Besides, she didn't even know who that man and woman were.
"Xing'er, you absolutely must not breathe a word about what happened that day, do you understand?"
Cui Yunchu reminded Xing'er uneasily. In her past life, she had been pierced through the chest with a sword for sleeping with him. In this life, if she didn't heed his warning, who knew how he might kill her.
Seeing her young lady's exceptionally serious expression, Xing'er nodded in naive understanding.
Just then, a carriage bearing the plaque of the Liu Manor slowly pulled up to the entrance of the restaurant. Xing'er immediately turned her back and whispered, "Miss, they're here."
Cui Yunchu looked up.
Beside the carriage, Li Mengyu was bowing flatteringly as she helped Liu Wanting step down.
The two were chatting and laughing about something, completely oblivious to the carriage on this side. Cui Yunchu's lips pressed into a grim line, exuding a chilling aura.
"Miss, why is the Liu family's daughter here too? She is, after all, the designated secondary consort to the Crown Prince. Is it really a good idea for us to do this..."
Cui Yunchu cast a faint glance at Xing'er, and the latter immediately shut her mouth.
"Our family has a Crown Princess, so what does she amount to? If we show fear today, wouldn't it just make her more arrogant and domineering, thinking that our Cui family is easy to bully?"
Her Cui and Tang families didn't even put a mere concubine in their eyes. Besides, wasn't the royal family's purpose in supporting her just to make the three families fight until their heads bled?
Once the two women entered the restaurant, Cui Yunchu lifted the curtain and jumped down from the carriage. "Tell the people in the backyard to get ready."
With that said, she led Xing'er into the restaurant.
Inside a private room on the second floor, Liu Wanting fanned herself with a round silk fan and took the seat of honor. Li Mengyu stood to the side, doing the work of a servant girl. "Wanting, the Crown Prince asked you here. It shouldn't be about the incident at the Chen Manor's banquet, right?"
Liu Wanting's expression stiffened. She frowned and glanced at Li Mengyu. "Look at how cowardly you are. It's been so many days since that happened, yet you're still worrying and fretting over it."
Li Mengyu looked a bit embarrassed and sat down, not daring to reply.
If it were a girl from an ordinary family, bullying her would be no big deal. But that was the Cui family. Prime Minister Cui and Old Madam Cui were notoriously protective of their own. Yet, this time it was so calm and quiet, which always made her feel that something was wrong.
"The Cui family hasn't made any statement, I'm afraid..."
"Afraid of what?" Liu Wanting glared at her. "Without evidence, what can the Cui family do to you?"
She gently waved her fan. "Moreover, even if they know it was us, so what? If Tang Qingwan's solution is to go crying to the Crown Prince, wouldn't that be even more amusing?"
Liu Wanting chuckled softly. "On one side is the Liu family, supported by the Emperor. On the other side are the Cui and Tang families, whom they are trying with all their might to suppress. How do you think the Crown Prince will deal with me? Furthermore... once we enter the Crown Prince's estate in the future, if the Crown Princess only knows how to weep and complain every day..."
Liu Wanting covered her lips with a handkerchief and suddenly began to laugh softly. "Those days will certainly be extremely interesting. It will also let everyone in the imperial capital see the true capabilities of the daughter of the Tang and Cui families, who is supposed to be as noble as a princess."
Li Mengyu also burst into laughter and chimed in, "Wanting is right. After all, the Cui family has a long family history in such arts. The brothel-like behavior of Eldest Miss Cui's concubine mother has certainly been fully inherited."
The two of them laughed together. The young girls' laughter was as melodious as silver bells, yet extremely grating.
"Is the brothel-like behavior of a concubine mother that Miss Li speaks of referring to my mother?" The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and Cui Yunchu walked in with a smile.
"You, you, you..." Li Mengyu stood up in shock. "Why are you here?"
Liu Wanting also stopped smiling and frowned as she watched Cui Yunchu stroll in.
Were the guards outside dead? Could they not see a living person walking in? Why didn't they stop her?
"Wan, Wanting," Li Mengyu looked at Liu Wanting nervously.
Cui Yunchu chuckled and sat down opposite Liu Wanting. "As the saying goes, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Haven't I been summoned here by the mutterings of you two ladies?"
Looking at Cui Yunchu's smiling face, it would be a lie to say Li Mengyu didn't feel guilty, but she couldn't find the words to deny it.
Liu Wanting was much calmer. She wasn't even afraid of Tang Qingwan, let alone an infamous illegitimate daughter of the Cui family. "Eldest Miss Cui, hear no evil. As a dignified daughter of an official, how could you eavesdrop on others?"
"Who is speaking?" Cui Yunchu raised an eyebrow and looked around, as if she didn't see Liu Wanting at all.
"What do you mean by that?" Liu Wanting's voice darkened.
"Oh," Cui Yunchu finally looked at Liu Wanting, but with her eyes narrowed. "So you're here. It's Miss Liu. They say that a person who shoots arrows from the dark is no gentleman, and one who gossips behind others' backs is a small person. Look, Miss Liu is so small that I can't even see her when I strain my eyes."
Liu Wanting's greatest flaw in this life was her short stature. Her mother was short, and consequently, the younger generation of the Liu family wasn't tall either, but she was the one most deeply affected.
"Cui Yunchu!" She smashed her teacup, her face turning livid.
Cui Yunchu remained half-bent, squinting at her. "Oh my, extreme anger harms the body, and it'll make you grow even less. But you've already reached the age of fifteen, so I suppose you won't be growing anymore anyway."
Liu Wanting's chest heaved violently. She considered herself to be extremely well-bred; even when facing Tang Qingwan, she had never been so infuriated as to lose her reason.
Knowing that she hated it most when others called her short, Li Mengyu immediately chimed in, "Miss Liu is petite and exquisite, as nimble as a fairy."
"Isn't that still short?" Cui Yunchu picked up a fruit from the table and leisurely popped it into her mouth.
"The sages truly do not deceive me. If you do too many bad things, you really do turn into a 'small person'."
Liu Wanting: ??
Is that what the sages meant by 'small person'?
"How dare you insult me like this!" Liu Wanting slammed the table and stood up. "Men, seize her!"
...No movement.
She shouted twice more in succession, but still, no one answered.
"Don't panic, I'll call them for you." Cui Yunchu let out a cold smile, curled her fingers, and knocked on the table. The door to the private room was immediately pushed open, and three to five sturdy servant girls rushed in.
How could Liu Wanting not understand what was going on?
"Cui Yunchu, I am the Crown Prince's secondary consort designated by the Empress. If you dare touch me, the Empress will not let you off."
Cui Yunchu: "Let her go find my father."
"His Highness the Crown Prince will be here soon. He has always despised you, you..."
Cui Yunchu: "Let him go find my cousin."
"..."
"Is there anyone else?" Cui Yunchu blinked. "If not, then I'm going to begin."
As soon as she finished speaking, two more people walked in from outside, carrying a large wooden barrel. However, as the barrel swayed, it emitted bursts of foul stench.
Li Mengyu's face instantly turned pale. "What, what exactly do you want to do? Wanting and I are both daughters of officials. You wouldn't dare touch us."
"Shut up, you have no right to speak here."
"..."
Cui Yunchu's gaze fell on the livid Liu Wanting, and she said softly, "What are you afraid of? Without evidence, who can prove it has anything to do with me, and what can they do to me?"
Her soft and gentle words were exactly the same as what Liu Wanting had just said to Li Mengyu.
Li Mengyu: ?? Were she and Liu Wanting not people? Did they not count as evidence?
Cui Yunchu seemed to have guessed what she was thinking. She extended a slender index finger and wagged it gently. "Once I walk out of this door, I won't admit to anything."
She raised her hand, and the large wooden barrel emitting the foul stench was immediately opened.
"Since you two ladies enjoy pushing people into the water so much, why not taste it for yourselves and see what it feels like to thrash about? It is just that the restaurant's conditions are limited, and I could only find a slop bucket on such short notice. I am afraid Miss Li and the future Crown Prince's secondary consort will have to make do."
Liu Wanting's eyes widened in disbelief. Throwing all her gentle and dignified upbringing to the wind, her voice turned shrill, "Cui Yunchu, don't you dare!!"
Li Mengyu, however, seized the opportunity and bolted toward the door as if her life depended on it.
Xing'er immediately tried to give chase, but then she saw Li Mengyu's figure slowly backing away. It was as if a blade was pressed against her neck, and her entire body was trembling.
Cui Yunchu glanced sideways and saw Xiao Yi, his robes slightly loose, strolling in from in front of Li Mengyu. A chilling, wicked smile hung on his face.
Prince An, to think he was here too.
Li Mengyu was forced back into the private room, and the door was immediately slammed shut with a loud bang.
Xiao Yi said, "Has Eldest Miss Cui never heard the saying that villains often die from talking too much? All this dawdling and noise is giving me a headache."
"..."
Immediately after, Xiao Yi waved his large hand, "Let's start with the short one."
Liu Wanting's face turned pale green, but alas, two fists were no match for four hands. "Your Highness Prince An, I am the Crown Prince's secondary consort. Aren't you afraid you won't be able to explain this to the Crown Prince?"
Xiao Yi sneered, "You touched my future Princess Consort. I have yet to ask my royal brother for an explanation."
Cui Yunfeng, Prince An's future Princess Consort?
Liu Wanting knew the two had a good relationship, but Cui Yunfeng had long since reached the age of hairpinning, yet the two had delayed entering into a marriage contract. Thus, she had assumed they were just ordinary friends.
She never expected that Prince An would actually dare to offend the Crown Prince for Cui Yunfeng's sake.
A foul stench rushed at her face and poured into her nasal cavity. Humiliated, Liu Wanting struggled and twisted her body. She shouldn't have touched Cui Yunfeng that day; she should have targeted Cui Yunchu instead.
Cui Yunchu and Xiao Yi stood on opposite sides of the room, one in the south and one in the north, not bothering each other, but both staring at the wooden bucket. The only similarity was that both were covering their noses and mouths with handkerchiefs.
It wasn't until Liu Wanting and Li Mengyu were thrown to the ground, covered in filthy stench, that Li Mengyu had long fainted from the smell. Liu Wanting, however, was quite resilient. Lying on the ground at this moment, she still glared at Cui Yunchu with a gaze full of resentment and malice.
Weren't the two Cui sisters at odds with each other? Why would Cui Yunchu stand up for Cui Yunfeng?
"There's no need for the Crown Prince's secondary consort to look at me like that. I am also... just following His Highness Prince An's orders. Who asked you to touch the person closest to his heart?"
Xiao Yi's gaze swept lightly toward Cui Yunchu.
This shifting of blame... Her ability to lie through her teeth was truly masterful.
However, since it was for Yunfeng, he would accept it.
The room smelled so bad that it was unbearable to stay in. Liu Wanting's hairpins and dress were soaked through. She sat slumped on the ground in a wretched state, forcefully retching out the dirty water.
Cui Yunchu stood up and took two steps closer, but suddenly stopped as if repulsed by the filth. "Miss Liu, there is a saying: don't hit a person in the face, and don't expose a person's shortcomings when cursing them. Next time you expose someone's shortcomings behind their back, make sure I don't hear it. After all, the thing I hate the most is... others talking about my concubine mother."
At the last six words, Cui Yunchu suddenly raised her pitch, gnashing her teeth, which startled Xiao Yi beside her so much that he abruptly sat up a bit straighter.
"Cui Yunchu, you just wait. This matter is far from over." Liu Wanting's eyes were bloodshot with malice at the corners.
Cui Yunchu replied, "The clash has only just begun."
