The next day, a light snow began to fall. With her hair askew and her wrinkled dress hanging crookedly, Cui Yunchu left the ancestral hall full of energy and returned to her own courtyard.
The two men stationed at the gate cupped their hands in greeting. “Take care, Eldest Miss. Do come again when you have the time.”
“What kind of thing is that to say?” Xing’er snapped, turning around to glare at them while carrying a mountain of bundles.
Back at Chu Garden, Nanny Zhang reported, “Miss, the attendant who serves Lord Shen came again this morning. He said you left your hairpin with Lord Shen, and that whenever you have the time, you may go to the Judicial Office to retrieve it from him.”
After leaving the brazier, the cold wind cut straight to the bone.
Cui Yunchu bundled herself up and burrowed into bed. “I’m not going. I’m afraid of the cold.”
“Tomorrow you have to attend the banquet at the palace,” Xing’er said. “I can bring it to you then. Why does he insist on making you go there yourself?”
Cui Yunchu shot her a sideways glance. “What do you know?”
This was called: one day apart felt like three autumns.
The corner of Xing’er’s mouth twitched. She remembered how her mistress had hugged a cushion and pouted, calling for Lord Shen half the night. In the end, she had wisely kept silent.
The pot calling the kettle black. They were both exactly the same.
Cui Yunchu lay in bed and continued reading her storybook. Meanwhile, in the Judicial Office, someone was nearly twisting his own neck off.
After Yu Feng finished reporting the matter, he closed the document and waited for his master’s decision. But when no reply came for a long while, he cautiously lifted his eyes.
He saw his master staring at the snow on the branches in the courtyard.
His gaze wandered here and there, sweeping back and forth, never once landing on Yu Feng or the documents on the desk.
“My lord, this case is rather urgent.”
“It has snowed. Do you think the roads outside might be slippery?”
“…”
Shen Xiabai frowned and looked up. “Did you send someone to check?”
Yu Feng let out a long breath. “My lord, the streets around the Cui residence are all occupied by government officials. The roads are regularly cleared.”
“They’ll still be slippery if the surfaces freeze.”
Yu Feng fell silent for a moment. “Then what would you have me do?”
“Ride over and escort her here. Make sure she doesn’t fall.”
“…”
It was freezing cold, and he wanted him to ride there?
“May I take a carriage instead?”
“Riding will be faster. Do you want A Chu to wait until when?”
Who was waiting for whom? Yu Feng nearly blurted out, Is it your A Chu who can’t wait, or you?
“You’re just standing there. Hurry up and go.”
Yu Feng resigned himself to his fate, set down the documents, and left with his head drooping. Before going, he reminded Shen Xiabai in the tone one might use with a child, “My lord, please remember to approve the documents. The people below are waiting.”
“All right,” Shen Xiabai replied readily.
Time passed bit by bit. Just as a certain someone began to grow restless, Yu Feng returned with a face turned purple by the wind, rubbing his hands vigorously.
A thin layer of snow covered his body. It had soaked his shoulders, and a faint layer of frost had formed on his brows.
“Where is she?” Shen Xiabai asked, looking behind him.
In weather this cold, only a ghost would come out.
And he was the ghost who had been forced to go out!
In the end, Yu Feng was still his loyal subordinate and could not bear to dash his hopes. He said tactfully, “Perhaps Eldest Miss Cui is still doing her hair and makeup. Ladies are always slow when leaving the house. Let’s wait a little longer.”
He had gone all the way to the entrance of the Cui residence without seeing even the shadow of Eldest Miss Cui.
Shen Xiabai frowned, his expression clearly displeased. Still, he finally settled down and began reading through the documents. Yu Feng let out a long sigh of relief and stood by the brazier for quite some time before he gradually felt the warmth return to his body.
Before long, it was noon. The meal was served, but Shen Xiabai had no appetite.
“Go and check again. See what’s going on.”
Yu Feng had just picked up his steaming bowl of rice when his face stiffened and fell.
“My lord, it’s so cold today. Why don’t we forget it?” he asked cautiously. Shen Xiabai’s gaze darkened.
“A Chu isn’t afraid of the cold. You’re a grown man—how can you be so delicate?”
“…”
Yu Feng nearly laughed.
If Eldest Miss Cui wasn’t afraid of the cold, then why hadn’t she come? It was already noon, and there wasn’t even a trace of her.
Truly, distance made the heart grow fonder, while proximity only bred contempt. How pitiful he was, rising early and working late every day, braving wind and rain to risk his life alongside this man.
He grumbled inwardly: If Eldest Miss Cui comes today, I’ll gouge out the character “Yu” from my surname and change it to “Dog.”
Complaining was one thing, but he still hurriedly shoveled down a few bites of food, then stood up with a lifeless expression and left at a painfully slow pace.
An hour later, he returned once again covered in frost.
“Where is she?”
Faced with Shen Xiabai’s question, Yu Feng felt like dying.
He wanted to say that he had slipped and fallen into the snow, where he had been unable to get back up.
But he did not have the courage.
“I followed the road all the way to the Cui residence. Let alone the Cui family’s carriage, I didn’t see even a single ghost.”
In weather like this, ordinary people without warm clothing could freeze to death.
Apart from officials and the wealthy, no one would choose to leave the house at a time like this.
“Could she still be washing and dressing?” Shen Xiabai said, deceiving himself.
Yu Feng plopped down beside the brazier. He could not even be bothered to humor him anymore.
Shen Xiabai continued to divide his attention between the documents. The good times did not last long. An hour later, Yu Feng heard him urge, “Go and check again.”
“…”
“My lord, it’s already afternoon. Eldest Miss Cui must simply find it too cold and refuses to come. No matter how many times I go, it won’t help.” He no longer cared whether his master would be hurt by the truth. At this rate, he would freeze to death first.
Shen Xiabai’s brows drew together. “A Chu is greedy for money. She wouldn’t refuse to come.”
“…”
Yu Feng’s face went blank. He quietly raised his eyes, then stood up without another word, grabbed a cloak, and left.
At the Cui residence, Nanny Zhang hurried into the room and shook Cui Yunchu, who was engrossed in her storybook.
“Miss, that attendant has come again. He insists that you make another trip.”
Cui Yunchu was at the most exciting part. She rolled over. “I’m not going.”
“He says he still has your hairpin. Don’t you want it?”
“Tell him to lose one. His master can compensate me with ten.”
Nanny Zhang had no choice but to relay the message.
Yu Feng was not surprised in the slightest. In weather this cold, anyone who went outside was a fool.
He simply sat down in the gatehouse, tucked both hands into his sleeves, and leaned against the brazier. “Then I won’t leave. I’ll wait here.”
At least it was warm. That was far better than running back and forth from the Judicial Office.
Nanny Zhang was speechless. She returned to report to Cui Yunchu, who merely said, “Oh,” as if she had not heard anything at all, then continued reading her storybook.
Sometimes, when she came across something amusing, she would call Xing’er over to read it with her. Quite a few of the plot twists seemed exceptionally useful to her—things like secretly conceiving a child or carrying on an affair behind everyone’s back.
Time passed bit by bit. In the gatehouse, Yu Feng leaned against the wall beside the brazier and drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, at the Judicial Office, the man who had repeatedly failed to receive any word from her was growing increasingly irritable.
He rose and went outside, personally waiting at the entrance to the government office.
An attendant brought him a cloak. Shen Xiabai was just about to take it and drape it over his shoulders when a carriage slowly approached from the distance. He immediately pushed the cloak back.
The gray cloak clashed with his clothes and ruined his elegant, otherworldly appearance.
The attendant hugged the cloak to his chest and stood beside him.
“My lord, look—the carriage.”
Then master and servant watched the carriage with eager anticipation, never taking their eyes off it as it passed by them.
