The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 140

“The sweet-scented osmanthus flowers have bloomed this year,” Wu Zhen suddenly said as they entered the city. Mei Zhuyu then realized that the faint fragrance he smelled was indeed the sweet-scented osmanthus. He hadn’t paid much attention to it, but Wu Zhen loved these elegant and beautiful things, so she noticed it immediately.

Not only did she notice it, but she also said to Mei Zhuyu with great interest, “Speaking of osmanthus, the best osmanthus in Chang’an City is in the Osmanthus Garden in the Daming Palace. Unfortunately, you can’t go there whenever you want. Next time I go to Daming Palace to listen to music, I’ll pick a few branches for you to put in a vase. It will keep the fragrance for several days.”

“Besides the osmanthus in Guiyuan Garden of the Daming Palace, the second best is in the garden of Huang Si Niang’s home. Huang Si Niang is good at taking care of flowers, but the best ones are those osmanthus trees. She is very stingy; she only uses some of the osmanthus flowers to make wine each year and doesn’t give them to others when they ask. She treats those osmanthus trees like treasures.” Wu Zhen knew all these things well. Seeing that Mei Zhuyu listened carefully, she blinked a little boastfully, “But I asked her for wine last year. This year, she will leave two jars for me. My dear, you are in for a treat.”

Mei Zhuyu looked at her quietly and smiled. He felt more and more that Wu Zhen was very similar to the city of Chang’an.

Wu Zhen knew all about the delicious, fun, and beautiful things in Chang’an City in every season. That kind of “extensive knowledge” was accumulated through traveling around for more than ten years. Only such a prosperous land could nurture such an unruly woman with strength in her blood.

“There is another good place to enjoy osmanthus in Chang’an City. It’s in Jinchangfang. It’s also a private garden, but the owner of that garden is somewhat of a friend of mine. The osmanthus there should be in bloom these days. We came back at a good time. It’s perfect for enjoying osmanthus. I’ll take you to see the golden osmanthus in the next two days, pick some, and ask the cook to make some osmanthus cakes. There is a kind of dumpling made with osmanthus honey that I like the most. You must try it too…”

Before they even got home, Wu Zhen had already arranged where they would go in the next few days. Mei Zhuyu listened to her endless chatter and could only respond with nodding his head.

The ox cart slowly drove to the door of the house. It was almost dusk. The old servant of the Mei family saw his master returning and was very happy to ask the kitchen to prepare food quickly. However, Wu Zhen stopped him with a wave of her hand. “I’ve been away from home for so long, so of course, I have to eat something delicious when I come back. The ladies at home should stop working so hard and order some good food for everyone to eat together.” As she spoke, she asked someone to buy a large spread of good food from the restaurant she often visited. When she was tired and exhausted on the road, she could eat whatever she wanted. Since she was back, of course, she had to continue her old ways. When conditions permitted, Wu Zhen was the pickiest.

They enjoyed a long-awaited comfortable meal in a lively atmosphere, but it was a pity they couldn’t drink. Wu Zhen touched her stomach and endured it with great remorse.

After dinner, they washed up thoroughly to cleanse themselves of the dust and fatigue from the road. Even Mei Zhuyu felt a little lazy. That was the comfort brought by home.

“We’ve been too tired these days, so let’s rest early,” Mei Zhuyu said.

But Wu Zhen shook her head and walked slowly under the corridor, fanning herself with a round fan. The wooden shoes under her feet made a slow tapping sound. Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to stay by her side and walk with her.

The moon emerged, casting its shadow at their feet. Wu Zhen waved her fan and whispered, “It’s about time.”

Mei Zhuyu heard her talking to herself and asked curiously, “What do you mean?”

Wu Zhen covered half of her face with a fan and smiled mysteriously. She calculated the time, pulled Mei Zhuyu to his study, then pushed open the door of the large wall of the study, looking at him with a smile.

Mei Zhuyu didn’t know what she was going to do at first, until she pushed open the doors and he saw what she wanted to show him.

In the yard facing these doors, a dozen Epiphyllums (climbing cacti) were planted at some point. At that moment, most of them were in bloom. Large white flowers bloomed quietly in the night, emitting a fascinating fragrance. Even at night, the white flower disks of the Epiphyllums were particularly bright and eye-catching, so beautiful that Mei Zhuyu was momentarily distracted.

He looked at Wu Zhen, who noticed his gaze and turned her eyes away from the flowers to look at him with a smile. “Does it look good? Before we left Chang’an, I secretly had someone transplant them here, thinking that when we came back, the flowers would be almost in bloom, and maybe I could give you a surprise. I didn’t expect the timing to be so coincidental.”

“The blooming period of this flower is very short. We wouldn’t have seen it blooming if we had been one day earlier or later. This shows how lucky we are.”

Before they left Chang’an, Wu Zhen had been invited to a friend’s home and saw the Epiphyllum he planted. Different from the common Epiphyllum, that one was found by a friend by chance. The flowers were larger and more fragrant than the common Epiphyllum, and the petals were thin and light, as if there were thousands of overlapping petals, which looked magnificent. Thus, that Epiphyllum was also called Thousand Petal Snow.

Chang’an was not suitable for growing that kind of Epiphyllum, but Wu Zhen saw the flowers blooming and thought they were very beautiful. She wanted her husband to see them too, so she secretly planted the flowers. For these dozen precious blooms, she had to argue with her friend a lot and finally got them, just for that moment.

While Wu Zhen was feeling complacent, Mei Zhuyu was a little touched but also felt amused and helpless, realizing that she really never forgot these things. At that time, she was even thinking about waiting for him to come back to see the flowers.

“Why don’t you say anything? Don’t you like it?” Wu Zhen came over and scratched his chin. Mei Zhuyu held her hand and answered softly, “I like it.” I just like you so much that I don’t know how to express it, and I can’t even say one nice word.

How could Wu Zhen not see that he liked it? She just asked on purpose. Seeing her husband’s gentle expression and the focused, bright light in his eyes, she smiled secretly in her heart, thinking that it was indeed the right kind of flower.

If she could make the man happy, all her efforts would be worthwhile.

Although Wu Zhen had planned to take a two-day break after returning and go out with her husband to appreciate the sweet-scented osmanthus, her idea was very beautiful. However, from the second day after they returned, Wu Zhen was so busy that she had no time to think about those things.

First, when Duke Yu heard the news that his daughter had returned, he ran back from the Buddhist temple as quickly as possible. He did not ask why Wu Zhen and her partner went out, nor did he bother to listen to her nonsensical excuses. The old father had a clear purpose, so he caught Wu Zhen and scolded her. In order to get away, Wu Zhen offered up her belly.

However, that trick didn’t work. Knowing that she was still roaming around while pregnant, Duke Yu became even angrier. The good temper he had cultivated since he became a monk was basically useless when facing his little daughter. Wu Zhen had no choice but to sit in front of her father with her arms around her belly and empty eyes for several hours, listening to his teachings.