The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 145

“Madam, he brought back a large basket of autumn pears today. They are only the size of a child’s fist. We have never seen autumn pears this small. He said he wanted to make some juice.”

That would have been fine, but one day when Wu Zhen came back, the servant guarding the gate told her, “Madam, Master brought back a bear today!”

Wu Zhen: “…What bear?”

Curious, she went to the kitchen and saw a dead bear slumped on a makeshift chopping board with its eyes open. Several cooks in the kitchen were watching, unsure how to start.

Seeing the fresh wounds on the bear, Wu Zhen thought, could it be that her husband went to the mountain to hunt? When she returned to the room and saw that Mei Zhuyu had bathed and changed clothes, Wu Zhen understood that he had gone hunting. However, there were no bears on the hills in Chang’an City. How could he have had time to go to the big mountain outside the city to look for bears?

Mei Zhuyu came over and said to her, “I brought a bear back. I heard that eating bear bile steamed with chrysanthemum is good for pregnant women. Fresh bear bile is best.”

Wu Zhen: “…Haha, is that so?” 

Thinking of how bitter bear bile was, Wu Zhen cursed inwardly. She wondered which nosy person told her husband about that terrible recipe. Were the officials in the Ministry of Justice too idle?

Even though Wu Zhen didn’t want to eat that thing, thinking of her husband’s exaggerated behavior of secretly going out to hunt, she still didn’t refuse his kindness. She pretended to like it and simply ate the bear bile. Of course, she had to endure the bitterness together. After finishing that bitter dish, she made her husband taste the lingering bitterness as well.

The yellow leaves of the elm and locust trees on the street fell, carried by the horses’ hooves over the high walls on both sides. Chang’an, which had been covered with thick shade in summer, was gradually adorned with red and yellow hues. Large patches of red leaves could be seen on the mountains outside the city. It was autumn, and the weather was clear. No matter whether it was the rich or the common people in Chang’an, they all loved to go out to enjoy the autumn, especially the young sons of the high officials and nobles, who looked forward to autumn hunting even when the leaves were still yellow.

Mr. Zhao and his group came to Mei’s house several times to talk to Wu Zhen about autumn hunting. After Wu Zhen set the time, they went back happily to prepare. A group of young men laughed and played, with some shouting loudly that they must bring back more prey this year to wash away the humiliation of last year.

Wu Zhen called Zhao Songyan and asked him, “Why haven’t I seen Mei Si recently? Is he still at home painting?”

Ever since Wu Zhen and Second Young Master Mei got married, that group had been headed by Mei Si and Zhao Songyan. But since Wu Zhen returned to Chang’an, she had not seen Mei Si come out to play; the few times she did see the group, it was only Zhao Songyan and a few others who came.

Zhao Songyan looked nonchalant. “As for him, we haven’t seen him and don’t know what’s wrong with him. We called him several times recently, but he didn’t come out to play. He just stayed at home. I know he must be painting. What else can he do? Sister Zhen, please take care of him. Don’t let him paint too much; we can’t control him.”

Zhao Songyan was a careless person, not as attentive as Cui Jiu. Wu Zhen did not expect him to know what was going on with Mei Si, so she decided to visit his house in person to inform him to join everyone for autumn hunting in a few days.

Upon seeing Mei Si, Wu Zhen looked him over and said, “Why do you look like you are exhausted? Where have you been working lately?”

Unexpectedly, when Mei Si saw her, his eyes turned red, and he lowered his head, saying, “Sister Zhen, I’m sorry.”

Wu Zhen was confused by his behavior. What on earth was wrong?

“Tell me how you have done anything wrong to me.” Wu Zhen poured herself a glass of water, ready to listen to the young man’s inner pain.

Mei Si didn’t say anything for a long time. He just sat there with an embarrassed expression. When he met her gaze, he became even more dejected and felt guilty.

“Speak,” Wu Zhen threw down a word solemnly.

Mei Si had been scolded by her many times when he was a child, so when he heard her long-lost tone, he immediately stopped being shy and said in a muffled voice, “I seem to have fallen in love with someone, but that person is someone you hate.”

The person she hated? Who? Wu Zhen didn’t react for a moment, but soon she remembered something and asked tentatively, “Liu Taizhen from the Liu family?” 

Didn’t the young men and women under her think that she and Liu Taizhen were just enemies? Liu Taizhen was too lazy to explain, and Wu Zhen had given up after trying to explain because no one believed her, so the misunderstanding continued.

Mei Si nodded in shame.

Although Wu Zhen had teased Liu Taizhen before, she actually didn’t think there was anything going on between the two. She found Mei Si’s words very strange and couldn’t help asking, “Why do you think you like her? Did you meet her again later?”

Mei Si shook his head. “No, but I don’t know why I keep dreaming recently, dreaming about…”

His face turned red. “I dreamed of her bathing in the water. I dreamed of this scene; it must be because I love her…”

Mei Si couldn’t say anything more. He was a painting fanatic who loved ghosts more than beauties. This was the first time he had such a dream since he was a child, and he was extremely ashamed. Moreover, the object of his dream was not on good terms with the boss. He felt that he had betrayed the organization and had been depressed for a long time.

Poor Mei Si didn’t know that the scene he dreamed of was not because of any erotic thoughts in his heart, but because he had seen it with his own eyes. His memory had later been erased. However, for some reason, he vaguely remembered certain scenes and thus had that misunderstanding.

Wu Zhen didn’t know the inside story, so she patted Mei Si’s shoulder and said, “It’s nothing. I don’t care about those little grudges. As long as you like her, that’s fine.”

Mei Si was so moved that he had no idea that Sister Zhen, whom he admired, was laughing wildly in her heart at that moment.

When she heard that Wu Zhen was also going autumn hunting that year, Her Majesty the Empress immediately summoned Wu Zhen into the palace.

Wu Zhen knew what the Empress wanted to say. When she saw her sister, she raised her hand and said obediently, “I promise not to draw the bow and shoot arrows, ride slowly and never run, and do nothing dangerous. This time I am just taking those little guys out to play, and by the way, I will enjoy the autumn mountain scenery with my husband. Don’t worry, Your Highness. You see, I haven’t been out fooling around for a while. It’s a rare opportunity to go out of the city to walk around and take a breath. You can’t keep me locked up all the time.”

She had said everything. What else could the Empress say? She swallowed all the words in her heart. She couldn’t help but glare at her and threatened her, “Do as you say. Don’t think I won’t know what you do. I will place spies on you. If you mess around, you will be in trouble when you come back.”