Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Jinjiang first release
Chapter 18
Five days later, Mrs. Zhou, the mistress of the Su family, received an expedited letter from Su Li.
Su Li was well aware of Zhou's cunningness, so she would verify the truth with the Second Madam to prevent Su Li from lying.
The mother-in-law would exchange letters with Mr. Cui so that she could protect Su Li's baby in time.
What Su Li wanted to bet on was whether Cui Jue would acquiesce or adopt an ambiguous attitude when Mr. Cui asked him in the future whether he had any private contact with the Su family's wife.
This would give Su Li some chance to escape...
Because Su Li had lost her virginity to Cui Jue, Zhou was willing to reward her and allow her to meet her grandmother.
Su Li got on the carriage arranged by the Su family's informant. Someone was guarding her the whole time, and even covered her eyes with a black cloth to prevent her from memorizing the route.
But what Zhou didn't know was that Qiu Gui had already been bribed by Su Li, and she would help Su Li remember the way.
But Su Li also had a backup plan. She had started raising birds specifically for delivering messages several years ago. These carrier birds had very strong memories and could even find their way by smell. Therefore, Su Li would specially refine a scented powder mixed with honey cinnamon, which she used to fumigate clothes every day. This also made it easier to tell the birds with small brains about her location.
When they arrived at the courtyard where her grandmother lived, Su Li stuffed the scented powder into the boxes where old clothes were placed.
In this way, the grandmother's body will also be stained with the familiar scent of the carrier pigeon. No matter where the grandmother is, the carrier pigeon raised by Su Li will be with her, which also makes it convenient for Su Li to contact the grandmother privately.
But this is Su Li's only trump card. She will not reveal it easily unless it is absolutely necessary, so as to prevent Zhou from slaughtering all the birds and hiding her grandmother again in a place where Su Li cannot find her.
If you count carefully, Su Li hasn't seen her grandmother for two or three months.
When she saw the old man sitting upright in the hall, her eyes became hot.
The grandmother tugged at her new clothes nervously. Although she was afraid of the Su family's guards, she still showed a kind and peaceful smile when she saw Su Li for the first time.
"Pear."
My grandmother is in good spirits and looks energetic, but she has a few more white hairs on her temples, perhaps because she has been too worried recently.
Su Li wiped away her tears, lay on the old lady's knees, and choked up and said: "Grandma, Li Li is unfilial. I haven't come to see you for so many days. You must be very lonely, right?"
The old lady knew very well that Su Li had gone through a lot. Over the years, she had known how vicious and cruel the Su family was. If she hadn't been worried about Su Li being left alone in the world, she would have wanted to risk her life to avoid becoming Su Li's weak spot and causing her to suffer from the Su family.
"Don't blame Lili, it's all because of grandma's uselessness..." The old lady was in tears. Su Li was afraid that she would hurt her eyes from crying, so she didn't dare to say anything more.
Su Li raised her hand to wipe the old woman's tears and said with a smile, "Look at me, I've made grandma cry again. We rarely meet, so let's not talk about this. Look, grandma, Lili brought you some brocade clothes for autumn and winter, as well as your favorite blue cloth shoes, which are inlaid with rabbit fur and are very soft to wear. Try them on to see if they fit your feet."
Every time Su Li came to see her grandmother, she would bring her food and clothes, fearing that the old lady would starve. However, the Su family did not treat the old lady badly in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation. After all, the old lady lived a long life, so Zhou could control Su Li as she pleased.
Su Li dressed up to entertain her parents, and Qiu Gui naturally wanted to join in the fun.
Qiu Gui smiled and said, "Madam, please try them on quickly. If they don't fit, I can help you alter them. My wife went to several cloth shops just to buy the rabbit fur for these shoes, fearing that the fur wouldn't be warm enough and you'd be cold in this cold winter!"
After hearing this, the grandmother smiled brightly and said, "Lili is the most filial!"
After trying on the shoes and socks, the master and servant sat down to have dinner with the old man.
The cook has already prepared today's dinner.
In order to reassure Su Li, the dishes prepared were naturally rich.
But Su Li also realized that the cook had no idea what her grandmother liked. Although the dishes she served were rich fish and meat that ordinary poor families could not afford, they did not suit her grandmother's light taste.
Thinking of this, Su Li went to the kitchen in person and told the new chef the recipe of her grandmother's favorite dish. Then she rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen to stew a dish of clam egg custard that her grandmother loved.
Clams are a cheap and delicious river delicacy. When Su Li was a child, she often carried a bamboo basket to the wasteland by the river to catch clams.
It is as small as a melon seed and you can peel it and remove the meat with a light hit. Although the meat is small, it is extremely delicious when stir-fried with leeks. It is a meat dish that even poor people can afford.
Su Li added a few more dishes and coaxed her grandmother to eat a full bowl of rice.
Grandma was happy and held Su Li's hand while pulling Qiu Gui.
She said to Qiu Gui, "Miss Qiu Gui, thank you for taking care of Lili all the time."
Grandmother never treated Qiu Gui as a slave. She was just a little girl and it was not easy for her to make a living.
Qiu Gui's parents died early, leaving her with few surviving relatives. She treated Su Li's grandmother with great respect. Hearing the old woman's affectionate words, her heart ached, and she hurriedly said, "It's all thanks to you, my lady, for taking care of me. Being able to serve you is a blessing I've earned through many lifetimes."
My grandmother knew that walls have ears, so she didn't dare say anything.
She turned to look at Su Li again, carefully examining her granddaughter who had grown into a pretty girl.
Grandma smiled and asked her, "How have you been lately, Lili?"
Su Li, who always reports good news but not bad news, suddenly remembered some old things at this moment.
She thought about how Prince Jing almost raped her, how she offered herself voluntarily that night, and what Cui Jue did to her.
Cui Jue was forced to do nothing but to break Su Li's body with his hands. No matter how submissive and flattering Su Li was, he would not show any tenderness to her... After removing the aphrodisiac, Cui Jue pulled away coldly and wiped the blood on his finger bones on the handkerchief bit by bit.
The handkerchief stained with the woman's blood was eventually burned by Cui Jue and turned into ashes.
Cui Jue's eyes were indifferent, without a trace of tenderness.
Cui Jue remained unmoved by Su Li's fake smile and her tears.
Su Li knew very well that it was all her own fault.
She also remembered the disgust in Cui Jue's eyes. He looked at her as if he was looking at something lowly and dirty.
He felt that Su Li was so disrespectful and had no self-respect.
That night, Su Li realized how disgusting she was, but in order to survive, Su Li had to endure these difficulties, disgust, and scorn... There was no other way.
A caring word from her grandmother suddenly brought Su Li back to reality.
Su Li remembered the dream she had longed for for many years. She wanted to escape from her wealthy family and stay away from the aristocratic family.
Su Li is actually not that pitiful. She is also cared for by her grandmother. She is also a young lady loved by her elders. She is not annoying everywhere.
Su Li's heart ached. She lowered her head, leaned on her grandmother's shoulder, and rubbed against her like a spoiled child.
The moment Su Li touched the old man's soft old clothes, she couldn't help but burst into tears.
Su Li's nose felt sore, as if she had been enduring it for too long. At this moment, she really couldn't stand these inexplicable grievances.
"not good……"
Su Li shed tears and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, Li Li is not doing well at all."
-
Su Li and Cui Jue's affair could not be hidden for long and was soon discovered by the second wife.
Su Li did not say that Cui Jue would rather die than obey on the "night of the wedding consummation". She omitted the beginning and the end and only mentioned vaguely that because of Cui Jue, she was no longer a virgin.
The second wife understood. She thought Su Li was being subtle but was just too thin-skinned.
Come to think of it, Su Li is still the widow of the second wife, how can she have the nerve to say that she had an affair with her late husband's cousin.
The mother-in-law was very considerate of Su Li. In order to help her daughter-in-law give birth to a boy, she even went to the temple to worship Guanyin, the goddess of fertility, and told Mr. Cui the good news.
That night, Mr. Cui called Su Li to Yunxi Garden for a secret talk.
Mr. Cui looked at the young lady sitting below him and asked gently, "Are you and Lan Ju really together?"
Su Li knew that although Mr. Cui looked kind and gentle, he had been in control of the Cui family, the number one family, for many years and was definitely not a stupid person. She had to be cautious in order to deceive the old elders of the Cui family.
Su Li lowered her head in fear, her palms sweating from nervousness. "Yes...but the eldest master doesn't know that his grandson's wife is the widow of the second wife. If he knew, he would probably be furious. I beg Grandfather Cui to keep this a secret for his grandson's wife."
Mr. Cui sighed. He certainly knew that his eldest grandson, as a model of aristocratic family since childhood, valued etiquette and dogma. Now, without anyone knowing, he could make an exception for Su Li and have sex with her, which was an extremely rare thing.
Cui Weng knew that Su Li must have put in a lot of effort, so he praised Su Li for her understanding: "You are a good person, it's hard for you."
Su Li shook her head: "For the sake of Ming's descendants who have adopted him in the afterlife, I am happy to do so and I don't feel wronged."
Of course, Mr. Cui knew that before Cui Jue married the princess, the eldest son and daughter of the Cui family's eldest branch should not have been born.
But he pretended to be deaf and dumb on the surface, acting as an old man who did not care about state affairs, but in his heart he did not like the Li Dynasty. If his descendants were to have Li blood in the future, wouldn't the imperial power take away most of Cui's family property for nothing?
It was for this reason that he agreed to the idea of the second branch inheriting the throne... At least there was still a direct bloodline belonging to Cui Jue in the family, who could continue the family business, so that the huge ancestral property of the Cui family would not be swallowed up by the Emperor Li.
"If you can get pregnant soon, Erlang and Cisun will be very happy to know. Go ahead, take good care of yourself, and get pregnant soon."
Mr. Cui didn't say anything more. After rewarding Su Li with some precious medicinal herbs, he let her go back to Mudong Pavilion to rest.
Su Li was still waiting for the opportunity to escape, and in the blink of an eye it was mid-October.
The 31st year of Xuanning.
This year, Jianye County was extremely cold, with biting north winds and heavy snowfall. The fine snow, as fine as salt grains, covered the peaks and valleys, shrouding the green pines that looked like a forest.
The streets and alleys of Jianye capital were all covered in silver.
Shops started selling winter clothes, firewood, and charcoal early in preparation for the coldest days of winter.
Su Li glanced at the eaves covered with icicles and thought that in such cold weather, not to mention the fatigue of the journey, her grandmother's body would not be able to withstand it. Even if she took her grandmother to the border county far away from the capital, they might run into the Hu soldiers who were causing trouble due to lack of food and clothing in the frontier.
She was a delicate woman, beautiful and slim, with a family to support. If she ran around at such an unfavorable time, she would probably become a victim of the local soldiers and cavalry.
Su Li had to be patient for a while and wait until spring came after the New Year when the ice and snow melted before she could make her escape plan.
At the end of October, a rebellion broke out in a small country in the Western Regions, and there was a hint of invasion. Cui Jue was afraid that the rebels would gather and threaten the territory of Wu State, so he took the initiative to volunteer, holding the king's seal, dispatching the cavalry army, and selecting a group of elite troops trained by the Cui family to go to the frontier to suppress the Hu soldiers.
As soon as Cui Jue left, the young ladies who were staying at Cui's house all lamented, but Su Li felt unprecedented relief. At least no matter how anxious her mother-in-law and Zhou were, they had no way to force her to "sleep with Cui Jue" for the time being.
Su Li began to test whether her grandmother could receive the carrier bird she used to deliver messages.
Sometimes, Su Li would deliberately tie a piece of dry grass on the ankle of the carrier bird. When it came back at night, Su Li would find that the dry grass had been removed, and instead a colorful rope made of five-colored silk threads was tied to its tail feathers.
Su Li knew immediately that her grandmother had received it.
Su Li breathed a sigh of relief when she was able to determine where her grandmother lived.
Su Li carefully took off the silk thread, the corners of her mouth turned up, and a shallow dimple appeared on her cheek.
She remembered that when she was little, she coveted the velvet flower bracelet on her neighbor's wrist. She was secretly envious every time, but she didn't want her grandmother to waste money to buy it for her.
Seeing that she wanted a flower bracelet, her grandmother specially picked out five colors of silk threads and twisted them into five-colored ropes for her. She also bought a turbid jade bead of not very good quality and strung it on a necklace for Su Li.
My grandmother was from the countryside and had a limited vision. She didn't know what color matching was appropriate for embroidery workshops or jewelry stores.
She only knew that red was beautiful, green was beautiful, and yellow was beautiful too... She wanted to wrap all the beautiful threads in the world together and give them to her most precious granddaughter.
Su Li's nose felt sore. She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, hid the silk thread in her makeup box, and kept it carefully.
-
When Cui Jue quelled the rebellion on the border and returned to the court, it was already the end of the year.
It is said that on the day when Cui Jue led his army back in triumph, the people of the capital lined the streets to welcome him, and the streets were deserted. Even Emperor Xuanning went to the city gate in person to welcome Cui Jue.
The soldiers' weapons are sharp and the cavalry are rolling.
Teams of well-trained soldiers, wearing armor and holding weapons, followed Cui Jue, who was wearing black armor and looked extraordinary and brave, and rode into the city.
Cui Jue dismounted and saluted. Emperor Xuanning personally helped him up, and the monarch and his ministers drank fine wine together. Such a scene of a wise monarch and virtuous ministers was truly touching.
Cui Jue had already achieved unparalleled achievements, and he should have concealed his talents to avoid the imperial power's fear. However, he did not do so. Not only did he let the elite soldiers trained privately by the Cui family help in the battle, he also served the emperor at all times, led the army to fight in various places, and expanded the territory for the Li family... Such diligence made the common people and the noble families more certain that Cui Jue had the intention of marrying the princess.
Cui Jue and Li Muyao's marriage is probably getting closer.
During the New Year banquet, rewards from the palace flowed into the Cui family like water.
When the ladies at the banquet learned that Cui Jue would be returning home tonight, they were all excited and looking forward to it. Some even urged the maids to go back to their rooms to get pearl flowers and lip balm so that they could touch up their makeup.
Only Su Li felt a little lost in the taste of the delicacies displayed on the table.
She quietly asked Cui Shunying at the next table, "Isn't it said that the eldest son must be a vegetarian for seven days every time he returns from a victory? Then can he eat our feast tonight?"
Cui Shunying seemed to have heard something amusing and couldn't help but chuckle, "This is a family feast prepared by my grandfather. Even if my brother is unhappy, he can't cancel the feast. He can only choose not to eat the meat on his own table!"
"Oh..." Su Li responded disappointedly.
It seems that Cui Jue will come tonight.
Speak of the devil and he will appear. The originally bustling hall suddenly became quiet.
Su Li was someone who could read people's expressions. When she noticed that the atmosphere in the banquet hall was not right, she felt uneasy and immediately lowered her head, pretending to be quiet.
She hadn't seen Cui Jue since the last "hand-relieving" incident. Later, when Cui Jue went out to fight and hadn't returned for several months, she didn't have to look at Cui Jue's face anymore.
Su Li only hoped that Cui Jue would have been killing enemies for several months and would be used to seeing life and death, so he would treat her little offense that night as a minor episode and forget it after it was over.
But it is obvious that Cui Jue is a person who holds grudges.
As he walked, he paused slightly in front of Su Li's desk. After a moment of silence, he walked towards the main seat.
Su Li quietly raised her head and glanced at Cui Jue who was in the upper position.
The man's gaze did not linger on her, but he turned sideways and said some toasts to Mr. Cui for longevity.
But Su Li noticed that after not seeing him for many days, the cold aura around Cui Jue became stronger.
He had phoenix eyes, thin lips, long eyebrows, and black hair tied up in a crown. He still had those delicate and handsome eyes, but perhaps because Cui Jue had killed too many people and absorbed the blood of the Hu people, he wore a black cloak and looked even more cold and ghostly than before.
Su Li took a look and hurriedly lowered her head, fearing that Cui Jue would know what she was thinking.
However, Cui Jue noticed the burning gaze from the side and frowned uncomfortably.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye and recognized that it was Su Li's gaze.
The young lady lowered her head with her slender neck drooping. The fluffy hair behind her head was clearly visible in the yellow candlelight of the copper lamp beside her. She was very gentle and well-behaved.
But Cui Jue knew that she was pretending.
Cui Jue had sharp eyesight and saw several red marks on the back of Su Li's neck...
The man averted his eyes and took a sip of wine silently.
He thought of how after a victory, soldiers would often hang out in brothels in towns and cities, and when they returned to the camp, they would have many red marks on their necks.
It is said to be a kiss left by a woman.
Before Cui Jue could think about it, Cui Shunying suddenly exclaimed and whispered to Su Li: "Sister Su, you were bitten too? My hands are all over the marks! If I had known the floor heating at home was hot, I would have been more careful about pests. There are still mosquitoes in the middle of winter. Who would believe it if I told others!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Jue called over the maidservant and said, "Since it's mosquitoes that are causing trouble, get some mugwort to fumigate the house, and then send ointment to each room to reduce swelling and itching."
The Cui family has no lady in charge, so even small matters like this sometimes have to be reviewed by Cui Jue before any arrangements can be made.
When the young ladies heard Cui Jue's thoughtfulness, they were flattered and hurriedly thanked him.
Only Su Li smiled at Cui Shunying and said, "Your brother really loves you. He knew you were bitten by mosquitoes and specially brought you some ointment."
She thought that it would be a good idea to flatter Cui Jue more and talk more about their deep brotherly love.
But Cui Jue obviously disliked her to the core. He didn't say a word after listening to her, and didn't even glance at Su Li.
Su Li no longer made herself bored and spent the whole night drinking and eating.
Cui Shunying was in a good mood tonight as she waited for her brother to come home. She remembered that Su Li had a low alcohol tolerance and her face would turn red as soon as she drank, which was quite charming like a young girl.
Cui Shunying wanted to tease Su Li, so she deliberately coaxed her into eating two more cups. She didn't stop until Su Li's earlobes turned red.
Cui Jue, on the other hand, took a look and ordered the maid to remove the wine from the table.
Cui Shunying grumbled in dissatisfaction: "Brother, it's New Year's Day, don't spoil the fun like this!"
"Even after the New Year, you're only fourteen years old, not even old enough to wear a hairpin." Cui Jue paused, then said calmly, "Besides, being drunk will only lead to mistakes."
Cui Shunying didn't understand, but Su Li suddenly choked on the sobering tea and started coughing violently.
She could hear what Cui Jue meant.
Cui Jue was clearly saying that Su Li was drunk that night and had lost her mind, which was why she committed such a wicked act against him. Although she had also lost her virginity, it was all her own fault and she deserved it.
Su Li didn't know what to say, so she just lowered her head and continued eating meat.
She remembered that Cui Jue would be a vegetarian for seven days after killing someone, but she insisted on eating mutton in big mouthfuls to go against him and vent her anger!
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