Chapter 13 - On the Tree Branch
Bai Ge was stunned: "How could he care about this? My lord likes Miss, so he came to ask for her hand in marriage. Why would he care about these groundless things?"
She didn't understand Cui Ti's worries and concerns.
In her previous life, having children with Pei Xuan was Cui Ti's greatest wish, but this wish was never fulfilled until her death, so it became a heart knot.
Pei Xuan... probably didn't love her.
Otherwise he wouldn't be a normal man, otherwise he only pitied and cherished her, wanting to save her from hardship.
"Miss, you shouldn't think about those things. Life is lived one day at a time, whether it's good or bad, isn't it up to you and My Lord to decide?"
Bai Ge, an unmarried young lady, spoke knowledgeably about this: "The wedding is tomorrow, on your wedding night, Miss should be bolder. What man doesn't love a charming woman? If you take the initiative for 30%, My Lord will naturally fill in the other 70% himself."
If it was really like that, what else is there to worry about?
Cui Ti sighed lightly.
Bai Ge didn't know how to persuade her, and desperately came up with: "Anyway, whatever Miss doesn't know how to do later, just remember to undress, strip naked, I don't believe My Lord can still hold back!"
Her words were truly shameful, not something a proper young lady should hear.
Thinking of Bai Ge's unruly behavior in her previous life, Cui Ti curved her lips in a faint smile, using it to divert the embarrassment on her face: "You only teach me to be naughty, if I really do that, wouldn't it scare him?"
"You can't pamper men!"
Not even married yet the young lady's heart already leaned towards Lord Pei, what would happen after getting married?
Bai Ge admonished earnestly: "Miss isn't even afraid as a woman, how could My Lord be afraid? If he is afraid, then great, Miss should take care of him right there and then."
The more she spoke, the more preposterous it became.
Cui Ti scolded her for not being respectful enough to Pei Xuan, and was about to speak, when her eyes suddenly felt a stab of pain.
The smile on Bai Ge's lips froze: "Miss? Miss what's wrong?"
"My eyes... hurt..."
Hearing her say it hurts, Bai Ge took a deep breath to calm herself down, raised her hand to untie the knot at the back of her head, the white veil dropped, Cui Ti's eyes were as red as a rabbit's, she was so shocked she took a step back.
"Someone come!"
The day before the big wedding, Agarwood Courtyard had especially invited a doctor, and when the Earl and Countess of Xining heard the news they rushed over.
"What's the situation, will it affect the wedding tomorrow?"
The first thing the Countess of Xining said upon entering was this sentence. The old doctor's words of reassurance were at his lips, he secretly sighed for the blind girl behind the bed curtain, and changed his words: "It won't affect it."
"That's good, that's good..."
With the panic and fear in her heart put away, she then remembered to ask: "What exactly happened, why did her eyes suddenly hurt?"
The doctor was a famed medical practitioner in Xi Jing skilled at treating eye illnesses, but he was helpless against Cui Ti's blindness since birth.
He was stumped by this question.
Having been waiting outside the beaded curtain to avoid suspicion, the Earl of Xining was impatient after not hearing voices for so long: "Prescribe more medicine, even huge incidents cannot delay the wedding date."
His words settled the matter.
The medicine was handed to Bai Ge for her to personally decoct in the back kitchen.
The Earl was a man, so it was inappropriate for him to linger in his grown daughter's boudoir. After confirming Cui Ti was fine, he waved his sleeves, sighing repeatedly as he left.
Being able to marry into the Prime Minister's estate was good fortune indeed, the premise was that his eldest daughter could not have any mishaps.
She was already blind, if anything else happened, which other blind daughter could he give to the Pei family heir?
He unilaterally believed that Pei Xuan had an admiration for the disabled.
Inside the boudoir, separated by a bed curtain, Cui Ti lay on the bed while the Countess of Xining sat on a round stool two steps away from the bed.
She had always treated Cui Ti coldly, and was late to realize that her first words upon entering exposed what was in her heart.
What child doesn't yearn for the love of their parents?
This was an insight she gained from listening to opera today.
The opera wasn't listened to in vain, only after self-reflection for a period did she remember her daughter was getting married tomorrow, and she prepared herself: "You'll become one of the Pei family tomorrow, I have also watched you start a family. "
Over a decade of indifference and cold treatment, suddenly speaking gently, not only was she uncomfortable, Cui Ti was too.
But no matter how uncomfortable, a mother still had to say what needed to be said.
The Countess of Xining forcibly endured, trying hard to see Cui Ti as her most beloved little daughter.
This method was very effective.
Thinking it was Cui Dai getting married, the words that came to her lips flowed out easily.
"After becoming the young wife of the Pei family, you have to serve your husband well, be filial to your parents-in-law. With the Pei family's status, they definitely won't wrong you after extravagantly marrying you in.
"Whenever a woman marries out, her mother will exhort her with some words, don't find me nagging.
"On the bed of flowers and candles wedding night, you must not indulge Pei Xuan, getting hurt the first time will be bad, you..."
She cleared her throat: "Let me tell you since you can't see, listen carefully."
Cui Ti lay under the brocade quilt, pricking up her ears to listen, and soon became engrossed.
This woman, how many years has it been since she was like a competent mother on the eve of her wedding.
She had also said these words in her previous life, and the Countess of Xining even said for her to give birth to many children for Pei Xuan, that children were the only reliance in her later years in the rear compound.
She didn't agree with this view.
As a result she was scolded severely, her ears filled with words of "I'm doing this for your own good."
How nice, whether it was real or fake, after living one lifetime again, Cui Ti was shocked to find she didn't care as much anymore.
"Are you listening carefully? You child, how many times must I say before you take it to heart, do you want mother to be angr--"
Her lips snapped shut, realizing the person before her was Cui Ti, not Cui Dai, she quieted down and lowered her head, staring at the mirrored floor tiles.
"You must remember this well, in the future your husband's family will be your reliance, and your children even more so. If you don't have children, your husband could still have more women."
"The Pei family heir, just turned eighteen and a compiler in the Hanlin Academy at the 6th rank, why must he insist on you? How have you moved his heart?"
"He is infatuated with you today to the point of desperation, but what about the future? If he abandons you, who else would want you?"
"You take good care of yourself. What comes to your hands you must grasp tightly, don't blame me for not warning you, men, hmph, if you don't take the opportunity when he is impassioned to torment him more, when his lust fades and his affection cools in the future, let's see if he still keeps you in his heart!"
"Your father is a spineless bastard, your husband is no better!"
Cui Ti couldn't see the sorrow in her eyes, she shook her head: "It won't be like that."
"What did you say?"
"Pei Xuan, he is the best man in the world, marrying him, he will only treat me well."
"Treat you well?" The Countess of Xining's words were caustic: "Love you blind, love you because no one else can take care of a useless blind girl?"
"Why do you have to vent your resentment and anger on me?"
Cui Ti's voice was low: "Cui Dai is your daughter, am I not the flesh and blood you carried for ten months?
"You hate me, resent me, what wrong have I committed? Without me, the Earl would still secretly keep mistresses outside, even if you had given birth to a healthy daughter that year, aunt would still find opportunities to step on you.
"Now grandmother has passed and aunt has married out, but the thorn remains in your heart. You're in pain, yet you don't want me to be well off. Tomorrow is the most important day of my life, yet you're too lazy to even give me a word of blessing. Mother, is your heart made of stone?"
Cui Ti's eyes moistened slightly.
The Countess of Xining sat there in shock, her expression going from disbelief to twisted: "What are you saying, just what nonsense are you spewing?! If not for you, how would your younger sister have died prematurely? You inauspicious star, curse that brings harm to your kin!"
She screamed hysterically.
This time Cui Ti was no longer afraid in her heart, only sorrow remained.
For herself, and for this pitiful woman.
"Mother." She softly murmured. "For a woman to use a weak body to secure favor, to use a newborn infant to secure favor, is the worst resort."
The boudoir suddenly went silent.
The Countess of Xining was so shocked she couldn't speak, a chilling feeling crept up her spine that she couldn't dispel.
This daughter...
This daughter that made her feel disgust and estrangement, actually also gave her an indescribable sense of fear.
Panicked footsteps sounded, fading away.
Cui Ti's tense back relaxed.
She couldn't stand the Countess of Xining's yelling and shouting.
After some time.
Bai Ge brought in a bowl of steaming hot medicine: "Miss, do your eyes feel better?"
The scalding sensation had faded, and even the doctor couldn't determine the cause of the stabbing pain. Cui Ti opened her eyes, the horrifying redness was gone. Bai Ge breathed a sigh of relief.
"It would be terrible if anything unexpected happened at this crucial juncture, it's good that nothing is wrong. Miss, let me feed you the medicine."
"Sick?"
The golden sun sunk in the west, scattering streams of glittering light. Pei Xuan was trying on the wedding robe he would wear tomorrow for the wedding ceremony. Hearing this, he hurriedly looked towards his mother.
Lady Pei sighed that he had the other party on his mind. She quickly said, "I've invited the doctor. It's just making a fuss over nothing, a false alarm. The Marchioness of Xining sent someone to say it won't affect holding the wedding feast."
Reassured by her, Pei Xuan was still worried: "Is she really alright?"
"She's fine. They wouldn't dare deceive our family."
Pei Xuan slowly nodded. He hadn't slept well all night.
The horizon was turning fish-belly white as the sleeping Pei manor gradually awoke, everyone busily preparing for the young lord's wedding according to their roles.
At that time, Pei Xuan, a compiler of the Hanlin Academy who lived on Furong Street, was preparing to welcome his new bride with mixed feelings of joy and anxiety after being granted leave for his wedding by the court. In the Marquis's manor on Peony Street, Cui Ti had also gotten up early. After washing up, maids carefully dressed her up.
This was the first time the Marchioness of Xining married off a daughter, and it came quite late.
There were many busy things to do on the day a girl left home to be married, taking two hours to dress up and put on makeup, and another half hour to bid farewell to family.
The so-called farewell was mostly the Earl of Xining speaking and Cui Ti listening.
Having neglected his eldest daughter for eighteen years, leaving the blind girl ignored in the south courtyard, it was quite mystical that she had gained the favor of the Prime Minister's heir.
It would be inappropriate to talk at length with Cui Ti at other times, leaving only this half hour for the Earl to satisfy his urges as a father.
After today, he would have a powerful in-law relationship and an enormously promising son-in-law.
"Alright, haven't you said enough?"
The Marchioness could not stand the current scene of 'affectionate father and filial daughter', softly stopping the Earl who was relishing the role.
Cui Dai turned red with jealousy upon learning Cui Ti was 'sick'. She had suggested to her mother that she 'take her place as the bride', but her mother, who usually doted on her, violently opposed it.
The Xining Marquis manor could not afford to offend the Pei family.
Once married off, Cui Dai would also not be able to offend Cui Ti.
A blind house sparrow flying up to become the phoenix on a branch, Cui Dai's face burned.
Not long ago she had still arrogantly lectured the blind girl - a house sparrow would always remain a house sparrow, and could never become a phoenix.
With Cui Ti's capabilities, she naturally could not become a phoenix, but what if someone held her up?
At dusk, drums and gongs led the way. Pei Xuan wore an official hat and a large red corsage, riding a tall horse. Behind him was the bride's ornamented palanquin carried by eight men.
The drums matched each other beat for beat, the bearers sang ditties with their heads held high. The wedding procession was lively and bustling.
Look, the one who would raise up that blind girl, he's arrived!