Chapter 85 Return to the room for further discussion
Meng Xinghe came to Lu Mansion. The two guards who were familiar with him were guarding the door. When he saw the future uncle coming to the door, he immediately invited him in and said, "Mr. Meng is here. My master has invited me to the study for a chat."
Could it be that the old man wants to take action against me? Meng Xinghe raised his eyebrows and followed the guard angrily to the front of the old man's study.
First he knocked on the door and said hello. After hearing the echo inside, Meng Xinghe pushed the door open and went in. He saw Mr. Lu sitting on a chair in the middle of the study, holding a scroll of portraits in his hand. He ignored Meng Xinghe, which shocked his heart. I had doubts.
"Find a seat and sit down," Mr. Lu said coldly. After Meng Xinghe walked in, he discovered that on the drawing paper in the old man's hand, there was a dignified lady drawn. She looked very similar to Lu Ning. Based on Meng Xinghe's intuition, Xinghe also knew that it was Lu Ning's deceased mother.
"How was the provincial examination?" Mr. Lu put down the scroll in his hand, picked up the brush on the side, and reviewed some of the recent certificates in Jiangdu. When he asked Meng Xinghe what to say, he didn't even raise his head, which was strange. .
What else can I do? If I miss one exam, I am afraid that I will have no hope of passing the exam this year. Meng Xinghe did not look disappointed on his face and said calmly: "I have tried my best. As for whether it is good or not, that is the decision of the examiner."
"You are really open-minded," Mr. Lu smiled strangely, put down the pen in his hand, and immediately stared at Meng Xinghe with his majestic eyes. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "The Imperial Examination, for your own benefit You publicly injured a government officer and gave up the exam in a private matter, and now you still have the guts to stand in front of me and laugh about it. Do you still think you are king? Do you really think I don't dare to put you in jail?"
With a bang, Mr. Lu slapped the table angrily, and the inkstone at hand was knocked to the ground and shattered into pieces. After all, he was the censor of Jiangdu, and he was so dignified that he was very angry.
No wonder he was so angry. Since the imperial examination was launched, Meng Xinghe was the first candidate who dared to rush out of the provincial academy. This was nothing. The key was the relationship between this man and his precious daughter. He acquiesced, and by not cuffing him at that time, other officials were already talking about his partiality. If he didn't come forward to impose a small punishment, he would be reported to the capital, which would be another disaster.
Being an official is like walking on thin ice, and you must be careful at all times. Mr. Lu has been the censor of Jiangdu for more than ten years, and he naturally knows that even a trivial matter can set off huge waves as long as he seizes the opportunity.
Meng Xinghe didn't understand the ways of being an official. Seeing that Mr. Lu had never been so serious in front of him, he also knew that his seemingly simple abandonment of the exam had already had a great impact on the old man.
There was no sound at this moment, he could only lower his head and speak silently.
Mr. Lu was happy to see that he stopped talking nonsense today, but he still asked with a straight face: "I think you have no hope of getting into the imperial examination this year. Since you gave up the examination first, you can't participate in the examination in the past three years." ,Are you satisfied with this punishment?"
Just after he finished speaking, Meng Xinghe jumped up with an "ah" sound and said: "Three years, old man, aren't you cheating on me? You said before that if you don't get the top prize in the exam within three years, Ning'er may marry For others, two years, just two years." Damn it, I really don’t know what this old man really thinks. Does he want to beat the mandarin ducks with each other? I might as well boil the rice first.
Mr. Lu didn't consider Meng Xinghe's opinion at all, and said: "If I had known this, why did I give up the exam in the first place? This is your own choice. You can't blame others. There is no use regretting it."
You are such a cruel old man. Ning'er and I will never call you grandpa in the future. Meng Xinghe's teeth chattered and he smiled painfully: "For Ning'er, I am willing to take the exam again in thirty years. I believe she will What's waiting for me is that what you said was wrong, old man. I will never regret giving up the exam in this life. If I had known that something happened to Ning'er, I wouldn't even have taken the first exam."
Even though he said this, he still felt a little sore in his heart. Thinking of having to wait three years before taking the exam again, he might as well pack his bags and return to Taoyuan tomorrow. After all, Jiangdu is not a place where he can stay for a long time.
Meng Xinghe sighed, but Mr. Lu said calmly: "Go down, there is nothing for you to do here."
"Then I'm leaving." Meng Xinghe exited the study with a straight face, but Mr. Lu picked up the portrait on the table. A rare smile appeared on his old face, and then a few tears fell down, and he said hoarsely: "Amei , when you fall asleep in the middle of the night, you shouldn't scold me for not taking good care of Ning'er, right?"
Mr. Lu said very gently, his eyes staring at the portrait for a long time and never leaving. The tears on his face made him look as if he was ten years older.
Meng Xinghe retreated from the old man's study, quietly walked along the corridor to Lu Ning's boudoir, and found that there was no one there. Could it be that Mengdie had told her that she hadn't completely untied her knot, and had gone out to seek death.
This is not a good sign. It is a big deal for Meng Xinghe to abandon the exam. The worst he can do is take the exam again in three years. If Lu Ning is stigmatized because of this, it will really be more than worth the loss.
Well aware of Lu Ning's stubborn temper, Meng Xinghe hurriedly exited her boudoir and immediately searched for her everywhere in Lu Mansion.
After searching several rooms and even her favorite back garden, she was nowhere to be found. Meng Xinghe suddenly panicked, and his previous worries turned into fear now.
This silly girl really can't turn her head around. If something happens, why don't you take my life? Meng Xinghe cursed in his heart, where would Lu Ning go if she wasn't in Lu Mansion?
"Let's go to Duanchangpo, Ning'er left early," when Meng Xinghe was anxious, Mr. Lu said standing in the distance and walked into his room.
After Meng Xinghe got the answer, he ran out of Lu Mansion. Seeing his anxious look, Mr. Lu sighed and said, "If I had had such courage back then, you don't have to blame me, Mei."
Meng Xinghe couldn't hear what the old man said. When he rode his horse to Duangchangpo, he saw Lu Mansion's carriage parked at the foot of the mountain. Meng Xinghe felt relieved and walked along a bluestone road lined with pear blossoms in full bloom, halfway up the mountain, and soon Seeing Lu Ning's graceful figure, Lu Yan was also standing beside her. The two brothers and sister were pulling weeds beside an isolated grave.
It turned out that Meng Xinghe came to offer incense for his mother-in-law. Meng Xinghe did not come forward to disturb him. Instead, he stepped aside and picked many wild flowers in bloom, tied them into a bunch, then strolled over, coughed twice and said: "Ning'er, I'm here."
It was that familiar voice. Lu Ning turned her head and saw the bouquet of flowers in Meng Xinghe's hand, and burst into tears. However, Lu Yan next to her knew what was going on, winked at Meng Xinghe, and said with a smile: "Sister, I'm still here." If you have something to do, go back first,"
This kid was very clever. He left the matter of comforting Lu Ning to Meng Xinghe and retreated decisively. Meng Xinghe smiled bitterly, took Lu Ning's hand and said, "If the old man hadn't told me that you were at Duanchangpo, I might have been full of satisfaction today. The world looks for your shadow,"
"Humph," Miss Lu said in a bad tone, and a stream of tears flowed down. She fell into Meng Xinghe's arms and cried: "Since he knows that we are at Duanchangpo, why doesn't he take a look? Today is the anniversary of my mother's death. Ah, it’s been twenty years and he hasn’t come to see my mother once. I hate him.”
Miss Lu was angry and landed all her fists on Meng Xinghe's chest. Young Master Meng took it all in. After he lost his temper, he comforted him: "Silly girl, he is your father. Seeing that the person you love has left so long ago, his heart is filled with tears." How can outsiders understand what it feels like? Maybe the old man has come here secretly countless times and you don’t know it yet.”
Trying to make the old man noble so as not to intensify the conflict between them, Miss Lu listened to his excuses and showed a smile and said: "Go and kowtow to your mother, she is waiting."
Uh, this, just knock it. Who called her the mother-in-law? Because she deserves it. Meng Xinghe held the flowers and placed them in front of the mother-in-law’s grave. When he saw the smoothed inscriptions on the tombstone, he knelt down to kowtow respectfully. Ringed his head.
"Okay, get up. It's not pious to kowtow." Miss Lu pushed Meng Xinghe and knelt on the ground. Her eyes immediately turned red and she cried: "Mom, this is my daughter's husband-in-law. You If you feel satisfied, tell Ning'er in a dream at night that Ning'er misses her so much."
She was crying sadly, but Meng Xinghe was sweating on his forehead. He quickly held Miss Lu in his arms and comforted her: "Silly girl, you look like you are crying. Come and wipe it clean for you."
"Well," Miss Lu nodded, took Meng Xinghe's hand and said, "Mr. sir, let's go back."
Meng Xinghe nodded in agreement, supported Lu Ning's slender waist, and walked down the mountain, walking on the quiet path covered with pear blossoms. A faint fragrance hit his nostrils. Occasionally, a few wisps of spring breeze blew by, and the scattered flowers fell in pieces, like snowflakes. The thin layer falling on the bluestone road is quite beautiful.
Holding the person in his arms tighter, Meng Xinghe whispered: "Ning'er, I want to tell you a secret."
Secret, Miss Lu's eyes suddenly lit up, she covered her ears and said: "I won't listen, I won't listen, your secret is definitely not a good thing,"
Damn girl, you are still pretending to me. Meng Xinghe smiled and kissed Miss Lu on the face. Looking at the green mountains and green land in front of him, he said seriously: "Even if you don't listen, I have to say that my secret is to let my "Hao Ning'er will be happy all her life and be a happy woman. I am willing to laugh with her, make trouble with her, worry with her, and cry with her, but I will not allow her to hide things mentally and be unhappy. Do you know,"
To untie the bell, the person who tied the bell must be tied. Now that he is here, let’s untie the knot in Lu Ning’s heart, so that she won’t worry about it all day long. Miss Lu heard the meaning of his words and was silent for a while and said: "Mr. Ning'er I am so sorry,"
What was supposed to happen finally came. It seemed that she did have a knot in her heart. Meng Xinghe quickly laughed, reached out and pinched her pink nose, and said: "Silly girl, love does not require saying sorry,"
"Wow," Miss Lu cried out in emotion, and kissed Meng Xinghe's face with her pink lips. She hugged his thick waist tightly with both hands, twisted her body, and said, "What a good husband." , I love you, please let Ning'er become a happy woman, I can't wait for a moment,"
"We'll discuss this when we go back to our room," Meng Xinghe put his arms around Lu Ning's legs, held her in his arms, and walked slowly towards the foot of the mountain along the flower-patterned bluestone road.