Chapter 6 Chapter 6 He misbehaved today.
Chapter 6
The school was bustling with people.
Because of Cui Jue's arrival, those arrogant young ladies who claimed to be from prominent families changed their silence and became much more noisy, for fear that if they said nothing, they would not leave an impression in front of Cui Jue and would be at a disadvantage.
Su Li glanced at the elegant young man surrounded by beautiful girls from afar. Although Cui Jue kept moving aside to prevent the girls from getting too close, his expression was still as gentle and kind as ever, and he did not show any impatience when giving instructions.
He was gentle and approachable, completely different from his previous cold attitude towards Su Li.
Su Li didn't think she was wrong. Instead, she was more convinced that Cui Jue revealed his true nature the moment he looked at her.
He doesn't like her.
Su Li was not discouraged, she didn't care about Cui Jue's attitude.
The young lady, on the other hand, looked away and stared at the bamboo curtain at the bottom of the corridor, which was swaying in the summer breeze.
She was looking at the hibiscus flowers dancing in the wind under the bright sunshine.
A heavy flower was blown by the cool breeze and fell to the ground with a clattering sound, which also caused a rustling sound among the green bamboos.
The Dragon Boat Festival is just half a month away.
When I was young, my grandmother would weave a rope with five-colored fine threads and tie it around her wrists to ward off evil and bring good luck.
Back then, our family was poor, so even when buying rice dumplings, we rarely bought meat ones. What child doesn't crave meat? But Su Li, only four or five years old, understood her grandmother's struggles managing the household. To save money, she deliberately disdained the greasy meat dumplings and instead bought a sweet red bean dumpling from the market. She scooped it in half with a wooden spoon and shared it with her grandmother.
The grandparents and grandchildren sat under the locust tree, watching the stars and the moon, feeling the cool breeze. The warm years were just like this.
…
In the school, Cui Jue has been teaching academic knowledge.
Occasionally, I raised my eyes and caught a glimpse of Su Li's sitting figure from the corner of my eye.
She had her hair tied in a bun, and her hair was darker and smoother than that of an average young lady. Long emerald silk ribbons hung down like slender willow branches.
Su Li was concentrating on admiring the flowers. She didn't even notice when a flower fell and covered her shoulders.
Su Li never looked back once.
-
After finally waiting for the get out of class to end, Choi Sun-young stuck out her tongue at her and said mischievously, "On a hot day like this, I'd rather stay in the yard and eat ice cream. If I hadn't known my brother would be here today, I wouldn't have come here to suffer for fear of him accusing me of not being studious enough."
Thinking about how Su Li had been sitting and listening to the class, and did not join in the fun to ask Cui Jue questions.
Cui Shunying was afraid that she was only thinking about herself. As long as Su Li didn't deliberately hook up with Cui Jue, Cui Shunying didn't mind Su Li talking to her elder brother.
Besides, Cui Shunying felt a little angry when she saw Cui Jue surrounded by a group of noble ladies, some plump and some thin. Among the young ladies present, she liked Su Li the most.
As the saying goes, good things should be kept within the family… Cui Shunying added, “Brother is very knowledgeable. If Sister Su has any questions, you can ask him. I won’t mind.”
Hearing this, Su Li said embarrassedly: "It's not that I'm trying to avoid suspicion, but I really don't know anything about the art of playing the piano, and I don't plan to play the piano in the future. It doesn't matter whether you ask or not."
This is true.
When she replaced Su Sanniang, she learned poetry and prose skills in order to please her mother-in-law.
The Second Lady disliked young ladies who played the zither, painted, and sang; she felt they were flashy and superficial, and even more likely to seduce men. After all, the Second Prince of the Cui family was a sickly man during his lifetime, and he had many female friends who were skilled in playing the zither and painting.
The second wife always felt that her husband's early death was also due to his excessive sexual activity.
Therefore, Su Li only needs to be a dignified and dull lady, learn some housekeeping and mathematics, and does not need to have any other interests or hobbies.
After class, all the young ladies left the school, except Cui Jue who was still discussing Qin Fu with Xie Daolin.
Su Li had been sitting for too long. When she stood up with her zither in her arms, her steps were unsteady and she staggered a few steps, almost falling.
As she regained her balance, a corner of her white robe fluttered by, and the fragrance of orchids approached.
A clear and melodious male voice came softly.
"Madam Su, may I have a moment to talk?"
Su Li looked up in surprise when she heard the cold male voice.
When she saw Cui Jue's cold and elegant face, her heart skipped a beat. Although she didn't know why Cui Jue came to her before she had even tried to seduce him, she was still confused.
But seeing that he still had a cold expression, Su Li guessed that Cui Jue must have come with bad intentions.
Sure enough, what Cui Jue meant by "let me talk for a moment" was just in the private school courtyard where people were coming and going.
When others looked at her, they thought that Su Li was just a young lady who took the opportunity to talk to Cui Jue, and did not think that she had any private affair with this handsome young man.
Su Li couldn't help but ask, "Why did the eldest master come to see me?"
Cui Jue was tall, so when he spoke to Su Li, he had to lower his eyelashes slightly to be considered polite.
Cui Jue glanced at her, his gaze not lingering as he spoke calmly, "Madam Su is a lover of the qin. She plays the qin regularly. If Mudong Pavilion doesn't offer enough space for her practice, she can go to a place of elegance to practice slowly... The Cui family owns the Plum and Moon Pavilion, which is well-ventilated. Now is midsummer, and the lotus flowers are just beginning to bloom, making it the perfect place for playing the qin and enjoying herself."
Perform, practice...
After hearing this, Su Li's mouth twitched.
She wasn't fighting with the guqin, so why did she use words like "display" and "exchange"?
Su Li looked at him suspiciously, but did not see any mockery on Cui Jue's face.
But the girl raised her almond-shaped eyes and looked up at him so frankly, and her pair of smiling almond-shaped eyes caught Cui Jue off guard, which made Cui Jue feel a little uncomfortable.
Cui Jue's thin eyelids narrowed slightly, and he moved half a step away imperceptibly, putting more distance between them.
The coldness in the man's eyes grew even colder.
Su Li thought of the location of Meiyue Pavilion...it seemed to be the farthest from Shuyue Pavilion.
She understood and smiled slightly: "Master, do you think I'm noisy?"
Cui Jue frowned slightly.
He had never seen such a woman.
Cui Jue saved her face and deliberately avoided pointing out her poor piano skills.
Unexpectedly, Su Li not only did not appreciate it, but after being slapped on the left cheek, she also offered the right cheek and asked him in a tender voice: "Master, are you going to do it?"
Cui Jue lowered his eyes and saw this face full of bright smiles... and felt a sense of difficulty.
Su Li's face is as thick as a piece of meat.
Cui Jue said coldly, "I don't mean that."
"Really?" Su Li smiled generously, "Then I will continue to practice my piano skills in Mudong Pavilion. After all, practice makes perfect. If you listen to it more often, you will eventually find it pleasing to the ear."
She didn't want to argue with Cui Jue, but today Cui Jue glared at her coldly and said in public that her piano playing was bad. She was so angry that she couldn't help it.
Unfortunately, Cui Jue is more respectable than Su Li.
He couldn't reason with her, so he stopped talking. The man pursed his lips almost imperceptibly, and finally remained silent, turned around and left.
Before Cui Jue could take two steps, Su Li suddenly chased after him, "Young Master!"
She actually called out to him.
Cui Jue suppressed his impatience, fixed his gaze on Qing Yi's figure, and whispered, "What's the matter?"
He acted cold and ruthless, not even turning his head.
Su Li smiled and said softly, "Actually, when I was young, I was wandering around and was adopted by a poor family. My grandmother and I depended on each other for survival. She sold vegetables every day to make a living. Not only did she not have money to buy a zither, but even to learn to read, she had to hide in the corner of the private school and eavesdrop... When I returned to the Su family, I was already a grown-up girl of the same age."
"My brothers and sisters are long past the age for piano lessons, and I haven't even started yet, so naturally I'm too embarrassed to even mention learning. Now that I've reached marriage age, I'm even older. I know it's too late to start learning, and I don't dare ask Mr. Xie for advice. I can only practice quietly in Mudong Pavilion at night... I didn't expect to disturb the eldest young master's rest. It's my fault. Please forgive me and don't be angry with me."
"I'm not good with words, and those few sharp words I said just now were just a joke with the eldest young master. In the future, if I play the zither, I will take the initiative to go to Meiyue Pavilion and will definitely not bother the eldest young master again."
After saying that, Su Li turned and left without stopping for a moment.
Only Cui Jue remained where he was, stunned by Su Li's words.
Su Li played the piano just for her own entertainment. She did not intentionally provoke him or win his attention.
Su Li had a period of poverty when she was young, and there was a reason why she couldn't play the piano.
Cui Jue pursed his thin lips slightly.
He was always kind to others, but he spoke harshly to a young lady.
He was disrespectful today.
-
At night, Su Li returned to Muchong Pavilion and discussed with Qiu Gui that as the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching in a few days, they had to buy some incense coins to hang on the tent hook, and then go to the temple to ask for some yellow talismans to stick on the door lintel to ward off ghosts. It would be best to pickle a jar of salted duck eggs so that they could eat them with porridge when the weather was hot.
Qiu Gui knew that Su Li also came from a poor background. After they got to know each other, the master and servant had no scruples when discussing farming customs in the room. However, when they went out, they would act like ladies from aristocratic families and would be much more cautious in their words to outsiders.
After a while, the maid came to report that Shuyue Pavilion had sent a guqin for the lady to enjoy.
Cui Jue rarely gives gifts to outsiders, but today he specifically gave the zither to Su Li, which made Aunt Qingxia look at Su Li with a higher opinion.
When Qiu Gui came with Su Li to get the zither, Qingxia couldn't help but look at Su Li again.
She has willow-shaped eyebrows, cherry lips, and a slender waist that can be held in one hand. She is indeed an absolute beauty.
Could it be that the eldest son will also be seduced by beauty one day?
That's impossible. There are countless beauties in the capital, and I have never seen that heavenly young master treat anyone differently.
Or maybe the Su family is full of vixens. Didn’t they say that the deceased second-in-law grandson of the Cui family also married a Su girl from Lanhe County?
Aunt Qingxia really thinks too much.
But soon, she found out that Shuyue Pavilion did not only send a guqin to Su Li, but also Cui Shunying and some young ladies in the outer courtyard had obtained a guqin.
I think it was just because Muchong Pavilion was closer, and this zither was delivered first, which gave Qingxia the illusion that "Cui Jue treated Su Li well".
Outsiders don’t understand the ins and outs, but Su Li understands Cui Jue’s desire to apologize.
This young master... is as his name suggests, he behaves like a gentleman and has a character as gentle as jade.
He took Su Li's reputation into consideration. Even if he wanted to give her the piano as an apology, he must remember to treat everyone equally and not favor one over the other, which would cause misunderstandings from others.
After the maids left, Qiu Gui whispered, "Madam, you are truly amazing... How did you manage to get the eldest son to send you a zither?"
Qiu Gui knew very well that Cui Jue was a rare talent. A young man from a noble family would always look down on the common people. She trembled at the sight of him and could not imagine that Su Li would be able to interact with Cui Jue after just one day of school.
Su Li thought for a moment, "It was just luck."
But Cui Jue's immediate recognition of his mistakes made her feel a little uneasy.
This shows that Cui Jue is an upright person who acts clearly and distinctly, and is definitely not a man who can be easily manipulated by those petty tricks.
Qiu Gui knew that the guqin was expensive just by looking at the wood texture.
She couldn't help but look at him with envy, and whispered, "What a fine instrument! Madam, don't you want to try out the sound?"
"No more."
Qiu Gui was surprised: "Ah? Why?"
Su Li narrowed her eyes cunningly, and raised the corners of her mouth slightly: "Not only will I not play it today, I won't play it again in the future."
Cui Jue wanted to use the "gift of the zither" to eliminate his guilt and wipe out the grudge between the two.
But Su Li wanted Cui Jue to think that she had given up music and the art of playing the zither and would never play the zither again because of his hurtful words.
This entanglement is the first step to establish contact with the eldest son of the Cui family.
-
Recently, Cui Jue recovered from his injuries and returned to his official position in the Ministry of Chancellery.
The Cui family of Wudong was a wealthy and powerful family. Since the establishment of the Li Dynasty, they had been in charge of the political secrets both inside and outside Wu, assisting the emperor and managing state affairs.
Cui Jue is currently serving as Shangshu Zuo Pushe. Now the post of Shangshu Ling is vacant. As the Cui family grows bigger, all the departments will follow Cui Jue's lead.
In public, his colleagues would respectfully call him "Prime Minister Cui", and all memorials and official documents would pass through Cui Jue's hands.
A month later, Emperor Xuanning would tour the prefectures and counties and inspect government affairs everywhere.
Emperor Xuanning entrusted the hunting ceremony to Cui Jue. On the surface, this was a sign of his reliance on the Cui family, but in reality, he was attempting to use the Wudong Cui family as a warning to others and assert the Li royal family's sovereignty over the Wu Kingdom's territory...
For many years, the Wu Kingdom was ruled and governed by local aristocratic families.
In the eyes of the common people, the world was clearly the world of the aristocratic families, and the emperor was just a puppet pushed forward by the gentry to block the knife. There has never been a time when imperial power was centralized.
But at this time, Emperor Xuanning was so bold and presumptuous that he dared to rely on his status as the emperor to inspect the mountains and rivers.
The nobles would certainly think that the reason why the emperor was so unscrupulous and had such a long reach was because of the instructions of the Wudong and Cui families.
Cui Jue understood.
Emperor Xuanning clearly wanted to force the Cui family to take a stand.
On the surface, the emperor and his subjects achieved a "win-win" situation and ruled the world together, but in reality, they used conspiracy to sow discord and destroy the harmonious relations between the aristocratic families. They even announced to the outside world that the Cui family had ambitions to take power and wanted to become bigger and dominate the world.
Emperor Xuanning held the Cui family up as a target and allowed Cui Jue to be shot into a sieve by the nobles and wealthy families.
This would cut off all his escape routes, forcing Cui Jue to marry the princess and form an alliance with the Li family in order to break the impasse.
Once the two sides form an alliance and give birth to an imperial heir with the blood of both the Cui and Li families, Emperor Xuanning will be able to open his heart to Cui Jue and truly become a family with him.
It’s not a bad thing.
However, Cui Jue was arrogant by nature and did not like being plotted against.
The only solution now is to lie low in secret to avoid alerting the enemy and to be on guard against Emperor Xuanning's next move.
So as to prevent the Cui family from being controlled by others.
The emperor's hunting ceremony continued to proceed step by step.
In Shuyue Pavilion, Cui Jue's long eyelashes drooped slightly, and the black piece held by his slender fingertips slowly fell onto the chessboard.
White has no way out.
The chessboard endgame is broken.
The man sighed lightly and glanced coldly at the distant sky... It was strange, a few days ago, as soon as the morning hour came, there would be noisy and harsh piano music outside the courtyard as expected.
But today it was so quiet, without any movement at all.
It seemed as if the master and servant of Mudong Pavilion were all dead.
Cui Jue thought of the expensive guqins he had given away some time ago.
Each zither is made of the finest fir wood, and even the dragon gums and pegs on the zither body are made of the finest green jade and are meticulously carved.
They have all been his private collection for many years, so there is no way the young lady wouldn't like them.
But the sound of the piano no longer came from the Muchong Pavilion.
Cui Jue was rarely in a daze, and his jade-like fingertips tapped the table nonchalantly.
He called Wei Zhiyan over and asked, "How's the investigation going into the Su family's affairs?"
Wei Zhiyan jumped out from the darkness and knelt before his master.
Wei Zhiyan received the task a few days ago. When he heard that Cui Jue wanted him to check whether the Su family in Lanhe County had any noble ladies who had been living away from home for many years, he was still a little confused.
After finally finding out, Wei Zhiyan returned to report: "Master, I haven't found any noble ladies of the Su family who have been left behind for many years, not even the young ladies who were sent to live in the countryside..."
Cui Jue lowered his eyes: "Really?"
Wei Zhiyan said, "Every word I said is true. If my master is still worried, I will send someone to conduct another secret investigation."
"No need." Cui Jue's voice was cold. He listened attentively and suspected that there was a sneer escaping from his voice.
Cui Jue took the lie that "Su Li had been living among the common people since childhood and her family was poor" seriously, and reflected on himself for many days. However, he didn't know that... the situation was critical at the time, and Su Li was eloquent. She was obviously talking out of turn, and made up a tragic experience to shut Cui Jue up.
Su Li is despicable, she lied to him.
It also let down Cui Jue's rare... little kindness.
-
In Mudong Pavilion, Su Li didn't know that she had offended the Jade-faced Shura.
She was also thinking that now that she had gotten in touch with Cui Jue, her plan to borrow sperm would move forward.
However, Shuyue Pavilion was heavily guarded, so Su Li had no chance to socialize with Cui Jue...
After much thought, Su Li came up with a bad idea.
She set up a private stove in the yard and asked Qiu Gui to go out and buy some chicken, duck, fish and mutton. She also transferred a kitchen helper from the outer yard to help cut the meat and skewer it.
After the stove in the yard was lit, the aroma of meat and black smoke were carried by the wind and swept towards Shuyue Pavilion... After a while, someone knocked on the gate of Muchong Pavilion.
Su Li opened the gate and saw Wei Zhiyan, and greeted him gently.
Wei Zhiyan said politely, "Madam Su, in order to prevent fire, no private stoves are allowed in the inner courtyard. If you want to eat something, just tell the kitchen to grill it in the outer courtyard."
Wei Zhiyan didn't dare to say it. Today the sun was scorching and the summer breeze was blowing. Cui Jue was at home on vacation and just wanted to take out a batch of Buddhist scriptures that he had kept for many years to dry out the moldy smell.
The scriptures were all copied on hard yellow paper soaked in berberis juice. The paper was very expensive, and each word was worth thousands of gold.
But the wind carried the aroma of meat, giving the scriptures a meaty taste.
Wei Zhiyan was terrified when he thought about his master's private collection of Buddhist classics, which was forced to break by Su Li with the aroma of barbecue.
When he received the order and went out, he didn't even dare to look up at Cui Jue's expression... It must have been a mountain wind bringing rain and dark clouds.
Su Li didn't understand what was going on, but she still boldly handed over a plate of barbecue.
She smiled shyly, "I'm so sorry to bother you, Young Master. But this is the lamb I roasted myself. I suffered a lot in my childhood, so I had to do all the farm work and housework. I don't have any other specialties, but my cooking is decent... You can give it to Young Master to try. It's definitely cleaner than street food!"
Su Li is well aware of the principle that "to capture a person, you must first capture his stomach", so she is trying very hard to show her courtesy.
Besides, Cui Jue’s seven-day vegetarian fast had long passed. She hadn’t eaten meat for many days, so perhaps it was the right time for her to feel craving for meat. She specially grilled meat. Isn’t it like giving someone a pillow when they are sleepy? It was a blessing in disguise.
Su Li was still feeling proud of her quick wit, but she didn't know that Wei Zhiyan's expression was becoming more and more distorted.
Wei Zhiyan couldn't refuse the kindness, so he could only carry the plate of mutton and return to Shuyue Pavilion with mixed feelings.
In the main hall, the handsome young man who was reviewing documents listened to all the conversations between Wei Zhiyan and Su Li, and then took a look at the dish of meat. What else did he not understand?
Cui Jue's brows grew increasingly grim. Not only did he not eat the meat, he also said in a rare cold voice, "Pour it out and feed it to the dogs."
His words were cold, devoid of his usual gentleness and kindness.
He showed no mercy to Su Li at all.
Wei Zhiyan was a little confused. He felt sorry that the love his young lady had given him was trampled upon, but there was nothing he could do.
Cui Jue put down his pen and took a sip of tea.
For a moment, Su Li's smiling eyes appeared in my mind.
Cui Jue frowned slightly.
Su Li is very scheming and her words and actions are all insincere.
Cui Jue didn't like Su Li, but for Cui Weng's sake, he would not harm her life. At most, he would avoid this woman and keep his distance from her in the future.
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