Chapter 13 "Did you really think your husband was made of iron...?"

He was unusually early today, and he thought Meng Yuanxiao would happily rush to him. But when he pushed open the door, he saw her leaning against the couch, her almond-shaped eyes glancing at him with a sullen expression.

Cui Xintang: "..."

He felt a headache coming on. He thought carefully about what he had done to offend her today, and finally asked, "What did Second Aunt say to Yuanyuan again?"

Meng Yuanxiao crossed his arms and sneered, "If my second aunt hadn't told me today, I would have been completely kept in the dark. So it turns out that you, Brother Tang, also keep a mistress in your study!"

"..." Cui Xintang said helplessly, "My second aunt placed someone by my side herself. I only met the person once and then sent her away. But she's trying to play the victim and complain."

"snort!"

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from your second aunt and not believe what she says?" Cui Xintang said as she stepped forward and pulled him into her arms. "Tell your husband what your second aunt said."

"He said a lot."

Meng Yuanxiao didn't know why Qin Shi was talking so much, but she didn't believe in the "keeping a mistress in the study" thing. No matter how bad Tang Gege was, he wouldn't treat her like this right after she got married.

She held out her hand to Cui Xintang and shook the bracelet on her wrist. "Look, my second aunt gave it to me."

The bracelet was a bit too big, and it hung loosely around my wrist.

Cui Xintang glanced at it, her eyes showing surprise, "A gift from Second Aunt?"

He knew that Qin was always stingy and loved money more than anything.

“Yes,” Meng Yuanxiao nodded, “My second aunt and Sister Chen had a quarrel, and I just casually said something to help her. My second aunt was so happy that she gave it to me.”

Cui Xintang was too lazy to guess Qin's intentions, and only reminded her: "Second Aunt has always been competing with Mother. She is not that kind-hearted. Only you are so stupid that you can't understand."

Meng Yuanxiao was displeased. "How could I not understand? Of course I know that my second aunt is trying to sow discord between me and my mother-in-law and to drive a wedge between you and me."

Qin Shi had been suppressed by her mother-in-law for a long time and had wanted to rebel, but she didn't dare to do it in front of her mother-in-law, so she secretly tried to provoke her.

She could ignore that, but Qin's act of placing people around Tang-gege was going too far.

She hummed a few times, "I'd rather deal with my second aunt than learn those boring things."

After saying this, she seemed a little distressed, "Originally, Sister Chen would only come to watch over me for half an hour each day, but today, for some reason, she stayed with me for most of the day before leaving."

Cui Xintang glanced down at her and couldn't help but find it amusing.

He understood after a moment's thought: Yuanyuan may seem careless, but she is actually the most clever.

Qin thought she was sowing discord, but it turned out to be something Qin used to amuse herself.

Even someone as stingy as Qin would feel the pinch for a few days over this bracelet.

She managed to please Qin Shi and keep her up at night, without suffering any loss herself. Wasn't she clever?

Cui Xintang's lips curled up even more. He had been worried that Meng Yuanxiao would suffer a loss at Qin's hands, so he had someone leave Chen behind to protect him.

He thought that with Chen around, Qin would be more restrained. Now it seems he underestimated Yuanyuan.

He no longer took it to heart, and simply said, "I'll have my mother find something similar another day to give to my second aunt in return."

After saying that, he chuckled and said, "But my second aunt is the kind of person who thinks she's at a disadvantage if she doesn't take advantage of others. Even if my mother gives her a gift in return, she'll probably feel bad for a long time."

“That’s what I think too,” Meng Yuanxiao chuckled a few times.

Remembering what the servant had said, Cui Xintang said, "Mother's headache has flared up these past two days. Yuanyuan, please take some time to go and pay your respects to Mother and inquire about her well-being."

"Has Mother's headache flared up again?" Meng Yuanxiao asked in surprise. "I went to pay my respects to Mother yesterday, why didn't she tell me?"

"Perhaps I didn't want you to worry," Cui Xintang said.

"Then I will go to pay my respects to Mother first thing tomorrow morning. Brother Tang, you should leave your post early tomorrow morning, and we can have dinner together in Mother's courtyard."

Cui Xintang paused for a moment, then said, "You don't need to wait for me, just go by yourself."

"Why?" Meng Yuanxiao looked up at him. "Brother Tang, you haven't paid your respects to Mother for a long time."

Cui Xintang simply said, "I might not be able to leave the office early."

"All right."

After thinking for a moment, Meng Yuanxiao asked, "Brother Tang, Second Aunt said that Grandmother left a bracelet for Mother, is that right?"

"Huh? Is that so?" Cui Xintang paused.

Meng Yuanxiao said, "Second Aunt said that the bracelet was left by Grandmother to her eldest grandson's wife."

"..." Cui Xintang was silent for a moment, then said, "Then I will ask my mother another day."

Meng Yuanxiao stared at him for a moment, then smiled and said, "No need. It was left by Grandmother. Mother can keep it as a keepsake if she wants."

She wouldn't accept anything that didn't belong to her, or anything given to her by someone who wasn't sincere.

Cui Xintang: "..."

Meng Yuanxiao felt sorry for him and, fearing that he might overthink things, added, "My mother and sister-in-law have given me a lot of jewelry. You also gave me some before, Brother Tang. My jewelry box is almost overflowing."

Cui Xintang took her hand in his and squeezed it, his gaze falling on the jade bracelet on her wrist.

"The bracelet your second aunt gave you is too big and doesn't fit. You can keep it. I'll find a fine piece of jade and have someone make a bracelet for you another day."

“Okay,” Meng Yuanxiao nodded. “Brother Tang, you’re back a little early today. Isn’t the yamen busy?”

"What?" Cui Xintang raised an eyebrow.

Meng Yuanxiao frowned slightly and pointed to the account books stacked on the table beside her.

"Sister Chen gave me a lot of homework today, but I was too busy being angry this afternoon to do it all."

"……so what?"

"Brother Tang, please help me!"

"..." Cui Xintang never expected that he would still have to do her homework after marrying her, even though he used to have to do her homework for her.

Looking into her wet eyes, he was both amused and annoyed. "This is a one-time thing, don't let it happen again."

Meng Yuanxiao immediately beamed with joy, "I knew it! Brother Tang is the best!"

After saying that, she pulled him to the side of the table.

Previously, when Cui Xintang helped her with her homework, Meng Yuanxiao would watch longingly from the side, sweetly saying flattering words.

Now she's become much bolder. At first, she just sat there pretending to be respectful, but she quickly got restless and started touching him.

Finally, she even snuggled into Cui Xintang's arms, sat on his lap, and kept pestering him to talk.

Cui Xintang was a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. The accounts and homework that Chen had given Meng Yuanxiao were a piece of cake for him, so he let Meng Yuanxiao do as she pleased, indulging her in all sorts of entanglements and whims.

Meng Yuanxiao chattered on and on, annoyed that he was ignoring her, so she turned his face around and made him look at her.

She was clearly being lazy, yet she felt guilty, saying, "Isn't it wrong for us to fool our mother-in-law like this?"

Cui Xintang raised an eyebrow, "You know it's wrong too?"

Meng Yuanxiao pouted and hugged his neck, saying, "Brother Tang, you are busy with official duties. I don't want you to suffer in the yamen every day and then have to help me with my homework and fool my mother-in-law when you come back."

Her almond-shaped eyes were full of cunning. "Why don't you ask your mother-in-law for me to stop making me learn to manage the household?"

Cui Xintang said helplessly, "If you don't want to learn how to manage a household, what will happen to this whole family?"

"Isn't your mother-in-law here?"

"It will be handed over to you one day."

Without hesitation, Meng Yuanxiao replied, "Isn't there my second aunt? I don't think she's afraid of hard work at all."

Thinking of Qin's appearance today, she said excitedly, "Brother Tang, you didn't see it. When Sister Chen was teaching me how to do the accounts, Second Aunt's eyes were glued to the ledger, as if she wanted to grow her eyes into the ledger!"

She clicked her tongue and described Qin's anxious appearance in detail, embellishing it with exaggerated expressions.

Cui Xintang: "..."

He chuckled and asked, "Can Second Aunt understand?"

Meng Yuanxiao stuck out her tongue, looking mischievous. "Who knows? I don't know if she can understand it or not, but she just doesn't want me to learn it!"

Cui Xintang's large hand caressed her waist, and he said with a half-smile, "During the day, you gossip about others with your second aunt, and at night you chat with me about your second aunt, so you learned this from your second aunt?"

Yuanyuan was simple-minded, but he knew Qin's character.

Meng Yuanxiao's face flushed, and she stammered, "But I'm so bored in the manor every day. Sister Chen only teaches me how to manage the household and do the accounts, and only Second Aunt talks to me. That's all I can see and hear, and all I can say to you!"

She looked somewhat aggrieved, and Cui Xintang fell silent for a moment.

After a moment, he said, "Do you think your life will still be so carefree now that it's your second aunt's turn to manage the household?"

Meng Yuanxiao frowned. "Then what should we do? If Second Aunt wants to manage, let her manage. With Mother-in-law in charge, she will eventually restrain herself. Anyway, we will eventually separate the family, so Second Aunt can't interfere too much. It's not too late for me to learn how to manage the household after we separate."

Cui Xintang replied, "My grandmother left a message that as long as my father and mother are still alive, this family cannot be divided."

Meng Yuanxiao was taken aback. Cui Xintang said, "Back then, my father did everything for that woman. My grandmother was so angry that she fell seriously ill. For the sake of me, her eldest grandson, she declared that even after she passed away, the family would not be separated."

If the family were to split up, the eldest son would be under the control of his father, Cui Zhen. Given Cui Zhen's doting on that mother and her two children outside the marriage, he, the eldest son, would likely have a difficult time.

However, if the family does not separate, then just as when his grandmother was still alive, the Cui family in the capital would remain a single entity, and he, as the eldest grandson, would be the one in charge.

In fact, after his grandmother passed away, if Cui Zhenruo wanted to compete with him, he would not be able to win.

But after his grandmother passed away, Cui Zhen took that woman and left the capital city far away.

He knew that the reason was not only because of that woman, but also partly because of him, the eldest son.

Thinking of these things, Cui Xintang fell silent, her expression turning slightly cold.

Meng Yuanxiao was unaware of this, but seeing that he spoke of Cui Zhen in a rather unpleasant tone, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

She simply didn't want to be confined to the inner quarters every day to learn these things, so she clung to Cui Xintang's neck and softly pleaded with him.

"Then let me play a little longer, and I'll learn these things after I've had enough, okay? I'm so bored staying cooped up in the inner quarters every day. Even when Mingyue asked me to go out these past few days, I couldn't find the time. If this continues, Mingyue won't play with me anymore."

"Good brother, please."

A simple "Good brother" made Cui Xintang's ears turn red.

Meng Yuanxiao, with her sharp eyes, noticed this. Her eyes lit up, and she mischievously leaned close to his ear, deliberately calling out "Good brother" in a soft voice again.

Cui Xintang was pleased with her boldness.

She had been moving around in his arms, and he was already feeling a bit overwhelmed. Her teasing made him even more aroused.

Seeing the smug grin on her face, Cui Xintang felt she should teach her a lesson.

So he couldn't bear it, so he put down his pen, swept the books and papers on the table aside, grabbed Meng Yuanxiao by the waist, and pulled him to sit on the table.

Meng Yuanxiao was not afraid.

Her eyes crinkled with laughter, her almond-shaped eyes holding a playful provocation. Her arms wrapped around Cui Xintang's neck, and her slender legs instinctively climbed up his strong waist.

Cui Xintang chuckled, and with a wave of his long arm, extinguished one of the candles on the table, leaving only one lamp a little further away.

The room dimmed, creating an ambiguous atmosphere perfect for the naughty things that were about to happen.

They had never tried this before, and the two of them, though tacitly aware of each other's desire, were eager to give it a try.

Cui Xintang lowered his head, and Meng Yuanxiao looked up to meet him.

Meng Yuanxiao's mind was always wandering, and even at this moment, she was still able to recall Qin's words.

When Cui Xintang's breathing became heavy, she pushed him away and asked, "You still haven't told me what's going on with the maid you're hiding in your study!"

These words were truly disheartening. Cui Xintang gritted her teeth, almost laughing in anger.

He knew how to handle her, so he stepped back slightly and said with a half-smile, "My husband is tired today. Yuanyuan, please forgive me for one day and let me rest, okay?"

"No!" Meng Yuanxiao exclaimed anxiously.

Cui Xintang chuckled softly, leaned down, and gently bit her lips.

"Are you going to talk or not?"

Meng Yuanxiao was annoyed and hummed in agreement with him.

Cui Xintang found it amusing. "I work like a slave in the yamen every day, and when I come back I still have to feed you. Do you really think your husband is made of iron?"

A note from the author:

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