Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Jinjiang First Release
Chapter 81
Su Li will not be selling sesame cakes at the stall today. She wants to return the rented carriage to the carriage and horse shop and get back the deposit she saved.
In addition, she also wanted to send a letter to her grandmother and Qiu Gui who were far away in Jianye County to report her safety. She had no news for three years, and it was time to reunite with her family.
Su Li sat at Liu Langjun's stall, thinking for a long time, and finally wrote down everything that had happened in recent days in a letter, so as to avoid the letter being lost and falling into the hands of others. Su Li also referred to Cui Jue's name as "the eldest son". In this way, no matter how carefully someone examined it, it was just a simple family letter.
Su Li said in the letter that she had a business in Liuzhou and needed to save some money for the trip. She would go to Jianye County to visit her grandmother in about a month, and then she could celebrate the New Year with her relatives and friends.
Su Li dried the ink on the letter paper, and then went to the escort agency to find the escort master heading to Jianye.
Su Li paid several taels of silver before her master agreed to deliver the letter.
In fact, Su Li can ask Cui Jue for help. I think he will be happy to help Su Li with this small favor.
But even though Su Li slept with Cui Jue, she inexplicably didn't want to be too involved with him. She knew that their relationship was as illusory as a castle in the air, destined to crumble and disintegrate sooner or later. Given this, it was best for them to maintain a clear separation between them; she wouldn't rely on him for anything.
Su Li was prepared for the possibility that the letter would not be delivered. At worst, she would go to Jianye in person a month later. It was already three years late, so a few days would not make a difference.
Su Li got back the money for renting the car and bought an ox cart in exchange for it, so that it would be convenient for her to continue her pancake business in a few days.
Su Li went to the butcher's shop again and weighed more than ten pounds of pork, more than ten pieces of lard for making oil, three jars of dried preserved vegetables, and twenty to thirty pounds of flour. She also spent a few cents to hire a boy to help move the goods.
After Su Li prepared the ingredients for the pancakes, she prepared to drive back to Meihua Village.
As soon as the bull whip was raised, a little girl with a veil on her head came running over, shouting "Sister" and obediently coming in front of Su Li.
Su Li lowered her head suspiciously: "Who are you?"
The girl's two white hands lifted the veil, revealing a pair of beautiful cheeks.
Su Li was shocked. It turned out to be Cui Shunying!
Su Li didn't dare call her. She opened her eyes wide, not knowing what to say.
Cui Shunying pouted and tugged at Su Li's sleeve: "Sister, don't you recognize Si Niang anymore? Don't you like Si Niang anymore?"
Su Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing her old friend, her heart softened. She kept saying, "How could I not recognize Si Niang? It's so great to see Si Niang."
As soon as Cui Shunying arrived, Yang Da followed her breathlessly. He didn't dare to expose Cui Shunying's identity as a princess in the streets, so he could only look around. After confirming that there was no danger, he whispered, "Your Highness, Third Lady, there are so many people around, can we talk for a moment?"
Su Li glanced at her own ox cart and said in embarrassment, "But I have to watch the things on the cart to prevent them from being stolen."
Although Yang Da was a eunuch, he was accustomed to the opulence of the palace. He never imagined that someone would steal those ten pounds of pig fat... Yang Da sighed helplessly: "I will help you two watch the carriage. You and His Highness can go to the teahouse to have some tea and rest your feet!"
After hearing this, Su Li finally agreed.
Cui Shunying happily took Su Li upstairs, and just like before, took her out for a walk on the street.
When they arrived at the private room of the teahouse, Cui Shunying ordered sweet almond pastry for Su Li, and also served a few of Su Li's favorite snacks.
Su Li couldn't help but ask her: "Did your brother tell you?"
Su Li asked Cui Shunying how she could recognize her disguised identity.
Cui Shunying smiled cunningly, "When Taxue jumped on my sister, I felt something was wrong... Then I saw Yang Da knock my sister's cake away, and was scolded by my brother when he returned. Isn't there something fishy? Think about it carefully. Taxue usually doesn't let those noble ladies touch her hair, but she is so familiar with my sister. Of course, I know that my sister is special! Hehe, especially last night, I went to ask my brother about something, and he didn't come back all night. Even a fool can guess where he went."
As soon as these words came out, Su Li's ears immediately turned red. She was not embarrassed because her private affairs were discovered, but she was angry that Cui Jue was too unreliable. He even made it known to everyone when he did not return home at night, so that everyone could laugh at her!
Cui Shunying held Su Li's hand and said, "I have guessed why Sister hid her identity and fled to the countryside. This is Sister's private matter, and I won't force her to come back. Just one thing, you and I are close friends. Sister, please don't abandon me. Play with me like before, okay?"
Cui Shunying sniffed and looked like she was about to cry, which made Su Li feel sad.
Of course she knew that in the circle of noble ladies in the past, Cui Shunying did not have many true friends.
Either Cui Shunying, a illegitimate daughter of the Cui family, took the initiative to please the legitimate daughters of aristocratic families, or the women of small families deliberately tried to get close to her with the intention of making a profit.
After all, Choi Sun-young still has the best relationship with Su Li, especially since Su Li once saved her life.
Su Li sighed and said to her, "I live in Plum Blossom Village. You can come visit me anytime."
Cui Shunying blinked: "Then sister, come and play with me too, okay?"
Su Li was hesitant considering that Cui Jue was also in the fort.
Cui Shunying said hurriedly, "We won't meet with my brother, and we won't talk to him! I'm not here to lobby for my brother. If he had done anything good, my sister wouldn't hate him so much and even faked her death to avoid him for three years... I can tell good from bad."
Su Li laughed out loud when she heard this: "If your brother heard this, he would definitely scold you for being a traitor."
Cui Shunying hugged Su Li's arm and acted coquettishly, and her pouting little mouth was so tight that you could hang a bottle of oil on it.
"I turned to my elder sister. What's wrong? Elder sister, you don't know, I'm already seventeen years old. The Cui family can no longer keep me. It's time to choose a prince consort for me, but I'm really scared... My brother only considers the character, virtue, and talent of the candidate for the prince consort, while my grandfather considers the family background and the father's lineage. However, Concubine Xu is afraid of being a burden to me, so she doesn't want to get too close to me, let alone interfere in the affairs of the court."
Cui Shunying's tone of voice could not hide her loneliness, which made Su Li's heart ache.
Su Li knew that Aunt Xu loved Cui Shunying.
In order to protect Cui Shunying, Aunt Xu kept to herself and never dared to act like an elder in front of Cui Jue. This allowed Cui Shunying to get closer to her brother and win the favor of this legitimate brother.
But Aunt Xu's awareness of the current situation meant that she could not interfere in all of Cui Shunying's family affairs. She had to treat Cui Shunying as a noble daughter of the Cui family in order to ensure that Cui Shunying would always be protected by the aristocratic family.
It was this feeling of both closeness and distance that made Cui Shunying feel sad.
Su Li touched her hair and asked Cui Shunying, "What does Si Niang want me to do?"
Cui Shunying smiled and said, "There's a hunting banquet tomorrow. It's officially an official banquet, but it's actually a matchmaking banquet for me. There will be many eligible children from noble families attending. I'd like you to accompany me, okay?"
Su Li was a little embarrassed, she didn't want to show up in front of others.
Cui Shunying had also considered it for her: "Sister, when you attend the banquet, don't use disguises. Just show up in your true form. This way, it won't affect your usual appearance as a street vendor, and you can accompany me in choosing a future husband. Isn't that good?"
Although Su Li also wanted to show her true face to others one day, she had other concerns.
"But three years ago, I met with the ladies of various families together with His Majesty. Will I be recognized when I attend the banquet?"
Cui Shunying shook her head. "Three years have passed. Who still remembers Sister Su's appearance? Not to mention that many women from aristocratic families have never seen Sister. Furthermore, in the past three years, many high-ranking officials have been searching for women, sending me beautiful stand-ins who resemble Sister. Even if Sister appears at the hunting banquet tomorrow, she'll only be treated as a stand-in for 'Queen Su,' and at most, she'll be praised with a single sentence: 'The beauty we found this time truly resembles an old friend.' Who would truly believe that Sister has returned from the dead?"
Cui Shunying's words made sense, and Su Li nodded.
"Sister, please. You don't want me to put my trust in the wrong person. You also want to help me find a good husband so that we can live happily in the future, right?" Cui Shunying pulled her sleeve and acted coquettishly pitifully.
Su Li nodded helplessly: "I'll accompany you."
Cui Shunying was overjoyed: "Then it's a deal! Tomorrow at noon, I will send someone to take you into the mountains. You can't refuse."
"I see. I'll wait for you at the village entrance."
After seeing Cui Shunying off, Su Li got on the ox cart again.
On the way home, Su Li faced the warm sunset and inexplicably thought of what the little girl said.
During these three years, did many officials send women to Cui Jue so that he could "remember the woman by looking at her"?
Su Li knew how lustful Cui Jue was. She didn't believe that he could endure not having sex for three years even though he knew that Su Li had passed away.
Su Li understood.
In this case, Cui Jue’s talk of chastity is nonsense.
In order to coax her to change her mind, Cui Jue deliberately made up these sweet words.
It seems that during these three years, Cui Jue ate and took things without anyone knowing, and he was never hungry at all.
-
At night, Su Li piled the flour on the firewood pile to prevent the flour from getting damp due to rain in the mountains.
Su Li was very skillful at these tasks, and she didn't even need to ask Yang Dalang for help; she could do it all by herself. Before she could even pick up the sack, a muscular hand came over. The man's long fingers grasped the sack and lifted it lightly above his head.
"On the firewood?"
A cold and low voice entered Su Li's ears.
Su Li was stunned for a moment, and when she looked up, she happened to see Cui Jue's cold and handsome face.
Su Li nodded: "Yes, pile it up there, and I'll use it to knead the dough in two days."
Cui Jue did as he was told, and Su Li ignored him and went to the kitchen to visit Mrs. Hu and Yuan Ge'er to see if they needed any help.
By the time Su Li finished dinner, took a shower and went to bed, Cui Jue had already come to her room without anyone noticing and sat down beside the bed.
He had obviously taken a shower and changed into a plain thin shirt. His open collar revealed his smooth and well-defined abdominal muscles. He had a thin toad green belt tied around his waist, loosely tied in a knot that could be easily opened with a fingertip.
Cui Jue had moved a pile of documents into her room at some point. At this moment, he was leaning against the head of the bed, reviewing the documents in silence by the dim light of the oil lamp.
The man had half-tied black hair, downcast eyes, delicate thin lips, and slightly red corners of his eyes. He had an indescribable charm and allure.
Su Li knew very well that Cui Jue was indeed a good king who was deeply loved by the people in state affairs. She did not dare to disturb him from doing his official duties, so she honestly stepped over the man's legs and rolled to the side of the bed.
Su Li was extremely tired today and fell into a deep sleep in a short while.
But in the middle of the night, she suddenly felt dry mouth and tongue.
When I woke up again, the lights in the house had already been turned off. It must have been midnight.
Su Li had the habit of getting up at night to drink water. She opened her eyes drowsily, pretending to crawl out of the bed, and poured herself a glass of water to drink.
Just as she lifted the quilt and stood up, she forgot that there was someone sleeping beside the bed.
The girl's ankle was tripped by Cui Jue, and she lost her balance and sat down unexpectedly.
This time, Su Li felt her knees were sore and even her legs were bumped.
The man's hip bones were both solid and hard, causing her a slight pain.
Su Li couldn't stand steadily, and unexpectedly sat on Cui Jue's strong and narrow waist.
Su Li was so frightened that she even choked on breathing.
Soon, she realized that the seat she was sitting in was a little wrong...
Even though there was a layer of soft cloth as thin as a cicada's wing between her and Cui Jue.
But she could also clearly feel the fiery outline.
She, she seemed to have gotten some of it embedded in her as well...!
Su Li felt uncomfortable.
Her plump lips were pinched and rubbed so hard that it hurt.
Su Li was stunned. She couldn't move and planned to wait a while before leaving secretly.
But at the moment when Su Li lowered her head, she could see Cui Jue's beautiful phoenix eyes with slightly red corners in the moonlight.
The man's eyelashes were long and thick, and his pupils were as deep as a pool.
Cui Jue half-closed his long eyelashes and quietly looked at Su Li who was crawling on him.
Finally, the man's voice became deep and hoarse, speaking meaningfully.
"If you're interested, I'll teach you everything I know... but there's no need to act so stealthily while someone's asleep."
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