Chapter 28 "Young people, it's normal to not be able to resist..."
Cui Xintang looked at her with a half-smile. Meng Yuanxiao waited for a moment, and seeing that he was unwilling to speak, she asked again, "Then why didn't you allow me to see Miss Lin back then?"
She remembered that the Lin family did not originally live in the capital. It was only when Lord Lin was transferred to the capital that year that he brought his family to the capital.
After arriving in the capital, Miss Lin quickly became engaged to Brother Tang, making it even more difficult for her to appear in public.
So she never met Miss Lin. She was just very curious about what kind of wife her brother Tang would marry in the future, so she pestered him to let her meet that sister.
Cui Xintang found it amusing, "I had only met her once or twice back then, how could I let you meet her?"
This wasn't a lie; his mother had a crush on Miss Lin, and Miss Lin often visited the Cui residence to talk to his mother.
He didn't say much, but every time Miss Lin came, he would deliberately avoid her, going to the Meng residence instead, and not meeting with her.
As for why he didn't want Meng Yuanxiao to see Miss Lin, he himself couldn't explain it clearly.
All he remembered was that Miss Lin came to the Cui residence again that day, and he went to the Meng residence to avoid her. Meng Yuanxiao was playing in the garden.
She used to be very happy whenever she saw him, and would run to play with him. But that day, when she saw him from afar, she turned and ran away like a cat.
He assumed he had offended her in some way again, so he tried to call her over and tease her for a few moments.
Meng Yuanxiao said with a serious expression, "Brother Tang, my nanny told me that you are getting married, and I won't be able to play with you like before."
After saying that, she looked at him earnestly with her clear eyes and asked him curiously what the sister he was going to marry looked like, and whether he could take her to play with that sister.
She spoke such serious words with an innocent expression, and he found it amusing at the time, but for some reason, he suddenly didn't want her to see Miss Lin.
He refused without hesitation that day, and Yuanyuan held a grudge against him for a long time because of it.
Cui Xintang naturally wouldn't tell Meng Yuanxiao these things.
Seeing that she refused to sleep, her round eyes fixed on him without blinking, he thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "If I were to be transferred from the capital to a post outside the capital, would Yuanyuan be willing to go with me?"
Meng Yuanxiao was stunned. "If it's an external posting, it will take a long time!"
“Hmm,” Cui Xintang stroked her back gently and said softly, “Three years, five years, or even longer. Perhaps when your term ends, you will be transferred to another place.”
Meng Yuanxiao was not very happy about it, and said in a muffled voice, "But what if I miss my mother after such a long time?"
Cui Xintang paused for a moment, "Isn't having Brother Tang with you enough?"
That's certainly not enough; she still couldn't bear to part with her mother, brother, and sister-in-law. Meng Yuanxiao found his words strange, looked at him, and didn't answer.
Cui Xintang stared at her for a moment, then sighed softly, "If Yuanyuan doesn't want to, then wait a little longer."
"Go to sleep."
*
Winter is approaching, and the weather is getting colder.
Thinking of Cui Xintang's words that he would be returning to Yunping County in a few days, Meng Yuanxiao finished his breakfast that day, put the "Thousand Character Classic" in his pocket, and left the small courtyard.
As soon as I stepped out of the small courtyard, I saw Lin sitting in the sun, leisurely eating gourd seeds.
Upon seeing her come out, Madam Lin called out to her, patted the small stool beside her, and beckoned her to come and sit down.
"Isn't Sister-in-law Lin busy today?" Lin is usually at home, as she has to look after the Sun family's workshop.
"Sigh, busy doing nothing all day long," said Madam Lin.
As soon as Meng Yuanxiao sat down, Madam Lin stared at her face for a moment, then suddenly leaned closer and asked, "Was there enough hot water last night?"
When she suddenly asked that question, Meng Yuanxiao's face turned red.
They made love once that night, and the young couple couldn't resist, so they did it again last night.
Tang-gege was also proud. He originally wanted to go to the Sun family's house to borrow the kitchen to boil water, but how could the Sun family dare to let him do such rough work? So the hot water was boiled by the Sun family.
He only said that he was dirty from working in the fields, but how could people not know?
As expected, Lin said bluntly, "What's there to be shy about? Lord Cui is your man, not some stranger. It's normal for a young man to be unable to control himself."
Meng Yuanxiao's cheeks flushed, and just as she was feeling embarrassed, someone outside the courtyard called out, "Is Dalang's family here? The workshop has been open for half a day, and Dalang wants you to come over!"
Meng Yuanxiao breathed a sigh of relief, but then saw Lin Shi glance outside and sneer, "Ask him, when he crawled into the widow's bed, why didn't anyone come to call me?"
Meng Yuanxiao: "..."
After cursing a few times, Madam Lin shouted at the top of her lungs, "Tell him that Madam Cui has other matters to attend to, and that he should wait until I have finished serving Madam Cui before going over!"
Meng Yuanxiao blinked, about to say not to worry about her, but Lin waved her hand, "Don't bother with her, that's just how men are. If you don't discipline them for a day, they'll forget their own worth."
After saying that, he snorted coldly, "If I didn't have the vinegar-making recipe in my hand, how could he let me control him? So women always need to have some skills to protect themselves, or to control the family's finances and livelihood. Other things, including men, are nothing, just ignore them."
These words were exactly the same as what Cui Xintang had said that night, and Meng Yuanxiao found them rather uninteresting.
She was playing with gourd seeds in her hand, remaining silent. Lin asked again, "Is Madam Cui going back to the county town?"
Meng Yuanxiao casually agreed, and Madam Lin said, "If it's convenient, please ask Madam Cui to pass on a message to my fifth brother, telling him to come home because my father needs to see him."
"It's nothing," Meng Yuanxiao casually agreed, "If I see your brother at the county office, I'll let him know."
Lin replied, "My fifth brother is studying; he's not at the county office."
Meng Yuanxiao was confused. Wasn't Lin's younger brother a yamen runner in the county government?
She found Lin's younger brother increasingly strange. After a moment's thought, she said, "Studying is good. If you can pass the imperial examinations and achieve official rank, you will also benefit from it."
Madam Lin scoffed, "It's certainly good for noble ladies like you, Madam Cui, to study more, but what use is studying for us peasants? How many of us can pass the imperial examinations? If you ask me, the right way is to honestly tend to our land and live a simple life."
"Besides, if he really succeeds in the imperial examinations, he'll just go back to his original family. Why would he remember us? Not to mention, my fifth brother isn't cut out for studying either."
Perhaps knowing that Meng Yuanxiao knew that her younger brother was adopted, Madam Lin did not have any reservations.
Meng Yuanxiao blinked. "Was his previous family also from Yunping County?"
“No, that’s not it,” Lin said, but then swallowed her words.
She clearly didn't want to talk to her about this, and instead said, "There's no need for you, Madam Cui, to personally deliver the message. The young man accompanying Lord Cui, isn't his name Qingzhu? I saw my fifth brother talking to him the other day, and they seemed quite familiar with each other. Just ask him to deliver the message."
Leaving Village Chief Sun's house, Meng Yuanxiao was still thinking about Lin's words. Did Qingzhu actually know Lin's younger brother?
There weren't many people on the village road today, so she avoided them and didn't go looking for Li Shi. Instead, she strolled to the east end of the village.
Just then, Ye Shi came out of the gate carrying a wooden bucket. When she saw Meng Yuanxiao, Ye Shi stopped and said with a smile, "Oh, what wind has blown little Madam Cui here?"
She deliberately lowered her voice, and Niu Niu followed her like a little tail. When she saw Meng Yuanxiao, Niu Niu's round eyes lit up, and she timidly called out "Sister".
Ye carried the wooden bucket to the dry ditch on the east side, poured out half of the dirty water in the bucket, and then walked back.
"Is Madam Cui here for Lord Cui? But I don't have time to talk to you today."
Several obvious bloodstains, as if scratched by fingernails, appeared on Ye's originally withered but still beautiful face.
She gestured towards her own yard with her chin and said in a low voice, "Look, I still have two old hags guarding my house!"
Meng Yuanxiao glanced at the Ye family's house, and Ye asked, "Is Madam Cui going back now?"
Meng Yuanxiao did not answer, instinctively feeling somewhat defensive.
Madam Ye smiled, "I'll trouble you, Madam Cui, to look after Niu Niu for me. Those two old hags scratched me like this, but I'm not one to be trifled with. I'll go and tear them apart."
After saying that, she swayed her hips and went through the door.
The dark courtyard gate closed, and the woman's cursing voice came from inside the courtyard, "You whore, I haven't seen you for a moment, who have you gone out to seduce this time?"
Ye laughed a few times and said loudly, "Nobody, your man."
The woman was so angry upon hearing this that she jumped up and down, shouting, "Shameless whore, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
With a splash of water, two screams came from inside the courtyard.
Ye chuckled, "Isn't it your man? Last night, your man was climbing over my wall, and you were hiding in my house, didn't you hear him?"
A fight broke out in the courtyard, and the woman's shrill and vicious curses pierced through the ears: "You shameless widow, how dare you throw swill on me! I'll kill you!"
Ye sneered, "So what if I'm a widow? I don't lack men. You want to be a prostitute? Do you have the ability?"
The curses coming from the courtyard grew increasingly offensive, and Meng Yuanxiao stood there, her face burning.
Niu Niu stood to the side with her head down, her two thin little hands covering her ears, looking very pitiful.
It wouldn't be good to let Niu Niu hear such a shameful side of her mother, so Meng Yuanxiao hurriedly pulled Niu Niu away.
The two, one big and one small, found a sheltered earthen slope and squatted down, staring at each other.
I thought Niu Niu would be scared, but she seemed unaffected by what had just happened. She just smiled ingratiatingly and tugged at my sleeve, saying, "Sister, teach Niu Niu to read."
She was so well-behaved that she didn't seem like a three-year-old child, and Meng Yuanxiao couldn't help but feel a sense of surprise.
She didn't want to speculate about a child's thoughts, so she quickly took out the "Thousand Character Classic" from her bosom, squatted down, picked up a dry twig, and taught Niu Niu to recognize characters.
Who knows what kind of trouble has broken out at the Ye family's place? It will inevitably alarm the clan, and the Ye family will likely not fare well.
Meng Yuanxiao didn't dare to go back immediately. It wasn't until both of their stomachs were growling with hunger that she discreetly escorted Niu Niu back home.
The two returned dejected, and sure enough, they found that Madam Ye had new injuries on her face. She, however, seemed unconcerned, even teasing Meng Yuanxiao, "You're supposed to be an official's wife, look how scared you are! How can you be so cowardly?"
Meng Yuanxiao stared at her for a moment, and Ye Shi's smile faded. "Little Cui Madam, you are a good person. Niu Niu likes you. Could you come and see Niu Niu more often these days when you have nothing to do?"
After saying that, he added, "My worthless life is not worth much. If Madam Cui has anything to ask, I am not afraid to tell you a few words."
At the village entrance, Qingzhu was reporting to Cui Xintang.
"Master, as you instructed, I selected two villages and sent people to secretly sow discord between several farmers who had seized other people's land. Those households already had conflicts, and yesterday they indeed got into a fight over the land, almost resulting in a death."
"Those two villages are not far from Yunping County. The news quickly reached the Xu family's ears. As expected, the Xu family couldn't sit still and immediately sent people to the villages below."
Cui Xintang wasn't surprised; she just waited for him to continue.
Qingzhu added, "I sent men to follow them, but the Xu family is cunning, and we have limited manpower. I'm afraid they've already noticed something and are deliberately making a feint."
Cui Xintang lifted her eyelids and glanced at him indifferently.
Qingzhu felt embarrassed; if that were the case, then he was useless.
He touched his nose. "So I didn't have everyone follow the Xu family. I left a few people behind to continue gathering intelligence in secret, based on what we found out before and what Young Master Lin said."
"However... I think we can't completely trust what Young Master Lin says. I've been observing him these past two days, and it doesn't seem like he's just putting on an act when he's following Registrar Xu around."
Why would he need to say these things? Cui Xintang didn't trust Lin Yu to begin with. Putting aside everything else, how could the Xu family hand over their secrets to an outsider?
Qingzhu glanced at his expression and said, "I think it seems that Young Master Lin wants to use the Xu family to force you to take him back to the capital."
Cui Xintang glanced at him, her meaning ambiguous, and said, "You seem to know him quite well."
Qingzhu was startled. "I was just saying it casually. I will only listen to you."
Seeing Cui Xintang looking at him coldly, Qingzhu swallowed and added, "And the young mistress's words."
Cui Xintang was too lazy to guess Lin Yu's thoughts, and he would not be coerced by anyone. He only said, "Leave one person in Yunping County to keep an eye on him and prevent him from getting close to the Xu family again."
Qingzhu asked, "What if we can't stop him? You know Young Master Lin's temperament; he's certainly not someone to be trifled with."
Cui Xintang raised his eyes and gave him a cold look. Qingzhu was startled and immediately understood.
His master was never a good-tempered person. He could bring Lin Yu to Yunping County back then, and he could also bring him away again, and make him suffer a bit.
Cui Xintang said calmly, "Also, after returning to the capital, remind Steward Qian that if he receives another letter from Lin Yu, he should come directly to me and not let Mother know."
Qingzhu replied, "Yes, Master."
The two fell silent for a moment. Cui Xintang looked towards the east end of the village but did not see Meng Yuanxiao.
With his hands behind his back and his brows slightly furrowed, he pondered for a moment before asking, "Have you found anything these past few days?"
There is still no news from Qingzhudao.
It had only been two days, so naturally nothing could be found. Cui Xintang knew that he was just being impatient.
"What about the county government office?"
"Yesterday I secretly met with two officials in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. They did find out some things, but they were all minor. They said they would tell you the details when you return to the county."
As they were talking, Meng Yuanxiao came over from the east end of the village.
Cui Xintang stopped talking, turned around and smiled at her, waiting for her to come over.
Meng Yuanxiao was very surprised to see him. "Brother Tang, why are you back so soon?"
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