Looking around from the small attic, all he could see was the beautiful flowers in the garden. In addition to the beautiful flowers that had been taken care of by others, Cui Miaohe could be said to be pampered in the house.
Although the Cui family is not a high-ranking official, but with the help of the Che family, they have also found an official and a half-job in the official department. In the capital, it can be regarded as a little name.
As the eldest lady of the Cui family, she should naturally be spoiled, and her life should be very comfortable. Unfortunately, her mother passed away early. Now the wife of the Cui family is the successor. After she got married, she also gave birth. A daughter, for the status of her biological daughter in the Cui family, Mrs. Cui naturally regarded Cui Miaohe as a thorn in her eyes and a thorn in her flesh.
What Cui Miaohe was looking at and thinking in his heart was what wrong Cui Miaohe could have done, so that she could justly expel her from the Cui Mansion.
For these, although Cui Miaohe was clear in his heart, he didn't pay much attention to it. He still lived his own life freely, and he and his mother and daughter never violated the river water.
And they were naturally afraid of the relationship between Uncle Che's cousin and her, but they didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of her.
Until that day, Che Shangshu somehow offended Sun Chengyin, the prime minister, and was impeached, and even his house was raided because of the emperor's anger.
Even their family was questioned because they had always been close to the Che family. The officials from the Criminal Bureau also searched the Cui family several times. Although they could not find any solid evidence, they also gave the stepmother an excuse to arrest them.
She completely disregarded the past friendship between the two families, and urged her father to force her to cut off contact with the Che family to avoid being implicated again.
It's fine if I can't come to the door, and even a little money is banned. I thought my father would care about the old relationship, but who knew that this time my father really listened to the stepmother's slander, not only forbid her to go to Yuanyu again Sister, she is not allowed to give any silver taels from the family to help the car family in distress.
hateful!
Thinking of this, Cui Miaohe's heart suddenly burst into anger. She has always been someone who doesn't offend me and I don't offend anyone. I didn't expect her not to fight, but her stepmother thought she was a soft persimmon.
"Miss, why is your face so ugly, is it because you are not feeling well?" Huanhuan was holding the food box, and was about to prepare today's lunch for the master, but seeing the master's dark face, he quickly asked with concern.
"I… "
The full of grievances were about to burst out, and out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the figure suddenly appearing on the porch, the anger on his face was quickly restrained, and a smile appeared on his face as if he was conjuring a trick.
She could let Huanhuan look at her mood, but she didn't want to let her half-sister peep into it.
"Why is my little sister here?" Staring at his little sister's beautiful face, Cui Miaohe asked lightly. Although there was a charming smile on her face, the smile did not reach her bright eyes.
"My sister came here specially to congratulate my sister." Cui Yunxiu sat gracefully across from her sister, and said hurriedly without waiting for the maid to pour the tea.
"Congratulations?" Cui Miaohe repeated inexplicably, her brows couldn't help frowning because of the gloating in her eyes.
Although she and Cui Yunxiu are called sisters, they are actually not much closer than strangers.
She knew very well that her stepmother and younger sister had always regarded her as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, but she was used to treating them as air, if they could be seen, they would not be seen, and the well water did not make the river water.
Now Cui Yunxiu came to her yard at this juncture, but she didn't hide any good intentions.
Therefore, her attitude was neither cold nor warm, and she was not in a hurry to rush people, she just wanted to see what medicine was being sold in Cui Yunxiu's gourd.
"Yeah, it's time to congratulate my sister."
In fact, under the training of her stepmother, Cui Yunxiu is indeed more like a lady than her eldest lady.
Looking at her gestures and her dignified and elegant appearance, wherever such a lady is placed, she will attract full compliments.
"If you say congratulations on the left and congratulations on the right, why don't you talk about where the joy comes from?"
Cui Miaohe was really curious as to where her happiness came from. These days she was under house arrest by her father, and her heart was completely attached to Sister Che, who was suddenly suffering. How could their mother and daughter not know about these things? Come to say goodbye, I am afraid that the ingredients of watching jokes are still higher!
"Hey, don't you know about my sister? My mother has already said it was a marriage for my sister!"
A mysterious smile appeared on Cui Yunxiu's face. If you look closely, you can still see the gloating gloating.
Looking at the sly smile in her eyes, Cui Miaohe suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart. It seems that the emperor checked the Che family. Although it did not affect their Cui family, it did affect her.
Afraid that the mother and daughter thought her backer had collapsed, they hurried to step on her.
Liang Yuxia has always had no good intentions towards her, so this pro said it was not a wishful husband.
Cui Miaohe looked at her sister quietly, her face still full of innocence, although in front of her two friends, Che Yuanyu and Ji Junyin, she has always been Aijiao and stupid, that's because she knew that the two friends were real. I feel bad for her, so in front of them, she doesn't have to wear a mask and can be herself sincerely.
She didn't ask, but Cui Yunxiu was in a hurry. After all, her husband is the one who looks up to a woman all her life. Who can't be curious, but her sister is a kind of light-hearted. After all, she couldn't hold back her temper and asked, "Sister Don't you wonder who the other party is?"
"I'm not curious, because I don't agree with this matter." Cui Miaohe pursed her lips and smiled, because she could clearly see the surprise in her sister's eyes.
"You...why don't you agree? Since ancient times, the marriage of children has been the order of the parents. If your mother wants you to marry, why don't you?" Xianji gritted his teeth in anger, and said angrily.
"If I don't marry, who can force me!" With cold eyes swept away, the cold light in Cui Miaohe's eyes burst out, no matter who this pro said, she would not obediently get on the sedan chair, so she was not at all curious.
It's this kind of determination that makes people angry, Cui Yunxiu can't care about selling out, and said eagerly: "Who cares if you agree or not, anyway, Mrs. Chai was in a hurry to find a new bride for Chai Zhexia a few days ago, and sent a matchmaker. Come to the door and say kiss, my mother has already asked a matchmaker to send your portrait to General Chai's mansion, if General Chai sees you, you are the general's wife."
"Really? That can be regarded as the fact that we have climbed high!" Cui Miaohe said lightly, Lizhi's face was full of calmness, and there was no trace of anger and reluctance at all.
"Are you willing to marry Chai Zhexia?"
In fact, in theory, with Chai Zhexia's background and his current momentum, it can be said that he is a golden tortoise-in-law in the eyes of many girls to be married.
Even she herself had secretly hoped that she could become Chai Zhexia's wife, marry beautifully, and cling to the powerful, so that the rest of her life would be safe.
Unexpectedly, in the past two years, Chai Zhexia's reputation has gradually deteriorated. Although the future is still the same, there have been some scandals. First, he killed the maid of the house for trivial matters, and then it was reported that he seemed to have broken sleeves. Not only did he have a close relationship with a few seemingly charming men, but he was always having fun in the mansion. Such indecent things were widely circulated among the dignitaries.
When I first heard these rumors, I only felt that they were false, but gradually, as the rumors went on for a long time, more people believed them, and even she had gone from disbelieving at the beginning to being convinced now.
As a result, she turned her love for Chai Zhexia from her original love to avoid it, so when the matchmaker sent by Mrs. Chai came to the door, she immediately turned her attention to her sister.
Not only can he justly marry this thorn in his eyes, but also to see Cui Miaohe living a dire life and being a widow for life, that is really a comforting thing.
"Isn't our women's marriage since ancient times the order of our parents and the words of a matchmaker?" Even though the anger in his heart was like a beast, roaring and wanting to pour it out, in order not to let his sister see any anger, Cui Miaohe A smile bloomed on his lips, and he said calmly.
"Do you know that Chai Zhexia has the habit of breaking her sleeves, and if you marry him, you will have to be a widow for the rest of your life." Unbelievable, she couldn't scare her sister, so Cui Yunxiu said with bright eyes, pretending to be worried.
"Even if that's the case, it's my life, so what are you afraid of?"
Knowing that her younger sister would be satisfied only by looking at her and trembling with fear, how could Cui Miaohe do what she wanted? So even though her heart was burning with anger, she still laughed easily.
"You..." Cui Yunxiu gritted her teeth in hatred looking at the ease and composure she couldn't reach.
She should be afraid, because Chai Zhexia is cruel by nature and has the habit of breaking her sleeves. If a woman marries such a man, what can she hope for in her life.
"My sister cares so much about my sister, it really touched me. Could it be that my sister came here today to tell my sister, would you rather suffer this kind of crime on my sister's behalf?"
The remaining patience was long gone, and I saw Cui Miaohe smiled again, and a gentle and grateful speculation followed. She panicked and hurriedly said: "I... already have someone I like, you can't even think about pushing that terrifying man to me, let alone ruining my life, now that you have no backer, mother will never Watching you so arrogant again, you will wait to marry into the general's mansion and live a miserable second half of your life!"
Now that the play couldn't go on, Cui Yunxiu simply accepted the sisterhood like a play, and after giving her sister a vicious look, she turned around and left.
Looking at the figure that quickly disappeared in front of her eyes, Cui Miaohe lost the complacent expression on her face. In fact, when she heard her sister's words, how could her heart not panic
She never thought about getting married, and even if she did, she couldn't willingly marry a man who was already infamous. No, she had to think hard about it, so that she wouldn't be slaughtered by others.
The painters in the city are probably very busy recently!
Chai Zhexia stared coldly at the portrait that almost covered the entire bookcase, the blue veins on her forehead couldn't help beating faintly.
He tore up the portraits without any trouble, stepped forward a few steps, stretched out his hand and flicked, and the portraits were lying on the ground in pieces, mixed with his military book and the military strategy map of the dynasty.
Seeing this, Chai Xing, the young servant behind him, was stunned by the anger of the master. Before he could bend down to clean it up, a hearty laugh broke the tranquility, and also made the eyes of the master and servants in the mansion aspiring to fall together. on the person.
"Why are you so angry so early in the morning?"
"You're here!" He was already used to his friend's behavior of rushing in without notice, so he just raised his eyebrows, not even bothering to hide the impatience on his face.
"What did I say you were so angry about early in the morning?"
"Angry at my boring mother-in-law."
With such a simple sentence, and looking at the pictures of ladies on the ground, Ju Susheng has already figured out why Chai Zhexia's anger is coming.
"Your mother is marrying you?"
"Humph!" Chai Zhexia didn't answer, just hummed heavily.
For his friend's rudeness, Ju Susheng didn't take it to heart, he just snorted slightly and turned to look at the exquisitely painted images.
Huh... it's her!
Looking at the vivid pattern in front of him, he suddenly remembered the coquettish appearance of the person in the painting, and couldn't help grinning slightly, then raised his eyes to look at Chai Zhexia standing like a mountain in front of him, thinking in his heart.
If such a smart and smart girl can be matched with Chai Zhexia, it will be a good marriage!
So he looked at the painting and said in a moderate tone: "Tsk, this girl has a good appearance, with a smile on the corner of her mouth and light eyes, she can see that she is a lively and lovely girl."
"If you like it, I'll give it to you." Unexpectedly, a friend who has always had eyes above the top would praise the person in the painting so easily. Chai Zhexia was stunned at first, and then seemed to be eager to get rid of the big trouble. said hastily.
He was feeling that the piles of portraits were extremely annoying. If someone wanted it, he would like to send them all out, so that he could save his mind.
"Given this batch, is it possible that Mrs. Chai won't find another batch?" Ju Susheng couldn't help shaking his head and laughing at the straightforward nature of Chai Zhexia.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Chai Zhexia was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it, she knew that Ju Susheng's words made sense.
Even if he sent out all the portraits, with the mother's temperament, he will indeed continue to send more.
This time, she was determined to get a daughter-in-law for him. If he hadn't succumbed and married a wife and went home, the mother, who was spoiled by her father, would not give up.
Thinking of this, his mood became even worse, and the forcing frost on his face thickened.
"So, instead of letting your mother mess around, I don't know if you can find something pleasing to the eye." Ju Susheng suggested casually.
"Woman, trouble!" Chai Zhexia refused without even thinking about it. Just thinking of the experience of fighting against women a few times, even a young general who had experienced many battles, he couldn't help shivering.
"Women are troubles, but you are more troublesome without women now."
In Chai Zhexia's heart, I'm afraid that ten women are not as troublesome as his willful mother, he said this really hit the nail on the head.
"Could it be that I really should listen to my mother's words and find trouble beside me?" Chai Zhexia said dully, with millions of unwillingness flashing on her face.
Thinking that he still has the ambition of Honghu in his heart at the moment, and he hopes that if the chaos of the temple can be stabilized, he will lead the army of Mobei with a million troops, so as to calm the border chaos and open up territory for the dynasty.
"Trouble is not necessarily trouble." These words are not necessarily consolation.
Think about their eldest brother, Sun Chengyin, isn't it all about Cha Yuanyu
"Why isn't it troublesome, think about that girl Fang Qing last year, and Wutong, aren't they all troubles?" Chai Zhexia said angrily.
As long as he thinks of the trouble Fang Qing and Wutong caused, the wrinkles on his forehead are enough to kill the bugs.
Fang Qing was clearly the maid his mother arranged for him, but he fell in love with a poor scholar who went to Beijing to take the exam. In order not to hurt the face of the Chai family and to take care of Fang Qing's lifelong happiness, he had no choice but to do it. In a play, Fang Qing was "killed" by the stick, so that she could change her name and surname, so she could return to her hometown with the scholar and live a happy life.
Although he did such a benevolent and righteous thing, none of the people in the neighborhood who didn't know what to do was cursed his cruel heart behind his back.
Therefore, for the sake of women, he has no words for suffering!
Not to mention that girl from Wutong, she is obviously a woman, but she always likes to dress as a man, so it doesn't matter, but she completely ignores the difference between men and women, and always loves to touch him on the streets where people come and go. , the rumors that he had the habit of breaking his sleeves spread like wildfire, and that's okay. In the end, she said that she didn't want to be trapped in the small courtyard of Chai Mansion. After a titular couple had been together for a while, they insisted on recognizing him. For the righteous brother, and then relying on his love, he traveled far away from home and wandered the world.
It's good for her, the person walked away, but brought him some notoriety.
His temperament has always changed, and he doesn't care about what others think of him, not to mention that those rumors even gave him a quiet life for a while.
But who knows, when this rumor spread to my mother, it caused a fuss. Although my mother let Wutong leave, she was afraid that those rumors would prevent him from marrying a wife and holding her grandson. So he tried his best to get him to marry a wife and give birth to a big fat boy in the shortest possible time.
So these inexhaustible portraits in front of me are the legacy of those rumors.
"They are indeed troublesome, but it should be your mother who is more troublesome!"
In a word, when Chai Zhexia heard the words, her sturdy and slender body froze.
"As the saying goes, go straight to Huanglong, if you want your mother not to bother you, you have to do something to reassure her."
Ju Susheng said these words naturally, with a brotherly affection and a heart-to-heart look, but the slyness flashed by in his eyes.
"You mean, let me choose a woman myself?"
Isn't that putting himself in trouble even more, when big troubles and small troubles come together, then will he still live his life
"Of course it should be like this. You first choose a woman to settle your mother's heart, and then you will have time to plan. At least you can earn a quiet ear for a while, right?"
"This… "
Hearing this, Chai Zhexia thought it was somewhat reasonable, but she always thought it was a bit weird, so she stared at Ju Susheng blankly, as if she wanted to see what he was thinking about.
"Tsk, do you think I will hurt you?" Ju Susheng's tone did not conceal the accusation that he felt that Chai Zhexia had no conscience, and there was even a hint of grief on his face.
"You are such a jerk, who knows what you are planning?" Chai Zhexia said angrily in Ju Susheng's hurt eyes.
Since acquaintance, he, who has a big personality, doesn't know how many times he has talked to him. Fortunately, it's all innocuous things, so it's no wonder he suspects him.
"Okay, since you don't know good hearts, let's not talk about the head office." With his hands spread, Ju Susheng simply shut his mouth, looking annoyed.
Seeing this, Chai Zhexia felt a tinge of guilt in her heart, thinking that he and Susheng had always been good brothers who had passed away.
After several twists and turns in my heart, I also vaguely felt that my friend's words made some sense, so for the sake of my own peace, I finally decided to turn a dead horse into a living Malay doctor.
"Then you say, who should I choose?"
Hearing this, Ju Susheng's eyes lit up with a gleam, and then he pointed to a portrait on the ground inadvertently, and said, "Just her!"
Following his friend's finger, Chai Zhexia's eyes followed the portrait, looking at the soulful eyes of the characters in the painting, he felt that it was not a good idea.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but his friend said one step ahead of him: "Otherwise, what should I do?"
Hearing a friend who has always been resourceful and resourceful ask "what should I do", the careless Chai Zhexia doesn't know what else to say, the only thing she can do is purse her lips and stare at the portrait on the ground.
The peony with the big bowl mouth is placed in the most conspicuous place in the hall. In recent years, because of the concubines in the palace, there has been a trend of appreciating peony, which has also affected the preferences of the common people, causing the peony to be precious for a while. , If it wasn't for a family with some wealth, they couldn't afford peonies.
Looking at the peony, which represents wealth, Cui Miaohe didn't find it particularly surprising. Compared with the grace of the peony, she liked the coldness and elegance of the narcissus more.
Although the peony in front of her was not pleasing to her, she still stretched out her hand to touch the blooming peony, but when she was close to the peony, she suddenly heard a cold drink—
"stop!"
Hearing the sound, she immediately turned her head to look at the owner of the voice, only to see the stepmother staring at her with a cold face. "Can you touch that flower?"
For this stepdaughter, although she never really abused her, she always had no good face.
Hearing this, Cui Miaohe looked back at the stepmother with a cold face, pursed her lips and said nothing.
Although she was dissatisfied, she didn't have an immediate attack. She wanted to know what her stepmother had to say when she took all the trouble to invite her over to the hall.
Liang Yuxia was instantly panicked when she was seen, and she couldn't help but get angry because of her own disappointment.
"Don't you know how precious this peony is?"
For such a question, Cui Miaohe just murmured a sneer, and didn't even bother to lift his lips to look at the anger of his stepmother.
"You..." That's how she stared at her with eyes that seemed to penetrate people's hearts, so she couldn't take Cui Miaohe as her own.
In the past, Liang Yuxia still looked at her uncle Che Yaodong's face to some extent. On the surface, she was not too harsh on her, but since the accident in the car family, she has no scruples, and now she is eager to make this an eyesore quickly. of people swept out.
"You came to me in such a hurry, just to talk about how precious this potted flower is?" Finally, Cui Miaohe spoke lightly. Although she spoke calmly, it could make people hear her impatience.
Now Liang Yuxia is deceiving her that she has no one to rely on. After all, sometimes even the father, in the face of the power of his stepmother, is eager to see the quietness of the less than the more, and the one who opens or closes one eye is regarded as not seeing her increasingly trampling. The arrogance above his head.
If the past were changed, Cui Miaohe would naturally not be looking for trouble, but since she learned a few days ago that her stepmother was so deliberate about winning over the Chai family and blatantly trying to push her into the fire pit, the anger in her heart kept growing. It was burning brightly, and naturally he was unwilling to bear it any longer.
"If you know how valuable it is, why should you reach out and touch it?"
"It belongs to my Cui family. If I want to cherish it, I will cherish it. If I don't want to love it, I will destroy it. Why do others point at it?"
"you… "
This dead girl, in the past, she was just an ordinary lady, but now where did she learn her eloquence
It seems that if she doesn't think of a way to marry her out sooner or later, this girl will climb on top of her head and be savage sooner or later.
She thought about it again, Cui Miaohe and Yunxiu were of the same age, and if Cui Miaohe was not married quickly, how could Yunxiu find a good husband
Thinking of this level, she held back the anger that was rolling in her heart, and said with a smile that seemed to change her face. "Your father said, I hope you can get to know Mrs. Chai more and get to know you more. If you can win the favor of Mrs. Chai or General Chai, it will greatly improve your hope of marrying into the Chai family. , you will have a good life in the future, not to mention that General Chai is a newcomer in the dynasty. If he is willing to say a few words for your father in front of the emperor, it will also help your father's career. Maybe you can borrow the prestige of General Chai. , it is possible to restore the official position, and even a few higher ranks are possible.”
Hearing this, Cui Miaohe raised her head slightly, and a sweet smile appeared on her delicate face. When Liang Yuxia was satisfied with her obedience, she suddenly said. "Since you're so worried about your father's career, why don't you let your sister go to curry favor with Madam Chai? When it comes to her looks, my sister is also a top-notch beauty, not to mention that you don't always say that her piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are better than mine."
Since their mother and daughter don't know what it means to do what you don't want to do to others, why should she be polite
"What about Yunxiu, that Chai Zhexia's reputation..."
Liang Yuxia hurriedly replied, but as soon as the words came out, seeing the sneer on Cui Miaohe's face, she had to swallow the unfinished words again, and then Xingmei stared at the boss, obviously not believing that she would be defeated in front of her so easily After a while, a burst of anger suddenly rose, and the smile could not be held back.
"Let me tell you, this time you have to marry even if you don't want to. Your father has already sent your portrait to the Chai Mansion. If General Chai takes a fancy to you, then even if you are tied up, I will marry you. Knowing how much the dowry at the General’s Mansion will be, just saying that his identity is helpful to your father is also a responsibility you, the eldest Cui family, can’t refuse.”
Hearing this, Cui Miaohe just gave her a cold look.
That look seemed to tell her that no one in this world could force her to do what she didn't want to do.