Chapter 57: The Landlord's Daughter Stuffed on Love and Affection

“Madam, you must be joking. My loyalty to His Majesty is witnessed by heaven and earth, and testified by the sun and moon!”

Li Hu rose coldly, patting his second son Li Sicheng on the shoulder. “I know you fancy a girl from the pleasure quarters, but as long as you don’t bring her home and disgrace the family name, do as you please!”

“Father!”

The two brothers watched their father’s broad, imposing figure disappear with tears glistening in their eyes.

Only now did they truly feel they had a real father.

“Siming, Sicheng—”

Seeing the strange look in her sons’ eyes, Lady Cui felt as if the sky had collapsed.

Li Siming sighed deeply. “Mother, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but over these years, have our grandfather and two uncles ever treated father as one of their own?”

Li Sicheng immediately nodded. “Especially those two uncles, always barking orders at father as if their ranks surpass his. What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Second uncle even accused father of betraying them. What kind of talk is that? They committed treasonous acts, so should I expect father to have raised an army to rebel, dragging our entire family into ruin?”

“Mother, think about it. Father has cherished you like a precious treasure all these years. Where has he ever been unkind to you?”

Lady Cui’s head spun violently; the world seemed to tilt around her.

“I’m going to find your father!”

She hurried toward the back courtyard, but as she passed a certain pavilion, laughter of licentious indulgence suddenly spilled forth.

“Master! You—”

Lady Cui stopped at the doorway, staring dumbfounded at the muscular, towering figure on the bed.

“I am the illustrious General of the Western Garrisons; what’s wrong with enjoying a woman, huh?”

“I didn’t invite you here to massage my back! Consider yourself lucky!”

Li Hu’s roar was like a tiger’s, terrifying Lady Cui into pale silence. She dared not utter a word and retreated in tears.

Sitting quietly in the courtyard, listening to the debauched songs within the room, Lady Cui finally shed tears of regret.

Why did I bully that bastard Li Wenxuan?

If I hadn’t tormented that wretched child, he wouldn’t have died dragging the entire Cui clan down with him...

If only I had treated him better in the beginning...

The night was deep and heavy; a tide of remorse engulfed Lady Cui.

Alas, there is no medicine for regret in this world.

Coincidentally, at the residence of Minister Cui—no, the Deputy Minister Cui’s mansion—

Overnight, the Deputy Minister Cui seemed to have aged twenty years. After hearing his two sons report on Li Hu’s side, his face was filled with regret.

“If only we hadn’t provoked that bastard Li Wenxuan back then, how could we have plunged from such heights into the abyss...”

Cui Shanling and Cui Shanyue exchanged a glance, filled with remorse.

In their hearts, they even resented Lady Cui.

If you, the lady of the General of the Western Garrisons’ household, hadn’t treated that illegitimate son so cruelly, would we be facing such misfortune today?

---

Unfortunately, the two brothers had yet to reflect inwardly.

“I must have been cursed through eight generations to have a daughter who brings such calamity to the family!”

Cui Yuanhai staggered to his feet, spat a mouthful of blood, then fainted.

“Father—”

All that was happening outside had no connection to Li Wenxuan in his cozy, well-appointed room.

He was now truly well-fed and well-rested.

He recounted tales of love tinged with sourness, making the young lady laugh.

When tired, he simply laid down and slept.

The mad donkey always reported news of major events in the capital—specifically, the imperial punishments imposed on the Cui family.

Cui Yuanhai was first demoted to Left Vice Minister of Rites.

Three days later, further demoted to Principal Officer of Rites.

Five days after that, he was demoted again to county magistrate of Jingcheng.

After thirty years of hard work, he was reduced back to a mere county official.

From a first-rank Minister of State to a seventh-rank magistrate in half a month.

That he did not break down and commit suicide was a testament to his resilience.

Besides him, other Cui relatives holding official posts—those numerous officials mentioned in Cui’s many grandiloquent boasts—were all repeatedly demoted.

Including but not limited to Cui Guangwu, governor of Zhuo Commandery, who was exposed for seizing farmers’ lands and abducting over ten local women upon taking office. He was stripped of all titles, arrested immediately, and sent to the capital for interrogation by the Eastern Depot.

Cui Guangzheng, magistrate of An County, was also arrested and personally interrogated by the Eastern Depot for corruption.

Just as the mad donkey finished telling Li Wenxuan the news, Sun Fatty arrived, cheerfully announcing that he had received the files and that the two cases were assigned to their courtyard for investigation.

Sun Fatty patted his round belly, laughing heartily. “Brother Li, we’re keeping them all for you—wait until you get back to start the trials!”

Li Wenxuan lifted his teacup with a smile. “I shall of course administer justice impartially, with no personal grudges influencing the proceedings.”

“Of course!” Sun Fatty gave a thumbs-up. “But you might not know, the rule is that every prisoner must endure the punishment ritual. The choice of instruments and who executes it is decided by us, the heads of the penal unit!”

“Oh?” Li Wenxuan said, “Well then, whenever they arrive, I’ll come on duty—that’ll be my first day back after recovering!”

“What? Brother Li, you’re recovering so fast?”

Li Wenxuan glanced toward the doorway, where the landlord’s innocent daughter was playing happily with two small scoops and a basin of snow, then whispered to Sun Fatty:

“Fatty, no bragging, but even if we were in the bridal chamber now, no problem... though I might lack strength for the more strenuous moves.”

“Whoa—”

Sun Fatty gasped. Such words of wild bravado... the princess could hear all of that!

Unfortunately, Li the Prince Consort seemed unaware of the princess’s astonishing ability to hear even the faintest of sounds within a hundred paces.

“Brother Li, that’s some serious boasting!”

Sun Fatty raised his thumb, then quickly changed the subject.

“There’s a new guy named Zhao Lie at the Eastern Depot. This kid knows nothing, asks a million questions, messes up more than ten times a day. If it weren’t for the Factory Lord’s explicit orders to look after him, I’d have dealt with the brat long ago.”

Li Wenxuan immediately said, “Don’t, this kid got in through connections.”

“Ah?”

Sun Fatty’s face twitched; those with connections inside the Eastern Depot were no ordinary people.

Like the very man who ruined the Cui clan.

“He’s probably related to the Factory Lord,” Li Wenxuan added.

“Oh dear, thanks for the heads-up, Brother Li, or I might have made a big mistake.”

“Eh, it’s no big deal... want to stay for a meal?”

Li Wenxuan smiled as the landlord’s pure daughter brought food over.

It had been over ten days since his injury; though not fully healed, he could walk without trouble.

“No thanks,” Sun Fatty laughed. “Got other things to do. You hang out with your little sister-in-law!”

With that, Sun Fatty stood to leave.

What a joke—what status did he have to dine with the princess?

Not even if his ancestral tomb burst into flames would he dare!

Princess heard Jiang Xiaoxiao’s footsteps and knew it was mealtime.

Yet she felt strangely puzzled—was the emperor really so weak?

To end up as a mere hundred-house officer under an Eastern Depot thousand-house official, botching so many affairs and earning colleagues’ disdain...

Uh—truly a feeble brother.

“Honey, your hands are cold, let husband warm them—”

Since he could walk, Li Wenxuan’s thoughts had grown less innocent; he constantly found excuses to touch the princess.

Now, after wiping the snow off her reddened little hands, he pressed them to his chest.

Seeing her blush deepen, he whispered playfully, “Feel this? My heart beats only for you!”

Jiang Xiaoxiao, carrying the meal to the room’s edge, awkwardly scraped her shoe sole with her toe, worried about ruining her cheap cotton-soled shoes in the cold, and quietly murmured:

“Sorry, I seem to have come at a bad time... but it’s mealtime.”

Li Wenxuan released Princess Sirou’s hand, took the dishes, and set them down inside.

“Miss Jiang, would you like to eat with us?”

Jiang Xiaoxiao watched the invisible Lady Li expertly feed Lord Li a piece of meat, and suddenly felt a strong wave of suffocation.

She was hungry, but for some reason, at this moment, she felt utterly full.

It turns out, eating other people’s romance is truly filling...