Chapter 24. Mother-in-law Cui Ying thought to herself: I shouldn't make him angry anymore. ...

The scene was still.

As if they had been given a mute drug in an instant, everyone fell silent.

Just moments ago, Madam Wang was forcing Xiao Qiyu to admit his mistake, but now she was pretending to be very busy serving food to Cui Ying, even feigning a cough: "Cough cough, little one, try this, I'm sure you like it. And this too, try them all."

The Qin, Zhang, and Xue families first exchanged incredulous glances, as if they doubted each other's hearing. After receiving the definite answer, they pretended to clear their throats, sipped their tea, and suppressed their laughter.

Cui Ying even doubted whether she was dreaming.

She dared not blink, unable to believe what kind of filth had drifted into her ears.

After struggling, she hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pinched Xiao Qiyu's thigh hard, trying to break free from her dream by making someone else suffer.

However, Xiao Qiyu only let out a muffled groan, and then parted his thin lips slightly, speaking to her in a soft whisper he had never used before:

"Good Tuantuan, I was truly wrong."

"From now on, I will never kiss you without your permission again."

Cui Ying was completely dumbfounded.

She turned her face stiffly, not even bothering to acknowledge that Xiao Qiyu had called her by her childhood name, her gaze fixed on Xiao Qiyu's sinister and cunning black eyes, her eyes seeming to say:

You just blurted it out?

You just said it without blushing or even batting an eye?

How dare you!

You may be shameless, but I am!

Cui Ying even had two doubts.

One reason is that they suspect they are going crazy, which causes them to hallucinate.

Secondly, they suspected that Xiao Qiyu had gone mad.

But seeing the obvious smug look in Xiao Qiyu's eyes, Cui Ying knew that he wasn't crazy. He was deliberately letting her think she had him in the bag, so he could suddenly launch a surprise attack.

What a brilliant move! Killing eight hundred enemies while losing eight thousand of your own!

Fine! Cui Ying admits defeat today!

Cui Ying stared at Xiao Qiyu, inhaling sharply, her hands clenching her clothes tightly, like an angry cat ready to pounce on Xiao Qiyu and scratch his face.

Xiao Qiyu remained calm and composed, then turned to Madam Wang and said, "Grandmother, I apologize to Tuantuan."

Wang coughed, and the old grandmother, who was used to seeing storms, stammered a little: "It's good that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, it's good that it's cleared up."

After speaking, she looked at her three daughters-in-law and said, "What are you all standing there for? Do I have to urge you to start eating?"

The three of them then put down their teacups, which were meant to conceal their smiles, and pretended to pick up their chopsticks.

The atmosphere returned to calm, as if those two shocking words had never been uttered.

Everyone was trying very hard to pretend they hadn't heard, maintaining the seriousness and dignity befitting elders.

But Cui Ying still felt that everyone in the room was looking at her.

She lost her appetite and wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground, her head almost buried in the bowl.

Seeing Xiao Qiyu's noticeably upturned lips, Cui Ying muttered viciously in a low voice, "You're ruthless."

Xiao Qiyu's eyes held a smile, and the gloom between his brows dissipated considerably, leaving him refreshed: "Likewise."

That night, Cui Ying had a nightmare.

She dreamt that she and Xiao Qiyu were trapped in a small room, and in order to escape, they had to kiss each other for twelve hours.

Twelve hours! That's a whole day and night!

Cui Ying was later awakened by fright.

When I woke up, I was covered in cold sweat and my mouth tasted like Xiao Qiyu's saliva.

Fortunately, it was already past dawn, and Xiao Qiyu went to the martial arts training ground to practice his boxing as usual.

Otherwise, Cui Ying felt she would definitely not be able to resist getting out of bed and beating Xiao Qiyu severely.

Because of this restless sleep, Cui Ying's midday nap was unusually long. When she woke up, she was too lazy to get up and just closed her eyes to rest, listening to the swaying of the flowers and trees to pass the time.

The begonias outside the window are growing lushly, their branches drooping into the window frame, attracting butterflies and buzzing bees.

Worried that the buzzing of the bees would disturb the young mistress's rest, the maids mustered their courage and trimmed the flower branches to lure the bees away.

So busy were we that we started chatting.

"I never realized that the young mistress and young master had such a good relationship."

"That's right. It's all over the manor now. The young master keeps pestering the young mistress for kisses every day. The young mistress is so annoyed by the kisses that she's even angry with him."

"Young Master truly adores Young Mistress."

Cui Ying's hands and feet trembled, and she wanted to jump up and refute, "That's not true! I'm innocent! I've only kissed Xiao Qiyu twice at most, how could I have been asking for kisses every day! How could I have been so in love with him!"

Fabricated out of thin air, based on rumors, a great injustice throughout the ages—she is going to appeal to the authorities!

It's just a thought...

Cui Ying knew that if she continued to dwell on this mess, she would definitely have more nightmares at night. The best way was to not think about it, not listen to it, and distract herself.

She opened her eyes and sat up, her voice filled with resentment: "Cuijin, help me go for a walk."

...

As the sun sets, its rays slant through the rose trellis, casting the shadows of blooming flowers onto the blue brick ground. A gentle breeze carries their subtle fragrance, and colorful butterflies flutter about. Ponds line both sides of the path, their green waters rippling, where koi carp dart about joyfully.

Cui Ying wandered aimlessly under the flowers, stopping to rest when she got sweaty, and feeding the koi with crumbs of pastry.

This is a quiet little scene next to the garden, built on a Taihu stone rockery. The higher you stand, the better the view. Below the rockery is a pond. Across the pond is a white stone path leading to the hanging flower gate, which can be considered a connection between the inside and outside. Standing here, you can see both the exotic flowers and plants in the back garden and the soaring eaves of the outer residence.

After feeding the fish, Cui Ying casually began to admire the scenery.

As a child, she was often taken to the Marquis's mansion to play. After she grew up, she rarely came over, only visiting Grandmother Wang during festivals.

As a result, after being married into the family for so many days, she felt quite unfamiliar with the rest of the place except for Qiyun Pavilion.

Cui Ying summoned a young maid who was hoeing flowers and pointed to a roof in the back courtyard that was noticeably more magnificent than the others, asking, "Where is that?"

The maid replied, "Young Madam, that is the Jingsong Hall where the Second Mistress lives."

The residence of the Qin family.

Cui Ying nodded, then changed to a spot not far away: "Over there."

The maid replied, "Young Madam, that is Lingxiaozhai, the residence of the Third Young Madam, Madam Qian."

Cui Ying nodded, then remembered that she had a sister-in-law.

The reason she hasn't been seen for so long seems to be that her parents back home are ill, and Ms. Qian returned home last month to care for them, but hasn't returned yet.

Cui Ying nodded and pointed to a raised platform in the outer courtyard, asking, "And what is that?"

The maid smiled and said, "That is the Seventh Young Master's outer study. If the young mistress wishes to see the Seventh Young Master, she can go there to look for him."

Cui Ying immediately shook her head vigorously, thinking to herself, "I don't want to see him. I want to live a few more years."

To distract herself, she casually pointed to the back courtyard: "And where is that?"

The maid's expression visibly paused, but she still answered respectfully, "Young Madam, that is Lotus Fragrance Pavilion, which was... the residence of the late Fifth Madam."

Cui Ying was stunned for a moment before she realized that this "Fifth Grandmother" was Xiao Qiyu's birth mother, the fifth daughter-in-law of Grandmother Wang, and also her own niece.

She was also her nominal mother-in-law.

However, no matter how hard Cui Ying tried to recall, he could hardly find any image of this "grandmother" in his mind.

In her brief childhood memories, Xiao Qiyu was always raised by her grandmother, uncle, and cousin. By the time she was old enough to understand things, Xiao Qiyu had already lost her mother.

I only heard from snippets of conversation from my elders that the fifth wife of the Marquis of Dingyuan's household had always been in poor health.

Few people were surprised by her passing.

Cui Ying's feelings suddenly became complicated, and she didn't want to ask any more questions. However, seeing the black marks on the Lotus Fragrance Pavilion, she couldn't help but ask, "What are those things on there? Why are they so black?"

The maid said, "Those are traces of smoke. In the middle of last month, Lotus Fragrance Pavilion caught fire for no reason, and the entire courtyard was burned down. The old matriarch originally wanted to renovate and rebuild it, but Seventh Master did not allow it, so it was put on hold."

Cui Ying nodded, took a gold hairpin adorned with pearls and peonies from her hair, gave it to the maid, asked her name, and then dismissed her.

A gentle breeze drifts through the corridor, the air is filled with the fragrance of flowers and the stillness of the night.

Cui Ying's mind, however, was not at peace.

Just a moment ago, she was still hating Xiao Qiyu and felt that she never wanted to see him again in her life. She thought Xiao Qiyu was the worst villain in the world.

But the next moment, she realized that Xiao Qiyu was actually quite pitiful.

Cui Ying was loved by her whole family from birth, especially by her parents. Her mother, who was physically weak, had heard many stories of wet nurses getting hurt or injured while being distracted, so she mustered her strength and raised Cui Ying herself, watching over her day and night.

Her father started his formal education at the age of three, entered school at the age of eight, passed the county-level imperial examination at the age of fifteen, and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) at the age of twenty. He was a bookworm in his youth and an old-fashioned man in his old age. He set an example by his own conduct and his words and deeds conformed to the Zhou Dynasty's rites. He hated people who did not follow the rules. If any colleague committed any transgression in private, he could impeach that person eight hundred times in court.

Then he ended up with a troublesome daughter.

Cui Ying had heard her father say more than once that she was "retribution" for his wanton impeachment of his colleagues when he was young.

Even if Cui Ying made a huge mess, her father would only scold her and then claim to the outside world that he had "failed to raise his daughter properly," taking the blame upon himself.

Cui Ying felt that her parents were the most indispensable people to her, and she could not live without either of them.

But Xiao Qiyu lost his parents at such a young age. How has he managed all these years?

When Cui Ying recalled Xiao Qiyu's childhood self, always going his own way, she suddenly didn't find him annoying anymore, and even felt a little sorry for him.

well.

Cui Ying thought to herself: I shouldn't make him angry anymore.

But if it's him who angered her...

Sigh, let's just pretend we didn't see it and not bother with him.

Cui Ying made up her mind that she would never have a conflict with Xiao Qiyu again. If she argued with him again, she would turn into a puppy, unable to speak, only able to bark.

She let out a sigh of relief and got up to go for a walk elsewhere, but unexpectedly, the moment she straightened up, she bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction.

Beneath the roses, the young man wore a black robe with arrow-shaped sleeves, a five-inch rhinoceros horn buckle leather belt around his waist, and his ponytail cascaded down his shoulders like an ink waterfall. A few strands of hair fell across his forehead, with a rare soft curve, yet they still could not suppress the cold and aloof air revealed in his eyes.

Sunlight streamed into the flower-lined corridor, where a young girl and boy stood facing each other, their clothes fluttering as they entwined.

“A good dog doesn’t block the way,” Xiao Qiyu said abruptly.

Cui Ying's eyes widened instantly: "A good donkey doesn't bray randomly!"

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Author's Note: Little Sister: I can't stand it anymore!