"Cui Yunchu, a leopard never changes its spots."
"..."
"!!!!"
Cui Yunchu was lying on the ground, lifting her head to look at Shen Xiabai, whose face was dark as thunder.
After a moment, she silently got up and brushed the dust off her clothes.
She rarely heard such crude language from Shen Xiabai's mouth.
Shen Xiabai ground his molars, at that moment wanting nothing more than to strangle Cui Yunchu.
His exasperated look was just like a dignified lady staring at a useless husband who gambles away everything—as if he might die of anger any moment.
Cui Yunchu muttered softly, "Watch out for your wound. I don't have money to pay you back."
Shen Xiabai let out a long breath, paced in circles a few times, then stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky.
"Do you like things that belong to others that much?"
The Crown Prince and Prince An had their hearts and eyes full of their own Princess Consorts, so how could there possibly be room for her?
Cui Yunchu pouted. "I don't like other people's things, but I don't have anything of my own either."
Shen Xiabai turned back to stare at her.
Cui Yunchu blinked.
She was telling the truth—if she had something, why would she want others' things? She wasn't crazy.
Shen Xiabai walked slowly toward her.
Cui Yunchu didn't dodge, didn't move, just watched him.
He bent down again to meet her eyes. "What do you want?"
"Gold and silver, wealth and treasure."
Four words, like a bucket of cold water pouring over his head—drowning all his tender feelings in ash.
He shouldn't have hoped that any pleasant words would ever come out of her mouth.
"Everything you want, I have," Shen Xiabai said softly, looking at her. "So now, what do you want?"
"Gold and silver, wealth and treasure."
"!!!!"
At that moment, Shen Xiabai truly had the urge to knock her unconscious.
Without a person, who would give her gold, silver, power, and glory?
Was she planning to rob and kill?
Shen Xiabai suddenly laughed. A woman who could keenly perceive his thoughts even schemed against him—how could she not understand what he wanted to hear? She was just feigning ignorance.
"Cui Yunchu, are you playing deaf with me?"
Then keep playing—play if for a lifetime, and never set your sights on any man.
"Prince An and the Crown Prince will never marry you. Just give up."
"But I want to be a Princess Consort," Cui Yunchu said.
"Yunfeng said that in the court, there's a position called the Regent King. If someone sat in that seat, and I married him, would I become a Princess Consort?"
"..."
Shen Xiabai said through gritted teeth, "A Regent King is only established when the emperor is young or in poor health. The last Regent King was over forty when he took the position. If you want to be a Princess Consort like that, you'll have to wait until you're an old maid."
"That's not necessarily true," Cui Yunchu replied. "If my elder cousin and Yunfeng gave birth to a child, they could support it as the new emperor. Then wouldn't they need a Regent King?"
"The Crown Prince and Prince An aren't dead yet," Shen Xiabai said coldly.
Cui Yunchu waved her hand. "Power struggles are full of swords and shadows. Nobody can be sure. The most important thing in life is to have ambition."
"..."
"Cui Yunchu," he narrowed his eyes, his expression icy. "Do you know that with what you just said, I could have you arrested and beheaded?"
Cui Yunchu's eyes curved. "Lord Shen, do you have hopes of becoming the Regent King?"
The coldness Shen Xiabai had pretended to wear froze on his face. His eyes locked onto her like an abyss.
She was always like this.
A casual tease threw him into turmoil, made him lose control, and then she would pretend to be innocent and pull away.
Shen Xiabai's gaze fell on her lips—lips that could drive a man to life or death. His thumb rubbed back and forth in his palm.
Cui Yunchu saw the restraint in his eyes replaced by darkness. She tried to get up and dodge, but her neck was already captured.
The man's downward pressure came like a sudden storm, in an instant.
A cold breath mixed with a faint woody fragrance rushed into her mouth and nose, silencing the cry for help on her lips, blocking out every sound.
Cui Yunchu felt like the sky was falling. Her mind went blank.
Her lower lip was pulled, nibbled, and sucked back and forth.
Over and over, until finally the sensation withdrew. It was then that her frightened soul returned.
"Who did you want to save you, hmm?"
Cui Yunchu stared blankly, then let out a hysterical, "Ah—!"
Yu Feng, who had been off to the side, quickly came out—but when he saw the scene not far away, he turned and retreated with the speed of lightning.
Shen Xiabai raised his hand and pinched Cui Yunchu's lips. "Cui Yunchu, go ahead and play deaf and dumb. But in Great Liang, no one can save you."
He brushed his thumb across the corner of her mouth, slowly rising to look down at her.
His hands, clasped behind his back, clenched tightly, but his eyes betrayed the same obvious panic.
Cui Yunchu stood up, her face flushed. "You say a leopard can't change its spots. Well, what are you then? Aren't you just a pile of dung?"
With that, she shot away like an arrow from a bow.
Cui Yunchu's comparison left Shen Xiabai frozen, then his face soured.
The wind didn't stop. He stood there, unmoving for a long time.
He had been impulsive.
Shen Xiabai lowered his eyes, thinking about that uncontrollable emotion from just now—an emotion that surfaced every time Cui Yunchu teased him. Only before, he had always restrained himself.
To not think, not probe, not care.
He touched his lips and murmured, "Clearly, the culprit is you. So why am I the only one struggling to hold back?"
Around the corner, Yu Feng watched Cui Yunchu whirl past like a gust of wind, still wide-eyed and slow to react.
After a long moment, he shuffled over to Shen Xiabai. "M-master... you..."
Shen Xiabai pulled himself together and ordered flatly, "Send word to the Ministry of Personnel. Tell Zilan to come home earlier today."
...
Cui Yunchu walked as if drunk, stumbling slightly. All the emotions stirred up earlier by Cui Qingyuan had utterly vanished, leaving only the pounding of her heart.
Cui Yunfeng had finally been waiting for her return and rushed up to meet her. "Elder Sister, where did you go? I sent so many people to look for you and no one found you."
Cui Yunchu twisted the corner of her mouth. Couldn't find her... just as well.
"Hasn't the banquet already started? Why are you here?"
"I'm waiting for you," she said, pulling Cui Yunchu into the room. "I've already gone around greeting those noble ladies. Someone's attending to them—they don't need our help."
On the table, a full spread of gold, silver, and jade ornaments was laid out. Cui Yunfeng pulled Cui Yunchu in front of it and said, "Elder Sister, these are the treasures I've been saving. I'm giving them all to you today."
