The Possession of My Beloved - CH 37

After the secret sentry heard The Prince’s words, he naturally had to head back. Of course, he also kept in mind the new instruction given by Prince Huaiyang. The Prince warned not to catch it too quickly, causing too much attention. They will only get their hands on it after finding out about her social circle and is on her way back to the Mountain of Yang!

Yunniang has also just finished accompanying Lady Shi with her shopping and is ready to stay in Lingquan Town for two days for some fun before returning to the State of Qing.

Shi Xueji was full of praise for her newly bought stove and praised Yunniang’s good taste in helping her to choose such a satisfactory stove.

Yunniang smiled on her face but sneered in her heart.

The craftmanship of that iron steel shop is really good, so Liu Miantang once ordered a stove for Ziyu to warm his hands there. She is not good at craftsmanship thus, the cover of the stove was done with the assistance of Yunniang at the beginning.

As a result, Ziyu held the stove all day, but only remembered Liu Miantang’s consideration, and could not see Yunniang’s diligent hard work of fine sewing.

Who gave her the power?

It was her who knows Ziyu first. But at that time, he was an Imperial member that is beyond her reach, the legitimate eldest son of the Crown Prince. And she is just the daughter of a small military attache. She can only look up to Liu Hui.

Later, he fell from the top, from the Royal grandson of the great Yan Emperor Liu Hui to the Young Master Ziyu who had no surname. She thought she should get the advantage of being in a favored position first. Unexpectedly, Liu Miantang came from nowhere and occupied all the attention of the Young Master.

Now Liu Miantang is gone, but the fat daughter of Commander Shi jumps out. She heard from the Old Ministers of the East Palace on the Mountain of Yang, that they were also in favor of this marriage. After all, what they want is to tie Shi Yikuan firmly to the warship of Mountain of Yang, so it doesn’t matter whether Lady Shi is wide, fat, thin, beautiful, or ugly.

The most irritating thing is that Ziyu seems to want to adopt the meaning of his former subordinates and marry Lady Shi.

She deliberately led the topic today to Ziyu’s infirmity to get Lady Shi to buy a stove for him.

The stove carefully selected by Lady Shi is the same as the one Liu Miantang bought for Ziyu at the beginning.

Maybe it’s because he’s afraid of being hurt by the scenery. That stove has long been put away by Ziyu.

Now, Lady Shi is about to send the same one over to him, she wanted to see if Ziyu would think of the vow with Liu Miantang, and develop the guilt of replacing the old with the new!

By then, Lady Shi’s hospitality is just a mockery, which only increases the disgust of the Young Master.

Thinking of this, Sun Yunniang smiled. She is more patient now than before.

As long as she is here, no one can become Ziyu’s legal wife, the future Queen of the Yan Dynasty!

As for Liu Miantang, she has her way to make her suffer, and see if she can recall the past and spit out the hidden wealth she swallowed!

……

On the other hand, after Cui Xingzhou saw the drill of his soldiers in the Military Camp, he was ready to go back to his Residence to see his mother.

When he left that day, the Old Princess Consort Chu complained that he hasn’t been coming back to the house very often and asked him to come home more often if he had time.

It might be the thought that she’s about to get married, the Lian family has a lot of things to prepare, so Lian Binglan said goodbye to the Old Princess Consort and went back to the Lian Mansion first with her mother.

Cui Xingzhou doesn’t have to avoid suspicion of his cousin anymore. Naturally, he should go home and have a look more frequently.

The Old Princess Consort is also busy with her son’s marriage. Even ordinary citizens have to be busy for months with things like this. What’s more, there are more things to prepare for the ceremony in the Royal Residence.

Cui Xingzhou doesn’t care about this, but the Old Princess Consort has to a least prepare for her son in advance and let him see if he’s okay with it.

“Lord Dan of the Capital’s Internal Affairs Department is too unreliable. He said he would send some Yunhai natural silk brocade to the State of Zhen, but recently he said he couldn’t send it.”

Cui Xingzhou took the ginseng soup brought by the maid and said, “I am never picky about these kinds of things. You don’t have to worry too much.”

Old Princess Consort Chu disagreed, “Your aunt said that she saw a quilt made of cicada silk by Madam Hou in Marquis Zhennan’s Mansion, which can relieve summer heat. It was not a thing specially provided to the Royal family. It was just that the Internal Affairs Department was convenient to choose and buy, and it was all ordered to monopolize. Everyone who has connections has gotten their share. It’s not like our Residence is not paying a penny to Lord Dan. How can he not send out even a piece of cloth?”

When Cui Xingzhou heard that it was his aunt Lian-Chu who encourage her mother in this, he couldn’t help frowning.

If at ordinary times, this kind of private purchase and internal supply is not a big deal. But the State of Zhen is a thorn in the eye and flesh of the Imperial Court now.

What the other families have, can’t be given to the Prince Huaiyang Residence. That Lord Dan is also a person who knows how to see the movement of the officialdom thus, he last minute repented and stop selling the cloth to the Royal Residence.

However, Cui Xingzhou naturally wouldn’t say so clearly. He only smiled and listened to his mother’s complaint and called the steward here to reprimand him. He told him that such buyers who crossed the boundary of the State of Zhen must be reported to him. He had many connections and would not disappoint his mother.

When Cui Xingzhou came out of his mother’s yard, he walked silently forward for a while, and suddenly opened his mouth to order the steward, “If his aunt Lian-Chu encouraged my mother to buy any royal products and other things in the future, hold the order and immediately report to me first.”

Steward Gao is a smart person. He naturally understands the meaning of it and immediately responds to it one by one.

Cui Xingzhou stood on the Pavilion by the lake, looking at the sparkling wave of the lake, thinking about his marriage carefully for the first time.

It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s the first time.

Previously, he has engaged in accordance with his mother’s wish. As for whether Lady Lian is suitable to be his wife, he had never carefully considered it.

But recently, he has seen through the temperament of his aunt and cousin. It’s not that he can’t bear it, but he’s feeling a little uncomfortable at the bottom of his heart.

Cui Xingzhou is not a person who wants to rely on marriage to add icing to the cake, but he doesn’t want to bring vexation to himself. Couples’ quarrels like in the North Street are absolutely not allowed to happen in The Residence.

However, the vanity of his aunt from the Lian family and the lack of generosity of his cousin makes him feel like a thorn in the throat. Cui Xingzhou suddenly regretted it. He really shouldn’t have gone along with it without thinking in the beginning and agreed with his mother’s proposal for this intermarriage.

But at this point, he will not take the initiative to terminate the engagement. Otherwise, wouldn’t his cousin’s reputation be destroyed?

Since being regretful is useless, when he is free, he will talk to his uncle about how to control his wife and teach his daughter

When he came out of his Residence, the carriage of Marquis Zhennan had just arrived. Zhao Quan poked his head out of the carriage and said to Cui Xingzhou, “It’s so hard to look for you. If I can’t find you here, I’m ready to post up notices all over the city to find you!”

Cui Xingzhou was not in a hurry to get on the horse but asked Marquis Zhennan what he wanted. Zhao Quan raised the hook in his hand in high spirits and said, “The newly completed cruise ship my family bought has been handed over. I’m thinking of inviting Lady Liu to go fishing. However, now that she’s under your name, I have to invite you along to be more proper.”

Although Cui Xingzhou was used to Zhao Quan’s immorality, he still didn’t like his bluntness. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Since you know that it’s not right and proper, you should remain silent, why would you force people into doing things they don’t want to?”

Zhao Quan is deep in love these days. Thinking of the fact that he hasn’t seen Lady Liu for a long time, he suddenly feels bored. It’s not easy to think of an excuse to visit the lake together. Naturally, he has to convince his friend to help him.

“Come on, Ninth Master! Don’t tease me! You should know my feelings toward Lady Liu. Why don’t you aid me in doing a good deed? Now that the Mountain of Yang anti-bandits has already become a guest of Commander Shi’s Mansion, the scroll of offering enlistment has been presented to the court. Lady Liu is useless to you now. I should pick her up and take good care of her.”

Hearing this, Cui Xingzhou’s face was as calm as water, and said it in a tepid way, “The Mountian of Yang once sent someone to catch her. If it weren’t for the secret sentries I planted, she would have been kidnapped. You are the main pillar of the Marquis Mansion in the town. There must be no mishap happening to you, so don’t recklessly get yourself in this mess.”

As soon as Zhao Quan heard this, he was in a hurry and asked, “Did Lady Liu get hurt?”

Cui Xingzhou was also fed up with his good friend’s overly attitude toward Liu Miantang. As he turn over and got on the horse, he speak frankly and sincerely, “It’s difficult to keep her safe even if she were to marry someone else in the future. I should take care of her at all times. So please rest assured, Brother Zhao, that I will take care of my people…”

After saying that, Cui Xingzhou shook his whip, urged the horse, and took his manservants and guards whizzed down the way.

Leaving Zhao Quan stared and pondered at Cui Jiu’s words in the dust. When he got what Cui Jiu means, Prince Huaiyang and his people were gone.

When Cui Xingzhou returned to North Street, it was just after lunch. Because it had just rained, the temperature in North Street turned cool, and the number of people sitting around the street has suddenly decreased, as well as the troublesome greetings.

Because he previously said that he would not come back for two days after visiting his friends in the countryside, Miantang asked Servant Li not to prepare lunch.

When she inspected the shop, she bought rice cakes filled with red beans and spicy fried snails wrapped in butter paper on the street. The snails had to be sucked slowly and she couldn’t eat them openly in the street, so she packed them home to enjoy them slowly.

So when Cui Jiu entered the room, he saw the beauty lying lazily on the couch, pinching the snail with plain hands and pecking slowly.

Miantang was eating enthusiastically when she saw her husband has returned. She quickly wiped her hands with a silk handkerchief and asked him if he had eaten.

Cui Xingzhou said he had eaten outside, so Miantang picked up the stewed snails on the plate and picked them out for him with a small bamboo stick.

Prince Huaiyang seldom ate this kind of civilian snack, and it was new to him to eat a few. But after eating a few, he doesn’t want it anymore. The rest of the time, he is watching Miantang eat.

She ate skillfully without the need for a pickle. She only pinched the snail with her slender fingers, then she blew on the cone of that pinched opening, followed by sucking the head of the snail. With a gentle suction from her mouth, she easily sucked out the meat of the snail.

Cui Xingzhou focused on watching her eat, but after a while, he uneasily changed his sitting position, turned his head, and stopped watching. He only picked up a roll of books opened on the table and began to read.

Miantang ate a few more. Seeing that her husband was very focused and didn’t turn the page of the book he’s reading for a long time, she curiously stretched out her neck and looked at it and immediately blushed and asked in a low voice, “This page of medicine is about women relieving dysmenorrhea. Why are you reading at it so attentively?”

She had nothing to do just now. So she turned out this medical book and thought about asking Servant Li to cook some warm soup for her next menstruation cycle according to the prescription. Who would have thought that her husband was looking at it so seriously that she’s feeling ashamed!

Hearing the words, Cui Xingzhou found that he was looking at a prescription for warming the uterus. After a slight pause, he calmly put down the scroll, and then asked her, “What prescription has been prescribed for conditioning the pain? Does it hurt every month… Since you have a cold body, how can you eat something that is naturally cold as a snail?”

With that, Cui Xingzhou stretched out his hand, took away her plate, and asked the servant girl, Fang Xie, outside to take the snail dish away.

Miantang sucked her fingers and said, “I don’t eat often. It happened that I saw it today, and I was craving some… Doctor Zhao also said that if I were to eat such food, it doesn’t matter as long as I avoid the timing for the medicine at an interval of about an hour.”

Cui Jiu maintain his composure and asked, “Did you see Doctor Zhao today? What did you say to him?”

Miantang answered honestly while sitting beside Cui Xingzhou writing, “I saw him when I bought snails on the street. He said that his family bought a boat and wanted to go fishing. He said some strange things about going boating together. I didn’t have a water basin in hand at that time, otherwise, I almost threw it on him. Later, I didn’t pay attention to him, so he said he will go and find you to go with me…”

Cui Xingzhou smiled and was very satisfied with Miantang being so sensible. He wiped Miantang’s hands with a wet handkerchief handed by Bi Cao, and said gently, “Don’t wait for him to speak next time, you can pour it directly, and avoid entanglement.”

Miantang listened and looked sideways at her husband, suspecting that he had ended his friendship with Doctor Zhao. However, her husband’s order also met her wishes, and naturally, she did not hesitate to accept them.

At this time, the sun was shining in the afternoon, and a large number of red nandina bamboos were inserted in the ground vase next to the desk, and the flower branches extended to the table, which was very beautiful.

Cui Xingzhou looked at Miantang looking up at himself. Her charming big eyes were thin, her eyelashes blinked, the corners of her mouth were slightly lifted, her shell-like teeth were slightly exposed, and his heart was slightly relaxed. He couldn’t help reaching out and stroking her cheek.

Miantang saw that the servant girl was still in the room. She was embarrassed, so she hid slightly, but was firmly held by her husband’s iron-like wrist.

“Husband, lighten your strength, my wrist hurts…” Miantang couldn’t help but whisper a reminder.

Cui Xingzhou found that he had been immersed in her again. He frowned and felt that although he sympathized with this young lady’s loneliness and decided to keep her, he shouldn’t let it affect too much of his state of mind…

He decided to reduce his stay in North Street in the future. Men should have high ambitions. How can he let a young woman affect his state of mind?

When Cui Jiu got up to leave, Miantang suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, if you are free, please accompany me back to the shop this afternoon. There is a wall in the shop that has been empty. Mr. Chen said that if I were to hang pictures, it looks a little messy. It’s better to whitewash and inscribed it to have an elegant atmosphere. You have excellent handwriting. If you can just write a poem on the wall, I can avoid hiring outsiders, which let them earn money for polishing.”

Cui Xingzhou didn’t care about this kind of bullshit matter, but as soon as he was about to say no, he saw Miantang look into his eyes, and his mouth responded by magic, “Don’t delay too long, I have something to do in the afternoon…”

Miantang was very happy when her husband promised to come down to the shop with her and immediately ordered Bi Cao to put the writing brush and inkstones in a box and carry them to the carriage. Miantang got on the carriage with Cui Xingzhou and went to the shop.

When arriving at the shop, Cui Xingzhou saw that the empty wall had been painted white, and Miantang was grounding the inkstone for himself. He turned to Cui Xingzhou and said, “Husband, please inscribe.”

Cui Xingzhou asked, “Do you have any idea on what to write?”

Miantang stared and said, “Idea? My literary talent is not good, you can write it as you like…”

Cui Xingzhou glanced at the size of the wall, wrapped his arm around his wide sleeve with one hand, and after thinking about it, he wrote a cursive-styled seven-character poem with good penmanship.

The writing of the words is firm and appropriate. It looks like years of practice. Moreover, the words and sentences complement each other, laying out the craftsmanship of porcelain making, and porcelain products are also like the wisdom of personality.

Miantang looked at her husband in a moon white gown, with an uprighted waist and a free and easy wrist strength, and her eyes were straight.

She knew her husband was talented, but she didn’t expect him to be so outstanding!

After asking, this poem was created by her husband on the spur of the moment, and Mr. Chen on the side was also full of praise.

The always arrogant Hate Pen Hermit also said that he will ask her husband for advice on the essence of calligraphy if he had time.

When the shop was filled with thick ink fragrance and elegance, someone suddenly came to the door.

The visitor is a rich Young Master, and there were four to five followers behind him.

The man looked very fat, with a face full of fat meat. He looked very bright in a long shirt embroidered with lotus roots and flowers. As soon as he entered the shop, he ignored the shop assistant who came up and just glanced at Liu Miantang.

His eyes gradually widened and shouted, “Isn’t… Isn’t this my wife Miantang!”

Miantang heard the fat Young Master calling by her first name, her heart immediately jumped, hurriedly raised her eyes, and looked at him carefully.

After confirming that she didn’t recognize him, she couldn’t help looking back at Cui Jiu blankly.

Cui Xingzhou stepped in front of Liu Miantang, blocking the fat Young Master’s way.

The fat Young Master originally came over a few steps and stretched out his black-haired big hand wanting to pull Miantang. Unexpectedly, a handsome young man came and blocked his hand. He was immediately unhappy. He shouted with a horizontal eyebrow, “Who are you? How dare you stop me?”

Cui Xingzhou said calmly, “I don’t know why are you shouting at my wife?”

The fat Young Master stared with his pair of greasy eyes and said, “Your wife? Ridiculous! This woman is my wife and I have gone through the proper procedure of marriage propriety. It’s just that she eloped with others and hasn’t been found. I’ve found now that she has eloped with you! Let me catch you both adulterer and adulteress to the court for trial and then soaked you both in a pig cage!”

After the fat Young Master finish his sentences, his men rushed up, smashing the counter and knocking on the porcelains, looking like they were going to fight.

For a time, people in the street also rushed to see the excitement.

At this time, in the tea stall opposite the shop, a woman wearing a gauze mask and a bamboo hat was sitting stably.

Seeing that the porcelain shop opposite was smashed, Yunniang couldn’t help but show a sneer.

Wanting to live a stable life after losing memory? The thought is indeed beautiful!

At first, Liu Miantang made a letter of marriage with the ninth son of the Cui family in the shop thirty-mile away in the Capital. However, Yunniang had met her fiance, Cui Jiu, once, who was full of fats! Not the handsome young man beside Miantang she saw that day.

It can be seen that the young man gains money or women by cheating on Liu Miantang who has amnesia.

She doesn’t know whether all the silver money which Miantang secretly swallow has entered the hands of this fake “Cui Jiu”.

Yunniang decided to turn his trick to her use. She asked her servant to go to find a fat and greasy-looking man, changed his clothes to a silk shirt, took a few local ruffians, pretended to be Cui Jiu, the rich man in the Capital, and come to reveal the fake “Cui Jiu”.

Although this fat man is fake, the marriage certificate he is carrying in his arms is real!

When Liu Miantang took for marriage by force back the mountain by Ziyu, the marriage letter was secretly taken away by Yunniang in the chaos and has been preserved to this day. Now it can be used for serious purposes.

As long as the fake Cui Jiu sees the marriage letter, he must be alarmed and bewildered giving himself away and dare not go to the court for trial.

If he wants to settle in private, Yunniang can chat with him in person to let him understand the principle of suffering an unexpected personal financial loss to ensure safety.

Yunniang has arranged everything. So she just took her bodyguard and servant girl to wait here, just leisurely having some tea and watching the play.

That fat man is a person who is bold in other states. After taking over this task of earning big money, he gives in 70% of his strength. However, when he was instructed and came to the shop and saw that the woman he was going to recognize was so beautiful, 70% of his strength doubled.

It turned out that she’s such a beauty!

Since the handsome young man in front of him is her fake husband, he can now snatch the woman over first and plan again later.

Anyway, he has the letter of marriage in his hands, wait until he snatches her over, and makes up the bridal chamber, it is also perfectly justified!

At the thought of the wonderful benefits, the fat b*stard was full of courage and arrogance!

Unfortunately, he has encountered an uneasy target today.

Just as he continued to shout at the fake “Cui Jiu”, the young man who looked fair and gentle uses two fingers to twist on the fat man’s chin. With a sound, his chin was dislocated, and couldn’t speak anymore!

The scoundrels looked at each other and rushed up together.

But at this time, a few big men suddenly came out of the crowd, stepped forward, kicked their legs, and twisted their arms. In a few moments, those rogues who made trouble were put under control.

These people are ruthless. Looking at their force, they are all ruthless moves that can dislocate their arms and break the bones of their legs. For a time, the pain made these scoundrels cry, and there was no strength to make trouble anymore.

The secret sentries were all seen by Liu Miantang this time. Cui Xingzhou can’t knock her unconscious every time.

So, he simply arched his hands at the secret sentries, “Thank you for your help!”

The secret sentries are usually responsible for stalking and dealing with troubles, but their acting skills are slightly insufficient. Seeing that The Prince bows and arch his hands at them, all of them are dumbfounded, and they don’t know how to react.

Liu Miantang is much more sophisticated in the Jianghu.

She took out a few ingots of silver from the counter, held them in her arms, walked up to those “warm-hearted” righteous men, and said, “You all have worked hard saving our shop from disaster. This silver money should be my husband’s reward to you guys. Don’t mind the small amount, and take them to buy some wine!”

At this time, the leading secret sentry had woken up. When Cui Xingzhou gave him an eye signal, he silently stretched out his hand to take the silver money, and then dryly said, “We should help each other when seeing injustice… Madam, you didn’t need to spend money…”

With these words, he turned to the other secret sentries and said, “Take the money and eliminate disasters. Tie these ruffians to the Yamen for trial!”

As a result, the remaining few people were tied up with the hemp rope that Mo Ru provided for the cargo box. After tying the people, they pulled and dragged them to the government office and walked away.

Miantang stood at the corner of the street. Looking at their back, she still had lingering fear! That greasy fat man called her name and said she was his wife!

Cui Jiu frowned in his heart. He didn’t expect that in Lingquan Town, a “real Cui Jiu” would appear to catch the traitor.

Liu Miantang has always got a clear mind. He’s afraid that the layout of luring the enemy this time has leaked out, and he can’t hide it anymore…

Thinking of this, Cui Jiu saw that Liu Miantang was staring straight across the street and suddenly walked over quickly.