Chapter 129 But is it Wang Jiefu?
In fact, considering Pang Meir's intelligence, it would not be so easy for her to be fooled.
But the problem is that Zhao Bilian is really too "useless".
Even though Pang Meir helped Bilian divide the fruit baskets, and even wrote down which family each basket should be sent to, and what to say and talk about when they went to the other party's house... Zhao Bilian couldn't remember any of it.
She brought a fruit basket to the designated official's home, but without saying a word, she just focused on eating the delicious food in other people's homes and playing with girls of her own age.
Then Pang Meir became responsible for the socializing and conversation on the scene.
Originally, Pang Meir came here to play the role of "assistant", but ended up becoming the main output and the one who "made decisions".
When others looked at her, they naturally thought she was Lu Sen's concubine.
At first Pang Meir didn't think anything of it, but when she returned to the hill in the evening and was soaking in the hot spring, she realized something was wrong. After standing there for a moment, she covered her face with her hands, feeling regretful and a little shy.
"It's over. How will outsiders see me?"
At this time, Zhao Bilian didn't pay attention to Pang Meir's condition. She was bathing her little fox Xiuxiu and was happily petting the fox.
In the sunset at the Pang Mansion, the family gathered for dinner. Except for Master Pang who was still eating with relish, no one else picked up their chopsticks.
The atmosphere in the hall seemed extremely stagnant.
The Pang family, whether men, women or children, all looked at Master Pang carefully as he was eating, for fear that he would suddenly throw his chopsticks or slam the table.
Master Pang ate for a while, and seeing that the others hadn't moved, he looked up and asked curiously, "Why, is the food tonight not to your liking?"
Everyone was a little surprised, as it seemed that their master was not angry.
The eldest son, Pang Yuanlu, Pang Mei'er's father, asked cautiously, "Sir, you are not angry?"
"Why are you so angry? What did any of you do to bring disgrace upon our family?"
Everyone looked at each other. Pang Yuanlu moved his lips, but he didn't dare to tell others about his daughter Pang Meir's running to the low mountain and her interactions with officials' relatives today as Master Lu's concubine.
The other three sons did not dare to do so either. Finally, it was Master Pang’s concubine Liu who spoke cautiously, “Master, this is about Mei’er. Why don’t you let her come back?”
All the relatives of the Pang family felt a little embarrassed.
Taishi Pang once served as Privy Councilor and was also called Prime Minister. He also served as the teacher of Crown Prince Zhao Zhen, so some people also call him Prime Minister Pang and Privy Councilor Pang.
He started as a small official in the outer circle and rose to the position of second only to the emperor. Over the past forty years, Master Pang has accumulated a great deal of popularity and prestige.
At home, he is the one who has the final say. When his sons see him, they become as nervous as mice seeing a cat.
What Pang Meir is doing now is shameful in the eyes of the younger generations of the Pang family, and it brings disgrace to the Pang family.
Given the master's status, how could his granddaughter become someone's concubine?
She is not the illegitimate daughter of Prince Runan who is not often seen in public.
Of course, no one cares about Xiao Zhao Bilian now. After all, she is already Lu Sen’s favorite concubine. Under normal circumstances, no one wants to offend Lu Sen.
"Mei'er?" Master Pang glanced at his sons and daughters-in-law, put down his chopsticks, and chuckled: "Are you talking about Mei'er bringing fairy fruit to the officials' backyard today?"
Everyone laughed awkwardly, for they were afraid that Master Pang would get angry about this.
Master Pang has never had a very good temper. When he led the army to fight against the Western Xia in his early years, many soldiers made mistakes and were beaten to death by his military orders.
When he was the magistrate of Kaifeng, he would impose severe sentences on people who broke the law.
At home, he is also serious and solemn.
It can be said that he has always been a very strong person.
"I think Mei'er did a good job on this matter." Master Pang smiled and said.
Everyone in the hall was stunned and looked at Master Pang in disbelief.
I even suspected that he was speaking sarcastically because he was too angry.
Seeing everyone's expressions as if they had seen a ghost, Master Pang said, "I have always been optimistic about Master Lu. It would be a good thing if Mei'er could become his concubine."
"Master Lu is indeed a good match, this cannot be denied." Pang Yuanlu slammed the table and said angrily: "But my Pang family has been the fourth generation of the Grand Master. Mei'er's behavior has brought shame to my Pang family. When she comes back, I will break her legs and keep her from leaving the house for half a year."
Master Pang looked at his eldest son with a half-smile: "You are pretending to be angry, are you trying to help Mei'er alleviate her guilt?"
Pang Yuanlu smiled awkwardly.
It was indeed as Master Pang said, Pang Yuanlu thought that if he scolded his daughter first, perhaps he could appease her father's anger and prevent her from being punished too harshly.
But unexpectedly, his father saw through it.
"Don't worry, I didn't mean anything sarcastic." Grand Master Pang said with a smile, "Mei'er marrying Master Lu as a concubine is not a disgrace to our Pang family."
Everyone saw that Master Pang didn't seem angry, and after hearing what he said, they were all so shocked that their jaws dropped.
The second son, Pang Yuanying, could not help but say, "Sir, even if Master Lu is a true immortal from the land, it would not be appropriate to give Mei'er to him as a concubine."
The Pang family are all scholars, and they are proud by nature.
Moreover, they are a wealthy and powerful family, and have never known the sufferings of the world. They are all arrogant and proud.
It is probably equivalent to the fact that families with a little wealth don't want their daughters to become lovers of big capitalists.
Anyway, the family is not short of money, so why should I suffer?
Master Pang laughed and said, "We have to look at this matter from two perspectives. Once you understand it, you will know why I think Mei'er should marry Master Lu."
When the other descendants heard this, they all looked confused.
Seeing them like this, Grand Master Pang sighed softly: "Although I am the fourth generation Grand Master of the Pang family, after I die, there will be no one in the Pang family who can maintain this prosperous atmosphere."
This was a very disrespectful statement, but none of the four sons dared to refute it.
They could indeed be considered high-ranking officials, but compared with Master Pang's resume when he was young, they were far behind.
"Since you don't understand, I will explain my thoughts to you in detail."
Master Pang put down his chopsticks and said, "This matter needs to be considered from two aspects. Master Lu is a master of true magic, and he is also a master with human touch. If it were those idiots in Mount Zhongnan, who were pure-hearted and had few desires, and lived like non-human beings, I would naturally not let Mei'er go. But Master Lu is different. He has human touch, and I have observed him for a long time. Although the young lady of the Yang family is the eldest wife, Zhao Bilian is loved just as much, but she lacks a status. If Mei'er really marries there, she will definitely not suffer, be burdened, or be bullied. In addition, Mei'er and the young lady of the Yang family, Zhao Bilian, are like sisters. If she marries there, she will only be happy and lively, and there will definitely be no talk of discord between the wife and the concubine."
At this time, Pang Yuanlu interrupted and asked, "But being someone's concubine is not good after all."
"Yes, if she becomes a concubine to an ordinary person, including an official, her reputation will not be good." Master Pang nodded, but his voice immediately became two degrees higher: "But Master Lu is not an ordinary person. In fact, it can be said that he is not an ordinary person. If he continues like this, he is very likely to become a true immortal in the future. If Mei'er becomes a concubine to an ordinary person, it will naturally disgrace our Pang family. However, if she becomes a concubine to a future immortal, there is no explanation. Immortals do not seek fame and fortune, and we do not seek fame and fortune either. Mei'er is marrying him just to marry someone simply. There is no such thing as flattery or marrying down."
When everyone thought about it, they realized that it was indeed the case.
Master Lu has an excellent reputation and has never bullied men or women, or committed any evil deeds.
Instead, he distributed immortal fruits and used the Rejuvenation Banner to help poor people. It is not an exaggeration to describe him as a great philanthropist.
Seeing that they understood, Master Pang continued, "The second reason is that Mei'er is proud and arrogant, and ordinary men are not worthy of her attention. If she is forced to marry, it will probably cause trouble."
Everyone in the family is actually aware of this.
Pang Meir was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was extremely intelligent. She often interpreted political affairs. Although her vision was not as good as that of Master Pang, she was better than that of her father and uncles.
She is as beautiful as a flower, and she is like a sister to the young lady of the Yang family. The young lady of the Yang family is very good at martial arts and can defeat most of the men in the capital. This makes Pang Meir not very impressed by the "martial arts" of her peers.
She can't even compare to her own sisters, so why should I look up to her?
As a result, Pang Meir feels nothing when looking at most men of her age.
He is talented, but his appearance and temperament are not good.
He has good looks but no talent.
In fact, if you have to say it, Zhan Zhao of Kaifeng Prefecture is worthy of Pang Meir in terms of appearance and talent.
But the problem is that Zhan Zhao's status and position are far from those of the Pang family.
"So, the only one who can make Mei'er obedient and willing to marry him is Master Lu." Master Pang poured himself a glass of rice wine, took a sip happily, and said, "Mei'er has a stubborn personality. If we, as elders, force her to marry someone she doesn't like or looks down on, she will only be depressed, which will harm her."
A daughter-in-law nearby said nonchalantly: "We women accept our fate after we get married and have children. I don't think it's necessary to go through so much trouble. It's better to let her marry a talented man of equal status."
Master Pang glanced at his daughter-in-law, causing her heart to skip a beat. She was so frightened that goosebumps appeared all over her body.
Then Master Pang said in a light tone: "You are you, Mei'er is Mei'er, you can't generalize."
Everyone understood that this time Master Pang was really angry.
At that moment, everyone focused on eating and stopped talking.
Several more days passed like this.
In the evening, the sun sets.
In the low hills, Pang Meier pulled Zhao Bizhi's cheek angrily and asked angrily, "Tell me, are you teasing me on purpose?"
"What did I tease you about?" Zhao Bilian's cheek hurt, but she looked at Pang Mei'er 's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, and knew that she was really angry. She didn't dare to struggle, but just said in confusion: "I really don't know what you are talking about."
Pang Meir stared at Zhao Bilian with lifeless eyes.
After a while, she let go of Zhao Bilian's face, sighed, and went to the hot spring bath with her clothes to take a bath.
Soon, Zhao Bilian also came in.
The two of them stayed in the misty pool. Pang Meier suddenly said, "Tomorrow you have to take the fairy fruit to the Rejuvenation Sanatorium at the foot of the mountain and have someone cut the fruit into particles. Then they will treat the disease. Master Lu has already taken the Rejuvenation Banner to the front line. Now the Rejuvenation Sanatorium needs 'medicine'."
Zhao Bilian nodded first, then she moved closer to Pang Meier, hugged her arm, and said coquettishly: "Please help me, I don't know how to do these things by myself."
"Then what can you do?" Pang Meier said helplessly: "As Master Lu's concubine, when he and Jinhua are not at home, you have to manage this family, do you understand?"
"But I really can't do it." Zhao Bilian leaned her head on Pang Mei'er's shoulders: "So if there are more sisters to do this, I won't have to do it. Don't you really consider marrying into our family?"
Pang Meir felt her face getting hot, but luckily the hot spring water would raise the body temperature and make the skin slightly red, so outsiders could not notice this small change in her.
After calming down her intense heartbeat, Pang Meier pretended to be helpless and said, "Okay, I'll go down the mountain with you tomorrow and be your sister. I'm really unlucky."
Zhao Bilian didn't care about Pang Meir's sarcasm. When she heard that the latter was willing to help her, she burst into laughter happily.
Compared with the heartless Zhao Bilian, Yang Jinhua now looked pale, with clenched fists, sitting in her tent.
Now the 250,000 imperial troops led by Mu Guiying have successfully joined forces with Di Qing's Qinfeng Route Army and the Zhong family's Yongxing Route Army.
Before, they were gathered in the marshal's tent to discuss the war, while Lu Sen carried the Rejuvenation Banner to the wounded soldiers' camp and stood there, and Yang Jinhua followed him.
Then Yang Jinhua saw a miserable scene that looked like hell. She was stunned at first, then became angry, and left without looking back.
Unlike most people, when they are angry their faces turn red due to excitement, but Yang Jinhua is just the opposite, her face turns white.
After a while, Lu Sen came in from outside. Seeing her appearance, he asked, "Are you very unhappy?"
They have been married for almost two years. How could Lu Sen not know that Yang Jinhua was angry and not scared by the bloody scene?
"I just beat up Wang Jiefu." Yang Jinhua raised her head and looked at Lu Sen: "Now that I think about it, I was impulsive. What should I do?"
"It's okay, good beating." Lu Sen stroked the top of Yang Jin's head: "She is worthy of being the lady I have chosen."
When Yang Jinhua heard these words, her face finally turned from pale to pink: "Sir, sir... this is a military camp, don't mess around!"
Many times, when Lu Sen said sweet words, he just wanted to be intimate with her, and he did not hide it at all, which made Yang Jinhua react instinctively.
"Don't worry, I'm not so ignorant of the situation and the severity of the situation." Lu Sen felt that he seemed to be underestimated and misunderstood, but surprisingly, he didn't find this misunderstanding annoying: "Calm down first, I'll go talk to Wang Jiefu."
Yang Jinhua nodded.
Lu Sen walked out of the tent, walked around the military camp for a while, came to the western corner, entered the gray tent, and saw a young man sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding a book in his hands and muttering to himself.
Hearing the voice, the young man raised his head.
Lu Sen looked carefully and saw that the young man had a swollen nose and face, like a pig's head.
Lu Sen immediately laughed: "But Wang Jiefu?"
