To deal with the Cui and Tang families, they had truly stopped at nothing.
If Cui Yunli really married a princess, then his entire official career would be ruined, and it would mean that the Cui family would fall into obscurity from that point onward.
Father and son were both shrouded in gloom.
Cui Yunchu sat down to one side, poured herself a cup of tea, and leisurely took a sip.
As she listened to the two of them analyze the situation and chatter on, she crossed one leg over the other, tapping the tip of her foot lightly against the floor. She looked utterly relaxed.
This repeatedly drew frowns from Cui Qingyuan.
“Father, if this is the Emperor’s intention, then why didn’t he simply issue an imperial decree arranging the marriage? Why send an official matchmaker instead?” Cui Yunli could not understand.
Cui Qingyuan was puzzled as well.
If the Emperor directly issued the decree, would the Cui family dare openly defy it?
Cui Yunchu joined in. “Although the Second Princess has a terrible reputation and is said to bring death to her husbands, she is still a princess of noble status. The royal family has its dignity to consider, doesn’t it? Perhaps the Emperor is merely hinting that the Prime Minister should take the initiative and propose the marriage himself?”
Bring death to her husbands?
Cui Yunli froze slightly.
He had left the capital when he was young, so he knew nothing about this.
Cui Yunchu said, “Eldest Brother probably doesn’t know this yet, but the Second Princess spent several years as a nun at Anshan Temple. She was only brought back a few days ago.”
“I’ve also heard that both of her previous fiancés died one after the other. The Emperor’s intention is to find the princess a husband with an exceptionally strong fate.”
Cui Yunli looked as though he had been struck by lightning. He turned to Cui Qingyuan in shock.
Cui Qingyuan frowned and remained silent, which amounted to an admission.
Cui Yunli’s expression darkened. “Father, what the Emperor is doing is truly too insulting.”
“He clearly fears that if he directly arranges the marriage, the court officials will resent him for it and look down on him as a ruler. So he wants us to bring it up ourselves, allowing him to simply go along with it.”
“Father, we absolutely cannot agree to this marriage.”
This was nothing short of blatant humiliation!
Cui Yunchu cast him a sidelong glance.
What a thoughtless brat. Was a marriage concerning his elders something he could decide?
The father and son went on analyzing the situation at great length. Listening to them made Cui Yunchu feel drowsy.
Cui Qingyuan said, “I always feel that something is off. This doesn’t seem like the Emperor’s usual way of doing things.”
Although he was narrow-minded, he cared deeply about his reputation. He should not have acted this way.
Cui Yunchu sat up straight and slowly took out the letter. “This is the princess’s birth information that the official matchmakers delivered today.”
Father and son reacted as though a bolt of lightning had struck them on a clear day.
Cui Yunli stared at her. “Yunchu, you… you accepted the princess’s birth information?”
Cui Yunchu shrank back fearfully. She glanced at Cui Yunli, then at Cui Qingyuan. “I didn’t know! How was I supposed to know that a marriage proposal could contain so many twists and turns? When they said they had come on the Emperor’s orders, I was so frightened that my legs went weak. I didn’t even dare say a word.”
“Those matchmakers kept saying it was the Emperor’s intention. I thought it was an imperial decree, so how could I have dared refuse? The Prime Minister wasn’t home, and what if they dragged me out and had me executed?”
Cui Yunchu flicked her handkerchief and dabbed at the corner of her eye, giving a few frightened sobs as though she were still shaken by the experience.
Cui Yunli immediately softened his voice and sighed. “Eldest Brother was too anxious. You’re right. As a sheltered young lady, it would indeed have been difficult for you to handle such a situation. It was only natural that you were frightened.”
He passed Cui Yunchu a cup of tea. “Don’t cry. Father and I aren’t blaming you.”
This fellow had been away for over a decade. How had he become so ridiculously clueless?
Cui Yunchu accepted the tea with a pitiful expression and took a small sip. “Thank you, Eldest Brother. Your tea really works. I’m not so frightened anymore.”
The two of them had spent some time together as children. Had he really not realized what kind of person she was?
Cui Yunchu sighed inwardly. Perhaps he had grown foolish, or perhaps her acting had simply improved.
When she raised her eyes, however, she met Cui Qingyuan’s calm gaze, and her heart gave a sudden jolt.
Oh no. Had he seen through her?
But so what? She would never admit it.
“Prime Minister, Eldest Brother, what should we do now?” Cui Yunchu asked, looking extremely anxious.
Cui Yunli said, “You don’t need to concern yourself with this. Father and I will handle everything involving the court.”
Cui Yunchu nodded.
“I was simply frightened. I didn’t dare refuse to accept it.”
Cui Yunli expressed his understanding.
Cui Qingyuan suddenly asked, “Other than that, did they reveal anything else to you?”
Cui Yunchu firmly denied it. “No.”
Then she added a few more words. “It’s also possible that I was so shocked that I couldn’t hear clearly because I was frightened.”
Whenever the word “frightened” came from Cui Yunchu’s mouth, Cui Qingyuan felt that something was wrong.
His brows drew tightly together.
Cui Yunchu pushed all responsibility away from herself. She knew nothing, or else she had been too frightened to hear anything.
Cui Yunli said, “If the Emperor has made up his mind, I’m afraid it won’t be easy for us to resist.”
Cui Qingyuan narrowed his eyes and said heavily, “Even the Emperor cannot destroy someone’s marriage and act without reason.”
There was absolutely no way he would let Cui Yunli marry a princess.
“Then… what does Father intend to do?”
Lord Prime Minister said, “I already have a plan. You need not concern yourselves with this matter. It is getting late. Go back and rest.”
Cui Yunchu turned and left at once.
*
When she returned to Chuyuan, Xing’er hurriedly asked, “Miss, how did the master react? Did he take his anger out on you?”
Cui Yunchu changed clothes, washed up, and flopped down onto the soft bed. She instructed Xing’er, “Prepare several particularly thick outfits for me over the next two days. The kind that can withstand a beating.”
“Huh?” Xing’er looked utterly bewildered. “Miss, what are you planning to do this time?”
“To protect myself in case I get beaten. What else? To keep warm, of course.”
That old fox had eight hundred schemes up his sleeve and was as slippery as a mudfish in official circles. If he got out of trouble too quickly, what fun would that be?
Let him struggle and scheme as much as he liked. In a few days, when he suddenly realized that he had been targeting the wrong person, it would be too late to turn things around. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Hahahaha…
Cui Yunchu hugged a soft pillow and let out a laugh as clear as silver bells.
“Miss, please stop laughing. You’re giving me the creeps.”
The next morning, Xing’er and Nanny Zhang woke Cui Yunchu early.
Cui Yunchu had two dark circles beneath her eyes and was deeply displeased.
She had been so excited the night before that she had not slept at all. She had only just managed to drift off at dawn when they woke her again.
“Miss, please hurry and get dressed. The Crown Princess and Princess An have both returned today.”
Cui Yunchu curled her lip.
“It’s only an official selection examination. Is all this really necessary? Why get up so early? They act as though they’re rushing to arrange the old man’s funeral.”
Nanny Zhang quickly covered her mouth. “Miss, you mustn’t say things like that.”
Cui Yunchu had always had a sharp tongue. She merely curled her lip again and said nothing more.
The two women dragged her into having her hair combed, washed, dressed, and made up. But whenever they loosened their hold on her, she would collapse back onto the bed as though she had no bones.
Xing’er said, “Miss, didn’t you say you were going to ask Lord Shen about the hairpin today? If you keep dawdling, you really won’t make it in time.”
Cui Yunchu’s face crumpled slightly, and only then did she sit up properly.
Her face bore the weariness of a sleepless night, and her complexion was not as radiant as usual.
Cui Yunchu was dissatisfied and made Xing’er redo her makeup.
Xing’er thought she already looked extremely beautiful.
Cui Yunchu said, “This young lady has only one advantage from head to toe—this face of mine. If even that advantage is gone, I’m not leaving the house.”
She regretted not getting a proper night’s sleep.
As soon as she finished speaking, Cui Yunchu burrowed into the covers. Xing’er quickly pulled her back out and redid her makeup as she requested.
