Chapter 36 Cui Huai said, "I can also be with you in mutual affection..."
The snow was falling heavily in the courtyard, with snowflakes fluttering down.
For a moment, the surroundings were so quiet that you could hear the snowflakes falling.
Until the sound of snow breaking dry branches could be heard.
The crisp sound of a branch breaking shattered Shen Yunzhi's thoughts, which seemed frozen in time.
Even though she had imagined some terrible scenarios beforehand, none of them could compare to the impact of Cui Huai's words at this moment. In an instant, a complex mix of emotions, including shock, doubt, shame, and anger, flashed through Shen Yunzhi's mind, with a final look of surprise and anger settling on her face.
"What do you mean by that, Your Highness?!"
"Even though I am now living under someone else's roof, I am still the daughter of an honest family. How can I repay Your Highness in this way?"
Shen Yunzhi was emotional, but Cui Huai remained calm and composed.
He didn't seem to think it was a problem at all.
“Yesterday at the Chen Family Plum Garden, Miss Shen also acted intimately with Chen Zhaoyu.”
Cui Huai's voice was slightly cool, and his gaze fell back on her.
Last night in my dream, there was a heavy snowfall.
He saw Shen Yunzhi standing under the plum tree, wearing a bright red feather cloak. She turned around and looked at him with a bright smile.
"Do you want to be in love with me, Brother Huai?"
The young woman, with her alluring beauty, spoke softly and reached out her hand to him, enticing him to come closer.
The fragrance of plum blossoms mingled with her subtle scent, enveloping him like a fine, dense net.
Snowflakes fell on their shoulders and hair. He pulled her into his arms, and she nestled obediently against him, no longer with the cold and stern expression and disdain in her eyes.
In the icy snow, the golden plum blossoms and the snow piled on the branches fell in a flurry, red and white mingling, landing on her flushed, fair face. She nestled in his arms, pressing herself close to him, craving the warmth of his body.
Scenes from his dream flashed before his eyes, and Cui Huai's gaze drifted down to Shen Yunzhi's lips.
However, she parted her red lips slightly and said, "Ming'an and I are mutually in love. What happened in the plum garden yesterday was merely an expression of affection that was kept within the bounds of propriety."
Cui Huai said, "I can also be mutually in love with you."
Shen Yunzhi's mind went blank again.
"How can Your Highness express your mutual affection for me?" she murmured.
Cui Huai spoke frankly, clearly having considered this issue beforehand: "I will treat you the way they treat you, and you should treat me the way you treat them."
It was them, not him.
Shen Yunzhi's sluggish thoughts managed to pick up again, and her face flushed red.
She never harbored romantic feelings for Huo Ming or Chen Zhaoyu.
But Cui Huai's bluntness made her feel both embarrassed and angry, and she retorted, "How can you force matters of the heart?"
Cui Huai then asked in confusion, "How do you know I wasn't doing this willingly?"
Shen Yunzhi: "..."
She took a deep breath.
The chilly air penetrated her lungs, clearing her mind and prompting her to carefully examine Cui Huai's words and actions.
This person actually said that he was willing to be treated as she had treated Huo Ming and Chen Zhaoyu.
Moreover, he had no intention of joking; he was discussing it with her in a serious manner.
Shen Yunzhi's head throbbed with pain, unable to understand where things had gone wrong. She felt both amused and disgusted. Knowing he was a traitor, how could she possibly repeat his mistakes? Besides, he seemed even more insane than she had seen him in her past life, spouting absurd nonsense that was incomprehensible to most.
With her thoughts racing, Shen Yunzhi calmed herself and spoke softly.
"Your Highness is of noble birth, while I am but a humble willow. How could I possibly be worthy of Your Highness's attention? Your Highness, please do not make fun of me any further."
Cui Huai's gaze darkened slightly: "You're unwilling?"
Shen Yunzhi fell silent, and he seemed to be deep in thought. "Is there something they can do that I can't?"
"I can give you anything they can give you."
Why are you unwilling?
Cui Huai frowned, seemingly unable to understand her thoughts again.
"Does Your Highness consider me a sycophant and therefore look down on me all this time?" Shen Yunzhi sneered. "In Your Highness's eyes, as long as someone is tempted by power, I should submit to them? It's clear that I'm not appreciative, which is why I didn't submit to the Fifth Prince back then."
Cui Huai was not provoked by much emotion.
He said calmly and slowly, "Huo Ming and Chen Zhaoyu were seduced by you. In the end, it is because the two of them are not firm in their will."
Cui Huai's aloof, disdainful, and indifferent demeanor was truly repulsive. Even when he spoke as if Huo Ming and Chen Zhaoyu shared the same responsibility, Shen Yunzhi remained unmoved; in fact, her anger only intensified, her face burning even more.
"I am angry at my dullness. I really don't understand what Your Highness is trying to say. Does Your Highness mean to say that you are the same? That is too shocking. I think Your Highness is confused for a moment. Today I will pretend that I have never been to Qiyun Residence and never heard Your Highness's words. Let's not mention it again in the future."
"Yes," Cui Huai nodded.
Shen Yunzhi was stunned for a moment: "...What?"
Cui Huai said, "I was indeed seduced by Miss Shen because of my weak will, just like them."
“How could such a thing have ever happened?” Every word was like a death warrant, and Shen Yunzhi was truly chilled to the bone by Cui Huai’s words.
"Upon careful consideration, it was probably a little over August."
More than eight months ago? Wasn't that February? Shen Yunzhi's face suddenly turned pale.
When she was reborn, she clearly intended to keep her distance from Cui Huai and not be as close as before, so why has it turned out like this? If that's the case, then haven't she misunderstood many things after that?
Shen Yunzhi was still incredulous and asked, unwilling to give up, "How could I have seduced Your Highness eight months ago?"
Cui Huai countered, "What about even earlier?"
Shen Yunzhi clenched her fist into a fist hidden in her sleeve: "I have never done this since I took up residence in the Chu Prince's mansion."
Cui Huai did not argue with her further, but simply smiled faintly: "I once dreamed that you called me cousin repeatedly, your sobs were so mournful and tender, that it made one want to pity and love you."
At first, I thought it was due to the properties of the medicine.
"Now I finally understand that I was the one who was seduced by you."
Shen Yunzhi felt a chill run down her spine. She could no longer suppress her anger and resentment: "I have always respected Your Highness and thought you were a model of a gentleman. I never imagined that Your Highness could so easily utter such frivolous and shameless words!"
After reprimanding Cui Huai a few times, seeing that he remained calm and composed, Shen Yunzhi took two steps back.
Cui Huai sensed her intention to escape and reached out to pull her in front of him.
"I know I'm frivolous, but only you can cure me."
"You don't need to rush to reject me. Why don't you go back and think it over carefully before giving me an answer?"
Cui Huai's fingers gently stroked her cheek.
Shen Yunzhi looked at him in alarm: "My relationship with Young Master Chen is very deep. Is Your Highness really going to interfere?"
"yes."
Cui Huai paused, stared at her for a few moments, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I can give you anything you want."
Shen Yunzhi pushed Cui Huai away.
She quickly distanced herself from him again: "The position of principal wife, the one I will have for you in this life, can Your Highness really give me that too?"
...
Braving the wind and snow to return to Yunxi Courtyard, Shen Yunzhi's mind was still replaying Cui Huai's absurd words, and the heat on her cheeks had not completely subsided. The worst situation had occurred in a way she could not have predicted: Cui Huai had actually set his sights on her and developed lust for her... The only saving grace was that he did not intend to force her; he simply believed that she had no genuine feelings for Huo Ming and Chen Zhaoyu and wanted to use her for a transaction.
But Cui Huai had no idea what she wanted.
So she made a demand for something he was absolutely unwilling to give.
Shen Yunzhi slightly tugged at the corner of her mouth, her eyes cold.
This is merely a delaying tactic; she needs to act quickly in case Cui Huai suddenly becomes abnormal one day.
As for Chen Zhaoyu, she would have to wait for news. Since Cui Huai had not appeared or sought her out in the past few days, Shen Yunzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him. After consulting with the Princess of Chu, she went out to Yuhua Temple.
Unlike Baiyun Temple, which is bustling with worshippers, Yuhua Temple is much more secluded and tranquil due to its remote location.
The eternal lamps of Shen Yunzhi's parents and brothers are placed here.
"Wait for me outside for a moment."
After giving the instructions, Shen Yunzhi took a locked box from Qiuyue and entered the small Buddhist hall alone.
She emerged from the Buddhist hall empty-handed about half an hour later.
Seeing that it was snowing again outside, they didn't linger at the temple and took Qiuyue back to the city.
The mountain roads were difficult to traverse in the snow, and the return journey was even more challenging as they traveled against the wind. Unexpectedly, their luck turned extremely bad; a fierce blizzard raged halfway through, obscuring the path and making it impossible to discern the way forward. After nearly veering off course and plunging into a cliff, Shen Yunzhi had no choice but to ask the driver to stop the carriage by the roadside.
The wind howled constantly outside the carriage.
A snowfall began, gradually increasing in intensity before decreasing, but showing no signs of stopping.
Unable to go forward or return to Yuhua Temple, Qiuyue initially remained patient, but later became restless.
She said worriedly, "It gets dark early in winter, Miss..."
Shen Yunzhi lifted the carriage curtain and glanced outside.
After dark, there's nowhere to go. In this cold weather, if we stay out in the wild, we'll probably have to be carried back by the people from the Chu Prince's mansion tomorrow.
There were five of them.
Besides her, Qiuyue, and the coachman, there were also two guards from the Prince's Palace arranged by her aunt traveling with them.
Shen Yunzhi summoned one of the guards and asked him a few questions. After confirming that they could probably return to Yuhua Temple before dark despite the wind and snow, she and Qiuyue got off the carriage. Fortunately, they hadn't brought too much with them today, so they weren't too burdened.
Walking back was more difficult and took longer than expected.
It got dark before we even reached Yuhua Temple, but luckily we weren't far away and managed to find our way by looking at the lights in the distance.
Finally, there was a place to stay.
The group, suffering from hunger and cold, settled down in a side room in the back courtyard of the temple with the help of the monks.
Shen Yunzhi felt as if she had been drenched in cold wind, and she lost consciousness.
Their shoes and socks were already dirty and soaked from walking on the snow.
Qiuyue went to ask the monk for hot water. Shen Yunzhi, having reached her limit of patience, sat on a low stool and took off her shoes and socks. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. The footsteps didn't sound like Qiuyue's. She looked up and saw the door to the room being pushed open, and then a familiar, tall figure appeared in the doorway. He was wearing a black cloak, snow covered his shoulders, and his jade-like face, perhaps due to the cold wind, appeared even more hard and cold.
The moment Cui Huai saw Shen Yunzhi, his gaze softened.
He slowly walked in, seemingly oblivious to Shen Yunzhi's act of hiding her feet under her skirt, and approached her.
“Okay.” Cui Huai’s words came out abruptly.
Shen Yunzhi's face darkened, a bad feeling creeping over her: "Why is Your Highness here?"
Cui Huai knelt on one knee in front of her: "I'll give you the answer."
Meeting Shen Yunzhi's puzzled gaze, Cui Huai calmly said, "What you want, I'll give you."
As he spoke, he grasped Shen Yunzhi's ankle, which was hidden beneath her skirt. Shen Yunzhi was startled and instinctively tried to push him away, but Cui Huaikuan's large hand easily caught her small foot. He looked up at Shen Yunzhi, his deep eyes harboring a chilling coldness. "Even so, you still won't agree?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: I'm late, please apologize on your knees [please].
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com