Marrying the Sweet Story’s Melodramatic Villainess [Transmigration] - Chapter 24

Pei Mingjiao drank bitter medicine for two days straight, yet Cui Yi’s silhouette continued to haunt her dreams every night; the medicine had no effect whatsoever.

Pei Mingjiao’s small face stiffened; she felt this situation was unacceptable. There was no reason for her to be the only one affected. However, the thought of asking Cui Yi about it made her feel awkward, as if she were somehow losing ground in an unspoken competition. It was only after her maid Caizhu persuaded her repeatedly that she finally set out for the Cui Residence to thank Cui Yi in person. Her mother had already sent gifts on her behalf, but since it was a life-saving favor, she wasn’t ungrateful; she had to acknowledge the debt.

Upon hearing of Pei Mingjiao’s visit, Madam Du pondered for a moment before sending word to Cui Yi. She received the Princess and offered a few polite pleasantries: “The Princess has previously encountered misfortune and ill-luck, but now the calamities have dispersed. Surely, everything from here on will be smooth and prosperous.”

Pei Mingjiao offered a slight smile. Before her elders, she showed none of her usual arrogance, acting quite obedient: “Thank you for your blessings, Madam.”

She was born beautiful, and her smile was like a peach blossom in full bloom. Madam Du raised her tea to signal the end of the audience, and Pei Mingjiao rose to take her leave, heading toward Cui Yi’s small courtyard with practiced familiarity.

As she walked through the long corridor, Pei Mingjiao suddenly paused, her chin tilted high. “Who is that?”

The leading maid raised her eyes. Peering through the weeping willows, she saw Du Wenyu, the Third Young Master Du, studying in the pavilion by the lake. Her face heated up: “Replying to the Princess, that is the young Master of the Du family.”

The cousin?

Pei Mingjiao’s bright, flying expression turned gloomy. A baseless hostility made her scrutinize this suddenly appearing “cousin.” He looked average, his face was too pale, and he looked like he couldn’t carry anything with his shoulders or lift anything with his hands—a typical “pretty boy” at first glance.

The studious Du Wenyu looked up sharply and met a hostile gaze from afar. He had seen Pei Mingjiao from a distance before and found it strange; he didn’t understand how they were connected or why she held such enmity toward him. Du Wenyu set down his book and bowed to her from afar, looking every bit the upright, modest gentleman.

Hypocrite.

Pei Mingjiao gave a cold snort and strode away like a gust of wind, leaving the cousin with nothing but a dismissive view of her back.

Du Wenyu wondered skeptically if he had offended her at some point without knowing.

Pei Mingjiao arrived at Cui Yi’s courtyard with a cold face. At the time, Cui Yi was practicing her calligraphy, but since she had a guest, she had to stop. Seeing Pei Mingjiao’s sour expression, Cui Yi glanced at the maid following the villainess. Noting nothing unusual, she lowered her eyes and said faintly, “The Princess has graced us with her presence. May I ask what brings you here?”

So cold. She clearly didn’t welcome her. The moment Pei Mingjiao saw Cui Yi, the upward curve of her lips—which she hadn’t even noticed—vanished. She thought: If you don’t give me a good face, I won’t give you one either. If you hadn’t saved me, I would have flicked my sleeves and left already.

” I have come to thank Lady Cui for her life-saving grace the other day.” Pei Mingjiao offered her thanks stiffly, using the distant title “Lady Cui.”

Cui Yi’s eyes moved slightly, her expression calm: “The Princess overstates it. In such a situation, anyone would have stepped in to save you.”

Pei Mingjiao gritted her teeth in frustration and had her servants bring forward the thank-you gifts she had selected. Cui Yi was dazzled by the abundance; she had Gu Jing take them to be inventoried and placed in her private treasury.

For a time, there was no communication between the two. Cui Yi lowered her head to drink tea, and Pei Mingjiao instinctively looked at the other’s pink lips, which were made extra moist by the tea. The restlessness that frequently appeared surged up from within her again, accompanied by a dry throat. Pei Mingjiao quickly took a large gulp of cold tea to alleviate the heat.

She drank with such fierce urgency that Cui Yi couldn’t ignore it even if she wanted to. Out of host-like concern, she asked, “Is the Princess feeling hot?”

Seeing that Cui Yi finally cared about her, Pei Mingjiao couldn’t help but look aggrieved: “The effect of that drug hasn’t dispersed yet. I constantly feel hot.”

Cui Yi’s gaze landed on her dejected features, the coldness in her dark eyes dissipating. She said to Gu Jing, “Go invite the mansion’s physician to examine the Princess.”

“No need.” Pei Mingjiao grabbed Cui Yi’s hand. “The imperial physician has already prescribed medicine for me.”

The warm, soft hand covered her own. Cui Yi felt uncomfortable being touched and frowned, quietly trying to withdraw her hand. However, Pei Mingjiao wanted to prove how hot she was and insisted that Cui Yi feel it. “Is it very hot? It gets even worse at night.”

Because of her health, Cui Yi’s body temperature was lower than average, and she rarely had such intimate contact with others. The warmth spread through her palm, and all her senses felt hijacked by this heat. Unable to bear it, Cui Yi forcibly pulled her hand away. Her face had been flushed pink by the other’s heat, and she reminded her politely: “The weather is gradually turning cold. The Princess should not seek too much chill at night.”

As the warmth left, Pei Mingjiao felt a sense of loss: “You feel so comfortable to the touch.”

Cui Yi’s eyelashes flickered: “Princess, watch your words.”

Pei Mingjiao didn’t take her eyes off Cui Yi. Seeing the flicker of embarrassment and anger on the other’s face, a hint of bashfulness also appeared on her own: ” I keep… remembering the scene from that day.”

Because others were present, Pei Mingjiao spoke vaguely, but Cui Yi, as the other participant, understood perfectly. The memory of that kiss seemed to float before her eyes. Cui Yi lowered her eyelashes slightly: “It was a move of necessity. It would be best if the Princess forgot it as soon as possible.”

A move of necessity?

Pei Mingjiao looked at Cui Yi’s pink lips, and a sudden impulse surged within her—she truly wanted to block that unlikable mouth just as she had in her dream. Realizing what she was thinking, Pei Mingjiao felt terrible. How could she have such a vile thought? As if unable to accept it, she became muddled and spoke incoherently. By the time she regained her senses, she was already in the carriage heading back home.

She panicked: “When we get back, call the imperial physician to see me again.”

The drug’s effect was no longer just controlling her dreams; it was now so serious that it was controlling her thoughts.

After the chaotic visit, Cui Yi picked up her brush to resume her calligraphy once the guest was gone. However, her heart was now restless, so she didn’t force herself. She set down the brush, wiped her hands, and left the study. It just so happened that Wu Liuniang arrived with the account books.

It had been a month since the wine shop opened. Cui Yi flipped through the pages. In just one month, the profit was nearly thirty thousand taels. Considering the Cui Residence only had two hundred thousand taels in savings, the profit margin was staggering.

Cui Yi gave a hundred taels to Wu Liuniang as a bonus. Wu Liuniang offered a thousand thanks; with this money, her nephews and nieces could all attend school. Furthermore, if she did well in the future, the bonuses would only increase. With such a generous employer, Wu Liuniang was ready to work herself to the bone.

After seeing Wu Liuniang off, Cui Yi took the account books and the distributed money to see Madam Du. Madam Du hadn’t expected the wine shop to be so profitable. Her share was also a significant amount of wealth. Knowing Cui Yi’s personality, she didn’t stand on ceremony and kept it to add to Cui Yi’s dowry.

Thinking of the dowry, Madam Du mentioned Du Wenyu: “You like reading. When you have free time, you can talk more with your cousin. Don’t be fooled by his delicate appearance; he went out on a study tour in his earlier years.”

Cui Yi’s expression didn’t change: “After all, there is a distinction between men and women.”

Nowadays, the social interaction between men and women was not strictly forbidden. Madam Du understood Cui Yi’s subtle rejection and sighed inwardly, though she asked with a smile: “Why didn’t you keep the Princess for a while longer?”

“I’m not close to her.”

Madam Du scrutinized Cui Yi’s expression and sighed softly: “The Princess is of noble birth, and your personality is reserved; it’s inevitable there would be friction. Fortunately, the Princess has many friends.”

Pei Mingjiao did indeed have many noble ladies she was close to; Cui Yi was not the only one.

Cui Yi hummed in response. Madam Du seemed to mention it casually, and then cheerfully spoke of other matters.

Wu Liuniang walked home with her hundred taels. After closing for the day, she felt as if everyone was looking at her purse and practically ran back. Her mother said in annoyance, “You’re a grown woman, why are you still so frantic?”

Wu Liuniang’s face was flushed. She pulled Mother Wu into the room and suppressed her excitement: “Mother, the Mistress gave me a hundred-tael bonus.”

Mother Wu was stunned for a long time, then wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “That’s wonderful. Our Liuniang has achieved something. I’ll burn some spirit money for the ancestors in a bit.”

Wu Liuniang chuckled and handed the money to Mother Wu. Mother Wu didn’t take it all, leaving twenty taels for Wu Liuniang as her private savings. She then pulled Wu Liuniang close and whispered: “That nobleman has sent things to your second sister-in-law again.”

“Second sister-in-law surely didn’t accept them.”

Mother Wu sighed: “Indeed.”

Wu Liuniang knew of her second sister-in-law’s—the Lin family—heartache. Her entire family had been implicated and died in vain; the beloved younger brother was not her real brother, and the family had perished because of him. No one could accept that.

Yan Zhen returned to the Prince of Yue’s Mansion with the items that had been thrown back at him. When the Princess of Yue saw this, she wasn’t displeased; she only felt her son was sentimental. As for the disaster with the Lin family, she ultimately didn’t interfere.

After greeting the Princess, Yan Zhen returned to his small courtyard, where a servant told him that the Eldest Lady Gu—who had returned to her ancestral home—had sent another letter.

“In the future, if there are more letters from her, there is no need to inform me.”

“Yes.”

Gu Ning, who had returned to her ancestral home, was not having a good time. The Gu family was originally a humble household with little foundation; it was only because Father Gu was successful that the Gu clan had some prestige in the hometown. But no matter how much prestige they had, how could it compare to Chang’an? Furthermore, because she had been sent back—and who knows what Father Gu had written in his letter to the family—Gu Ning was being watched very closely and was rarely allowed to go out.

Left with no choice, Gu Ning tried to cling to the “male lead’s” thigh again, hoping he would take her back, promising she could help him earn a lot of money.

Little did she know, the male lead didn’t even bother to look at her letters.

Thinking of the few sharp and competitive cousins at the Gu ancestral home, Gu Ning was extremely impatient. Her uncles in the hometown were half-brothers to Father Gu and only treated her with surface-level politeness, but the juniors were not so courteous; she felt very stifled. Furthermore, she had overheard that her Eldest Aunt was looking for a marriage match for her.

She was finally scared.

And she felt aggrieved. She hadn’t actually done anything to Pei Mingjiao. She knew the plot—she knew the Prince of Liang was the early-stage boss, and she knew the fifth wife of the Great Princess Mansion was his person. Through her interaction with Murong Xihua, she had only said a few ambiguous words and did nothing else.

Pei Mingjiao had slapped her; was she just supposed to endure it? How was that fair? Besides, in the original plot, Pei Mingjiao was supposed to marry the Heir of Weiguo anyway; she was merely trying to nudge the plot back on track.

Gu Ning didn’t know yet that the Prince of Liang had already been “written out.” News in the hometown was slow, and even if people knew, no one would tell her.

Pei Mingjiao didn’t know that Gu Ning had a hand in the drugging incident. She was very annoyed at the moment, huddled in the bathtub, thinking of this and that. Caizhu was behind her giving her a massage. The steam rose, and her face was covered in moisture.

After a long while, Pei Mingjiao spoke: “Caizhu, do you think Cui Yi dislikes me?”

Caizhu’s hands paused. She asked softly, “Why would the Princess think that?”

Caizhu had served Pei Mingjiao for over ten years, and they were quite casual in private.

Pei Mingjiao’s eyes were misty from the steam, and her usually flying brows were drooping: “She never follows my lead, and she never coaxes me.”

Caizhu seemed to give a small smile.

Pei Mingjiao hammered the water in the tub in annoyance. “She always has a good attitude toward others, but only with me…”

Caizhu fell silent for a moment, then asked, “Does the Princess want Lady Cui to like you?”

Pei Mingjiao puffed out her cheeks, lowering her requirements slightly: “At the very least, her attitude should be the same as the one she has toward others.”

“I see. But I see that Lady Cui’s ‘happy occasion’ is near. Once she becomes a Madam, I’m afraid she won’t be hanging around with young ladies anymore.”

Pei Mingjiao was stunned: “What?”

Caizhu mentioned the cousin at the Cui residence.

“How could that pretty boy be worthy of Cui Yi? At the very least…”