Springtime Affairs in a Noble Family

Princess Rongjia, the mother of Qiu, said that it was unlikely that she would be so bold. "If the princess dared to do such a thing, the Marquis and the old lady would not let her off the hook."

"I don't know then." Cui Lingrong beckoned to Qiu's mother, whispered a few words to her, and Qiu's mother went out as instructed.

Not long after, Caixia said that Miss He had arrived.

"Tell her I'm resting and ask her to come another day." Knowing He Pingping's thoughts, Cui Lingrong didn't want to see He Pingping anymore.

Caixia went out to see He Pingping off. When she returned, she looked at her master with great hesitation, unsure whether she should tell him about Caiyue.

Cui Lingrong, being perceptive, sensed that Caixia had something to say and asked what was wrong.

Caixia shook her head. "It's nothing. I was just wondering why Miss He would take a liking to Young Master Yu."

"I'm curious about that too," Cui Lingrong said. "But Zeyu told me he wasn't interested in her."

Cui Lingrong would probably only agree if her younger brother really liked He Pingping.

She suddenly realized that Caixia and Caiyue were not young anymore and had reached the age for marriage. "By the way, Caixia, you and Caiyue are both my head maids. If you have someone you like, you must tell me, and I will arrange it for you. When you get married, I will prepare a generous dowry for you."

Caixia blushed at the words, "This servant hadn't thought of that."

"You can think about it now. You've served me for so long, so I should let you have a decent wedding. You should also tell Caiyue that you have your own ideas about this, but don't make it public." After Cui Lingrong finished speaking, she began to plan the winter clothes to be made in the manor.

Caixia left and found Caiyue. "Grandma is thinking of us. Why don't you go and ask her? If it doesn't work, no one else will know, so just give up on that idea. If it does work, I'll embroider your wedding dress."

They arrived at Qiushuangzhai in the same year and lived in the same room. They were not sisters, but they were closer than sisters.

Caiyue, however, was afraid. "I...I dare not."

"Then when are you going to wait?" Caixia urged. "You know perfectly well that Madam has been helping Young Master Yu find a match. If it works out, what will be left for you?"

Caiyue bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Don't imitate Miss He's behavior. Did you hear what the eldest mistress said? Unless Young Master Yu really likes her, she won't agree. You and I are both proper young ladies, and we've been taught by the eldest mistress how to behave. We should know our place." Caixia told Caiyue to think it over herself, and she wouldn't say anything more about it.

Caiyue was conflicted and couldn't come up with a solution for a long time.

It wasn't until the next day, when Young Master Yu sent someone to deliver tangerines, that Caiyue finally found a quiet moment to kneel before the First Madam.

Seeing Caiyue speechless for a long time, Cui Lingrong became even more curious. "You're usually such a quick talker, what's wrong?"

Caiyue's cheeks were burning hot, and she felt like she was about to faint.

"Speak up! You're not going to cause trouble for the old lady, or beat up anyone from Wutong Courtyard, are you?" If it were either of those things, Cui Lingrong could still protect Caiyue, since she was someone from her courtyard.

Caiyue shook her head and uttered the words "Young Master Yu" with difficulty. Cui Lingrong immediately understood.

She was taken aback for a moment, then realized that her younger brother often came to her place and would talk to the maids in the courtyard. It wasn't surprising that he might have taken a liking to one of them.

It's good that Caiyue came to her first; she didn't follow He Pingping's example of secretly exchanging favors.

Although Caiyue was a bit impulsive, she was still someone close to him, so Cui Lingrong agreed, "I'll ask Zeyu what he thinks. I've watched you grow up, and I know you inside and out. If you want to serve Zeyu, I'm definitely willing."

"Grandma, I..." Caiyue cried and couldn't speak. She felt so ashamed.

"Don't cry. The fact that you came to me shows that you still care about me as your master." Cui Lingrong pulled Caiyue up. "I'll send someone to find Zeyu right away. If he agrees, I'll give you a contract of indenture. But if he doesn't agree, don't resent him. He's blind. We'll choose another good man later."

Caiyue didn't dare to look at her master, she only dared to nod.

Cui Lingrong sent someone to find her younger brother. After he arrived, she left only Qiu Mama behind, saying that Cui Zeyu was no longer a child and that she wanted Caiyue to serve him.

"I don't want to!" Cui Zeyu stood up abruptly, "Sister, why are you pushing everyone else onto me? You..."

He couldn't express his true feelings.

Sometimes I hope my sister can see through something, but I'm also afraid.

He admits he is shameless and even berates himself for being shameless.

But he truly couldn't accept anyone else in his heart.

His sister is so wonderful, how can he accept other people?

"Why are you in such a hurry? I was just mentioning it to you." This was the first time Cui Lingrong had seen her younger brother so agitated. "It's not like you have to accept Caiyue. If you don't want to, then forget it."

"Am I... am I in a hurry?" Cui Zeyu asked, sounding aggrieved.

His feelings were something he couldn't tell anyone; he could only keep them to himself.

"What's wrong with you?" Cui Lingrong asked.

Cui Zeyu fell silent again.

Cui Lingrong was at her wits' end with her younger brother. Looking at him, she sighed helplessly, "Tell me the truth, what kind of people were your parents when you were little?"

She had asked about this, and Cui Zeyu said that her father had died long ago, and her mother had also died while fleeing famine. But back then, Cui Zeyu was literate, and families where people could read were not considered ordinary.

"Does my sister doubt me?" Cui Zeyu looked over, hurt.

Cui Lingrong said no, "I just want to know, why won't you get married?"

The room fell silent.

Cui Zeyu opened his mouth, wanting to come up with an excuse as before.

This time, however, he didn't want to explain.

He could barely contain himself; if he looked at his sister even once more, he would want to confess.

Cui Zeyu said he was going back.

Cui Lingrong received no answer and felt even more puzzled. After her younger brother left, she sighed to Qiu's mother, "What's wrong with him?"

Even Qiu's mother didn't know. "Young Master Yu has grown up and has his own ideas now."

"That's the only way to think about it." Cui Lingrong had no choice but to find Caiyue and subtly convey Cui Zeyu's attitude.

Caiyue ran out in embarrassment, and Cui Lingrong quickly asked Caixia to watch over Caiyue.

Cui Lingrong thought to herself, "What's going on here?"

Then someone came to deliver a message saying that Young Master Yu had been mean to Miss He. Cui Lingrong told Mama Qiu to go to the second branch of the household, "Go and tell Madam Jiang to discipline her cousin. This is the Jiangyuan Marquis's residence, not a brothel."

Time and time again, He Pingping still couldn't understand what was going on.

When Qiu Mama knew that her mistress was angry, she went to the second house to see the second mistress, but she held back her words and didn't speak so directly.

Jiang's face turned ashen. As soon as Aunt Qiu left, she rushed to He Pingping and demanded, "Have you no shame? I refused to help you, so you went to find Cui Zeyu yourself. Do you know what Aunt Qiu said? She told me to keep an eye on you, to stop you from bringing shame to the He and Jiang families!"

He Pingping had already cried once; her face was deathly pale. "Cousin, I..."

"Don't call me cousin. If you really don't want my help, I'll send you back to the He family tomorrow!" Jiang said and left.

He Pingping covered her face and cried. She was already heartbroken to be rejected by Cui Zeyu. Now that her cousin wanted to take her back, she felt even worse.

Qing'er was anxious, "Miss, please don't cry. Second Madam is probably just angry. She loves you so much, she won't really send you away."

"That's not necessarily true. I think my cousin will be very disappointed in me this time." He Pingping didn't want to go back to the He family. Her mother wrote in her letter that the He family was in dire straits. Even her mother had to spin yarn and weave cloth to earn money, and her father only knew how to drink all day.

Sending her back to suffer is worse than letting her die!

He Pingping was heartbroken. She cried all afternoon. After sending Qing'er away, she went to the garden alone.

She felt hopeless about life and couldn't help but sob again.

Who is crying?

He Pingping was startled. She turned around and saw her cousin-in-law walking towards her with flushed cheeks, probably from drinking. The strong smell of alcohol made her take a big step back. "Cousin-in-law, it's me."

A timid voice woke Song Shucheng up halfway through his drunkenness. He looked closely and saw that his cousin, whom he usually didn't pay much attention to, had red eyes today and looked quite beautiful.

"So it's He Pingping, my cousin." Song Shucheng burped, leaned against the railing, and stared straight at He Pingping.

The moonlight was hazy, so it wasn't very clear what the other person's face was.

The moment He Pingping and Song Shucheng's eyes met, she ran away.

She was still very upset. Today, Cui Shi even came to her door. She was too ashamed to stay at the Jiangyuan Marquis's residence.

This matter was known not only to Cui Lingrong and Jiang Shi, but also to some people in Wutong Garden.

Princess Rongjia was having tea with Aunt Zhao and Huadie. She had received some goat meat today and invited them over to eat roasted goat meat together.

Wang Shanxi's wife laughed it off, saying, "It's truly outrageous. The He family used to be an official family, how could they raise such a daughter?"

Aunt Zhao smiled, pursing her lips. "Miss He is too blind. He's just someone who was picked up, and he's a merchant at that. Only the people at Qiushuangzhai treat him with respect, calling him Young Master Yu. But what is he really?"

Hua Die had a different opinion: "Actually, Young Master Yu is alright. He's good-looking and rich. Miss He's conditions aren't good enough for a decent family. If she wants to marry into a high-ranking family, she can only be a concubine."

Princess Rongjia glanced at Huadie. After being locked up for several days, she still hadn't learned her lesson and didn't realize that Huadie didn't like hearing these things.

Aunt Zhao was quite perceptive. "That's fine then. Could it be that Sister Huadie is only interested in him because he's young?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Hua Die snapped, "If I even had that thought, may I be struck by lightning!"

"I didn't say anything. It's you who's making such a fuss. Are you hiding something?"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Princess Rongjia spoke up, "Alright, he's just a bastard picked up from the roadside. It's not worth arguing over him. We're all sisters serving the Marquis, so it's better to stay peaceful."

She said she was tired and told Aunt Zhao and the others to go back.

Before leaving, Aunt Zhao specifically mentioned, "Roasted mutton is too heaty, and since the princess is pregnant, she must not eat too much of it."

She noticed today that Princess Rongjia had eaten a lot, so she added a comment to show how thoughtful she was.