Chapter 8: The Second Master Wants to Kill His Mother?
The heavy smell of medicine, rotten sandalwood and death in Yanshou Hall almost drowned people.
Mr. Cui Jun, the second master of Cui, stood in front of his mother's sickbed, with his back to his crying wife and daughter and the helpless maid behind him.
The bleak sunlight outside the window shone through the gaps in the thick curtains, sparingly casting a ray of light onto his tense profile, outlining a few sinister angles in his originally regular facial features.
On the bed, Old Madam Zhou still maintained that terrifying look.
Her mouth and eyes were crooked, and saliva flowed uncontrollably from the corners of her twisted mouth, soaking the expensive Suzhou embroidery pillowcase.
Her cloudy eyes would occasionally turn, filled with resentment and resentment, as well as a hint of fear of death that she herself was unwilling to admit.
The skinny fingers curled up nervously, scratching the quilt beneath him, making a slight, teeth-grinding "hissing" sound.
Broken hoarse sounds occasionally escaped from his throat, like the last struggle of an old bellows.
Cui Jun's gaze was fixed on his mother's distorted face.
There was no trace of regret in the depths of his eyes, only a cold, stagnant feeling.
Beneath that stagnant water, something much darker was surging—a calculation that was almost cruel.
This old thing, why hasn't he died yet? As long as she takes this breath, right now!
Then, as the eldest grandson, Cui Xiao, that brat, must stay home for three years of mourning! What about the prince's companionship? What about the Hongwen Academy? All of it has vanished into thin air!
Shouldn't this immense wealth and the only hope of turning things around fall on Cui Jun, Cui Jun's son?
This thought was like a poisonous ivy, instantly wrapping around his heart and almost suffocating him, yet also bringing him a twisted pleasure.
His hands hung at his sides, their knuckles slightly white from exertion, and his gaze was like a poisoned ice spike, silently piercing the dying old woman on the bed.
If only she died...if only she died immediately...
"Jun brother!"
A panicked, deliberately muffled cry, followed by a huge force, suddenly pulled him away from the bed.
Second Madam Wang had quietly approached him at some point and was now clutching his arm tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh through the fabric of his clothes. She dragged him, staggering, into the narrow side room connected to the inner room, where the night watchmen rested.
Wang slammed the door of the ear room shut, blocking out the suppressed crying and the heart-pounding hoarseness outside.
In the small space, only the two people's rapid breathing could be heard.
"Are you crazy?!"
Wang's voice was very low, but it was like a whip with barbs, lashing Cui Jun's face hard.
She had no makeup on her face, and the area under her eyes was dark blue. Her face, which was usually carefully maintained, now looked haggard and hideous, as if it were seized by a huge fear.
She stared at her husband's bloodshot, angry eyes, her voice trembling with fear.
"What was that look you had just now?! What did you want to do?!"
Cui Jun was irritated by the fear and questioning in his wife's eyes. He suddenly shook her hand away and growled.
"What can I do?! Can't you see? Mother...she's in such a state, it's suffering for her to live! The sooner she dies, the sooner she'll be free! As long as she...as long as she stays here tonight..."
In the end, he was unable to say the following words directly, but the naked murderous intent had already filled the small space.
Wang screamed, covered her mouth, and looked at the closed door in horror.
As if she was afraid that the terrible words would penetrate the door and be heard by the people outside, she rushed forward and once again grabbed Cui Jun's front tightly, with amazing strength and horror in her eyes.
"Cui Jun! Have you been infected by that old hag and driven mad?! You want to kill your mother?! She's your own mother!"
She shook him hard, her voice filled with tears, but every word was tearful.
"Do you think that everything will be fine if you kill her? I tell you, that's a death warrant! It's the handle that Cui Yan and that brat have been dreaming of!
They will pounce on us like wolves smelling blood and tear us to pieces! By then, forget about the title, forget about Jun'er's future, our entire family's lives will be at stake!
Cui Yan has been in the military for many years. Do you think he is a pushover? He is just worried about not finding an opportunity to completely crush our Second Branch!
Cui Jun was shaken by her until his head was dizzy. The fear of death that his wife showed in her eyes was like a basin of ice water.
The crazy and twisted fire in his heart was extinguished, leaving only a biting cold. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Wang saw his eyes flicker and his anger subsided a little. She knew that her words had worked, so she immediately struck while the iron was hot. Her voice was quick and calm, with the calculations unique to a merchant's daughter.
"Keep her! Listen to me, Jun'er! Keep her! As long as she's alive, even if she only has a breath left, she's our amulet! She's also the noose we've strangled around the eldest wife's neck!"
Her eyes flashed, and she lowered her voice, like a venomous snake spitting out its tongue.
"Filial piety! The greatest principle in the world! As long as she is alive, Cui Yan must provide for her and consider his reputation!
Even if Cui Xiao, that brat, enters the palace, he will be branded as unfilial for not attending to his seriously ill grandmother!
This reputation is enough to make him suffer in the palace! Even if the emperor likes him, can he like an unfilial person? "
She loosened Cui Jun's collar and poked his chest with her fingers. Every word she said hit the spot Cui Jun cared about most.
"As long as we serve this old Buddha well, let her breathe a few more days, hum a few more times, and the banner of 'filial piety' will be firmly in our hands!
By then, will the eldest wife dare not to provide Jun'er with a future? Will she dare not cut her flesh and bleed to silence us? As long as the old lady is alive, she is our gold mine! She is worth ten thousand times more than if she were dead! "
As Cui Jun listened to his wife's detailed analysis of the pros and cons, the cruelty that was suppressed by fear slowly turned into a deeper and more obscure viciousness.
He licked his cracked lips, his eyes dark and unclear.
"You mean... to use filial piety to force the eldest wife to submit?"
"Yes!" Wang said firmly, a ruthless look flashing in her eyes, "This evil has lasted for a thousand years! This old hag is very tough!
We just need to 'serve her carefully' and keep her alive, the longer the better! The eldest wife's only child has entered the palace, and it's still unclear whether he is a dragon or a worm!
Is the palace such a good place to stay? Let's wait and see what happens! When the time comes, use this old lady's 'blunt knife' to slowly cut the flesh of the eldest wife! "
The couple formed a silent and dirty alliance in the dark room.
The crazy idea of matricide was replaced by more realistic interests and fears, and was replaced by a more cruel calculation of using the dying old woman as a tool and bargaining chip.
Perhaps Wang's words "the disaster will last for a thousand years" really came true, or perhaps the resentment and unwillingness in Old Lady Zhou's heart was too stubborn.
The day before Cui Xiao was about to enter the palace, "good news" actually came from Yanshou Hall.
Mrs. Zhou, who had been in a daze and half-dead, was either having a moment of revival or was too stimulated by the thought that "Cui Xiao is about to rise to prominence".
He managed to survive the brink of death and managed to breathe again. Although he was still unable to speak or move,
But those cloudy eyes were much clearer than before, burning with an almost crazy obsession and resentment.
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