Tang Qingwan felt that Cui Yunchu giving her these bits of silver was already quite generous.
“Take it back—the Crown Prince’s estate isn’t nearly so impoverished that we need this.” Tang Qingwan tried to press the silver back into Cui Yunchu’s hands.
“It’s no trouble.” Cui Yunchu waved a hand dismissively. “Anyway, I got it by robbing your servants.”
“...” The warmth in Tang Qingwan’s chest went cold in an instant.
“You won’t even spare the servants?”
At least she was the Crown Princess, Yunchu was her sister, a daughter of the Cui family—reputation and face still mattered.
Cui Yunchu said, “Don’t worry, I know my limits. Back when Liu the Scoundrel was still around, I’d never have embarrassed you. Now that Liu the Scoundrel is gone, the Crown Prince’s estate is your domain—who would dare laugh at me?”
Tang Qingwan found herself thinking that what she said actually made perfect sense.
Cui Yunchu was still the same as ever—carefree, acting without rhyme or reason, so chaotic that she gave you a headache.
“It’s getting late. I should be going.”
Tang Qingwan rose to see her off, and Cui Yunchu gave her a disdainful look at her thin frame, saying, “There’s a mess of affairs at court these days—don’t shoulder it all yourself. Cui Yunfeng and Prince An have nothing better to do.”
The Cui family had raised Cui Yunfeng like a simpleton, silly and naive as a flower—what a waste not to use her.
Tang Qingwan smiled and agreed.
Cui Yunchu added, “And tomorrow, Cui Yunli returns. You all went to great pains to bring him back—if he turns out to be useless, then what was the point of having him at all?”
Tang Qingwan said, “When we hold the welcome banquet for Yunli, I’ll go back then.”
Cui Yunchu gave a sound of acknowledgment.
She lowered her head, her spirits not high. Whether Cui Yunli came back or not had little to do with her.
As she reached the ornate archway, Cui Yunchu made Tang Qingwan stop, then pulled a jade pendant from her sleeve and pressed it into Tang Qingwan’s hands.
Tang Qingwan stared at the jade pendant for a long moment.
She looked up at Cui Yunchu, then down at the pendant.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Cui Yunchu said, stepping back hastily. “I haven’t been secretly trading gifts with your husband.”
Her voice was loud enough to draw the gazes of several servants. Tang Qingwan’s lips twitched slightly, but Cui Yunchu didn’t seem to notice, lowering her voice to say, “This pendant—it’s the token my brother-in-law gave Minister Shen when he owed him ten thousand taels of silver, and it eventually ended up in my hands.”
“I came to the Crown Prince’s estate to collect the silver, but seeing how pitiful you looked, I decided to give it to you instead.”
Tang Qingwan blinked at that.
Cui Yunchu went on, “You must draw out that silver and keep it firmly in your own hands—don’t let the Crown Prince, your husband, find out. With the situation so tense these days, who knows how much tighter money will get at the Crown Prince’s estate. Don’t be foolish and hand over everything you have.”
Never mind the Crown Prince—the Empress was far from a simple soul. If another Liu the Scoundrel or two showed up, her cousin needed enough silver at hand to hold on.
Cui Yunchu frowned as she gave Tang Qingwan these instructions, as if she had completely forgotten about Tang Qingwan’s carloads of dowry.
“Yunchu.”
Cui Yunchu waved a hand. “No need to thank me—it’s your family’s money anyway.”
With that, she took her leave of the Crown Prince’s estate.
Standing at the gate, she felt a sudden sense of emptiness. Of the three sisters, she seemed to be the useless one.
Take, for instance, Tang Qingwan, who was willing to risk her life for the sake of an heir.
Cui Yunchu leaned back in her carriage, listless, jostled half to sleep by the bumpy ride. Nanny Zhang sat beside her, her heart bleeding over the lost ten thousand taels of silver.
Eyes closed, Cui Yunchu suddenly heard someone call out to her. She startled awake, pulled back the carriage curtain, and saw another carriage running alongside hers on the narrow street. The face at the window belonged to none other than Chen Miaohe.
Cui Yunchu greeted her lazily.
“I’m off to the Ministry of Personnel. What about you, Sister Cui?”
Cui Yunchu: “Going home.”
Chen Miaohe nodded. “I’m going to the Ministry of Personnel to find Shen Zilan.”
Their engagement had been called off, but Chen Miaohe had been severely punished by her family because of it. That was a debt she intended to collect from that scoundrel Shen Zilan.
To have a fiancée and still set his heart on another woman—that was simply shameless.
Cui Yunchu gave an “oh” and was about to let the curtain fall when she suddenly paused. “What did you just say? Shen Zilan is at the Ministry of Personnel?”
Chen Miaohe: “Yes, he’s been promoted recently too. I heard he’s even in charge of next month’s official selections.”
In other words, the Ministry of Personnel posts that the Cui and Tang families—and even the Crown Prince—couldn’t get their hands on, Shen Zilan was part of it.
Cui Yunchu clicked her tongue. A hint of her laziness faded from her eyes.
If Cui Yunli could land in a position that mattered, wouldn’t that stretch out the timeline, and her cousin wouldn’t have to rush so desperately?
“Oh, is that so?” Cui Yunchu flashed Chen Miaohe a dazzling sweet smile.
Chen Miaohe froze, a faint flush creeping up her cheeks as she stared at Cui Yunchu’s face, beautiful as a blooming peach. “Sister Cui, you’re just too beautiful. When are you and Master Shen holding your wedding banquet? You must remember to invite me for a drink.”
Cui Yunchu’s smile faltered. Hadn’t she heard earlier that there was an affair between them, that they were mutually besotted? Even if it were an affair, they certainly hadn’t gotten to the wedding banquet stage that quickly.
“It’s all rumors. Misunderstanding. Misunderstanding.”
So said Cui Yunchu.
Chen Miaohe: “But Master Shen himself told me so—how could it be a misunderstanding?”
“...” Cui Yunchu was left speechless, not knowing what to say next.
Were they having an affair?
Since when did an affair come with such a big mouth that you told everyone about it?
“Maybe... you misheard?”
Chen Miaohe raised an eyebrow. “Sister Cui, is it that you don’t fancy Master Shen at all? Is there someone else you have your eye on?”
Otherwise, why would one admit it and the other deny it?
Cui Yunchu mumbled a vague “mm-hm, ah” in reply.
“Anyway, I still have things to do—I should be going first.” Cui Yunchu said.
Chen Miaohe nodded from where she leaned against the carriage window.
But the street was only wide enough for two carriages to travel side by side, and neither dared to speed up, so both kept at the same pace.
Cui Yunchu, having said her piece, met Chen Miaohe’s blinking eyes. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a long moment before finally parting ways at a fork in the road.
Just... rather awkward.
Nanny Zhang spent the whole evening asking over and over who the man was who had kissed Cui Yunchu’s lips so swollen.
Cui Yunchu grew so annoyed she wanted to sew Nanny Zhang’s mouth shut.
The next day, Cui Yunli returned to the capital. Prime Minister Cui had sent her to receive him. The night before, Cui Yunchu lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Chen Miaohe and Tang Qingwan took turns drifting through her mind.
Shen Zilan’s achievements surely had Shen Xiabai pulling strings behind the scenes. So the real power to speak at the Ministry of Personnel was actually Shen Xiabai.
Grand Tutor Tang’s departure from court had dealt a heavy blow to the Cui and Tang families. Only if Cui Yunli entered the Ministry of War would things take a slight turn for the better.
Cui Yunchu raked her fingers through her hair in frustration, then suddenly sat straight up. “What does the fate of the Cui and Tang families have to do with me?”
But her cousin...
In this life, she had been good to her.
Could she just watch her walk that thorny path to ruin?
Cui Yunchu buried her head in her hands, resting them on her knees.
In her previous life, her cousin had looked down on her, had imprisoned her—but she had never harmed her. In fact, she had once shielded her.
When it came down to it, perhaps someone else would leave her with less guilt.
