"No matter what the person who spread the news is like," Ye Yongjia sat down and said, "those relatives of your Cui family are too cruel. Especially your aunt, she wrote a series of slanders in the letter, which is heart-breaking to read!"
Cui Yi shook his head and sneered: "This group of people is always like this. If you don't see him coming to help you on weekdays, if something happens, they will be afraid that you will stain the family name, and they will sever you with righteousness. In fact, they are also confused. They usually rely on their power to bully the villagers and other people. He clings to the chief, completely disregarding the reputation of the Cui family; instead, he cares about this kind of thing, for fear of ruining the family's moral integrity. In my opinion, it's all nonsense about family status! It's just about looking at the family fortune in hand. He is not clean, he just wants to establish a set of rules to show his literary morality and fool the people."
Ye Yongjia saw that he was full of resentment and sighed softly: "He Xun is so excited, he must have been holding grudges for a long time. Can you tell me more about the situation there?"
Cui Yi then continued: "I came to the capital with my late father when I was young, and have not lived in the countryside for more than twenty years. They have closer contact with my late father, and I am always in charge of some clan affairs for him. I only occasionally return to my hometown a few times for business. As for the relatives, most of them like to cater to the powerful. They are respectful and afraid of the high officials, but they plot against their own people and ignore family ties. Therefore, there are endless lawsuits over land and wealth."
"Okay, these few paragraphs are enough. I have a way to deal with it." Ye Yongjia nodded and said, "The most important thing now is to calm the dispute. Just a few words of defense from your sister will not be effective. Since they are such people , you can send back fifty taels of silver and say that you have been appointed as the head of the Ministry of Punishment and will be promoted after the mourning period. I hope you will not spread rumors and hinder your fame."
Cui Yi clapped his hands and said: "This is a wonderful strategy! The clan uncle is easy to talk to and has high prestige. If I write to him, I will definitely shut them up. But...paper can't cover the fire after all. Once the mourning period is over, , then the wedding ceremony will be performed, how can we cover it up then?"
Ye Yongjia lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and said coldly: "I will have my own way at that time."
After the two of them finished talking, they dropped the topic and chatted a little more. Cui Yi wanted to serve tea again, but Ye Yongjia quickly declined at night, stood up to say goodbye, and left Cui Mansion.
After Cui Yi sent his brother-in-law away, he no longer felt sleepy. He was still sitting in the living room in a daze, thinking about leaving the city. The servant rolled his eyes and didn't dare to call him.
In a blink of an eye, it was full daylight. Cui Yi knew that it was not too late, so he got up and went into the inner room. He bowed three times to Cui Longhuai's spiritual place and put his mourning hat aside. Then he walked into the dormitory and asked the servant to take the plain clothes from before. When I came out, I immediately took off my mourning clothes. The clothes he wore were exactly what he wore as a private school teacher in the old days. It was difficult for anyone to find him when he was walking on the street, so he blended in with the crowd and led his horse out of the city gate.
Cui Yi drove for a long time and stopped in a county that night. He found an inn and had a dinner together. It happened to be when it was getting dark, and there were people coming and going in the store. There were constant customers, and it was very noisy around him. However, Cui Yi didn't care. He only ate the big bowl of noodles and drank up the noodle soup before looking for the store. The master speaks.
The shop owner was dealing with many customers. He was collecting money and signing signatures at one time. He was hearing a lot of chatter in his ears and was very irritable in his heart. Seeing another person coming to ask, his attitude became awkward: "What are you doing?"
Cui Yi looked quite sulky: "Shopkeeper, I want to stay at your place for one night to pay the money."
"Wait, wait," the shop owner waved his hand, "don't you see so many people?"
Cui Yi got up at midnight. He was very sleepy at this time. The more he looked at the shopkeeper, the more annoyed he became: "What? They are human beings, and I am not a human being anymore? I haven't slept well all day. Show me a room quickly." Don’t delay, just pay and leave.”
"Oh, bring the money!" The shopkeeper tapped the table with his fingers a few times and muttered: "He is dressed in rags and speaks so forcefully, I really think he is some kind of dignitary..."
Unexpectedly, Cui Yi had good ears and listened to every word. He suddenly became furious and gnashed his teeth. He forgot his current identity, slapped the table and shouted: "How presumptuous!"
This roar caused silence all around, and dozens of pairs of eyes looked at him. The shop owner was also so frightened that his face turned yellow and he froze and did not dare to move.
Cui Yi looked at this scene blankly, feeling a little regretful in his heart, so he coughed twice and said, "Nothing...nothing. Shopkeeper, I want a room."
The shop owner glanced at him coldly: "Eighty cents."
How could Cui Yi endure such contempt? He was so ashamed for a moment, and eager to prove his ability, he reached into his robe and struggled to find something.
The shop owner leaned to the side, curled his lips, and thought to himself: 'This guy is so confident, he can't even bring out eighty cents...'
I saw Cui Yi's hand slowly stretching out from the bag, holding it tightly, and when he was close to the table, he stretched out his fist. There were actually two taels of silver inside.
"This... this..." The shop owner stared at the two pieces of silver in surprise, his mouth opening wide.
"There's a lot, take it." Cui Yi sneered contemptuously, turned around and went upstairs.
He walked into the house and lay on the bed. He was still proud when he recalled what happened just now. But for some reason, a feeling of fear suddenly flashed in his mind, causing him to break out in a cold sweat. He touched the sweat on his neck, his expression gradually solidified, and he thought to himself: 'This place is not far from the capital, and it belongs to the capital. I'm afraid there are also the prince's eyes and ears wandering around. Wasn't it just here that Cun Zhao acted lawlessly and recklessly? If there really was someone from the Prince in the inn, he would have noticed me when he saw me arguing loudly with the owner. At that time... I probably didn't let him see my face... If he was only suspicious and had no conclusion, he wouldn't easily identify me. This would be easy to handle. '
Although he didn't know if he had ears and eyes, Cui Yi thought about it and decided that it was better to be cautious. He sat up, wiped plaster from the floor, grabbed some mud from the cracks in the wall, and wiped it all on his face. Not enough, he wanted to trim his beard, but there were no scissors in the cupboard. In desperation, he simply lit a candle, put the fire close to the beard, and burned the beard clean.
He touched the burned area. Although it still hurt, he finally felt relieved.
Just when Cui Yi was about to cover himself with the quilt and rest, he suddenly remembered something important. He slapped his forehead hard four or five times and looked up to the sky and sighed: "If the prince really has a confidant here, how can I go to King Yi's mansion? Once that happens, If I tell you my real name, he will definitely recognize me. Wouldn’t it be a waste of all my efforts? I really ruined Mr. Ye’s diligent advice!”
