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墨書 Inktalez
Mo Yan, the Princess, said, "All external affairs and the authority of the steward in the Duke of Su State's Residence fall entirely into the hands of the Second Wife, while Ji Wenzheng has merely become a figurehead. Moreover, Ji Wenzheng was previously married, but his first wife died during childbirth, leaving behind two sons. Therefore, Cui Pingbi can only be a secondary wife; even if she gives birth to a son, he will not have inheritance rights to the Duke of Su State's Residence."
Elder Brother Li felt that this sounded familiar; Ji Wenzheng seemed to resemble someone he knew. Who could it be?
Elder Brother Li clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "I remember now! Ji Wenzheng is just like Jia She!"
Mo Yan, the Princess, and Yue Yunfei asked in confusion, "Who is Jia She?"
Elder Brother Li replied, "He is a character from a storybook."
Mo Yan, the Princess, became intrigued. "What storybook? Do you have it?"
Elder Brother Li explained, "The storybook is called 'Dream of the Red Chamber.' It tells the tale of a family’s rise and fall, focusing on the fortunes of the four great families: Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue. It revolves around the domestic affairs and romantic entanglements within Jia Mansion, primarily following the love stories of Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai. The narrative captures the beauty and tragedy of human nature through the lens of Jia Baoyu and the Jinling Twelve Beauties. The Ji Wenzheng you mentioned resembles Jia Baoyu's uncle in that story. I don’t have a copy right now, but I’ll buy a new one for you later."
Mo Yan, the Princess, was delighted. "Great!"
Yue Yunfei interjected, "Hey, we’ve strayed off topic. What we need to focus on now is how to bring Ji Wenzheng and Cui Pingbi together."
Elder Brother Li said, "In a couple of days, Princess Huiluo will hold a plum blossom appreciation event. She sent me an invitation, and I’ve decided to attend."
Princess Huiluo was two generations above Li Xuan Zong and was already in her sixties or seventies. One of her favorite pastimes was matchmaking young couples. The plum blossom appreciation event held every winter was essentially a blind date gathering for unmarried individuals in the capital. However, it had been suspended for several years due to internal strife and was only just resuming this year. As one of the most promising young men in the capital, Elder Brother Li naturally received an invitation from Princess Huiluo—after all, he had an unmarried fiancée and also had a favored concubine like Second Wife.
Mo Yan, the Princess, said, "Yue Yunfei and I will go as well to assist you."
Given her status, even after marrying someone else, Princess Huiluo could not afford to exclude her from such an event.
Yue Yunfei noted, "There might be some trouble with Ji Wenzheng. Although he is currently single, Princess Huiluo looks down on him and won’t send him an invitation."
Mo Yan, the Princess assured him, "Leave it to me; I will definitely make sure Ji Wenzheng appears at the plum blossom appreciation event."
A few days later, Elder Brother Li along with Cui Pingbi and Ji Wenzheng appeared at Princess Huiluo's plum blossom appreciation event. Cui Pingbi and Amber were extremely excited because they had received support from Master Cui and Madam Cui that allowed them to boldly execute their plan. Master Cui even bribed servants at the event to create opportunities for Cui Pingbi and Elder Brother Li to be alone together.
Just like before at Yue Family’s gathering, Elder Brother Li went alone to the lakeside and leaned against a rock with his eyes closed for a rest. Guided by bribed servants, Cui Pingbi and Amber found their way to the lakeside at that very moment when Ji Wenzheng also arrived alone after losing a bet arranged by Yue Yunfei; he came to pick a willow branch to take back home.
Seeing Elder Brother Li, Cui Pingbi, and Amber's eyes lit up.
"Sister, we can't miss this opportunity," Amber said, clenching her fist.
"But—" Cui Pingbi hesitated. "Last time at the Yue Residence, we suddenly couldn't move. Wasn't that a warning from above? What if, what if they are displeased again this time?"
"Well..." Amber hesitated for a moment but ultimately let her desire for wealth and a distinguished man overcome her fear. "I don't think that was a warning from above. Do the deities really have nothing better to do than meddle in the marriages of mortals? I believe we were just caught in the schemes of another woman who also liked General Li. That woman isn't here this time, so we should be able to succeed."
Cui Pingbi felt her heart stir. "You're right; we will definitely succeed this time."
Elder Brother Li chuckled with his eyes closed. In his Divine Sense, Ji Wenzheng had already reached the lakeside. Just as Cui Pingbi jumped into the lake, Elder Brother Li used a strand of True Essence to manipulate Ji Wenzheng, throwing him into the lake beside Cui Pingbi. Ji Wenzheng could swim; after a brief moment of panic, he relaxed and floated up, instinctively grabbing hold of someone unfortunate who had also fallen into the water.
Amber, who was shouting for help, was dumbfounded. Why wasn't it General Li jumping in to save her sister? Where was General Li? She looked over to where Elder Brother Li had been sitting, only to find that there was no one there.
At that moment, many people were drawn to her cries and saw Ji Wenzheng and Cui Pingbi emerging from the water, both drenched. Ji Wenzheng's hand rested on Cui Pingbi's waist.
The crowd: "..."
Oh my, isn't this a classic hero saving the beauty?
Princess Huiluo and several older ladies approached and immediately arranged for servants to take Ji Wenzheng and Cui Pingbi to change clothes and drink ginger soup. It was too cold; they couldn't let anyone catch a chill.
Once everything was arranged, Princess Huiluo smiled at Ji Wenzheng's mother. "General Ji's actions are reminiscent of the Duke of Su State from back in the day. It's rare for him to have such a connection with Sister Cui; why don't I act as a matchmaker and let Sister Cui become your daughter-in-law?"
Lady Ji had no objections. Ji Wenzheng's first wife had died two years ago, and she had been searching for a suitable wife for her son since last year. However, her eldest son's reputation was too poor; no young lady wanted to marry him, which had left her quite distressed. Now that a potential daughter-in-law was being offered right before her eyes, how could she possibly turn it down?
"I would naturally be overjoyed," she said, "but I wonder if Madam Cui and Sister Cui would be willing to marry my useless son."
Of course not! Madam Cui nearly shouted in protest but managed to keep her composure. Though she was extremely reluctant, she could only say, "It is all up to the Princess."
What if she didn't marry Ji Wenzheng? Under everyone's gaze, Cui Pingbi had just emerged from the water with Ji Wenzheng and had even made physical contact with him. If she didn't marry Ji Wenzheng, who else would want her?
Madam Cui nearly bit her silver teeth in frustration. What on earth had happened? Wasn't the plan to target General Li? How did it turn into General Ji? Although the characters for "Li" and "Ji" differed by just one stroke, the implications were significant.
Amber, equally unwilling to accept the situation, searched desperately for Elder Brother Li's figure. Finally, she spotted him standing leisurely under a distant plum tree with Yue Yunfei and Mo Yan, the Princess. Unable to contain herself, she shouted, "General Li, you were by the lake just now! Why didn't you save me?"
Mo Yan, the Princess, raised an eyebrow at the destructive potential of this maid. Was she trying to tarnish Li Wei Feng's reputation with a label of "See Death and Do Nothing," or was she attempting to drag him into this mess to force him to marry Cui Pingbi?
It was clear that Amber's intention was the latter, but would she get her way?
Mo Yan, the Princess, silenced Yue Yunfei and Elder Brother Li, her voice cold as she said, "General Li has been with us all along and never went near the lake. What is your motive for dragging General Li into this? Is someone prompting you to do so?" Her gaze swept over Madam Cui, who quickly lowered her head in fear, not daring to make a sound.
"Or are you a spy from an enemy nation trying to ruin General Li's reputation for personal gain?" Mo Yan, the Princess, raised her voice. "Someone take this maid to the Ministry of Justice for severe interrogation."
"Madam Cui, I hope you don't mind my handling your maid this way," Mo Yan, the Princess, asked with a feigned air of apology.
Madam Cui shook her head repeatedly. How could she dare oppose? If she did, Mo Yan might accuse her of colluding with enemy spies as well. She realized that Li Wei Feng was not someone they could manipulate. This time, the Cui Family was doomed; it was no longer about whether their master could keep his official hat but rather how long he could hold onto it.
Amber was dumbfounded; things were spiraling out of control! How had she become labeled as an enemy spy? Just as she opened her mouth to protest, a matron summoned by Mo Yan swiftly stuffed mud into her mouth and dragged her away. What awaited her were various tortures from the Ministry of Justice designed for interrogating criminals—enough to make anyone suffer immensely. Mo Yan did not wish for her death and instructed the Ministry of Justice personnel to use only light punishments on her; however, it was still unbearable for a maid born into privilege. Naturally, they could extract nothing from her during questioning and eventually released her upon consulting Mo Yan.
Amber returned to the Cui Family in a broken state, but now everyone there despised her—after hearing Mo Yan's account, even the Emperor found it amusing enough to intervene and dismissed Master Cui under the pretext of harboring enemy spies. How could the Cui Family not resent Amber? If it weren't for her loud outburst, they wouldn't have attracted Mo Yan's ire. The family decided to sell her off to a cruel old cripple as a concubine, subjecting her to dual abuses from him and his legitimate wife.
Cui Pingbi fared no better; Amber's words had revealed their scheme against Elder Brother Li to Ji Wenzheng and others. In an ironic twist of fate, Ji Wenzheng became involved instead. The male-dominant Ji Wenzheng could hardly tolerate this; upon entering his household, Cui Pingbi received nothing but disdain from him and was shown no respect as his wife. Her family had fallen from grace due to this incident and could not support her; thus, life in Ji's residence became worse than that of Lady Xing. Ji Wenzheng's concubines looked down on her while even her sisters-in-law mocked her. Her mother-in-law also disliked her, making life increasingly difficult.
Cui Pingbi regretted it deeply; if only she hadn't plotted against Li Wei Feng in the first place—wouldn’t things have turned out differently?
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