Foster son and husband

Chapter 22
Meiniang arrived at Mrs. Zheng's courtyard, walked into the upper room, and saw Mrs. Zheng and Zheng Meiyu sitting on the soft couch playing with Brother Heng. The nanny was standing aside with a smile on her face. Brother Heng giggled and turned around to see Meiniang. She came in, raised her arms excitedly, fluttered like a duckling, her mouth was wide open, drooling, but she didn't make a cry. Meiniang couldn't help but think of the evening when she came back to life, she went to find Heng'er , he also looks like this, this kid, what's the matter with shouting?Crying loudly, someone will always come to hug him, so as not to catch the cold.

Mei Niang saluted Mrs. Zheng, and Zheng Meiyu also got off the soft couch, called her cousin, and stood aside with low eyebrows.

Mrs. Zheng looked at Mei Niang and said, "Why did it take you so long to come? Luckily, Brother Heng is a good-natured child and doesn't make much trouble. As a mother, you should put your children first in everything... Although the old lady also To serve, isn't there Ruixue and the others?"

Mei Niang lowered her eyes and said: "My daughter-in-law came out from the old lady and went to see the third grandma... It's my daughter-in-law's fault for making mother suffer!"

Mrs. Zheng raised her eyebrows: "Hasn't Rulan recovered yet? Sigh, what's the matter with you children? When this one recovers, that one lies down again... You don't even know how to take care of yourself!"

"My mother's lesson is that my daughter-in-law should pay more attention in the future!"

Mrs. Zheng looked at the docile Mei Niang, and nodded with satisfaction: "The daughters-in-law of the second room are not very good, Jingyu should be stronger, and Rulan can't support the wall. You are the daughter-in-law of our first room, after all, you have to be in charge of waiting. Fuzhongfu, in the future Houfu will also be inherited by Brother Heng. You are his mother, and you can be regarded as taking care of the family business for your son. Needless to say, do your best, you need to be flexible in your mind and quick in your mind...Your cousin Yu is my brother's youngest daughter , often come to Hou Mansion to accompany me, you have been ill these days, and I am not in good health, I rely on her to take care of you, and Yinger and I know each other well..."

Mei Niang's heart beat half a beat faster: here comes here, what to say again!

But I saw Madam He, Mrs. Zheng's companion, stepping into the room. Behind her, three or four servants came in with food boxes.

Afterwards, Chunyue and other maids came in with a copper basin filled with hot water and a tray stacked with cotton handkerchiefs, and waited for Mrs. Zheng, Mei Niang, and Zheng Meiyu to wash their hands in turn.

Xia Lian washed her hands, opened the food box and put the food on the table. Mother He helped hold the lid of the food box and said with a smile:

"You don't know, the women in the kitchen are packing up a roe deer, saying that it was given by a friend in the northeast of my uncle!"

It's a friend from the Northeast again. Could it be the one who gave the ginseng?Mei Niang thought to herself, if that's the case, she would like to go and see if he looks like a big planter.

That ginseng was really good. She ate two slices, but she didn't feel anything physically, but her energy became more and more abundant.

Qin Meiniang's body is actually very weak. If it wasn't for her strong willpower, she would have to lie on the bed for ten days before she dared to move around.

Mei Niang filled a bowl of soup, brought the soup bowl to Madam Zheng with both hands, and said with a smile: "Look at the soup is cooked very well, mother has a bowl of chicken soup first!"

Mrs. Zheng answered: "Drink some too, just wake up, let the cook kill a chicken and stew it from time to time, it's better to gain weight!"

"My daughter-in-law knows, thank you mother for your concern!"

Mei Niang also filled half a bowl of soup for Zheng Meiyu and handed it over: "Cousin Yu also drinks!"

Zheng Meiyu hurriedly waved her hands and said, "Why don't my cousin serve soup for my younger sister..."

Mrs. Zheng took a sip of the hot soup, her brows stretched out: "Go ahead, my cousin will serve it for you this time, and from now on, you will learn to behave better and serve it to my cousin!"

Zheng Meiyu looked up at her aunt, and said, "Yes! Thank you cousin."

Mei Niang served a bowl of chicken soup for the nanny to feed Heng'er, then she went back to the dining table, looked at Zheng Meiyu, smiled and said: "If you want to say thank you, my cousin should thank Cousin Yu! I have been ill for a long time, thanks to Cousin Yu manages the affairs of Tsinghua University. I heard that the monthly money is collected for me, so that the mothers and maids don’t spend it carelessly. She also takes care of Heng’er. Heng’er is easy to get along with. This is the only way to suffer!"

Mrs. Zheng stopped drinking the soup and looked at her: "How do you say?"

Mei Niang said: "Mother doesn't know: I went back to Tsinghua University to look for Heng'er that day, and found that the whole courtyard was deserted. I don't know who was cruel, and threw Heng'er alone in the bamboo cradle. It was so cold and snowy. , his clothes are thin, he is not covered with a quilt, his hands and feet dance around, but he does not cry or make noise! ​​If he is willing to cry, how can no one come to hug him?"

Mrs. Zheng looked back at Brother Heng who was obediently drinking soup, her eyes suddenly turned red, and there was anger hidden in her voice:

"Which lowly servant girl is it! Mother He went to investigate, and if she finds out, give me a severe beating, and I'd better be beaten to death!"

Mei Niang said: "Daughter-in-law asked Mama Wang, Mama Wang brought Cuixi, Cuisi, Cui Lian and Cheng'er Ping'er to guard the spirit in the front hall for the past two days, but she failed to return to Tsinghua University, and the nanny was not there at the time!"

Mrs. Zheng stared at the nanny: "Where can the nanny go if she is not with Brother Heng?"

The nanny hurriedly said: "Return to the words of the eldest lady: I ​​just happened to have something to go back home that day, and left the waiting mansion. Brother Heng handed it over to Miss Biao!"

Mrs. Zheng looked at Zheng Meiyu. Zheng Meiyu had accidentally spilled the soup earlier, and Chunyue was wiping her sleeves with a handkerchief.

Seeing her aunt looking at her with burning eyes, Zheng Meiyu said aggrievedly: "It is true that my niece hugged Heng'er that day, and she had a stomachache for a while, so she handed him over to the woman who guards the gate and sweeps the floor in the yard. She couldn't find him even when she came out of the clean room." Man, I was scared to death, and then I heard... I heard that my cousin came back to life!"

Mrs. Zheng lowered her eyes, Mei Niang sighed and said: "Cousin Yu, this is wrong, why did you hand over Heng'er to the sweepers? She has rough hands and feet, how can she know how to hold Heng'er, naturally put him back in the cradle It's such a cold day, the wind is blowing, and the little baby's hands and feet are cold... If Cousin Yu sees Heng'er in such a miserable state, I'm afraid she will be more sad than a mother like me!"

Mrs. Zheng raised her eyes to look at Zheng Meiyu, and said indifferently: "Beat the dumb woman who guards the gate, because she is old and deaf, just drive her out! Yu'er, remember not to make such a mistake again in the future, as long as you are in pain, So what if you carry him into the clean room? Such a small child..."

Zheng Meiyu was ashamed and lowered her head: "Aunt taught me a lesson! My niece will never make such a mistake again!"

"Well, yesterday your mother sent someone to say that your father fell ill again... I told you to bring a package back home, and you will go home to see your father in two days, and ask Mother He to send you off!"

Zheng Meiyu lowered her head, her eyes were red: "It's all up to my aunt!"

Mrs. Zheng sighed: "Our Zheng family used to be so glorious. We only blame your father for being weak. So what if you have read a few books? You can't be an official, and you can't keep it..."

Mother He added a bowl of rice for Mrs. Zheng, and said with a smile: "Madam, let's have some food. Although my uncle is in poor health, he is blessed to have a few cousins, and they all marry into a good husband's family... There are a few sisters and brothers-in-law who help her." Hold on, Young Master Biao will definitely be able to boost his family fortune!"

Mrs. Zheng nodded slightly: "Exactly! The three sisters, the eldest sister married Chen Hanlin's nephew, the second sister married the youngest son of Zhou Shilang of the Ministry of History, and the third sister married Gan Sicheng's family. Only Yu'er is left...Although Young Master Biao is not a direct descendant, but is raised under the name of sister-in-law, at least he continues the Zheng family's incense, and in the future, he will take care of them more from his sisters."

Seeing Mei Niang eating silently, Mrs. Zheng brought a chicken leg to her and said, "Eat more, you are too skinny!"

Pointing to the chicken soup and a plate of Dongpo meat on the table, he said to Mama He, "Take it to the nanny, and finish it while it's hot. She eats well, and Heng'er only has enough milk to drink!"

During the conversation, the lunch was dismissed like this, and Mother He called the maid to carry the table out.

Heng'er ate and drank enough, hiccupped in Mei Niang's arms, Mrs. Zheng gave him a loving look, and let her nurse hug him, Xia Lian led him out, and went to the porch to watch the birds. He was having fun, so he naturally forgot hiccup.

Let Zheng Meiyu go back to the room to rest, and then told Mother He: "Let them carry it in!"

Six stout women carried three boxwood copper corner boxes of different sizes, walked into the upper room, and laid them out in a row.

After the women left, Mother He opened the boxes one by one, and Meiniang was stunned: in the first wooden box, which was slightly smaller, there were a bunch of black iron warehouse keys shining coldly.

The second and third large boxes are full of account books, which are as thick as bricks and arranged vertically.

How many warehouses does Houfu have?A lot of keys are needed, Xu Junying said that there are several rooms piled up in the account books, which turned out to be a lie, isn't it just two boxes?Trifle!
After Mrs. Zheng explained, Meiniang was confused: Xu Junying really didn't lie to her!Those two boxes of account books, hundreds of thick bricks, are just the index catalog of all the account books in the Houfu!
Mei Niang flipped through a few books, and lamented in her heart: It is not easy to grab some power and money. She has to go through the account reconciliation. Open your eyes!

Mrs. Zheng motioned for Mother He to stand outside the door and watch, then picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and looked at Meiniang as her eyes were steaming and foggy:
"While I can still talk, Lord Hou won't let you take care of the house, I will let you take care of it! Although I am not his own mother, no matter how I raise him, he can't help remembering me! In the future, our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be of one mind. , I will take care of you in everything, and you can't hide anything from me... It's okay if you forget the past, just remember one thing: I'm all for you and Heng Er, Heng Er... He called me "Grandmother, I'm willing to give him my heart!"

Meiniang looked at Mrs. Zheng with emotion. Mrs. Zheng and Xu Junying were not biological mother and son. No one told her this, not even Madam Wang.

The mother-child relationship between Mrs. Zheng and Xu Junying seems a little awkward, but she treats Heng'er well from the bottom of her heart. For this, a mother must show her sincerity to express her gratitude:
"Daughter-in-law will teach Heng Er to respect and love grandma!"

Mrs. Zheng nodded with a smile: "It's your first time as housekeeper, you must be busy for a while, Heng'er, you will keep me by my side from now on!"

what? !

Mei Niang thought she had heard wrong, she looked up at Madam Zheng with wide eyes, Madam Zheng still smiled gently:

"I feel better today. I was so happy to see Heng'er, and I was able to eat half a bowl of rice just now... Our family has always had such a rule. Grandma loves her grandson and stays with her to raise her. You just After giving birth to him, just take care of the affairs of the Hou Mansion, and Heng'er will be raised by me!"

This is depriving her of the right to be a mother, cunning mother-in-law!
Mei Niang stood up and bowed deeply to Mrs. Zheng: "Mother! Heng'er is still too young, and I'm afraid he will tire mother. When he is older, he will be sent to accompany mother..."

"It won't tire me. I have capable women and girls around me! Don't worry, Heng'er is my eyeball. I'll take it with you. It's several times better than you!"

"Mother……"

"I'm tired, you go back! I'll let someone carry the account books and follow."

"Mother... Heng'er will cry at night!"

"With the nanny here, he won't cry! Mama He, take the grandma, I'm so tired, I have to rest!"

Mother He and Chunyue helped and dragged Meiniang out from left to right. Meiniang burst into tears and wanted to beg again. Mother He dissuaded her:
"Grandma, let's put Brother Heng at my wife's place to raise him. He only stays with his wife and doesn't go anywhere! Grandma misses Brother Heng every day, so she can come and see her anytime!"

At this moment, Ms. Wang brought two maids. Meiniang saw that they were carrying some of Heng'er's clothes and nanny's things. Knowing that Mrs. Zheng had made up her mind to have Heng'er, she couldn't help crying again. Rubbing her shoulder, he whispered:

"Grandma, don't be sad, just come and see Brother Heng every day!"

Mei Niang fell on Wang Mama's shoulder and wept: She was too careless!In ancient feudal society, filial piety was the most important thing, and the order of seniority and inferiority was strictly clear. If the elders said something right, you must obey it. Grandmother, she wants to keep her grandson by her side, and a daughter-in-law can't even snort. She didn't expect this, and let Mrs. Zheng take Heng'er in Jinhuatang without any precautions... … This body gave birth to Henger, and she took possession of this body. She has been with Henger day and night for a few days, and feels the joy and concern of the heart-to-heart connection between a mother and her son. Accept that Mrs. Zheng snatched him away.

(End of this chapter)