Cui Yunchu turned over in bed and reached beneath her, but found nothing.
Where was he?
She sat up with a start and stared at the scene before her, dazed for a moment.
“Xing’er, you’re awake,” Xing’er said.
Cui Yunchu fired off a string of questions. “Where is Shen Xiabai? Where did this bed come from? How did I end up sleeping on a bed?”
Xing’er thought back to the events of the previous night.
She felt even more sorry for Yu Feng—and admired his competence all the more.
“Yu Feng used his qinggong to carry the logs here one by one and build you a bed. As for Lord Shen, he left at dawn. He told this servant to pass on a message: he has something to attend to today, so he won’t be coming to keep you company tonight.”
“Oh.” Cui Yunchu frowned slightly.
She wondered what business he could possibly have in the middle of the night.
The bed was crude, but in the ancestral hall, not having to sleep on the floor was already quite a luxury. She stretched, lay back down, and wrapped herself so tightly in the quilt that not even a draft could get in.
“Miss,” Xing’er said, “it seemed that Lord Shen didn’t sleep at all last night.”
“Hmm?” Cui Yunchu raised an eyebrow. “Why? Was he scared?”
“You kept moving while you were lying on him. Who could have slept?”
Yu Feng had grimaced through the entire night. Every time he glanced in their direction, his face twisted with a complicated, speechless expression.
Cui Yunchu was just about to say something when the door to the ancestral hall was suddenly opened from outside.
The arrival of Cui Qingyuan brought with it a blast of bone-chilling air.
He was still wearing his court robes, his brow habitually furrowed, his bearing stern and imposing.
Cui Yunchu jumped in fright and sprang off the bed.
Why was he here?
Back when she had been made to kneel in the ancestral hall, he had never once come to see her.
Cui Qingyuan’s gaze was immediately drawn to the large bed in the center of the hall. His face turned livid in an instant. Cui Yunchu could almost see the little flames bursting from the top of his head.
She instinctively felt her legs go weak, but the lingering warmth beside her gave her enough confidence to stand firm.
“Why have you come?”
Cui Qingyuan glared at the bed for several moments before shifting his eyes to Cui Yunchu.
She knew that, at this moment, he probably wanted to strangle her.
Cui Qingyuan was so furious that it took him a long while to force out two words.
“Outrageous.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu thought, If I’d known his fighting power was this weak, I wouldn’t have been afraid of him for more than a decade. When it came to verbal sparring, he was truly no match for her.
Still, she said nothing. Setting up a bed in the ancestral hall and sleeping in a man’s arms in front of the family ancestors was indeed rather outrageous.
She had no idea what Shen Xiabai had been thinking. What a scoundrel.
Cui Yunchu lowered her head and quietly endured the immense pressure radiating from her father.
In a small voice, she said, “If you don’t like it, just have them carry it away. Don’t get so worked up. If you faint, don’t blame me.”
Cui Qingyuan: “…”
This daughter had been born solely to torment him.
Cui Yunchu wore an utterly unconcerned expression.
She was nothing like Cui Yunfeng, that stubborn fool. Whenever she was punished, she would obediently accept it, refusing to eat or drink and kneeling ramrod straight. She wouldn’t even put on an extra layer of clothing in the dead of night.
Or rather, that wasn’t really punishment. She was simply picking a fight with the Old Man.
If one dared to make such a wager, it meant one had found the other person’s weakness. She was deliberately doing this, gambling with her own health because she knew he would feel sorry for her.
But Cui Yunchu had never done such a thing.
If she behaved that way, she estimated that no one would notice even after her body had gone cold. Her soul would have been gone for years by then.
She had never been one to mistreat herself.
As long as she avoided a beating, she didn’t care about anything else.
Cui Qingyuan forced himself to suppress his anger again and again before finally shouting, “Go back to Chuyuan!”
“All right.”
Cui Yunchu immediately agreed. She hurriedly packed a few things, called for Xing’er, and left the ancestral hall at a brisk pace.
Cui Qingyuan stood inside the hall, facing the ancestral tablets in silence for a long while before bowing and paying his respects.
The steward cautiously asked, “Lord Prime Minister, shall this servant order a few men to throw the bed out?”
After a brief silence, Cui Qingyuan said, “Move it to the side room next door.”
To put together a bed in a single night—that boy was a scoundrel too.
That evening, Shen Xiabai indeed did not come. Cui Yunchu slept rather peacefully.
The following day, the steward came to Chuyuan to ask about the arrangements for the birthday banquet. What exactly should be prepared?
Although she had an ulterior motive, this was still the first birthday that truly belonged to her, and Cui Yunchu could not suppress the anticipation rising in her heart.
She gave the steward every requirement she could think of—things she had seen before, things she could remember, all of it.
As he listened to his young mistress speak at length, the steward’s head began to ache from watching those red lips open and close.
“Miss, perhaps this is…” He hesitated, unable to say that her plans were rather too extravagant.
But when he met the clear, cool gaze of his eldest young mistress, he lost his nerve.
Not to mention the rare flowers and exotic plants—where was he supposed to find those within a single day?
Besides, even the birthday celebrations of the Crown Prince or a prince would not be so lavish.
Cui Yunchu propped her chin on her hand and asked, “How much silver is left in the storehouse?”
The question made the steward break out in a cold sweat.
“Miss, the Dowager Madam in Songhe Garden still needs to see a physician and take medicine every day. She’s afraid of the cold, so the charcoal expenses alone are considerable. Then there’s Lord Prime Minister’s dealings and gifts in official circles, and the end of the year is approaching, which means the seasonal presents…”
“I asked how much silver is left in the storehouse. Why are you rambling on and on?” Cui Yunchu frowned in displeasure.
The steward fell silent.
He didn’t dare say. He was afraid that by the day after tomorrow, the entire residence would starve to death.
Cui Yunchu glared at him unhappily.
Everyone treated her as though she were some sort of spendthrift. No wonder her reputation had been ruined.
“Miss, there simply isn’t enough time. This servant truly cannot fulfill all your requests.”
“That’s fine.” Cui Yunchu waved her hand generously. “Just convert the cost into silver and give it to me. I’ll handle it myself.”
The steward: “…”
In the end, all the flowers, plants, and extravagant decorations Cui Yunchu had requested were converted into silver, which was handed over to her for preparation.
The steward would take care of the food and drink for the residence.
His heart ached terribly, but when he remembered Lord Prime Minister’s instructions—that this was the eldest young mistress’s first birthday—he could only swallow his pain and offer a reminder.
“The things you want may be difficult to find in the market. Perhaps you could ask other officials’ households whether they might be willing to sell some to you.”
Cui Yunchu shot him a glance. “You just said they’re difficult to find. Do you really think people will be so accommodating as to sell them to me?”
“…”
What was she trying to say?
“In any case, give me the silver and stop worrying about it. Go on back.”
After the steward left, Cui Yunchu held the banknotes in her hand and shook them repeatedly, smiling until her eyes curved into crescents.
“Miss,” Xing’er asked, “where are we going to buy everything?”
“Buy?” Cui Yunchu raised an eyebrow. “Buy what?”
“Tomorrow, we can move the screen Lord Shen gave you out, and as for the flowers, plants, and fish, we can go to the Shen residence and ask for them.”
Why should she spend money on anything that had already reached her hands?
It wasn’t as if she had kissed him for nothing. Everything in the Shen residence belonged to her, Cui Yunchu.
“We’ll move them here to make a good showing. Once the banquet is over, we’ll move them back.”
Xing’er said, “Moving everything back and forth sounds troublesome.”
Cui Yunchu glared at her. “What do you know? You really are thick-headed.”
They were bringing the things here to make her look impressive, so naturally they had to move them back afterward. After all, in the Cui residence, they belonged to Cui Yunli. The things in the Shen residence would belong to her in the future.
