After Shen Zilan left, Cui Yunchu slouched listlessly in her chair, watching the bustling servants coming and going outside through the slightly ajar crack of the door.
"Madam," Xing'er said, feeling sorry for Cui Yunchu as she stepped forward to knead her shoulders, "it's freezing cold out there. Going out would just be a misery for you, so it's much better that you don't have to go."
"Mm," Cui Yunchu replied faintly.
It was nothing short of a bitter irony that the official wife of the household was not even granted the right to attend the ancestral worship at the Shen family shrine.
She sighed, got up and padded over to the daybed to curl up there, flipping idly through a storybook while her eyes darted towards the courtyard every now and then.
The time it took to finish a cup of tea passed, and a tall, slender figure came to a stop by the window next to the daybed. "Achu, we're heading out now. Be good and stay here in the manor, wait for me to come back."
Cui Yunchu rolled over, turning her back to the window, and said nothing.
The person outside waited in vain for a response for a long moment, before finally turning around and walking away slowly.
"So he really changed his whole attitude the second we got married," Cui Yunchu muttered under her breath in a low, grumbly tone.
The sound of chaotic footsteps echoed briefly, then faded quickly, leaving the entire courtyard wrapped in silence.
"Madam, they've all left now."
"Even Old Madam Shen went?"
Xing'er nodded.
Cui Yunchu tugged the quilt over her head and sighed, "I see."
Everyone was gone, leaving her all alone in the manor. Before their marriage, he had said he didn't care about anything, that all he wanted was her. But now? He was shutting her out, leaving her isolated.
"Madam, don't be sad. It's just that the husband was afraid that the spirits of Old Master Shen and Eldest Master Shen in heaven would not rest in peace..."
Cui Yunchu pulled the quilt off her head and stared at Xing'er, who immediately trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
"Afraid of what? Afraid they'd get so angry they'd pass away all over again?"
"..."
Cui Yunchu pouted. "Where was that fear when he was bowing to me at our wedding, and writing my name into the Shen family genealogy?"
"..."
Cui Yunchu rambled on grumbling to herself, and Xing'er could only nod along in agreement.
After all, reason and emotion were two very different things. Cui Yunchu could understand his choice on a rational level, but that didn't stop her from feeling wronged and upset.
"What are you nodding for?" Cui Yunchu shot Xing'er a glare. "I am the daughter of the man who killed his father, and he still chose to marry me, treated me so well. Who else could do something like that?"
"Madam, this servant's loyalty to you is as clear as the sun and moon in the sky!"
"Lucky for us it's winter now, if it were summer, a thunderbolt would strike you dead for that pack of lies you just spouted."
"..." Xing'er hung her head, pouting and falling quiet.
The mistress and her servant relaxed in various positions around the room. Cui Yunchu moved from the daybed to the proper bed, rolling around so much that her gown got all crumpled and her hair fell into messy tangles.
"All they're doing is lighting incense, how could it take this long?" By evening, Cui Yunchu was leaning anxiously by the windowsill, muttering to herself with a furrowed brow.
No one had come back yet, and her anger had almost completely fizzled out on its own.
"Maybe..." Xing'er had barely gotten two words out when there was sudden movement in the courtyard. Cui Yunchu immediately lay back down, pulled the brocade quilt over her head, and played dead.
But the person knocking at the door was Yu Feng. "Madam, Madam!"
Xing'er made to open the door, but Cui Yunchu stopped her with a sharp look.
When no answer came, Yu Feng grew so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead. "Madam, are you in there? Something terrible has happened."
Cui Yunchu sprang up so fast she flipped the quilt right off the bed onto the floor. "What happened?"
"Master... Master was attacked on the way back from the ancestral worship. He's badly injured."
Yu Feng heard the sound of rapid pattering footsteps inside, and moments later the door flew open. Cui Yunchu stood there barefoot, her hair a wild mess, asking in a frantic, urgent tone, "Where is he?"
"He's in Dowager Shen's courtyard."
Cui Yunchu grabbed the hem of her skirt and ran straight out. Xing'er chased after her in a fluster, holding her shoes, "Madam, put your shoes on! You'll catch your death in this cold!"
"Did you call for a doctor?" Cui Yunchu paid her no mind at all, hurrying as fast as she could towards Dowager Shen's courtyard.
"We did," Yu Feng explained as he walked quickly beside her. "Master's wound is on his chest. Dowager Shen's courtyard is closer to the manor gate, so we moved him there right away."
Cui Yunchu nodded, so distraught she nearly stumbled several times, her legs going weak and her hands shaking nonstop.
The cold winter wind bit hard, but she didn't feel a single chill. Her heart ached so tightly it felt like it was being squeezed.
She had only just started living these good, peaceful days. If anything happened to Shen Xiabai... how was she supposed to go on?
Now that she had tasted true happiness, going back to the old days, losing the man who loved her so deeply, would hit her harder than any hardship she had ever faced before. She wasn't sure she could survive it.
"Did you find out who did this?" Cui Yunchu asked.
Yu Feng opened his mouth, his face full of hesitation, but in the end he said nothing.
Cui Yunchu glanced at him, let it go for the moment, and burst right into Dowager Shen's courtyard.
Inside the room, Dowager Shen was pacing around in a panic, tears welling in her eyes. By the bed, the doctor was cleaning Shen Xiabai's wound. The white cloths in the basin beside them were stained bright red, the blood darkening the whole water inside.
"Yunchu," Dowager Shen said, her voice trembling.
Cui Yunchu patted her hand reassuringly, then rushed straight to the bedside.
Shen Xiabai's eyes were half-lidded, his lips pale as paper. The doctor was pressing a bandage to the gash on his chest, wrapping it up in white cloth.
"How are you?" Cui Yunchu had barely said three words before she broke down into sobs.
Shen Xiabai opened his eyes slowly, gazing at her quietly for a moment. "Why aren't you wearing any shoes? It's freezing out, you'll get sick and then you'll be miserable and fussy about it later."
Xing'er had just run in with the shoes in her hand by then, and Cui Yunchu quickly slipped them on her feet.
Shen Xiabai lifted his hand weakly, and Cui Yunchu immediately leaned in close, so he could tuck the stray strands of her messy hair behind her ear.
"Don't cry. It's just a tiny wound. I'm used to it, it's nothing serious."
Cui Yunchu had found so many old scars scattered across his body before, some of which he couldn't even remember how he got.
Most of them were from the days after he took charge of the Ministry of Justice. After all, there were so many people out there who wanted him dead.
Cui Yunchu held his hand, tears rolling down her cheeks like falling pearls. "Just quit your post, okay? Don't do this job anymore. We can go hide away in the mountains and forests. We have more than enough silver to live a carefree, happy life for the rest of our days."
Shen Xiabai curled his lips into a faint smile. "Achu... do you trust me?"
Cui Yunchu nodded hard.
"Madam Shen, Lord Shen's injuries are very serious. He needs complete rest, so please do not speak to him for too long," the doctor standing by the bed reminded them.
Cui Yunchu immediately clapped her hand over his mouth. "Stop talking right now. Close your eyes and rest."
Shen Xiabai lifted his hand to hold hers. "I'm perfectly fine."
"I know that."
"Don't... don't remarry after me."
"..."
