The word "cloying" made Cui Jintang hesitate for a moment.
Cui Jintang had a splitting headache. Flustered, she helped Lady Huang up.
"You're an elder. I really can't accept this courtesy," she said.
Lady Huang mistakenly thought that Cui Jintang was reluctant to help her. Tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
"Lady Huang, please get up quickly. Jintang is always soft - hearted. You'll scare her like this," a voice said.
The two of them looked in the direction of the voice. Old Lady Pei, supported by Pei Ying, was walking in with a smile. It was not clear when she had come.
Lady Huang stopped crying and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "I've made you laugh, Old Lady."
Old Lady Pei smiled but said nothing more. Instead, she looked at Pei Ying and gave her a sign.
Pei Ying quickly asked the maid to present the food box. "Grandmother pities big brother. He's always busy at the Censorate and rarely goes home. Today she specially asked someone to prepare some lychee jelly that big brother likes. Please do us a favor and take it to him, Sister Jintang!"
Cui Jintang understood the old lady's intention. Under Lady Huang's expectant gaze, she sighed and said, "I'll go right away."
Old Lady Pei let out a sigh of relief. She took Cui Jintang's hand and said hurriedly, "Good girl, you've worked hard."
---
The Censorate.
The four characters "Uphold Discipline" were hanging high. Every stroke was as sharp as a blade.
Cui Jintang stood outside the door. Yinglan knocked on it for her.
As soon as the guard saw her, he immediately opened the door.
He kindly reminded, "The cleaners just finished their work. The road is slippery. Be careful, Miss Cui."
Cui Jintang thanked him.
Inside the Censorate, the pine and cypress trees were solemn and ever - green.
The first time Pei Zhaolin brought Cui Jintang here, it was a snowy day.
At that time, Pei Zhaolin had just taken office. He had investigated and punished the Minister of Personnel who was selling official positions. Many people in the Censorate were also involved.
He stood in the snow, holding an umbrella, looking at the pine and cypress trees with a look of integrity in his eyes. "The branches won't break even when pressed by snow. This is what people in the Censorate should learn," he said.
That sight made Cui Jintang's eyes sparkle.
--- "Miss, we're here."
Yinglan's voice brought Cui Jintang back to reality.
Cui Jintang came to her senses. She raised her hand and pushed open the door.
--- Pei Zhaolin was standing in front of the desk.
Dressed in a black official robe with a leather belt around his waist, his waistline looked even more trim and his figure more upright.
His black gauze cap was slightly tilted. His temples were neatly trimmed, making his features look even more profound.
He was holding a booklet in his hand, and his knuckles were distinct as he flipped through the pages.
Hearing the sound, he looked up.
Cui Jintang met his eyes.
There was a coldness in his eyes, as if he were looking at a stranger.
Cui Jintang felt a pang in her heart at his look.
Pei Zhaolin put down the booklet and seemed to block something behind him intentionally. He lowered his eyes and said indifferently, "Why are you here, Miss Cui?"
His tone was full of alienation.
Cui Jintang lifted the food box. "Grandmother thought you've been working hard. It's hot these days, so she specially asked someone to make lychee jelly for you."
Suddenly, she remembered the past. Pei Zhaolin had once asked the cook for advice in a mess, trying to make a bowl of lychee jelly for her. But the next day, they found out that Pei Su had asked someone to make the lychees into wine.
Cui Jintang couldn't help but smile.
"The 'Concubine's Smile' lychees are newly arrived. If you don't eat them soon, they'll turn into wine again."
Her words were playful and intimate.
But Pei Zhaolin showed a look of confusion for a moment, and then quickly regained his composure.
Hearing this, he just lifted his eyes. "It's too sweet. It's cloying."
"Miss Cui, please go back. This is the Censorate. I'll let it go today for the sake of grandmother."
The word "cloying" made Cui Jintang hesitate for a moment.
She was still holding a porcelain - white bowl in her hand.
There was lychee jelly in the bowl, with a bright red cherry on top. It looked very appetizing.
Cui Jintang was about to speak.
Suddenly, a coughing sound came from behind Pei Zhaolin.
Pei Zhaolin stepped aside, revealing the person's face.
Luo Xiang was sitting in Pei Zhaolin's usual seat. She covered her lips with a handkerchief, and there was a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
"Miss Cui may not know that Zhaolin can't eat sweet things now. I'll decide to give this to the people on duty today. This way, we won't let down the old lady's kindness. What do you think, Miss Cui?"
Luo Xiang was provoking Cui Jintang.
She could stay in the Censorate, but Cui Jintang couldn't.
Cui Jintang was amused by her childish competitiveness.
She raised her eyebrows and put the bowl on the table. "There's no need to give it away. It's a pity to pour it out."
In front of the two of them, Cui Jintang used a silver spoon to break the lychee jelly. She scooped up the pulp and ice chips and put them into her mouth.
Each spoonful made her squint because of the cold, but she still smiled. "It's sweet but not cloying. It's a pity that Lord Pei has no luck."
Pei Zhaolin's fingertips twitched slightly. He looked at her fingertips that were slightly red from the cold, then finally lowered his eyes and continued to flip through the pages, ignoring her.
Luo Xiang's smile froze on her lips.
It wasn't until Cui Jintang turned around and left that Pei Zhaolin looked at Luo Xiang again.
"Don't come to the Censorate to find me again."
Luo Xiang bit her lips. Although she was reluctant, she still stood up and replied in a low voice, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
After everyone left, Pei Zhaolin rubbed his aching forehead. Then he knocked on the corner of the table, indicating that the person hiding behind could come out.
Suddenly, a chubby figure rolled out from behind the screen.
Huang Zuoshi was in a mess. He seemed to have lost a little weight in the three days.
As soon as he saw Pei Zhaolin, he began to wail, "Lord Pei! After this matter is over, if you don't approve five days of leave for me, I'll resign today!"
Pei Zhaolin, who already had a headache, frowned. "Shut up."
Huang Zuoshi weakly closed his mouth.
When Pei Zhaolin felt better, Huang Zuoshi told him what had happened in the past three days.
Yan Liangwen had detained him as a hostage. That night, he was knocked unconscious and locked in the firewood shed. The next day, Yan Liangwen even wanted to give him a dumb - making medicine, trying to make him unable to say a word about that night in Jinyufang.
"Thanks to my intelligence, I pretended to drink it and spat it all on my sleeve. Then I used my belt buckle to pick the lock and slipped out!"
There was one thing Huang Zuoshi didn't say.
After the three - night detention, when Huang Zuoshi was about to leave, he left a message on the pillar of Jinyufang:
"Three nights are too short. If you want to detain me next time, remember to change to a bigger firewood shed!"
"Is that all?" Pei Zhaolin looked at him and frowned. "I asked you to stay in Jinyufang, not to play around."
Huang Zuoshi groaned, "Don't be so impatient!"
He couldn't help but mutter, "After coming back from the south of the Yangtze River, why are you as unfeeling as when you first came to the Censorate?"
He was so cold to Miss Cui just now!
Pei Zhaolin's patience with him decreased even more.
"I'm incompetent. I secretly checked the accounts and the treasury silver of Jinyufang, and found nothing wrong."
Pei Zhaolin frowned. "Just now I found that in the account books from the Ministry of Revenue sent by Yan Liangwen, there's always a payment of 'commuted silver' to Tianxiang Tower every five days."
"If we count from half a month ago, the amount is exactly equal to - "
Pei Zhaolin raised his eyes. His gaze swept over the booklet sent by Yan Liangwen four days ago on the table. His thin lips spat out four words:
"Ten thousand taels of silver."
Ten thousand taels of silver was not a small amount.