Chapter 10: The Humble Origin

"Scoundrel!" Cui Xiu, thinking of his gentle mother from his dreams, could not suppress the burning fire within him and let out an angry shout.

Cui Enhou’s words came to an abrupt halt. He squinted at Cui Xiu, who was baring his teeth and glaring like a little tiger, radiating a hint of ferocity. "You understand what I’m saying?" he asked, surprised.

Cui Xiu did not change his expression. Locking eyes with Cui Enhou, he raised his voice to emphasize, "You are not allowed to speak about Concubine Liu with such a nasty look."

"The storyteller has performed it before; that expression means you're a villain!"

Each word was clear and forceful. Cui Enhou, taken aback and bewildered, reached up to touch his own cheek. "Is my expression really that bad?"

After all, wasn't he just resolutely planning to play the role of a doting father? When it came down to it, Cui Xiu was the one benefiting. He was the one who had gifted her to Cui Qianting after he was done with her, anyway!

Cui Hu, who had been holding Cui Xiu, felt his younger brother’s body trembling with rage. Looking down, he met Cui Xiu’s eyes, which were ablaze with an unusually bright, sharp, and indomitable light. He blinked, an involuntary memory of the sudden catastrophe in his own childhood surfacing. His gaze toward Cui Xiu softened with a touch of sincerity.

To have the courage to protect one's mother—that is truly admirable.

Holding onto this newfound respect, Cui Hu tried his best to make his words and actions lean toward his father. After all, she was only a concubine; if Cui Xiu were to be too filial and defy the Duke of Rong for her sake, he would likely have no future.

"Father, I understand now! Cui Xiu's predicament is just like what is written in the books: 'When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering and his sinews and bones with toil...'"

He had wanted to quote the passage in full, but despite racking his brains, he couldn't recall the rest. He gave up and simply added, "That is why he is so intelligent now, capable of analyzing good and bad from expressions and tone."

As he spoke, Cui Hu held Cui Xiu up to show him off to Cui Enhou, saying significantly, "The child is teachable! The future of the Cui family is promising!"

Cui Xiu slowly clenched his fists, struggling to follow Cui Hu's lead to display his intelligence. He wanted to prove his value so the Duke of Rong would notice him, allow him to study literature and martial arts, and eventually rise to office so he could... so he could petition for a noble title for his own mother.

"But I’m a villain?!" Cui Enhou, catching sight of Cui Xiu’s clenched fists, snorted in cold fury, resentfully dredging up the past: "If not for me stepping in, would that Concubine Liu have been able to enter the Cui gates with her purity intact, continue to live in luxury, and give birth to Cui Xiu? And that’s not even mentioning that I was just speaking off the cuff!"

Cui Enhou said the last sentence with great grievance, pointing a finger at Cui Xiu’s forehead. "This ungrateful wretch dares to glare at me with such hostility?! He is truly just like that rebellious Cui Qianting who tried to murder his own brother!"

Cui Hu saw that his father’s attention was still fixed on the word "villain" rather than the bright future of the Cui family he had laid out, and that the mention of his second uncle seemed to have stirred up old grudges. His brow furrowed into a deep ridge.

Just as he was rapidly churning his thoughts for a solution, a cold voice, sharp as a blade, attacked them from the distance: "If you are contemplating living in shame, what face do you have to treat a fallen noblewoman as a plaything? The fate of Concubine Liu and these government-registered courtesans will be the future end of the women of the Cui family!"

Cui Hu stiffened upon hearing this.

Great, Cui Qianting had arrived to add fuel to the fire. The relationship between these two brothers was so toxic he felt like swearing for three days and three nights!

Meanwhile, upon hearing these words, Cui Xiu looked up and saw Cui Qianting striding into the room. In that instant, he suddenly felt as if he had a father.

His father should be this dignified, tall, and mighty. He would not despise courtesans or dancers, but would be a man of action.

"Fa..." Cui Xiu called out with a flicker of hope, "Father."

The sound was like the buzzing of a gnat, filled with timidity yet also a desperate resolve, making it ring out clearly in the vast hall.

Cui Qianting glanced back at Cui Xiu. Encountering the look of longing in the boy's eyes, he raised an eyebrow, hummed, and commanded, "Get down and stand properly."

Cui Xiu was startled. Before he could signal Cui Hu to put him down, he found his feet already touching the ground.

He noticed that Cui Hu, standing beside him, had also stood obediently, as did the other two who had followed Cui Qianting—his blood-related older brother, Cui Hu, and his older sister, Cui Yue, all standing in a row.

Though bewildered, Cui Xiu followed suit and stood still.

On the other side, Cui Enhou swept his gaze over the four children who obeyed like soldiers. He slammed the table in anger, glancing sideways at Cui Qianting with resentment. "So what? I only have one son, Cui Hu. If the Cui family falls, he won't survive either. We father and son will certainly go to the scaffold together. What does the life or death of your branch have to do with me?!"

"Cui Enhou!" Cui Qianting barked, his voice cold and clipped.

The brothers locked eyes, both sets of eyes burning with fire, as if they were mortal enemies from a past life. The atmosphere in the room was thick with visible tension.

Cui Hu, who had been repeatedly scheduled for the scaffold, felt numb as he silently recited the principles of "primogeniture." He gritted his teeth and moved to break the murderous tension. "Second Uncle, please calm down. My father knows that if something happens, both our branches are doomed. His talk of confiscation and survival is only to ensure there is a successor for your branch. Little Brother Xiu looks like a good seed for literature and martial arts. But Concubine Liu is, after all, the daughter of a disgraced official. Unlike Brother Cong and me—even though our maternal grandfather’s family was confiscated, the law does not implicate daughters who have married out, so our family background is still considered clean."

Observing Cui Qianting’s expression, Cui Hu slowly laid out the difficulties he had been pondering. "That is why I took the lead, thinking about having Cui Xiu adopted under my father’s name. If Brother Xiu pursues a martial path in the future, he won't need to undergo background checks on his mother's lineage. But if his talent lies in literature, the requirements for the imperial examinations alone..."

Rising through the ranks as a martial officer was relatively easier; for instance, criminals exiled to the border had the chance to redeem themselves through service. But the imperial examination, which selected talent for the state, was different.

When registering, candidates had to fill out three forms at the magistrate's office: personal statements, mutual guarantees, and formal affidavits.

The formal affidavit required a local scholar (a *linsheng*) to guarantee that the candidate was not using a fake name, hiding a death in the family, using a substitute, or coming from a "mean" status—such as the descendants of entertainers, prostitutes, or menial laborers.

Even if, by law, a child followed the father's status and Cui Xiu was considered the grandson of a Duke and the son of a *xiucai* (scholar), Concubine Liu was a government-registered courtesan—a woman who could never be redeemed and carried the mark of a criminal for life! If the Cui family’s political enemies wanted to stir up trouble, the moment word got out, no scholar would dare to guarantee or testify for a child of such a "sinful woman."

Even having Cui Xiu, a concubine-born son, listed under the legitimate mother’s name would be useless.

Usually, people would turn a blind eye to such things, but the Cui family had offended many scholars; who could guarantee they wouldn't be watching?

"The formal affidavit is a clear obstacle. And besides that..." Cui Hu sighed in depression.

He, the legitimate eldest son of the Duke of Rong and the future "guaranteed" Marquis, had been plagued by headaches over these documents.

The personal statement required the candidate's name, age, hometown, physique, features, and the three-generation history of their ancestors. That part was easy.

The difficult part was the mutual guarantee.

The mutual guarantee required the candidate to find five other candidates to sign a bond, promising that if one person cheated, all five would be punished together!!!

This was a crucial part of the imperial examination system to ensure integrity. However, for some of the Cui family’s political enemies, this was a weapon. Years ago, Cui Qianting had suffered because of this: he had passed his *xiucai* exam, only for one of his co-signers to be caught cheating!!!

Had it not been for the discovery that the princes' infighting had implicated the innocent, Cui Qianting might have been stripped of his degree and barred from taking the exams forever.

Therefore, as the next head of the Cui family, Cui Hu had to plan ahead.

Especially since the Emperor had personally decreed that the children of the Cui family must enter office through the imperial examinations!

Cui Hu’s gaze slowly fell on Cui Xiu, who seemed to be listening intently with a solemn expression. He weakly expressed his full plan: "My father is, after all, the successor to a founding noble, the Duke of Rong, and holds certain grace-bestowing privileges. If Cui Xiu truly becomes a great talent, he could even use the Iron Certificate of Merit to beg for a favor!"

Cui Xiu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He no longer knew how to carefully act like a three-year-old.

Was the imperial examination in this life truly so difficult?

To the point that even the Duke’s mansion had to be this cautious, worrying about something as seemingly simple as a mutual guarantee lest it be used for framing?

On the other side, hearing that his son was so farsighted, Cui Enhou was pleased. "Cui Qianting, did you hear that? My son is so thorough!"

Cui Qianting’s fierce expression softened slightly, and he looked at Cui Hu with approval. "Hu’er’s considerations are indeed thorough. However, don't worry, these matters are not worth fretting over for now."

Cui Hu was surprised. "Second Uncle, you have a solution?"

In an instant, Cui Xiu felt that only the capable Cui Qianting existed in his eyes. He held his breath and listened carefully.

Cui Qianting glanced at Cui Xiu, whose eyes held a complexity even deeper than that of ten-year-old Cui Cong. After taking a sip of tea, he answered unhurriedly: "If you don't consider your need to study literature and martial arts to establish yourselves through talent, how do you think Cui Enhou managed to ride his horse straight from the summer villa back to the Rong Mansion?"

After a pause, Cui Qianting said in a low voice, "The Emperor has now given his word. As long as he has spoken, it will be easy for your generation to find people to provide guarantees; no one will have the audacity to forge or falsify your documents!"

Even as he tried to speak objectively, a trace of gloom colored Cui Qianting’s eyes.

Seeing the sudden sadness in Cui Qianting’s face, looking like a little wretch with no one to rely on, Cui Enhou recalled the time when the other man had been naive enough to act as a guarantor for a "friend," only to be implicated and imprisoned. His expression shifted. Finally, he sat tall on the head of the household's seat and assumed a stern tone. "Cui Qianting, speak clearly. We currently have only three males in the family. My son is worried about Cui Xiu."

"Since you’ve already dug up the graves, shouldn't the Emperor appease you?" Cui Qianting smiled. "If you don't want an official position, yet are known for being a debauched philanderer, the best way to appease you is to wipe the slate clean for all those entertainers and courtesans you’ve dealt with, and have them accompany you in your studies? Furthermore, if there are any courtesans among my concubines, they should be cleared as well. Otherwise, if I don't keep an eye on you, won't you become a wild monkey causing trouble everywhere?"

"Compared to you causing trouble, clearing a few low-status records is a small price to pay to appease the Cui family."

"No!" Cui Enhou was stunned, then slammed the table in anger. "Wasn't it supposed to be a princess? Didn't Prince Fu already speak of the best way to appease me? A marriage with a princess!"

"Cui Qianting, I can be your target for exploitation, but my son is to marry a princess! If he can marry a princess, why should we worry about exile and confiscation?"

Cui Qianting looked at the furious Cui Enhou and rolled his eyes. He turned to look out the window at the scenery, then at the figures who seemed to be merging into the landscape, and said clearly: "The Eldest Princess is the legitimate daughter of the Empress. If she were willing to marry into the Cui family, if the Emperor were willing, and if the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works had all lost their minds, would they publicly lecture you on the difference between high and low status, fanning the flames and accusing you of lèse-majesté?"

"Which other princess is of a suitable age for Cui Hu? Hu’er was raised by my own hands; I’ve spent more effort on him than you, his own father. If I could plan for him to marry a princess, would I be worried about clearing low-status records? He is the legitimate eldest son and the future heir. His safety means the entire Cui family can continue to hold the title and enjoy wealth for three more generations!"