Ink Burns

Chapter 228 His Highness Must Protect Them
It gradually got dark.

Cui Yulang stepped out of the carriage, but his knees buckled and he nearly collapsed to his knees as he alighted.

The attendant beside him was named Musheng. He was about the same age as Cui Yulang, but he was a cripple with large front teeth that could hardly be hidden by his upper lip. His two yellowed front teeth were sticking out glaringly.

Musheng is a loyal person.

When Cui Yulang nearly fell off the carriage shaft, he rushed forward, ignoring the bruises on his arms, only thinking of protecting his master.

"Did the Marquis reprimand you again?" Mu Sheng asked with concern.

Cui Yulang glanced back.

The carriage curtain was tightly closed, completely blocking out the father's disgusted and ferocious face from view.

Cui Yulang shook his head: "If he scolds me, it means I can still be saved—but why would he be willing to save me?"

At the Marquis of Wuding's residence, the wisteria blossoms were in full bloom under the moonlight, one after another, adorning the dark brown windowpanes like a string of rare beads.

Inside the room, an incense burner emitted a delicate pear scent, which drifted along the ice basins placed in the corners of the room, creating a faint, wispy smoke.

A light moonlit night, a rich fragrance, a quiet mansion hidden in the bustling center of power at the foot of the imperial city, luxurious and comfortable rooms, servants holding their breath, and a white jade cake made through eighteen processes.

And then there's the childhood sweetheart.

Fu Mingjiang's gaze swept over Cui Yulang, who was tall and handsome, on her right. She stroked her large belly, smiled, and let out a satisfied sigh.

The maid behind him carefully removed the gold hair ornament from his hair, lowered her voice, and said with a high smile, "Ever since you returned to the capital, my lord, you haven't been able to stop smiling!"

The maid, named Lianqing, moved nimbly with her hands and chattered away: "You were worried that your husband would be out there working while you were giving birth, but I told you you were worrying unnecessarily. This is the first child of the Cui family's grandchildren! How could your husband not come back to be with you? He has to be there for the first child, and he'll still be there for you when you have a few more big, healthy boys!"

A thick, glossy black head of hair cascaded down her back, and lilies were wrapped in her comb and handkerchief, filling the air with the rich scent of lilies amidst the fragrance of pears.

Fu Mingjiang smiled and her eyes crinkled: "You're the only one who isn't mute!"

But she couldn't help glancing at Cui Yulang again.

Cui Yulang is painting.

I don't know what it depicts.

Perhaps it's some mountains, water, and trees.

She doesn't really like these things.

For others, calligraphy, painting, music, and chess are their means of livelihood, but for her, they are merely icing on the cake.

She doesn't need to.

She wanted famous paintings; someone would paint them for her, and Guan'anzhai would purchase them for her.

She wanted to hear the zither, and countless hands in the opera world vied to play for her;

She wanted to play chess, but as soon as she frowned, no one was allowed to checkmate her.

She never needed to exert herself to do anything in her life.

Her very existence is an honor for this world.

But she just happened to enjoy watching Cui Yulang paint.

Cui Yulang wore a luxurious and elaborate long robe, his left hand gathering up the wide sleeves, his waist slightly bent, and his right hand waving a brush, exuding a sense of loneliness and uprightness, like a Wei-Jin scholar who was detached from the world.

Fu Mingjiang raised his hand, his slender fingers casually flicking backward.

Lianqing hunched over and took a half step back.

"Yulang—Yulang—come and help me comb my hair!" Fu Mingjiang said coquettishly.

Cui Yulang paused, lowered his head, and his chest rose and fell slightly in his wide robe, as if he had taken a deep breath. After a moment's pause, he placed the brush on the brush washer, slowly wiped his hands back and forth with a warm, damp cloth beside him, and then walked over unhurriedly to take the sandalwood comb from Lianqing's hand.

"You can go down now. Leave the young lady to me without worry." Cui Yulang's voice was also very pleasant.

Fu Mingjiang even felt that it was more melodious and pleasant than her stepfather, who made a living by singing opera.

She actually preferred the title "Young Miss" to "Princess." This title subtly conveyed a sense of indulgence and pampering.

She never told anyone about her secret crush.

Cui Yulang always called her "Miss".

Lianqing suppressed a laugh and retreated outside.

The spacious, high-ceilinged room was now empty except for the couple.

Cui Yulang carefully and attentively combed her hair, bit by bit, from top to bottom, as if at this moment there was nothing more important than combing her hair.

"Ah—" Fu Mingjiang exclaimed softly.

Cui Yulang stopped: "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

Fu Mingjiang couldn't help but laugh, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye twitching dramatically: "The child kicked me—"

She grabbed Cui Yulang's hand and pressed it against her protruding belly: "Touch it, touch it!"

Suddenly, my palm was pressed against a thin, hot layer of skin, like touching a prematurely ripe, rotten watermelon. The rind was stretched to the point of bursting by the rotten flesh inside, and the blue veins, like the winding veins on the skin, spread and radiated outwards as if I had been poisoned.

Startled, Cui Yulang jerked his hand away!

He's afraid of pregnant women! Even more afraid of a woman's pregnant belly!

When he was five years old, he saw the face of a newborn baby, its skin bruised and swollen from being pinched, the wrinkled skin not yet stretched out by the growing flesh, before he sent it to be reincarnated.

He had also seen things that were four or five months pregnant and could not be called “infants”.

When the "things" fell out of the mother's womb, they were bloody and transparent. He seemed to be able to see their underdeveloped lungs through the flesh of these dead things.
Those damn kids!
Those "dead brothers" who were already born and those who were yet to be born, who were connected to him by blood!
Those images suddenly flashed into his mind!

"Ugh!" Cui Yulang reflexively bent over and dry heaved.

Cui Yulang rarely lost his composure.

Fu Mingjiang was startled, her round almond-shaped eyes widening even more. She quickly stood up and said, "Yulang, what's wrong with you?"

Cui Yulang clutched his abdomen with one hand, his face instantly turning deathly pale, and his beautiful, delicate features were immediately tinged with sadness.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” Cui Yulang waved his hand, his voice soft and weak: “Perhaps I’m not used to it since I just returned to the capital. Ningwu Pass is cold and the air is high. People like spicy food. I’ve been surveying for three months and my stomach hasn’t been at peace.”

"I don't know why you're going to the Ministry of Works!"

Speaking of this, Fu Mingjiang's face flushed, with a hint of anger: "Whether it's the Hanlin Academy, the Grand Secretariat, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, or the Ministry of Personnel, you had the choice of one of the three most powerful ministries, yet you chose the Ministry of Works. You spend seven or eight months of the year surveying terrain! Why suffer such hardship?!"

Cui Yulang's voice was very low, like a drowning person floating in the air: "The Cui family has only been in the Northern Frontier Army for twenty years. The thorns left by the Su family in the army were only removed a few years ago, but there are still many soldiers who are not convinced by the Cui family. If I want to take over smoothly, I have to make a name for myself. Otherwise, there is only an empty shell under the stool, and I will fall sooner or later."

"How could soldiers who have seen real swords and fought in battle agree with the empty rhetoric of those from the Ministry of War?"

“The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel are full of shrewd people. Even if I rise to the rank of Minister or Vice Minister, I will still be branded as a scion of a powerful family, and the soldiers will not be convinced.”

"Only the Ministry of Works possesses the essential skills for generals, such as surveying terrain and drawing maps."

Cui Yulang forced a bitter smile: "I've never really led troops before, so I can only think of a way to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."

Fu Mingjiang frowned: "Then go and lead the troops!"

Cui Yulang was still a little weak, and the feeling of nausea in his stomach had not completely dissipated: "Leading troops? Of the nine border defenses of the Great Wei, only two families stand side by side now. The Su family is in Beitong, and the troops fighting against the Japanese pirates in Lingnan are in the hands of the vassal kings who come to the aid of the emperor. Where am I supposed to lead them?" Fu Mingguan frowned, as if he was deep in thought.

Let her think about it. Cui Yulang wasn't in a hurry.

“There are soldiers in the Xishan camp.” Fu Mingjiang looked up.

What a wonderful girl.

He didn't want her back then.

Cui Yulang's bitter smile appeared even more fragile: "The Chang family, the Xishan camp is in the hands of the Chang family, and Your Highness must protect them."

(End of this chapter)