Cui Yunchu recognized the visitor; she had seen her before at Dowager Shen’s side.
Her smile faltered.
It wasn’t that she felt no guilt at all.
When adults were entangled in disputes, why did it feel like someone had called in the parents?
She glanced around and said, “Can we do this another day? It’s not convenient for me right now.”
“Our Dowager only wishes to have a few words with Eldest Miss Cui. It won’t take up much of your time.”
Cui Yunchu thought to herself: The problem is, she has no elder to speak for her.
In terms of status, it put her at a disadvantage.
Dejected, she lowered her head and followed the woman.
The woman led her to a private room on the second floor of a teahouse.
The door was open. As Cui Yunchu walked in, Dowager Shen was sitting by the window, gazing down at the street below.
Though middle-aged, the dowager always gave off an air of gentle grace, possessing the softness and delicacy unique to women from the Jiangnan region.
“You’re here. Please, sit.”
Cui Yunchu bowed in greeting and went over to take a seat. “What a coincidence, running into you here, Dowager Shen.”
“Not a coincidence.” Dowager Shen said. “I had someone watch the Cui family gate. When I learned you’d left, I came specifically to find you.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu’s smile froze, as if the chair were studded with nails.
To be honest, she had always had a relatively favorable impression of Dowager Shen. In fact, she wasn’t one to shy away from trouble.
But in this matter, she felt guilty, plain and simple.
They sat across from each other in heavy silence.
Dowager Shen kept her eyes fixed on Cui Yunchu’s face.
It made Cui Yunchu inexplicably nervous. “Dowager Shen, might I ask why you’ve sought me out?”
Whether she braced herself or not, she was going to have to face it. Cui Yunchu decided to get it over with quickly.
“Eldest Miss Cui is truly beautiful,” Dowager Shen said.
“…”
Cui Yunchu, who had been poised to rebut or counterattack, froze for a moment in surprise.
Dowager Shen chuckled. “A young lady so beautiful is a standout even in the capital. She’d be more than a match for any young man of good family.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu felt as though a swarm of question marks was circling frantically around her head.
Her brain had short-circuited for a moment.
Dowager Shen let out a sigh.
With such an lovely girl, no wonder she looked down on her stoic, taciturn son.
“I mentioned before that I hoped to invite you to our manor for a visit, but I never had the chance,” Dowager Shen said, somewhat regretfully.
“It’s rather presumptuous of me to suddenly look for you today, but there are things I would like to discuss.”
Dowager Shen was gentle and polite, devoid of the haughtiness common among noblewomen. “I’ve heard some rumors about you and my son.”
The encounter in the Imperial Study that day had only confirmed the truth of those rumors in her mind.
Cui Yunchu felt slightly awkward and said, “Since they’re just rumors, you don’t need to dwell on them, Dowager Shen. It was all a misunderstanding.”
She went on to recount what had happened at the Cui residence—how Shen Xiabai had reprimanded that scion of the Wang family on her behalf, leading to Chen Jiuhe’s misunderstanding.
Dowager Shen only smiled. She knew her own son best. She knew whether a rumor was false or true.
“Have you and Xiabai had some sort of misunderstanding?” Dowager Shen asked.
“…”
Cui Yunchu’s lips twitched into a wooden expression.
“Dowager Shen, I sincerely tell you, the rumors between Lord Shen and me are nothing but misunderstandings.”
Dowager Shen said, “Xiabai was badly wounded. He talked in his fever, and he kept calling your name.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu’s heart gave a jolt—not heavy, but enough to shake her.
But…
Could the woman please listen to what she was saying?
Their conversation was completely out of sync.
Cui Yunchu tried desperately to explain, but Dowager Shen had already made up her mind about their secret romance, spinning in her mind a tale of heart-wrenching love and hatred.
Cui Yunchu felt the same helplessness she’d felt when dealing with the Chen siblings.
When Chen Miaode eventually married into the family, those grandmother and granddaughter were sure to hit it off perfectly.
Dowager Shen continued, “That day when Xiabai was carried back home, he kept muttering something about ‘wiping the slate clean.’”
Cui Yunchu was startled, nearly jumping out of her seat.
Wiping the slate clean? Could it be that Shen Xiabai remembered…
A chill shot up from her feet. Cui Yunchu felt as if she’d been plunged into ice water, a bone-deep cold.
Dowager Shen went on, “I know that due to old grievances, the Cui-Tang and Shen families have been at odds for years. When Xiabai first began to remember things, his mind was filled with his father’s shadow, and he shared a deep brotherly bond with Zilan’s father. He’s held a grudge all these years.”
She reminiscenced with a complex glint in her eyes. “But I can tell that you are different to him. I’ve always tried to persuade him to let go of the past. I don’t want him to suffer because the two of you miss your chance.”
Dowager Shen reached out and clasped Cui Yunchu’s hand. “Child, if you can unlock the knot in his heart, you will be our Shen family’s greatest benefactor.”
Cui Yunchu did not understand. “Dowager Shen, your husband and son died because of the Cui-Tang family. Don’t you hate them?”
Her attitude was hardly that of someone facing an enemy.
Dowager Shen lowered her eyes and a complex, unreadable expression crossed her face. “The past is gone. The one who wronged him was me, not anyone else.”
There were some truths too dark to speak of, that must not, could not, and would not be uttered.
“Young miss,” Dowager Shen said, tightening her grip, “Could you please not give up on him just yet? Give him a chance. Perhaps someday you will weigh heavier in his heart than anything else.”
“You want to resolve these old grudges too, don’t you? The Cui-Tang family’s situation is not optimistic right now. If my son were willing to help, it would be like giving wings to a tiger.”
Cui Yunchu was silent. Slowly, she withdrew her hand.
“Dowager Shen, Lord Shen and I truly are not what you think.”
Dowager Shen said, “If you are willing, I will immediately go to your home and propose a marriage. I hear you are currently considering marriage alliances. My Xiabai may not be the only distinguished man in the capital, but in talent and appearance, he is certainly no slouch.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu was so stunned she scratched her head.
The question marks were starting to make her dizzy. Her brain and tongue were failing her today.
“As a mother, I’ve failed him. I can’t bear to see him suffer like this.”
Actually, Dowager Shen wasn’t wrong. The turning point between her and Shen Xiabai was tied to the hatred between their families. If not for that, none of this would have happened later.
“Dowager Shen, I…”
“Mother,” a low male voice rang out suddenly, and the private room’s door was pushed open.
A tall, dark silhouette blocked the sunlight streaming in, the light casting sharp contours around him, contrasting vividly with his dark brocade robe.
His oppressive aura blanketed the entire room. The angular lines of his pale face held no emotion at all.
Cui Yunchu nearly sprang up.
Her gaze landed on the man at the door. Her fingers involuntarily clenched, then slowly relaxed.
Dowager Shen scrambled to her feet. “Why have you left the manor? You’re so gravely wounded, how can you be moving about?”
Shen Xiabai’s eyes merely brushed over Cui Yunchu. “Mother, what were you discussing with Eldest Miss Cui?”
Dowager Shen, knowing her son’s temper well, said diplomatically, “We just happened to meet and exchanged a few words.”
He was too proud. She certainly couldn’t tell him that she had come to say soft words to someone, begging her to marry her son.
“Is that so?” Shen Xiabai’s gaze once again fell upon Cui Yunchu.
It lasted only a moment.
“Yu Feng, escort the dowager back to the residence.”
Yu Feng acknowledged the order.
Dowager Shen glanced at Cui Yunchu, then at Shen Xiabai, whose expression remained impassive. She stepped away, quickly clearing out to give the two some space.
Cui Yunchu kept her head down, winding the tablecloth around her finger—round after round—until the fabric constricted her finger, making it swell.
Shen Xiabai’s voice was low, soft, and faint, utterly flat with no hint of emotion. “My mother took matters into her own hands. If she said anything inappropriate, Eldest Miss Cui need not take it seriously, nor dwell on it.”
“...”
It was as if someone had pried open her mouth and stuffed it full of cotton wadding, choking her speechless.
After a long pause, Cui Yunchu managed only a single “Mm.”
In the past, she would have seized the chance to mock him mercilessly, ridiculing his foolishness and his pitiable state, how even in his delirium he had muttered her name.
But at this very moment, she felt none of the satisfaction she had once anticipated.
