Marrying a treacherous official

Yunji dared not trouble him to condescend to serve her by applying the medicine.

"When I return to the backyard, the maid will apply the medicine for me; my husband need not trouble himself."

Cui Zemin didn't know his own strength and pinched her soft waist hard, making her hiss in pain.

"Madam's back injury is so severe; it hurts so much from the slightest touch. If she were to waddle back to the backyard, wouldn't her back break completely?"

"Who twisted their waist and went back?"

Yun Ji immediately became angry and slapped him on the chest. "When did I twist my waist while walking?"

Cui Zemin rummaged through his medicine box and found a porcelain jar of liniment for bruises and sprains. He poured some into his palm, rubbed it slowly to warm it up, and then placed his hand on her lower back.

The scalding medicinal wine penetrated her skin, causing her to flinch in pain, her delicate eyebrows furrowing tightly.

"I have seen the lady walk with a swaying gait more than once."

"This medicinal wine is too strong. Wipe it off quickly and don't apply this medicine anymore."

"Delicate."

Cui Zemin mocked her, but his hand moved outward, gently kneading and massaging the wound, allowing the medicinal wine to seep into every inch of her skin.

Yunji calmed down a little, and a fine tingling sensation spread from under his palm, making her fall silent for a moment.

Cui Zemin gently rubbed her lower back to warm it and asked, "What did your grandmother say when she kept you here?"

Yunji endured the tingling discomfort, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

Cui Zemin pinched and twisted her waist again, causing her to angrily complain in pain:

"If you really want to know, why don't you go to Cishou Hall and ask Grandmother?"

"Looks like I went too easy on them."

"Don't pinch me!"

Yunji hurriedly stopped him, disregarding her embarrassment, and blurted out, "Grandmother wants to hold her great-grandchild."

Cui Zemin held her waist without moving. Seeing her avert her gaze in embarrassment and annoyance, he hesitated for a long time before finally asking her:

"How did you answer Grandma?"

"What else can we say?"

Yunji retorted irritably, "One has a broken head, the other a broken back, and they're barely clinging to life. How can they possibly have offspring?"

Cui Zemin was speechless at these words. Looking at her glaring phoenix eyes, he found her rather charming.

She would never say such rude things to her grandmother, so she dared to throw a tantrum at him and vent all her resentment on him.

He couldn't help himself; he tilted his head and smiled for a moment, then turned back to her seriously and said:

"All you do is throw tantrums at me. Dare you even utter a single word to your grandmother, Madam?"

Cui Zemin applied the medicated wine to her, then pressed down firmly on her lower back with increased pressure.

Yunji's brows furrowed in pain, and she had no choice but to lower her voice and beg him.

"Be gentle."

"This is a lower back sprain, so I can't be gentle."

"I didn't even say I twisted it, how do you know where I'm injured?"

"Can't I feel it?"

He glared at her, and after a moment of silence, she obediently fell silent. "There's a knot here. Unless you loosen this knot, your back will never get better."

Yunji had never heard of rubbing and dispersing knots to relieve pain after a sprained back.

After massaging her for about half a cup of tea's time, Cui Zemin saw that her delicate eyebrows relaxed and she stopped complaining, so he knew that he had massaged her until she felt comfortable.

"How are you going to get Gu Jinyu out of prison?"

"No need for you to worry, husband. I have my own way."

"Go and beat the petition drum?"

Yunji looked up at him quietly, unable to discern the true meaning behind his words.

Cui Zemin pinched her side waist and spoke in a nonchalant tone.

"The lady shouted like that in the main hall, but she probably couldn't even reach the Dengwen Drum outside Xuande Gate. She was stopped by the Marquis's wife from leaving the house."

Given Madam You's temperament, if she cannot release Cui Gongquan from prison, Yun Ji will have no chance of saving Gu Jinyu.

Cui Zemin looked directly at her and said, "Beg me."

Yunji pondered for a moment, "Why should I ask my husband for anything?"

"I went to the Ministry of Rites a couple of days ago and looked through Gu Jinyu's exam papers."

He bluntly told her, "Compared to Cui Gongquan's three lengthy articles, Gu Jinyu carefully considered every word on the manuscript and barely wrote one policy essay. Obviously, there is no possibility of cheating."

She couldn't help but retort, "If that's the case, why hasn't the Right Prison Chief released Gu Jinyu from prison yet?"

"The fact that he didn't use a pre-written essay in the exam does not absolve him of suspicion of buying the exam questions."

Cui Zemin put his arm around her waist, pulled her close, and whispered in her ear:

"Has the divination slip that Madam received from the abbot of Lingshan Temple still been unopened?"

Upon hearing this, Yunji finally understood his intention.

"It wasn't opened, to prevent those who wanted to drag me down from harming Gu Jinyu."

"Give me the divination sticks."

Cui Zemin looked into her eyes and said sincerely:

"After all, Gu Jinyu's name is on the abbot's register. With this divination slip as proof, I can get Gu Jinyu released from prison."

Yunji stared intently into those cold eyes, unable to discern whether his feelings were genuine or feigned.

"My lord, you've spoken too late."

She declined his offer, saying, "I have declared in front of our clan that even if I were to beat the drum to appeal to my husband, I would not do so, lest I damage his reputation for integrity and honesty."

Cui Zemin finally released her waist. "Does Madam not trust me?"

It would be a miracle if Yunji trusted him.

He was being unusually attentive, applying medicinal wine and massaging her waist. At first, she thought he wanted to be intimate with her, but later she realized that he wanted the divination slip.

Although she still couldn't understand why he had the abbot's register in his hands, enough to wipe out Vice Minister Wei and his cronies, and why he still wanted to get his hands on her divination slips.

She couldn't fathom his treacherous thoughts, and there was no way she would hand him the divination slips.

That was her only trump card to save Gu Jinyu, and she would never easily hand it over to someone else.

Yunji, supporting her lower back, stood up from his long legs. Under his intense gaze, she called out to someone outside:

"Yuhi—?"

"This servant is here."

Xi Kui hurriedly pushed open the door and entered. Seeing that the madam was beckoning to her, she quickly stepped forward and steadily supported the madam's arm.

"What happened to your back, Madam?"

"Wasn't it just that the old man who randomly pressed the buttons? He kept telling me to trust him, and what happened?"

Yunji replied sarcastically, "He's rubbed your perfectly good back so badly that it's bruised and injured."

Cui Zemin still wanted to stop her from leaving.

Watching her deliberately support her back as she walked out, I suddenly remembered that ridiculous saying: "If you break your head and back, you don't even care about your life, what's the point of having a child?" I lowered my head and finally couldn't help but laugh.