Cui Yunchu and Dowager Shen hit it off so well that Dowager Shen insisted on giving her an ornament that matched the screen. Cui Yunchu wanted to accept it, but she couldn’t—after all, she had come to mooch off the Shen family.
Her gaze darted back and forth between the ornaments and her bundle.
“Young Master.”
A greeting suddenly sounded outside. Cui Yunchu was just about to look up when her wrist was seized and she was pulled over beside Dowager Shen.
“…”
Shen Zilan strode in wearing a pale blue brocade robe, his gaze immediately settling on her.
“Grandmother.”
“What are you doing here?” Dowager Shen’s voice was unmistakably unwelcoming.
Shen Zilan replied, “I heard you had a guest, so I came to take a look.”
“Good day, Eldest Miss Cui.”
Cui Yunchu was about to return his greeting, but Dowager Shen tugged her back again.
“There’s no need to bother with him. He’s your junior. It’s only right that he pays his respects to you.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu was speechless. When had she become his elder?
Dowager Shen, who normally doted on this grandson of hers to the extreme, clearly wasn’t in the mood to see him now.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Shen Zilan’s gaze shifted from Cui Yunchu to Dowager Shen. He frowned and shook his head.
“Then go back to your courtyard.”
Shen Zilan: “…”
His grandmother was being so obviously wary of him.
“Grandmother…”
“Off you go.” Dowager Shen waved him away.
Shen Zilan stood silently for several moments before bowing and leaving in disappointment.
Was he really that much of a scoundrel? Did she have to guard against him as if he were a thief?
Once they were out of the courtyard, the young servant beside him consoled him, “Young Master, don’t take it to heart. The Old Madam has always loved you the most.”
Shen Zilan nodded.
“Come on. Let’s go find that shrew and have a few drinks.”
Back in the courtyard, Cui Yunchu sat beside Dowager Shen, her head lowered as she picked at the dirt on the knees of her skirt.
Dowager Shen smiled. “Next time you come, just use the main entrance.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu thought: All right, I remember. You can stop reminding me that I crawled in through a dog hole.
Whenever she recalled that mortifying moment, she wanted to die all over again. How could it have happened so coincidentally? Just as she crawled out through the dog hole, Dowager Shen happened to pass by. Someone had even held a stick to her head and caught her red-handed.
Heaven, earth, and man—everything had lined up perfectly.
She forced out two dry chuckles, her smile stiff and awkward.
They chatted for a little while longer before a servant entered and whispered something in Dowager Shen’s ear. Not long after the servant left, Dowager Shen claimed that she was tired and ordered someone to take Yunchu around the courtyard for a look.
Cui Yunchu kept staring at the gifts she had brought Dowager Shen, her heart bleeding with every step, while she maintained an air of nonchalance.
“All right, Old Madam. Get some rest.”
Cui Yunchu followed the steward out, looking back three times with every step. Dowager Shen found her reluctance even more amusing.
“It seems Eldest Miss Cui and the Old Madam have truly hit it off. She can hardly bear to leave.”
Dowager Shen laughed. “Indeed, we have. If that boy hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have been willing to let her go either.”
As she spoke, Dowager Shen suddenly remembered the gifts Cui Yunchu had brought her and hurriedly ordered a servant woman to bring them over and open them.
“Eldest Miss Cui is truly so courteous and considerate. Just look at how much she brought you, Old Madam.”
Dowager Shen was delighted. Then, as if in passing, she asked, “Where is Zilan? Has he gone back to his courtyard?”
“It seems not. I heard he went to find Miss Chen for a drink.”
Dowager Shen frowned and gave a noncommittal hum.
“This old servant thinks the Young Master is caught in a situation he doesn’t recognize himself. He and Miss Chen get along so well—how could he possibly not have feelings for her?”
“Whether he likes her or not, it would be best if he did. They should marry and have children as soon as possible. Then I wouldn’t have to waste so much effort worrying about him and guarding against him everywhere.”
At the mention of Shen Zilan’s marriage, a trace of disgust that was difficult to suppress appeared in Dowager Shen’s eyes.
Only when her gaze was drawn to the things inside the bundle did that disgust melt into a gentle smile.
“Eldest Miss Cui is quite an interesting girl. She actually gave me jewelry and banknotes.”
There was a considerable stack of banknotes. Beside it lay a large handful of hairpins and dangling ornaments, all jumbled together without even a brocade box to hold them.
There were even several luminous pearls.
The mistress and servant stared at the bundle, their smiles slowly fading. The servant woman said, “Old Madam, does this luminous pearl look familiar to you? And these hairpins—why do they look so much like the ones from your dowry?”
Dowager Shen said, “There’s been a thief in the family.”
Her dowry had all been stored in the treasury, and she had no idea how much of it was left now.
Most likely, that boy had used the vast majority of it to court his sweetheart.
Realizing that something was amiss, Dowager Shen looked toward the other bundles.
One contained fine silks and satins, clearly women’s clothing. When the servant woman shook it out, several land deeds fell from inside.
She immediately picked them up and handed them to Dowager Shen. Without even looking at them, Dowager Shen hurriedly stuffed them into the folds of her skirt.
Another bundle contained gray, shabby-looking broken plates and bowls, along with a cracked chamber pot. Their only shared characteristic was that they were all decorated with gold trim and gemstones.
Dowager Shen stared at them with her mouth slightly open, utterly dumbfounded.
“Old Madam… could we have misunderstood?” the servant woman asked cautiously.
Anyone who brought things like these wasn’t giving gifts. They were fleeing with whatever possessions they could carry.
Dowager Shen asked, “If we return them, what are we supposed to say?”
How humiliating. They had made fools of themselves by assuming too much.
Now that she thought back to Cui Yunchu’s expression, she finally understood.
Cui Yunchu walked along the path through the Shen residence as though someone had broken her spine. Her head hung low, her back was bent, and she looked utterly listless.
Her current mood was like someone who had worked hard for an entire year to save up money, only to be robbed clean by bandits on the way home.
She was so poor that everything she owned rattled when she moved. If she were thrown out onto the street for a few days, she would have to fight the dogs for scraps.
If she had known this would happen, she would rather have stayed at the Cui residence and taken another beating. Cui Qingyuan wouldn’t have dared beat her to death, anyway.
“If I’d known courting him would cost this much, I’d rather have courted a dog.”
She had been completely bankrupted.
Xing’er wore a pinched expression as well. “Miss, what are we going to do now?”
Their first move had gone terribly wrong.
“Why don’t we go back home?”
Cui Yunchu shook her head. “That would be even worse. Then we’d really be at a loss. Let’s wait. If necessary, we’ll sneak back in tonight and steal everything back.”
“Miss, that’s your future mother-in-law.”
“She can also be my creditor.”
She could tolerate anything—anything except someone taking her money.
“…You don’t like Lord Shen anymore? What if Dowager Shen refuses to let you marry into the family?”
Cui Yunchu said, “My money! All the savings I worked so hard to build up!”
Xing’er: “…”
What Lord Shen? Whether she married into the family or not, her young mistress clearly didn’t care about that at all anymore. She had thrown the whole matter to the back of her mind.
The steward walking ahead kept glancing back at the mistress and servant, who were muttering to each other. They looked rather like spirit mediums, mumbling away in a mysterious fashion. He couldn’t make out what they were saying.
He led Cui Yunchu around the Shen residence, showing her the layout and helping her familiarize herself with the paths.
Cui Yunchu said, “I’ve already seen all of these places. Take me to the pond at your home and let me see those brilliantly colored fish.”
“!!…”
The steward felt as though a boulder had suddenly landed on his head. The sky was falling and the earth was splitting apart.
He had actually forgotten that this young lady still remembered that.
“Miss, the weather is cold, and the lake has frozen over. You won’t be able to see the fish. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next year.”
Xing’er said to Yunchu, “Fish bestowed by the emperor really are precious. They even hibernate in winter.”
Cui Yunchu frowned. “Are you stupid?”
Xing’er immediately pressed her lips together and fell silent. Indeed, she had never heard of fish hibernating.
The steward walking ahead of them broke into a cold sweat.
Cui Yunchu said, “But the lake freezing over can’t be helped. Then take me to the rear garden. I want to look at the flowers.”
Last time, she had been so frightened that she had blown gently on the flowers after touching them, afraid she would have to pay for them if anything happened. Thinking about it now, she found it utterly embarrassing.
Things were different now. Everything there would belong to her in the future. Forget touching them—even if she plucked off a petal, it wouldn’t matter.
Cui Yunchu straightened her back.
The steward bent over with an ingratiating smile. “Please forgive us, Miss. The weather is cold, and the…”
Xing’er cut in, “Are the flowers hibernating too?”
“That’s not it.” The steward steeled himself. “Winter is cold. If we move them around, they’ll all freeze to death.”
“…”
Cui Yunchu stared at him. “So you’re saying there’s nothing left?”
The steward was so frightened that his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He was terrified that Cui Yunchu would say, “I’m not marrying your master anymore. I’m cutting all ties with him.”
He knew all too well how hard-won this mistress was. He hurriedly said, “There’s the storeroom—there’s the storeroom! This old servant will take you there for a look.”
Cui Yunchu still felt a pang of heartache, but she could only reluctantly agree and follow the steward to the storeroom.
Shen Xiabai hurried back to the residence, even using qinggong to get there. The moment he heard from the servants that she was in the storeroom, he rushed over.
The steward whispered, “This old servant didn’t have time to dye anything, so I just cobbled together what I could from the storeroom. She’s in there.”
Shen Xiabai nodded and stepped inside.
In a corner, he found Cui Yunchu in front of a chest of jewelry. She was sitting on the floor without a shred of decorum, draped over the chest. With both hands, she picked up pieces of jewelry and tossed them back inside, then leaned over to listen to the clattering sound they made as they fell.
She looked utterly bored—and rather pitiful.
Shen Xiabai walked up behind her and asked, “Do you like it? I’ll have them move it outside, and you can toss it around and listen to the sound every day.”
Cui Yunchu shot him a sidelong glance and pouted, looking even more aggrieved and pitiful.
“Why did you take so long to come back?”
Those words made Shen Xiabai’s heart jolt fiercely. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, my lady. It’s all my fault.”
He bent down, cupped her face, and lifted it, then kissed her before he could restrain himself, their lips and breaths tangling together.
In that instant, it seemed as though they were already married. A corner of his heart had been filled completely, and the fluttering joy he felt was beyond description.
Cui Yunchu pushed him away, her face full of displeasure. Shen Xiabai hurriedly explained, “I thought you were at the Cui residence. I was afraid the Old Man would make things difficult for you, so I rushed to the Cui residence as soon as court ended. I didn’t know you had come here.”
Cui Yunchu was breathing a little heavily. “I fled here for refuge, not to give you kisses.”
She pouted, tears of grievance welling in her eyes. “The dowry I brought with me while fleeing is gone.”
