The next morning, Mei Niang slept soundly and woke up without being woken up. She stretched out her body habitually and looked at the faint morning light coming through the window. Suddenly she remembered that someone was sleeping on the same couch with her. She turned around quickly, but Xu Junying was gone. That guy had woken up earlier than her and ran away without a trace.
A strange smile appeared on her face: as Qin Meiniang, she at least experienced the feeling of sleeping on the same bed with her husband - first she patiently comforted the drunk man to sleep, and then she lay down tiredly on the side, closed her eyes and fell asleep with a lot of things in her mind, without any warm and romantic feeling at all.
What kind of love should there be between a real couple? She couldn’t say for sure, as she had never been married to anyone officially, but she was an adult and had experienced the emotional entanglements between men and women. She was in love with her boyfriend in college and had eaten the forbidden fruit. At that time, her boyfriend held her in his palm and wished he could hold her in his mouth. The two of them even ran to get tattoos hand in hand with great enthusiasm, gritting their teeth and enduring the pain, letting the tattoo artist tattoo each other’s names on their arms… She was spoiled by him to the point of lawlessness, and really thought that she was the only woman in the world and the earth would not turn without her. As a result, after graduation, they had to go back to their own homes despite being reluctant to part, and maintained their relationship with day and night calls and intensive text messages. Three months later, she missed him so much that she flew to his city without prior notice, wanting to give him a so-called surprise. She stood happily on a strange street, and God also gave her a surprise: she ran into her boyfriend by chance, with the same bright smile she was familiar with, and the hand that once held her was now around the slender waist of a young girl!
She felt like the world had fallen apart and her heart was broken. She wanted to beat up her boyfriend and that woman, but her hands and feet were so weak at that time that she felt like she was the one who had done something wrong. She ran away from them and cried all the way home.
My boyfriend sent me a text message: I truly love you and must marry her. I will use marriage as a bargaining chip to exchange for a successful life!
This message made her stop crying, just like she used to have to be comforted by him when she cried. She quickly stopped crying and replied to him: I wish you success in life! Which gigolo buddy gave you this advice? The feeling of selling yourself for fame and fortune may be wonderful, it's worth a try!
He sent another text message, but she didn't read it. She deleted it and turned off her phone.
Afterwards, she went to a big city in the south, closed herself off from love, worked hard for three years, made some achievements, climbed up from a small clerk in a large company to the middle management level, and was surrounded by mature men, but she no longer had the feeling of being beaten. A classmate told her about her ex-boyfriend's current situation: he was married, and was climbing steadily step by step in the career arranged for him by his father-in-law... He was asking about her. Although she still had his shadow in her heart, she thought that they would never meet again in this life.
Just when I was considering whether to accept a more mature relationship, I suddenly got into a car accident for no apparent reason and came to this damn place.
Qin Meiniang leaned on the cushion and frowned slightly: When she was mocking her boyfriend back then, she never thought that one day her situation would be similar to his - he married a wife in order to get ahead as soon as possible, but now what has she done and is planning to do in order to gain a foothold in this mansion, maintain her status as the main wife, and fight for her son's position as the crown prince
No, no! How can they be compared? She is now Qin Meiniang, and Qin Meiniang and Xu Junying are originally husband and wife. She should definitely do what she wants to do, otherwise she and her son will be trampled underfoot!
Qin Meiniang called out lazily:
"Is anyone there? Come in!"
Mother Wang and three maids held various toiletries and walked into the room. Standing outside the curtain, they said respectfully:
"The servants will help Master and Madam get up!"
Mei Niang chuckled: "Master got up early, only your grandmother is here, don't bother, I will go into the inner room to wash my face!"
Mother Wang was also wondering, a thin curtain couldn't cover anything, and saw that there was no one under the quilt next to Grandma, so several people hurriedly rolled up the curtain, came to the bed and asked:
"Master, you got up so early? We servants have been waiting outside the door since before dawn, why don't you see him coming out?"
Mei Niang asked, "Will he fall down after entering the inner room and be unable to get up?"
Mother Wang was startled: "Grandma, don't dare to talk like that... Cui Xi, go and take a look!"
Cui Xi ran back and forth, shaking her head: "No! The master must have left before we arrived!"
Mother Wang looked at Cui Si, and Cui Si said hurriedly, "Last night, Cheng'er and I were on duty. We didn't dare to close our eyes. We came out from time to time in the middle of the night to listen, but we didn't hear anything!"
Mei Niang saw that Mother Wang was about to blame Cui Si, and the maids looked annoyed and uneasy, and she knew what they were thinking: the relationship between the master and the grandmother was cold, and they finally got into the grandmother's room and slept together, but they didn't serve her well and didn't even know when she left. It was a good opportunity to cultivate their relationship, but they ended up like this.
Mei Niang secretly laughed in her heart and comforted them: "The master must have something urgent to do. He left in the middle of the night after waking up from the drunken stupor. He is a commander and needs to practice martial arts frequently. Haven't you heard of "hearing the cock crow and rising to dance"? It's talking about people like him. He has to get up before dawn to practice martial arts. Otherwise, how can he become an ever-victorious general?"
The girls were relieved. Mother Wang also smiled and agreed, "That's right! Our master really has this habit. There is a martial arts training ground in the East Courtyard, and he practices kung fu there!"
Mei Niang nodded and said seriously, "Don't worry, he is my husband. In this mansion, without him, there would be no me. He gave me this status and position, so I naturally know that I should seize the opportunity to sit firmly! From now on, I will be in charge of the household affairs of the Hou Mansion. In the first few days, I will check the accounts, receive the housekeepers and stewards of the inner and outer courtyards, and sort out some things. I must be very busy. To be honest, I am the housekeeper, first to show off my strength and save face, and second to fight for what our Tsinghua Academy should have but didn't have before, but I don't know if I can actually do it well. I have forgotten everything in the past, and I don't even remember the rules of the Hou Mansion. Some things may be handled improperly, or I may violate certain taboos without knowing it. You are my close and intimate people, so remember to remind and care for me from time to time. There are many places where you are needed. You will be more tired than before, and you may even be scolded... Are you afraid?"
Mother Wang said with red eyes: "We followed Grandma to the Hou Mansion, hoping that Grandma would have a bright future. If Grandma succeeds, we will be happy. We will do our best to do what Grandma asks us to do. What is there to be afraid of?"
Cui Si said excitedly: "Now I wonder which suicidal woman or daughter-in-law dares to bully us!"
Mei Niang smiled at her and said, "Cui Xi, Cui Si and Cui Lian each have their own personality traits, and they are all very suitable for me... Cui Xi is more stable, Cui Lian is careful, and Cui Si is capable and bold, and speaks her mind, you know? Sometimes you suffer because of this, and I have suffered this before, just because I spoke without thinking... Well, you don't know, I speak carelessly when I am with the grandmothers. What I want to tell Cui Si is: remember to consider the person you are talking to in the future, and think about what you should say and what you shouldn't say."
Cui Si blushed and lowered her head: "I just talk too much. I know I am wrong and I will change in the future!"
Mei Niang said: "From now on, don't call me a slave, just call me by my name."
Then he asked Wang's mother, "How is the matter I asked you to do yesterday going?"
Mother Wang looked at Cui Si and replied, "I have consulted Mrs. Lin and the others, and they said that the Grandmother is kind and will not cause trouble for them. As long as they tell them where they heard the words and fight back, and let them keep it in their stomachs, will they dare not obey the Grandmother's words?"
Mei Niang hummed: "Whether it is true or not, we just treat it as a rumor and forbid it from being spread. Miss Zheng will get married in the future, and it would be bad to ruin her reputation. We must also consider our master's reputation, and we must not allow such words to be heard again!"
Mother Wang looked at Mei Niang with admiration and nodded with a smile: "People are hoping that those rumors will spread more and more fiercely, and it will be even better if they get to the old lady's ears or get out of the door! But don't worry, Grandma, it won't spread. Today, Grandma sat down in the Purple Cloud Hall in a majestic manner. How could those short-sighted servants not stick to their own masters and listen to those who have no status and no status?"
Cui Si pouted: "That's not what I said. I usually talk too much, but I only scold the little girl in the yard. My mother taught me since I was a child that things in my yard must not be revealed to others. How could I be so bold as to run out and make up stories about my master, who is also a master?"
Mother Wang rolled her eyes at her and said, "I know it wasn't you. You were just being used. You are straightforward, lively and cheerful. Grandmother pointed out that you followed the nurse to watch Heng'er. Miss Zheng pinched Heng'er. Who else could it be if not you? That old lady Lin's daughter came to the yard to talk to you a few times. She saw it all!"
Cui Si stamped her feet and said, "What a shame! What kind of girl could be so cunning and scheme against others like this!"
Cui Xi and Cui Lian laughed: "Will you dare to shout loudly in the future?" (To be continued)