It was already completely dark, Mei Niang said to Zhang Jingyun with an apologetic look:
"I'm sorry for delaying your leaving the city. I really want to get to this restaurant. If there is nothing important at the villa, just stay here and don't go back. It's not safe to travel at night!"
Zhang Jingyun glanced at her and said, "I have the gold medal bestowed by the emperor. I can call for the city gates to be opened at any time, and I can also call on the soldiers of the city gate defense department. It will only take an hour to get back to the villa. Don't worry about me. It's just that you... do things unexpectedly. Brother Cen believed you and really recognized you as a brother. He gave Xiankelai to you. Are you going to find someone to take care of it yourself, or hand it over to Master Qin? Doesn't he have to study for the exam?"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "Do you believe it? My last name is Cen! This man and I are really from the same family. I didn't lie to him. This is a long story, so let's not talk about it. But please don't tell anyone that I took over Xiankelai. You must not tell Xu Junying!"
Zhang Jingyun walked ahead silently, and then stopped again: "This is not right, he will definitely blame me in the future - if you hand over the restaurant to Mr. Qin, there will be no problem!"
Mei Niang shook her head: "It is impossible at the moment. My brother needs to recuperate and my sister-in-law is weak due to pregnancy. I have to do this myself! Mr. Zhang, don't take it too seriously. I can tell you clearly: I want this restaurant for my own benefit. I can't stay in the mansion for too long..."
Zhang Jingyun was stunned: "What do you mean?"
Mei Niang looked around. There were only the two of them on the quiet and cold street. She sighed and said:
"You have also seen the situation of my mother's family. Compared with the Hou Mansion, it is far inferior. Xu Junying may not value family background, but the elders are upset because he married a woman from a small family. He was away from home before, and my family didn't like my mother and son. They finally waited for him to come back. They can't look down on me anymore, but the couple has been separated for a long time, and their feelings have finally faded. Everyone in the mansion knows that the old lady will marry him another wife who comes from a wealthy family, is gentle and virtuous, and is also his childhood sweetheart cousin. I will definitely be excluded and neglected in the Hou Mansion in the future. I must find a way out for myself. In case there is a day when I am divorced, I can live safely with my son without relying on the support of the Hou Mansion and live the life we want!"
Zhang Jingyun looked at her in shock. "Why, why is it so? It's widely rumored in the capital that you and your wife are deeply in love. You were able to come back to life thanks to Junying's constant presence, guarding you day and night... He is a single-minded person, how could he listen to the old lady and marry another woman?"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "Rumors are not to be believed. Maybe there was love in the past, but now and in the future, it should be gradually broken. You are his best friend, and I regard you as a friend, so I am willing to tell you the truth. You just need to listen. Please forgive me for dragging you to do this. Nothing will happen now, but after the New Year, everything that is supposed to happen will happen!"
Zhang Jingyun sighed slightly and said, "Even if Junying is willing to follow the elders' arrangements, you are a royal consort, how can you easily divorce her? Besides, if you give birth to a firstborn son, he will be made the crown prince in the future and will inherit the title."
Mei Niang also sighed sadly: "Just because of this! If it weren't for Heng'er, I would not have been willing to swallow my anger and waste my time in his mansion!"
Zhang Jingyun looked at her silently, with a slight heat rising in his eyes. He thought of his mother. How similar were the experiences of Mei Niang and his mother? The difference was that Xu Junying married a new wife nearly two years after his marriage, while his father, Jingguo Gong Zhang Wuyang, could not wait to bring a concubine into the house less than ten days after marrying his principal wife! That one was also his childhood sweetheart, not his cousin, but the half-sister of his classmate Zhou Sheng! She could not be the principal wife, so he allowed her to be a concubine, doted on her exclusively, and completely isolated his newly married principal wife, Song, from their love nest. Zhang Jingyun was born in the same month as his half-brother Zhang Qixiao. After that, his mother asked to live in another courtyard and raised Zhang Jingyun alone. She refused to see Zhang Wuyang and his concubine. When Zhang Jingyun was six years old, his mother died of depression. Before she died, she held his hand tightly and said with tears in her eyes:
"Mother is sorry for you. I was unable to protect you and help you win the position of Crown Prince... My son's life is the most important thing. You can't live in this house anymore. Go ask Grandfather to take you in!"
Six-year-old Zhang Jingyun waited for his mother's funeral and asked his uncle to take him away from the Duke's Mansion. Zhang Wuyang refused to do so out of respect. His uncle could not take him away. Zhang Jingyun was furious and pointed at Zhang Wuyang and cried, "You are not worthy of being my father. I will not be included in your Zhang family genealogy. Why don't you let me go?"
Zhang Wuyang was furious and picked him up and wanted to lock him up in a dark room, but he was bitten by him. When he let go, Zhang Jingyun quickly ran out of the Duke's Mansion. He failed to catch up with his uncle, but met the genius doctor Liu Cheng at the busy city gate. They were destined to be master and disciple. He followed Liu Cheng closely, and Liu Cheng did not drive him away and accepted him as his disciple.
After he became an adult, Zhang Jingyun returned to the capital several times to visit his grandparents, uncle and aunt, and to take the pulse of the late emperor who was terminally ill. Because the father and son looked too similar, people soon guessed that the disciple of the genius doctor who was inseparable from the prince all day was the eldest son of the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion. Zhang Wuyang was uneasy when he heard the news, and he rushed to ask him to go home to recognize his ancestors. Zhang Jingyun did return to the Duke's Mansion, but he did not kneel down to worship the ancestral tablets. Instead, he gathered together the servants that his mother used to serve, issued silver bills and documents, and asked them to leave the mansion, or to find a living on their own, or to make other arrangements by him. He instructed his followers to set fire to the courtyard where his mother had lived, and even cut down all the flowers and trees in the courtyard, leaving no trace of them in the Duke's Mansion. Then he took his mother's tablet from the ancestral hall and left in a huff, making the Duke of Jingguo so angry that he wanted to vomit blood.
When he was very young, Zhang Jingyun watched his father and his concubine laughing and drinking tea and playing chess, while his mother could only sit alone in the cold courtyard embroidering, reading, or standing in front of the window for a long time, staring at the fallen leaves. As he grew older, he could better understand his mother's deep loneliness and depression. He felt sorry for his mother and missed her. The pain in his heart could not be healed, but he never expected that many years later, his mother's tragedy would happen again, and it fell on Qin Meiniang!
Mei Niang is as proud and arrogant as her mother, and refuses to bow down and beg for mercy. However, unlike her mother, she is bolder and stronger than her mother and is able to face the reality bravely. As soon as she heard the noise, she made preparations in advance. No matter what the outcome, she found a way out for herself early on!
Zhang Jingyun tried to persuade Mei Niang: "I heard that it took a lot of trouble for Junying to marry you. He liked you so much, how could the love between husband and wife be broken? Marrying a new wife will not let you down. The two wives should be able to get along well."
Mei Niang stamped her feet on the snow, "It's so cold! Should we hurry up and leave? My mother might scold me later! That... let's not talk about that. I can't remember whether he was good to me before, so I'm not sad to hear that he wants to marry a new wife, but I will never share a husband with someone else. If he doesn't abandon me, I will leave him! But now I have to rely on his power and fight for some benefits first - Hey! I've told you everything, you can't run to Xu Junying and betray me!"
As she spoke, she put her legs together and hopped forward like a rabbit, very quickly. Zhang Jingyun followed her and was amazed at her leg strength. He didn't know that Mei Niang was exercising, but thought she was playful and naughty like a child. He couldn't help laughing and said in a voice so soft that only he could hear:
"You treat me as a friend, how could I do anything to let you down?"
After picking up the medicine at Qiancaotang, Zhang Jingyun asked the shopkeeper to harness the carriage and send Mei Niang back to Qin's house first. Mei Niang asked the shopkeeper for some tea and took off her mask in the carriage. Zhang Jingyun taught her how to boil the medicine again. Mei Niang said, "I know some methods of massaging acupoints. When the medicine is boiled, I will soak my mother's feet and massage her feet at the same time. Should that be okay?"
Zhang Jingyun nodded: "That's good, but use less force."
Riding in a carriage was much faster than walking, and they arrived at Qin's house in a short while. Mother Wang and Cui Xi were holding lanterns and anxiously guarding the door. Mei Niang said a few words to Zhang Jingyun in the carriage, asking her to be careful on the road and to keep warm. Then she got the herbs and got off the carriage. She watched the carriage rumble away, and then followed Mother Wang and Cui Xi into the gate, making up lies all the way to deceive Mrs. Qin.
Unexpectedly, this time Mrs. Qin was not so easy to coax. She pointed at Mei Niang with one trembling hand and covered her face with a handkerchief with the other hand and cried bitterly. Mei Niang was helpless and turned to look at Cui Xi. Cui Xi actually went to get a cushion and put it in front of her. She had no choice but to kneel down with her head down, listening to Mrs. Qin crying and scolding her. Gradually, she felt aggrieved and sad in her heart.
Only Wang Mama and Cui Xi were serving in the room. Madam Qin scolded Mei Niang: "How can you behave so irrationally? How can you be a wife of a marquis? If you go out alone with a young man casually, what will happen if the people in the Marquis' Mansion find out? You don't care about yourself, but you have to care about the face of the Marquis and Heng'er! Now that you have recovered from your illness, you have become so bold and reckless. Have you completely forgotten my teachings in the past? Are you still so ignorant of etiquette and rules in the Marquis' Mansion? You are going to piss me off to death! How many times have I told you that this blessing of yours is the result of your good deeds in several lifetimes and the good deeds of your ancestors. It is so rare, but you don't know how to cherish it!"
Mother Wang and Cui Xi stood aside with their heads lowered, not daring to say a word.
Feng came in with Li'er's help. She was shocked to see this. She quickly sent Li'er away and took a few quick steps to kneel beside Mei Niang. Mei Niang hurriedly supported her.
"Sister-in-law, you can't do that. I made mother angry. I just kneel down and admit my fault. It has nothing to do with sister-in-law!"
Feng said to Madam Qin with tears in her eyes, "Mother, I risked my life to go out of town to invite a miracle doctor for my husband and me. My husband has woken up and is eating a bowl of rice porridge. He is in great spirits... Although the miracle doctor is a young man, he is dignified and polite. I have been taught by you since I was young. How could I not know the difference between men and women? But mother, you don't even trust your own daughter. How can you bear to scold me?"
Madam Qin wiped her tears and said, "You are young and ignorant. Your sister married into the Hou Mansion..."
When Mei Niang heard Madam Qin mention the Hou Mansion, she felt overwhelmed and could no longer bear it. She raised her head and said to Madam Qin:
"Mother, I'm very tired today. Can you let me get up and talk?"
Madam Qin sighed, feeling distressed and helpless: "Get up! Have you listened to what I said today? You should save me from all the painstaking efforts!"
Mei Niang stood up, and together with Cui Xi, she helped Feng Shi to sit on an embroidered stool nearby. Then she walked back to Madam Qin and sat down next to her, saying:
"Mother, you only think that it is such an honor for your daughter to marry into the Marquis's Mansion, but you don't know how your daughter is despised in the Marquis' Mansion! You have also asked Mother Wang, but she will definitely not tell you. The grievances of my daughter are much heavier than that wealth!"
Mother Wang and Cui Xi raised their sleeves to wipe their tears. Mei Niang continued, "Fortunately, my daughter had a serious illness and forgot about the past. I learned some things from Mother Wang and the others: when my daughter first got married, the elders didn't like her, the sisters-in-law looked down on each other and bullied each other, and the cousin dared to interfere in my daughter's affairs. The maids and concubines of the Marquis didn't have to come to see the main wife. Heng'er was abused by the cousin and almost froze to death... The old lady disliked my daughter's humble background, and now she wants to marry another concubine for the Marquis, and the cousin is waiting to be a concubine! So many women are competing with my daughter for the Marquis! Mother, please think about my daughter. If my daughter is not brave enough to live in such a place, and still endures everything like before, won't she die of suffocation again? My daughter is not convinced, and she doesn't want to live that kind of life. I want to ask mother and brother and sister-in-law for a favor - if I really can't stand it in the future and am divorced by the Marquis's mansion, will mother and brother and sister-in-law be willing to take my daughter in?"
Madam Qin and Feng were both stunned, staring at Mei Niang in a daze. Madam Qin reached out and stroked her face, tears streaming down her face:
"My son! I thought you would enjoy endless happiness, but who knew you would suffer so much!"
Feng wiped her tears and said to Mei Niang, "Sister, although our family is poor, we have enough for you to eat. This door is always open for you. If you can't stand the grievance, then go home. Brother and sister-in-law will spoil you!"
Madam Qin cried until she was almost breathless, and weakly shouted at Feng: "Stop talking nonsense!"
She grabbed Mei Niang's hand tightly again, her nails almost digging into her flesh: "My son, no matter how hard it is, this is your fate! You are a noble lady, and the Hou Mansion will not divorce you no matter what! For Heng'er, you have no choice but to endure the hardship. When Heng'er grows up, you will be over it! The Hou Lord, he, he actually wants to divorce his wife and marry another one. He has so many wives and concubines... From now on, I will no longer ask you to be as gentle and honest as before. What are you going to do? Think slowly and think twice before you act. You must rely on Mother Wang and Cui Xi to keep yourself safe. If anything happens, report back home as soon as possible. When I am better, I will visit you in the Hou Mansion from time to time. I will no longer be afraid of people talking about you. My son's safety is the most important thing!"
Mei Niang secretly breathed a sigh of relief: take it slow, first coax the old lady into giving her some precautions, so that if she can't control herself in the future and causes some trouble in the Hou Mansion, it won't shock her to the point where she can't bear it.
The mother and daughter exchanged some comforting words. Cui Xi went out and brought in some hot water with the little maids to wash their faces and hands. Mother Wang started to prepare dinner. As she was setting the dishes and serving the hot soup, Tao Er hurriedly came in through the door curtain. She bowed and said,
"Replying to Madam: Sister Lian came from the front yard to report that the people from the Hou Mansion have arrived and are waiting to take my aunt back home!" (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)