The old lady vomited blood in anger in the West Mansion, but surprisingly she did not faint. She was carried to the hall by her panicked descendants and lay on the couch. She was very clear-headed and did not even close her eyes. Mother Ji was a careful person. She brought an outer robe with her. It was originally to prevent the cold wind when she came back in the afternoon, but it came in handy at this time. She changed the old lady's clothes. The maids served hot tea and hot water. Mother Ji and Ruiyu helped her rinse her mouth and wash her face. The second master and the second wife knelt in the front. The second wife just sobbed quietly, and the second master kowtowed and shouted:
"Mother! Mother! My child is undisciplined. Please calm down! Please take care of yourself!"
The old lady waved her hand, and Mother Ji ignored her and hurried over to lean over and said:
"Second Master, Second Madam, please change your clothes and wash your face before coming back. How could you forget that the old lady hates seeing people who are not well-dressed and have unfriendly faces the most!"
The two men suddenly remembered and hurriedly retreated to change their clothes. The Second Master still remembered turning around and glaring at the Second Wife fiercely. It turned out that she was the one who wanted to let the old and young in the house see his miserable appearance, so she dragged him and did not let him change his clothes. This time her wish came true. The young ones looked at their father with disgust in their eyes, and the old one was so angry that he vomited blood!
The second master gnashed his teeth, and while washing his face with the hot water brought by the maids, he cursed in his heart: What an unvirtuous woman! I really wish I could kill her!
Pearl and Yuzhu in the second wife's room just served the mistress. Bai Jingyu signaled a second-class maid to go and comb the master's hair and change his clothes. However, the maid could not comb his hair properly, and pulled the second master's scalp so hard that it hurt. The corners of his eyes were slanted, and his mouth was crooked. In anger, the second master slapped her back, and the maid threw the comb away, covered her face and ran away. Aunt Yan came in, looked at her with resentful eyes, picked up the comb on the ground, and quickly tidied his hair, put on the scholar's crown, and took the robe from the maid's hand to help him put it on, tidying up. After a while, the second master looked at Aunt Yan who took out a silk handkerchief and wiped her tears, sighed, and walked out of the room without saying a word.
The pregnant woman in the corridor disappeared, and the second master was panicking. Fang came over with Shen Ge'er and whispered:
"My eldest sister-in-law asked someone to help her down. In case the old lady wants to see her soon, she was told to clean her face and change clothes first..."
The second master nodded, and when he heard his most beloved grandson, Shen Ge'er, calling him Grandpa, he did not want to agree, and went straight to the hall to see the old lady.
After this pause, the old lady's mind turned and she came to her senses. She stopped scolding and angrily. She lay on the couch and asked the woman about her situation calmly. Bai Jingyu guessed it right and asked her to bring the woman up to see him. He only took a look at her towering belly and asked her to take him down. He said in a deep voice:
"I thought you were weak, but I didn't expect you to be so foolish at this moment and do something that brings shame to your family! If your disturbance gets out, I don't know if you can keep your official position. It's not appropriate to let her go now, or she will give people a reason to talk. Just keep her and see if she has a boy or a girl in her belly! Remember: nothing can happen again! Why would this woman cling to you? If she didn't want your silver, then she wanted the power of Xu Houfu. She can't be attracted to you at your age, right? Everything has a reason. She shouldn't be born from a stone. There are always brothers and sisters, distant relatives and neighbors. Even the smallest ant will hurt! We've carried her into the Xu Mansion today. There are so many eyes watching outside. If a dead person is carried out, just wait and see! Junying may save your lives, but do you still want the reputation of the Xu Mansion and the future of your children and grandchildren?"
When the old lady said the last sentence, she raised her voice in vain, and then she burst into coughing. Mother Ji and Rui Yu were serving her, and her children and grandchildren had no choice but to kneel on the spot and kowtow, repeatedly begging the old lady to calm down.
The second wife was unsure and looked back at her eldest daughter-in-law, Bai Jingyu. Bai Jingyu was sitting on the ground holding a cotton pad, her eyes cold. She shook her head gently at her mother-in-law, and the second wife breathed a sigh of relief.
The old lady took a breath, took a sip of tea from Mother Ji's hand, and looked at her grandchildren kneeling on the ground. She felt indescribably lonely and lost in her heart. They were all descendants of the Xu family. The father and sons were all handsome and elegant. They had been around her since they were young. It goes without saying that they were docile and filial. She had given them the most love and care, but today, for the first time, she felt disappointed in them.
The old lady refused to eat in the West Mansion and still asked Xu Junlang to take her back to Jinhua Hall in the Hou Mansion. The second master wanted to escort her and carry the sedan chair, but the old lady said without even turning her head:
"Don't follow me. Take a few days off and stay at home. Rest at Yan's place. Apply medicine and heal the wound on your face. Whether you still want to be an official or not, go find Junying yourself!"
The second master had no choice but to stop, bow and kowtow. After seeing his mother off, he returned to Yasong Courtyard. He was filled with rage and found a stick. He rushed into the room and started hitting the second wife, who had just sat down and was drinking tea. The second wife was caught off guard and started crying and shouting like a pig being slaughtered. Xu Junya and Xu Junqiao, who were still sitting in the hall, quickly ran over to hold him back and snatch the stick. The second wife cried until she was hoarse. Xu Junya comforted his mother and looked at his father with an even colder gaze.
Xu Junlang escorted the old lady and her party to the Moon Cave Gate. Xu Junying, Meimei, Xu Junting and Xu Junxuan were about to come over. They hurried forward to pay their respects to their grandmother, but did not say why they came at this time. The old lady felt relieved when she saw her eldest grandson. She smiled and nodded and said:
"It's just a small matter, it shouldn't have turned out like this. Let them make a fuss, don't pay any attention to it, let's go back!"
Xu Junying and his brothers took the old lady back to Jinhua Hall. After hearing what Xu Junlang said, they knew that the old lady was upset, so they asked Baoju to quickly call the imperial physician. After taking the old lady's pulse, the imperial physician wrote a prescription and only spoke kindly to comfort the old lady. Before she left, he asked Hou Ye to see her off. Everyone knew that she must be in good shape. The old lady felt a little disappointed, but she forced a smile and asked for food to be brought so that she could eat with her grandchildren.
Xu Junying sent the imperial physician back, but he did not hide anything and told his grandmother what the imperial physician said: "This time the hemoptysis is caused by a minor heart and lung disease, which is not difficult to treat. You should rest and recuperate, smile more happily, relax your mind, stop paying attention to trivial matters, eat on time and take medicine, and you will get better slowly!"
The old lady pondered for a while, nodded and said: "I have been thinking about reciting Buddhist scriptures for the past few days to pray for my descendants. This can be regarded as a quiet and resting life, right? Then I will set up a Buddhist temple from tomorrow and start to practice Buddhism behind closed doors. You don't have to come every day. If you have nothing to do, you must come to see me. Just ask outside, don't bother me!"
From then on, the old lady kept her word and no longer asked about the affairs of the two governments, nor did she allow her children and grandchildren to come and serve her. She changed her habit of liking to be lively and devoted herself to Buddhism, while taking medicine to recuperate. No matter who came, she was only allowed to greet them in front of the Buddhist temple and leave. She did not meet her children and grandchildren on weekdays, and would only come out when there were important guests who wanted to see her and she was willing to see them. As she persisted in this way, sometimes her children and grandchildren did not see the old lady for six or seven days.
Meimei didn't know whether the descendants of the Xu family would feel sad because they couldn't serve the old lady. She was secretly happy because she no longer had to worry about how to avoid the awkward and careless greetings every day. She was suspicious and asked Xu Junying if he coaxed the old lady like this just for her. Xu Junying said seriously: "Don't talk nonsense! It's okay for me, but how can I let them lose their filial piety? The imperial physician said so. In your opinion, grandma may treat us badly, but she is grandma after all. She has been really good to me since I was a child. How can family affection be fake? I wish she lives a hundred years. If this can cure the disease, I will naturally encourage her to do it!"
"Okay, okay! Stop being so hypocritical! You Xu family members are used to putting on a show. Everyone knows that the old lady is doing this for the West Mansion. But she may really want to live to be a hundred years old. She can't ignore her body. The longer she lives, the more she can see! While she is in seclusion, you can order Baoju to move around and eliminate the influence of the second master. Maybe the memorials from the censors have reached the emperor, and the emperor may ask you and then throw the memorial away!"
Xu Junying stared at her helplessly: "Did you go to see the Princess of Qi again? She and the Prince of Qi often go to the palace to pay respects to the Queen Mother and talk to the Queen from time to time. Hasn't she told you all the news?"
Meimei shook her head: "No, I haven't seen her recently, but I'm going to look for her. What do you think the couple meant? They didn't invite me to the wedding banquet, and they didn't invite me to visit the Prince Qi's Mansion after such a long time of marriage... No! I have to go and see what the Prince Qi's Mansion looks like!"
Xu Junying lowered his eyes and said, "I advise you not to go. The King of Qi has his reasons for not letting you go!"
"What's the reason?"
Seeing her ignorant look, Xu Junying couldn't help but laugh and said, "There are so many beauties in Prince Qi's Mansion. I'm afraid you'll be dazzled and want to snatch a few away. What if?"
Meimei finally came to her senses: "Really? How could I be so stupid that I didn't think of this? I heard that kind of beauties are used to serving others. How about we grab a few of them and keep them at home?"
Xu Junying's face changed: "Nonsense again! Cen Meimei, how can you have such an idea? You, you don't learn good things, but only learn those things that are not right! From now on, you are not allowed to have any contact with the King of Qi, let alone go to the King of Qi's mansion! Do you hear me?"
“I heard it!”
Meimei looked at him with a smile and answered obediently.
The two were sitting opposite each other at the desk. Xu Junying wanted to read official documents after dinner. Meimei finished reading the account books, brought in a plate of cut fruit and fed him, and then confined him to the chair, saying that she had to wait until he finished reading the documents before they could go out together.
When their eyes met, she could not help but be charming. Xu Junying waved his hand, and Meimei got up and came over to sit on his lap, hooking her hands around his neck and said with a smile:
"You know what? You are someone who can't resist temptation. If someone uses the beauty trap on the battlefield, what will you do?"
Xu Junying raised his eyebrows: "It's a pity that no one has ever used the honey trap on me! But I accidentally used this trick on someone else."
Meimei was curious: "Who? Who fell into your honey trap?"
"Who else could it be? You!"
"Where's the beauty?"
"Here! Meimei, it's enough for you to support me, a beauty, for the rest of your life!" (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)