Chapter 13 Preparing for the Flower Banquet (1)

Chapter 13 Preparing for the Flower Banquet (1)

On this day, Meng Shao's wife Jiang was finally allowed to leave the East Palace to visit Song.

The illness of Huainan Marquis Meng Changfeng was very strange this time. He had a high fever and almost fainted. Several doctors in the palace had seen him and just told him to prepare for his funeral. Although Song Shi was unwilling to give up, she was helpless as she watched Meng Changfeng lying lifeless on the bed.

Although Meng Yuan, the son of Huainan Marquis, was an idle dandy, he had the title of the prince but did not work, did not seek progress, and only knew how to recite poems and paint. According to him, he only made friends with elegant and wise men, and was not at home for eight hours out of twelve hours a day. However, he was a truly filial child. Seeing his father in such a state, he was very anxious. Later, he heard that Master Fang Zhi of Puji Temple had returned from his travels, so he took Meng Shao to the mountain at night.

This Puji Temple was the royal temple of the Great Xia Dynasty, worshipped by the royal family. It is said that Master Fang Zhi was a royal descendant. He had no intention of fighting for the throne, nor did he want to be involved, so he entered the temple to practice Buddhism and pray for the royal family. No one knows if this is true, and no one knows how old Master Fang Zhi is. Some say he is over a hundred years old, but has white hair and a youthful face. But no matter how it is spread, there is only one thing that is credible, that is, Master Fang Zhi's medical skills are amazing. It is more appropriate to say that his medical skills are amazing, but it is more appropriate to say that his witchcraft is amazing.

But unfortunately, when Meng Changfeng fell ill, Master Fang Zhi happened to be traveling, and no one knew when he would come back. This master liked to go out for a walk, sometimes for three to five months at the shortest, and sometimes for a year at the longest.

Just like that, Master Fang Zhi was invited to the Huainan Marquis Mansion by Meng Yuan. He said that after the master spent two days looking over every corner of the Huainan Marquis Mansion, he concluded that the person was hit by a powerful Taoist priest, and that he needed to personally perform a ritual for Meng Changfeng.

After a few days of tossing and turning, Meng Changfeng actually woke up and his fever was gone. The Marquis of Huainan almost offered Master Fang Zhi to his ancestral temple. However, Master Fang Zhi read Meng Changfeng's fortune and said that the relatives of the ox and tiger zodiac signs should avoid him for a month and not leave the capital. They should go west, and no one else should leave the Marquis' mansion.

In this way, Song, who was born in the year of the tiger, and Meng Qi, who was born in the year of the ox, came to live temporarily in the west house.

Song sat at the top and listened to her eldest grandson's wife reporting the situation in the mansion. She was very happy to hear that Meng Changfeng was able to walk.

"Sister-in-law, how long will it take us to go back?" Meng Qi said boredly while holding a golden pheasant and pulling the feathers on its tail.

Jiang saw that the pheasant shrank every time Meng Qi pulled it, but it was held down tightly by the maid and its mouth was wrapped with cloth, so it could neither fly away nor scream. She just felt her scalp numbing.

This sister-in-law of hers is the apple of the eye of the entire Marquis's Mansion, especially the Crown Prince's wife, Wang. She has placed all the love for her lost daughter on this girl.

"You forgot, when we came here, Master Fang Zhi said it would take a month, and it's been less than ten days." Song loved this little granddaughter very much. On the one hand, she was the youngest granddaughter, and another important reason was that Meng Qi and Song were born on the same day.

"Let the golden pheasant go. Look at the hair on your hands. Go wash it. Your sister-in-law took some snacks from the palace. Don't you want to eat them?"

After hearing this, Meng Qi lazily let go of her hand, and stood up while muttering, "How boring, how did the master calculate it? Why didn't he let those who were born in the Year of the Ox hide?" Meng Xiu, the concubine's daughter of the second house, was one year older than Meng Qi and was born in the Year of the Ox.

Seeing Meng Qi reluctantly following the maid out, Song shook her head and said, "Don't blame your sister for being unhappy. This house is too small. It won't take long for her to walk around. Although there is a pond and a hillside, you know Qi's temper. She will get bored after playing twice. Master Pian Fangzhi won't let us leave the house, and he doesn't allow you to come here all the time."

Jiang smiled and stood up, walked behind Song, took the soft hammer from Mother Wu's hand and gently tapped Song's shoulders, "Fourth sister is really kind, it's rare for her to stay like this for more than ten days, mother is still worried that she will sneak out at home."

Song smiled and said, "She didn't intend to sneak out, but she caught almost all the fish in the pond."

"It's their good fortune that the fish have been caught by my fourth sister."

Song didn't refute Jiang's words, but just nodded and smiled. Jiang rolled her eyes in her heart. She had never seen a family like the Meng family spoil their girls like this. They were so arrogant and domineering at such a young age. She watched coldly. Meng Juan from the third room had only been back for a few days, but she had already set up several traps for her. She happily fell into them every time.

Logically, Meng Qi is her sister-in-law. If anything happens, she should be on Meng Qi's side. But Jiang just can't like this sister-in-law. She is simply like a little mother-in-law.

To put it bluntly, occasionally making Wang unhappy might not be a big deal, but if you make this person unhappy, you will be in big trouble.

Jiang was thinking about the incident some time ago when Meng Qi had actually snatched the long-haired rabbit given by her younger brother from her eldest son, Langge, who was only 5 years old, and had scratched Langge's arm, leaving several red marks. She felt very angry. An aunt actually fought with her own nephew for this, hurt Langge and still felt guilty about it, which made her feel very wronged.

Jiang was thinking in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face. She continued to beat Song gently, "I see that grandma looks very tired?"

"Don't mention it. You don't know that there has been no peace here since I moved in. After meeting the east family, I have to meet the west family. I didn't know that our Meng family has so many relatives." There was helplessness and more disdain in Song's tone.

"It's all because of my grandparents' kindness that they have always treated these clansmen with courtesy. Ever since I entered the Meng family, these clansmen and relatives have always come to visit several times a year, and I have seen how my grandmother treats them. This time when my grandmother came to the West House, they were grateful and naturally competed to come and chat with my grandmother to relieve her boredom."

Song was very pleased to hear Jiang's words. She turned around and gently patted Jiang's hand to signal her not to knock anymore.

"That's exactly what I said. Fortunately, I won't be staying here for long this time, otherwise it would take up a lot of energy to deal with them every day."

"Sister-in-law, are you asking about those poor relatives?" Meng Qi came in after changing her dress. As she spoke, she went straight to the table and sat down. After her wet nurse, Liu Mama, opened the exquisite food box, she picked and chose, and finally took a piece of pear blossom crisp and began to eat it in small bites.

"Pour the tea." Song instructed the maid, and had no intention of correcting or blaming Meng Qi for calling the people in the clan here poor relatives.

"Grandma, that girl named Zhen'er yesterday, the one with pockmarks on her face who called me aunt, didn't even know what a flower banquet was, haha." Meng Qi threw the remaining bite of pear blossom pastry back into the food box, took a sip of tea from Mother Liu's hand and smiled.

"They only interact with similar families. At best, they can attend a spring banquet or an autumn banquet. How can they afford to hold a flower banquet like this?" Song continued with a laugh.

"Sister-in-law, is the Hundred Flowers Banquet of the Pingxi Marquis' Mansion this month?"

"Yes, in a few days."

"Grandma, I want to go, I want to go. I want to see the jeweled horsewhip that Xinjie said her father brought back for her." Meng Qi walked to Song, hugged her arm and began to shake it.

"Alright, alright, my dear, you're shaking my head so hard that it hurts. Just be obedient. Master Fang Zhi said that we, the grandparents and grandchildren, cannot leave the house. It's been ten days. Another twenty days will be enough."

"But, in twenty days, the flower banquet of Pingxi Marquis's Mansion will be over. Humph, Sister Xin will definitely show off at the banquet." Meng Qi looked unhappy. "Is Master Fang Zhi talking nonsense? How can you lock someone up like this without letting him cry..."

"Sister Qi, don't talk nonsense. Do you think you can make up stories about Master Fang Zhi?" When Song heard Meng Qi say this, she frowned and said unhappily.