Cui Yunchu curtsied deeply. "Rest well, Grandmother. Yunchu shall take her leave."
Old Madam Cui’s lips trembled slightly, but in the end, she said nothing. She watched Cui Yunchu’s retreating figure with a mournful expression.
"Old Madam, the Eldest Miss has grown up. She will eventually understand the difficulties you faced back then," Nanny Li comforted her softly as she served a cup of tea. "Besides, everything that happened back then was the Prime Minister's will. At the root of it, it was Concubine Zhou's fault. It was an act of mercy for you to even allow her into the manor."
Old Madam Cui took a sip of tea and sighed. "The sins of the adults should not fall upon the child. Yunchu is, after all, of the Cui bloodline. All those years ago, she was indeed wronged."
"You are right, Old Madam," Nanny Li said, taking the teacup and placing it back on the table.
Old Madam Cui rubbed her temples, feeling a heavy exhaustion. But thinking of Tang Qingwan and the Crown Prince, her brow furrowed again.
"Send someone to wait at the outer courtyard. The moment the Prime Minister returns, have him come see me immediately."
***
Cui Yunchu returned to Chu Garden carrying a brocade box.
Seeing her return, Nanny Zhang immediately hurried forward with a fawning smile. "Miss, the cousin miss sent someone over just now with a set of jewelry."
"Mhm." Cui Yunchu stepped into the room. The set of kingfisher feather jewelry inlaid with tourmaline and gemstones that Tang Qingwan had worn during the day was laid out neatly on her dressing table.
Xing'er stepped forward at once, placing the jewelry together with the Twin Begonia glass hairpin from Cui Yunchu’s hand into the jewelry box.
"Old Madam has bestowed more jewelry upon you, Miss," Nanny Zhang chirped.
She was met with a heavy, oppressive silence. Xing'er turned and shook her head at Nanny Zhang, signaling that the Young Miss was in a foul mood.
Recalling the kicks she had received the previous night, Nanny Zhang immediately pressed her lips together and fell silent.
The Young Miss had been in low spirits for the past few days. Nanny Zhang curtsied, intending to withdraw, but was suddenly called back by Cui Yunchu.
Meeting Cui Yunchu’s cold gaze, Nanny Zhang took a step back. "Miss... is there something you need?"
"Do you remember how my mother and father first met?"
Nanny Zhang was stunned. "Well... it was naturally because the Concubine was a peerless beauty. The Prime Minister took one look at her, was captivated, and took her in as a concubine."
"Is that so?" Cui Yunchu tilted her head, staring at Nanny Zhang without saying another word. The silence made Nanny Zhang’s heart race with inexplicable trepidation.
When did the Young Miss develop such an aura? In the silence, she possessed a dark, sharp intensity reminiscent of the cousin miss.
Nanny Zhang forced a smile. "Of course. Didn't the Concubine often tell you the story of how she and the Prime Minister met and fell in love? If you don't trust this old servant, surely you trust your own mother?"
Cui Yunchu let out a soft laugh, one filled with biting irony and coldness.
If they had met and fallen in love, if their hearts were truly joined, then why was her mother so terrified that her father would "keep the child and discard the mother"?
Why did she have to lock her daughter so tightly by her side to use as leverage?
Was it that her father was fickle and heartless, or was everything her mother said merely a web of lies—a pipe dream spun out of loneliness and desperation?
Cui Yunchu closed her eyes. As a daughter, now that her parent was gone, there was no use dwelling on it. To dig for the root of the matter and tear away that layer of lies would be nothing more than an insult to her late mother.
After all, in her heart, she already had the answer.
Cui Yunchu stood up abruptly and began searching through the room.
Xing'er immediately came to help. "Miss, what are you looking for?"
"The storybooks I collected before—where are they?"
Ever since she was a toddler, Cui Yunchu had fallen asleep listening to stories. Concubine Zhou used to say that for a woman, marriage was the only way out.
Cui Yunchu had always treated the beautiful, romantic tales in those books as her spiritual sustenance. However, her mother would also teach her how to judge a man's worth. Naturally, Concubine Zhou’s criteria were limited to wealth and power.
For those two things, one could use any means necessary.
But her mother had forgotten that she was different. She was a daughter of the Cui family. The surname "Cui" represented wealth and power. Her nobility did not require scheming; there were others who would scheme on her behalf.
Hearing this, Xing'er quickly ran to the wardrobe and dragged out a large trunk.
"I was afraid Nanny Li would see them if she came by, so I tucked them all away," Xing'er explained.
In official households, those storybooks were considered filth that would corrupt a young lady's mind—especially the ones featuring trysts between high-born ladies and impoverished scholars.
