Outside the ancestral hall, it was utterly silent, as if even the birds avoided this place. The stillness made Cui Yunchu's heart pound with unease, afraid she might die here without anyone knowing.
It felt as if she and this estate had been abandoned, cut off from the rest of the world.
Cui Yunchu exhaled a breath into her palms, rubbed them vigorously, and forced herself to stand up to walk outside.
She pressed her eye to the crack in the ancestral hall's door to peer out.
The two servants guarding the door had vanished somewhere to laze about, so Cui Yunchu had no choice but to pound on the door. "Anyone there? Come here! Come here!"
She pounded for quite a while, her entire body frozen stiff. The courtyard of the ancestral hall offered no shelter, and the bitter wind lashed against her without mercy, burrowing into the very gaps of her bones.
Damn it all. She, the mistress, was starving and freezing inside, while those two dogs were nowhere to be found.
Cui Yunchu grew even more determined to swallow her pride. After all, no one really cared whether she lived or died. Even the two servants dared to abandon her—what did that say? The implication was clear.
Leaning against the door, Cui Yunchu began cursing incoherently, sometimes at the servants, sometimes like a veiled attack on someone else.
Outside the ancestral hall, the two servants knelt trembling to the side, not daring to speak, let alone lift their heads to look at Cui Qingyuan, who stood before them.
Cui Qingyuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression unreadable.
Cui Yunchu’s mouth never stopped; a stream of novel curses poured out, her tongue no different from a market shrew’s.
After standing there a moment, Cui Qingyuan gestured to one of the servants. The servant nodded, scrambled to his feet, and rushed to the door, desperate to shut the Eldest Miss up.
"Eldest Miss, please stop cursing! Whatever you have to say, just tell me."
At last, a living soul had appeared. Cui Yunchu, who had been sprawled lazily, sat up a little straighter, though her tone remained mocking. "I shouted until my voice went hoarse. Where the hell did you two disappear to?"
The servant was at a loss and glanced back but didn't dare say a word.
Cui Yunchu continued on her own, "I’m in here fighting for my life, and you two are off having a grand old time. Once I get out, I’ll whip you both first thing."
The servant’s mouth twitched.
"Eldest Miss, is this really the point right now?"
"Eldest Miss, have you thought it through? Do you want to come out?"
"Tell Cui Qingyuan to roll his old ass over here," Cui Yunchu said. The servant’s face turned pale, his scalp tingling, and he dared not look back.
Cui Yunchu added quickly, "What I say is what I say. You better use some sense when you relay it, got it?"
The servant carefully glanced sideways at the black-faced Prime Minister Cui behind him.
He’s right here, he thought. What’s there to relay?
Cui Yunchu continued, "Tell that old bastard I agree."
She was caving.
But as long as she didn’t die, she still had a chance to turn things around. She, Cui Yunchu, would never let him off easy.
"Tell him to pray day and night that I never rise again. Otherwise..."
Cui Yunchu braced herself and stood up.
"Otherwise what?" A man's voice, deep and husky, interrupted her. Cui Yunchu froze, her legs went weak, and with a thud, she plopped back down, her backside numb from the fall.
As if stunned senseless, Cui Yunchu sat motionless against the ancestral hall door. Prime Minister Cui could only see her silhouette through the crack. "Why have you gone quiet?" he asked coldly.
This wretched daughter of his was utterly arrogant and unfilial.
Time dragged on, and Cui Yunchu didn’t move an inch, as if she hadn’t heard him at all.
"Open the door," Prime Minister Cui ordered coldly.
The two servants quickly pulled the door open. Without its support, Cui Yunchu’s body slumped forward without warning.
She lay on the ground, eyes shut, face pale, lips purple.
Both servants looked at Prime Minister Cui. They were accustomed to such scenes—the Eldest Miss was a master of pretense. It could be another act. Ten to one, she’d fainted because she heard what she shouldn’t have said.
Prime Minister Cui lowered his gaze, watching her silently for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward, scooped her up, and strode toward the Chuyuan Garden.
"Call for a physician."
His voice drifted back, and the two servants hurriedly acknowledged.
Cui Yunchu had no strength left, but her mind was still vaguely clear. She knew she’d been picked up and carried back to her courtyard, heard the voice calling for a physician.
Her entire body felt stiff, likely from the cold.
Her fingers were numb from the chill. She couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t move, until her body was stuffed into the bedding, finally beginning to warm up.
Xing’er was stunned to see her mistress carried back by the Lord Prime Minister.
"Lord Prime Minister, my lady, she..."
"Have the physician examine her." With those words, Prime Minister Cui turned and left.
His gaze was complicated, his retreating figure carrying a hint of desolation.
"Mistress." Xing’er rushed to the bedside, about to cry, only to find Cui Yunchu’s eyes open. She immediately stopped her tears. "Mistress, you were faking it just now."
Cui Yunchu didn’t answer. She silently pulled the blanket higher, and soon, her shoulders began to tremble slightly.
A large patch on the thick blanket was dampened, but she suppressed her sobs, barely audible.
Xing’er stood by, at a loss. Her mistress was punished as often as she ate and drank water, but crying like this was almost unheard of.
"Mistress, what’s wrong?"
Cui Yunchu extended a slender arm from the bedding and waved toward Xing’er. "I’m hungry. Go prepare some food."
Xing’er immediately left to carry out the order.
No sooner had she left than Nanny Zhang arrived. Seeing Cui Yunchu’s state, she collapsed by the bedside, sobbing heart-wrenchingly.
"Mistress, I told you—you mustn’t be softhearted. There’s not a single good person among the Cui family. They only know how to torment you. You should have listened to your mother’s instructions and to me. You should have married a powerful, well-connected man long ago. Then no one would dare bully you like this!"
With her mistress’s beauty, marrying into the imperial clan wouldn’t have been difficult at all.
Cui Yunchu didn’t even have the strength to turn over. Weakly, she said, "Nanny Zhang, shut up."
Nanny Zhang fell silent at once. Cui Yunchu complained, "I’m not dead yet. What are you wailing about?"
"I’m just heartbroken for you, mistress."
Cui Yunchu rolled her eyes. When she was locked in the ancestral hall, Nanny Zhang hadn’t come running to raise a fuss either.
"If you’ve got nothing to do, go cry at my mother’s grave. Maybe you’ll summon her ghost to scare that old bastard Cui Qingyuan to death."
As she spoke, Cui Yunchu tightened the bedding around herself, curled up, closed her eyes, and unconsciously drifted off to sleep.
While she slept, the physician came and took her pulse. Xing’er set up a brazier by the bed and fed her herbal medicine.
Cui Yunchu was aware of it all, but she couldn’t wake up. She had a dream so vivid that it felt like she’d returned to her childhood.
Back then, her mother had just passed away, and she hadn’t yet fully adapted to being alone. The so-called father she’d only heard about returned home.
She was eight years old then, still harboring some naive fantasies about the word "father," even though her mother had always said he didn’t care for them.
The first time she saw him was when the Gu family came knocking.
He truly matched the description of having sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a face of striking handsomeness. Sitting there calmly, he handled the Gu family's overbearing behavior with composure, the pressure and sternness emanating from him calming her flustered heart.
In the end, it was the Gu family who backed down, lowering themselves and meekly yielding. Cui Yunchu still remembered how, back then, the Gu family's once-arrogant steward had groveled and flattered in the most obsequious manner.
