After Cui Yunchu stepped onto the bridge, the Chen siblings prepared to leave.
Shen Zilan, however, stood unmoving. "Uncle, could you... take me along?"
Shen Xiabai paused his steps. His deep, heavy gaze swept over, instantly silencing Shen Zilan, though the hope in the younger man's eyes remained completely unconcealed.
Displeasure surfaced on Shen Xiabai's face. "Escort the young lady of the Chen family back to her estate."
"..." Shen Zilan's complexion grew ashen. He took one last deep look at the spot on the bridge where Cui Yunchu's figure had disappeared, then turned and left.
Chen Jiuhe, on the other hand, stood by the lake's shore, not moving for a long while. Chen Miaohe followed his gaze toward the small bridge. "Let's go. Eldest Miss Cui is already out of sight."
Chen Jiuhe's face flushed red. He quickly withdrew his gaze and gave a vague "Mhm."
Didn't the rumors say that Cui Yunchu was incessantly pestering the Crown Prince? Why would the Tang family's young lady invite her to tour the lake together? Could it be that those rumors were truly all false?
Chen Jiuhe felt somewhat bewildered.
The largest vessel in the center of the lake was the Crown Prince's boat.
By the shore, a young eunuch had prepared a small wooden boat to ferry Cui Yunchu and Shen Xiabai over.
"Eldest Miss Cui, please be careful," the young eunuch reminded her kindly.
Cui Yunchu glanced at the young eunuch. Come to think of it, this was the first time he had ever been so pleasant to her. In the past, though he appeared respectful, his demeanor had always hidden a layer of disdain and contempt.
Could it be that his attitude had changed because he saw she was no longer pestering the Crown Prince?
Cui Yunchu felt that ever since she stopped causing trouble, everyone around her seemed to have become much friendlier.
As she was pondering this, the young eunuch reached out a hand, respectfully helping her board the small wooden boat first. Cui Yunchu tactfully sat in a corner, leaving the majority of the space for Shen Xiabai.
"Lord Shen." Behind her came the young eunuch's flattering voice. Cui Yunchu immediately turned her body, facing the lake water and putting her back to the newcomer.
She tried to shrink herself down as much as possible to minimize her presence.
The small boat suddenly dipped downwards, causing Cui Yunchu to almost tip into the lake. It gave her a fright, and she immediately gripped the wooden side of the boat tightly.
The young eunuch said, "Eldest Miss Cui, don't be afraid. The boatman has navigated these waters all year round and is highly skilled. He won't let you fall in."
"..." Cui Yunchu awkwardly let go and patted her hair bun. "I wasn't afraid."
It was clearly because Shen Xiabai was too heavy. The small boat suddenly taking on his weight was what caused it to sink and nearly capsize.
But she didn't have the guts to say that out loud.
Cui Yunchu kept her eyes fixed on the boats coming and going on the lake, or looked up at the bright moon hanging high in the night sky, or looked down, staring into the bottomless lake water.
She just clung tightly to her corner, not turning her head even a fraction.
Cui Yunchu felt that just sitting on the same boat as a certain someone and breathing the same air was enough to make her suffocate.
"Eldest Miss Cui... has quite a deep friendship with the Chen siblings?"
Shen Xiabai's voice suddenly rang out, chilling her even more than the cold wind tonight.
Cui Yunchu knew that this was his usual tone of voice, but it still made her heart quail. "Ah... ah, yes."
She nodded.
Since the Shen family was going to form a marriage alliance with the Chen family, shouldn't they have already found out clearly that the eldest son of the Shen family was discussing marriage with the daughter of the Cui family? Why bother asking such a superfluous question.
"Then just how deep is this friendship?" Shen Xiabai cast a sidelong glance, his temperatureless dark eyes fixing on Cui Yunchu.
Deeper than the water of the North Lake!!
Cui Yunchu grumbled inwardly. How was she supposed to answer something like that?
In a flash, she immediately understood the hidden meaning behind Shen Xiabai's words. "Lord Shen, please rest assured. I won't speak nonsense about what happened that day in front of the Chen siblings."
At the Chen family banquet, Shen Zilan had been entangled with another family's young lady. Even though it was entirely wishful thinking on that girl's part, allowing her to seek him out and appearing together in the garden was still Shen Zilan's fault.
No matter how reasonable the Chen family was, they would definitely be displeased.
Cui Yunchu considered herself very tactful, but from the side came an extremely low chuckle that sounded somewhat grating.
"What I mean is, since you have such a deep friendship with the Chen family's young lady, do not repeat the incident with the Zhao family's young lady. After all, it is incredibly rare for any young lady in this imperial capital to be willing to befriend Eldest Miss Cui."
"You should cherish it well."
"..."
The wind on the lake was somewhat stronger than on the shore. The cold breeze brushed past Cui Yunchu's slightly dazed face. It wasn't freezing, but it was piercing.
It felt like needles piercing right into her heart.
She knew her reputation was poor, but didn't Shen Xiaobai understand the principle of not hitting a person in the face and not exposing someone's shortcomings when scolding them? Had his teacher never taught him that?
Furthermore, what did he mean by that?
Did he think she would seduce Shen Zilan and was issuing a verbal warning?
She, Cui Yunchu, was a well-bred young lady of a prominent family after all, and now, a well-bred young lady who actually cared about her dignity.
She clenched and unclenched her fists, suppressing her anger over and over again. Ultimately, her pride and indignation triumphed over her fear.
She suddenly turned her head, her peach-blossom eyes glaring coldly at Shen Xiaobai with what she believed to be an extremely sharp gaze.
Like a timid cat curled up in a ball that had been provoked into baring its claws.
The distaste deep in Shen Xiabai's eyes was completely undisguised as he met Cui Yunchu's indignant glare. Neither of them spoke, and a stifling atmosphere spread across the small wooden boat.
Cui Yunchu stared until her eyes grew sore, yet she still refused to admit defeat. After all, once her courage deflated, it would be very difficult to muster it again.
In the end, it was Shen Xiabai who withdrew his gaze first and spoke. "Zilan is an heir of my Shen family. I am merely reminding Eldest Miss Cui, since, after all, he is already engaged."
Why was she glaring at him like that...
Cui Yunchu was almost crying from anger. By that logic, in her past life, the fact that she harbored inappropriate thoughts about him should be blamed on him as well!
Then why didn't he just stab himself?
"How old is your son?"
Shen Xiabai frowned, seemingly not expecting Cui Yunchu to ask such a question. "That has nothing to do with Eldest Miss Cui."
He sat upright at the bow of the boat, his posture perfectly straight. As the gentle breeze swept past his sleeves, he truly exuded the aura of a bright and noble gentleman, especially with that face of his. Yet at this moment, no matter how Cui Yunchu looked at him, she found him utterly detestable.
"Then how your son behaves has nothing to do with me either! On what grounds does Lord Shen level such baseless accusations at me?"
Perhaps this sentence completely enraged Cui Yunchu. With red eyes, she suddenly stood up, glaring furiously at Shen Xiabai.
"Furthermore, if your son is a three-year-old child with no ability to judge for himself, then you should just lock him up at home and never let him out! That would save Lord Shen from worrying himself sick, creating something out of nothing, and always assuming that some vixen is trying to seduce him!"
"..." Shen Xiabai had never anticipated that Cui Yunchu would have such a massive reaction.
"I only said one sentence."
She went off like a firecracker, popping and exploding, and in the end, she was the one looking wronged with red eyes.
His expression looked quite uncomfortable as he said coldly, "Is this the obsessive seduction technique that Eldest Miss Cui has studied for years?"
"..."
Cui Yunchu felt as if her heart, liver, and lungs were about to explode. "Yes! You'd best stay far away from me. If you provoke me, I'll even suck dry your masculine essence and turn you into a mummified corpse!"
"Utter nonsense," Shen Xiabai frowned.
"You're utter nonsense! You were spouting utter nonsense first!" Without realizing it, Cui Yunchu had planted both hands on her hips...
It was a very classic pose her aunt used when throwing a temper tantrum. If she were to jump up and down a few times, it would be absolute perfection.
Realizing this belatedly, Cui Yunchu immediately straightened her posture. Sure enough, the upbringing instilled in her since childhood was deeply ingrained, making it difficult to change in a short time.
Her imposing manner was rather intimidating.
Shen Xiabai's expression was grim, stopping just short of blurting out the word shrew.
"Prime Minister Cui has certainly taught you well."
His voice was as cold as midwinter ice, bringing a fraction of Cui Yunchu's reason back.
But a fired arrow cannot be drawn back; even if she had to force it, she would carry on. Smoothing her skirt, she sat down and said flatly, "The entire imperial capital knows I was raised by a concubine. Even if Lord Shen disagrees with my father politically, there is no need to pin such unwarranted charges on him. It is hardly the way of a gentleman."
Was she still afraid? Naturally, she was. But right now, Cui Yunchu was in a completely different state of mind.
He had killed her, which meant he owed her a life. Why should she, the victim, be the one hiding? Why couldn't she take revenge and stab him back?
She must have been scared out of her wits by this man in the past.
But tonight, she was not going to indulge him at all. After all, it was not as if he had directly stabbed her yet, either.
At this thought, Cui Yunchu gathered her courage, her back straightening even more.
Shen Xiabai's face was livid. He slightly closed his eyes, looking utterly impatient with a shrew's ramblings.
The young eunuch standing to the side watched in dumbfounded silence, too stunned to utter a word.
Since Shen Xiabai was not picking a fight, Cui Yunchu naturally would not initiate a conversation. The boat finally came to a stop beside the Crown Prince's vessel. The servants lowered the gangplank, where Tang Qingwan's maid was already waiting.
Cui Yunchu reached out and, using the maid's support, boarded the ship, not forgetting to smooth out her clothes and adjust her hairpin.
Shen Xiabai watched with cold eyes.
The woman had a delicate and beautiful face. When she smiled, she looked gentle and dignified, a stark contrast to the shrew on the boat just moments ago who had bared her fangs, brandished her claws, and argued with him with a contorted face.
The Cui family always showed two faces to the world. They were hypocritical and the most skilled at deceiving people's hearts.
