Shen Xiabai lifted his eyes and glanced at him. “So?”
“…”
“So, the embroiderers in the manor are still working day and night on your thicker white winter clothes.” As he spoke, Yu Feng cast a glance at what Shen Xiabai was wearing. It was still the sort of attire suitable for early winter.
Just looking at it made him want to rub his arms from the cold.
Shen Xiabai: “…”
Yu Feng hastened to explain on the embroiderers’ behalf. “The manor normally prepares winter clothes in advance. But you suddenly demanded that everything be changed to white, and the embroiderers weren’t prepared, so it will take rather longer.”
His master refused to wear clothes bought outside.
Shen Xiabai replied indifferently, “It isn’t that cold yet.”
Not that cold?
Yu Feng looked at the tightly shut doors and windows, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Then this subordinate will open the window and let you get some fresh air.”
If Shen Xiabai’s sharp gaze could take physical form, Yu Feng would undoubtedly suffer grievous injuries today.
Didn’t you say you weren’t cold? Yu Feng wore a faint smile, though he did not dare actually laugh.
“What this subordinate means is that it will very likely snow the day after tomorrow. Why not… wear the winter clothes that have already been made first?”
It would only be for a few days, after all.
“No need.”
Hearing Shen Xiabai stubbornly insist otherwise, Yu Feng wanted nothing more than to bang his head against the wall. One casual remark from Eldest Miss Cui—that white looked good on him—had condemned the manor’s embroiderers to work day and night.
He refused to believe Shen Xiabai would not mind the cold once it snowed.
More importantly, it would not even look good. Wearing so little and shivering from the cold—what kind of appearance was that?
Though that probably would not happen to his master. His master’s mouth was stubborn, but his body was even tougher. He could simply endure it.
#
After returning from the Ministry of Personnel, Cui Yunchu broke into a run and darted straight back to her own courtyard. Even when Cui Yunli called out for her to go to Pine Crane Court and share the good news with Old Madam Cui, she pretended not to hear him.
Cui Yunli watched her scurry ahead like a little rat, head down and determined, and fell into a brief silence.
“What is the matter with Sister Yunchu?”
The servant beside him said, “Eldest Miss has truly gone too far. Young Master called after her so many times, yet she did not make a sound in response.”
But Cui Yunli’s expression remained unchanged. “Don’t say that. Sister Yunchu’s intermittent deafness did not begin yesterday. She has had this ailment since childhood.”
Since childhood, she had been able to tell from one’s tone what mood they were in, and then decide whether to respond. If she chose not to, then she was deaf.
The servant: “…”
This was the first time he had ever heard of such an ailment.
“Perhaps she has some urgent matter to attend to.” Cui Yunli smiled and did not pursue the matter further, heading alone to Pine Crane Court to report the good news.
But the moment he stepped inside Pine Crane Court, he sensed that something was amiss. Every maid and servant woman stood guard outside the room, scarcely daring to breathe. Each of them seemed to wish they could lower their heads to the ground—or vanish on the spot.
Cui Yunli stood at the entrance as a maid immediately lifted the beaded curtain. “…”
The scene within came fully into view. His grandmother sat in the place of honor, her expression calm and unreadable. Yet the source of the oppressive atmosphere filling the room came from the seat below her—from his father.
Cui Yunli hesitated at the doorway, half inclined to turn around and leave.
Just then, Prime Minister Cui’s cold gaze swept toward him, his brows drawing together. “What are you standing there for? Come in.”
Cui Yunli had no choice but to enter and offer a proper salute.
Old Madam Cui was in excellent spirits. “You’re back. Was today’s assessment difficult? I heard you took first place. That is truly impressive.”
Cui Yunli cast an almost imperceptible glance at Cui Qingyuan’s expression before replying gently, “This grandson was merely fortunate.”
He had clearly sensed that the chief examiner had deliberately gone easy on him during today’s assessment.
Old Madam Cui nodded and beckoned Cui Yunli to her side.
Cui Qingyuan had only just begun to speak. “Your sister—”
But Old Madam Cui cut him off. “Look how cold your hands are. Did you not wear enough? What are the servants doing? How could they not know to bring you an extra layer?”
Cui Yunli looked at Cui Qingyuan, whose words had been forced back down his throat, and after a moment’s inner struggle, chose to pretend he had seen nothing.
After all, in the Cui household, Grandmother was the senior authority. “I forgot to bring my cloak. I will have someone bring it tomorrow.”
“And where is your sister?” Prime Minister Cui finally managed to insert his complete question.
“Your grandmother’s grandson is truly remarkable.”
“…”
Even Cui Yunli fell silent.
Grandmother had praised him with those same words over and over again. Had he known things would turn out like this, he should have followed Sister Yunchu’s example and pretended to be deaf before fleeing back to his courtyard.
He was too inexperienced. He had paid the price for lacking experience.
“Mother.” Cui Qingyuan’s voice was low, and it was clear that he was angry.
Old Madam Cui shot him a cold look. “Who are you raising your voice at? Why are you shouting at this old woman? If you think you can, come sit up here while I sit down there. Why don’t you become the father, then?”
“…”
Cui Qingyuan’s face darkened. Though he looked livid, he was also utterly helpless.
If rage could take physical form, flames would surely have been blazing above his head.
Cui Yunli lowered his head and remained silent.
Old Madam Cui glared fiercely at him, making her displeasure plain. “Prime Minister Cui has certainly become capable now. A prime minister of an entire nation, yet he even puts on his official airs in this old woman’s courtyard. What, should this old woman kneel and kowtow to Prime Minister Cui?”
Even during the most difficult periods of his official career, Cui Qingyuan had never suffered such indignities.
His head had been buzzing all day, as though thunder and lightning were raging inside it.
“Mother, you cannot indulge her like this. Look at what she has become. She actually joined forces with an outsider to scheme against her own father.”
Old Madam Cui raised a brow. “Who is the outsider?”
“You?”
A beloved man who regarded Yunchu as his very life, who would even take the blame for murder for her sake—or a father who neither cared nor asked after her, whose favoritism knew no bounds. Who was the outsider?
Old Madam Cui sneered. “Who the outsider is—you don’t have a scale in your own heart to weigh it?”
Prime Minister Cui was left speechless.
Nor did Old Madam Cui intend to let him off. “Stop putting on the airs of a father and throwing your weight around. They say that when a father is kind, his children will be filial. But if the father is unkind, how are the children meant to be filial? If this old woman were Yunchu, I would have abandoned Prime Minister Cui long ago and gone out to make my own living. That would be better than being scolded by you every few days and treated as an eyesore.”
She had been ill for so long that she had not even known Yunchu had suffered such things.
Prime Minister Cui was practically being scolded to his face by Old Madam Cui. As her son, no matter how angry he was, he could only endure it for the moment.
“Let me tell you this: every person’s temperament is shaped by the environment in which they grew up. Qingwan is full of schemes because she was raised from childhood to become the future Empress. Yunfeng is carefree and innocent because your father and I sheltered her from childhood. As for why Yunchu became who she is today, you should think on it carefully.”
Old Madam Cui had originally hoped that the father and daughter would spend more time together and gradually build some affection between them. But now, it seemed that the rift between them might never be healed in this lifetime.
Prime Minister Cui said, “But that… still does not give her the right to find a second wife for her own father.”
Cui Yunli looked up in shock, his mind going blank for a moment.
Not to mention him—if it had not been for this morning’s court session, even Cui Qingyuan would never have imagined it.
Old Madam Cui was unconcerned. “The Second Princess is in the bloom of youth. And how old are you? If she does not find you too old, you should be counting your blessings. Yet you are still unwilling?”
“If Yunchu truly meant to scheme against you, she ought to have found you an old crone for a wife.”
As she spoke, Old Madam Cui could not help but curl her lips into a smile.
She silently cursed Yunchu for being so mischievous.
“Enough. Whether in age or status, you are the one getting the better end of the bargain. Yunchu has treated you more than fairly.”
Cui Yunli chimed in, “Father, that marriage proposal was for you?”
For a moment, the room in Songhe Garden fell utterly silent. No one spoke again.
