"When did I call for you?"
Cui Yunchu looked baffled, but in Shen Xiabai's eyes, it was clearly deliberate, yet she stubbornly refused to admit it.
"Is this the same trick you used on Prince An and the Crown Prince in the past?" his voice was deep.
"Of course not," Cui Yunchu tossed her hair. "I was very gentle back then—writing letters, ambushing them, and sending food."
Shen Xiabai's expression darkened further. So, her sarcastic tone meant that he wasn't worthy of such treatment?
Although he was even more disdainful of it, being picked apart like this by Cui Yunchu made him highly displeased.
Cui Yunchu curled her lips. "Why the long face? It was just a hug. What part of you haven't I touched?"
She was the one who should be disdainful.
Hearing this, Shen Xiabai's brow lowered dangerously. All emotion faded from his eyes as he stared coldly at Cui Yunchu. "What other parts of a man have you touched?"
"All of them," Cui Yunchu said flippantly.
Shen Xiabai was just about to speak when Cui Yunchu immediately pointed a finger, almost poking him in the face. "What are you trying to say? If you dare call me shameless or a loose woman, I'll immediately start screaming that you're trying to assault me."
"..."
"Shameless," Shen Xiabai scoffed coldly.
Having interacted with Cui Yunchu quite a few times, he thought he had some understanding of her thick skin and sharp tongue. Yet, here he was, still tangling with her. Shen Xiabai felt there must be something wrong with his own brain.
"From now on, I will make sure Zilan does not pester Eldest Miss Cui. I also hope Eldest Miss Cui will conduct herself with dignity and avoid any entanglement with him."
Shen... Zilan?
Cui Yunchu finally grasped the gist of it. "Are you saying Shen Zilan likes me?"
The bright gleam in her eyes was too piercing, making Shen Xiabai rather unhappy.
Staring at Shen Xiabai's expression, Cui Yunchu nearly burst into laughter.
Her expression was far too obvious. Shen Xiabai's eyes grew cold, filled with threat.
Cui Yunchu subconsciously reined it in a bit, though her momentum remained strong. "That's not entirely out of the question, but it all depends on what Lord Shen does."
"What do you mean?"
Cui Yunchu curled her lip. "As long as Lord Shen doesn't provoke me, I definitely won't do anything to Shen Zilan. Otherwise, Lord Shen will just have to slit his own throat and apologize to the ancestors of the Shen family in the underworld."
"Cui Yunchu."
Seeing Shen Xiabai approach, his eyes freezing over, Cui Yunchu hastily retreated.
"What are you trying to do? This is the palace! Are you trying to strangle me to death?"
...
A woman's voice suddenly rang out from not far away. "Cui Yunchu, you... you... in broad daylight, and inside the palace no less! How can you be so shameless?"
This voice was incredibly familiar.
Cui Yunchu glanced sideways and saw Liu Wanting, dressed in luxurious robes, strolling over.
Her steps were very fast, as if she were catching someone in the act of adultery, her eyes fixed fiercely on Cui Yunchu.
"..." Why was this woman here?
She had come into the palace to pay her respects to the Empress, but wasn't this near the Imperial Study?
She and Shen Xiabai were very close, still maintaining their confrontational stance.
Cui Yunchu shoved Shen Xiabai away, gritting her teeth and whispering, "This woman is up to no good. Don't you dare play mute on me. If rumors spread that something is going on between us, I swear I'll marry Shen Zilan and become your niece-in-law."
The words "niece-in-law" seemed to grate on his ears, greatly displeasing Shen Xiabai. He shot Cui Yunchu a cold glare.
It was purely instinctual.
Shen Xiabai said, "If you dare, I will kill you."
"..."
Cui Yunchu felt that being constantly threatened like this was no good. Why couldn't she be the one to hold the initiative?
Why couldn't he be the one afraid of being killed by her?
She would have to think about this carefully later.
"Cui Yunchu." Liu Wanting reached them in a few quick strides, her chin slightly raised in a condescending manner.
Cui Yunchu curtsied and greeted, "Side Consort Liu."
Seeing this, Liu Wanting became even more arrogant.
However, her height was limited. Even stretching her neck to the absolute limit, she could only just meet the eyes of Cui Yunchu and Shen Xiabai, looking for all the world like a pretentious doll.
Cui Yunchu was the best at hitting people where it hurt. "Side Consort Liu is so noble now, how can you go around craning your neck to look at people? It's really not a good look. Next time you go out, you should have your servants bring a stool for you."
"Or at the very least, have a servant carry you on their back. Only then can you truly display your lofty aura."
As the saying goes, don't hit a person in the face, and don't expose their shortcomings when scolding them. Yet Cui Yunchu repeatedly trampled on her sore spots.
Liu Wanting tried her best to suppress her anger. "Cui Yunchu, no matter how glib your tongue is, it cannot change the fact that you are a loose woman."
She glanced at Shen Xiabai standing to the side and scoffed, "In the past, it was Prince An and His Highness the Crown Prince. Now that you see there's no hope there, you've tangled yourself up with Lord Shen. And to think the Crown Princess constantly boasts about how upright and noble the daughters of the Cui family are. What a disgrace."
Ultimately, she just wanted to use Cui Yunchu to strike at Tang Qingwan.
Cui Yunchu wasn't angry in the slightest; instead, she started to laugh. "Yes, everything you say is right. Who told me not to know how to..."
She twisted her body and squeezed her voice to its absolute limit, "...call out 'Your Highness the Crown Prince' like this?"
"Who could possibly compare to Side Consort Liu when it comes to being lovable? Yunchu readily admits defeat."
That was how Liu Wanting had coquettishly whined to the Crown Prince in the Empress's Phoenix Palace before they were married.
Cui Yunchu had remembered it all this time.
"Compared to Side Consort Liu, the daughters of my Cui family truly fall short. Wouldn't you agree, Lord Shen?"
Shen Xiabai lowered his eyes, silently looking at the goosebumps on his wrist.
"Mhm, Eldest Miss Cui is right."
Ah, that's more like it. Better than playing mute.
She had been misunderstood more than once or twice, but this was the first time Shen Xiabai, whose words were as precious as gold, had actually opened his mouth to speak up.
Those who didn't know better might think she had some heaven-defying ability to make a mute speak.
When he was arguing with her, his mouth was faster than anything.
Cui Yunchu hadn't held out much hope for Shen Xiabai to begin with. Getting him to chime in with even one sentence was already pretty good.
Immediately after, the verbal sparring between her and Liu Wanting began.
It didn't bring any tangible benefits, but making Liu Wanting stomp her feet in anger was still highly enjoyable. Unfortunately for her, Liu Wanting's verbal skills were no match for Cui Yunchu's, so she could only keep making a fuss about Cui Yunchu seducing men.
Cui Yunchu curled her lip and looked behind Liu Wanting. "Did you come alone? Is His Highness the Crown Prince not keeping you company?"
"No wonder you keep going on about my 'great skills'. It turns out you're just jealous of me. Why don't you take me as your master? I can teach you how to seduce the Crown Prince."
Standing to the side, Shen Xiabai slightly closed his eyes. His patience had reached its absolute limit.
Yet Cui Yunchu's mouth was like a cannon, firing off non-stop. Liu Wanting would occasionally interject with a sentence, otherwise reduced to simply glaring.
His ears ringing from all the ceaseless chatter, he took a step, preparing to leave.
Cui Yunchu was too busy arguing to even pay him any mind.
Shen Xiabai had just walked out of the small path when someone grabbed his sleeve. "Where are you going?"
Shen Xiabai furrowed his brow.
Looking at Dowager Shen, who had suddenly popped out of nowhere, he asked, "Mother, weren't you in the Phoenix Palace?"
Dowager Shen replied, "I've been out for a while now."
The Crown Prince wanted to win over Shen Xiabai, which was why the Empress would frequently invite her into the palace to bestow rewards upon her.
"Did you not hear what Eldest Miss Cui told you just now? How could you abandon her and leave on your own? It is a loss of gentlemanly conduct."
"..."
A gentleman? Facing a shrew with a mouth like a running river like Cui Yunchu, he only wanted to be a villain.
"Mother," Shen Xiabai said, looking at his gray-haired mother as if suddenly swept back into the bitter hardships of their past.
"She is fierce enough. She won't be the one to suffer. Let's go."
She... was a member of the Cui family, after all.
"Fierce or not, she is still a young lady. How can we just stand by and let her be bullied?"
Shen Xiabai silently glanced back at the thoroughly one-sided conflict, wondering who was actually bullying whom.
"Oh, you," his mother sighed. "You've been clumsy with your words since you were a child, and you haven't changed a bit now that you're grown."
In the brief time the mother and son spent talking, the battle over there had already concluded. Liu Wanting clutched her chest, her face livid and her breathing ragged from sheer fury.
Terrified that she might actually die of anger, she spat out a few parting threats before her servants hastily supported her away.
Cui Yunchu raised a delicate brow, her gaze landing on the sachet tied at Liu Wanting's waist.
It was a uniquely elegant sachet. Liu Wanting had just been flaunting it, claiming it was a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince, who had personally tied it on her himself.
