After such a night, how could anything be hidden?
Zhu’er had already turned pale with fright when she saw Cui Jianying arrive the previous day. The next morning, Cui Jianying did not rise until the sun was high. By the time Zhu’er finally entered to attend to him at noon, her hands trembled so badly the basin nearly slipped.
Cui Jianying said nothing. He washed his hands calmly, his dark eyes fixed on Zhu’er.
Tuan Yun was even more afraid than Zhu’er. He placed himself in front of her, shielding her with his body, looking at Cui Jianying with pleading eyes.
He had already inquired about the Tianshu Guard, a place where human lives were treated like ants.
“Zhu’er is like my own elder sister, my lord…”
“You’re afraid I’ll take her life?”
Cui Jianying tossed the towel back into the basin and smiled. “Madam, what would I want her life for?”
He rose, gaze drifting toward the sky outside.
So casual, so unconcerned and yet it hung like a blade above their heads, capable of deciding life or death at any moment.
“Your indenture contract is in that old woman’s hands?”
Zhu’er dared not focus on the disrespectful wording, cold sweat soaking her body. “Yes.”
“This afternoon I’ll have someone deliver your contract, along with ten taels of gold. From now on, your monthly stipend will match that of a chief steward. Your brothers will no longer need to seek apprenticeships, official notices and travel permits will be delivered to your door.”
“From this moment on, the Earl’s household has nothing to do with you. No one may harm you in the slightest.”
“You will have only one master and that master is your madam. You must serve him well. Remember that.”
Zhu’er immediately agreed. After Cui Jianying left, she followed him to the doorway and kowtowed once.
Tuan Yun had originally thought Zhu’er had suffered an undeserved calamity and must be exhausted in both body and spirit. After all, it was he who had implicated her and for a moment he did not know how to speak.
Unexpectedly, when Zhu’er turned back, she was no longer trembling. Her gaze was steady and bright and instead she comforted Tuan Yun. “Madam, don’t be sad. Since Lord Cui has taken a fancy to you, what choice do you really have? I’ve seen your suffering clearly with my own eyes.”
As the so-called instigator, how could Tuan Yun possibly bring himself to say that it was he who had first provoked Cui Jianying? His nose reddened with guilt. He rummaged through boxes and chests and stuffed two more gold ingots into Zhu’er’s hands.
Cui Jianying had already left cleanly yet Tuan Yun still had no leisure. After discussing things with Zhu’er for a while, they added another small stove in the courtyard.
When the two had been whispering together on the bed, Cui Jianying had assigned Tuan Yun a task. “I want Madam to cook for me.”
Tuan Yun had been dumbfounded on first hearing it. “What?”
Cui Jianying answered with a question of his own. “Madam was willing to cook for Cousin. Did it never occur to you to do the same for me? Am I not worth Madam’s effort?”
“….”
He even specified that he wanted chicken. “I’ll have someone slaughter it and send it over.”
“This is a temple, how can there be meat?” Tuan Yun asked in alarm.
Cui Jianying said, “There are far more things forbidden in a temple than meat. Compared to what you and I are doing, does meat even count as something?”
Tuan Yun stared blankly, his brows squeezing together pitiful.
That evening, when Cui Jianying came again, two dishes and one soup were already laid out on the table.
The young gentleman had his sleeves tied up, revealing a pair of lotus-root-white forearms. He watched Cui Jianying’s reactions without making a sound.
Truth be told, he really had no great promise and seemed born to toil. Tuan Yun had seen many nobles in the Earl’s household take pride in never lifting a finger their entire lives but he himself genuinely liked doing things with his own hands. Needlework and soup, he liked them all, he was happy while doing them and happy when others wore or ate what he had made.
Cui Jianying came from a marquis’ household, higher in rank than an earl yet he had none of those rules about not speaking while eating or sleeping. He talked endlessly as he ate.
He actually liked to use refined turns of phrase when he spoke. Several times Tuan Yun hadn’t understood him but didn’t dare ask, instead puzzling it out from context. This time he didn’t listen carefully either, focusing only on Cui Jianying’s expression.
Was it good?
Or not good?
It was probably not good.
Tuan Yun saw Cui Jianying lift an eyebrow. Though his chopsticks never stopped and he even smiled at him, making eye contact, Tuan Yun could still sense it.
He picked up his own bowl and chopsticks and took a couple of bites. His brows knitted as well.
All at once he felt terribly upset. “My lord, if you don’t like it, you don’t need to force yourself to eat.”
At this point Cui Jianying finally shut his mouth. He said nothing, just kept eating.
Cui Jianying’s appetite and the size of his scheming heart clearly lay at two opposite extremes. In the end he polished off all the food, even asking for another plate of pastries yet Tuan Yun was still somewhat unhappy, even sulking with himself.
Even if what Cui Jianying liked was different from what Ji Zhiwei liked, how could he have cooked something this unpalatable?
This was the only clumsy skill he had.
Tuan Yun also became stubborn. After that, whenever Cui Jianying came again, he still insisted on cooking.
And he insisted on making the same dish.
Gradually, he stopped caring about the habit of not tasting food while cooking. He tasted it frequently himself and even dragged Zhu’er over to taste it.
“Is it better?”
Zhu’er praised him profusely. “Much better!”
Then she hesitated, lowering her voice to remind him, “Madam, it really is delicious but haven’t you been making too much of it lately? Every time it’s the same dish. Forget Lord Cui, even ordinary households would get tired of it.”
Tuan Yun froze. As a result, although he eventually perfected the dish and earned Cui Jianying’s sincere praise, his mood was still tinged with disappointment.
That night, Cui Jianying carried Tuan Yun straight from the dining table to the bed. He examined Tuan Yun’s round, fair face from side to side and smiled as he pinched his cheek.
After taking off his shoes, Cui Jianying climbed onto the bed and pulled him close. “Why are you still not smiling? From what I can see, Madam’s progress is faster than apprentices who’ve been in restaurants for years and no one even taught you, you figured it out yourself. That kind of talent is rare.”
“I know Madam’s skills are excellent. It’s just that at first you weren’t used to it because back in the countryside you’d never even seen many of these seasonings, didn’t know their flavors. Without knowing the flavors, how could you combine them well? Even that first attempt was already impressive.”
“Madam is perceptive, clever and resilient. If others were in your place, they might not even manage half as well as you.”
“Madam, I know your worth. Others may not see it but I see it all.”
“Young lord, smile a little?”
Tuan Yun didn’t smile.
His eyes reddened, his nose stung and suddenly tears began to fall, pattering down as he cried without even knowing why.
Cui Jianying used the mandarin-duck quilt to wipe his tears.
“Madam’s love of crying is actually a virtue. I rather like watching people cry.”
Tuan Yun cried and then laughed, lightly thumping Cui Jianying once.
He had actually grown bold enough to lay hands on Cui Jianying. After the thump, he stared at him dazedly with round, watery eyes.
Cui Jianying looked at him for a while, then reminded him, “Madam, if you’re thinking of Cousin at a time like this, I won’t be happy.”
“….” He was truly like one of those mind-reading demons from operas. Tuan Yun really had been thinking of Ji Zhiwei.
Back then, when he and Ji Zhiwei married, it had been mutual affection, love on both sides.
What he loved about Ji Zhiwei was Ji Zhiwei’s fervor toward him, that sense of cherishing him as something precious.
In that rural place, his parents and younger brother treated him like dirt. Only Ji Zhiwei, who had lost his memory, clung to him from the moment he opened his eyes, like a fledgling recognizing its mother. Whatever Tuan Yun did, Ji Zhiwei thought it was good. He always looked at him with blazing eyes, bathing his heart in warmth.
Stop thinking.
Tuan Yun truly didn’t dare think anymore. He asked Cui Jianying, “Am I really not stupid?” Too many people had said he was foolish.
Cui Jianying asked him, “Do you want to learn to read?”
Hearing the implication, Tuan Yun was startled. “My lord is willing to hire a teacher for me?”
“A teacher might not be as good as me.”
“My lord would teach me personally?”
Cui Jianying said, “When I was young, Cousin and I studied under the same master. We were taught together and my studies were no worse than his.”
“…Why does my lord always mention him?” Even when Ji Zhiwei and he had been deeply in love, Ji Zhiwei had never taught him.
Cui Jianying still smiled, his eyes curved, serious yet unserious, impossible to read clearly. He asked, “I’ll teach you to recognize characters and read books, then teach you to read accounts and keep ledgers. How does that sound?”
Tuan Yun felt as though he were dreaming, a dream he wouldn’t even dare to dream this well. He murmured, “Really? …I’m afraid I’ll take up too much of my lord’s time.”
Cui Jianying touched his hair at the temples, looked at his lips and bent his head down.
With a muffled laugh, he said, “If I don’t give my time to Madam, who else should I give it to?”
Tuan Yun’s mind went blank. His lips parted, about to speak.
Cui Jianying lowered his head and kissed him.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · How can you, so crude and vulgar, be a match for me?Chapter 2 · Children don’t just appear out of thin air if you want themChapter 3 · I also grew up reading the classicsChapter 4 · I am willing to dress up as the Goddess of MercyChapter 5 · If Cousin Ji doesn’t like me, do you not like me either?Chapter 6 · He actually summoned such a YamaChapter 7 · Am I not worthy of your attention, Madam?Chapter 8 · I think Lord Cui likes you very muchChapter 9 · Dragon and phoenix twinsChapter 10 · I will never allow anyone to belittle or despise you againChapter 11 · If that’s true, then marry your wife to meChapter 12 · Well, it really is true that one thing can subdue anotherChapter 13 · Extra 1Chapter 14 · Extra 2Chapter 15 · Extra 3Chapter 16 · Extra 4