*
Cui Xun looked down on his new wife.
So fake, so calculating.
On the second day of their marriage, she stood before him with tear-filled eyes and said plaintively, “I lost my mother when I was young, and my stepmother kept me under her thumb at the prince’s residence. I never thought that even after marrying, I’d have to live under my younger siblings’ thumb...”
Cui Xun agreed outwardly, but inwardly he scoffed.
He’d heard her and her servants laughing and joking just a second before he entered. Why was she suddenly teary-eyed as soon as he showed up?
After returning from a banquet, she was on the verge of tears again. “My younger sister has always been rude, and I used to let it go. But now that I’m married, I should follow my husband’s lead, and yet she still acts the same way...”
Cui Xun agreed, laughing coldly to himself.
The girl had spoken rudely, but his wife had immediately ordered a maid to slap her. Why did she still need him to take revenge on her behalf?
He thought Zhao Qiong was terrible at playing the victim. If he weren’t reluctant to spell it out for her, he certainly wouldn’t keep doing what she wanted every time.
Until Zhao Qiong’s father, Prince Jing, changed sides and pledged his support to the Third Prince, setting himself against the Crown Prince backed by the Marquis’s household.
Cui Xun pondered for a moment, then couldn’t help thinking of his wife again.
Who knew how she’d pretend to be weak and ask for his help when he got home today? This concerned the future emperor, so he couldn’t agree too quickly. He’d have to think it over a little.
But when he hurried home, he found his wife directing the servants as they packed her things for her return to the prince’s residence, a faint smile on her face.
Her maid urged her, “The heir is soft-hearted, not forceful. If you shed a few pearl-like tears like you usually do, maybe he’ll agree.”
His wife seemed amused. Unhurriedly, she replied, “Something as important as helping the future emperor ascend the throne isn’t something a few tears can solve...”
Before she could finish, she met Cui Xun’s gaze from the shadows.
Cui Xun stared at her, his fingers stiffening into a fist. His voice hoarse, he said, “...You haven’t even tried. How do you know I wouldn’t agree?”
They stood facing each other from afar. This time, it was his own eyes that turned red.
*Bonus scene:
Cui Xun had always thought his literary talent was outstanding and his career was flourishing, so he was surely quite well regarded in the capital.
But whenever he attended a banquet, the women there always looked at him with meaningful expressions, their faces rather odd.
Cui Xun could never figure out why.
Until one day, he came home early from work and heard his wife through the door, dabbing her tears with a handkerchief as she skillfully turned away the officials’ wives who had come to visit:
“My husband always has the final say. I’ve never been able to speak up in front of him. If I agree to help you now, I’m afraid he’ll lose his temper the moment I get home...”
Not only did no one doubt her, they all indignantly chimed in, “Lord Cui is far too domineering. His wife has to put up with so much...”
Cui Xun, the domineering, quick-tempered man: ???
*You look down on me, and I look down on you even more.
*A story about two people who each think the other is incredibly stupid, making a life together and then both getting found out.
*
Theme: Keep a healthy social distance and build a better life together.
