Chapter 49 "Big Brother has gone on an official business, Yuan Yuan..."

"How did I act recklessly?" Meng Yuanxiao felt even more aggrieved when he said that.

"Do you dare say that you really didn't hide anything from the Princess regarding the matter in Yunping County and the Xu family? Why do you have reservations? Isn't it because of Miss Lin's younger brother?"

Cui Xintang: "..."

Meng Yuanxiao: "If you don't say anything, then that's fine."

She felt an indescribable disappointment and sadness, and looked at him with teary eyes.

She hoped he would offer some explanation; if he were willing to talk to her properly, she wouldn't completely disbelieve him.

Cui Xintang paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "The affairs of the court are far more complicated than Yuanyuan thinks. Even the Princess and His Majesty cannot accomplish anything overnight; they must plan carefully."

"The Princess has already sent people to investigate the matter in Yunping County. She wants to use me, but she doesn't completely trust me. The only thing she believes is what she found out herself."

"What I'm asking is, Brother Tang, have you been hiding anything regarding the Xu family's affairs?" Meng Yuanxiao looked at him stubbornly.

After he said that, you could hear a pin drop in the room.

Cui Xintang stared at her for a long time.

He didn't answer that question, but said in a deep voice, "Yuanyuan should know that if I do anything, I represent far more than just myself, but the entire Cui family, and now the Meng family, and even the maternal grandparents' families on both sides. No one can say for sure how long the new policies will last or what the future holds. I must leave myself and the Cui and Meng families a way out."

"Is it to leave a way out for yourself, or for Lin Yu and the Lin family?" Meng Yuanxiao asked.

He would always lecture her with a lot of道理 (reasoning/principles), but in reality, it was all just because of the Lin family.

The more he avoided mentioning Lin Yu, the more she insisted on asking him about her.

Cui Xintang frowned, about to speak, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

Cui Xintang frowned impatiently and said, "Come in."

The maid pushed open the door and came in, standing outside the screen without daring to raise her head. "Reporting to the young master, the master of the front courtyard has sent someone to ask when you will be going over."

Upon hearing the maid's words, Cui Xintang visibly seemed relieved.

He glanced outside the screen, his voice softening slightly, "I understand."

The maid quickly withdrew, and Cui Xintang withdrew his gaze, paused, and gently coaxed, "My colleagues from the yamen are still waiting in the front yard. I came to tell you that I have to go out later..."

Before he could finish speaking, Meng Yuanxiao interrupted him, "You're not allowed to go!"

She felt extremely wronged. "You said you would stay with me today. I waited for you all day, and now you're leaving me in the mansion and going out on your own."

Cui Xintang: "..."

Meng Yuanxiao sniffed, "Brother Tang, you're just a manager. What could be so important that we need to discuss it with you so late at night?"

Cui Xintang paused for a moment, then said, "Stop fooling around."

Meng Yuanxiao was so angry at his words that she cried. She had never argued with him about official matters before, but tonight she couldn't help herself and didn't want him to have a good time.

She cried and said, "Brother Tang, since you are so busy, why did you still marry me? You hide away all day, leaving me in the mansion and ignoring me. You should have said so earlier, otherwise I would not have married you."

She stared at him stubbornly, and said defiantly, "If you leave this room tonight, don't ever come back!"

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and she started sobbing.

"You can't spare any time for me all day, but you manage to find time to help Miss Lin solve her problems, and even have Manager Lin use the bracelet to annoy me. You're always busy outside, who knows if you're really busy with official business or meeting someone else?"

This was truly unreasonable, and Meng Yuanxiao knew it. But she had endured it for so long, and she just wanted to make a scene.

Why is it that he ignores all the grievances she suffers, doesn't even bother to comfort her, and even goes out to find peace and quiet?

She had never suffered such injustice before. If she was unhappy, he wouldn't be happy either.

Meng Yuanxiao's tears fell like broken beads, and she clung to Cui Xintang's sleeve, refusing to let him leave.

Just as the standoff was reaching its conclusion, the maid knocked on the door again, trembling as she said, "Young Master, they're urging us from the front courtyard..."

Although Meng Yuanxiao was mischievous and loved to make trouble, he rarely acted so unreasonably. Cui Xintang was at a loss for what to do, but he couldn't just leave him like that, so he couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.

He paused, then raised his hand to wipe away Meng Yuanxiao's tears, leaned down slightly, and kissed her forehead.

"Yuanyuan, be good and rest first. I'll tell you the details when Brother Tang comes back."

Meng Yuanxiao cried herself to sleep that night, and when she woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky.

She thought Cui Xintang hadn't come back last night, but when she woke up, she was holding his nightgown in her arms.

I cried a lot the night before, and when I woke up I had a headache and felt listless all day.

Meng Yuanxiao was unhappy because he hadn't seen Cui Xintang for several days, but he was stubborn and unwilling to ask anyone.

However, Qin Shi, who had not been seen for a long time, has started to frequently visit Meng Yuanxiao's courtyard in the past few days.

Perhaps because Cui Erlang failed the imperial examination, Qin Shi had lost some weight after not seeing her for some time. Her once plump and round face was noticeably thinner.

Meng Yuanxiao asked in surprise, "What has Auntie been busy with lately?"

"Hey, what else could he be busy with? He's just arranging for Erlang to meet suitable women!" Qin said.

After saying this, while Chen was away, he went on and on about all the girls who had been examined by Erlang.

Meng Yuanxiao initially listened to the story just for fun, but as she listened, she sensed something was amiss. "Auntie, who introduced these young ladies to you?"

The Cui family was considered a prominent family in the capital, but she heard that the girls Qin was looking for for Cui Erlang were all from low-ranking officials' families.

Some of them she had never even heard of, and Qin didn't mention any of her usual playmates.

Qin didn't hide anything from her, "My sister-in-law and sisters introduced me to him. Yuanyuan, what do you think?"

That's not surprising, since Qin's family, including her father and brothers, didn't hold high-ranking official positions and probably didn't have much contact with wealthy and powerful families.

Moreover, Qin's sister-in-law was always looking to gain benefits from the Cui family and couldn't stand seeing Qin living too well. So she was afraid that Cui Erlang would marry a woman who was marrying above his station.

However, she couldn't say that directly, and only said, "I am not familiar with the girls that Auntie mentioned, and I have never played with them. I will not give Auntie any advice rashly."

Madam Qin clicked her tongue and said, "You child, these are all girls your age, how come you don't recognize a single one of them?"

Meng Yuanxiao choked for a moment, and Qin Shi continued, "Dalang has always been decisive. I've picked out a few girls that I'm satisfied with. I asked Dalang, and he inquired about them and said they're all alright. He even said that the one from the Wang family is quite good."

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

Under Qin's unwavering gaze, she blinked and immediately changed her words, "Then they should all be good. Aunt, you have good taste."

Feeling somewhat guilty, he thought for a moment and then added another sentence.

"Erlang is destined for great things. When choosing a wife, we should prioritize her character so that she won't be a burden to him in the future. With the Cui family's and Erlang's abilities, everything else is secondary."

These words were exactly the same as what Cui Xintang had said before, and Qin almost died of anger when she heard them.

Qin cursed inwardly, "They really aren't family. Birds of a feather flock together. I've never seen such shameless people as you two."

Qin was annoyed, but Erlang's studies and future depended on Cui Xintang, so she could only suppress her anger.

After rambling on for a while, Madam Qin suddenly asked, "Why hasn't that young lady from the Zhang family come to see you for so long?"

Meng Yuanxiao was confused. "Mingyue? What's wrong?"

Qin's eyes darted around. "Auntie has met the Zhang family's daughter and liked her very much. Auntie remembers, she's not engaged yet?"

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

So that's where she was waiting!

She mumbled, "Probably, I don't know."

Madam Qin was displeased and raised her hand to tap Meng Yuanxiao's forehead. "You child, how come you don't know anything?"

Meng Yuanxiao didn't want to pay attention to her, but Madam Qin said again, "When the Zhang family's daughter comes next time, send someone to call her aunt."

"Oh," Meng Yuanxiao replied casually, since Mingyue wouldn't be coming to the Cui residence anyway.

Her answer was vague, clearly she didn't take it to heart.

Madam Qin was displeased. "You child, why don't you care about anything? Don't be like your mother-in-law, always focused on managing the household affairs. It's so boring. Look at her, she's got the household management under her control, but her husband has run off with someone else!"

Qin couldn't hide the schadenfreude in her words, "Don't even mention my uncle, if I were her man, I couldn't stand her either!"

Qin kept talking, constantly criticizing Wu, and occasionally adding a few more provocative remarks, like a mosquito buzzing in your ear.

Meng Yuanxiao's head was throbbing from her nagging, and she couldn't help but think to herself that she would never become like her mother-in-law, after all, she didn't have her mother-in-law's calm and collected nature.

If she is confined to the inner quarters all day, she is very likely to become like Qin Shi in the future, gossipy and meddlesome.

After all, like Qin Shi, she was talkative and loved gossip.

The thought of becoming like Qin Shi in the future made Meng Yuanxiao shudder.

"What's wrong?" Qin patted her shoulder, leaned closer and said, "Yuanyuan, let me tell you, your mother-in-law has been acting like she's possessed these past few days, spending all her time in the Buddhist hall, she's practically been pickled in sandalwood. Tsk, it was just around the time of your wedding, when your father-in-law came back for a visit, and look how upset she is!"

Meng Yuanxiao: "..."

After talking for a while, Qin Shi's mouth became dry. She drank a cup of tea to moisten her throat before saying, "By the way, will Dalang be gone for a long time? I just heard from your second uncle a couple of days ago that Dalang will be gone for half a month."

Meng Yuanxiao was stunned. "Brother Tang went out?"

"Yes," Qin said, "Eldest Brother has been away on official business for several days now, didn't you know?"

Meng Yuanxiao was unaware that her brother Tang often waited until she fell asleep before returning to his room, and sometimes he would stay overnight in the study. By the time she woke up, he would have already left for his official duties.

She was used to it, assuming he was busy with official business in his study. But it turned out he had gone on a business trip?

Moreover, he was gone for so long without even saying goodbye to her.

Meng Yuanxiao stood there stunned, and before she could come to her senses, her nose tingled and tears began to fall.

Qin was startled. "Oh dear, what's wrong?"

She then seemed to realize that she had spoken out of turn and quickly slapped her mouth a few times.

"Look at your mouth, Aunt. I thought Dalang had told you. He must have been too busy with official business to tell you. Yuanyuan, don't take it to heart. It's getting late, I should go back now."

After saying a few more words of comfort, he hurriedly got up and left.

*

Feeling depressed, Meng Yuanxiao took a day off and sent an invitation to the Zhang family, asking Mingyue to go out and play together.

The Cui family only had a few masters, and news of her shedding tears quickly reached Madam Wu's ears.