Song Wangyue liked Meng Jiao’s nature, and when she looked at her unconcealed and generous appearance in front of her, a thought suddenly rose in her heart, how good it would be if she could be abducted back to be her second sister-in-law.
This thought could not be suppressed any longer, and the smile in Song Wangyue’s eyes became even stronger.
Meng Jiao watched and leaned back alertly, staying away from her. She always felt as if her cousin was planning to sell her out.
“Cousin, cousin, you, you don’t smile so brightly at me, I, I’m afraid.”
Song Wangyue couldn’t help but laugh out loud, the sound of her laughter was clear and crisp and carried out far away, making everyone who heard it follow in pleasure.
Naturally, Meng Jiao was no exception, she also laughed along with her, her eyebrows arched, and she looked twice as similar to Song Wan Yue.
“I do feel that I share the same temperament with my cousin, I have never felt this way about anyone else.”
Meng Jiao’s eyes instantly lit up and she sat back down again, “Is what cousin said true?”
Song Wangyue smiled and nodded her head.
Meng Jiao stroked her palm, “That’s great, I can discuss business matters with my cousin without any worries.”
“Good, cousin, whatever you want to discuss, just ask, I will tell you everything without reservation.”
……
Meng Yang’s side soon got the news from this side, relieved, thinking that it was better to talk to girls of the same age, and immediately decided to let Jiao’er accompany Yue’er during these days in Jiangling.
In the afternoon, all the Meng family returned. Meng Yang had two sons, Meng Shang and Meng Lian. Meng Shang also had two sons, Meng Ji and Meng Cheng. Meng Lian has one son and one daughter, Meng Xuan, and his daughter is Meng Jiao.
All of them paid their respects to Meng, who asked Sister Wu to bring out the gifts she had prepared for them.
The old man knew there would be such a scene and excused himself for not coming over as he had not yet rested.
It had been a long time since the Meng family had been so lively, and Meng Yang happily called the housekeeper over and told him to go and change the two thousand silver coins and carry them to the entrance of the house and distribute them to those who passed by.
When the housekeeper was instructed to do so, he went to the money changer and exchanged the coins for them.
When he went to exchange the coins, he instructed his subordinates to go out and spread the news without a trace.
“The master was so happy that he asked me to exchange them for 2,000 taels of silver to give out to everyone, so that everyone could be happy. ”
The crowd let out a shout of approval.
The steward also stepped back without further ado, and with a wave of his hand, the subordinates took copper scoops and filled them with copper plates and scattered them out, and the street immediately became lively.
In the distance, there were officers on patrol, and when they saw this scene, they stopped in their tracks and looked enviously at the people who were robbing the money, if they weren’t wearing these official clothes, they would have wanted to follow them.
“Is the Meng family making too much of a splash?”
One of the magistrates asked.
There were many wealthy families in Jiangling, but the Meng family was not the richest and had always kept a low profile.
“Didn’t you hear the butler say just now that the Meng family’s aunt, who has been married for many years, has returned, but she married into the Xu family in the capital. Do you know about the Xu family? A family of great Confucians, the top literati in the world, naturally such a happy event would require a scattering of wealth to celebrate.”
After the scattering of the coins, people did not leave immediately, but stood in the same place for a long time, talking about it.
The commotion was so loud that everyone in the house heard it, and Meng Jiao even pulled Song Wan Yue out to watch from a distance for a long time. Only when she saw that the brass plates had been scattered did she drag the people back again and enter the house could she not help but laugh, “It’s been a long time since the Meng family has been so lively, today grandfather is really happy.”
He still remembered those years when Aunt Qing Wan was missing, whether he went to the capital or received a letter from the capital, grandfather was always sad, worried that something bad had happened to Aunt Qing Wan and that Aunt Grandmother wouldn’t be able to pull through, but now it was all better.
“Yue’er, I want to sleep with you tonight, you can’t dislike me.”
“Naturally, I don’t mind, I’d love to.”
“That’s what you said, don’t go back on your word!”
After saying this, Meng Jiao called for her maid to come over and told her to go and carry her bedding over and lay it out.
Song Wangyue,……
The first thing I wanted to do was to tell her that it was still mid-afternoon and that it was not yet dark, but when I saw how she wanted to undress and go to bed right now, I swallowed the words that were on my lips.
“I want to go see my maternal great-grandfather, could my cousin go with me?”
“No, no.”
Meng Jiao shook her head into a rattle. She was most afraid of learned people, the kind of fear that came from her bones. When she met such people, she would avoid them as far as she could, and would not come up to them.
Song Wan Yue smiled and felt more and more that she and her second brother were a perfect match, but the Meng family only had one girl, so they wouldn’t let her marry so far away, so she had to think hard about how to abduct her back.
“I might accompany my maternal great grandfather for a game of chess, will you wait for me here or ……”
“I’ll wait here, you go ahead no need to wait for me.”
Song Wangyue went to the old gentleman’s courtyard.
Both Da Ya and Er Ya were there.
Master Chu had got off the boat and said that he had gone to see an old friend and would stay there for the days they were in Jiangling and come back when they returned to the capital. As for Daya and Erma, Meng Yang had originally wanted to arrange a separate courtyard for them, but it was Song Wangyue who said that they should accompany the old gentleman and stay over here.
The old gentleman didn’t need them for anything, so both Daya and Erma stayed in their rooms, Erma practising her calligraphy while Daya sat on the side and watched.
After so many days on the boat, Mr. Lao was really tired and took a long nap. He woke up, freshened up and ate his meal. He had just picked up a book and was about to read it when he saw Song Wangyue enter and immediately put the book down, “Have you met everyone?”
“Yes, Grandma’s eyes were red from crying, so I didn’t dare to stay longer and ran over to keep you company.”
The old man smiled as he stroked his beard, “Your grandmother hasn’t been home for many years, so she naturally can’t hold back her tears when she sees her relatives, I’m also to blame, I shouldn’t have asked her to marry her for that rebellious son back then, she wouldn’t have had such a hard time meeting her relatives.”
“It’s not your fault, it’s fate’s fault.”
If Mr. Big hadn’t met Huo first, Grandma and Mr. Big would have had a wonderful marriage, with a talented husband and a beautiful daughter, and plenty of money, and they would have been able to come to Jiangling whenever they wanted to, and Grandma wouldn’t have not come home for so many years.
The old gentleman sighed, “Speaking of which, I’m still sorry for Master Meng. When I arrive at his grave tomorrow, I’ll be sure to apologise to him properly.”