Chapter 528 You Are Jealous of Dalang
Until late at night, when he left the meeting hall, Cui Wei still felt unable to react.
The rain was still falling, and Cui Wei and Lu were each accompanied by servants and maids holding umbrellas.
On the way, Cui Wei, under the umbrella, couldn't help but ask his wife beside him: "...Madam, are you really going to Taiyuan?"
Mrs. Lu: "How can I disobey the order of the head of the family?"
"But there was no reluctance in my father's words..." Cui Wei was not able to get away with this. He stopped, frowned slightly and looked at his wife, and said seriously, "You wanted to go, didn't you?"
He stopped suddenly. Mrs. Lu, who was already two steps ahead of him, also stopped at this moment, turned back to look at him, sighed vaguely, and said without denying: "Master Lang, I really want to be with Liu Lang and the others."
After hearing this straightforward answer, Cui Wei felt even more depressed. What was the difference between Lu's words and telling him directly that she did not want to stay with him? To Cui Wei, this almost meant betrayal, subversion and provocation.
All his emotions gradually turned into anger, but due to his dignity, Cui Wei had no choice but to suppress it and try not to vent his anger. He stared at Lu for a while, his eyes were disappointed and puzzled, but he could only say word by word: "Lu, I am your husband..."
This is a reminder and also a question.
He was her husband, so she should stay with him and serve him.
He is her husband, so she should always put him first and respect him.
He is her husband... Even if she has other ideas, she should at least discuss it with him and make a decision only after getting his approval!
She had listened in the hall for so long today, she must know what this separation meant... Could she be naive enough to think that this trip to Taiyuan was just an ordinary trip to visit relatives? After this separation, it was almost like they would become two strangers, and it would be difficult for them to see each other again from now on!
Even though she was always simple-minded, she should not be unaware of the importance of this matter! Facing her husband's disappointed and puzzled eyes, Lu spoke, her voice still gentle, her eyes still showing concern: "Yes, Langzhu is my husband, so after I leave, Langzhu must take good care of himself, otherwise Liulang, Tang'er and I will inevitably worry about you."
“……” Cui Wei clenched his fist, but felt that it was soft, as if he had punched into a ball of cotton.
What is she saying that is evasive?
Did she not understand and was still pretending to be confused? In the past, Cui Wei might have thought it was the former, but at this moment, he vaguely realized that his wife's gentle concern seemed to always reveal a sense of detachment, as if she had never had a clear, frank conversation with him...
Is it true that he really doesn't understand, or has he been deliberately being perfunctory?
Thinking of this possibility, Cui Wei's heart was in turmoil. He felt that the woman in front of him suddenly became extremely unfamiliar, as if he had never really seen her clearly.
This thought made Cui Wei feel embarrassed, and he subconsciously wanted to avoid denying it - did he have to admit that he had never even seen the person next to him clearly?
Seeing that he was clenching his fists and not speaking, Lu bowed slightly and said softly, "It's getting late, Master, go back and rest early."
Cui Wei looked at her and asked, "Where are you going?"
Madam Lu said softly, "I will go and tell Tang'er about our departure so that she can prepare for it."
Cui Wei even felt like he was about to laugh out of anger. Couldn't she see how he felt at the moment? How could she still calmly arrange the departure? Only then did Cui Wei clearly realize that his wife's docility all along was because she didn't care about his emotions at all, wasn't bothered by them, and didn't give him the opportunity to vent...
Seeing that he was silent again, Mrs. Lu said nothing more. She bowed to him again and left with her maid.
The rain was pouring down, and there was a chill between heaven and earth.
Looking at his wife's back, Cui Wei suddenly felt a sense of hesitation and confusion he had never felt before.
He is the head of the family, and should be surrounded by family members who flatter him... But how come he is suddenly the only one left? The eldest son is disobedient and has always been at odds with him, so he has cut off all ties with him. The second son is naughty, but now his father has given him the mission of leading the other half of the Cui family forward... And at this time, his wife is also going to take his daughter and leave him, and this move is almost proactive.
Why is this?
It was clear that he and Lu had been getting along well since they got married, and they had never had any quarrels... Why could she leave him without hesitation at this moment? The huge frustration and the anxiety of losing everything seemed to tell Cui Wei that if he didn't ask for clarification today, he would never have the chance to speak again! Cui Wei clenched his fists, suddenly raised his feet, and walked forward quickly.
Seeing him suddenly rush into the rain, the servant exclaimed "Master" and hurriedly held up an umbrella to follow him, but heard Cui Wei's cold voice: "No need to follow."
Hearing the hurried footsteps behind her, Lu stopped but did not look back.
Until Cui Wei walked up to her in the rain and blocked her way.
The rain was heavy, and in just twenty steps Cui Wei looked very embarrassed.
In the rain, Cui Wei said in a serious tone: "Lu, I have something to ask you."
Mrs. Lu sighed faintly, with helplessness in her eyes. After a moment, she nodded and said, "Master, please come with me to the pavilion first."
Just when the maid, who was holding only an umbrella, didn't know what to do, she saw Cui Wei striding into the pavilion on his own.
The maid accompanied Lu and followed.
After Lu entered the pavilion, the maid tactfully walked away with an umbrella, but she didn't go too far - the master was not in good condition, so she had to keep an eye on him to prevent the lady from being bullied when she left.
"I wonder what my master wants to ask?" Lu asked in the pavilion.
Cui Wei fixed his eyes on her face, as if he wanted to see through her: "I want to ask... you and I have been married for many years, do you have many dissatisfactions with me, but have never expressed them?"
Cui Wei was prepared for Lu to deny it, and if she did, he would have to ask her why she would go to Taiyuan without even asking if she was not dissatisfied. However, the person in front of him sighed and said, "My Lord finally saw through it."
Madam Lu's eyes were calmer than before, but she sighed: "Or maybe, Master Lang is finally willing to distract himself to figure out what I'm thinking."
"You and I have been married for many years and have never had any arguments..." Cui Wei looked at Lu with uncertain eyes: "Whatever dissatisfaction you have towards me, just tell me!"
Instead of perfunctorily treating him for such a long time, and then suddenly abandoning him! Lu also looked at him.
The atmosphere of this conversation was something that had never happened between the two of them before.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Lu asked, "Does the master really want to hear it?"
Cui Wei said without hesitation: "Where did I do something wrong? You may as well tell me one by one!"
"Inappropriate..." Madam Lu seemed to weigh the weight of these two words and asked softly, "Does Langzhu feel that the way you treat Dalang is just inappropriate?"
Cui Wei frowned quickly. He didn't expect that when Lu mentioned her dissatisfaction with him, the first person she thought of would be the eldest son who had no blood relationship with her.
Lu's words made him sneer, and his tone was also tainted with long-suppressed anger: "Since he was one or two years old, his father has regarded him as the future head of the family... and as his father, what's wrong with me being strict with him?"
"There is nothing wrong with being strict in educating a child, especially a noble son of the clan." Lu confirmed it and then asked, "But since he is a son and not a puppet, how can you only be strict?"
When Cui Wei heard this, he was about to speak, but was interrupted by Lu: "If the Lord loves Dalang six out of ten and is strict with him four out of ten, he can naturally be called a competent father--"
"If you are 50% loving and 50% strict with me, you can be called a respectable and strict father—"
"But the master chose to be strict with Dalang twelve out of ten, and never showed him half the love and tolerance of a father..." Mrs. Lu looked at the man in front of her and asked, "In the end, the master thinks that this is not wrong?"
"My Lord, this is not for your father, but for your enemy." Madam Lu said, "My Lord has always treated Ling An like an enemy."
There was no questioning in her tone, it was even still gentle, but it gave Cui Wei a sense of aggressiveness.
"...What nonsense!" Cui Wei suddenly waved his sleeves and took a step back, his eyes still fixed on Lu: "I just hope he can become a talent..."
"My Lord, you don't want him to become a talented person." Lu calmly interrupted Cui Wei and corrected him, "My Lord, you want him to become yourself - you want him to become yourself."
"My Lord hopes that Ling'an will become another you, and wants to do everything he can to erase the original Ling'an, especially those similarities between him and his mother, Madam Zheng."
"Nonsense!" Upon hearing Zheng's name, Cui Wei waved his sleeves again, but his eyes avoided.
Madam Lu seemed unaware of Cui Wei's imminent outburst of emotion, and continued, "The Master disliked Madam Zheng's stubborn and resolute character. Even her death was considered a provocation by the Master—"
"But Madam Zheng committed suicide that year, so the Master must have felt guilty, right?" Madam Lu said, "So the Master is always very suspicious when facing Dalang. The Master suspects that Dalang will hold a grudge against you as his father because of this incident, and will think that you forced his mother to death... But the Master's way of dispelling the grudge is not to comfort him, but to be suspicious and angry."
"When Madam Zheng left, Dalang was just a child... But what did Langzhu do? Did he become suspicious of a child who had just lost his mother and force him to never mention his mother again?"
If she were Mrs. Zheng, knowing that her child was treated like this, she would crawl out of the coffin and would definitely take this man with her.
Cui Wei's face looked no different from that of a dead person. In Lu's eyes, he looked as ugly as if he had been dead for eight hundred years and had just been forcibly dug out of his grave.
Cui Wei's face turned pale, and veins on his forehead throbbed: "Enough!"
He glared at Lu: "Who allowed you to mention her again and again!"
"It was the Master, the Master caught up with me and asked me to tell him." Lu sighed softly, with a helpless look in her eyes - if she didn't tell him, he would want to hear it, and if she told him, he would get angry again.
And this is just the beginning, she hasn’t said enough.
Although he was the one who started shouting, he had no say on when to stop.
Seeing Cui Wei retreating subconsciously, Lu took a step forward, not caring about Cui Wei's life or death, and with a carefree and carefree feeling of "I don't have to live with this life anyway", and continued: "If I'm not mistaken, the reason why the master dislikes Dalang so much is probably because there is another reason that has not been made public, right?"
Facing those eyes that looked much more shrewd and sharp than usual, Cui Wei's heart suddenly sank, as if the most secretive layer of window paper was about to be pierced by her. He raised his hand and pointed at Lu in panic: "Lu... your words and actions today are outrageous, you should shut up!"
Lu raised her hand and gently pressed down Cui Wei's finger, and said softly without pausing, "The master is jealous of Dalang in his heart..."
Cui Wei's pale lips trembled, and he wanted to refute, but Mrs. Lu did not give him a chance to speak: "Da Lang is extremely talented, while Lang Zhu is mediocre... Lang Zhu has seen this clearly since Da Lang was young, and has also noticed the favoritism that the head of the family and the clan members have for Da Lang."
"The master is unwilling to admit that he is not as good as his youngest son, so he suppresses him in the name of being a strict father, hoping to make the eldest son more like you, his father, rather than his mother Zheng. The master wants to raise a shadow of himself, and make that shadow obedient, so as to prove that he is not mediocre."
"So the more Dalang disobeyed and the more successful he became outside, the less the master could tolerate him."
"Because of all these reasons, the young master has been competing with the same child. How can the little fatherly love he has for his child compare to the arrogance and pride in his heart?"
"Lu..." Cui Wei's eyes almost turned red with anger. He gritted his teeth but could not utter a coherent rebuttal.
Unbeknownst to him, his legs had already touched the railing of the pavilion, and he had no way to retreat.
Not far away, the maid who was secretly listening to the conversation in the pavilion was shocked when she saw this scene. She was originally worried that the lady would be bullied, but now it seems that the lady is the one who is "bullying" others? She always feels that the master will collapse and shatter in the next moment... and he will be shattered into powder and can never be picked up again.
"I just said a few words that have never been said before, and the master looked so embarrassed and pitiful. What about Dalang? How many such heart-wrenching words has Dalang heard from the master over the years?"
Mrs. Lu sighed and said, "All along, the reason why I wanted Lang'er and the others to get close to Dalang is not only because Dalang is really useful, but also because Dalang is really pitiful."
Seeing that Cui Wei was speechless, Lu looked at him with pity and finally said comfortingly: "Although you are not as old as the elders and not as young as the younger ones, it is not a fault for you to be mediocre."
Cui Wei's lips trembled: "..."
"Now the Master feels that he is alone, and it is not because he is mediocre." Lu said, "What pushes people away is never mediocrity, but the sharp thorns all over the body."
"My Lord, you feel that you and I have gotten along well over the years. But this harmony is not because I get along with you, my Lord. I force myself to pretend to get along with you."
This sentence made Cui Wei feel even more ashamed. He thought he was looking down on his wife, but the fact was just the opposite. It was his wife who was deceiving him from top to bottom in his life... How ironic was this?
"Although the young master is mediocre, he is not stupid." Lu said, "The reason why the young master has not noticed it is because he has never looked me in the eye and has never thought about putting down his high and mighty dignity to live his life."
"The Lord treats Lang'er and Tang'er in the same way."
Without facing it squarely, there can be no real understanding.
The rain outside the pavilion was much lighter, but the rain in Cui Wei's heart was roaring and piercing through him.
After a long time, he finally raised his red eyes, looked at his wife in front of him, and asked the last question.
"Lu, so all these years... you have never treated me with your true self?"
(I’m going to finish some of the character plots. I’ll write about Ning Ning’s troubles tomorrow!
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