Then, Li Jingyun listened as the man recounted what had happened to him that morning. Those around him were deeply moved.
" Cui Xian trampled on someone's seedlings and beat them up. Moreover, he showed no remorse afterward. It's only natural that he was given the death penalty. His sister used to have a good reputation, didn't she? How could she be so stupid? In the court, she openly insulted the princess. Tsk tsk tsk. She's really courting death. It's really merciful of His Majesty not to have her executed together."
The beautiful woman just now clicked her tongue in wonder. From her words, it seemed that she wished to send both Cui Tian and her younger brother to the execution ground.
" You're right. The Cui family must be tired of living. They're just asking for death."
" If the younger generation of the Cui family is as unruly as Cui Tian and her younger brother, I'm afraid the good days of the Cui family are numbered."
" Yes, yes."
The old Confucian scholar said, " I heard that among the elders of the Cui family who went there at that time, only Cui Gan was present. He was demoted as a result. Cui Gan isn't the father of Cui Tian and Cui Xian, is he?"
" The family hierarchy of the Cui family is very complicated. Generally, as long as one belongs to the Boling Cui family, they'll be addressed as 'uncle' or 'elder uncle'. As for the closeness or distance of the relationship, no one really cares. I wonder if Cui Gan will regret his past actions after this incident."
As the beautiful woman spoke, she shook her head, seemingly sighing at the chaotic management of the Cui family.
The Boling Cui family always believed in the idea of family unity within the clan to prevent being estranged. I wonder if they'll still hold this belief after being implicated.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Jingyun suddenly realized. So that's how it was. She remembered that during the draft, it wasn't mentioned that Cui Gan was Cui Tian's father. Later, seeing that the three of them didn't look alike, she had always been suspicious.
Unexpectedly, they were just from the same clan.
The scholar then said, " I wonder what the little princess looks like? It's said that she's very much favored by His Majesty and the Queen."
" She should have a body as fair as jade and skin as pure as ice and snow. She must be as beautiful as a celestial being descending to the mortal world." Someone echoed.
Li Jingyun looked down at herself. A body as fair as jade and skin as pure as ice and snow?
Were they talking about her? It seemed that she had little to do with these adjectives.
These people were so strange. They had a pretty good understanding of the Cui family just now, but why were the rumors about her so exaggerated?
After hearing this, Li Zhen turned his head and laughed silently. He held back his laughter so hard that his shoulders were shrugging.
Just as she was listening intently, the waiter served several delicate side dishes and a jar of plum juice. He poured a bowl for both her and Li Zhen.
The waiter said, " Ladies and gentlemen, there are still two dishes left. They'll be here soon. Please enjoy these first."
Li Zhen stopped the waiter. " Who does the library in Chang'an City belong to now? It shouldn't be the Cui family, right?"
Hearing this, the waiter laughed. " Sir, you're dressed so expensively, but why are you so ill - informed? Everyone, tell me, who built the library in Chang'an City?"
" Hahaha."
Everyone burst into laughter. Li Jingyun took a sip of the cold plum juice and looked at them curiously.
So many things had happened today. She had been busy from morning till afternoon, and the Cui family had caused trouble in between.
She had actually forgotten such an important thing.
After they had laughed enough, the beautiful woman chided them gently. " Hurry up and tell them. Stop laughing. You'll make the young master and young lady feel uncomfortable."
" Okay, okay. It's the grand councilor Tang Jian. The imperial edict was just issued this morning." The scholar held back his laughter and pointed to the southeast corner. " It's in Yongning Fang, not far from here."
" Tang Jian?"
Li Jingyun began to think about this name. It was so familiar. Was he the bearded uncle who came to the Taihe Hall last time and said he wanted to teach her how to play chess?
He was very good at chess. Even Father couldn't beat him.
It seemed that he had known Father for a long time, and Father had entrusted many things to him.
He should be a trustworthy person.
Actually, Tang Jian's great - great - grandfather was a high - ranking official. Their family's ancestor was a prefect, his great - grandfather was a chief clerk, his grandfather was the grand master of works, his grandfather was the prime minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and his father was a governor. So by the time it came to him, he could take out 700 taels of gold at once, second only to Pei Mingli.
What was that word Father had taught her? The Tang family could also be considered a family of high - ranking officials for generations.
Based on this, Li Jingyun made a judgment and planned to continue listening to their discussions while having dinner. Who would have thought that the beautiful woman just now would come over, fill Li Jingyun's bowl with plum juice, and look at her with a smile. " Young lady, which family do you belong to? How did you grow up to be so fair - skinned? In the future, you'll surely be a well - known beauty."
" I also think I'm very beautiful. You are too."
Li Jingyun first smiled confidently, then looked at the beautiful woman's face and seriously praised her.
The woman in front of her was wearing a bright red ruqun with a cross - chest style. Her hair was combed into cicada - wing sideburns and tied into a concentric knot. She wore two flower - shaped hairpins and a silver double - butterfly hairpin inlaid with amber beads. There was a delicate flower钿 on her forehead. She looked clean, neat, charming, and generous.
She was also very young, at most in her early twenties.
Li Jingyun's praise made the beautiful woman blush to the roots of her ears. " You're really good at talking. You always say what I like to hear. How old are you? How could your parents rest assured to let you come out?"
" I'm five years old. My brother is here. He'll protect me and take me out to play." Li Jingyun's eyes sparkled as she pulled over Li Zhen, who was enjoying his meal and had just picked up a chopstick of food for her.
Li Zhen looked up from his meal and gave a perfunctory smile.
This woman was beautiful, but she was really tactless. Why did she come over while they were eating?
" I saw you listening so attentively. Do you understand what we were just talking about? Do you know which family the Cui family is?" The beautiful woman smiled, and the waiter tactfully moved a new stool over.
Li Jingyun thought to herself, how could she not know?
The things they were talking about were just hearsay, while she had almost been on the scene and seen everything with her own eyes.
But seeing that the beautiful woman was very serious, she still shook her head. " I'm not sure. Could you please explain it in more detail?"
" The Cui family is a great clan that emerged hundreds of years ago. Blah blah blah..." The beautiful woman rambled on. Li Jingyun held her bowl of rice and listened while eating, regarding it as a story.
Normally in the imperial city, Father and Wang De would also talk about the Cui family, and their accounts were not very different from this one. Some details were even less detailed than her introduction.
Finally, the beautiful woman concluded, " The reputation of the Cui family has declined sharply. They're even inferior to the merchant Pei Mingli."
Among the four social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, scholars were at the top. Moreover, the Cui family had produced many prime ministers in previous generations. Merchants were at the bottom. However, the situation was reversed. Pei Mingli was arranged to build the library in Hedongdao without any complaint. Now, his reputation was much better than that of the Cui family.
" I see. I think Pei Mingli is really polite. He knows the rules well and is very humble."
Li Jingyun recalled the situation at that time and said.
What impressed her most was that Father had left Pei Mingli alone to talk to him. In the end, Pei Mingli bowed deeply and sincerely said that it was his honor to serve the Tang Dynasty.
The door of the restaurant was pushed open, and a young woman in bright clothes walked in. She looked around and found Li Jingyun and her brother who were eating. " I originally wanted to go back to the imperial city to call you two, but Father told me that you two had gone wild playing and were still eating outside at this hour and didn't want to go back. So I came to look for you."
" Sister, Princess Gaoyang, we don't want to stay out. We're just really hungry. We just want to eat something to fill our stomachs first." Li Jingyun looked up at Princess Gaoyang with an innocent face and began to act coquettishly.
She knew that her sister would be soft - hearted towards her.
" Alright, alright. Hurry up and go back after you're done eating. Father and Mother are still worried about you. Also, the Ice House will open at the second quarter of the Si hour tomorrow morning. You two have to come."
Gaoyang said.
" Great! Sister, we'll definitely be there on time."