Shen Xiabai looked away once again.
"What are you hiding from? Am I some kind of fox spirit?"
"Didn't Lord Shen have his suspicions right from the start? When I dragged Lord Shen into the lake with me, shouldn't Lord Shen have known exactly what was going on?"
"I was lying sick in bed, and you came to visit me of your own accord. Did I hold a knife to your neck and force you to come?"
Shen Xiabai's face paled slightly, his lips pressed tightly together.
Cui Yunchu took another step closer. "When I held onto Lord Shen and refused to let go, was Lord Shen truly unable to push me away?"
"The great Department of Penalties, a place with a hundred kinds of torture where even strong men lose a layer of skin upon entering—were you, My Lord, truly helpless against a weak woman like me?"
Cui Yunchu tilted her head, met Shen Xiabai's eyes, and smiled radiantly.
"Lord Shen, you say one thing but mean another."
"However, Lord Shen truly looks handsome in a white brocade robe. I wasn't lying about that."
Cui Yunchu's smile was somewhat piercing.
She had schemed clearly, and he had stepped into the trap just as clearly.
Who, then, was the better player?
"Cui Yunchu," his pale hand suddenly gripped her neck.
"Lord Shen is an upright and honest official. Are you certain you want to kill this humble girl?"
The words 'upright and honest' fell upon Shen Xiabai's ears, even their echo full of irony.
Coming out of the Department of Penalties, Cui Yunchu took a deep, heavy breath of air, as if she had come back to life. Her fingers gently stroked her chest, and she almost collapsed onto the ground.
The fear carved into her very bones was incredibly difficult to overcome.
Yu Feng said, "Master says that the carriages of the Department of Penalties have all been dispatched, so it will trouble Eldest Miss Cui to walk back to the manor."
Cui Yunchu glanced at Lady Zhao and the other person who were being sent back by carriage, but she didn't mind.
"Yu Feng."
"You should keep your sword on you from now on."
Yu Feng frowned, somewhat bewildered by Cui Yunchu's erratic way of speaking, but he still gave a sound of acknowledgment.
"Also, say thank you to your master for me."
Cui Yunchu had turned and walked a few steps before turning back to add, "I mean it sincerely. Even though I am a person with no sincerity and speak the truth even less."
"..."
Inside the room, Shen Xiabai still stood in the same spot. His tall, slender figure was broad-shouldered, and the white brocade robe he wore made him look like a jade-like noble young master stepping out of a painting.
Yu Feng said, "Master, Eldest Miss Cui said to thank you."
Thank you.
How utterly heart-wrenching and devastatingly mocking those words were.
Shen Xiabai gritted his teeth, then suddenly let out a laugh. The two extreme contradictions were just like his mood at this moment.
That woman was arrogant to the extreme, truly detestable.
"Is there still no news regarding the matter I asked you to investigate earlier?"
Yu Feng seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "The news sent back says that the murderer has not yet been fully confirmed. However, not many people knew the travel route the Old Master and Eldest Master took back then. The Cui and Tang families are among the few."
That is to say, there was still a great possibility that the Cui and Tang families could not absolve themselves of involvement.
"Continue investigating." His brow darkened, the warmth in his eyes fading bit by bit.
"And what about the palace? The Emperor previously sent someone to inquire. Do you want to make a trip to the palace?"
"There is no need."
The matter was already a foregone conclusion. Whether he went or not would change nothing.
As Yu Feng made the bed and folded the quilts, Shen Xiabai stood in place for a moment before walking over to the only small bronze mirror in the room, squinting at the white-robed man reflected in it.
A quarter of an hour later, the master and servant arrived at the prison cells, greeted by a wave of metallic, bloody scent.
Yu Feng exerted himself, cracking the whip to interrogate the prisoner. When he turned his head, his master was standing eight zhang away.
His forehead was covered in sweat. "Master, are you worried about getting blood splattered on you?"
"..."
From such a distance, how were they supposed to conduct the interrogation? By passing messages through someone else?
...
The lake water at night had been truly freezing. The faint, bitter taste of medicine still lingered in Cui Yunchu's mouth, and her body remained weak, especially after walking such a long distance.
She had been feeling top-heavy and dizzy for a while now.
By the time she returned to the Cui Manor, Prince An's betrothal gift procession had already arrived. It was likely already lunchtime, and the carriages and soldiers had blocked the entrance to the Cui Manor so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
However, one could not feel the slightest hint of joy.
It was said that Prince An was injured and unable to deliver the betrothal gifts in person. A prince from the imperial clan had come in his stead, and Prime Minister Cui was currently receiving him.
As soon as Cui Yunchu returned, she ran into Nanny Li, who was waiting at the festooned gate. "Eldest Miss, you've finally returned."
Her eyes reddened. "The Prime Minister said you were safe and sound, but the Old Madam was still worried. She personally waited here for half the morning, and only finally agreed to go back when the Old Princess Consort arrived just now."
"This old servant will go and report to the Old Madam right away."
"Wait." Evident exhaustion showed on Cui Yunchu's face. "Tell Grandmother that I am perfectly fine, just a bit tired. After I go back and rest, I will go pay my respects to her. Tell her not to worry."
"Yes," Nanny Li complied. "The Prime Minister said you would be back soon. The Old Madam waited and waited but didn't see you, and she was worried sick. But there are matters in the manor, so she couldn't leave."
Cui Yunchu nodded.
In Chu Courtyard, Nanny Zhang and Xing'er were heartbroken to see her return. Nanny Zhang served her as she changed clothes and washed up, continuously wiping away tears.
"What are you crying for? I'm not dead, am I?"
"Pah, pah, pah! What silly things is the Miss saying? How can you speak such unlucky words so carelessly?" Nanny Zhang sniffled. "If anything untoward had happened to you, this old servant wouldn't have lived either. This old servant would be too ashamed to face your late mother."
"..."
Speaking of untoward things, Nanny Zhang didn't spare her either.
"I saw my mother last night." Cui Yunchu lazily lifted her eyes, her legs crossed beneath the hem of her skirt. "She said she misses you quite a bit."
Nanny Zhang, "..."
A whole night of high mental tension had resulted in utter exhaustion, as if all her energy had been drained away.
After all, she had been battling wits and courage against Shen Xiabai, a situation where one careless move could end with a sword through the chest. Ordinary people would find it hard to comprehend the torment Cui Yunchu had endured over these short few hours.
She had never dreamed that one day, for the sake of the Cui family, she would become entangled with the person she feared the most in this life.
She had always felt that she was a very cold and apathetic person, which was why she wasn't liked by others.
Before going to sleep, she instructed Xing'er, "Make a trip to Prince An's Manor and ask for this lady's compensation."
She couldn't kneel in the ancestral hall all night for nothing. She had put in the effort to help Cui Yunfeng and Xiao Yi get engaged, and she absolutely had to collect her due in real gold and silver.
While Xiao Yi, dressed in his inner garments, lay half-dead and miserable on his bed, Eunuch Liu came in to report.
"Your Highness," Eunuch Liu first stole a glance at his master and said in a low voice, "Eldest Miss Cui's maidservant has arrived."
Staring at the frowning gaze Xiao Yi cast his way, his lips trembled as he said, "She says she is here on Eldest Miss Cui's orders to ask for compensation."
Eunuch Liu thought to himself: How was Eldest Miss Cui's action any different from dancing on someone's wounds? It truly was sickeningly provocative.
"What compensation does she want?" Hadn't the ten sets of jewelry lost to them that day already been handed over?
Whenever Xiao Yi brought up this name, his tone was never very pleasant.
It was both sour and bitter.
