The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 80

The little girl sat on the bed with a sullen face for a while. Then, suddenly, she grabbed the pillow and threw it to the ground with a gloomy expression, saying, “Keep away from me.”

Mei Zhuyu finally understood that she was irritable when she woke up. In fact, the day after he married Wu Zhen, while chatting with his father-in-law, Duke Yu, Duke Yu had mentioned that his second daughter, Wu Zhen, was very irritable upon waking and difficult to coax. But Mei Zhuyu had slept with Wu Zhen for several days without noticing any irritability when she woke up. At most, she would be dazed for a while in the morning and frown during that time, but she would usually relax and wake up soon. If he did not leave the bedside during that time, Wu Zhen would lie on the bed and tease him a few times.

He finally witnessed Wu Zhen’s morning grumpiness as described by Duke Yu.

The girl, with messy hair, sat on the bed angrily for a while. Finally, she got up, picked up the pillow from the floor, turned to Mei Zhuyu, and smiled. “I’m hungry!”

Mei Zhuyu had never met a child whose expression changed so quickly. He had learned a lot.

He took the little girl to wash up, brought her food, and placed it on the small table, letting her eat while he sat behind her and combed her hair.

The little girl’s hair was thin and soft. Mei Zhuyu thought that she might complain if he was too rough, so he used less strength, fearing that he would tear the little girl’s hair. After tying her hair into two small buns, Mei Zhuyu took her out, bought her suitable clothes, and then took her to visit Duke Yu’s Mansion.

However, before entering Duke Yu’s Mansion, he took out a talisman, folded it in half, and tied it to the little girl’s wrist with a red string.

“You can’t tear this off,” Mei Zhuyu reminded her.

The little girl agreed obediently, looking eagerly at the gate of Duke Yu’s Mansion. Mei Zhuyu led her through the gate.

When the servants in Duke Yu’s Mansion saw the Second Lady’s husband, they thought he was there to see the Second Lady, so they greeted him warmly and told him that she was not at home.

No one seemed to notice the little girl beside Mei Zhuyu. That was indeed the case—because of the talisman, and because Mei Zhuyu had been holding her hand. If Mei Zhuyu let her go or the talisman fell off, ordinary people would be able to see little Wu Zhen. This was what the Taoist sect called the “invisibility talisman”.

As she was led by Mei Zhuyu into her home, little Wu Zhen’s eyes were filled with astonishment and curiosity. In her memory, her home was the same, but many small details had changed. The servants she knew had suddenly aged a lot, and there were many new servants she didn’t know. Additionally, the servants she knew and didn’t know all affectionately called the man beside her “son-in-law”.

Realizing that something was really wrong, the little girl, no matter how naughty she was, became frightened. So when she walked into the inner courtyard and couldn’t see her parents and sister, she started to cry, and her tears fell.

Mei Zhuyu had never seen her cry before. This was different from fake crying—she actually shed tears, which made him panic. He squatted down and wiped the girl’s tears with his sleeve, promising to take her to find her father immediately. This finally coaxed the girl, temporarily calming her.

Wu Zhen’s elder sister, Empress Wu, was in the palace, so it wasn’t easy to see her. Her mother had passed away, so naturally, she couldn’t see her either. Mei Zhuyu could only take her to Suti Temple at the foot of Nanshan Mountain outside the city to see her father, Wu Chundao. Mei Zhuyu was a little worried that the little girl would be scared and cry again after seeing her father as a bald monk.

With that worry in mind, they set out for Suti Temple. The location of Suti Temple was remote and a bit far from Chang’an. Even if they rode there immediately, they wouldn’t arrive until the evening.

Mei Zhuyu held the reins with one hand and the jumping little girl with the other, riding along the official road outside the city. The little girl was very lively and curious, looking around and asking questions non-stop. But suddenly, she saw something that made her body shake violently. She closed her mouth tightly, shrank into Mei Zhuyu’s arms, and buried her head in his chest, trembling with fear.

Although Wu Zhen had only been a child for a short time, Mei Zhuyu had already deeply realized what a willful and naughty child his wife was when she was young, with a weird and unpredictable temper.

Such a fearless little girl suddenly huddling up in fear surprised Mei Zhuyu greatly. He held the little girl with one hand to prevent her from moving and falling off the horse, then looked in the direction she had been staring at.

They saw two trees on the side of the road ahead. These two tall trees served as a resting place for pedestrians. Beneath them were several blue stones that had been smoothed by years of use. Under the scorching sun, the patches of shade looked very inviting.

However, Mei Zhuyu’s eyes were drawn to the space between the two trees. A black web was entangled there, resembling a giant spider’s web connecting the branches. In the center of the web lay a black mass that looked like a huge spider, positioned in the middle of the road, like a hunter waiting for prey.

This was a kind of monster called Spider Woman. Although it looked scary, it was actually harmless. On the contrary, it caught wandering foul air and small insect monsters that could make people sick.

Mei Zhuyu looked down at the shivering, silent little girl in his arms. She had buried her head tightly, not daring to look at the creature. The closer they got, the harder she trembled, as if she were extremely scared. But no matter how frightened she was, she didn’t cry or make a sound. Not only that, she subconsciously lightened her breathing and tried to minimize her presence.

She was truly scared. At that moment, Mei Zhuyu suddenly understood something. Could Wu Zhen have seen these things since she was a child? Her reaction told Mei Zhuyu that this was how she had behaved when she encountered these things in her youth—trembling in silence.

The thought left Mei Zhuyu stunned. He had never expected this. She was a Cat Lord. From the moment he first saw her, Mei Zhuyu had never seen her afraid of anything. Could she really be afraid? That slippery little girl who would wipe her eyes and look pitiful when pretending to be scared or sad would not cry or act spoiled when she was genuinely afraid.

Mei Zhuyu felt so distressed that he couldn’t bear it any longer. He tightened his grip on the reins and stopped the horse. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the little girl out of his arms and said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Look up. The Spider Woman is gone.”

The little girl tugged at his sleeve for a long while and whispered, “Don’t talk!”

“It’ll come over and grab my feet.”

Mei Zhuyu took another deep breath. When he thought about how Wu Zhen had often been scared like this when she was young, he couldn’t help but soften his voice. He had never been so gentle in his life. If he had spoken to his master, brothers, or nephews in this tone, it would have frightened half of them to death.

“Really, it won’t come over. You see?”

As he spoke, he quickly drew a talisman, and the magic light enveloped the Spider Woman and the big black web, making them disappear instantly. Although they were still there, they couldn’t be seen for the time being.