The next day, Mei Niang was still asleep when Wang Mama woke her up in a hurry: "Grandma, please get up quickly. Master Hou is urging you!"
Mei Niang rubbed her eyes: "Why are you urging me to do anything? What time is it now?"
"I didn't remember to look. It's getting light outside. Cui Xi, come quickly. Cui Si, is there warm water in the inner room? Come quickly and serve!"
Mei Niang stretched lazily: "You must be joking! You want me to get up at dawn, and I slept late last night, are you killing me?"
"My dear! Today, Master Hou wants to go with you to apologize to the Second Madam!"
"Apology?"
Mei Niang was startled, looked at Mother Wang, then at Cui Xi, and finally came back to reality, wailing: "Buddha, God, Fairy Grandma! I want to go home!"
Mother Wang used her usual method of covering her mouth again, and signaled Cui Lian: "Quickly get a robe for Grandma to wear, be careful not to catch a cold!"
Cui Xi and Cui Lian helped Mei Niang up, put on her outer robe, and went to the inner room.
Mother Wang sighed softly and looked back at the door curtain. Master Hou was standing in the corridor and refused to come in and sit down. He said that he had to go out to pay New Year's greetings today, and asked your grandma to hurry up because he had no time to wait!
With the help of the maids, Mei Niang took the shortest time to wash and change her clothes, and walked out neatly to meet Xu Junying.
After knowing the truth, I looked at Xu Junying again and felt that his face was full of grievances. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry in my heart. Alas! Let's understand each other. It's not easy for me. I can't replace anyone else and become Qin Meiniang. It's really tragic!
She bowed to Xu Junying sincerely and said tactfully, "Blessings, Lord Hou! I'm sorry that Mei Niang kept you waiting for so long!"
Xu Junying just glanced at her and said, "Let's go!"
He walked down the stairs, still as indifferent as usual, but Mei Niang no longer dared to complain.
Even if he secretly killed Qin Meiniang and her son, there is nothing to say.
I followed him obediently, and this time I never dared to walk side by side with him again. I should be more humble and courteous. There was no reason to put on the airs of a marquis's wife and show off in front of others.
He really wanted to tell Xu Junying that he didn't need to be so respectful to the Second Wife. She might not understand his feelings. She didn't even consider him as her own. But then he thought that Xu Junying valued family and friendship, and respected his elders. If he said that to him, he would scold him and make him hate him more. So he decided to forget it.
Before he reached Fenghua Courtyard, he saw Xu Junlang and Xu Junya coming to greet him from afar. It turned out that Xu Junying was not stupid. He went to Fenghua Courtyard to pay his respects and bring Mei Niang to apologize early in the morning. He had to open the door when others got up. In addition to the old lady and the madam, there was also Mei Niang, the wife of the Hou family. He didn't have the patience to stand and wait for anyone to get up. Last night, someone leaked out when he came out of the old lady's place. Second Master Zheng Xiping heard the news and had to come out of Aunt Yan's room in the middle of the night and go back to the upper room of Fenghua Courtyard to rest. He got up from the bed with the second wife early in the morning and waited for the couple of the Hou master to come, pointing at the second wife and scolding:
"What a stupid woman! No matter how much I tell you, you just won't make sense. I told you to be patient, but there will always be a time when you will make a big show of your wedding. You insisted on fighting for it and refused to give in. Yesterday, I took Mei Niang into the room to meet her, and we just said a few words and left. Now you let Jun Ying come over and kowtow to you, so you can save face, right?"
The second wife did not dare to say anything and just let him scold her. After a while, she whispered, "Who would have thought that Junying would be so serious? He actually interferes in women's affairs!"
The second master glanced at her and said, "Junying is a military commander, but he is not a rough man. He knows everything about the family, right and wrong! He is like my eldest brother, who values friendship and loyalty... You shut your mouth and stop talking nonsense. If you dare to say anything that is not conducive to the harmony between the brothers, don't say a word!"
The second wife accepted his chilling gaze, huddled aside, and said no more.
Xu Junying walked into Fenghua Courtyard accompanied by Xu Junlang and Xu Junya, followed closely by Mei Niang. Ning Rulan had been waiting in the courtyard. Mei Niang smiled and held her hand, and followed behind the men. The old woman announced in the corridor:
"The eldest uncle and the eldest grandmother are here, the second uncle is here, the third uncle and the third grandmother are here."
The brothers and sisters-in-law entered the upper room in order. The second master and the second mistress were the elders, so they did not stand up to greet their nephews and nieces. They just sat in the upper seats and waited for their nephews and wives to come up and greet them. Then the second master laughed and said:
"Today is the third day of the Lunar New Year. I should have given you all red envelopes, but now you have all grown up and started your own families. Junying and Junlang have also become fathers. I have to give the red envelopes to the children myself. I guess you don't need me anymore!"
Xu Junying said: "Second uncle is joking. Today, my nephew is too embarrassed to accept the red envelope. Mei Niang has caused trouble..."
The second master glanced at the second wife, who quickly jumped up, waved her hands, and said with a smile on her face:
"Ah, ah! Look at this child. It's New Year's Day. What kind of trouble could happen to him? It turned out that I drank a sip of wine that night. I was hot-headed and said a few words to Mei Niang. We talked about it in private. Who is the one who spread the rumors? It's nothing serious. Come here, Mei Niang, sit here. When you came yesterday, I was dizzy and fell asleep. Mother Zhao didn't even call me. I tried a piece of the Guixi persimmon cake you brought. It was really delicious!"
Mei Niang said obediently: "As long as Auntie likes it, I'll give it to Auntie next time I have it!"
The second wife smiled and said, "Okay, okay, you are the same as Junying, you know how to respect your elders the most!"
Xu Junying looked at Mei Niang and said, "Aunt is kind and generous, but she can't let you get away with it. You have lived in the Xu Mansion for so long, you should have known the rules of the mansion. You should know what to do if you offend an elder!"
Mei Niang thought to herself: Don't be so stupid, brother. People have already given you a way out, but you are still rushing to kneel? I really admire you!
He had no choice but to reluctantly help the second wife and send her to sit down in the upper seat. Then he turned around and walked back to Xu Junying. Xu Junying said:
"Mei Niang doesn't know the rules and has offended Aunt. I will never allow her to be rude to my elders! Today, I brought her here to apologize to Aunt. If she does it again in the future, in addition to the family law, I will let Aunt punish me and I won't say a word!"
As he said this, he glanced at Mei Niang and was about to kneel down. Mei Niang had seen Xu Junlang and Xu Junya coming up to stop him from kneeling, so she knew she couldn't kneel down, but she pretended to kneel down anyway. The Second Wife signaled Ning Rulan to support her, and Mei Niang stopped.
The brothers pushed and pulled for a while, and Xu Xiping also spoke. Xu Junying himself did not kneel, but still asked Mei Niang to apologize. In the end, Mei Niang knelt down and bowed to the second wife. The second wife hurriedly smiled and helped her up. Mei Niang was indignant, but she dared not show any dissatisfaction on her face. She just looked gentle and obedient, leaning against the second wife. Xu Xiping laughed and ordered the meal to be served. Uncles, nephews, brothers, mothers-in-law, daughters-in-law, and sisters-in-law had breakfast happily in Fenghuayuan.
After breakfast, as they were sitting and drinking tea, the housekeeper brought in several invitations, all of which were invitations from various families in the clan to New Year banquets. Xu Xiping made the assignments. Xu Junying and Xu Junlang went to the banquets at two families for lunch and dinner respectively. He took Xu Junqiao with him to two other families, and let Xu Junya and Xu Junting go to the remaining two families. Xu Junxuan was busy reviewing for the exam, so he didn't need to appear for the New Year social events among relatives and friends.
As soon as the men left, Mei Niang and Ning Rulan also said goodbye to the Second Madam and went to Ziyun Hall to take care of the affairs of the mansion. The Second Madam was eager for Mei Niang to leave quickly to avoid embarrassment for both of them. She pretended to be attentive and saw them off out of the gate, and told Rulan to help her sister-in-law with all her heart. Only after watching them walk away did she breathe a sigh of relief, snorted, turned around and went back to the yard to see her little grandson Weier.
Mei Niang and Ning Rulan walked on the path paved with water-milled slabs in the garden, talking intermittently. Mei Niang thought about the emotional entanglement between Qin Mei Niang and Xu Junjie and Xu Junying in the past, and seemed to be worried. Ning Rulan only thought that she was wronged because of what happened just now, so she had to comfort her softly. Unknowingly, she walked to Ziyun Hall. Mei Niang looked at the women standing in front of the hall waiting for a reply, and sighed secretly: What qualifications do I have to manage the household? In the past, I was arguing for the housekeeper, so righteous, always thinking that Xu Junying was an irresponsible man, who owed Qin Mei Niang and Heng'er a lot, and was determined to take back what belonged to Qin Mei Niang and Heng'er, but I never expected that things would be like this! Qin Mei Niang dared to have an affair with her brother-in-law, gave birth to Heng'er, and put it under Xu Junying's name! It's too shocking! The unexpected secret shocked her at first: having an affair with someone and giving birth to a child while her husband was away fighting and defending the country, if this happened in modern times, it would be condemned by thousands of people and lead to lawsuits, let alone in this ancient era. The outcome after the affair was exposed was even more tragic: execution, immersion in a pig cage, bringing shame to her ancestors for eighteen generations, and making the entire family ashamed to face the world...
Now she finally understood why Xu Junying didn't want her to show up in public or go back to her parents' home. She was his shame and his scar. He also had to consider his family's reputation, so he wanted to hide her away tightly, so that no one could see her.
In fact, with Qin Meiniang's death, all the problems were solved, and Xu Junying no longer had any psychological burden. But she came and replaced Qin Meiniang. Her resurrection shocked the whole capital. Xu Junying had no way to hide it and passively acknowledged the existence of her as the concubine. He had his own difficulties, but it cannot be denied that he was kind and tolerant. If he wanted, he could have put her to death again, but he didn't. He endured it and gave her a chance to live.
Countless lives have died at his hands. It was on the battlefield, a life-and-death struggle, life and death were determined by fate, nothing could be said. He let her live, perhaps because he was moved by her tenacious vitality, but he had a condition: she could only live in this mansion, otherwise... what would be the consequences? I can't guess, anyway, it's nothing more than death.
But she is not the real Qin Mei Niang, why should she bear this guilt? She finally has a chance to live again, but what's the point of being kept in a pen like a chicken, duck, pig or sheep? It's better not to live!
After knowing the truth, he felt bad and always felt like a sinner. It became even harder for him to get along in the Xu Mansion. He had to be careful everywhere and worried all the time. He originally thought that Xu Junying was a protective umbrella, but he didn't expect that she was a hidden killer who could explode and kill her at any time. He was about to marry a new wife, so naturally he had to collect all the faults of his first wife. No wonder he actively caught her to confess her guilt and made his position clear, asking the second wife to suppress her at any time. This was equivalent to announcing to everyone: This grandma is about to become obsolete, you can bully her however you like, I won't care.
Damn, I was so unlucky. I just felt that things were going better and wanted to be proud of myself, but I failed again! Qin Meiniang, Qin Meiniang, you were born at the wrong time. Your horoscope is so bad. It has ruined me, a latecomer! (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)