Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Sleeping Together
Shen Hua found a comfortable position to lean against, calming her fluctuating emotions as she chatted sporadically with Cui Yun.
"Will you wrap it with a bandage after applying the medicine?"
"Hmm."
Cui Yun knew that such a young lady like her valued her beauty greatly, hence he cautioned.
"These days, it probably needs to be wrapped up."
"It’s best not to walk around on the floor."
Shen Hua understood what he meant, and with the blink of an eye, she suddenly said: "Last time I pricked my fingertip and bled, the doctor wrapped up my entire hand."
The delicateness of Miss Shen from the Shen Family was notorious.
She required the finest medicine and the thickest bandages.
"Just at that time, Daddy came back from his business trip. When he saw my hand wrapped up like a rice dumpling, he scolded my stepmother fiercely for her negligence, in front of all the servants, not leaving her any dignity."
Back then, Shen Hua couldn’t have wanted more for a rift to grow between them.
She added fuel to the flames on the sideline.
Cui Yun listened silently.
Shen Hua turned her head to the side, her tone tinged with self-mockery: "Before I came to Shengjing, I thought that’s what it was like, and that’s why, after Daddy left, my stepmother would buddy up with the people from the second wife’s side."
Cui Yun pursed his lips. He couldn’t help but ponder.
If Shen Hua hadn’t been a bit clever, replaced by a girl with no tricks up her sleeve, she would probably have been devoured by those wolves and wild beasts long ago.
Perhaps... she wouldn’t even have waited for him to pick her up in Fengzhou City.
Back then, due to official duties, he kept delaying his departure and finally set off. While in the carriage leaving Shengjing, thirty percent of his mind was on dealing with Ji Ge who accompanied him, sixty percent was on the cases at the Ministry of Justice, and the remaining ten percent was annoyed by Shen Hua’s encumbrance and the fear of troublesome entanglements, so he planned to casually place Shen Hua in the pear garden.
Cui Yun’s dense eyelashes shadowed his deep gaze: "What do you think about it now?"
"Everyone has their confused moments; clearly, what I thought earlier was foolish."
The girl propped her chin, her tone unusually calm as she spoke: "Some people, once rotten, are just rotten. If the root is bad, how can the branches and leaves be any good?"
"That’s her true nature, after all. She’s been pretending for many years; there’s no need to continue."
Shen Hua’s eyes drifted for a moment, and without looking at Cui Yun, she cleared her throat, "Won’t the cousin say something?"
"You must have been hurt before, too."
Cui Yun’s eyes were profound. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes, so all that she said before, all the groundwork, was to draw him out?
He furrowed his brows, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
"Hmm. I’ve taken a few stabs."
Shen Hua nodded, looking expectantly at him.
Shen Hua, who had been waiting a long time: ...
Is that it... just hmm?
"Nothing else?"
Cui Yun chuckled lightly, simply saying: "It was for a cat."
Shen Hua sat up straight, her gaze sharp.
Shen Hua humbly stated: "That cat must have had outstanding qualities to gain the cousin’s protection."
The girl’s probing attempt was inadvertently detected by Cui Yun, controlled by him, and swiftly tossed back to Shen Hua.
Cui Yun’s thin lips moved slightly: "Quite ordinary."
"How could it be ’quite ordinary’?"
"You still kept it despite being ordinary?"
Cui Yun: "That cat had the nerve, pleading with me to keep it, impossible to send away."
"Can’t withstand praise, nor can it take scolding. One time I laughed at its short legs, and it didn’t go anywhere but actually carried a few bags of gold and ran away from home."
Cui Yun glanced at Shen Hua.
He said airily: "That’s unreasonable."
Shen Hua: ???
Ever since the girl woke up, memories of Xue Tuan were also awakened.
She was somewhat disgruntled, ruffled: "You have already insulted it. Even cats have their own pride."
"It did nothing wrong by leaving."
Cui Yun! Does not understand her!
————
Outside the house, Yingwu waited on standby for commands. Ji Xin, heavy-hearted, picked up a lantern and headed to the crooked neck tree.
With both hands, she scooped up the earth and filled the pit, murmuring softly, "This servant thought that these two jars of wine would never see the light of day again."
"Miss Shen is likely to become the mistress of our Sui Courtyard."
As Ji Xin spoke, she also complained, "Over the years, I’ve burnt you so many gold ingots, why haven’t you once visited me in my dreams? So heartless."
After she tidied up the soil, she picked up the nearby shovel. Only then did she go sit down by Yingwu.
Seeing no movement inside the house, she tiptoed and asked.
"Where is Ying Yi? Don’t say you don’t know, the chicken leg in your mouth was brought by him, I saw it with my own eyes."
Yingwu, with a chicken leg in his mouth: ...
"He went to fix the roof."
Ji Xin: "I knew it, apart from our master, you’re the one who’s most aware of his whereabouts. I’ve saved quite a bit of silver recently."
Yingwu looked puzzled.
"The silver you saved isn’t going to be shared with me."
Ji Xin: "When are you two going to host the wedding? It’s for your dowry."
Yingwu frowned: "What nonsense are you spouting? When did he and I ever come close to having such an occasion?"
"He gives you chicken legs with no strings attached?"
"Ji Qing once placed a whole plate of chicken legs in front of me, why didn’t you suggest I become your sister-in-law then?"
Ji Xin: ????
No, that’s not it.
She has only served Miss Shen for a short time, how has her tongue become so slick?
"Is it the same? When that happened, Ying Yi was nearby, could my brother really compete with you for food?"
Ji Xin leaned in closer: "Ying Yi has always treated you differently."
"When we were training in martial arts, the way he hit me was just as fierce."
Ji Xin pondered for a moment: "Last year, during training, he set your bone right."
Yingwu: "That was because he personally broke my arm."
"The bone wasn’t set properly, and I was in pain for a whole month until Ni Kang set it again for me!"
As they spoke, the door was opened by someone from inside the room.
Yingwu quickly stood up: "I’ll take Miss Shen back now."
Cui Yun lowered his eyes: "She has fallen asleep."
"There’s no need for further service here, all of you may leave."
Without looking at their astonished faces, Cui Yun closed the door again.
The girl must have been extremely tired, it’s unknown when she fell asleep, but she is currently curled up on the bed, sleeping soundly.
Cui Yun walked over,
In these past few years, Cui Yun didn’t know how he managed to endure, holding on to all the hope of the Cui family.
Shen Hua asked him if he was alright.
Not alright.
The burden is too heavy, there was a time he nearly collapsed under the pressure.
But...
It’s worth it.
Cui Yun gazed at her sleeping face, calmly removing the jewelry from her hair.
Her reaction showed that she still remembered the incident with Xue Tuan.
Clearly, this habit had developed in recent days; otherwise, she would have revealed herself long ago with all that happened prior.
He half-kneeled beside her, his eyes and brows lit with faint contentment, his cold demeanor fading away, replaced by a hint of worldly warmth.
Shen Hua must hold a bunny doll to sleep at night. A pair of hands reached from beneath the quilts blindly groping to the right then to the left.
Subconsciously, she rolled towards Cui Yun. Her hand landed on his abdomen. It wasn’t the familiar softness.
Cui Yun, watching the girl at arm’s length, felt his heart stir violently under his calm exterior.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and although he meant to get up and spend the night in the study, he lay down beside her.
The light in the room had been extinguished at an unknown time. Only a single lamp remained lit for use at night near the bed.
The light was dim.
Covering Shen Hua with the quilt, Cui Yun hesitated for a moment, then let his fingertips glide down from her delicate brows and eyes, outlining her features bit by bit, finally resting on her soft lips.
His eyes darkened.