Chapter 63 Mother and Son

The main hall was thick with sandalwood incense. Lady Cui Wang sat in the upper seat, twisting a string of agarwood Buddhist beads in her hand, her demeanor still that of a bodhisattva. She was over forty, her hair a little gray, her eyes sharp, her posture languid, just as she had been when she had gone to the Wen family to break off the engagement. She wore a dark purple brocade jacket embroidered with gold thread, which accentuated her elegance.

"You want to marry her into my Cui family? Don't you feel embarrassed?" Cui Wang's voice was steady, but every word was full of unquestionable force.

Reputation? If aristocratic families cared about reputation, how could they have climbed to their current positions? Which official hasn't done things like betrayal and backstabbing?

"The Cui family is the head of the aristocratic families. Every word and action represents the family tradition and reputation, and there can't be any mistakes." Ever since the Wang family was nearly destroyed, Cui Wangshi had only handled official business with this child, who was not close to her to begin with.

Personally, he had wiped out almost the entire Wang family, leaving her without a family to rely on. How could she possibly let him do what she wanted? Publicly, the Cui family, on whom she relied, couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Marrying a widow, one who hadn't been wanted in the past, was such a disgrace to the family that it was simply impossible!

The several maids standing in the hall received Cui Wang's gaze and immediately retreated quickly and silently, leaving the mother and son some space to be alone.

As soon as the person left, Cui Junji lifted his robe and sat down beside him, saying slowly, "Mother, I rarely ask you for anything, and there's no need to ask for anything. In the entire Cui family, only you and I share the same honor and disgrace. What I think is what I do."

"You're so used to being so powerful outside that it seems you're not used to being at home." Cui Wangshi was nonchalant, and she made a subtle move, "I find the things you do disgusting. I really don't want to be involved in them at all."

Cui Junji smiled lightly, "Mother, I'm telling you this first because you and I are closest. I trust you the most, and you can only trust me. If I'm happy here, my uncle's sons will be able to live more comfortably in Lingnan, right?"

"You!" Cui Wangshi slammed the table in anger, took a few steps forward, and pointed her sharp armor at Cui Junji's nose, as if to poke him blind. "That's your uncle! You are absolutely mad!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Junji's face turned completely cold. He faced the sharp armor, slowly stood up, and slowly looked down at his nominal mother.

"Mother, you still don't know what your last name should be. Back then, you hindered my father for the sake of the Wang family, causing him to remain frustrated in the court. He'd rather spend years hanging around with his mistress than return home. He even brought up a 'cousin' much older than me—Cui Yulan, a bastard who doesn't deserve the name! He even wants to go to Xunyang and steal my credit!"

"Since I was born, you often sent me to the Wang family and asked me to recognize my uncle as my teacher. He monitored my every move, not letting me be too outstanding, nor too incompetent. The first time I disobeyed him was when I went to Xunyang. It was thousands of miles away, and there were eighteen waves of assassins. He wanted to kill me. Mother, at that time, wasn't he my real uncle? My biological mother! You! Did you ever intervene for me? Did you ever worry about my safety, even a word of concern?"

Every word he said was the product of more than twenty years of blood and sweat. His eyes were filled with surging anger and extremely subtle disappointment and heartache.

Step by step, he pushed Cui Wangshi to the top.

Cui Wangshi fell into the chair, not daring to look into Cui Junji's eyes again.

Cui Junji looked down at his trembling mother. He didn't understand, nor did he want to know, why she was trembling. He had only one last word for his mother, and the rest was for the Cui family's mistress.

"Mother, I thought we all knew what we were doing."

Immediately, he took a step back and resumed his humble and polite demeanor. He bowed deeply and said, "It's just a small matter of taking a concubine. Just keep it low-key. I've troubled you for a long time. I'm leaving now."

After an unknown amount of time, Cui Wangshi finally regained consciousness. She staggered slightly as she stood up, her legs numb. She brushed aside the maids and walked through the corridors. Outside, the plum blossoms were in full bloom, each tree in full bloom, forming a sharp contrast with her plain attire.

It's like a spring flower that is about to wither and has entered the season by mistake.

It was immediately blown away by the chilly spring air.

Cui Wangshi ran as fast as she could, but her body, confined to her house, made it impossible for her to catch up with Cui Junji. She could no longer run and called out hoarsely, "Zihe!" praying that her child would look back at her one last time.

The guards on the road hurriedly avoided and dispersed.

Finally, she could only hold on to a pillar, watching the door close, and slowly sliding down to the ground. Unknowingly, she was already in tears.

—

Cui Junji was particularly clingy today. He didn't have the sweet talk he had before. As soon as he stepped into the room, he kicked the door shut and hugged Wen Youqing against it.

He just hugged her and rested his head on Wen Youqing's neck, with only the sound of her shallow breathing in his ears.

"What's wrong?" Wen Youqing froze. To prevent Cui Junji from noticing her stiffness, she smoothed his hair with her hand and whispered, "Fly away if you're unhappy."

"I'm not a child." Cui Junji said in a muffled voice, but he was obviously enjoying it.

They held each other like this for a long time, and the fireworks exploded several times before Cui Junji moved. However, he did not let go of Wen Youqing. Instead, he sniffed up Wen Youqing's slender neck like a dog.

Wen Youqing was not polite at all. She slapped Cui Junji on the face and pushed him away. "Stand up straight and stay away from me."

Cui Junji grabbed Wen Youqing's wrist, sniffed her palm deeply, and said with a playful smile, "Stand up straight."

After pulling his hand out twice, Wen Youqing finally freed it. He sat back down at the round table and said, "Don't mess around with me. If you really want me to follow you, marry me off in a grand sedan chair. I've been screwed by you once before, so I don't believe anything else."

"I've already told my mother, and I'll be there soon..."

"Be a concubine?" Wen Youqing went straight to the point.

Cui Junji looked at Wen Youqing sincerely. "Go in first, and I'll help you later..."

Her words were interrupted again, "Men really know how to blow when they open their mouths." As she spoke, she stroked Cui Junji's face with her hand, her eyes tender and teasing, but she was thinking in her heart, how could such a handsome face be so dirty inside?

Cui Junji was attracted by her eyes and moved forward. Wen Youqing leaned forward and leaned back slightly. He moved forward again and she leaned back, until they had no room to retreat and they could hear each other's breathing.

Wen Youqing walked forward and covered Cui Junji's mouth with her hand. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Cui Junji, you know me best. Don't try to fool me with these unattainable things. When you succeed, come back to me."

Cui Junji was pushed back and could only smile awkwardly. He sat on the small round stool closest to her and rubbed her wrist, which had been bruised from days of drawing woodworking drawings. He said softly, "That's natural. It's just that if my daily interactions with you got out to outsiders, it would tarnish your reputation and make you unhappy."

The pain in her wrist eased considerably, and Wen Youqing felt a little relieved. Her free, slender fingers unconsciously touched the brocade pattern on Cui Junji's cuffs. "I'm so oblivious to what's happening outside that I don't even know what position Mr. Cui holds."

As she spoke, her hands became restless again, moving from her sleeves to her arms, then to her collarbones and chest. Slowly and casually, she said, "How did the late emperor die? We don't have any information outside. So how would a small figure like me know what he did? It all depends on Lord Cui's words~"

Even though he knew that he was being used, Cui Junji was still caught up in this unconscious teasing. That hand was like a cool summer breeze, appearing and disappearing, luring him forward, luring him to expose himself and entangle with that cool breeze.

With an arm around her waist, before Wen Youqing could even exclaim, Cui Junji held her in his arms and sat her on his body.

The posture was ambiguous, and the eyes were extremely unclear. Cui Junji only had the little Wen Youqing in his peach blossom eyes. He chuckled, and his lips brushed against the material of Wen Youqing's chest.

"Okay, then you have to give me something sweet to taste."