Chapter 346: Ma Ma Xiao Jiao: Poor Sister Chun

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After attending to Zhao Yu's morning rise and washing, and after seeing him off, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao did not get up to follow. Instead of going to develop the internal combustion engine she had been obsessing over yesterday, she stayed in bed.

For one, after being thoroughly worn out by Zhao Yu the night before and then single-handedly battling him for nearly a full hour this morning, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao was far too exhausted to have any energy left for research and development.

Viewed in this light, it would not be an exaggeration to say Zhao Yu is a stumbling block on the Great Song's scientific road.

Fortunately, Zhao Yu's affections are broad and he has plenty of women, so he visits Ma Ma Xiao Jiao's quarters at most once or twice a month — she might as well treat it as a holiday.

For two, the enormous boulder that had been weighing on Ma Ma Xiao Jiao's heart for several days had finally been set down, and the nerves she had kept wound tight could finally relax a little; otherwise, it would not be good for her body or mind.

For three, Zhao Yu would not let Ma Ma Xiao Jiao overdraw herself, and Ma Ma Xiao Jiao certainly had to listen to Zhao Yu — otherwise, if Zhao Yu became displeased, he would not be easy to coax.

For four, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao felt that, as the second person to learn that Zhao Yu was also a transmigrator, she had to have a proper word with Yuan Qingcheng. Such a huge matter, and yet she had hidden it from them for so many years — still calling them good sisters, still calling them allies? Traitor!!!

So Ma Ma Xiao Jiao went back to sleep for a while, only getting up once the sun was high in the sky.

After Ma Ma Xiao Jiao rose, Xiduo hurried over with a bowl of lotus seed soup, hoping Ma Ma Xiao Jiao would take it as a lucky omen.

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao grumbled, "Still giving birth? If I keep giving birth, I'll turn into a pig."

Though she said so, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao still ate the lotus seed soup.

Xiduo said at her side, "Of course you must keep giving birth. Your Ladyship does not know how envious others are — you alone have borne the official six children for him, among them five Imperial Princes, and your honours remain undiminished. What great favour is this? The key thing is, Your Ladyship is only in your thirties, and you look so young and beautiful, no different from a girl of sixteen. In the future, who knows, you may yet bear him ten sons."

The moment she heard about bearing Zhao Yu ten sons, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao blurted out, "Wouldn't that really make me a pig?"

After finishing the lotus seed soup and being dressed and made up by Xiduo and the others, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao went straight to Yuan Qingcheng's Royal Agricultural Research Base.

Seeing that Ma Ma Xiao Jiao had not gone to do research but had come straight to her without even a greeting, and with that unmistakable "I've-come-to-cause-trouble" look on her face, Yuan Qingcheng found it all rather baffling.

Yuan Qingcheng asked, "What fair wind has blown you, Jiaojiao, all the way to my place?"

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao said flatly, "Let's talk in the secret room."

Hearing the openly irritated tone in Ma Ma Xiao Jiao's voice, Yuan Qingcheng became all the more certain that this visit meant no good.

This puzzled Yuan Qingcheng even more: 'What on earth did I do to offend her? Haven't we always gotten along just fine?'

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao is not the ever-defiant Zhang Chun, nor the big sister of the group Li Lin, nor the troublesome, melodramatic Ye Shi Yun. She has a good nature, no opinions of her own, goes with the flow, harbours no ambition, never competes with the world, is warm toward others, is emotionally weighty and loyal, and is even obedient and well-behaved. Most importantly, she has no conflict of interest with Yuan Qingcheng. To be honest, Yuan Qingcheng truly could not figure out what she herself, usually so careful in word and deed, had failed to do that had drawn Ma Ma Xiao Jiao's displeasure.

Yuan Qingcheng did not spend too long guessing, because someone as guileless as Ma Ma Xiao Jiao would never keep her grievances bottled up for long — especially when she had already come in person.

Yuan Qingcheng wasted no words, but at once led Ma Ma Xiao Jiao to the secret room, and had Xu Poxi bring in the watermelons she had just cultivated.

Once Xu Poxi and her people had left, Yuan Qingcheng hospitably urged Ma Ma Xiao Jiao: "Try a bite — see how big the gap still is between this and the watermelons we ate in our previous life?"

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao glanced at the watermelon before her, already seven or eight parts similar to those of the later era, and could not help drooling a little. It had been far, far too long since she had tasted a sweet, refreshingly cool watermelon; to tell the truth, she truly missed that flavour.

But Ma Ma Xiao Jiao held herself back. With a dark expression she said, "Don't try to bribe me. I'm telling you, it won't work. If you don't give me an explanation this time, I'm not letting this go!"

Hearing Ma Ma Xiao Jiao say this, Yuan Qingcheng asked with a smile, "What explanation do you want from me? Did one of my children bully one of yours?"

Seeing Yuan Qingcheng still carrying on with that cheeky grin, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao warned her: "Don't try to play dumb with me. I'm telling you — if you don't give me an explanation for this, then several decades of friendship end right here."

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao had even gone so far as to threaten to cut ties, and this was clearly not the small matter Yuan Qingcheng had guessed it might be — like the children of the two families having a scuffle. Yuan Qingcheng finally realized there might really be trouble.

Yuan Qingcheng carefully combed through every little thing between herself and Ma Ma Xiao Jiao since they had met, and confirmed she had never done anything to let Ma Ma Xiao Jiao down. 'Unless…'

Yuan Qingcheng looked at Ma Ma Xiao Jiao and asked, without a flicker of expression, "You found out?"

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao did not catch that Yuan Qingcheng was bluffing her, and immediately flared up: "If I hadn't happened to overhear you talking with the official, how long were you planning to keep this from me?!!!"

Seeing that Ma Ma Xiao Jiao really had learned that Zhao Yu was also a transmigrator, Yuan Qingcheng, knowing she was in the wrong, quickly sat down beside Ma Ma Xiao Jiao, took her hand, and said, "Jiaojiao, listen to me explain — I never wanted to hide it from you all…"

Ma Ma Xiao Jiao shook off Yuan Qingcheng's hand and said, "You didn't want to deceive us? You still deceived us for five whole years. If you had wanted to deceive us, wouldn't you have deceived us to death?!"

Yuan Qingcheng knew that once an honest person truly dug in her heels, she was the hardest of all to deal with.

Yuan Qingcheng had long known she could not keep it from the four women forever; sooner or later they would find out.

Based on this, Yuan Qingcheng had long since prepared the right words to handle it.