The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 490: Mei Family Mother and Son
The next day, early in the morning.

Xue Pan led Xue Ke and brought four kinds of gifts to Xinglong Street.

Looking at the white Mei family in front of me.

Xue Ke stopped in front of the door and said hesitantly, "Brother, why didn't you tell me in advance? The funeral is not over yet. Why don't we come back another day?"

"What do you mean it's not finished yet? It's just that it hasn't started yet!" Xue Pan explained, "The body of this old man Mei hasn't even been returned to the capital yet!"

After he said this, Xue Ke remembered that Mei Lian was imprisoned in Jiangnan and there was an order to execute him on the spot. After hearing the letter, he hurried to Beijing with his family.

Therefore, no one was clear about what happened next, and after more than a month, people had a preconceived notion that Mei Lian had been buried.

"But, isn't it a bit inappropriate to come here to cancel the engagement now?"

"What's wrong with that?" Xue Pan said unhappily, "I have found out clearly that Mei Pi is not a good person. Ever since his father got the job and went south, he has become complacent and has been hanging around with a few bad friends all day.

It was not until the decree came down that Old Man Mei was imprisoned that he calmed down a little. Relying on Mrs. Mei's doting, he didn't even care about his father's body and only sent a few servants to take it. He himself didn't care, so why are you worrying about it? If you don't want Sister Baoqin to marry this bastard, you'd better get things done quickly. "

Although Xue Pan is a rough guy, he cares very much about his family.

He doesn't mind having affairs with prostitutes, but how can we expect him to treat Baoqin well when he doesn't even care about my corpse?

In addition, Mei Lian participated in the impeachment of Zhang Yun逸. He was even more unwilling to let Xue Baoqin marry into the Mei family and had long harbored the idea of ​​ruining the marriage.

Xue Ke was not aware of his inner thoughts, and after hearing this, he said without hesitation: "Then do as Big Brother says!"

Xue Pan immediately stepped forward and knocked open the door of Mei's house with a few bangs.

Xue Ke hurried forward and said, "Please inform Madam Mei that Xue Ke from Jinling wants to see you."

Originally, he should have met Mei Pi first and then asked to meet Mrs. Mei, but he just heard from Xue Pan that Mei Pi was unreliable, and marriage was a serious matter, and the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words had to determine the cancellation of the engagement, so he simply skipped the idea.

Although the servant did not know Xue Ke's identity, the Mei family had suffered a misfortune and the door was deserted. It was rare for someone to come. Seeing that the two men were dressed in gorgeous clothes, the servant did not dare to neglect them. He hurriedly welcomed them into the front hall and went to the back to report.

Upon hearing that someone from the Xue family was coming, Mrs. Mei, who was dressed in plain clothes, hurried to Mei Pi's room in the wing.

The room was filled with a foul smell, mixed with the smell of alcohol, and Mrs. Mei almost choked to death.

While raising his hand and fanning his nose a few times, he said to his son who was sleeping soundly with his head covered, "Hurry up and get ready. Someone from the Xue family is coming!"

Mei Pi, whose sweet dream was disturbed, rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked blankly, "What Xue family?"

"It's the Xue family you're engaged to!" Madam Mei stamped her feet in anger, shook her head and sighed, "Look at you, what have you become?"

In order to show filial piety, Mei Lian, although in his early forties, was delayed in getting married because of the imperial examination.

Mei Pi is one year younger than Xue Ke. She is only in her early thirties, with a graceful figure and still some charm.

She was wearing a plain white dress, which was a little too big for her, but she was so angry at her son that she was shaking all over, and the dress and the white pearl hairpin on her head fell off like falling pear blossoms.

"Why is mother blaming her son?"

Mei Pi said dissatisfiedly: "My son works so hard, isn't it for his father's career? But he kept his son in check when he was at home. He finally waited for him to be sent out, but instead of working hard for his own career, he followed the Zhen family to make trouble."

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. He said confidently, "Now I have offended the emperor, not only am I beheaded, but my son's efforts have also been wasted. Even Zhou Huaiwei and the others who used to be on good terms with me are avoiding my son..."

Madam Mei was furious and said, "Those bad friends..." "What bad friends? He is the legitimate son of Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Industry. Isn't it for the sake of Dad's career that my son is on good terms with him?"

Mei Lian cares most about his reputation. When he is in the capital, he naturally will not allow his son to do anything reckless.

But what we are afraid of is not thieves stealing, but thieves thinking about it.

It just so happened that the job he went south to do was to deal with the bird droppings at the Tiangong Institute.

The same is true in ancient and modern times. The corruption of officials is nothing more than starting with themselves and their families. Prince Ning's faction took a two-pronged approach.

On the one hand, the Zhen family praised Mei Lian highly in Jiangnan, and on the other hand, Zhou Chengru sent his son to make friends with Mei Pi.

He called his friends and took him out to drink, watch operas, and visit prostitutes.

Mrs. Mei was just a woman after all, and had no idea that Zhou Huaiwei had evil intentions. Seeing that her son was making friends with the sons of officials and the sons of ministers, she was happy to see it happen.

It is easy to do good and difficult to do evil. Learning good things cannot be achieved overnight, but it only takes a moment to learn bad things, especially when one has been severely suppressed in the past.

Within a few months, Mei Pi transformed from an ignorant boy into a playboy with all five vices.

By the time Mrs. Mei realized something was wrong with her son, it was already too late.

As if misfortunes never come alone, at this time, news came that Mei Lian was imprisoned, and a month ago he was executed on the spot.

Mei Lian was dead, and she only had this one son. How could she have the heart to discipline him?
Seeing that her son was still stubborn, she was at a loss as to what to do. She could only shake her head and sigh, "What's the point of saying it before? Get up quickly now and show your all-round skills to meet your brother-in-law. Don't let others look down on you!"

Although she was still unclear about Xue Ke's intention in coming to her house, she knew very well that if he saw that her son was so out of tune, it would probably cause more complications.

I can't hit him, and I'm afraid scolding him will provoke his rebellious psychology, so I can only coax him as much as possible.

Mei Pi said disdainfully: "My son has no ordinary friends. He makes friends with either the sons of ministers or the sons of officials. Who does he think he is?"

Although the Xue family is not a real businessman, they are still engaged in business after all.

Even though the Mei family is now in a difficult situation, Mei Pi still has prejudice in his bones.

Mei Pi had been complaining a lot long before Mei Lian got into trouble.

Originally, Mrs. May also agreed with it, but times have changed and things are different now.

The marriage proposal that I looked down upon before has now become a popular one. I can only persuade her: "Don't you see the current situation? Although your father has been an official for many years, he didn't make much money. Now he is gone. It's not easy to live in the capital. With our family's little wealth, it's hard to say whether we can live in the capital. The Xue family at least has some wealth..."

After hearing what she said, Mei Pi remained silent.

It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality, and his heart has become wild again. Not to mention the frugal days, even if he doesn't go out for three days, he feels like he is being scratched by a cat.

It was only in this month or so, when the decree to execute Mei Lian came down, that he finally calmed down a little.

But I felt uncomfortable staying at home, so I had to get myself drunk.

Mrs. Mei knew her son's character very well. Seeing that he remained silent, she urged him, "I'm afraid they must be waiting impatiently. I'll go over first. You should get up quickly too. Don't dawdle any longer. It's impolite!"

……

(End of this chapter)