Chapter Eighteen
Cui Lanyin was a little confused. “You want me to sort them out? Who handled them before? Didn’t you have the accountants do it?”
Bailin patiently explained, “Naturally, each business has its own accountant. But it would be easy for someone to trace the accounts and uncover the details if they were all compiled together. Given His Highness’s status, I’ve always had my own people handle the consolidated accounts. As Second Miss knows, we’re all accustomed to doing things in a rough-and-ready manner and truly aren’t good at examining or organizing accounts. We can only make sure things look more or less in order. After so many years, there are plenty of discrepancies. You’ll understand once you look through the ledgers.”
So they really did need her help sorting out the accounts. From Bailin’s words, it was clear that these accounts could only be handled by their own people. Otherwise, they would rather leave them in disarray.
Did that mean she was considered one of her uncle’s trusted people?
Naturally, Cui Lanyin could no longer refuse. “Since Uncle thinks I can be of use, I’ll give it a try. But where should I go to look at the accounts?”
“I’ve already moved some of them to the prince’s residence. The rest will be brought over gradually. New accounts will also arrive every month, so Second Miss will need to come to the residence and work on them for a while.”
There were still more to be brought over. Just how many accounts were there?
The meaning in her eyes was far too obvious for Bailin to pretend he had not noticed. He could only answer vaguely, “There are ten years’ worth of accounts. Think about it, Second Miss—once you spend some time sorting them out and get everything on track, things will go smoothly afterward.”
Thinking of how many account books the estates at home produced in a single year, Cui Lanyin skipped over the subject. “Would it be inconvenient for me to visit the residence so often?”
“No,” Prince Wei answered her.
Cui Lanyin had no more concerns. “Then I’ll start going over tomorrow afternoon.”
“When I return, I’ll inform the guards at the gate. I’ll also make arrangements with the chief administrative officer. Second Miss may come whenever you wish.”
They had been sitting there for quite a while. In another half an hour, everyone would be dispersing and heading home.
Cui Lanyin asked, “Uncle, aren’t you going back?”
“There are too many people outside. His Highness wants to wait until they’ve all left before returning.”
Cui Lanyin understood at once. When Prince Wei had gone to pay his respects to the Fourth Old Madam of the Yao family earlier, he must have been annoyed by the sheer number of people watching him.
“Then I’ll take my leave first, Uncle.”
“Mm.”
Cui Lanyin called for Aiye, who had been waiting downstairs, and left the Moon-Gazing Tower. Instead of taking the road toward the Jade Wave Pavilion, she took another path toward the Rosy Shadow Pavilion.
After the banquet ended, only the old madams remained in the main hall. Most of the others had come out and were seated along the open corridor of the Rosy Shadow Pavilion, chatting.
As soon as Cui Lanyin entered the Rosy Shadow Pavilion, she saw Lady Jiang being led by Lady Chang in a long-winded conversation with several madams.
This time, the second branch had kept the promise they had made when they arrived.
Cui Jian had just told her that earlier, Cui Mian and Cui Chang had continually looked after them. Whenever someone tried to speak with Cui Sheng, father and son had taken over the conversation.
The same was true for Lady Jiang. Lady Chang had watched over her the entire time.
At the Jade Wave Pavilion, Cui Lanting had also used her teasing of Tan Shao to draw the young masters’ and misses’ attention toward the marriage between the Tan and Yao families, thereby helping her escape notice.
Although, aside from the younger ones such as Cui Lanting, no one else had acted purely out of personal feeling, Cui Mian, Lady Chang, and Cui Chang had done so because the main branch had finally gained an opportunity to rise higher. It was merely a matter of presenting a united front on the surface, but Cui Lanting was grateful all the same.
Cui Lanyin quietly took a seat beside Lady Jiang. Whenever the two ladies sitting together began conversing, they would intentionally or otherwise draw her into the discussion. Cui Lanyin knew they were trying to arrange a match between her and one of their younger sons.
She made no special effort to impress them, simply answering whatever questions they asked. In response, the smiles on the two ladies’ faces only grew wider.
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the young ladies returned from Bibo Pavilion, and Yingxia Hall suddenly grew noisy.
Following a round of whispered conversation, quite a few people began glancing in Cui Lanyin’s direction. More and more joined them, until she felt that if their gazes had hooks, they would have pierced holes right through her.
Cui Lanting had already whispered the news to Lady Chang. Since they were about to leave and everything was in a chaotic bustle, Lady Chang merely gave Cui Lanyin a complicated look for a long while without asking anything aloud.
When they took their leave of the hosts, Fourth Madam Yao waved Cui Lanyin over after seeing off Old Madam Li and the others beneath the corridor. Pointing toward Sixth Miss Yao and her sisters, she said, “From now on, you cousins must get along well. Do not let your family ties grow distant. Prince Wei’s residence is so quiet and lonely—whenever you have the time, go there together and liven things up for him. Lanyin, you’re the eldest, so you must look after your younger cousins.”
Cui Lanyin did not dare agree outright. She touched her chest and put on a timid expression. “Unless my uncle invites me, I wouldn’t have the courage to visit him. If my cousins receive Uncle’s permission, I can go along with them.”
Prince Wei’s temperament was well known, and Fourth Madam Yao could not say anything more. She merely urged Cui Lanyin to visit the Yao girls often and spend time with them.
Sixth Miss Yao and the others all came over to exchange intimate words with Cui Lanyin, looking every inch like sisters from the same family.
Tan Lian was pushed into a corner, and the smile on Lady Xiang’s face grew strained.
Worried that the second branch might be making arrangements behind their backs, Cui Lanyin deliberately had her carriage follow theirs through the second branch’s entrance. After getting down at the inner gate, she said to Cui Mian and Lady Chang, “Uncle, Aunt, I feel that our dealings with the noble families should proceed more slowly. We mustn’t try to accomplish everything in a single day. There is still a long road ahead, and only by taking our time can things last. So…”
Cui Mian took her words to heart. “Lanyin is right. Don’t worry—the family won’t hold you back.”
As he watched the people from the main branch head east, Cui Mian sighed with emotion. “It would be wonderful if Lanyin were a boy.”
Cui Lanyin knew then that she should never speak too soon. She had only agreed to look over the accounts the next day, yet that very night, her headache returned.
She must have been running around too much lately—dealing with the tea shop, visiting Prince Wei’s residence, and even making two trips to Empress Dowager Chen’s palace. The fact that it had held off until now was already remarkable.
After washing up that evening, she began to feel a dull heaviness in her head, as though it had been stuffed with cotton. With her many past experiences, Cui Lanyin knew she would not be able to escape it.
Because the pain had not come on immediately, she had allowed herself a glimmer of hope, thinking that this episode would be like the last one and would not become too severe.
But she had guessed wrong. Around midnight, she was jolted awake by a wave of excruciating pain. It felt as though countless sharp blades were churning inside her skull. Even breathing made her body convulse with agony, and she could not move so much as a finger.
The pain became so unbearable that she wished she could take a sledgehammer to her head and end it all. But even the slightest thought made the pain intensify. Cui Lanyin could only curl up, clutching her head, refusing to think or move. She could not even swallow a drop of water.
Aiye and Sangzhi were frantic with worry but powerless to help. All they could do was keep watch at her bedside, occasionally lifting the curtain to check on her.
When dawn broke and those in the front quarters noticed that the rear remained deathly quiet, they knew that Cui Lanyin’s illness had flared up again.
The other four hurried over. Cui Lanyin was in a daze, too weak even to open her eyes. She merely let out two faint groans to show that she knew they had come.
They were all heartsick with worry, yet afraid that disturbing her might worsen the pain. After tiptoeing around the room a few times, they returned to the front quarters with sorrowful faces. Even after two years, the family still could not grow accustomed to this. Whenever Cui Lanyin’s illness struck, they lost all appetite and could not bring themselves to attend to anything else.
Because she took the matter so seriously, Cui Lanyin was still thinking about the promise she had made to go to Prince Wei’s residence that afternoon to review the accounts, despite being in such agony. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to tell Aiye to send Geng Dayou to Prince Wei’s residence with word that she would go over the accounts once her headache had passed in two or three days.
After Aiye returned and told her that Geng Dayou had already gone to Prince Wei’s residence, the last of the strength Cui Lanyin had been forcing herself to maintain finally gave out. She clutched her head and lay back down, then began muttering deliriously without pause. She looked even worse than before.
At Prince Wei’s residence, Bailin listened as Geng Dayou reported what had happened. He questioned him carefully about Cui Lanyin’s condition before saying thoughtfully, “Don’t leave yet. Wait while I report this to His Highness.”
Had it been anyone else, Bailin would not have bothered asking another question. But after yesterday, when Prince Wei had handed Cui Lanyin the consolidated accounts of several of their undisclosed businesses to organize, Second Miss Cui had become someone very close to Prince Wei. Bailin was not yet certain how close, but she was certainly closer to him than the young ladies of the Yao family.
Bailin hurried to the study and reported the matter to Prince Wei. As expected, Prince Wei did not simply stand by and do nothing.
“Headaches?”
“They say it’s the same sort of headache Old Madam Tan suffers from. Second Miss has been afflicted for two years. Whenever it strikes, she cannot move for two or three days, but once it passes, she returns to looking perfectly well.”
“Summon the imperial physicians.”
“I’ll send someone at once.” Bailin acknowledged the order and was about to leave.
“They must be physicians suited to the condition,” Prince Wei added.
“Then I’ll go there myself. I’ll summon every physician who knows how to treat headaches and have them examine Second Miss.” Bailin called out to Buyan as well. “It would be inconvenient for me to enter the inner quarters of the Cui residence, so once I’ve found the physicians, you’ll take them there.”
Buyan was fond of Second Miss Cui, who never looked at him strangely and always spoke and joked with him. He was eager to do what he could for her, and immediately put down the work in his hands and followed Bailin out.
Buyan arrived at the Cui residence with three imperial physicians in tow. Cui Sheng and Lady Jiang had never encountered such a scene. It had been many years since even the Cui family’s second branch had seen imperial physicians come to their door, let alone the first branch.
It was not that the Imperial Medical Bureau looked down on them. There were only eighteen imperial physicians in the entire bureau, and they could barely attend to the imperial palace, the princely households, and the court’s most powerful ministers. Naturally, the remaining physicians had to prioritize those who were important and advantageous to themselves.
A family like the Cuis, with neither money nor connections, simply could not get a place near the front of the line.
Yet three imperial physicians had arrived all at once—and the one leading them was even the director of the bureau. He was precisely the physician the family had long wished to invite to examine Cui Lanyin but had never been able to secure. Only now did Cui Sheng and Lady Jiang truly understand the saying: when one has someone in the court, even the simplest matters become easy.
