Chapter 323: Chapter 323: How Should I Soothe Your Anger?
Shen Hua had been waiting here for quite some time.
Ji Xin had always been attending to her carefully by her side, with a tea table next to the girl, laden with fruits and desserts.
Shen Hua did not rise, just lazily sprawled in the soft chair, her glossy black eyes seemingly free of any impurities.
Her little face was pale and radiant, the girl’s demeanor exuding bold arrogance, her chin slightly raised.
She had always been polite, but not excessively so.
It was the same when she was five years old.
Back then, Shen Hua spent her days with hands clasped behind her, meddling in every small matter, trying to blow trivial things out of proportion through her involvement.
Ashamed? Not at all.
That was Shen Yangyang’s skill.
Once, the girl stumbled upon two old women of the Shen Residence bitterly quarreling in a corner.
She walked over with her hands behind her back.
The little girl stood with her chin up, her voice childish and soft: "What’s the point of arguing? Why use words when you can use your hands? Why not settle it with a fight?"
"Whoever wins, I’ll reward with ten silver taels!"
For those ten silver taels, both old women ended up with bruises on their faces and bodies.
Later on, Shen Hua inevitably received a scolding from Ms. Shen Chun.
"Yangyang, you really have been too naughty! Your Mama looks away for just a moment, and you’re already causing trouble."
At that time, You Qing ran over to protect her: "Madam, Yangyang is still young, what does she know? I’d say it’s the servants who lack proper discipline."
"She needs to be taught from a young age; how will it do if she continues like this? All of you are just indulging her too much."
The little girl was punished to stand, but while listening, she did not forget to nibble carefully on the pastry in her hand, and when Ms. Shen Chun looked over, she promptly ceased all actions, standing there properly and respectfully.
The little girl gave her a pleasing smile, endearing and naive.
However, her words once again fanned the flames.
"Mama, the two of them neither stole nor robbed; they relied on their fists, how could that be a crime?"
"I always keep my word, not owing even one cent; I gave exactly as much as was due, and for the losing old woman, I even added extra for buying medicine. That surely makes me the fairest and most generous little girl."
At this moment, the honest girl was waiting for Cui Yun’s response.
Cui Yun seemed to laugh in exasperation: "A mutual destruction?"
He said: "You’re rather bloodthirsty and violent."
The girl tapped the book cover on her lap, speaking slowly and deliberately.
"Of course, if you’re willing to let me hit you, that’s acceptable too."
She stated as a matter of fact: "You can’t beat me."
Cui Yun: ...
He watched her in silence, his head aching slightly.
Shen Hua even considerately took his perspective into account: "I’m just a girl with no strength to truss a chicken and whose body has not yet fully recovered, so if you win, it wouldn’t be something honorable to brag about."
How could Cui Yun not see that Shen Hua was here to provoke trouble?
His expression was indifferent: "I admit defeat."
"How can you admit defeat without even fighting?"
The girl disagreed: "Could it be that you disdain to compete with me?"
"I must say it now, in truth, if I were to be defeated by the Marquis, I wouldn’t accept it. Blending water to this extent is just too fake. It makes my victory seem dishonorable."
Ji Xin: ... Help, this kind of unreasonable and overbearing behavior feels so terribly familiar.
Shen Hua picked up the tea cup from the tea table, it was steeped with sun-dried roses.
She paused, her gaze turning serious.
One petal, two petals, three petals... seven petals.
Suddenly, Shen Hua felt very sad.
Fortunately, adding Yingwu and Xiaoqi equals twelve.
She then set down the tea cup, asking calmly and composedly.
"Have you considered it thoroughly?"
Shen Hua stood up, rubbing her wrists, and glanced at him: "Let’s start."
Waiting for that one sentence.
Cui Yun indeed knew that Shen Hua had met with Yan Mi today. He thought she was troubled by Yan Mi’s affair.
He also had some knowledge of the affairs of the Duke Wei Mansion.
Duke Wei is a man of the Crown Prince, and Ji Zhui is in need of people, so the Imperial Physicians of the Imperial Hospital generously make trips to the Duke Wei Mansion.
"The Eldest Young Master of the Wei Family has been gravely injured."
He intentionally revealed: "Even if that leg is not crippled, he will walk with a limp."
A person with a defect is considered incomplete in the six roots. In Da Qi, one cannot enter the civil service and become an official.
And this news was not something Cui Yun had specially inquired about; it was revealed to him by Ji Huo and Ji Ge in their conversations.
Ji Ge: "That kid truly deserves it, what does a leg injury count for? You might not know yet, but this time he is no longer capable of marital duties. Serves him right!"
Ji Huo: "I’ve been displeased with him for a long time, just consider the timing, his injury had only recently healed, and he’s only been a real man for a few months."
Ji Ge: "The Duke Wei Mansion is heading for extinction; we should find time to go and give our congratulations..."
Ji Huo: "If his face hadn’t been scraped a bit, I would have ensured his service in the palace as a eunuch!"
However, Cui Yun in the end did not mention to Shen Hua the matter of Wei Xiheng being unable to perform marital duties.
The girl had a moment of absent-mindedness, yet her chin was still arrogantly held high.
Seeing this,
Cui Yun leisurely pinched the silver spoon at the tea table, removed a leaf from the teacup, and placed it onto Shen Hua’s hand.
"Could it be that someone has upset you?"
"Would you be so kind, Miss Shen, to tell me how I can calm your anger?"
His temper and patience were always impeccable in front of Shen Hua.
Shen Hua was truly thirsty: ...Darn it.
She lowered her head and gulped down the water.
As soon as she was done drinking, Cui Yun reached out to take the teacup and placed it back on the table.
Ji Xin watched in a daze.
Shen Hua naturally accepted this.
Cui Yun: "It’s better for a lady of your station not to be calling for fighting and killing every day, Yingwu is not a useless decoration by your side."
This sentence gave Shen Hua a new idea, she turned her head to look at the expressionless Yingwu beside her.
Resulting in Yingwu stepping back abruptly.
"Please spare me, my lady."
Yingwu dryly stated: "It was not easy for me to become a Shadow Guard."
Shen Hua had no choice but to ask another question: "Will you really not fight me?"
"I wouldn’t dare." Cui Yun’s voice was clear and cold as if a spring were striking a rock.
Shen Hua gave a faint smile: "That’s true, after all, I am a pregnant woman, what if I were to be hurt? What then?"
The girl approached him, her fair fingertips fiercely poking Cui Yun’s chest one after another: "A pregnant person is always a bit moody. Starting from today, my cousin, you’ll have to bear with me more."
Cui Yun’s brow furrowed, he made a gesture with his hand, and everyone serving at his side withdrew. After doing this, he raised his hand to gently stroke the fearless face of the girl.
Shen Hua mercilessly slapped it away.
"Shen Hua."
"There’s something that I must make clear to you. Listen carefully."
Shen Hua was perfunctory: "You say."
He pressed his brow, and said indifferently: "You haven’t even experienced affairs of the heart, even if I had sky-high abilities, how could I impregnate you?"
Shen Hua: ...??? Something’s not right.
She hadn’t yet figured everything out clearly, and now they’re playing a game of truth?
The girl found herself unable to breathe in or swallow.
"I had been thinking of finding the right time to talk about this, and considering how to bring it up as tactfully as possible to spare your feelings, but after much thought, it’s better to tell you sooner rather than later."
...You’re a step too late, she’s already become a laughingstock.