Second Old Madam Cui’s expression was agitated, her pupils dilated, her lips pressed together with the corners of her mouth turned down, revealing an anger in her eyes that was impossible to conceal: “I knew that beast couldn’t be trusted! This is a trap. He never truly wanted to earn any silver, never truly wanted to fight for any position! These were all lies, all lies! He just wanted to destroy our family, to destroy the entire Cui family!”
Lai Chenglong hadn’t specified where the information came from. What Song Chuyi was most curious about was precisely who had sent the secret report. Now hearing Second Old Madam Cui speak as if she had already identified who sent the secret report, she spoke slowly and deliberately: “Yes, Commander Lai originally didn’t need to come to Jinzhong at all. It was only because he received that secret report that His Majesty specially dispatched him to Jinzhong to investigate the case—to see whether the Cui family truly colluded with rebel forces and secretly operated mines as stated in the secret report. Second Grandmother, why did you indulge Uncle Ying in operating mines? Now the uncles have fallen into the Imperial Guard’s hands, and who knows whether they’re alive or dead.”
The Imperial Guard—whose very name struck terror into hearts—just hearing it made one’s heart turn half cold with dread. At this moment Second Old Madam Cui truly felt as if her heart had fallen into an ice cellar. Even digging her fingernails into her palm, she felt no pain.
Yes, she had truly been blinded by greed, thinking she had picked up benefits that the first branch had let slip through their fingers, thinking that beast Cui Yu only harbored bone-deep hatred for the first branch, and even thinking Cui Yu truly wanted to return to the Cui clan. But how could she and her son have been so confused? This was no path to success and glory—this was clearly a dark road leading straight to the King of Hell!
She struggled to take a breath, feeling her mind clearing somewhat, when she heard Nanny Qian come in from outside in a panic, saying that the Imperial Guard had already taken Cui Shaoying and the others away, that they were being escorted directly to the capital. The Jinzhong Prefect Lu Anyu was currently leading people to surround the Cui family’s medicine shops and escort agencies, searching and confiscating everything.
How had things reached this point so quickly?! Second Old Madam Cui couldn’t catch her breath evenly. In her struggle, a mouthful of blood sprayed directly onto the screen, staining the narcissus flowers painted there a vivid scarlet red. She nearly fainted but was supported by Qing Luo, who patted her back for quite a while before she finally recovered her spirits. She asked Nanny Qian: “What about Cui Yu?! Was Cui Yu arrested?!”
This morally depraved scum—did he still think he could escape unscathed?! He was the one who lured Cui Shaoying into this trap, the one who personally made the connections and introduced Cui Shaoying to that rebel Ma Yuantong. Even if the Cui family was completely finished, though he had been expelled from the clan, he should also be ruined along with them!
Nanny Qian’s face showed extreme bewilderment as she looked at Second Old Madam Cui and asked uncertainly: “Second Old Madam, who are you talking about? He was expelled from our Cui clan long ago. Have you forgotten?!”
Second Old Madam Cui reached up to wipe the trace of blood from the corner of her mouth. With a cold face, she stood to the side looking like a malevolent ghost, wheezing coarsely in her throat: “I haven’t forgotten. How could I forget? He’s returned—he’s right here in our Cui residence.”
Song Chuyi felt she had seemingly grasped the key to the matter. She turned her head to ask Nanny Qian: “Who is Cui Yu?” In Second Old Madam Cui’s words, this person was the one who sent the secret report. He also bore the surname Cui but had supposedly been expelled from the clan, and moreover didn’t follow the Cui family’s generational naming convention.
Nanny Qian lowered her voice to tell her: “He—he is Fourth Master, born to Concubine Dong. Over ten years ago, because he killed a courtesan outside, he was expelled from the household. He was originally called… Cui Yingyuan.”
Oh, she had memorized this name when studying the Cui family roster. At the time she had a deep impression because among the various branches of the Cui household, this was one of the rare few who were born of concubines. But Cui Huaying and Cui Huayi had both told her she needn’t remember this person or prepare gifts, saying this person was no longer around. So it turned out he had been expelled from the household.
Expelled by the first branch, yet the second branch actually took him back in and even followed his bewitchment to collude with rebel forces. She truly didn’t know what to say about the Cui family’s second branch. Song Chuyi cast a complicated glance at Second Old Madam Cui and strode outside.
She flew swiftly along the flying bridge, crossing over the sea of lanterns to Xinghai Tower. There she saw Cui Shaoying kneeling on the ground with a face ashen as death, and beside him a wretched man grinning to reveal a mouthful of rotten yellow teeth.
The Cui family men were each handsome and extraordinary with dignified bearing—compared to the person before her eyes, the difference was like heaven and earth. Song Chuyi truly had no way to associate him with the Cui family.
Old Madam Cui was sitting before the brightest lamp, her voluminous robes rustling loudly in the wind. As Song Chuyi approached, she heard her sigh deeply: “Shaoying, you’ve truly been too foolish.”
Cui Shaoying was completely dazed, as if even now he couldn’t believe that it was this person before his eyes who had reported him, sent the secret report to the Imperial Guard, specifically waiting for him to lead the entire Cui clan into the King of Hell’s palace.
After a moment, just as Song Chuyi was about to move forward, he suddenly exploded into action. He grabbed Cui Yu’s head and viciously bit down on his ear. This bite used all his strength. The steward beside them led people to pull him off but couldn’t reach him in time. By the time they separated them, Cui Yu was already rolling on the ground clutching his head, while Cui Shaoying’s mouth held half of Cui Yu’s ear.
Old Madam Cui immediately reached out to cover Song Chuyi’s eyes, but Song Chuyi gently shook her head. She wasn’t afraid of these things—the human heart was far more terrifying than these superficial scenes of carnage.
“You son of a bitch, tricking me into a trap on one hand while reporting me on the other!” Cui Shaoying’s eyes were bloodshot with fury. Even several people couldn’t restrain him. He stood up and was pulled backward by others, yet still managed to kick the rolling Cui Yu several times with all his might.
Cui Yu’s one ear was bloody, the blood seeping through his fingers from between the cracks as it leaked from his hand. Yet his face wore a smile—grinning with his mouthful of rotten teeth exceptionally conspicuous under the lamplight: “You were greedy yourself! You yourself were dissatisfied with the first branch! You yourself felt you should be more accomplished than Cui Shaoting and Cui Yingshu! If not for that, would you have fallen for my trick?! I’m not the only one who destroyed the Cui family—you, this Cui clan patriarch, are the chief culprit! Now it’s too late to say anything. Though I’m the one who wrote the denunciation letter, and though it came to light earlier than I anticipated and couldn’t be known throughout the entire court, it’s close enough. Those people in the Imperial Guard devour people without spitting out bones—every single one of you surnamed Cui will be finished!”
Cui Shaoying’s face turned iron gray, the veins on his neck all protruding. All the blood in his body rushed to his head. Agitated to the point his eyes were bloodshot, he let out a hoarse, wrenching howl and lunged forward to fight him to the death: “You bastard!”