“It seems... we just happened to run into each other.”
Happened to? What a coincidence?
Were all the misfortunes in the world meant to land on her? Cui Yunchu clutched the soft pillow in her hands, bit hard on its embroidered edge, and scowled with her teeth bared.
“Ah—” She kicked her legs about wildly and started rolling around on the bed.
“Wine and lust really do ruin a person.”
Xing’er touched her nose. “Miss, you really don’t need to worry so much. Everything that should be known—and shouldn’t be known—the Lord Prime Minister already knows.”
Cui Yunchu turned her head to look at Xing’er. “...What do you mean by that?”
Xing’er pouted her lips and let out a “hmm.” “Lord Shen kissed you right in front of the Lord Prime Minister, without hiding it at all. You didn’t see it at the time, but the Lord Prime Minister’s face was darker than the bottom of a burnt pot.”
Cui Yunchu felt as if she’d been struck by lightning.
“Quick, go prepare some fruits and snacks. It’s been cold these days, so the cushions must be thick, and blankets too—prepare those as well.”
She got up and started rummaging through the wardrobe, already resigned to living in the ancestral hall for a long while.
“Miss, but the Lord Prime Minister never said he would punish you.”
Cui Yunchu bared her teeth and gave Xing’er a look of utter disbelief. “Are you telling me you’ve been scared stupid?”
Xing’er shook her head. “Miss, the Lord Prime Minister really didn’t say anything. He even carried you back himself, had Nanny Zhang and me withdraw, and personally took care of you for quite a while.”
Cui Yunchu stood in the room, looking as if she’d just heard the world’s strangest tale. It took her a good long moment before she said, uncertainly, “Then... did you call a physician for me?”
“Why would we call a physician?” Xing’er looked baffled.
Cui Yunchu’s lips twitched. “Is there any chance he thought I was too embarrassing and poisoned me?”
“That shouldn’t be the case.” Xing’er was quite certain about that. “If the Lord Prime Minister poisoned you to death, the Old Madam would never let him off.”
Cui Yunchu sat back down on the bed, her legs swinging back and forth over the floor, her gaze fixed on her embroidered shoes. “So then, what did he say?”
“Who?”
“The Old Man, of course.” Cui Yunchu said casually. “Shen Xiabai was so reckless—how did it all end up resolving?”
Come to think of it, Xing’er also found it strange. The Lord Prime Minister always did what he said without compromise, yet last night, despite being provoked by Lord Shen so blatantly, he hadn’t gotten angry.
Xing’er recounted the events of last night to Cui Yunchu with great flourish.
“So what you’re saying is... when I said those words, the Old Man heard them?”
Xing’er nodded. “Most likely, yes.”
It was probably because he had heard that he felt a bit guilty and at a loss, which was why he didn’t get angry at Lord Shen.
“God, just kill me now.” Cui Yunchu buried her face in the soft pillow and flopped backward onto the bed.
“Miss, I think the most urgent matter right now isn’t the Lord Prime Minister, but... Lord Shen, whom you’ve gone and enticed once again.”
“Lord Shen was quite forceful in front of the Prime Minister yesterday, carrying himself like you already bore the Shen surname. If you’re still planning to flirt and then run off, I don’t think that’s going to work.”
Cui Yunchu kept her head buried, not saying a word.
She rubbed her head miserably, then suddenly let out a “hiss,” and clutched her forehead. “Why does my head hurt so much?”
“...” Xing’er’s lips twitched. “Of course it hurts. Yesterday you were kowtowing to that lad for nearly half an hour.”
“What?” Cui Yunchu jumped up. “What were you doing? Couldn’t you have held me back? What good are you to me?”
Xing’er felt wronged. “I did hold you back, Miss, but you insisted on paying respects to the imperial son-in-law and told me to get lost.”
“...”
So, when she was kowtowing to that lad as if he were an imperial son-in-law, Shen Xiabai had been there too?
Her face...
Cui Yunchu raised a hand and touched her cheek.
Well, it was gone without a trace—good thing her skin was thick.
“Miss.”
“Shut up. Don’t say another word.” Cui Yunchu pointed at Xing’er and snapped.
Getting drunk wasn’t the scary part. The scary part was having someone help you remember.
“This period, I’m staying in the house to fast and chant sutras. I’m not going anywhere. Turn down all invitations.”
“Miss, are you hiding from Lord Shen?”
Cui Yunchu shot her a cold glare and frowned. “Do you have to show off? Do you have to be the clever one?”
Xing’er pressed her lips together. “There’s actually one invitation. This morning, Miss Chen’s maid came to the house, saying Miss Chen invites you to Wangyue Tower this afternoon for a short visit—she has something important to discuss.”
Cui Yunchu had a fairly good impression of Chen Miaohe.
“Not going.” Cui Yunchu flopped back onto the bed like a dead fish.
“But Miss Chen said Young Master Shen will also be there, and he has something of the utmost importance to tell you.”
Shen Zilan—an official in the Ministry of Personnel in charge of selecting officials.
Cui Yunchu frowned slightly, paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
She asked, offhandedly, “What has Cui Yunli been doing these past few days?”
“He’s been in the study the whole time, it seems, preparing for tomorrow’s official selection.”
Cui Yunchu nodded and hummed in acknowledgment.
The afternoon wind had finally died down a bit. Cui Yunchu hadn’t visited Old Madam Cui in a few days, so before heading out, she went by the Pine and Crane Garden.
The windows and doors were shut tight, with a brazier burning inside, yet Old Madam Cui still had herself bundled up thickly. When Cui Yunchu arrived, Old Madam Cui was drinking her medicine.
Cui Yunchu took the bowl of medicine from Nanny Li’s hands and served it to Old Madam Cui.
“Grandmother, has your health been any better lately?”
Old Madam Cui smiled. “I’m getting old. When winter comes, it’s always like this—an old ailment. Once spring arrives, it’ll pass.”
Cui Yunchu looked at Old Madam Cui’s noticeably thinner face and felt a pang of discomfort in her heart.
“You must live to a hundred, Grandmother. Otherwise, if Father is always punishing me, who will protect me?”
“Don’t you worry.” Old Madam Cui laughed at her. “This old fool of a woman only gets more stubborn the older she gets—the harder she is to kill off.”
“Hey, Grandmother!” Cui Yunchu hugged Old Madam Cui’s arm and nuzzled against her.
People don’t really get harder to kill with age. Cui Yunchu felt that living to a ripe old age, free of illness and disaster, and then closing your eyes without ever opening them again—that counted as a blessing.
What she really wanted to say was: if Grandmother could live to a hundred, then that old man wouldn’t last much longer either. And if worst came to worst, she could take him along with her.
Maybe then she’d get a few more years herself.
The grandmother and granddaughter inevitably circled back to the topic of Cui Yunchu’s marriage.
“The other day, your father said he’s taken a liking to a gentleman from the Grand Secretariat. He comes from a clean family, simple household, and has quite some talent. Once your elder brother’s matters are settled, he’ll arrange for you to meet.”
Of the three sisters, Cui Yunchu was the only one not yet married, so Old Madam Cui couldn’t help worrying about her.
But what Cui Yunchu was thinking about was Lord Zhou—the one Shen Xiabai had strung up from the ceiling beams earlier.
That Old Man was a real piece of work.
“What do you think?” Old Madam Cui asked.
Cui Yunchu snapped back to reality, smacked her lips, and said, “Granddaughter thinks it’s not quite appropriate.”
She wasn’t exactly a saint, but she wasn’t as rotten as that Old Man either.
If she was going to be betrothed, would Shen Xiabai even be willing? A clean family background meant no powerful connections—most likely a poor scholar. That fellow had worked his way into the Grand Secretariat with tremendous effort.
To ruin him like that—Cui Yunchu felt her conscience would never rest easy.
Old Madam Cui didn’t push it. She only said they’d meet and decide afterwards. If Cui Yunchu truly didn’t want it, they’d drop the matter and find another match.
Cui Yunchu sat in the Pine and Crane Garden for a while before taking her leave.
But just as she stepped out of the courtyard, she was stopped on the covered walkway by the household steward.
"Miss, there are several official matchmakers at the front gate, saying they've come to propose a marriage on someone's behalf," the steward said with a troubled look. "The Lord Prime Minister isn't in the residence right now, and the Old Madam is feeling unwell. What would you have us do..."
In the Cui household, the only unmarried members were Cui Yunchu and Cui Yunli—so either the proposal was for Cui Yunchu, or it was for Cui Yunli.
But the steward thought it was more likely for the eldest young master, since he was the only male heir of the Cui family. Any young lady who married in would become the mistress of the household.
As for the eldest miss... the Lord Prime Minister had worried himself sick over her prospects, with no success yet.
Cui Yunchu naturally thought the same.
With no one else around, she was the one in charge. She waved her hand grandly and said, "Show them to the front hall."
