lady, please calm down

July 17th.

Two days have passed since the Zhongyuan Night incident.

The original plan to return to Lin'an on July 16, which was yesterday, was temporarily postponed because Du Yue'er was worried that Cui Zaidao would deny his responsibility after leaving the Xianggong Tomb, so she insisted on going to Lin'an with him.

But Cui Zaidao had not yet figured out how to conceal and explain the matter to his classmates, so he was unwilling to take her with him.

At 9:00 p.m. that day, Cui Zaidao and Tang Tingzhi, who felt uncomfortable staying at the Du family's house, wandered to the small river at the entrance of the village, sat under a willow tree, and stared at the river in a daze.

In the past two days, in order to avoid embarrassment, the two have not seriously talked about what happened that night.

Seeing that his classmate had become much more haggard after just two days, Tang Tingzhi comforted her by saying, "Although Miss Du is not very knowledgeable, she is at least good-looking."

Cui Zaidao opened his mouth, wanting to say something but couldn't. After a few breaths, he couldn't help but said, "Tingzhi, do you still remember the night of the 15th? These past two days, I have been trying hard to recall, but I can't remember what happened that night at all."

"Me too! I suddenly lost consciousness."

"That night was not the only strange thing. Lord Cao and Magistrate Lu said that the autumn rice was about to mature, and they happened to be checking the rice nearby, so they appeared at the Du family. This is too much of a coincidence."

"That's true, but..." Tang Tingzhi glanced at Cui Zaidao, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "But it's true that you took possession of Miss Du's body. If you say that Cao Gong plotted to harm you, it wouldn't be just to let you marry a wife."

This is true. After all, the bed sheet stained with peach blossoms is still kept in the Du family.

This is also what Cui Zaidao couldn't understand. If there was a ghost that night, Cao Ling, the head of the Cao family, a wealthy family in Changhua, should have taken the opportunity to force him to do something, but he came up with a way to make Cui Zaidao marry Du Yue'er.

At least it saved Cui Zaidao and helped him resolve a dilemma that seemed unsolvable at the time.

"Could it be that he is planning to play the long game and hook the big fish?" Cui Zaidao said to himself.

"Haha, what big fish are you?" Tang Tingzhi smiled and patted Cui Zaidao on the shoulder, comforting him: "In short, as long as Du Xiaoniang treats you sincerely, this matter will always be resolved."

"Ah, this is my first time on duty, and I got into such a big trouble because of drinking. I feel really sorry for Your Majesty."

Cui Zaidao looked at the tranquil river, his guilt evident on his face.

"From now on, let's never drink again."

"Ok!"

At the end of the Si hour, two servants of the Cao family were guarding the courtyard of the Du family.

In the west room, the obscene noises and words gradually subsided.

Cao Zhuo, the third son of Cao, lazily leaned against the head of the bed and said cynically, "You slut, you acted like a chaste woman in front of that Cui guy the night before. I was so tempted that I thought you had changed your personality, but when we got to bed, you turned back into a slut."

Du Yue'er, who was getting dressed, grumbled and leaned against Cao Zhuo, pretending to be wronged: "It was the Third Master who asked me to dress up as a heroine, and it was the Third Master who made fun of me. The Third Master is so unreasonable."

Cao Zhuo, who had entered the state of a saint at this moment, laughed, gently pushed Du Yue'er away, put on his clothes and stood up and said, "I should go back. My father doesn't allow me to come to see you recently to prevent Cui from getting suspicious. By the way, has he been fine these two days?"

"He's just a bookworm, how could he be so abnormal? The eel blood on the bed the night before has made him still believe that he took my virginity after drinking."

Du Yueer was quite proud of what she said. In order to take credit for it, she suddenly said, "By the way, these past ten days, the two of them have been busy until late at night, and it seems that they are writing something."

"Oh? What's it about?" Cao Zhu was very interested.

"I can't read, so how can I know what he wrote?"

"Find it out and show it to me."

The west room where the two made love was where Cui Zaidao stayed overnight.

In this room, apart from a table and a bed, there was only Cui Zaidao's luggage, which was not difficult to find.

Du Yue'er flipped through the bag a few times before she found a stack of papers filled with tiny calligraphy. Cao Zhuo took a quick look and couldn't help but smile, "Interesting. I'll take this."

After saying that, he stuffed the stack of papers into his arms.

Du Yue'er hurriedly asked, "Ah? That idiot seems to value this thing very much. What if he asks about it?"

"What are you afraid of?" Cao Zhuo raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you still afraid of him now? If he doesn't listen to you in the future, you can say you will file a complaint with the emperor! He's just a nerd, won't Yue'er make him obedient?"

"What the Third Master said makes sense."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard some quarreling in the courtyard. They listened carefully and it seemed that Cui Zaidao had returned, but was stopped by the servants in the courtyard.

Although they had already put on their clothes and made their beds, Du Yue'er immediately became nervous, "He's back!"

"Why are you so panicked? Have you forgotten what I just said?"

After saying that, Cao Zhuo opened the door and walked out.

In the courtyard, it was indeed Cui Zaidao who came back. When he saw Cao Zhuo and Du Yue'er walking out of the room one after another, he was stunned.

Cao Zhuo, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He cupped his hands and laughed, saying, "Brother Cui, I was worried that you would not be able to adapt to this remote place, so I specially sent you some daily necessities. I didn't expect that you were not at home, so I talked to my sister-in-law."

Seeing that Cao Zhuo and Du Yue'er looked normal, Cui Zaidao was unsure for a moment and just bowed without saying a word.

Cao Zhu said goodbye, but when he passed by Cui Zaidao, he said with a frivolous smile: "Miss Du is a famous beauty in your tomb, but unexpectedly she fell into the hands of Brother Cui. I am very envious, hahahaha."

Cao Zhu left with a loud laugh, and the courtyard returned to peace. Cui Zaidao looked at Du Yue'er expressionlessly, without saying a word, and walked straight into the room.

Du Yue'er might have felt guilty, so she followed in and muttered:

"The Cao family is kind and generous, and is well-known for being a good person in Changhua."

"The Cao family has fertile fields, and those who have dealings with them are either local officials or officials in the government."

"You should get closer to his family, it will be of great help to your future."

Cui Zaidao bent down and searched for something in his backpack, and never answered Du Yue'er.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, are you deaf?"

Seeing this, Du Yueer finally couldn't hold back and yelled, but saw Cui Zaidao slowly stand up, look at Du Yueer, and calmly said: "You touched my things?"

"."

"Where's the investigation report in my bookcase?"

"."

Du Yue'er's face froze. Cui Zaidao guessed something from her expression and became very anxious. He angrily said, "Who allowed you to touch my things without permission?"

Du Yueer was so frightened that she took a step back, but then she suddenly remembered what Cao Zhuo had just said, and immediately changed her mind and took a step forward, "What are you yelling about! I gave it to the Third Master Cao, what are you going to do about it!"

"You, you bastard!"

Cui Zaidao was so angry that he raised his hand and was about to slap Du Yue'er in the face. The latter shrank her neck in fear at first, but saw Cui Zaidao's hand was frozen in the air and never fell. Du Yue'er could not help but become more arrogant, and she puffed out her chest and said, "Hit me! Beat me to death, so that everyone in the world can see that your majesty has taught you a good student. First, he took my body after drinking, and now he wants to abandon me and beat me and scold me and leave. Come with me to Lin'an, and let's ask your majesty for justice!"

"."

Du Yue'er pulled Cui Zaidao and was about to go out.
Although Cui Zaidao had a rough life, his mother was gentle and strong. After entering the school, the female classmates he met were all well-educated and well-mannered. He had never met such a difficult and aggressive woman.

She couldn't help but feel powerless, and her tone softened, "When did I abandon you? Since we are already engaged, I will marry you sooner or later, so don't mess around."

Du Yue'er could tell that Cui Zaidao was about to give in, and she felt proud in her heart, but a sad expression appeared on her face. She sat down on the bed and cried, "I am already yours, but you still treat me as an outsider. I am just a piece of useless waste paper. I can write more when it's gone."

When Cui Zaidao heard the words "useless waste paper", he immediately became furious. What a waste paper!
That was the detailed information he and Tang Tingzhi compiled after spending more than ten days sleeping in the open and staying up past midnight every night!

It’s all their hard work!
This Du Yue'er has a nice appearance but is actually a shrew who knows nothing. Cui Zaidao has already understood that they have different ideals and goals, and it is even more impossible for them to have a common language. If they get married in the future, I'm afraid their life will be difficult.

Even so, Cui Zaidao, who believed that he was at fault first, was determined to take responsibility to the end. He suppressed his anger and explained, "I am not treating you as an outsider, but the things on the paper are very important and concern the people of Changhua County."

Du Yue'er, who was wiping tears, heard this and said, "In Changhua, the Cao family is the heaven. I gave that thing to the Third Master Cao so that you could have a good relationship with the Cao family, but you don't understand my painstaking efforts."

As expected, they couldn't agree on anything. In Cui Zaidao's opinion, Du Yue'er was like a frog in a well. She had only seen the world of Changhua County, and she felt that the Cao family was omnipotent!

Looking at the world, his Changhua Cao family is nothing!
Seeing Cui Zaidao remained silent, Du Yueer choked up and said, "You came to Changhua to investigate the hidden fields. Aren't you going against Lord Cao? Now Lord Cao doesn't bother with you, but values ​​you. You should visit his family and get closer to him. This is the right way. With Lord Cao's help and money for your career in the future, you will be able to become a serious official in a few years. Then."

"How do you know this?"

Du Yue'er was interrupted by Cui Zaidao before she could finish her words. She looked up and saw that Cui Zaidao's face was as gloomy as water and looked terrifyingly serious.

Du Yue'er was a little nervous. What she said just now was a slip of the tongue, but it wasn't really a slip of the tongue.

These were originally the plans of the Cao family, but according to the Cao family's arrangements, it would be best to wait for some time before gradually making them clear.

But when Cui Zaidao heard this, he was completely certain that he had fallen into a trap, and it was very likely that he would never be able to escape from it in his entire life.

The night before, the reason why Cao Ling did not force him to work for the Cao family on the spot, but instead signed a marriage certificate signed by many people, was because he wanted to control Cui Zaidao for a long time.

From now on, he can only be loyal to the Cao family. If he resists, the marriage certificate and Du Yue'er who may stand up and accuse him at any time will be the dog chains tied around Cui Zaidao's neck.

Well, the nephews and nephews of the Jiangnan gentry naturally don’t have enough time to enter the middle and high-level official system of the Great Chu, but they can poach talents.

With Cui Zaidao's noble family background, as long as he doesn't make any serious mistakes, he will become an important official of the Chu State within ten years!
Over there, facing Cui Zaidao's questioning, Du Yue'er simply tore off her temper and said, "Why do you care how I knew it? Do you have any choice now? In short, either you obey me and I will let you enjoy a life of wealth and luxury; or I will sue you to the government, ruin your reputation and your future!"

After talking, Cui Zaidao was not in a hurry. He sat down slowly on the chair, staring at the spider web in the corner of the roof for a long time, and suddenly laughed at himself, "I think we were targeted as soon as we entered Changhua County. What a big net! Your Majesty's Journey to the West is indeed very wise, but it's a pity that I am stupid and don't have the fiery eyes of Sun Wukong." His tone was bleak and lonely. Du Yue'er thought he had given up and smiled complacently, "You are a nerd, it's your blessing to be valued by Cao Gong so much."

"Haha." Cui Zaidao smiled calmly and said, "So, you are also a part of the game?"

"So what if it is? So what if it isn't? I'll give my body to you, and it won't hinder your future career as an official. Others can't even think of such a wonderful thing."

Du Yue'er said confidently. Cui Zaidao thought for a moment and smiled at Du Yue'er, "It's a pity that among the thousands of students in my Huaibei School, some are lustful, some are alcoholics, but none of them are spineless!"

"What do you mean?" Du Yue'er asked with a frown.

"Haha, stupid village woman, even if you have a beautiful appearance, you are still a fool! What I mean is, aren't you betting that I will be willing to be a dog for the Cao family for my future? Haha, I won't let you bugs get your wish!"

Hearing that Cui Zaidao dared to scold her in such a situation, Du Yue'er became angry and raised her hand to hit Cui Zaidao in the face, but the latter grabbed her wrist.

Cui Zaidao's calm face suddenly turned ferocious. "Fools! Haven't you heard that a man's ambition cannot be taken away? Do you think that all the people in the world are scheming and dirty people like you? Bah!"

Cui Zaidao spat on Du Yue'er's face. She thought she could control him at will, but she didn't expect Cui Zaidao to humiliate her like this. Du Yue'er was immediately furious and used the same old trick again: "I will go to Lin'an to file a complaint with the emperor! Your Majesty, look at your good students! Mr. Cui, I will bring disgrace to your reputation and bring shame to your mother and the emperor!"

It's indeed a bit of a mouthful.

At this moment, "mother and emperor" are two people who cannot be mentioned. Cui Zaidao's eyes suddenly turned red, and he stretched out his hands and pinched Du Yue'er's neck.

At first, Du Yue'er was still full of anger, and she beat Cui Zaidao madly, but after more than ten breaths, she gradually realized that something was wrong, and began to desperately scratch Cui Zaidao's hands with both hands. Her anger turned into fear, and then to begging.
He wanted to say something to beg for mercy, but because his throat was blocked, he could only make a few meaningless "burps".

Cui Zaidao, whose eyes were red, turned a blind eye to all this.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the west room became completely quiet.

Cui Zaidao seemed to be exhausted. He leaned against the wall for an unknown amount of time before he slowly stood up, untied the rope that bound the bookcase, hung it on the beam and tied a knot.

Then, he stepped onto the chair.

Just as he was about to put his neck into the noose, he suddenly seemed to think of something, and quickly jumped down, walked to the table, grinded the paper, picked up the pen and wrote:
"The student is stupid and made a big mistake, which wasted your majesty's careful cultivation and grace."

As soon as I wrote the beginning, tears started rolling down my cheeks.

Late noon.

After the incident the night before, Tang Tingzhi, who had moved to a villager's house in the same village, was having lunch when he saw Cui Zaidao coming to his door.

The two just separated half an hour ago.

Seeing Cui Zaidao's eyes slightly red, Tang Tingzhi couldn't help but ask curiously: "Zaidao, what's wrong with your eyes?"

"The wind and sand narrowed my eyes when I came."

At this moment, Cui Zaidao seemed to have made some decisions, and his expression was calm as usual.

"Oh, is there something wrong?" Tang Tingzhi did not doubt him.

"Well, please return to Lin'an immediately and give this letter to Chen."

Cui Zaidao handed over a letter with a smile. Tang Tingzhi took it but asked, "Immediately? So urgent?"

"Well, I have something important to report. Please come to the court to handle it."

"OK then."

Tang Tingzhi hurriedly ate a few more mouthfuls of rice, put the letter in his pocket and was about to go out to lead the donkey, but Cui Zaidao grabbed him and handed him a few bills of exchange, saying with a smile: "When you return to Lin'an, send this money to my mother on the way."

"In a few days, you should be going back by yourself. Why don't you send it yourself?" Tang Tingzhi took it and asked another question.

"Hey, this is the first salary I earned from my first job. I'll send it to mom as soon as possible so she can be happy."

"Hehe, luckily you reminded me. When I return to Lin'an, I will send my salary to my parents."

"Well, there is also this one-dollar bill, which is for you."

"For me?" Tang Tingzhi was surprised. He took it at lightning speed and laughed, "Godfather, I need your help with something!"

“Hahahaha,” Cui Zaidao also laughed heartily, but said, “This is gift money. Aren’t you going to get married at the end of the year? I’m giving it to you in advance.”

"Ah, it's useless to call you foster father! I will return the gift money to you sooner or later. I thought you were suddenly kind and wanted to give me money." Tang Tingzhi said cheerfully, then looked at Cui Zaidao suspiciously, and after a few breaths, he suddenly said: "Zaidao, has something happened? There is something wrong with you!"

"Tsk~ What's the big deal? I just made an engagement, and I'm just giving you the gift money in advance to let you have some good luck."

This statement does make sense. Tang Tingzhi said nothing else. As he led the donkey out of the courtyard gate, he felt a little uneasy. He turned back and said, "Zaidao, things have not gone well these past few days. You have to stay in Changhua and be careful about everything."

"I understand. Good luck on your journey to Tingzhi."

"Well, I'm leaving."

At the beginning of the Wei hour, Cui Zaidao, who had just said in the morning that he would quit drinking, drank a few glasses of wine on his way back to Du's house.

Then he went to the village head and asked him to invite Cao Gong to come to the village to see him.
After doing all this, Cui Zaidao returned to the Du family courtyard.

The courtyard was still quiet.

Ever since Old Man Du got the money the night before last, he has been away from home and has not been seen for two days.

Cui Zaidao returned to the west room, calmly moved Du Yue'er's cold body to the bed, and covered it with a quilt.

Then, he sharpened the dagger for self-defense in the bookcase and hid it around his waist.

Afterwards, the wine and food brought on the way were placed on the table.

Waiting for Cao Ling's arrival.
Unexpectedly, before Cao Ling arrived, Old Man Du came back first.

The old man spent two days and one night at Cao's gambling den in the county town and lost all the reward money he had just received. After returning home, Old Man Du couldn't help but think of marrying him off as his cheap son-in-law.

After pushing the door open and entering the house, he saw that Cui Zaidao had wine and food in front of him. Old Man Du, who had not eaten for two days and one night, did not say a word and grabbed half a chicken to fill his stomach before asking, "Where's Yue'er?"

'Slurp~'

Cui Zaidao poured himself a cup and said, "I'm taking a nap in the inner room."

Old man Du tilted his head and peeked through the curtain into the inner room. Sure enough, he saw his daughter lying on the bed facing the wall. Although the two were engaged, they had not yet married.

Seeing that his daughter slept in Cui Zaidao's house in broad daylight, Old Man Du thought that his daughter was just pretending and it was real, and he felt even more justified.

He just said, "My dear son-in-law, do you have enough money? Lend me a few coins for emergency."

Cui Zaidao glanced at Old Man Du calmly and said, "The night before last, Mr. Cao gave you a lot of money, right? Did you spend it all so quickly?"

You silly girl, tell anyone what’s going on!

Old Man Du thought his daughter had already confronted Cui Zaidao, so he stopped hiding it and said with a grin, "I had bad luck last night. But rest assured, my son-in-law, I will definitely have a good time tonight! If you lend me two strings of cash, I will return you four strings tomorrow, or six strings!"

A few days ago, in order to play the image of a simple old farmer well, Old Man Du did not gamble for more than ten days.

Because of this, after achieving a temporary victory the night before, he could not wait to run to the county town. Unexpectedly, before he could even warm the reward money from the Cao family in his arms, he lost it again to the Cao family's gambling den.

Seeing the gambler exposed, Cui Zaidao lost interest and said, "I really have no money. If you don't mind the trouble, you can take my donkey to exchange for money."

"It's no trouble, it's no trouble~"

Old Man Du smiled happily, thanked him repeatedly, and took the remaining half chicken on the table and put it in his arms, saying, "My dear son-in-law, you don't want to eat it, right?"

Cui Zaidao waved his hand, and Old Man Du turned around and was about to go to the yard to lead the donkey, but the former suddenly asked again: "Uncle, I told you a few days ago that the new policy in the future will allow your family to share the land, why are you still colluding with the Cao family to cheat me?"

"."

Even though he was thick-skinned, Old Man Du still showed some embarrassment on his face. Then he said with a playful smile: "My dear son-in-law, what you said is too far-fetched, but the real money given by Mr. Cao is right in front of us, so don't blame me."

Cui Zaidao looked at Old Man Du and suddenly sighed, "Ah..."

"Then I'll go."

Old Man Du, who was anxious to return to the gambling den to make up for his losses, nodded and bowed. Cui Zaidao slowly stood up and took Old Man Du's arm, "Father-in-law, Yue'er has something to tell you."

"Hey, what's the matter? Let me tell you when I come back."

Old Man Du was very reluctant, but was half-pulled and half-dragged by Cui Zaidao into the inner room.

In order to quickly finish the business here so that he could sell the donkey, Old Man Du went into the inner room, grabbed Du Yue'er's shoulder, and said impatiently: "What's the matter? Tell me quickly, don't delay me from playing with money!"

With this push, Du Yue'er, who was lying on her side, lay straight and flat.

But Du Yue'er's eyes were wide open, her face was pale, and her tongue was several inches long.

"what!"

Old Man Du was so frightened that he screamed and fell to the ground, supporting himself with his hands and backing away repeatedly.

But the 'virtuous son-in-law' behind him blocked his way.
"You all deserve to die!"

Cui Zaidao looked down from above and slowly drew out the short blade from his waist. (End of this chapter)