Xu Junying unfolded a blanket, wrapped them both, picked up Meimei and walked to the clean room. Meimei put her hands on his neck and looked at his young and handsome face in the morning light. He looked gentle and kind, familiar and strange. His cold and dull expression seemed gone forever. She couldn't help but smile and kissed him on the lips:
"Husband, you are so kind!"
Xu Junying's body trembled, his arms tightened, his face pressed against hers, panting slightly, "Don't use the honey trap, your husband can't stand it!"
They got up at noon and took another hour to bathe. When the two of them came out and changed their clothes, they called Cui Xi and the others in to help them dress up slowly. After they had breakfast, it was almost noon.
The old lady sent someone to invite again. This time it was Mother Ji who came in person with a humble smile on her face. Before she could say anything, Ma Wei came in with the eunuchs from the palace and said that the emperor summoned Marquis Weiyuan to the palace to discuss matters.
Xu Junying said to the eunuch: "Please go ahead, I will follow soon!"
When Mother Ji saw this, she didn't say much and quickly went back to Jinhua Hall to report the news.
Cui Xi was asked to take the maids downstairs, leaving the couple alone in the room. Mei Mei asked, "Are you leaving right away? Can we have a few words?"
Xu Junying nodded: "Just say it, I'm listening!"
"Well, what I wanted to say last night..."
Meimei rubbed her forehead, Xu Junying smiled and gently hugged her, and the two sat down on the purple wooden chair beside them. Meimei subconsciously reached out and touched the collarbone that was specially covered with a layer of gauze, raised her eyes and looked at Xu Junying and said:
"I want to go to the palace with you. If the emperor wants you to marry A Yao because of the pressure from the queen mother, I will go back to him with you!"
Xu Junying said, "Don't worry, I know what to do. I told Bai Zhan last night that he should have been prepared. The one in Ayao's belly won't stay for a few days... The emperor summoned me, not necessarily for this matter, but for other matters. It's better for you not to go yet."
Meimei was startled, she struggled out of his arms and sat up straight: "No! You can't do that, kid, don't move!"
Xu Junying was stunned: "Meimei, it has to be like this! I have to stop them from thinking about it. I can only love my own family and not others. The appearance of that child is not what I want. They will use it and affect us more or less. I will not allow it!"
Meimei took a deep breath and thought of a question. If the child was really Xu Junying's, what would she do? Would she really let him get rid of it? Would she have the heart to do that
Thinking of Bai Jingyu, she had seen Xu Junlang's child being hurt. In order to protect her family, her and her daughter's happiness, she remained indifferent and allowed the concubines to have affairs with each other, harming the innocent fetus. She couldn't help but sigh secretly, has she come to this point? Such things are really difficult to make a decision, and she is now 80% sure that the child in A Yao's belly is not Xu Junying's, so she must stop them, resolutely and definitely not let them hurt the child!
Xu Junying looked at the copper kettle hourglass. Meimei knew that he could not delay any longer, so she said hurriedly:
"I'm serious, tell Bai Zhan to stop now. You can't touch that child. He may not be yours!"
Xu Junying looked at her blankly: "Meimei, I really, really did it... I remember hugging her... and we woke up the next day lying in bed together."
Meimei bit her lip and stared at him: "Does it feel good to hug her?"
"At that time, I just wanted to be free. How do you want me to feel? I didn't feel anything - I don't remember anything!"
Xu Junying was very embarrassed and reached out to stroke her cheek: "Stop biting, you'll hurt yourself!"
Meimei pushed his hand away, puffed her cheeks, stared at the carved wooden door leading to the study and pondered. Xu Junying stopped talking and did not move to leave. Meimei thought for a while and said to him, "I am not completely sure about this matter. I wanted to explain it to you, but time is running out. If you want to talk about official business after entering the palace, just refuse. If the emperor helps the queen mother to force you, you can insist that the child in Ayao's belly is not yours. If the emperor asks why, you can ask me!"
Xu Junying looked at her with a look of doting and reproach: "Meimei, while I was away, I heard that you were very close to the King of Qi and even went to the King of Qi's mansion. You just refused to listen to your husband... Will it be useful to find the King of Qi?"
Meimei sighed slightly, smiled and pulled him up: "Your spy is fast enough, and he has already reported it? Yes, I went to the Prince of Qi's mansion, but the Prince of Qi refused to give in. For the Queen Mother's face, his conditions must be used, but I think he may not be useful - remember my words, go to the palace!"
After seeing Xu Junying off, Meimei remembered something and hurried into the inner room. She took out a small porcelain bottle from the cupboard, poured out a small black pill, looked at it from left to right, put it in her mouth and swallowed it. She was going to start taking the contraceptive pill made by Doctor Duan of Qiancaotang.
In the side hall of the palace, the emperor, Xu Junying and several other ministers finished discussing government affairs and asked the others to leave, leaving Xu Junying behind. The two of them went to the west building of the Dewen Hall not far from the Forbidden Garden and sat down to drink tea. The emperor said:
"What are you dithering about? Are you really going to argue with the Queen Mother? A-Yao is pregnant with your child, so hurry up and get married! Your wife is extremely beautiful, and A-Yao is not ugly, so why do you dislike her?"
"How dare I despise her? I will never marry A Yao. Please tell the Queen Mother to bring her back to the palace. It's not a good idea for her to live in my house all the time. It's not good for my reputation!"
The emperor looked at Xu Junying as if he were a monster. Ji Qing, who was standing behind him, was also stunned, unable to believe that Xu Junying would say such a thing.
The emperor suddenly pointed at Xu Junying and yelled, "You are so brave! I am pregnant with your child, but I don't want to live in your mansion but live in the palace. What do you want? Do you want me to take the blame for you?"
Xu Junying was also a little flustered, but he remembered Meimei's words and gritted his teeth and said, "You need to ask my wife about this matter. I don't know much about it either!"
"You did a good thing, don't you understand?"
"Your Majesty, I am drunk, and there is medicine in the wine! I don't understand anything, but my wife has something to say!"
The emperor turned around and said to Ji Qing with gritted teeth, "Go and invite the queen, and ask her to summon the wife of Weiyuan Marquis to the palace!"
Meimei was quickly brought into the palace and saw the emperor and empress sitting at the top, while Xu Junying was sitting at the bottom, looking a little uneasy. After she knelt down to greet the emperor, she walked towards him. Xu Junying stood up to greet her, and their hands were tightly clasped together.
The emperor and the queen looked at each other and snorted coldly, "Qin Meimei, could it be that you don't want Xu Junying to marry a concubine, so you came up with some crooked idea to confuse people? I'll give you a chance. You two should go home now and prepare for the wedding as soon as possible. Marry A Yao on the date chosen by the queen mother! In view of your abominable behavior, I have decided to obey the queen mother's wishes - A Yao must be a co-wife!"
Meimei smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Empress Dowager: I have always been law-abiding and I dare not and cannot think of any crooked ideas. I have only one opinion on this matter: if Weiyuan Hou had been allowed to marry Ayao in the days when the incident happened, I would have arranged the wedding for them immediately without saying a word. Ayao is the daughter of a general and is deeply loved by the Empress Dowager. She is of noble status. Even if she wants to be the legal wife, I would have been willing to let her! But unexpectedly, when Weiyuan Hou came back from a business trip, Ayao was pregnant. I cannot acknowledge this and will never allow my husband to marry a woman who is pregnant with someone else's flesh and blood!"
The emperor stared at Meimei, his eyes smoldering with anger, but the queen remained calm and looked at Meimei and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Someone else's flesh and blood? A Yao has been living in the mansion of Weiyuan Marquis since she spent a night in the same room with him. Isn't she pregnant with Weiyuan Marquis's child?"
Meimei said calmly: "That's right! I heard what my husband said about spending a night together in the same room in the imperial manor. I also believe him and we all agree on this matter. But the problem is that my husband can't make A Yao pregnant - because he doesn't have that ability!"
The Emperor and the Empress were dumbfounded. This time they looked at Meimei like a monster. Ji Qing suddenly found it funny and lowered his head. Xu Junying was embarrassed and looked at Meimei, not knowing what to say.
The queen stuttered, "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, allow me to report: The true situation is this." Meimei said slowly: "My husband ate stone ball powder, which is a plant that grows in the cracks of rocks and has a paralyzing effect. If it is combined with other medicines or consumed in large quantities, it can cause men to be extinct! The amount of medicine my husband took can make him childless for three years!"
The Emperor and the Empress were stunned again, but Xu Junying was so shocked that he almost fell off his chair. He held Meimei's hand tightly and stared into her eyes until he saw the definite answer in her eyes. His hands and feet instantly turned cold and sweat appeared on his forehead.
The emperor looked at Xu Junying and said, "Is this true? Why didn't you tell me? Who told you to take that medicine? You actually took it!"
Xu Junying lowered his eyes and said, "This is a private matter between husband and wife, and it is not appropriate to tell others. My wife has had a serious illness, and her body is weak and unable to give birth to a child. She has taken too many decoctions during her illness. If she is asked to take contraceptive decoction, it will only make things worse and will not be conducive to her recovery. Therefore, I am the one who will take this medicine!"
Meimei didn't expect that Xu Junying was also good at making up lies. His words were so perfect and convincing that the queen was so moved that she couldn't find any reason to embarrass him.
The emperor did not give up: "Whether this is true or not, we need evidence. Besides, there is still A Yao here, where did the baby in her belly come from? Someone, please ask the imperial physician to confirm it first!"
Meimei frowned slightly: Zhang Jingyun said that Xu Junying ate a small amount of stone ball powder and would be childless for the next three or four years, but he was a martial artist with good luck, and there were some abnormalities in his meridians and pulses, which were difficult to detect for doctors with less advanced medical skills.
So, regardless of Xu Junying's presence, she said to the emperor, "Zhang Jingyun once diagnosed my husband's pulse because he was feeling a little unwell. He said that only a person with superb medical skills could diagnose this kind of pulse!"
The emperor looked at her and said to Ji Qing, "Go, find me all the old doctors in the Imperial Medical Office who boast of their excellent medical skills!"
After a while, seven or eight doctors came into the west building and, in accordance with the emperor's wishes, examined Xu Junying's pulse one by one. Doctors Su and Qiao exchanged opinions after feeling his pulse. Doctor Su then reported to the emperor: Marquis Weiyuan had indeed consumed stone powder, but...
Meimei interrupted him in time: "The two doctors are indeed highly skilled. They were able to diagnose such a subtle pulse. Mr. Zhang once said that the two of you are the masters of the imperial medical clinic in the palace!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)