Chapter 208: But... Must He Just Endure It?
Chapter 208: Chapter 208: But... Must He Just Endure It?
He was terrified of getting tangled up with this sister-in-law again.
The sight of her now made his skin crawl, and he immediately averted his gaze.
He glanced aside and saw the man beside him was still staring in that direction. The Princely Heir’s already gloomy expression grew even more frightening. Zhao Shijie’s brows knitted. "Your Highness?"
Xie Jinbai ignored him. Instead, he raised his arm and gestured. When Li Yong came forward from behind, he said in a low voice, "Go and ask how the Shen family got here."
As the words reached his ears, Zhao Shijie instantly understood something, and the corner of his eyebrow rose slightly.
’This is getting interesting.’
He was aware of the entanglement between Cui Lingyao and Shen Tingyu.
The two had even been briefly engaged, with the blessings of their elders.
Shen Tingyu had even returned to Pingzhou in the capacity of a son-in-law to see off the deceased and personally oversee his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Tsk...
’I have no idea how Xie Jinbai stomachs this.’
’If I were in his shoes, and my wife had some unclear relationship with another man...’
Zhao Shijie’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stopped himself from thinking further.
He didn’t need to worry about such things.
After all, his Minmin loved him deeply. Since childhood, her eyes and heart had been for him alone. How could she possibly have an ambiguous relationship with another man?
Before long, Li Yong had investigated and returned to report.
Upon hearing that Chen Minrou had sent someone to invite her own sister over to play, and that Shen Hanyue and Shen Hanyun had been brought by Chen Peirou, Xie Jinbai’s expression grew even more foul.
His expression was so dark it looked like it could drip water.
These past few days, they had a tacit understanding. Neither of them had brought up Shen Tingyu’s name again.
’Does she really think I’ve completely let it go? That she can just find the first opportunity to bring the Shen family here to vex me?’
’Going around in such a huge circle to get the two Shen sisters here... whether it was to reminisce about their old sisterly bond or to ask about someone’s news, I’m afraid only Cui Lingyao herself truly knows.’
Seeing that his master’s expression was truly awful, even Li Yong was a bit shocked. He hesitated, "Should I have them sent back?"
Xie Jinbai shot him a glance.
The look was bone-chilling.
Li Yong took half a step back and said sheepishly, "I misspoke."
’Sending away people the Princess Consort wanted to see after they’ve already arrived...’
’You’d have to think the master and mistress are getting along too well to dare pull a stunt like that.’
’But... are we just supposed to grit our teeth and bear it?’
In the silence, a sudden cry of alarm rang out from the martial arts stage.
The victor of another round had been decided.
While they were talking, some young master or other had gone up to issue a challenge and had actually won. He was now receiving the cheers of the crowd.
Meanwhile, Cui Jiulang of the Cui Family, who had been so full of vigor just a moment ago, was defeated on the ground, being helped up by his attendants.
The sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy was tasting defeat in front of so many people for the first time, his still-immature face deathly pale.
This was Cui Lingyao’s youngest paternal cousin, and also Zhao Shijie’s future brother-in-law.
’Looking at him, his temperament seems truly lacking.’
Zhao Shijie’s brow furrowed slightly. He asked the attendant behind him, "Who is that man?"
"Replying to the Princely Heir," his attendant, Zhao Pu, reported with a bow, "that is the fourth son of Mr. Hu, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel... He is of concubine birth."
Zhao Shijie’s brow furrowed even tighter. "How did Cui Mingrong lose?"
Weren’t they saying that Cui Jiulang was accomplished in both literature and martial arts, skilled in archery and horsemanship, and a rare talent among the sons of the capital’s nobles?
With such a reputation, how could he lose to the son of an Assistant Minister?
And an unfavored son of a concubine at that.
Their attention had been elsewhere moments before, so they hadn’t seen the match and weren’t clear on the details.
Zhao Si answered truthfully, "The Mr. Hu has excellent skills. He caught Young Master Cui off guard, found an opening, and won in a single move."
So, the man had won fair and square.
He hadn’t used any underhanded tricks.
As they spoke, someone else mounted the stage to issue a challenge.
Xie Jinbai perked up a little and fixed his gaze on the stage.
...
「Meanwhile.」
Chen Minrou, who had loudly declared she was going for a couple of laps, had already run who knows how many.
She was full of energy and felt no fatigue at all. The moment she got on her horse, she galloped off with wild abandon.
Cui Lingyao was able to keep up at first.
When it came to equestrian skills, she had been personally taught by Xie Jinbai, and was in no way inferior to Chen Minrou.
But after a while, she began to feel unwell.
First her lower back ached, then her inner thighs began to chafe painfully, and finally, even her lower abdomen started to throb with a heavy pain.
She pushed through it for a while, but after galloping for the better part of an hour, she really couldn’t take it anymore and pulled her reins tight to stop.
Chen Minrou had galloped far ahead, leaving a trail of dust. When she saw Cui Lingyao hadn’t kept up, she wheeled her horse back. Seeing her friend sitting on a roadside rock, face full of exhaustion, she couldn’t help but smile smugly. "I win!"
"..." Cui Lingyao was speechless. She said faintly, "Your constitution seems much better than before."
This "before," of course, referred to the time when they were both unmarried maidens.
Chen Minrou’s smile deepened. "It’s all thanks to that Divine Pill of yours."
She swung herself off her horse, tied the reins, and plopped down next to Cui Lingyao. She then recounted everything: how after taking the Hundred Diseases Pill, her body felt amazing, her vitality recovered too quickly, and she felt uncomfortably hot all over.
"Seriously, I feel like I could soak in ice water right now and my body would be completely fine."
"The Hundred Diseases Pill has side effects like that?" Cui Lingyao was stunned. "Why does that sound less like proper medicine?"
"Tell me about it," Chen Minrou sighed, vexed. "I feel like I’m going to explode."
Her words were very blunt.
But the two were as close as sisters, so Cui Lingyao didn’t feel awkward. Instead, she asked skeptically, "Are you sure it’s related to the Hundred Diseases Pill? Could it be that you haven’t... for too long... and now that your body is better, you naturally start to want..."
"Impossible!"
She knew her own body. Chen Minrou denied it vehemently. "I’ve never felt this uncomfortable before. I’m clearly annoyed just by the sight of him, but when we lie together at night, I still can’t stop myself from wanting to rip his clothes off."
’If it were just simple, unfulfilled desire, how could I be that desperate?’
’It’s no different from having taken an aphrodisiac.’
’It’s just that I can control it, somewhat.’
"..." Cui Lingyao was struck dumb.
Her face slowly turned red.
’So, when that person pestered her to do *that* every night these past few days, with no restraint, acting recklessly several times—it wasn’t because he was lustful or deliberately trying to torment her.’
’It was because of the after-effects of the Hundred Diseases Pill?’
’What he said, about not being able to control himself...’
’...that was the truth, too?’
’He...’
"What are you thinking about?" Chen Minrou nudged her with an elbow and passed her the waterskin. "Have a drink. It’s still warm."
Cui Lingyao took it, tilted her head back, and gulped down some water, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart. She asked her, "Have you decided? The next few decades, the rest of your life—are you going to spend them in the Zhao Family?"
’Whether to stay in the Zhao Family...’
Chen Minrou took a deep breath and smiled. "I’ve decided."
She said, "I think that since I’m still alive now, maybe that dream was fake, a hallucination I had at death’s door. I didn’t die, and everything in the dream hasn’t happened yet and won’t happen in the future. So I’ll just pretend I never had that dream."
"I’ll only look at the now, only at the present."
That was her decision.
Cui Lingyao tilted her head to look at her. "Honestly? Can you really let go of everything in that dream?"
Chen Minrou nodded. "I can."
"Good," Cui Lingyao said, smiling and patting her shoulder. "As long as you can move on and stop torturing yourself, I’ll support whatever decision you make."