end

end

“You, you——”

This unprecedented unity among the brothers was completely unexpected for Cui Yu. His aloof and superior attitude instantly collapsed. No one feared his authority anymore, so he could only angrily snatch the cane from the messenger and take the field himself.

Cui Yu, gripping the cane tightly, stood before Cui Zhijun and shouted, "Cui Zhijun, have you really thought this through? Are you going to take the punishment for this rebellious son?"

Cui Zhijun, however, lowered his eyes silently, stripping off his round-necked robe alone, exposing his back without a single complaint. Zheng knelt behind him, observing the tiny scars she hadn't counted by candlelight. They were the pain inflicted by years of paternal rituals.

It turned out that this was not the first time he had been punished at home.

Cui Yu was about to bring the cane down when Yu Yuelan called out her name, "Cui Yu, if you dare hit my son today, I'll never let you go—" Cui Yu scolded her for being soft-hearted and said, "Get back now, or I'll hit you too."

Fu Qile knew what the master's situation was like, so he hurriedly stopped Yu Yuelan to prevent her from causing more trouble.

Cui Yu was already furious. He raised his hands up and down without any mercy.

A long, bloody mark instantly lashed out from Cui Zhijun's graying back. Yet, the blood didn't spread. This was the power of family discipline.

Cui Zhijun gritted his teeth and endured it, vowing not to give in.

Zheng grabbed the hem of her skirt tightly, as if the cane was hitting her body.

Cui Zhijian had just received ten small lashes, so after the cane had risen and fallen on Cui Zhijun's back five times, Cui Yu decided to stop. He had always favored Cui Zhijun. After all, he had personally trained him to be a gentleman of propriety, but he had let him down.

The last blow of the cane came down hard, as if in a fit of anger, and Cui Zhijun finally collapsed forward. However, Cui Yu ignored Cui Zhijun's pain and turned around, holding the cane in front of Cui Zhichou. This time, he started to beat him without saying a word.

However, at the moment the vine fell, Cui Zhichou held it tightly and prevented it from moving towards him again.

Cui Yu lowered his eyes and saw Cui Zhichou's eyes wandering. He stammered, "Dad, Dad. Wait, wait, I... I'm not ready yet... Let's talk about it. Can you hit me a little more gently..."

But is now the time to bargain?

Cui Yu scowled, then lifted the cane and yanked it from his grasp. Then he tried again, only to be caught accurately by the timid Cui Zhichou. Cui Yu stared at Cui Zhichou in astonishment. Cui Zhichou didn't know why he was beating like that, perhaps it was just a conditioned reflex from being so used to being beaten by Song Mingyue.

He could only explain awkwardly: "No, no, Dad, please listen to my explanation - I didn't mean it!"

And so it goes back and forth.

Pull out, take action, and catch it accurately.

Cui Yu felt like he was being teased. Unable to bear it any longer, he kicked Cui Zhichou, threw the cane away, and shouted, "My family is in misfortune, my family is in misfortune. I think you are going to piss me off to death before you stop. I can't take care of this family anymore——"

"snort."

After he finished speaking, he turned away.

Cui Yu was so angry at Cui Zhichou that he ran out of the door, leaving everyone in the hall confused.

Is this leaving?

Zheng looked back at Cui Zhichou in surprise, and everyone else also looked at him.

Cui Zhichou looked at everyone in confusion, then stood up with an innocent look on his face, repeatedly explaining, "Don't look at me, I really didn't mean it..."

-

The farce is ultimately resolved in farcical fashion.

The two brothers, covered in wounds, were taken home by their respective wives.

It wasn't until they parted ways at a fork in the road that Cui Zhijian, standing under the shadow of a tree for the first time, called out so profoundly, "Second Brother."

Cui Zhijun looked back beside Zheng.

He didn't say anything.

Cui Zhijian, a six-foot tall man, was silent for a long time before he uttered with difficulty, "Thank you."

Thanks,

You're willing to stand on my side.

This was something Cui Zhijian found difficult to say, but Cui Zhijun seemed to have guessed what he was going to say. Without any surprise, he simply nodded and said, "Brother, please get some rest. We'll take our leave now."

They are all so bad at expressing themselves.

But the affection between brothers is deeply hidden in that silence.

"Go ahead." Cui Zhijian nodded in agreement.

Several people parted ways.

-

Holding Cang Yi's neck, walking on the path leading to Yinjianju, Cui Zhijian smiled inexplicably.

Seeing him like this, Cang Yi thought of the worry he had given him and could not help but complain: "Cui Zhijian, smile. You can still smile——"

"Laugh, why not laugh? My brothers are so righteous. As the eldest brother, I can wake up laughing even in my dreams." Cui Zhijian was heartless. Those scars that were so vivid in Cang Yi's eyes seemed like chicks pecking at rice to him, not worth mentioning.

But how could Cui Zhijian not notice Cang Yi's concern?

After being married for so long, they still had some tacit understanding. He turned to look at Cang Yi and began to soothe her emotions: "My dear, I have frightened you these past two days. I swear, I will never be so impulsive again. I will obey you in everything from now on. Will you forgive me just this once?"

Cang Yi's expression eased a little.

Although she was a little angry, she didn't blame him too much.

"Okay, Cui Dalang, I'll trust you just this once." Cang Yi didn't ask for much, just peace and stability. Cui Zhijian understood, but if the old lady hadn't been involved yesterday, he wouldn't have been so impulsive. Gazing at Cang Yi's features, Cui Zhijian felt a familiar sense of peace.

Just like when we first met.

Standing in front of the door of Yinjianju, Cui Zhijian suddenly stopped, hugged Cang Yi and kissed him unexpectedly.

The kiss made Cang Yi look confused.

Cang Yi immediately shook off Cui Zhijian's arm, wiped the cheek he had kissed, and scolded in a delicate voice, "Cui Zhijian, you bastard, you are really thick-skinned. I see that you are fine, so you should let your father punish you more."

But Cui Zhijian was laughing secretly.

Cang Yi's boldness is rare, and he quite likes his wife like this.

Cui Zhijian aggressively grabbed Cang Yi's hand, which was wiping his face, and forced it against his chest, demanding, "Fine me more? I'm tough, I'm not afraid. But don't you feel bad? I saw some people almost crying in the ancestral hall today."

"You scoundrel." Cang Yi wrestled with him, wrestling his wrists.

Cui Zhijian refused to give up even a little.

However, at this moment, a small head followed the sound and stopped at the door, blinking and looking around.

The little girl called out, "Auntie."

Oops,

He almost forgot about it.

Cui Zhijian hurriedly let go of Cang Yi under the little girl's gaze. Cang Yi, like someone who had been caught doing something bad, quickly straightened his clothes and then stepped forward, "Xiao Yu, why aren't you asleep yet? Didn't your aunt make your bed?"

The little girl's eyes were bright. She reached out and tugged at Cang Yi's palm, saying sweetly, "Auntie, Xiaoyu can't sleep. Xiaoyu wants to wait for you to come back."

The soft little girl is adorable.

Cang Yi changed his disgusted look towards Cui Zhijian, shook the little girl's arm, and smiled slightly, "Oh~ Xiaoyu is waiting for Auntie to come back. Auntie should apologize to Xiaoyu. It's my fault for coming back late. I made Xiaoyu worried."

The little girl smiled and said, "It's okay."

"Then let's go in."

Cang Yi had a kind look on her face. The little girl nodded and was about to follow her into the yard.

This made Cui Zhijian, who was injured and felt neglected, unhappy. Cui Zhijian coughed twice, trying to get the mother and daughter's attention, "Ahem, why does Xiaoyu only want auntie? What about uncle? Why doesn't she want uncle anymore?"

The little girl stopped and looked back, timidly staring at Cui Zhijian for a long time, and finally raised her arm to invite him. Cui Zhijian was easy to please, so he walked over happily, took the little girl's hand, and the three of them walked out the door.

As soon as she entered the door, the little girl remembered something. She looked up at Cui Zhijian and shared with him enthusiastically, "Uncle. Xiaoyu helped my third uncle's mother's younger brother to name his. My third uncle's mother rewarded Xiaoyu with a basket of candy balls. Xiaoyu will treat you to some—"

But this sentence might be the one Xiaoyu regretted saying the most in her life. Because that night, Cui Zhijian ate a whole basket of candy balls from the little girl alone...

This made Cang Yi so angry that he got up in the middle of the night and kicked him twice, but he didn't understand.

-

Over at Yinzhu Yatang, Cui Zhijun returned injured, but Aunt Wu wasn't the least bit surprised. She simply fetched the medicine box silently, handed it to Taishi Zheng, and retreated to the east room.

Cui Zhiyun sat on the edge of the couch and carefully took off his clothes.

Zheng stood aside silently. She had been in this state since she came out of the ancestral hall.

Cui Zhijun didn't dare to ask more questions, but he understood that she must be worried about him, but he didn't know how to start talking for a moment.

Cui Zhijun could only observe her expression and tentatively touched her arm. "Xiao Zheng, did I scare you today? Is there anything wrong?"

Zheng looked at Cui Zhijun expressionlessly, shook her head and said, "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Erlang, turn around, I'll apply medicine on you."

Is everything really alright?

Cui Zhijun always felt that something was wrong, but he still turned around obediently.

He gave her his injured back.

Suddenly, the heartbreaking wound plunged into her eye socket, and Zheng couldn't help but reach out to touch it. Cui Zhijun hissed, but didn't hide. He had now revealed all his vulnerability to Taishi Zheng.

Zheng held her breath and asked in a deep voice, "Does it hurt, Erlang?"

Cui Zhijun was quite frank and answered with a "hmm".

But the next second, something fell from my back?

Why is the medicine I applied today so itchy and hot?

Cui Zhijun turned around in surprise, only to find Taishi Zheng standing behind him, tears streaming down her face. Her expression of grievance was filled with heartache for him. This frightened Cui Zhijun so much that he immediately stood up and stood in front of Taishi Zheng, frantically explaining, "Zheng... Xiao Zheng, Madam, don't... don't cry. I'm fine, I'm really fine."

But how can those scars be used to scare people?

The more Cui Zhijun tried to comfort her, the more aggrieved Zheng felt. She wiped away her tears while complaining on Cui Zhijun's behalf, "It's okay, how can it be okay? This must be painful—my father-in-law must have hit me too hard."

But the more I cried, the more wrong it felt.

Zheng suddenly dropped her hands and turned to Cui Zhijun for help, "Wait, Erlang. This ointment seems to have gotten into my eyes. It's spicy, very spicy——"

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