The Possession of My Beloved - CH 10

Her mother’s sorrow and resentment had a subtle impact on Binglan, so Lian Binglan chose Cui Xingzhou over Zhao Quan without hesitation. There is no other reason. Zhao Quan’s disposition is too similar to his father, Lian Hanshan. He muddles along and has no enterprising spirit. He will be a person with no big accomplishments.

She didn’t want to look at the glory of others like her mother and complain all day long.

It was because she had long understood Cousin Cui’s temperament and preferences, and knew that he liked his wife to be gentle and considerate and a woman who will filial to his mother. Thus, she took her aunt as the first in everything and won the favor of the Princess Consort of Chu. Finally, she is agreed to be married into the residence, which also made up for her mother’s regret in her life.

As long as she can stabilize Princess Consort, no matter how bright the flowers and plants outside were, they could not overtake her position.

Thinking of this, Lian Binglan felt relieved. She felt that she shouldn’t have talked to her mother before, and took the inferior route. It’s getting late. She needs to go to bed quickly. She will be full of energy tomorrow to flatter her future mother-in-law and show her cousin her good and honest virtue.

Cui Xingzhou’s elder sister Cui Fu, who married far away, also returned to her mother’s home with her two-year-old son Jin’er because Princess Consort’s birthday party was about to start.

Her husband is the legitimate son of Duke Qingguo. His mansion is also in the State of Yan, another province. It is not easy to come back.

Before the birthday party, Cui Fu came to see Cui Xingzhou with his nephew Jin’er, and asked with a smile, “A few days ago, you went to the State of Zhen for business. I asked you to bring me the powder from the Hanxiang Pavilion. Did you buy it?”

Cui Xingzhou shook his rattle to amuse his nephew. After thinking for a while, he said, “I bought it… And gave it away. I’ll buy it for you the next morning.”

Cui Fu glared at her younger brother: “All the cosmetic in the Hanxiang Pavilion has to be ordered in advance. Because the pollen was mixed with the chrysanthemum juice from the northern province before it was manufactured into cream, If I order it this year, I will have to wait until the golden autumn of the next year to get it… Who is the beauty that has captivated my righteous younger brother and gave the powder to which I had tried to order after all the trouble!”

Cui Xingzhou didn’t expect the powder he gave to Liu Miantang was so exquisite. In the beginning, Liu Miantang diligently sewed his jacket for him, so he just gave her the cosmetic he had at that time according to etiquette.

Now that his elder sister teased him about this, he remain silent and continue to tease his nephew Jin’er.

Cui Fu has a bright disposition and won’t be annoyed with her brother with a box of cosmetics. As for the beauty that her brother met outside, she thought that the person must be a clever and charming one, so he liked it.

Cui Fu was different from her mother, Chu. She didn’t like her aunt Lian-Chu and her daughter, who was always taking advantage of their family.

When her mother was bullied by a concubine in the mansion and was not allowed to have children, the uncles of the Chu family often came to see her mother. Every time her aunt came, she was laughing at her mother. The implication was that her father was not a good man and her sister’s life was hard.

The words of her aunt always made her mother cry.

But now, her mother has finally ended her tough life, her younger brother took over the throne of the Prince of Huainan and her aunt started to act like a completely different person, complimenting her mother on her natural good fortune and hard work. She even tried to cram her daughter into the residence.

Because of her distant marriage, Cui Fu didn’t have time to care about her mother’s family. If she was at home, she would never let Xingzhou marry her aunt’s daughter.

So for Cui Xingzhou’s other beauty, Cui Fu is happy to see her success.

However, the sibling just spoke in a hurry, and unable to ask further in detail, Cui Xingzhou went to the front hall to meet the guests.

The birthday banquet in the residence is very lively. The flowing banquet will last for five days. Local famous entertainers were invited to the stage at the hall to perform.

However, compared with previous years, there are still fewer guests and friends coming to the royal residence to celebrate the old Princess Consort’s birthday.

Cui Xingzhou understands that this has a lot to do with the fact that someone in the court impeached him for maintaining an army and defying orders from the central government.

The current Emperor has always been afraid of the several kings with different surnames granted by the former Emperor. Now the banditry in the State of Zhen has greatly improved from a year ago. The Emperor can’t wait to get rid of them once the job is done.

It’s very important to know which direction the government is facing in officialdom. Now that the palace hand cannot reach the boundary of the State of Zhen. Naturally, the smart-minded people will tend to guess the King’s intention and refuse to attend to avoid suspicion.

Walking in officialdom is sometimes like floating and sinking in the sea. Although the sound of silk and bamboo in the front hall garden can be heard all the time, who knows if they will fall into the abyss and their entire family will be exterminated in the next moment?

At the banquet, people at the table with Prince Huaiyang were smiling, but their words were full of mystery, which seemed to have the meaning of spying.

Others, however, were just full of flattery, hoping to get some benefits from the banquet of the Prince’s residence and get a post from the mouth of Prince Huaiyang.

Cui Xingzhou was used to all these social gatherings when he was young.

After the banquet, the garden party began. Prince Huaiyang went to his study room to have a rest on the excuse that he was too drunk.

At this time, there was no one in the study room. Cui Xingzhou sat alone beside a sandalwood desk and looked at the blue sky outside the cornice by the window.

There are several letters from relatives asking for a position in the government office on the table. The first few are from several nephews of his future father-in-law, Lian’s family.

Because it was brought by his aunt, he has to give her the face to look at it. However, these people who ask for a position can’t be afforded to be put in important positions. At the banquet earlier on, his aunt pushed his honest and dull uncle to bring up the topic of helping to get a position in the government office. But his uncle was not good at being a lobbyist and said it stumblingly. Instead, Cui Xingzhou has to be considerate and meditate on the situation.

But there are countless such favors every day. If it were normal days, Cui Xingzhou would have given his future father-in-law’s face and done it properly.

But when he thought of his future father-in-law listening to his aunt’s instigation and calling upon his servant to spy on him in Lingquan Town, it offended Cui jiu’s limits.

Lingquan town has laid a snare, waiting for the rebel to fall into the net. Where can he tolerate someone to make trouble?

He would not explain such business to his aunt and cousin.

Prince Huaiyang doesn’t like women who make their own decisions. No matter whether his aunt’s proposal today involves Lian Binglan’s thoughts, he will need to give a warning to his cousin’s family.

So he didn’t even read the remaining “family letters” and threw them aside on the incense burner.

There were a lot of guests in the front hall, but Cui Xingzhou was tired and lazy for a while and didn’t want to be sociable. The atmosphere in the residence was noisy, but he just wanted to be quiet.

So he only took his young servant, Mo Ru, out of the residence through the back door, and got on the boat along the river bank.

At this time, although it was spring, it was still cooling at night. He had drunk some wine at the birthday banquet and after being blown by the cool wind, he was getting a little dizzy.

The boatman asked his servant Mo Ru where are they going. Mo Ru looked at The Prince sitting on the side of the boat and couldn’t tell a location. He just let the boatman drive aimlessly all the way. In less than half an hour, they came to the dock in Lingshui town.

His mother’s birthday party was not yet over. It means that he had to head back tomorrow morning. If he were to go to the military camp, the round-trip time will be too tight. So, he naturally thought that there were ready-made houses on North Street. At this time, no one will pay attention to his whereabouts at night, and he could sleep a whole night.

So Cui Xingzhou let the boatman go ashore after he feels better from the dizziness. Then he walked leisurely with the stars all the way and came to the North Street to buckle the door.

On the other hand, Liu Miantang has urged craftsmen to repair the shop since she bought it.

It took only a few days to sort out the general appearance of the shop, but she didn’t know where her husband went to socialize with Doctor Zhao, she hasn’t seen him for a long time.

Today, when she went to the street to invite carpenters to come back to build the shelves, she thought that her husband should be able to return. Unexpectedly, the doorbell rang during the night.

Hearing the sound at the door of the mansion, Liu Miantang hurriedly got up.

These days, she was afraid that when her husband came home in the middle of the night, she would see her with disheveled hair and a dirty face, so before going to bed, she always asked Servant Li to help her weave a long fried dough twist braid that was askew in her ears.

When she heard the sound of her husband’s footsteps, she had already changed into a fitting pleated skirt and put some rouge on her lips. Then she put on her embroidered sandals and walked out of the door neatly, smiling shyly at her husband: “You are back!”

Because it was already dark at this time, Cui Xingzhou had planned to sleep quietly in the wing room for a night. Unexpectedly, Miantang hadn’t slept yet. Before he entered the wing room on one side, she came out of the bedroom.

And before he was able to speak, the young lady lifted the curtain of the door and waited eagerly for him to come in.

Cui Xingzhou looked at her intently. He hasn’t seen the woman for several days. It seemed that she was even more beautiful. Although she has experienced some ups and downs in the past few years, she is probably too beautiful and has been loved by her man. She has not been asked to endure the hardships of exposure to cold and wet on a journey. Her skin was white, and a pair of beautiful eyes showed a kind of innocence that had not been defiled.

Such a pair of eyes always make people take off their guard. No wonder she can bluff the two stores to sell them to her at a low price.

Cui Xingzhou thought lazily and involuntarily stepped into the house full of fragrance.

With the experience of the previous two-night intrusion by her husband, Miantang, who has to start over as a newly-wedded wife, has made full preparations.

These days, she took Servant Li to buy marinated meat and prepared enough eggs, grain, and oil. Even if someone is hungry at night, she will be able to prepare a proper meal anytime.

In addition, she also bought a large bath bucket, but it cost some firewood to boil water. After buying it, Miantang was reluctant to use it. She thought to use it for her husband after he’s back, reheating and boiling two iron pots of hot water so that he could warm up and relieve his fatigue.

So when Cui Xingzhou came in, Miantang showed him the newly added belongings behind the panel.

“Lady Pei, the head of the North Street, is famous for her hoop bucket skills, so I ordered one at her house. Because we are all neighbors, she charged me half price lesser! I will ask Servant Li to burn hot water in a while for you to bathe…”

Halfway through her speech, Miantang smelled the strong smell of alcohol coming from Cui Xingzhou, so she hesitated and said, “Did you drink?”

The wine that was drunk at the banquet surged up during this time. Cui Xingzhou pushed Liu Miantang away and fell on the bed without taking off his shoes.

He is so upset today that he doesn’t bother to pretend to be a husband. He just wants to lie down like this. No one can bother him.

If the woman had evil intentions, this would be the best opportunity… Although Cui Xingzhou was drunk and worried, he thought of it with self-mockery.

He closed his eyes and listened to the slight footsteps coming from the room. He didn’t know what Liu Miantang said to Servant Li outside the door. She comes back a while later.

Cui Xingzhou closed his eyes and did not move, but his ears were catching the sound of the movement. After a while, a warm towel was gently placed on his forehead.

It turned out that Miantang had just gone to carry a basin of water and wet the towel to wipe Cui Xingzhou’s face.

But when Liu Miantang was wiping it and saw Cui Xingzhou frown slightly, it seemed that he could not bear to be disturbed by others.

If it was the maid in The Prince’s residence, they would naturally observe his words and expressions, and would not dare to delay The Prince’s rest, nor would they dare to place the wet towel directly on his face without the Prince’s orders.

But Liu Miantang is not a maid and thinks she is the legal wife of Mr. Cui. The wine in the jar is naturally mellow and sweet, but after entering the stomach for one or two hours, it will start to get nasty.