, and hurried into the inner room. He looked carefully again. Although the two of them slept on the same long pillow, they were each covered with a quilt. Mei Niang still rolled up the quilt and shrunk into the inside of the couch, leaving a distance between them. He breathed a sigh of relief, put on his outer robe, lifted the curtain and walked out of the room. It was cold in the winter night, and Mei Niang asked the night watchman to sit in the next room to warm himself by the fire and listen for any noise. Xu Junying paused in the corridor for a while and walked back to the East Garden. (To be continued)