"Are you doing this on purpose just to piss me off?" Zhou Gu recalled the gift that Cui Yanjin had given him - a few articles he had written after acquiring some knowledge, asking him to critique. Who sends articles as a birthday gift? It would be better to give nothing.
Su Rong smiled, hiding the bracelet in her sleeve, "Alright, alright, I’ve put it away now. You can’t see it, so don’t be angry anymore. Tomorrow ..."
Before she could say anything more, a few young boys quietly entered the hall. One of them, swift as the wind and soon found himself face-to-face with Su Rong, grabbed onto the Nanchu King in a tight embrace.
The Nanchu King was surprised, "Little Yanjin?"
Cui Yanjin nodded enthusiastically, not letting go of the Nanchu King, accusingly pointed at Zhou Gu, silently saying, "My cousin is bullying me."
He chose not to hold onto Su Rong, so he had to cling onto the Nanchu King. He had no other choice. If he didn’t, his cousin would be right there in front of him, ready to literally toss him out before he could even lodge his complaint. So, smartly, he decided to hold onto someone whom his cousin can’t simply throw out along with him – the King.
The Nanchu King was both surprised and slightly baffled by the tight hug by Cui Yanjin.
Seeing the King being "attacked", the palace guards had already unsheathed their swords. But seeing that it was Cui Yanjin, who was just hugging the King, they were unsure whether to re-sheath their swords.
This act could be seen as a great disrespect towards the King by a courtier.
"What are you saying? I can’t hear you," the Nanchu King said to Cui Yanjin.
With a look of grievance on his face, Cui Yanjin turned to Su Rong and said "My cousin gave me an aphasia drug.", he then pointed at Zhou Gu while tightly clutching onto the Nanchu King, his eyes filled with accusation.
The Nanchu King turned his gaze towards Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu’s face darkened. "Cui Yanjin, go back to your seat."
"No." Cui Yanjin continued lodging his complaint to Su Rong. "Cousin-in-law, my cousin is bullying me, he fed me an aphasia drug."
The Nanchu King had no idea what was happening, he couldn’t understand the unintelligible speech, and all he could do was watch Cui Yanjin and Zhou Gu.
Su Rong understood the situation and turned to Zhou Gu. "Did you feed aphasia drug to your little cousin?"
Zhou Gu grunted in response.
With an exasperated look, she confronted him, "Why did you bully him?"
"He started it." Zhou Gu pointed to the bracelet hidden beneath her sleeve. "He gave you a gift like this, ruining the hard work I put into picking a gift for you."
Understanding the situation, Su Rong laughed and replied "Whatever you gift, I’ll love it. I love you even if you don’t send me a gift."
Zhou Gu enjoyed hearing this, his face filled with pride.
Cui Yanjin widened his eyes "Cousin-in-law! He’s bullying me!"
Seeing that she didn’t bring along any jars or bottles, Su Rong spread her hands towards Zhou Gu. "The antidote."
Zhou Gu refused. "Let him stay mute to prevent him from complaining."
Su Rong laughed and coaxed him, "Quickly, everyone is watching. It will become a joke. You are the husband of the princess."
After saying that, she leaned towards Zhou Gu and whispered so only both of them could hear, "You can pay him back behind the scenes when you get a chance."
Zhou Gu frowned, "I did take the opportunity today, but look at him, he still ran to you to complain. This is a palace banquet, he couldn’t even endure it until it was over and showed up in public. And he had the nerve to cling on to my father-in-law without letting go, wasn’t he afraid that the palace guards would stab him, mistaking him for an assassin?"
Isn’t it assuming too much for anyone to think that they can simply hug the King? How audacious is Cui Yanjin, taking advantage of our presence here to act without fear.
Su Rong agreed, thinking about how to pacify him, she tried suggesting another plan, "Then, find a legitimate reason to punish him in broad daylight so that even I can’t help him."
Zhou Gu raised an eyebrow, "It seems that you are indeed on my side."
"Of course, you are my future husband, after all, a cousin is still a cousin, right?" Su Rong replied, despite feeling a little guilty about lying.
Satisfied, Zhou Gu took out a vial of medication and tossed it to Cui Yanjin. "Go sit somewhere else."
Not trusting him, Cui Yanjin passed the medication to Su Rong, "Cousin-in-law, can you check this? Is it an antidote? Or is my cousin attempting to use this chance to poison me to death?"
Su Rong laughed, not surprised that Zhou Gu wanted to teach him a lesson. With such a cheeky attitude, the only reason he could still walk around freely under Zhou Gu’s watch was probably due to his Cui family affiliation.
After a glance, she nodded, "Yes, just eat it!"
Only then did Cui Yanjin believe her. He popped the antidote in his mouth, let go of the Nanchu King, and formally apologized, "Your Majesty, I apologize. My cousin was being too hateful. He fed me an aphasia drug, and if I didn’t cling onto you, I was afraid he would throw me out without giving me the antidote."
The Nanchu King finally understood the situation and found it amusing. He looked at Cui Yanjin and remarked, "You’re truly smart."
He patted Cui Yanjin’s head, "Sit at your place quickly! Although I’m not sure what happened, I guess you must have provoked your cousin."
Cui Yanjin, "..."
No wonder the King, who had given my cousin an entire weapons repository as a gift, was supportive of his son-in-law.
He made a face at Zhou Gu, then turned to Su Rong and smiled brightly, saying "Thank you, Cousin-in-law", he then clattered away to sit at his place.
The courtiers watched the scene, startled and amazed, while reflecting how wrong they had been to oppose Cui Yanjin’s entry into court due to his age. Who could rival his favor?
Behind Mister Cui, sat the children of the Qinghe Cui family, Cui Xingzhi and Cui Yanjin, on his left and right respectively, half a seat behind him.
He questioned Cui Yanjin, "Why were you so reckless, rushing towards the King?"
Cui Yanjin immediately lodged a complaint with Mister Cui.
"Great great uncle, my cousin is unreasonable. He learnt about the gift that I gave to cousin-in-law and became angry. Then he had Brother Ziye to capture me and fed me an aphasia drug. I can’t stay mute forever, right? It’s so uncomfortable. So I ran to my cousin-in-law to complain..."
Then he explained why he had to hold on to someone who can’t easily be tossed away and ended up choosing to cling on to the King.
After all, he was very satisfied with the result - cousin-in-law managed to get the antidote from his cousin who reluctantly gave it.
Mister Cui laughed and also felt a little annoyed "That Zhou Gu..."
"Exactly, Great-Great-Uncle, he was the one who gave a bad gift, why is he blaming me?" Cui Yanjin continued his complaint, "Great Great Uncle, you should know by now, right? Look at his face, so black with anger, he really has a terrible temper. Have you scolded him yet?"
"Not yet."
"Then you need to find a chance to scold him, he’s so unreasonable." suggested Cui Yanjin.
"Mmm, in this situation, he is indeed the one at fault." Mister Cui found it strange how Zhou Gu, being a few years older than Little Yanjin, had actually bullied a child? No wonder Cui Yanjin had complained.
Cui Xingzhi then chuckled, "Cousin-in-law had her birthday, and you stole the spotlight with a gift that suited Cousin-in-law’s liking. What do you expect cousin to give? It’s understandable that he punished you."
Cui Yanjin glanced at Cui Xingzhi unhappily, "Brother, he is your superior, no wonder you take his side."
Cui Xingzhi was speechless, "Then you should be careful. If you’re transferred to the Ministry of Housing one day..."
Cui Yanjin’s face revealed his refusal, "I don’t want to go to the Ministry of Housing."
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