The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 98

Amid the sound of the Xiao*, a horse galloped over. The woman on the horse was wearing a red skirt, with a scarf fluttering in the wind, and crabapple flowers hanging from her temples, like a red cloud. She approached the procession of people welcoming the Goddess of Flowers but did not slow down. Amid the shouts of the people around her, the woman on the horse smiled, grasped the reins, controlled the horse, and leaped over the heads of the people, causing a large number of inhalations. (Xiao: a free reed mouth organ with five or more pipes blown from the bottom)

The eye-scorching red, with the crisp fragrance, passed by Mei Zhuyu, who was standing on the street. At that moment, the crabapple flower on the girl’s head finally couldn’t stand the speed and flew down. The wind brought it in front of Mei Zhuyu, and he subconsciously reached out and caught it in his hand.

The beautiful crabapple flower fell into his palm, while the woman’s back became farther away.

Mei Zhuyu stood there and suddenly recognized that this woman was the one he had bumped into in the mountain stream the day before. Somehow, Mei Zhuyu did not throw away the crabapple flower he had accidentally caught but kept holding it in his hand. When he walked to Shuangyan Bridge, he unexpectedly saw the woman again.

That year’s spring came exceptionally early, and it was a warm spring. The peach, apricot, and pear blossoms along the river were in full bloom, covering the sky like pink clouds and white mist. As soon as Mei Zhuyu walked onto Shuangyan Bridge, he saw the woman standing on a painted boat, surrounded by a group of young men and women.

She held a longbow in her hand, with the tip of the long arrow wrapped in bulging red silk, and aimed it at the small drum placed under the tree on the shore. After shooting an arrow, there was a thump, and the small drum actually exploded, bursting out countless petals, and it seemed that there were also copper coins. So, every time the small drum burst, there was a burst of cheers from the boat and on the shore.

There was more than one boat in the river, and she was not the only person standing with a bow, but she was the center of everyone’s attention because her smile was confident and flamboyant, and the longbow in her hand shot quickly, with a continuous thumping sound and arrows never falling, leaving everyone else behind and drowning in the mud.

On the shore, on the boats, and on the bridge, countless people were staring at the woman with burning eyes, but she paid no attention to anyone in the spotlight and only focused on the small drums, looking full of energy and pride.

Suddenly, as Mei Zhuyu stood on the bridge, his first impression of Chang’an was frozen in his mind.

When he saw her, he knew that Chang’an was indeed very lively and beautiful. Everything that had not touched him before seemed to come alive and blew into his heart through the warm wind of that day.

Later, he settled in Chang’an and heard the woman’s name, Wu Zhen. Wu Zhen, the second daughter of the Duke of Yu’s mansion, had a noble status and an unruly personality. Later, he entered the Ministry of Justice and often heard people mention her. Occasionally, he would see her from afar. She would always come and go in a hurry on horseback, as if she would never stop like the wind.

“My dear, what are you thinking about?” Wu Zhen scratched Mei Zhuyu’s chin to bring him back to his senses. Those bright eyes, which once could not shine into anyone else’s, clearly reflected Mei Zhuyu’s shadow.

Mei Zhuyu suddenly grabbed her hand and said abruptly: “When I proposed to you, I thought you wouldn’t agree.” 

But that might be the first time in his life that he wanted to force something. Regardless of whether he could get it or not, for the sake of the obsessive thought in his heart, he still took the initiative to ask for it.

He thought if he couldn’t get her, then they were not destined to be together, so he would not think about it anymore. But he didn’t expect that she would actually agree, just like the crabapple flower that fell into his hand by chance.

Wu Zhen leaned on his shoulder and smiled, “Maybe you came at the right time. I like you too.”

“The first time I saw you, I mean when I turned into a cat to see you, you washed my ink-stained paws and held out your sleeve for me to wipe. I thought at that time, this man is really interesting.”

“Later, I sneaked into your house to look for the Undying Bone, but you found me and grabbed my wrist and dragged me out from under the bed. I thought at the time, what a perceptive man you are.” Wu Zhen laughed softly twice, then continued, “It was the first time I was so embarrassed.”

Mei Zhuyu: “…” She didn’t look embarrassed at all, but rather she seemed very calm.

Wu Zhen put her arms around his neck and chuckled, “In the end, you were more embarrassed than me. The host was more nervous than the ‘little thief’ and almost fell down.” She thought at that time, ‘Ah, could it be that this man was interested in me?’

Wu Zhen laughed as she thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the happier she became, and she fell into Mei Zhuyu’s arms. Mei Zhuyu picked her up and looked at the bright moon that had risen above her head.

“But I still don’t know why my husband likes me so much.”

Mei Zhuyu looked at Wu Zhen in his arms for a moment, then suddenly covered her eyes with his hands, lowered his head, and kissed her forehead, and recited in a hoarse voice, “There is someone in the mountains, covered with lychees. She is charming and smiling. I admire her good and graceful appearance…”

When he finished reciting, Wu Zhen pulled down the man’s hand and asked, “Nine Songs, Mountain Ghost, why did you recite this song?”

But no matter how she asked, Mei Zhuyu refused to say more. For some reason, the area under his ears was slightly red, and his usually clear eyes seemed evasive.

Under the bright moon, whispers gradually faded away, the night was deep and everyone was asleep, only the candles were shining brightly.

A few days after July 7, July 15 arrived. The 15th of July was called Zhongyuan Festival by Taoists and Yulanpen Festival by Buddhists. The Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan festivals were all grand and lively festivals. Only during these three festivals in Chang’an would the curfew be temporarily lifted and people be allowed to walk on the streets at night.

However, there were three days of curfew exemption during the Shangyuan Festival, while there was only one day during the Zhongyuan Festival and Xiayuan Festival. On the night of Zhongyuan Festival, the city gates were not closed because this night was the “Gate of Hell”, the last day when the Gate of Hell opens. All living beings in the world want to send away the ghosts of their deceased relatives on this day. If the gate was closed, the ghosts who were still attached to the human world might not be able to return.

As early as two days ago, hundreds of temples in Chang’an City, big and small, were already full of incense. On the 15th day of the seventh month, the entrances of major temples were even more crowded. The large incense burners in front of the temples were filled with incense sticks. Later, people could not stick their incense sticks into the ground because it was full. The smoke rose to the sky, making the whole place boiling. The sound of chanting in the temples did not stop for several days.