The most dissolute couple in the capital

Cui Lingyi nodded, her fingers unconsciously twisting the tassel on her sleeve: "The Xiao family has guarded the northern border for generations, with strict family traditions; they are a proper military family. However..."

"Xiao Jue is not well-known in the capital. My mother only heard about him from others. They said that General Xiao intended for his youngest son to stay in the capital to develop his career, which is why he was included in the list."

Cui Qingyi searched her memory.

She had almost no memory of Xiao Jue from her previous life. After marrying into the Zheng family, her social circle was limited to the realm of civil officials, and she had very little contact with military nobles. The only thing she remembered was seeing a tall, dark-skinned young general from afar at a palace banquet one year.

Later, I heard from someone that Xiao Jue had made many military achievements in the northern border, rose to the rank of fourth-grade general, and was an upright person.

But she wasn't so sure about what was happening in the backyard.

She smiled and asked, "We've met Wang Yu and Zheng Wenyuan at various banquets. What about Xiao Jue? Have you met him, cousin?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a faint blush rose on Cui Lingyi's originally dignified face, and her gaze suddenly drifted to a clump of banana trees outside the window.

Cui Qingyi's gossip-loving spirit instantly ignited.

"Cousin?" she deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

Cui Lingyi cleared her throat, her voice extremely low: "...Actually, I have met her before."

"You've met him?" Cui Qingyi immediately sat up straight. "When? Where? Why have you never mentioned it?"

Cui Lingyi was even more embarrassed by her barrage of questions, and finally sighed before slowly speaking.

Last autumn, General Xiao returned to the capital with his family to report on his duties. That day, I came out of the brocade workshop and passed through the long street outside Yanxing Gate when my carriage was suddenly stopped.

"Stopping a car?" Cui Qingyi raised an eyebrow. "Who's so bold?"

"It was a few spoiled brats from the Liu family in the west of the city. They got drunk and caused trouble in the street, stopping several carriages for their amusement. My coachman went up to negotiate, but they pushed him over the head."

At this point, Cui Lingyi's tone was slightly annoyed. "The maid wanted to get out of the carriage to argue, but I stopped her. What kind of talk would it be if the Minister of Personnel's carriage were to be arguing with a scoundrel in the street? I was just about to have someone take a detour when I heard a 'bang' outside."

Cui Qingyi listened with great interest: "And then?"

"Then..." Cui Lingyi paused, a very faint smile appearing on her lips, "I lifted the carriage curtain and saw a person dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, grabbing a playboy by the back of his collar in one hand and throwing him into the roadside ditch like a chick."

"puff--"

Cui Qingyi almost burst out laughing.

Cui Lingyi rolled her eyes at her and continued, "He turned around and asked my coachman if he was injured. His voice was muffled and he wasn't very good at talking. When those spoiled brats climbed out of the ditch to report to the authorities, he flashed the general's token at his waist, and they ran faster than rabbits."

"Wait a minute," Cui Qingyi gestured with her hand, "You just said he was wearing a dark-skinned outfit, wasn't he... a bit dark-skinned?"

Cui Lingyi's cheeks flushed even more, and her voice was almost a whisper: "...He is a bit dark-skinned. It's common to get tanned in the windy and sandy northern border. He...has regular features and high brow bones, but his dark skin makes him look older than his actual age."

Cui Qingyi raised an eyebrow.

This description, coupled with my cousin's current state of trying to cover up her mistake and only making things worse, is very telling.

"Your assessment of him as 'not ugly' carries considerable weight," Cui Qingyi said slowly. "Cousin, you've always had very high standards; so many handsome young men in the capital haven't caught your eye. Yet you remember this son of a military family so clearly after only meeting him once on the street? You even noticed whether his brow bone was high or low?"

"Cui Qingyi!" Cui Lingyi finally lost her temper and reached out to pinch her arm. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'm leaving!"

Cui Qingyi laughed and dodged, grabbing her cousin's hand tightly: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, good sisters don't get angry when they talk. Go on, what happened next? Just that one meeting?"

Cui Lingyi's hand was being held by her. She tried to pull away a couple of times but couldn't, so she gave up. She was silent for a moment, then her voice became even softer.

"Before leaving, he asked me where I lived, saying he was afraid those people would retaliate. I said it was the Cui family's carriage. He paused for a moment, then said... said he knew Minister Cui, then clasped his hands in a salute, turned and left."

"You just left?"

"Hmm." Cui Lingyi looked down at her hand being held. "Later, when I returned to the manor, I didn't mention it to anyone. However... two days later, the Xiao family sent a steward to deliver a box of goji berries, a specialty of the Northern Border, to the manor, saying it was a small token of the Xiao family's appreciation for Minister Cui's many years of hard work for the court."

Cui Qingyi nodded slowly.

A smart person.

Given the relationship between the Xiao and Cui families, it would be impolite to send a gift to Miss Cui without proper consideration. However, sending it to Minister Cui himself, under the guise of a junior showing respect to an elder, would be perfectly reasonable and would not raise any objections. It would also conveniently let the Cui family know the name Xiao Jue.

The son of a military family is meticulous and thorough in his actions, but his methods are somewhat clumsy.

Cui Lingyi seemed to have finally poured out all the secrets in her heart, and let out a long breath, but then frowned again.

"But... the Xiao family is, after all, a military family, with its roots in the northern border. Once their term of office is over, they must return. If Xiao Jue is not transferred back to the capital, I will have to go with him to the border. It's a harsh and desolate place, far from my parents, I..."

Her voice trailed off as she finished speaking.

Looking at the undisguised struggle on her cousin's face, Cui Qingyi's thoughts raced through her mind.

One was from a prominent family, and the other was a rising star from a military family. In terms of social status, neither of them was considered to be treating Cui Lingyi unfairly.