Chapter 1140: Extremely Wrong (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
What is 'Versailles'?
Cui Hui guessed that it might be a dialect or slang unique to the northern regions.
"The so-called 'Versailles' is just someone subtly displaying their sense of superiority through euphemism. Anyone with eyes wouldn't believe that your ex-husband's face is truly no longer youthful." If a face full of collagen at twenty-five or twenty-six is considered old, how can someone who is truly seventy or eighty years old claim to be old?
If this isn't Versailles, then what is it?
Cui Hui silently memorized the word, then lowered her tone and softly defended her ex-husband: "...It's not that I'm speaking up for him, he probably really thinks he's not fresh enough... It's just that I understand, but he keeps bringing it up in front of me... Tsk, even a clay figure has some spirit, how can I not be angry? His aging is fake, but mine is real!"
Shen Tang: "..."
Your relationships as adults are quite complicated.
Cui Hui's eyes and brows were filled with sorrow.
It's obvious they have a lot of stories to tell.
Perhaps Shen Tang was just naturally lacking in this sense, because she didn't quite understand: "If that's the case, why did you still divorce him?"
If it's just this much, we can certainly talk about it openly.
Cui Hui brought out two jugs of wine from somewhere, picked up one of them, broke open the red cloth seal, and took a big gulp before starting to talk.
"Sigh, there are many reasons. Although each one is insignificant, when put together, it was a dead end for me at that time... Looking back now, perhaps it's resentment. Because of this man, I went from being a rough-and-tumble woman to learning how to be the matriarch of a noble family, and I think I did a good enough job. Even if I couldn't compare to those noble women who were raised as matriarchs from childhood, I didn't bring shame to him and the Cui family. But after all these years, my in-laws still don't like me, and my relatives don't respect me... Am I not capable enough to win them over?"
Cui Hui was once plunged into self-doubt and emotional turmoil.
She said, "At first I suspected it was my own problem, but I soon realized it had nothing to do with ability, it was purely a matter of background and lineage."
If you lack skills, you can learn and improve.
What can she do if her bloodline and background are not good?
She could not change the prejudice held by the Cui family.
"...I was naive back then, thinking that as long as I had the last laugh, everything would be fine. No matter how much my in-laws disliked me, they couldn't stop their son from being on their side, only siding with me, an outsider. All the descendants of the Cui family would have my blood flowing through their veins, so even if they disliked me, they could only grit their teeth and accept it." Cui Hui comforted herself like this, "Until that queen... Alas, at that time she was just a princess who had just been sent to her fiefdom, guarding a barren territory, and her household was short of all kinds of people... She approached the Cui family. The Cui family saw value in her. Sure enough, she rose rapidly in one fell swoop, and now she has ascended to the throne as a woman..."
"Everyone in the Cui family hopes that their patriarch and this king will rekindle their old relationship, and they also hope that I can abdicate and give way to a more worthy person."
Cui Hui, who had a good tolerance for alcohol, was slightly drunk at the moment and let out a disdainful sneer, "I really pity my ex-husband. He and his beautiful wife were newlyweds, deeply in love, but because of the struggle between their fathers and the royal family, the couple were forced to separate. Now that his wife has risen to prominence, his elders hope that they can reconcile... So, what they gave birth to wasn't a son, but a male prostitute who uses his looks to serve others? Aren't they just asking for trouble? Back then, she was at least a legitimate wife, and now if they let their son go along with her, he can only be one of the king's male favorites... No matter how you look at it, it's a loss for them."
These became the final straws that broke Cui Hui's back.
Cui Hui covered his forehead and closed his eyes tightly.
His tone was languid and slightly drunk: "Hehehe, I'm also afraid of the methods these aristocratic families use. I'm afraid I'll be forced to die of illness one day and become their memorial tablet. This birdcage of the Cui family, let whoever wants to live in it live in it. But, to be honest, I was also afraid at first, afraid of starving to death outside. Don't let my words about the oppressive life in the inner quarters of aristocratic families fool you; we're always served by servants, and they lift us up with every step we take. Living the life of the elite, it's my duty to suffer a little bit of bird-like humiliation. If I get used to living in such a birdcage, how can I survive if I fly out?"
Fortunately, she eventually managed to fly out.
Even if a bird lives in an expensive cage for a long time, its wings will not atrophy.
She would occasionally think of the three baby birds still in the cage, and their father, but to go back to the cage? No, she couldn't accept it; she'd rather freeze to death outside.
She was born to belong to the world outside the birdcage.
No matter how magnificent the birdcage is, it is not her final resting place.
Looking at Cui Hui, who had somehow huddled up with his knees drawn up to his chest, Shen Tang felt a rare pang of guilt. If it weren't for her, Cui Hui wouldn't have had to return to this place, nor would he have rekindled his entanglements with his old friends. Shen Tang whispered, "I'm sorry..."
Cui Hui paused in his act of covering his forehead, tilting his head to look at the obedient profile of the Shen Kingdom's ruler—Shen Tang's current appearance lacked the aggressive, flamboyant beauty of her earlier days, instead possessing a gentle, refined charm. When she wasn't speaking, she looked both pitiful and adorable.
"What are you apologizing for?"
But inside, I was panicking.
What did I say that made the king apologize?
"I know you don't want any more entanglement with the Cui family..."
"Don't think so much. I don't get up early for nothing." Cui Hui quickly waved her hand. She didn't want to be misunderstood as a person of high moral character. She immediately said, "How can two kinds of people sleep in the same bed? The one surnamed Cui is no good... What I mean is—my ex-husband is no good, and so am I. I just want to seize an opportunity. I'm not reconciled."
Shen Tang: "..."
Cui Hui shook his head: "Actually, I also had the talent for cultivation, but I'm too old, and I've long since lost all hope..."
In recent years, some women from Qi State have been able to cultivate, but she was not among them; she was too old. Cui Hui also knew that she could ask her ex-husband for help. If her ex-husband was willing to enter officialdom and gain power, it was not impossible for him to obtain enough national fortune to cleanse her marrow and bones.
But her pride wouldn't allow her to say it.
Other places?
She, an elderly woman, didn't have the chance.
It wasn't until this task was placed before her that the idea she had buried deep in her memory resurfaced and gradually took over her mind. As if guided by some strange force, Cui Hui agreed to this almost impossible task—even though her opponent was her ex-husband.
Shen Tang asked, "Why not tell Shan Xiao?"
If Cui Xiaoruo knew this, he would work even harder.
Cui Hui said, "My mother's experience taught me that fathers cannot be relied upon; my experience tells me that husbands are the same. Wings are on one's own body; only by flapping them can one take flight..."
Rather than seeking the protection of wings, it's better to grow your own.
Cui Hui drank both jars of wine by himself.
She leaned on Chen Tang's shoulder and closed her eyes for a short rest.
Just as Shen Tang was about to help Cui Hui inside, an unfamiliar presence approached the courtyard. She pretended not to notice, dutifully fulfilling her role as a maid. Until the presence appeared a few steps away: "Give her to me, you go and rest."
Shen Tang seemed startled by the voice.
He looked up in a panic and met the eyes of the head of the Cui family.
Without waiting for Shen Tang's reply, the patriarch bent down, picked up the completely drunk Cui Hui, and went straight inside. The door slammed shut behind him. Shen Tang shrugged, yawned, and went to sleep.
Inside the house——
The head of the Cui family stared blankly at Cui Hui, who was shrouded in moonlight.
Cui Hui, with his wild sleeping posture, wasn't as thick-skinned as him and couldn't keep up the act.
He rolled over and covered his head with the blanket.
He asked in a muffled voice, "What are you looking at?"
The head of the Cui family said confidently, "You are indeed not drunk."
Cui Hui: "..."
Her ex-husband knew her alcohol tolerance limit all too well; two jars of wine simply couldn't get her drunk. Enraged at being exposed, Cui Hui grabbed a jade pillow and threw it away: "So what if I'm not drunk? Is it bothering you that I'm just leaning against the maid for a nap?"
The jade pillow seemed to have hit something, making a dull thud.
Cui Hui waited in the quilt for a while, then suddenly pulled it off.
Oh dear, my ex-husband's forehead is red from being hit.
"Who are you trying to fool with this self-inflicted injury?"
"I'll show it to you, but you'll never feel sorry for me."
Cui Hui pursed her lips and asked him, "Did you suffer any injustices outside?"
"Zhao Jun has passed away."
Cui Hui subconsciously tried to remember who the "Zhao Jun" he mentioned was, but she couldn't recall. It wasn't that she had a bad memory, but rather: "You have at least fifty or a hundred friends with the surname Zhao. Which one are you talking about?"
The head of the Cui family said, "Which one is not important."
Cui Hui: "..."
I really feel sorry for my ex-husband's group of friends surnamed Zhao.
She asked curiously, "How did he die?"
The head of the Cui family said, "Once it has no value, it will be discarded."
"Who abandoned you?"
“Abandoned by everyone.” When the head of the Cui family said this, there was a hint of pity in his expression. Regardless of whether Cui Hui understood or not, he spoke as if no one else was there. “...If no one had tacitly agreed to sacrifice this pawn, how could the Zhao family have held such a quiet funeral? Even if I had left these past few days, he wouldn’t have been so powerless to fight back. So, he was killed as a bargaining chip.”
Some members of the Zhao clan were won over by the ruler.
The struggle between the main branch and the side branch also resulted in a complete victory for the side branch.
The Zhao family can simply change its head of household, and life will remain peaceful. No, perhaps even better than before. After this incident, the king has forcibly settled all the messes the Zhao family had left behind, and by secretly siding with the king, they will naturally reap many benefits.
"Are you saying this is a case of 'the rabbit mourns the fox's death,' or 'a fellow animal gr
The head of the Cui family said, "Perhaps."
The ex-wife sacrificed by power, now Zhao Jun, and perhaps even herself in the future: "Ke Wu, you shouldn't have come back. Staying by Qi Yuanliang's side might have been the best way out for you..."
Cui Hui was startled by the sudden words of the Cui family head.
Her face turned deathly pale, and her heart pounded.
"What did you say?"
"Qi Yuanliang has contacted you before," the Cui family head said calmly. "Although I don't know what your relationship is, Qi Yuanliang contacted you many years ago. However, he didn't find any clues and was sent back by my men."
The influence of the Northwest Pantheon is not effective in the Southwest.
Similarly, the southwestern forces are not effective in other regions either.
All he knew was that Cui Hui and Qi Yuanliang had a connection.
How deep the entanglement is, how many layers of complexity, is unclear.
"What good way out? You're still as arrogant and conceited as ever. Whether it's good or bad is up to me, Cui Kewu!" Cui Hui secretly curled his fingers, forcing himself to calm down, his eyes icy cold. "Yes, I have a past with him, so what? Qi Yuanliang came to me back then because he felt guilty towards me, he owed me! Do you think that if a man wants to keep a woman, she has to forgive him? What is Qi Yuanliang, and what are you? He searched for me like a needle in a haystack, and I should appreciate his efforts? You say a few nice words for my own good, and I should feel sorry for you?"
"In my eyes, you two are two of a kind, birds of a feather."
Cui Hui spoke with great conviction.
"If I can let you go, why can't I let him go?"
Cui Hui's words were half true and half false, but he spoke with great confidence.
Qi Yuanliang does owe her.
Since that's the case, it's not unreasonable to let her take advantage of it.
The head of the Cui family had only guessed before, but hearing Cui Hui admit it in person still made his heart ache—he hadn't expected that Ke Wu's emotional debts, besides a deceased senior brother who never even got to have a wedding ceremony, also included Qi Yuanliang! He had always been resentful that a dead person could still be in his way, but now, well, there was a living one too!
“That’s not what I meant.” The head of the Cui family softened his tone, with a hint of flattery. “It’s just that Qi State is a place of trouble now, and I can’t say that I can protect you without any problems.”
"I don't need your protection. As long as no one reveals my past grievances with Qi Yuanliang, I'm perfectly safe, and I won't be taken hostage by some random force. Actually, it would be a waste of time anyway." Cui Hui's words were laced with sarcasm, her disdain undisguised. "You men are really something. Even though you're worlds apart, you can still 'understand each other's hearts.' Qi Yuanliang once said something similar. It's just a pity that when I told him I was just a divorced woman from the Cui family, he knew I was no longer of any use to him… Hah, what guilt, what true feelings—"
Cui Hui raised his hand and pinched the chin of the Cui family head.
Force the other person to look directly into your eyes.
Her fingers left clear fingerprints on the other person's face, hinting at a broken and vulnerable state caused by abuse. Cui Hui forced herself to continue, "You and him, did you have this kind of thing?"
"I have!"
"You say you have it?" Cui Hui smiled and squatted down to look him in the eye, her fingers tracing the still-fading red marks on his forehead. "Since you say you have it, why did you deliberately test me just now? Do you think I'm so stupid and foolish that at my age I would willingly go back to an ex and be a pawn for a man?"
"I don't!"
The head of the Cui family spoke these words with shame and indignation, extremely dissatisfied with Cui Hui's conjecture. Even with all his scheming, he had never outwitted Cui Hui. In her eyes, was he really such a despicable person? Did she really think he suspected her return to the country was instigated by someone?
Even so, Cui Hui's eyes were still filled with disbelief.
The head of the Cui family blurted out.
"I only care about you and him!"
I want to ask, but I don't dare to, afraid of hearing an answer I don't want to hear.
It would have been better not to ask at all.
The answer was even more infuriating than I had expected.
Cui Hui was taken aback. So they had been talking at cross purposes just now?
She thought Cui was testing her to see if she had a business relationship with Qi Yuanliang, but it turned out he was simply concerned about whether Qi Yuanliang and she had rekindled their old flame? Cui Hui let go of her hand: "What do you care about? We've been divorced for years, do you have the right to care?"
A single question turned a person's face ashen.
|ω`)
I have a bit of a fever today, so the chapter is a little short.
PS: I can't help but keep the air conditioner on 24 hours a day in the summer. Yesterday I set it to 19 degrees Celsius, which was a bit too much _(:з」∠)_ I'm posting this now because I can't keep up with the word count for the update. I'll add the rest later (I won't charge any Qidian coins for the extra content).
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