The commotion last night had been heard by some of the servants outside, but they all tacitly pretended not to have heard anything.
The young master was now a sick man—they needed to remember that.
Huai Zhi rarely failed to rise early the next morning. Cui Jingci, after getting up, did not go to his official duties. He practiced his sword, then sent someone to summon Cui Yongxin.
When Cui Yongxin heard that Cui Jingci had called for her, she knew it was probably about Huai Zhi.
She was displeased, thinking—hadn't she warned Huai Zhi not to tattle? And yet she had gone and treated her words like wind passing through her ears! Thinking back, she rather regretted not having strangled her harder the day before, to keep her from running to Cui Jingci and wagging her tongue.
Just as expected of a village woman—habitually stirring up trouble, utterly despicable.
Recalling Cui Jingci's past conduct, Cui Yongxin was still somewhat intimidated, but then she thought—in the year or more since he'd fallen ill, he had already mellowed considerably. Surely she needn't fear he would do anything to her over a village woman? If anything, he was probably using Huai Zhi as a pretext to pick a fight out of nothing.
With that thought, Cui Yongxin deliberately kept Cui Jingci waiting for half an hour before leaving her room. Huai Zhi had already gotten out of bed by then, and she still hadn't arrived.
Cui Jingci had sent Huai Zhi away, telling her to go to the kitchen and check whether breakfast was ready. Huai Zhi didn't think much of it and left with her awkward, stiff-legged gait.
By the time Cui Yongxin arrived, only Cui Jingci remained waiting in the main hall.
Cui Jingci held a teacup in his hand, taking a light sip. Seeing Cui Yongxin approach, he smiled. "Do you truly think I'm about to die?"
Cui Yongxin felt both disgust and an inexplicable fear toward Cui Jingci. Even knowing he was ill, she still harbored some dread. The greatest slight she dared show him was making him wait half an hour. Hearing his questioning tone, she stiffened her neck and said, "I was merely disciplining a village woman who disrespected her elders. What of it?"
Huai Zhi had been disrespectful to her mother—could she not discipline her on her mother's behalf?
Hearing her words, Cui Jingci did not anger but smiled instead—only the smile was not at all friendly, carrying a hint of mockery. He set down his teacup and rose, walking toward Cui Yongxin. She glared at him, certain he wouldn't dare do anything.
She continued to talk tough. "You summoned me here at dawn for her sake? Is that interesting? Even if I beat her…"
So what if she beat her?
What was Huai Zhi anyway? A thing brought in for marriage for luck. If she killed her in a fit of displeasure, what harm would it do?
But before Cui Yongxin could finish her words, she received a slap to the face.
Cui Jingci had not held back with this slap. Cui Yongxin's face was knocked sharply to the side, and it took her a moment to recover her senses before she looked at him in disbelief.
He dared? How dare he!
"Cui Jingci, you've lost your mind!"
Another slap landed on her other cheek.
He looked at her coldly. "Who allowed you to address your elder brother by his given name? Is this how Madam He taught you?"
"Tsk." Cui Jingci seemed to find touching her repulsive, wiping his hand with a handkerchief. "Your skin is so thick—my hand hurts from hitting you."
Having taken two slaps in succession, Cui Yongxin finally showed some restraint. Though she was furious, she no longer dared to shout, only glaring at him fiercely, her eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. Her current state was a far cry from the arrogant, reckless, foul-mouthed demeanor she'd arrived with.
Cui Jingci looked at her coldly and said, "Next time you act, at least use that brain of yours, which isn't exactly well-developed to begin with, to think about whether Huai Zhi is someone you can bully at will."
A family of mischievous scoundrels—one foolish mother, and two fools she'd birthed.
In his youth, Cui Jingci had more than a few altercations with Cui Jingfeng, and in the heat of those arguments, it was inevitable that they'd come to blows. However, being eight years his senior, it had always been Cui Jingci who did the disciplining. As for Cui Yongxin—when he'd first entered officialdom at seventeen, she'd only been five. As long as she didn't cause trouble in front of him, he couldn't even be bothered to spare her a glance.
But this time, she had offended him and his wife. As her elder brother, wasn't it perfectly within his rights to teach her a lesson?
Cui Yongxin was nearly fuming with rage. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that her teeth chattered audibly. She did as Cui Jingci had suggested and engaged her not-so-brilliant mind—retreating three zhang away to ensure he could no longer reach her, then cursing viciously, "You sickly wretch! If you died sooner, you'd be doing the Cui family a favor!"
Just then, Huai Zhi returned from the kitchen and heard Cui Yongxin's furious outburst from a distance.
She was momentarily stunned, but after a beat, she rushed inside and shielded herself in front of Cui Jingci. She was even angrier than if she herself had been insulted. "You… how could you say such a thing!" she fumed.
She was tiny—a full head shorter than the man behind her—and yet there she stood, protecting him. What could she possibly block? Who did Cui Jingci think he was, that he'd need her protection?
Cui Yongxin glared at her fiercely.
The two of them were nothing but partners in crime, yet here they were playing at lovebirds. Her face bore two bright red handprints, both cheeks burning with pain. Seeing their act, she was so furious she could die, and she wanted to hurl more insults—but then she caught sight of Cui Jingci behind Huai Zhi, watching her with narrowed eyes that carried a dangerous glint.
Cui Yongxin suddenly recalled some unpleasant memories. In the end, grinding her teeth in fury, she could only turn and storm off.
She… left?
Huai Zhi had been bracing herself for Cui Yongxin to lunge at them, prepared to protect Cui Jingci no matter what—but to her surprise, the woman simply turned and left.
Cui Jingci had gone a bit too far the night before, and when Huai Zhi had woken up that morning, she'd felt somewhat out of sorts. But when she returned and witnessed this scene, hearing Cui Yongxin hurl curses at Cui Jingci, and recalling how that woman usually behaved, she immediately concluded that her sickly husband had been bullied by his younger sister.
She'd thought Cui Yongxin only bullied her—she hadn't expected the woman to be just as arrogant and unreasonable in front of her own brother.
After Cui Yongxin left, Huai Zhi turned to look at Cui Jingci and saw that his expression was one of wounded melancholy, as if he'd truly taken Cui Yongxin's words to heart.
Huai Zhi didn't know how to comfort him. Her words were always so inadequate. In the end, all she could manage was a dry, feeble, "My lord, please don't take those words to heart. She… she's just spouting nonsense."
But she saw Cui Jingci's long eyes gently lower, his dark lashes obscuring the light within them. A sliver of fragmented sunlight filtered in from outside, falling upon the doorway in such a bleak, desolate manner.
He let out a sigh and said, "It's nothing—no great harm. In any case, this is how it's always been since childhood. My siblings and I have never had a harmonious relationship. They've bullied me plenty over the years, and I don't blame them. It's my fault—I'm simply not likable."
Compared to Huai Zhi's somewhat dry words of comfort, Cui Jingci's tone was far more emotional—so sincere that it made Huai Zhi feel even more sorry for him.
She too was always the one overlooked and bullied at home, so she could empathize all the more. Hearing Cui Jingci speak like this, and thinking of how his younger siblings treated him so poorly, she imagined his stepmother must be even harsher on him. Huai Zhi felt a pang of sadness at the thought—that someone so good could be treated this way, and she couldn't help but ache for him.
She wrapped her arms around him, eyes reddening as she said, "That's not true, Xuanshuang. You're wonderful."
She was so small that she couldn't even fully wrap her arms around him. Held by her, Cui Jingci's gaze gradually shifted from the earlier melancholy to something hollow and devoid of feeling—but soon, the corner of his lips curled up in an uncontrollable sneer.
He was wonderful?
Was that so, Huai Zhi? You don't even know what kind of man your husband truly is.
Before long, someone brought in the morning meal, and the two composed themselves and sat down to eat together.
Huai Zhi recalled that Cui Yongxin's face had been very red earlier—like a handprint? It was only now that she belatedly found it strange.
Had she been slapped?
Huai Zhi couldn't help but ask Cui Jingci.
"I noticed her face seemed to have slap marks? Was she hit by someone?"
The two prints were very obvious—Huai Zhi simply couldn't ignore them. Just looking at them, she could imagine how much force the person who struck her had used.
Cui Jingci's expression remained unchanged. He shrugged and said, "Perhaps she had some quarrel with her parents before coming over."
That made sense—the only ones who could hit her like that would be Madam He or Assistant Minister Cui. Huai Zhi didn't find anything wrong with this, nor did she think it was anything shocking that Cui Yongxin had been beaten.
Parents hitting their children—such things were indeed common.
Cui Yongxin knew Cui Jingci's temperament well, but she hadn't expected that even now, with his strange illness and his standing and prospects far diminished from before, he would still dare to be so arrogant! After being struck, she returned to Lianxin Courtyard and threw a massive tantrum at Madam He, making such a racket that it nearly lifted the roof off.
After Madam He heard the full story, she flew into a rage. She wondered inwardly why this sickly wretch hadn't died already, and where he'd found the strength to lay hands on someone. She fumed, "Where does that man get the ability? Where does he get the nerve? His father is still alive, and he's already acting like he runs this household!"
That very night, Madam He relayed the matter to Cui Linzhi in bed, embellishing the details as she went.
After hearing it, Cui Linzhi seized upon the key point and asked, "What did Xin'er go looking for Ci'er about?"
He had always known that Cui Jingci had been withdrawn and solitary since childhood, with poor relations among his siblings.
Madam He quickly said, "It was Ci'er who summoned her there."
Cui Linzhi pressed further, "What did he summon her for? They normally have no dealings with each other—why would he suddenly call her over and lay hands on her?"
Madam He stammered, "Who knows… Perhaps the day before, Xin'er had some minor friction with his wife. But even so, there's no justification for striking someone without a word. She's a girl of over ten years now, already betrothed—she shouldn't be beaten like that by her own family."
Cui Linzhi also felt that Cui Jingci's temper was too overbearing, but what could be done? His grandfather doted on him greatly, and now that he was ill, who would dare cross him?
He sighed. "You all know what he's like. With that illness of his, he's suffered no small amount. He must be feeling miserable inside."
Madam He finally understood his meaning. The expression on her face faltered slightly, but she shifted the topic and continued her nagging. "They say Xuan Shuang's illness is severe, but from what I can see, he's still full of energy. Why was he in such a hurry to marry a girl from that kind of family? If he'd had such intentions earlier, he should have told me—I would have chosen a proper match for him."
She had always suspected that Cui Jingci's illness was feigned, but with the old master keeping a close watch, she had no way to investigate. Her words now carried a hint of probing.
But Cui Linzhi also found this topic tiresome. "Whether he's sick or not, it is what it is. That village girl probably has a compatible birth chart—since he's married her, so be it. There's no point in rehashing it now. The new daughter-in-law may come from a humble background, but she's still Xuan Shuang's wife. Tell Xin'er to keep her distance and not provoke her."
This too was him taking his son's side.
Her daughter had been slapped twice by that person, and now he was telling her to keep her daughter away from his son instead. Madam He was displeased. "What does Xin'er have to do with any of this? She's already yielded to them in everything."
She found Cui Linzhi's behavior truly laughable. Back when Cui Jingci was young, father and son had been at each other's throats. Now that the man had become like this, they were suddenly playing the devoted father and filial son.
Cui Linzhi did not wish to say more, claiming he was tired and telling her not to continue. Madam He gnashed her teeth in resentment, cursing him inwardly, but with him like this, she had no choice but to fall silent.
And so Huai Zhi gradually settled into the Cui household.
Since marrying Cui Jingci, Huai Zhi felt that aside from being a bit worn out in bed, there was nothing else to complain about. She ate her fill, and her body no longer broke out in heat rashes—especially during her monthly cycle in summer. In the past, that had been pure torment: working while her stomach ached, the stifling heat making it feel like she was suffering worse than death.
Only after coming to the Cui household did Huai Zhi realize that this didn't have to be so miserable.
Through their days together, she discovered that Cui Jingci truly wanted nothing from her. It was only that sometimes he was too rough in bed, and the next day she'd have no energy left, occasionally making her suspect he was some demon or male ghost sucking the life out of her.
And so Huai Zhi gradually came to understand Cui Jingci's character. Outside the bedchamber, he was mostly gentle as jade, but in that regard, he was anything but gentle—as if he'd become a completely different person, so forceful she couldn't escape.
His stamina was frighteningly abundant. Sometimes when the mood struck him, half an hour wouldn't be enough to stop. Huai Zhi had suspected Cui Jingci was faking his illness, but one morning when she woke, she watched with her own eyes as Cui Jingci coughed up blood. The timid Huai Zhi was instantly terrified, her face turning pale as she lost all composure. From then on, she never again doubted the strangeness of Cui Jingci's illness.
She had originally thought that when Cui Jingci said she should study, it was just a passing whim to amuse her, and that he'd forget about it in a few days. But instead, he actually found her a female tutor, specifically to teach her to read.
Huai Zhi didn't have much to do each day—her most important task was studying.
At first, Cui Jingci would occasionally check on her progress, but only occasionally. Sometimes he'd hole himself up in the study, doing who knows what, and she didn't dare disturb him.
If he was truly busy, Huai Zhi would secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Her monthly cycle had just arrived, and she could finally rest for a few days.
Whether he could take it or not, Huai Zhi didn't know—but she was reaching her limit.