Chapter 25 Serving the Queen
When Xiao Jun saw the alienation shown by Mengxi when she woke up, the smile on his face disappeared. He sat there with a gloomy face and said nothing. Hongyu and Hongzhu came in and saw that the Second Master had a bad look on his face, so they served him more carefully.
The two of them sighed inwardly. This new second wife is really restless. She upset the master so much in the morning. Can't she just coax the second master? It's hard for them to do this even if it causes trouble for the servants. Doesn't she know the principle of marrying a chicken and following the chicken and marrying a dog and following the dog? Doesn't she know that the second master is her heaven? Doesn't she know that her future happy life depends on the second master? The two of them really want to pull the second wife over and teach her a lesson, and knock open her head to see if there is any paste inside. How can she not even know the three obediences and four virtues.
Mengxi sat in front of the dressing table, looking at the bun that Hongzhu had tied for her. She then reached out to smooth her forehead and turned back to ask the Second Master:
"I'll go to the kitchen now. What would you like to eat today?"
After a long while, seeing that Xiao Jun didn't say anything, she continued to ask: "How about I make a bowl of plain noodles ? You've only had porridge these past two days."
"Yeah," Xiao Jun responded lightly and walked towards the door.
"Second Master, be careful." Seeing that the Second Master was about to go out, Hongyu hurried forward to support him.
"He was fine this morning, what happened to you, Master?"
Mengxi looked at Xiao Jun's back, confused.
When Xiao Jun came back after stretching his muscles, Mengxi had just brought in the prepared plain noodles. Hongyu wet a towel and handed it to Xiao Jun to wipe his hands. The maid had already set the table. Xiao Jun handed the used towel to Hongzhu and sat down at the table. He lowered his head to look at the red noodles in the bowl and was stunned. He did not take the chopsticks handed to him by Hongyu, but looked up at Mengxi in confusion.
"Second Master, I made these noodles with carrot juice, green vegetable juice and flour, so they are this color. I often heard my mother say that the nutrition of vegetables is in the juice. The noodles made in this way have both the fragrance of vegetables and rich nutrition. This is what I learned from my mother when I was at my mother's house. Second Master, try it first. Do you think it tastes good?"
As Mengxi spoke, she took a small bowl, picked up a small bowl of noodles with chopsticks, and handed it to Xiao Jun.
Xiao Jun took it, took a small bite, tasted it, and then ate up the noodles in the small bowl in a few bites. Then he ordered someone to use a large bowl to serve the noodles together with the soup, and started to eat it. Meng Xi was carefully arranging the dishes beside him, thinking to himself:
"Don't talk while eating, don't talk while sleeping, this is a really good rule."
After Xiao Jun finished his meal, he rinsed his mouth and cleared the dishes. A maid had already served tea. Xiao Jun sat there drinking the tea. Mengxi changed her clothes under the help of Hongzhu. After getting dressed, she stood up and said to Xiao Jun:
"Second Master has finished his meal, please take a rest first. I will go and pay my respects to the old lady."
"Didn't grandma say we didn't need to go? Why are you going again?" Xiao Jun said to Mengxi.
"Second Master was not in good health and had not paid respects to the old lady for a long time. Now that he has recovered, although I cannot go to pay respects, I do not need to wait by your side all the time. Since I have married Second Master, I should pay respects to the elders on his behalf and show filial piety. This is my duty."
If you want to flatter the highest leader of the Xiao Mansion, you must find a plausible reason. Otherwise, you will be destroyed by the Second Master sooner or later, Mengxi thought righteously, telling lies without blushing or beating your heart.
After hearing what Meng Xi said, Xiao Jun also thought it made sense, nodded and said:
"That's true. It's hard for you to have such a thought. Go quickly. Say hello to grandma for me and stay with her there for me. There's no need to rush back. Just tell grandma that I'm fine now and she doesn't need to worry about me. I'll go to the study room later. I haven't taken care of anything for a long time and there are a lot of things piled up."
When Mengxi arrived at Shouxi Hall, the eldest master, the eldest mistress, the eldest master Xiao Qing, the eldest grandmother Zhang, and the third master Xiao Yun had already come over and were talking. The old lady had already ordered food to be served, and when she saw Mengxi come in, she asked:
"Didn't you say you didn't need to come and pay your respects? Why are you here again? How is Jun'er today?"
Mengxi greeted him, said hello, and stepped forward to say:
"It was the Second Master who asked his granddaughter-in-law to come. The Second Master said that he had not been in good health recently and could not fulfill his filial duties in front of the old lady, so he asked his granddaughter-in-law to fulfill his filial duties on his behalf. He also asked his granddaughter-in-law to tell the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest lady that the Second Master is now in good health and asked the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest lady not to worry."
Mengxi in the 21st century certainly understood that it was better for a daughter-in-law to brag about her grandson in front of her husband's grandmother than to brag about herself. Seeing that the old lady was already smiling, she continued:
"Second Master also told his granddaughter-in-law not to rush back. He is going to take a look in the study room. He asked his granddaughter-in-law to serve the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest mistress well here."
"It's amazing that Jun'er is so filial. Among all the grandchildren, Jun'er is the most filial. It's not in vain that I love him. I just want to go back and remind him not to overwork himself just after he recovers from his illness."
Mengxi nodded in response. The old lady was smiling and nodded repeatedly, not paying any attention to the expressions of the uncle and the third uncle. The uncle and the third uncle were of course unhappy, but there was nothing they could do. Who asked him to marry such a pleasing wife? The uncle looked at the wife, who was quiet, dignified, and clever, and then looked at the grandmother , who was also virtuous, but could not please the grandmother. He had to sit here and the grandmother said he was unfilial. But when he thought of the pitiful Mengxi who was not treated well by the second brother, he could not hate her.
The eldest lady at the side smiled when she heard her mother-in-law praising her son. When the old lady saw that the food had been brought in, she signaled the maid to serve the meal.
The eldest wife stood behind the old lady and served her food. When the old lady saw Mengxi and the eldest grandmother Zhang were there, she said to the eldest wife:
"Daughter-in-law, please sit down too. There are two granddaughters-in-law waiting on you."
The eldest wife thanked her and sat down on the left side of the old lady.
Mengxi carefully served dishes to the old lady, the eldest master, and the eldest wife respectively. She had no idea what the old lady liked on weekdays, and her heart was pounding, but she remained calm and composed. She carefully observed the old lady's eyes, and when she saw her eyes fall on a dish, she picked it up and put it on the plate in front of the old lady. Mengxi knew that elderly people don't eat much on weekdays, so she took very little each time. Seeing that the old lady still wanted to eat more after finishing the meal, she took some more for her, and put the theory of modern people taking less and more times at buffets into full play. The meal was finally finished with the advice of the old lady's maid, Shishu, and her observation of her words and expressions. Finally, nothing went wrong. Seeing the old lady's admiring look, Mengxi breathed a sigh of relief.
After the old lady finished her meal, she gave some untouched dishes to the eldest lady and Mengxi, letting them eat in the hall. Then she ordered the table to be cleared away. The eldest master had to take care of the business of the Xiao Mansion, so he excused himself and went to the outer study with Xiao Qing. The eldest wife also excused herself because it was time for the housekeeper's daughter-in-law to report on the business. The old lady just waved her hand:
"Go quickly, the family matters are waiting for us to go back, and it will be enough for me to have two granddaughters-in-law to accompany me." After the eldest master and the eldest mistress left, Mengxi and the eldest grandmother sat down again and started chatting with the old lady about family matters.
