Chapter 72: Grandparents and Grandchildren
Skin, meat, and bones.
The knife was too fast and Cui Junji didn't even react. His survival instinct made him open his eyes suddenly and hold the dagger tightly to continue stabbing deeper. "Why?" His voice was extremely clear, with anger in his eyes, but more of deep sadness and disbelief.
Wen Youqing gritted her teeth and continued to thrust the dagger deeper. The hatred in her eyes was like a candle in the darkness. She hissed, "You know it in your heart! How did Shen Laixi get here?"
Hearing this, the strength in his hands loosened. Cui Junji groaned in pain, then knocked Wen Youqing's dagger away and pressed her upside down on the bed: "Who told you that?"
"Is it really you?" Wen Youqing's voice trembled with anger, and she was determined to kill me. "That day when I fell off the cliff, you really did attack me!"
The dagger sank deep into his shoulder, and blood immediately stained his pajamas red.
"If this makes you feel better, I'm willing to take the knife." His face was pale, but he still stood still. The wound on his chest hurt so much, and the blood came up from his throat. Cui Junji didn't dare to let go of her hand, but he didn't want to hurt her. He swallowed hard and said, "Aqing, things are not what you think..."
"No?" Wen Youqing struggled desperately. "You schemed to harm me, made me pregnant with your child, then killed my husband, and then hypocritically let me in! Cui Junji, what the hell are you!"
The knife was too deep and Cui Junji could no longer hold on. He knocked the dagger away with force and spit out blood with a "wow". The loud noise also attracted outsiders and Ying who realized something was wrong.
In the last moment before she fell into a coma, Cui Junji put clothes on Wen Youqing and shouted at the shadow who had already put a knife to her neck: "No one is allowed to hurt a hair on her head!"
As soon as there was a movement here, the little maid who had been waiting for this news hurriedly knocked on the door of the main courtyard. Li Wenqin got up and put on her clothes, and asked with a hint of expectation: "What's wrong?"
"There was a commotion over there, and the young lady was taken to the ancestral hall." The little maid whispered.
"Such a big deal?" Li Wenqin frowned. This was obviously beyond her expectations.
"The young master was stabbed and hasn't woken up yet." Before the little maid finished speaking, Li Wenqin got up and ran out the door.
At this moment, she no longer cared about her surprise at Wen Youqing's lack of knowledge. A layer of cold sweat broke out on her back, and she prayed that nothing would happen to Cui Junji.
And at this time in the Cui family dungeon.
"Made a mistake?" Wen Youqing laughed hysterically. "What did I do wrong? He raped me while I was unconscious, is it my fault? He used my husband and killed him, is it my fault?"
She pressed harder and harder, each question like a hammer, hammering down on Grand Tutor Cui's heart. But seeing the woman's rampant demeanor, he knew she was an absolute scourge to the Cui family, and today he would put an end to this ill fate for his grandson.
"The noble young man and heir you trained is nothing but a dirty and sinister villain!" Wen Youqing saw that Master Cui was silent and his eyes were like knives, but he was not afraid and continued to curse without hesitation.
"Snap."
A whip stopped her from saying the next word.
"Fuck!" Wen Youqing cursed, but today she no longer cared about life or death. She continued, "Back then, he was so insidious and disgusting. Ah!... He made a poem sound like a huge sin. He didn't even have the courage to cancel the engagement. What a coward! Ah! Coward!"
One word, several whips.
But Wen Youqing continued to chatter. The only housekeeper, observing the increasingly gloomy look in the Grand Tutor's eyes, whispered, "It would be hard to explain to the Master if we beat her to death."
"Just leave her breath. I want Zihe to come and kill her myself."
—
The knife was so deep that it had penetrated her heart. When Li Wenqin entered the room, she was disgusted by the smell of blood and retched. She suppressed her nausea and walked in.
What she saw was the room full of bloodstains and gauze for stopping bleeding, scattered all over the place, just like her heart at the moment.
How could it get to the point of resorting to knife surgery? Even if Wen Youqing didn't know, it should have just been a quarrel at most.
As the doctor said "it's no use", Li Wenqin knelt down on the ground with a thud, lost in thought. She just wanted them to separate, why, why did it come to this?
The maid hurried over to help Li Wenqin. "Madam, the young master is blessed with good fortune and will surely escape danger. We can't help you here, so please go to the side room and wait."
—
On the third day, Cui Junji finally woke up from his coma. He looked around and didn't see Wen Youqing, so he asked Li Wenqin, who was standing by, "Where is she?"
Hearing this hoarse voice, Li Wenqin paused in feeding him water, but still said truthfully: "Grandpa took it away..."
Before she could even say "get well," Cui Junji stood up and walked out, clutching his chest. Li Wenqin didn't dare to pull him away, so she knelt at the door, tears streaming down her face: "She's going to kill you! What else are you going to do?"
Seeing Cui Junji was unmoved, Li Wenqin no longer cared about etiquette. She sat down on the ground and cried, "You almost didn't make it, did you know that? Don't go. Grandpa has his plans. I beg you to think of me and the children and don't go."
Cui Junji felt a headache, but he had no way to push Li Wenqin away. Suddenly, a pair of hands lifted Li Wenqin up and pulled her aside.
Wang Ruoti said softly, "He's in the dungeon. Husband, please go quickly. I'll take care of Madam here."
Cui Junji finally breathed a sigh of relief and ran out, holding his chest.
Li Wenqin wanted to struggle, but Wang Ruoti looked weak, yet his hands were incredibly strong. After everyone left, Wang Ruoti spoke, "Madam, aristocratic families probably don't teach you about love. He and I are king and subject. We just need to follow his wishes and help him. Sometimes, we even have to be foolish and let him suffer."
Li Wenqin knew this truth very well, but they were a young couple and she truly loved Cui Junji. She could resist being jealous, but how could she not love him?
Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Wang Ruoti gave up trying to persuade her. He just looked at the direction where Cui Junji stumbled away and sighed: "There will be unrest again."
The damp air deep in the dungeon was mixed with the smell of blood, like some kind of mold growing on rotting flesh, and every breath of air stuck to the lungs.
Cui Junji stepped into the gloomy air, barely even having time to change his clothes, before being completely enveloped by the foul air. He practically ran down, holding onto the wall, forgetting even to bring a torch, relying only on the dim light in his memory and the housekeeper's dim lamp behind him to find his way.
The stone steps were slippery and he stumbled several times. He held onto the wall and felt something cold and sticky on his hands.
"Young master, be careful." The butler behind him whispered, his voice sounding hollow in this cramped space.
Cui Junji did not respond to his grandfather's man. His eyes were fixed on the heaviest iron door at the end of the passage - Wen Youqing was inside.
The thought of her made his chest ache even more. He couldn't hate the woman who had thrust a short blade into his ribs. That stab had nearly killed him, but it was also like piercing a gorgeous abscess that had been covering him for more than twenty years.
"Open the door." His voice was hoarse and the command was short and powerful.
The butler hesitated for a moment, his keychain clattering as he struggled to unlock the heavy brass lock. The iron door groaned as it was pushed open, and the smell of blood became even stronger.
In the corner of the dungeon, a blurry mass of flesh moved.
By the flickering light of the jailer's lantern, Cui Junji could see clearly. Wen Youqing was chained to the wall, a sharp hook piercing her scapula, hanging from the wall. Her hair was disheveled, covering her face. Her once plain dress had been shredded, revealing a crisscross of wounds beneath, some still oozing blood.
She didn't even have the strength to lift her head. Only the slightly rising and falling shoulders showed that she was still alive, like a piece of meat ready to be cut and sold.
Cui Junji's heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand, the pain making it almost impossible for him to breathe. He had to take her away from here.
"Untie it." He pointed at the chain, his voice as cold as ice.
The butler did not move. An old but majestic voice sounded from behind him: "Zihe, what are you going to do?"
Cui Junji paused, then slowly turned around. Imperial Tutor Cui, Old Master Cui, and the head of the Cui family—Cui Hong—stood at the dungeon entrance, leaning on an agarwood staff, followed by two trusted retainers.
The old man was dressed in ochre-colored uniform, his face calm, but his eyes were like those of a hawk, even more oppressive in this dim place. Sure enough, he had arrived, and he had arrived so quickly.
"Grandfather." Cui Junji bowed with impeccable posture. When he looked up again, his face was calm. "Grandson will deal with her."
"How should we deal with him?" Cui Hong slowly approached, tapping his wooden staff on the stone slab with a soft thud, each step striking at the heart. "How should we deal with him? My eldest grandson of the Cui family nearly died at the hands of this woman. Do you still feel any pity for her?"
His gaze swept over Wen Youqing in the corner, as if looking at filthy rotting meat. "This woman is deeply scheming. She deliberately approached you and used you to get into the Ministry of Works. Only by executing her on the spot can we demonstrate the majesty of our Cui family and prevent future troubles. If she lives, she will harm you sooner or later."
The powerful eldest grandson of the Cui family finally realized that he was just a tool carefully crafted by his family to seize greater power. He had no family affection at all.
No, he had seen it clearly long ago. Even during their first confrontation, he had made his grandfather "sick" for over a month. He was a practitioner of this rule. But today, this rule was being practiced on him.
And Wen Youqing, the woman he had once discarded, was assassinated because of the events he had personally carried out.
"Grandson understands," Cui Junji said in a steady voice. "That's why we can't let her die so easily. Grandfather, have you ever thought about whether there's someone behind her? Is it targeting me, or our Cui family?"
Still acting, Cui Hong's gray eyebrows moved slightly, and he watched him quietly: "Oh? What did you find out?"
"While my grandson was recovering, the secret guards weren't idle." Cui Junji took a step forward and lowered his voice slightly. "Whatever her purpose, the blueprints she gave to the Ministry of Works involved flood control measures in the south. If anything were to happen to her, the entire south would be in chaos. Grandfather, you know that last time the Yellow River flooded, if I hadn't had someone cause any trouble, her dike would have been almost foolproof. Who among those idiots in the court could do that?"
This was a naked threat from the court. Cui Hong stared at his grandson with a gaze so sharp it could peel back flesh and see through to his internal organs. He suddenly realized that this heir, so brilliant since childhood and meticulously nurtured, had somehow grown into a fully fledged individual, learning to use the rules of the court to defy the iron laws of his family.
"Jun Ji, are you really after power in the court?" Cui Hong's voice grew colder. "A few mere blueprints can't shake the Cui family's foundation. I can't rest easy until I get rid of this woman. She can stab you today, and she can ruin your future tomorrow."
"My grandson is not a softhearted woman." Cui Junji met his grandfather's gaze without flinching. "It is precisely for the future of the Cui family that I cannot give anyone an opportunity to take advantage of me at this moment. Killing her is just a matter of thought. First, it's easy for my grandson to use her, and second, she really does entertain me."
"Relieve boredom?" Cui Hong sneered, looking at his tightly bandaged body. "Is it you who relieves boredom, or is it her? I think you were played around by a woman and nearly lost your life. Zihe, aren't you a coward yourself?"
The dungeon fell into a brief silence, broken only by the crackling of burning torches and Wen Youqing's faint breathing. The confrontation between the grandfather and grandson made the air thick with stickiness. The housekeeper and the retainers held their breath and lowered their heads, not daring to make a single sound.
Cui Hong slowly stroked the jade ball at the end of his staff, his eyes shifting. He suddenly sighed, his tone tinged with a rare hint of fatigue and earnestness. "Jun Ji, you are my most cherished grandson, the future hope of the Cui family. Everything Grandfather has done is for you, for this family. Listen to Grandfather's words, sever this evil bond with your own hands, and only then can you focus on inheriting the family business. Grandfather is old, and today I wish to step down from the position of head of the family."
He gave a signal, and a retainer immediately brought a drawn dagger to Cui Junji. The gleam of the blade was sharp, reflecting Cui Junji's expressionless face.
This was the final ultimatum, and also a test. Either obey the family's will and become the head of the Cui family, or...
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