Chapter 10 Chapter 10 He actually remembered Su Li’s fingertips…
Chapter 10
"Master, help me..."
The girl's voice was timid and pitiful.
Su Li thought that there should be no man in the world who doesn't like a delicate and charming woman. If she lowered her neck to show weakness, Cui Jue would be more tolerant of her.
Su Li decided to go all out and reached out to gently hook the corner of Cui Jue's clothes embroidered with bamboo leaf patterns.
Cui Jue looked down.
The girl's nails were moistened by the water stains and became crystal white.
Perhaps because she was afraid of attracting attention, Su Li did not apply nail polish on her hands. She twisted the natural powder on her finger bones and rubbed it carefully on Cui Jue's sleeve.
Cui Jue's eyelashes trembled, hiding the hint of coldness in his eyes.
She was a woman of inner beauty, who only painted rouge on her toes, hiding them among her silk stockings and embroidered shoes. But she pretended to be dignified and elegant to the outside world, without any makeup on her face, and with her hands clean and fresh.
Cui Jue calmly waved his sleeve and slowly pulled back the sleeve that was held in Su Li's hand.
Cui Jue's voice was cold, with a hint of warning in it: "Madam Su, I don't like people pushing their luck."
He remained unmoved.
Su Li's charm had no effect on Cui Jue.
Su Li was swept away, and for a moment she began to doubt her own charm... She believed that she was also a peerless beauty. When she went out, if she did not wear a veil and showed her willow eyebrows and green hair, she only needed a quick glance to seduce the young masters of aristocratic families and make them accidentally bump into a tree.
Su Li has always known that she is not ugly, and that beauty is a sharp weapon to defeat the enemy... But why can't she arouse the slightest sympathy from Cui Jue?
Is Cui Jue’s standards too high?
Su Li glanced at Cui Jue in confusion, but the handsome man had already looked away and his eyes were no longer on her.
Cui Jue slowly walked towards the strong horse, stroked its back, and instructed in a gentle voice: "Chixia, I ask you to bring one person back to the tent."
Su Li was shocked when she heard Cui Jue and Chi Ma talking.
Just as the man finished speaking, the BMW named "Chixia" suddenly bent its knees and lowered its head, heading towards Su Li.
This height is enough for Su Li to climb onto the horse's back.
Su Li was surprised: "Sir, this horse can understand human language?"
"Yeah." Cui Jue spoke briefly and clearly didn't want to say more to her. The tall man turned around, took Su Li's little white horse away, held the reins and urged the horse away, and soon they ran away.
Cui Jue's cold figure slowly disappeared into the thickening night fog.
Su Li finally confirmed at this moment... Cui Jue hated her. He treated horses more gently than he treated Su Li.
Su Li blushed when she thought of what happened before.
It turns out that Cui Jue already had a way to get Su Li to get on the horse safely. But Su Li was shameless and was so bold as to ask Cui Jue to reach out and hug her...
Su Li had a splitting headache.
It was over. She must have left Cui Jue with an extremely frivolous impression.
Su Li shook her head, lay on Chixia's back, hugged the horse's neck, and whispered, "Brother Chixia, I want to go back to the tent in the south. Can you take me there? Also, my foot is injured. Let's run slowly, not too fast, because I'm afraid my legs will hurt... When you complete the task, I'll give you fresh grass cakes as a thank you, okay?"
Chixia snorted under the horse's nose, as if agreeing with Su Li's suggestion, and quickly spread out its four hooves and galloped towards the mountain road ahead.
I don’t know whether Chixia really understood Su Li’s words, or whether the good horses bred by Cui Jue are naturally gentle.
Along the way, Su Li didn't feel any bumps at all, and even her ankles didn't hit the pedals. She was carried back to the camp by Chi Xia steadily and smoothly.
Outside the tent, Qiu Gui hadn't seen his wife for a long time. Seeing the sky was dark and overcast, he suspected that Su Li was trapped in the mountains by the heavy rain.
She was planning to lead a few servants into the mountains to look for someone when she saw Su Li riding a horse back to the tent from afar.
Qiu Gui cried with joy: "My dear, you are finally back!"
Su Li stretched out her hand to the maid and cried out in pain: "Help me up, my ankle is sprained and it hurts."
She dismounted without forgetting to thank Chixia, and said, "Also, go get some fresh grass cakes to feed the horses. Thanks to Brother Chixia, I am able to come back alive..."
However, before Qiugui could get the cake, Chixia had already run away.
Su Li took a look at the round and perky horse's buttocks in the distance and was speechless.
Around Cui Jue...even a horse is so intelligent.
-
When Cui Jue returned to the tent, a drizzle began to fall in the mountains.
The young man's white clothes were splashed with raindrops, and Wei Zhiyan was so frightened that he hurried to greet him with an umbrella. "Master, didn't you ride Chixia when you left this morning? Why did you change horses halfway?"
Cui Jue's beloved horse, Chixia, was a fine Wusun horse sent as tribute to the State of Wu from the Western Regions. With its red mane and snowy hooves, its neighing was like thunder, and it could carry a man at full speed, covering a thousand miles in a day. This horse was a divine one, and Cui Jue greatly loved it.
Even if his best friend Chen Heng coveted Chixia, Cui Jue would not let him ride it casually.
But when he went out today, the owner did not ride a horse back to the camp, but brought back a skinny little white horse. It was really puzzling.
Cui Jue thought about today's absurd events and felt a little tired. "The red cloud is lent to others for transportation... There is no need to look for it. The old horse knows the way and will return by itself at night."
Having said that, Wei Zhiyan was still shocked. You know, Cui Jue rarely expressed his love for something. He personally selected a pearl and jade saddle for Chixia and even washed the horse with his own hands. It can be seen how important and special the divine horse was to him.
How could such a cherished BMW be given to someone else for transportation? Who on earth could possibly have won the favor of the Cui family's respected eldest son?
Cui Jue walked into the tent calmly, raised his sleeves to undress. For some reason, the man's eyes suddenly fell on a corner of his sleeve with dark patterns.
The thin sleeve was touched wantonly by Su Li's finger bones, and her plump fingertips pressed against the clothes. Her skin was smooth and white, and her posture was frivolous.
Su Li did not have the slightest reserve of a lady from a noble family.
She acted recklessly and deliberately got very close to Cui Jue when she was acting coquettishly, so close that when he lowered his head, he could see the girl's misty hair, red lips and beautiful nose...
Cui Jue's outer coat was also soaked in the sweet fragrance of osmanthus flowers brought from Su Lidu.
There was an inappropriate sweet fragrance everywhere.
Cui Jue wanted to ignore it, but the unique fragrance of Su Li was overwhelming and followed him like a shadow.
The sweet smell filled the room.
Just like the bowl of sweet lotus seed soup that Su Li brought.
Cui Jue's eyes suddenly turned cold, and the indifference on his face became even more pronounced.
He took off his rain-soaked coat and walked towards the fire pit.
The man's long finger bones loosened, his robe fell off, and he fell into the fire.
Yellow flames suddenly came and engulfed the clothes.
The raging fire mercilessly burned the dirty white shirt to ashes.
Only black charcoal remained in the fire pit, and the original appearance of the robe was no longer visible.
-
A month later, a serious case occurred in Jianye that terrified the aristocratic families.
Fan Huaide, the Minister of Rites, was reported by his colleagues. They impeached him for breaking the law despite being a high-ranking official. He was so bold as to embezzle the official money sent by the court and cause chaos in the court. He was indeed the number one traitor who was harming the country and the people.
Fan Huaide shielded a relative who had injured someone by letting his horse run, offering a few coins to cover up the loss of civilians run over by horses, and even hired assassins to kill those who tried to redress the injustice done to his family members. Furthermore, to install members of his clan in the Nine Temples and Yamen, Fan Huaide resorted to bribery, colluding with the Six Departments and buying official positions.
From then on, the one hundred and eighty officials working in the Taichang Temple were all related to the Fan family, and the Taichang Temple became a place where the Fan family had the final say.
Fan Huaide's crimes are notorious and the evidence is conclusive.
Emperor Xuanning was furious in court and dismissed him from his post, beheaded him in the market, and banished the entire Fan family back to their hometown.
Fan Huaide was punished for multiple crimes, which brought disaster to his family.
On that day, General Chen Heng joined forces with Cui Jue, received the imperial edict, and led his troops into the Fan family to capture the elders of the clan.
Two teams of armored and armed imperial guards surrounded the aristocratic family's house in an orderly manner. They held blazing torches in their hands, lined up in a dense formation, and had extremely fierce eyes.
Before the Fan family's private soldiers could step forward to protect the family master and fight to the death with the palace guards, Cui Jue had already raised his sleeve and drew his sword, and with the force of thunder, he cut off one of Fan Huaide's arm bones.
The blade was sharp and it broke through the flesh in the blink of an eye, cutting off Fan Huaide's hands and feet.
Crash.
An arm tumbled down.
Blood splattered everywhere, as bright as red plum blossoms.
Strands of black and red blood spread over Cui Jue's mandible, like bloody spider silk.
"Cui Jue! You, you dare to hurt me!" Fan Huaide was in great pain. He covered his shoulders and screamed.
But the next moment, Cui Jue's sword broke through the air again and pierced the old man's throat.
Cui Jue had cold eyes and held a sword in his hand.
The man's eyebrows and eyes were extremely beautiful, like the gods in the murals of the fairy cave, but his official uniform stained with blood still gave off a biting chill that was creepy.
A moment of silence.
The streak of blood that splashed onto Cui Jue's cheek slowly meandered down, covering his bony throat bone. The spot of red in the white flesh looked enchanting and strange.
Cui Jue closed his eyes, raised his thumb, and wiped it away calmly.
This time, not only did the Fan family's private soldiers dare not act rashly, but even Chen Heng was suddenly shocked and stood there in shock.
Cui Jue remained calm, shaking the blood from his sword. He spoke calmly, "Fan Huaide committed treason and disobeyed the Emperor's orders. Even as he lay dying, he wielded his sword to murder court officials. You have defied the Emperor's authority and deserve death... This official, mindful of the Fan family's long-standing devotion to the country, will forgive your actions."
He looked at Fan Huaide as if he were a dead object.
"Today, I have only one question for you: will you become traitors and rebels, to be utterly exterminated by the imperial guards? Or will you be loyal and patriotic, protecting the Wu Kingdom for eternity?"
At this point, the Fan family finally understood.
Cui Jue represents the powerful Wudong Cui family.
He questioned the Fan family and also questioned all the powerful families in the capital... Did they want to go against the Cui family, or just seek death?
The Fan family was completely defeated. The Fan family members were trembling with fear and dared not resist.
The eldest son of the Fan family immediately knelt in front of Cui Jue, as if he had lost his mother, and said nothing.
It was the Fan family who were so ignorant that they dared to bully Cui Jue because he was young, plucking feathers from a tiger's head, and repeatedly testing Cui Jue's bottom line... Although their father was dead now, they were able to save the whole family. This was already Cui Jue's kindness out of consideration for the old friendship between them and the gentry. They dared not bargain anymore.
From then on, the family that had risen due to Fan Huaide's successful career collapsed overnight and disappeared from the eyes of the aristocratic families of Jianye County.
The Fan family had long been in decline. If it weren't for the restoration of imperial power and the emergence of several high-ranking officials from the family, it would not have been considered a prestigious and reputable family.
However, for hundreds of years, the aristocratic families have always suppressed the royal family. This is the first time that the royal family is judging life and death. There is a sense of intimidation like "the king is the leader of the ministers", which makes people feel unhappy.
There were also some prominent and powerful families who saw the situation clearly and understood Cui Jue's methods.
Cui Jue was openly working for the emperor, but secretly he was just trying to pressure the aristocratic families. Anyone who showed disrespect to the Cui family would end up like the Fan family, whose fortunes rose and fell overnight.
After thinking for a moment, those old foxes from the aristocratic families decided to be honest for a while and wait and see how the situation develops.
After all, when choosing between the Cui and Li families, they still wanted to be close to Cui Jue, who came from a noble family, and consolidate the rights and interests of the aristocratic families, so as to prevent the royal family from becoming too powerful in the future and being abandoned by the powerful Emperor Xuanning, and being punished one by one.
When Baozhu, the fifth daughter of the Fan family, learned that her grandfather had an accident, she was so frightened that she almost fainted.
Now the Fan family has become a family of criminals. Fan Baozhu was implicated by her grandfather and her wealth has plummeted. Her former friends have avoided her like the plague and refused to even come to see her off.
Fan Baozhu returned to the remote Xinzhou covered in dust and dirt. While sitting in the carriage, she was so sad that she kept wiping away tears.
Fan Baozhu had a vague guess in her mind, but she didn't dare tell anyone.
Fan Baozhu knew that in the court, only Cui Jue, the eldest son of the Cui family, had such extraordinary means to punish an aristocratic family.
Perhaps it was because Fan Baozhu was too ostentatious at the time. She deliberately showed off the zither given by Cui Jue in front of Princess Chonghua, which made Li Muyao jealous. She cried with Cui Jue behind her back, which brought disaster to the clan!
Cui Jue, heartbroken for the princess, vowed to avenge her lover and attacked the Fan family, wiping them out without a single survivor.
Fan Baozhu's face was pale.
She was terrified for several days and couldn't even eat. She didn't dare tell this secret to her family... Once she told it, Fan Baozhu would become a sinner in the family, and she would be hated to death by her family!
Alas, when I think about it this way, Cui Jue must be madly in love with the princess... If I had known this, Fan Baozhu should not have deliberately competed with the princess of the royal family just to satisfy her vanity.
I really regret ending up like this today!
Compared with the sudden changes in the court, Su Li's life in the inner palace was much more comfortable.
This month, Cui Jue was so busy with official business that he didn't return to Shuyue Pavilion for several days, making it impossible for Su Li to find him even when she wanted to show her courtesy.
Fortunately, Su Li was smart. Since she couldn't please Mr. Cui, she told Qiu Gui to use small favors to please the servants of the Cui family.
Today I will give two pots of old vinegar, the favorite food of Xizhou people, to the old woman from Xizhou. Tomorrow I will give the cook from Dingzhou some ham oil, their favorite food from their hometown... The food is not expensive, but the thought is rare and it really touches the heart.
As time went by, the maids started gossiping more and more in private, and Su Li even knew everything about what Cui Jue wore, what he wore, and what he ate.
On this day, Cui Jue, who had been away from home for many days, finally returned home. Qiu Gui went back to the courtyard to report happily and advised Su Li to go out for a walk in the garden and pretend to meet her by chance... In her opinion, her wife was born with a beautiful face, like a fairy concubine. It was only a matter of time before the eldest son of the Cui family fell at Su Li's feet.
But Su Li knew that Cui Jue was moody and difficult to please, and it was a great blessing for her to be able to speak a few words to him.
Su Li once again made a sweet soup to clear away heat and relieve summer heat, intending to send it to Shuyue Pavilion and present it to Cui Jue.
But just as she approached the courtyard, she faintly heard a girl's laughter approaching.
Su Li was frightened and hurriedly hid behind a tall pine tree nearby.
She looked out fearfully through the gaps between the branches.
It was Cui Jue and a beautiful woman.
Cui Jue has an upright back and is as graceful as a jade tree. He usually travels alone, but today he allowed a woman in a gorgeous dress to accompany him.
From the girl's arrogant eyebrows and bright phoenix crown, it can be seen that she should be the extremely noble Princess Chonghua Li Muyao.
The wife that Cui Jue might marry in the future.
Su Li looked at the scene of the handsome man and beautiful woman from afar, and suddenly felt frightened and guilty.
Indeed, she was determined to seduce Cui Jue.
But Su Li had no intention of destroying his marriage...
In this case, in order to feel less guilty in the future, Su Li had to act as soon as possible before Cui Jue got married.
As long as Su Li and Cui Jue had sex a few times, she would have an excuse to deceive her mother-in-law, Zhou, and even Mr. Cui... Even if she had to pretend, Su Li would pretend to be pregnant and then wait for an opportunity to escape with her grandmother.
-
Cui Jue accompanied Li Muyao all the way today, but he was just pretending that he was not afraid of Li Muyao's closeness.
This would also paralyze Emperor Xuanning and make him mistakenly believe that Cui Jue's arrogance in beheading Fan Huaide in public was simply because he had come to his senses and was willing to form a friendly relationship with the royal family. In the future, he would be so powerful that he would no longer have to endure it.
After Li Muyao returned home, Cui Jue's gentle brows fell, and a hint of gloom appeared in his dark eyes.
He returned to the inner room, threw away the coat whose sleeves Li Muyao had pulled, and prepared water for a bath to wash away the foreign scent that remained from his conversation with others.
Cui Jue closed his eyes to rest. For some reason, he thought of the sleeve that was gently swaying behind the pine tree.
It is a fabric with a dark apricot blossom pattern.
Women's clothing.
Su Li passed through.
Su Li thought her whereabouts were hidden, but she didn't know that when she approached presumptuously, Cui Jue had already keenly noticed the whereabouts of the outsider.
He only took a silent glance and saw the two shiny fingers, cautiously pressing against the tree trunk.
The nails are round and without nail polish.
The familiar fingertips had pinched his sleeve softly and bonelessly.
Cui Jue never cared about these trivial matters, but he actually remembered Su Li's fingertips...
Why?
Cui Jue didn't know.
But he was a little unhappy, his eyes were cold, and he pursed his lips and said nothing.
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