The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 154

Sometimes, it was some little monsters that caused trouble, and Mei Zhuyu picked them up and took them home for Wu Zhen to play with. Sometimes, it was a little monster that sneaked into Chang’an to create chaos, and he was also taken back and handed over to Wu Zhen, who sent it to the Monster Market for management. But most of the time, it was a false alarm; there was no problem at all, just people’s suspicions. Only once was it found that the servants in the family pretended to be ghosts to extort money, and they were also directly tortured and taken back to prison for interrogation by Mei Zhuyu. In addition to being a Taoist priest, he was also from the Ministry of Justice.

Autumn passed quickly, and when autumn leaves fell all over the city and the cold wind swept in from the north, winter came.

As winter arrived, Wu Zhen’s belly grew bigger. She no longer liked to join in the fun and was no longer interested in her favorite songs and dances. What she liked most every day was to curl up and sleep, and she had to sleep in her lover’s arms.

After turning into a cat, the tabby cat gained a lot of weight, and her belly bulged. Mei Zhuyu got up in the morning to go to work, wrapped his wife in a soft quilt and snow-white fur, lowered the curtains, and turned on the incense burner so that she could sleep well. But after working in the Ministry of Justice for an hour, he could still see a lazy tabby cat jumping into the window and nestling in his arms.

Mei Zhuyu was helpless. He had told her several times that Wu Zhen would better sleep comfortably at home than his work place. However, Wu Zhen smiled and agreed to everything, only to forget it as soon as she turned her head. She acted as she pleased every day, pretending to be oblivious. Mei Zhuyu could do nothing about her, so he had to let her do as she wanted. He prepared a thick fur mat in the criminal department office, and when the tabby cat came, he would wrap her up in a blanket.

Therefore, other officials in the Ministry of Justice would always see such a scene—Minister Mei sitting at his desk, writing and working, with a lazy cat sleeping in his arms. The room was filled with silence, which made people inexplicably sigh, “Life is so leisurely these days.”

As winter approached, the flowers and trees in the courtyard withered, and the lush green disappeared. Only a clump of bamboo remained in the courtyard, still dark green yet looking a bit desolate.

Wu Zhen was a person who liked poetry and wine, and, of course, she could not tolerate such a yard. So when Mei Zhuyu returned home, he found some plum blossoms and camellias in the yard—flowers that bloomed in winter. Remembering Wu Zhen’s words that the yard was perfect and needed no additions or changes, and thinking of the several kinds of flowers and trees she had transplanted later, Mei Zhuyu stood in front of the window, looked at the budding plum blossoms, shook his head, laughed, and said nothing.

Wu Zhen came over slowly with her belly sticking out. Seeing him looking at the plum blossoms, she walked over and said, “When the flowers bloom, I’ll cut a few branches for you to put in a vase.”

After speaking, she seemed to recall something, clapped her hands, and said in a daze, “Yes, I remember now. Didn’t I say before that I would go to the plum garden for a day when the plum blossoms bloom this year? They’re blooming soon.”

“When the plum blossoms bloom in winter, we’ll invite a chef from Changzhou who is good at preparing plum blossom banquets. The food will be delicious, and there will also be plum wine…” Wu Zhen smacked her lips and patted her stomach with sorrow and regret.

After being told that drinking was harmful to the baby in her belly, she temporarily stopped drinking. However, it was really painful to do so. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last tasted wine; it felt like at least ten years. She regretted that she wouldn’t be able to drink the newly opened plum wine this year. She couldn’t help but pat Mei Zhuyu’s arm and say, “My dear, I can’t drink at this time. You have to drink more for me.”

Mei Zhuyu shook his head, saying, “No, I won’t drink either.” 

Otherwise, when Wu Zhen smelled it and couldn’t drink it, she would have to watch helplessly, which would definitely make her feel even more uncomfortable.

The plum blossoms hadn’t yet bloomed, but one day Wu Zhen had someone bring back two pots of green flowers. The root balls of these flowers were like garlic, with thick green leaves, white flowers, and yellow stamens. The most amazing thing was that these flowers were extremely fragrant. If placed in a pot indoors, the room would be filled with fragrance.

“It smells good, right? This is called Narcissus. I haven’t been out for a long time, so today I had the rare urge to go for a walk. I met a Persian merchant in the West Market and bought this from him. It’s said to be an imported product. I’ve never seen this flower before.” Wu Zhen introduced it enthusiastically while placing a potted flower on Mei Zhuyu’s desk.

Mei Zhuyu’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her walking briskly with her growing belly. He couldn’t help but stop what he was doing and watch her put down the pot of flowers with bated breath. Then he breathed a sigh of relief. Wu Zhen seemed to notice his concern and suddenly jumped twice on the spot, causing the veins on Mei Zhuyu’s forehead to twitch.

Wu Zhen leaned on the table and laughed at him, “Why worry about it? I’m fine. The baby won’t really jump out.” 

It was as if she had forgotten who had often been worried about the baby jumping out during the early stages of her pregnancy.

He was reluctant to punish her, nor was he willing to scold her, and even if he said a few words, it wouldn’t help. Wu Zhen would just come over, kiss him with a smile, and make some sweet promises—promises she would forget anyway. She assured him that she wouldn’t scare him like that next time, but she always did.

Wu Zhen turned into a cat again, playing with the goose in the yard. Ever since the goose moved into the courtyard, it treated the place as its territory, strutting around with its shiny, furry chest every day, and it ignored everyone except Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu.

The first time Wu Zhen turned into a cat and jumped into the yard right under Ezi’s nose, Ezi failed to recognize that it was the mean owner who had almost plucked all the feathers off its behind. It rushed over aggressively to defend its territory but was knocked into the pond by Wu Zhen’s cat punch. Still, it fought forward unyieldingly.

Mei Zhuyu heard the commotion and opened the window to see the big-bellied tabby cat leaping through the air, stepping on the goose’s head. His pupils shrank in fear. He dropped the book in his hand and jumped out of the window, picking up the tabby cat with one hand and grabbing the goose’s neck with the other, forcibly ending the battle.

Afterwards, Wu Zhen, who was extremely bored, deliberately turned into a cat to provoke Ezi and chased it around the yard. However, after many attempts, Ezi realized who she was and, with a strong desire to survive, gave up its position as the overlord of the yard. When Wu Zhen couldn’t find any more fun, she occasionally turned into a cat, squatted on Ezi’s back, and let it carry her as they patrolled the territory and strolled around the yard. It was so funny that even Mei Zhuyu, though worried that Ezi might drop the fat tabby cat, couldn’t help but smile when he saw it.

The newly transplanted plum blossoms in the yard were well taken care of, and soon the first flower bloomed in the cold wind. Wu Zhen was sleeping in bed and smelled the plum fragrance through the window’s gap in a daze. She sat up with a yawn, opened the window, and saw the plum blossoms on the branches. She turned around and looked to the side, but didn’t see Mei Zhuyu. She raised her eyebrows, reached out, and picked the newly opened plum blossom.

That day, as usual, she turned into a tabby cat and went to the Ministry of Justice to sleep, taking the plum blossom with her.