……
The news that Miss Cui had rendered a service by saving the emperor and had caught His Majesty’s eye, resulting in her being made a Jieyu, spread to the residences of many noble families in the capital within a single day.
Many people inquired into this Cui family that had only just arrived in the capital. Only then did they discover that Master Cui was merely a lowly sixth-rank clerk in the Ministry of Revenue—hardly worthy of notice in the capital. More importantly, the Cui family had only one daughter, and that daughter was a woman who had been married and borne a child. Miss Cui had only recently divorced her husband.
Everyone who learned of this was utterly astonished. Yet once they heard that the woman had saved His Majesty, possessed an excellent character, and was exceptionally beautiful, those who had been curious about her no longer said much.
Imperial Palace, Rosy Glow Palace.
This was Consort Chen’s residence.
A young eunuch knelt before the main hall, trembling all over, his head bowed so low that it nearly touched the floor.
Dressed in splendid robes and adorned with glittering pearls and jade ornaments, Consort Chen abruptly rose to her feet and demanded furiously of the little eunuch kneeling at her feet, “What did you say? His Majesty has made a woman from an outside official’s family a Jieyu?”
The eunuch pressed his forehead to the ground and said, “Yes. Early this morning, His Majesty sent Eunuch Wang to deliver the decree…”
Consort Chen’s brows drew tightly together. She sat back down in the principal seat, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, she asked again, “Which minister’s daughter is she?”
The eunuch replied, “This servant has learned that she is the daughter of Clerk Cui, who was recently transferred to the capital. This servant also learned that Lord Cui has only one daughter. She is already twenty-two years old, has been married, and has borne a daughter named Cui…”
“Cui Huaiyin!” Before the eunuch could finish speaking, Consort Chen suddenly sprang to her feet. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she stared at the eunuch in disbelief. “Cui Huaiyin! Is the woman His Majesty made Jieyu named Cui Huaiyin?”
The eunuch raised his head in shock, then hurriedly nodded. “Your Ladyship is truly wise! You have indeed anticipated everything. The new Jieyu’s maiden name is Cui Huaiyin.”
Consort Chen felt a tremendous boom in her mind. Her head throbbed so violently that her entire body began to tremble.
Why? Why couldn’t Cui Huaiyin remain peacefully in Huangzhou? Why couldn’t she stay there and continue living out her life in wealth and comfort? Why had she insisted on coming to the capital and disturbing her?
She could have lived a quiet and uneventful life in Huangzhou!
All these years, she had done everything in her power to prevent Cui Yeping from being promoted to a post in the capital. She had also gone to great lengths to stop Cui Huaiji from pursuing the imperial examinations—all to leave them a way to survive!
Why would they refuse to listen?
Now that the Cui family had come to the capital, they were destined to become her enemies. For the sake of her Yuer and Chang’er, she would never allow Cui Huaiyin to ruin all the honor and glory she possessed.
Cui Huaiyin absolutely could not enter the palace!
Consort Chen’s face was twisted with hatred. She viciously swept the white porcelain vase of plum blossoms from the table.
The jade-white vase struck the floor with a crisp crack and shattered into countless pieces.
……
That night.
Cui Huaiyin lay on the same bed as her fragrant, soft little daughter.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness as she gently patted the girl’s soft back, coaxing her to sleep.
Unfortunately, her daughter’s eyes were bright and clear, showing no sign that she intended to sleep anytime soon.
Cui Huaiyin helplessly tapped the tip of her daughter’s little nose. “It’s so late. Yaoyao still doesn’t want to sleep?”
Rongyao shook her head. Her bright eyes remained fixed on her mother as she tugged at her clothing and said with great seriousness, “The emperor really is my father.”
Cui Huaiyin gazed at her daughter with tender affection and nodded. “After your mother enters the palace, I’ll find out for sure. Even if it isn’t true, Mother will fight with her life to win you the title of princess.”
Rongyao blinked her large eyes. “Then how will Mother find out?”
A faint blush spread across Cui Huaiyin’s face. She rubbed her daughter’s little cheeks and said, “Your mother naturally has her own way.”
“Mhm, mhm! Yaoyao believes in Mother!”
Rongyao’s heart grew warm. She buried her little face in her mother’s embrace and rubbed against her. She had known that her mother would believe her. Everything would get better and better from now on.
At present, the most important matter was her maternal uncle’s imperial examination.
Today was the first day of the second lunar month. In a few days, the Spring Examination would begin, and her maternal uncle would be taking the metropolitan examination.
Her maternal uncle had studied hard since childhood and had passed the provincial examination at the age of seventeen. Yet now, though he was already thirty, he remained without an official title. It was not that he lacked the ability to pass; rather, every time he traveled to the capital to sit for the examination, something went wrong.
Sometimes he encountered bandits on the road and arrived too late for the examination. Other times, just a few days before the metropolitan examination, he would break an arm or a leg…
After suffering through one misfortune after another, many of the villagers in Huangzhou said that the God of Plagues had taken a liking to her maternal uncle and that he was probably destined never to succeed in the examinations.
After years of failing to reach the capital and sit for the examination, her maternal uncle had become far gloomier than before. He rarely went out and disliked seeing people.
Even so, he still had not given up on the examinations this year. He had once said at a family gathering that this would be his final attempt. If he failed, he would find a farmstead somewhere and take up farming.
In her previous life, despite the Cui family beginning their preparations early to guard against accidents, her maternal uncle still encountered trouble.
Although he successfully entered the examination compound for the metropolitan examination, not long after the third session began, he developed severe and unrelenting diarrhea. The examiners threw him out of the compound on the grounds that he was disrupting the examination. In full view of everyone, they rebuked him for bringing disgrace upon the scholarly class, offending propriety, and tarnishing the reputation of scholars throughout the realm.
In her previous life, after being driven from the examination compound, her maternal uncle lay in bed as though all his dignity and backbone had been stripped away. He did not rise for seven whole days.
The physician who treated him said that someone had given him a large dose of laxatives, which was why he had been unable to hold himself in during the examination and had disgraced himself in public.
Now that she already knew what would obstruct her maternal uncle’s examination, she would certainly help him avert this calamity.
With her maternal uncle’s learning and talent, he would surely achieve high honors as long as nothing stood in his way!
