flstandardbreds Chapter 143 Sister and brother meet
Chapter 143 Sister and brother meet
The next morning, Mrs. Meng helped prepare a carriage full of gifts. Meng Lingshu only brought a coachman and went to the Ye family in person.
The Ye family had no servants, and it was Boss Ye who came to open the door for Meng Lingshu. After Meng Lingshu explained his purpose, Boss Ye hurriedly and politely invited him in, with a slightly nervous look on his face.
The highest-ranking official Boss Ye had ever seen in his life was only the magistrate of Ninghuai County, and he had only seen him from a distance. But the one in front of him was the highest-ranking official in the border town, the prefect. Boss Ye felt a little nervous instinctively.
Meng Lingshu noticed that Boss Ye was feeling awkward, and smiled warmly, "Brother Ye, there is no need to be so reserved. I am sorry for coming so abruptly. I wonder if General Ye is at home?"
Seeing that the prefect was so approachable, Boss Ye felt relieved. "My third brother has gone to the military camp to serve and hasn't come back yet. Does Lord Meng have something to talk to my third brother about?"
Meng Lingshu waved his hands repeatedly, "It's nothing serious. I came here to apologize for my rash behavior yesterday."
Then he ordered the driver, "Move in the gifts you brought."
"Yes, sir." The coachman turned around and took out the gifts prepared in the carriage.
"Master Meng, you absolutely cannot do this..." Boss Ye hurriedly stepped forward to stop the driver, "It's a token of my appreciation, how can I accept your gift so casually?"
"This is just a small gift to express my gratitude. Brother Ye, you must accept it." Meng Lingshu bowed sincerely.
"You brought too much," Ye Laoda frowned, looked at the gift boxes taken out by the coachman, and reached out to take the smallest box on top. "This is enough. I will pass it to my third brother when he comes back. Lord Meng, please come to the main hall and have a cup of hot tea."
"...Okay, thank you for your help, Brother Ye."
The Ye family are all honest people, so Meng Lingshu didn't say much. He asked the coachman to wait outside the door, and he followed Ye Lao Da into the courtyard.
As they talked, they walked through the hanging flower gate. The open space in the front yard had already been planted with green vegetables by Old Lady Ye and her family. Under a sturdy osmanthus tree outside the living room, Mrs. Meng was sitting in the shade with her children reading.
The children sat around Mrs. Meng, and the sound of their reading was clear and pleasant to the ears. When Meng Lingshu's eyes passed over the children and fell on the profile of Mrs. Meng who was reading with her eyes lowered, he could no longer move.
Mrs. Meng had a ruddy complexion and a faint smile on the corners of her lips. She looked at the book in her hands and listened carefully to the children reading.
"elder sister..."
Meng Lingshu opened his mouth, but no sound came out and his throat choked several times.
When he saw that familiar face again, Meng Lingshu could hardly believe his eyes. He had never thought that the person he had been looking for for several years would appear in front of him in this way, as if everything was predestined.
"Master Meng, Master Meng? What's wrong with you?" Boss Ye asked curiously when he saw Meng Lingshu suddenly stop.
However, Meng Lingshu acted as if he didn't hear anything. He was still staring blankly ahead, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Boss Ye was confused, so he followed his gaze and explained, "That's the female teacher my family hired to teach the children."
Meng Lingshu finally came back to his senses, "Female teacher?"
"Yes, to be honest, this female teacher has a miserable life. A woman with a child has to beg for a living. If they hadn't been rescued by my third brother, they would probably not have survived until today." Boss Ye told the truth.
Meng Lingshu couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his heart when he heard this. He couldn't imagine how his sister, who had always been so weak, had survived these years, and how much injustice she had suffered...
Meng Lingshu clenched his fists, trying his best not to let his tears fall, cursing in his heart:
Liu Jin!
How dare you!
After listening to the children finish reading an Analects, Mrs. Meng closed the book in her hand, smiled and praised, "Not bad, you read very well, take a rest first, we will go back to the study later to practice calligraphy."
"Okay, thank you, teacher." Several children stood up and bowed solemnly, saying in unison, each of them like a little adult.
The next second, the scene suddenly changed. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and see what delicious food our aunt made today."
"Well, hurry up..." Several children ran towards the kitchen quickly, like a gust of wind blowing...
"You guys run slower!" Seeing how lively the children were, Mrs. Meng's smile became even brighter.
"Sister?" Meng Lingshu choked up and spoke after the children ran away.
Meng withdrew her gaze from the direction where the children disappeared, turned her head to look at the person who spoke, the smile on her face froze instantly, and the book in her hand fell to the ground with a "click".
"Lingshu?" Meng called out in disbelief, with a slight tremor in her voice.
Meng Lingshu took a few steps to Meng's side, looking her up and down with excitement and joy, "Sister, I'm sorry for making you suffer these years. It's because I'm useless!" One sentence expressed countless sorrows.
"No, it's not your fault." Thinking back to the past, Meng couldn't help but tears up. "By the way, Lingshu, why are you here? Where are my parents? Are they okay?"
"I...well, this is a long story. My parents are running the shop in my hometown. They are all fine, but they miss you..." Meng Lingshu raised his hand to wipe the corners of his eyes and sighed.
At this time, Boss Ye also roughly understood the relationship between the two. He didn't expect that the beggar that Ye Ze rescued was actually the prefect's sister!
"You two siblings have finally reunited, you should be happy. Please come into the main room and sit down to reminisce about the past." Old Master Ye said.
"Yes, I am happy." Mrs. Meng wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "I am sorry to have embarrassed you, Brother Ye. Lingshu, let's go inside and talk."
"it is good."
Watching the Meng siblings enter the house, Boss Ye smiled naively, turned around and went to the garden, um... the vegetable garden. Old Lady Ye and the others were busy in the vegetable garden. The more than two acres of vegetable garden was planted with various vegetables. The ones that could not be eaten could be sold at the market.
In the living room
The brother and sister who had not seen each other for several years recounted their experiences over the past few years.
In order to advance his career, Liu Jin used Meng's dowry to curry favor with the Minister of Personnel, Lord Su, and was noticed by Lord Su's daughter, Su Yan. If Su Yan married into the Liu family, she naturally could not be a concubine, so she had to give in.
But Liu Jin had risen step by step in these years thanks to Meng's dowry, not to mention that they had a son. How could she be willing to let Meng be a concubine? It was even more impossible for her to let her son be changed from a legitimate son to a bastard!
At this point, Meng smiled bitterly. She had overestimated the status of herself and her son in Liu Jin's mind. The seven years of relationship between the couple, plus their son, were not as important to Liu Jin as a high position and generous salary.
Since she couldn't change Liu Jin's mind, Meng decided to divorce him. Rather than compromise, it would be better to exit in style. However, Meng overestimated Liu Jin's shamelessness.
On the one hand, he wanted to marry Su Yan as his principal wife, but on the other hand, he was unwilling to give up the dowry brought by Meng. So he had no choice but to... go all out!
......