The Possession of My Beloved - CH 40

Cui Xingzhou was very lucky. If he hadn’t intended to catch Yunniang and lure the big fish of Prince Sui instead, maybe he would have to take a detour for some time.

After discovering that many officials in the State of Qing had inextricably linked with Prince Sui, he sent people to investigate. He inadvertently got a clue of a Royal Medical descendant who had returned to his hometown for many years.

This Royal Doctor has excellent medical skills. He also knows some other ways because of his Jianghu background that the regular Royal Doctors are not proficient in. It is said that he was the Royal Doctor used by Prince Sui in the Capital.

However, after the Royal Doctor went to Prince Sui’s Residence for an out-call many years ago, he fell ill and died in Prince Sui’s Residence.

When his body was carried back in the family’s dowry coffin, they unexpectedly found ink marks on the soles of his feet… At that time, the handwriting was still clear. The eldest son was familiar with his father’s medical skills, and he knew at a glance that it was a prescription to detoxify the poison of poisonous wine.

The eldest son who embalmed the body of the Royal Doctor suddenly understood why the Royal Doctor who had always been in good health would suddenly die. He must have saved someone he shouldn’t have and was killed by Prince Sui.

It can be seen that when his father died, he should have been in his sleep, with his shoes and socks undressed, attempting to fight back against others, and inadvertently stepped on the prescription that fell to the ground, which resulted in the word mark on his feet.

Those murderers who dressed their father should not have noticed the words under his feet. Thus, they just carried him on a stretcher, covered him with white cloth, and sent him back to his mansion.

Thinking of this, the eldest son was so frightened that on the excuse of sending his father to return to his ancestral tomb for settling on the roots, the whole family packed their bags, and the other two sons resigned from the post of Royal Doctor and went back to their hometown.

The eldest son is old now and the Old Prince Huaiyang had done him a favor previously. So when Cui Xingzhou hurried his way to him, he was then willing to tell the truth.

As for who was the person the old doctor had saved, Cui Xingzhou immediately understood at that time.

Not everyone got the chance for the poisoned wine. According to the day when the Royal Doctor died, it was the checkpoint where The Crown Prince was killed and his sons were granted death one after another.

Moreover, the mentor he visited not long ago also said that The Crown Prince’s two legitimate sons may not have died. If the two young children who were poisoned can survive, it must be with the help of Prince Sui.

Then, once he calculates the age, the age of the eldest son… Is around the age of that Young Master Ziyu. Cui Xingzhou at this time was suddenly cleared about everything. He recalled that day when he first saw Ziyu, he looks familiar to him.

Now that he thinks of it carefully, how similar was Ziyu’s good-looking appearance to the Crown Princess he saw at the banquet when he was young!

Thinking of it like that, it is said that when the Crown Prince died, a large amount of money disappeared from his Residence. It should also be brought away by his young son who had disappeared.

Linking back to that day, someone on the Mountain of Yang accused Lady Liu of running away with a huge amount of money… Cui Xingzhou had suddenly enlighted on the various doubts he have previously.

The head bandit of the Mountain of Yang who fought with him for a long time was the Imperial grandson, Liu Zhen, who disappeared that year!

When Cui Xingzhou was preoccupied with his thoughts and entered the small house on North street again, Miantang was following Servant Li in the yard, directing the two young servant girls to remove the quilt.

It will be cold in another few days, and the quilt needs some new cotton to be warm.

So when Miantang came back from the store, she bought two bags of cotton and prepared to give the quilts of the people in the house a wad.

After the yard was cleaned and spread with a few large pieces of oil paper, Servant Li let the young servants spread the quilts out.

Seeing that her husband came back, Miantang asked Servant Li and the two young servant girls to continue with their work, and she came to meet her husband.

When Cui Xingzhou asked her about her daily life today, she also told him that she met a flirtatious mendicant Buddhist monk in the shop.

“That righteous man is right. Now that there are always foreigners in Lingquan Town, and good and evil people are mixed. Hire another capable shopkeeper on the counter. You don’t have to show up all the time.”

Although what his subordinates said to Miantang today was all ordered by Cui Xingzhou, he solemnly repeated it in front of Miantang.

After all, he won’t pass by the store every day to stop the disaster for Miantang. Letting her stay on North Street also saves accidents from happening.

Miantang also felt that what her husband said was reasonable, and nodded convincingly.

“Where did he grab you today?” Cui Jiu asked gently while drinking tea.

Miantang honestly raised her left hand. She then saw that her husband slowly put his teacup down, took her hand, and came to the water basin behind the panel, wetted the veil with water, and started cleaning her wrists.

Liu Miantang felt that the water in the basin was a little sour, so she chuckled and said, “If I am accidentally touched by someone, will you press me into the bucket and soak for a few days?”

After saying that, Liu Miantang regretted it. She just couldn’t keep in mind the essence of being cautious with words that her female teacher had taught her before her marriage. What is with touching the whole body? How can a lady make fun with her husband like that?

However, Cui Xingzhou didn’t reprimand her gaffe but lowered his head and his thin lips slowly said, “It doesn’t matter… At that time, there will naturally be a way to ‘wash’ you…”

She doesn’t know why, she felt that his smile was untrue, and his eyes were filled with an unspeakable chill. She didn’t like the way he looked at her, so she reached out and dusted the water beads on her husband’s handsome face off.

Cui Xingzhou eased the chill in his eyes, grabbed her naughty slender hand, pulled her into his arms, and rubbed the water beads on the tip of his nose against her face. It made Miantang blush and giggle.

Servant Li was delivering two cups of stewed Chinese wolfberry red jujube sweet dessert to them and saw the scene of The Prince fooling around with Lady Liu.

Her old wrist trembled, and she almost spilled the sweet dessert on the upper of her shoes.

When Cui Xingzhou saw Servant Li coming in, he kept his smile back and sat at the table drinking the sweet dessert with Miantang.

Just when Servant Li was going out with the tray, he gave a faint command, “Next time when I come back, don’t come in without my command…”

In the heart of Servant Li, this North Mansion is not the inner courtyard of the Royal Residence.

She knows the rules!

However, they will deliberately avoid and not disturb them when the Master is getting along with his wife and concubine privately only when they enter the inner courtyard of The Prince Residence.

The Mansion on North Street is just a disguised prison cell. She didn’t expect she will require to follow the rules of the inner courtyard and chamber of The Prince’s Residence

After Servant Li stepped away, she couldn’t tell what color was her old face. What does The Prince mean? It shouldn’t be that he’s going to take her in after using Lady Liu as the bait?

Thinking of Lady Lian’s mother in the Residence, Servant Li shook her head. She was tired of seeing too many intrigues in the concubines of the previous generation in the Residence.

Even if Lady Lian can accommodate Lady Liu, she’s afraid that the sarcastic ridicule Lian-Chu couldn’t. She will definitely encourage the future Princess Consort to punish Lady Liu.

At that time, how can Lady Liu, whose reputation has been tarnished live if she cannot rely on her husband for help?

She should know that the love of the men in the Residence is not as long as a lifetime!

Servant Li at this time was really worried about the future of Lady Liu, and she couldn’t see any places that is bright.

The sound of carefree and cheerful laughter still came from the room. After a while, there was no stirring anymore, and she doesn’t know what the two were doing…

As Cui Xingzhou expected, Prince Sui went to see his nephew Liu Zhen.

In the boat at the foot of the Mountain of Yang, Liu Zhen boarded a cruise ship by the lake.

Liu Pei warmed the wine early and waited for the arrival of the Crown Prince’s orphan.

Although he is the grandfather according to the position in the family hierarchy, he is more like Liu Zhen’s uncle in terms of age.

Liu Zhen suddenly saw an elder in the Royal family after giving up his surname for many years, he didn’t know what to call him for a moment.

Fortunately, Liu Pei was very approachable and seemed to see Ziyu’s dilemma. He only smiled and said, “Since you haven’t sire bond, you don’t have to stick to the secular title, just call me by my King’s title.”

Ziyu arched his hand and said, “I will then disrespectfully call you Prince Sui.”

With that, Liu Pei casually waved his hand only to ask Liu Zhen to take a seat, poured a cup of warmed wine for him, and said with infinite listlessness, “The last time I saw you, you were still a child. In a blink of an eye, you have grown into a young man. If the Crown Prince knows, he will be gratified and it was worthed for me to save you that year…”

At this point, Ziyu’s eyes are also slightly red too. But he has experienced too many great tragedies these years, and he is unwilling to cry in front of people. Thus, he only thanked Prince Sui for his saving grace in those years.

When he manifested the effect of poison that year, although his trusted follower had taken the children with a similar appearance begging on the street to replace him and his brother and rescued them from the East Palace, the poisoned wine was too overbearing. If there’s no high-skilled doctor to cure him, he will still die.

Fortunately, General Sun had some private connections with Prince Sui. At that time, Prince Sui, who was still a young man, was brave enough to find a Royal Doctor and give him a good prescription to save him.

Ziyu was deeply moved by this kind of kindness, so when Miantang said some malicious words regarding Prince Sui, he reprimanded Miantang recklessly…

But Prince Sui didn’t come here to talk about the old days, so to make a long story short, he just asked him directly about his next plan.

Ziyu naturally mentioned the unity of marriage with Commander Shi. Liu Pei felt that this was a good marriage and sighed with emotion that it was time for Ziyu to get married and have children. No matter whether the major events can be achieved in the future, The Crown Prince’s bloodline must never be broken.

When he and Lady Shi get married, he will also present a gift in the name of Prince Sui Residence.

Next, Prince Sui analyzed the current situation of the Imperial Court. The Wu family, the family of Concubine Xi, who is now the Empress Concubine, is domineering. The Court is controlled by her relatives, which is very unpopular among the people. The Old Ministers in the court now are still there, and they still remember the virtue of the former Crown Prince.

His confidant in The Court paved the way for Liu Zhen. Once he is offered amnesty and enlistment, and head to the Capital to receive an official position. He will then plot an opportunity to raise troops in The Palace for rebellion and eradicate the party of wicked concubines.

Liu Zhen listened quietly to his Royal Grandfather plotting, and said faintly, “It’s still far away to plan a great cause. If I can blade the enemy and avenge my father and my younger brother, this wish is enough. As for the strategy of governing the country, I know I’m contemptuous, and it’s useless. It still has to be you to set things right and save the Great Yan Dynasty…”

When Liu Zhen said goodbye to Prince Sui and got off the ship, it may be because of the cold, he was constantly coughing and looking weak.

When he got on the carriage, Mr. Qin whispered, “Although Prince Sui is a blood-related relative of yours, you still have to guard on him!”

Liu Zhen nodded. After the corruption case on the mountain, he suddenly became clear.

He paid too much attention being nostalgia, always felt grateful for the help of these people to the East Palace, and doesn’t want to think too badly about his former subordinates.

But hearts change. In fact, every one of his former subordinates has their own plot.

Miantang’s departure made Liu Zhen understand a lot of things in the world.

Miantang had already analyzed what kind of person Prince Sui was, and she strongly opposed the idea that General Sun and Prince Sui join hands.

However, Miantang’s idea is too conservative. When can he repay his blood feud?

He also knew that although Miantang was intelligent, she didn’t have much ambition. If it weren’t for him, she might not have stayed in the Mountain of Yang at the beginning.

Now that Miantang has left, Liu Zhen no longer needs to persuade her. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to take a risk.

He is too eager to succeed. In the first half of his life, he shouldered too much suffering that he shouldn’t have. Now, only by breaking the boat can he win back everything that belongs to him, including Miantang.

Thinking of this, his fist tightened, the road ahead was thorny, and the sea of fire behind him was boundless. He had no choice but to keep moving forward…

On the other hand, Prince Sui looked at his sick grandnephew who has left, and he gave a ponderous smile.

He’s afraid that he does not have much chance to enjoy happiness with such a weak body.

The mother of Prince Sui is the Royal relative of the Great Yan Dynasty family. His mother is known as the Grandma-Empress. How honorable it is, and the wicked Imperial concubine is just her daughter-in-law. How can the Wu family, the relatives of the wicked Imperial concubine, be so lawless?

So if his Royal family wanted to pull the Wu family down, they saved their hopes high on Liu Pei.

However, as his mother said, now is not the right time. Leave the Wu family to be arrogant for another period. When the gods are angry and the people are resentful, it is when Liu Pei will return to the Capital.

He still has to recuperate and hibernate for some time now. As for Liu Zhen and Prince Huaiyang, they are all his chess pieces to attract the Wu family’s attention. He is not in a hurry…

However, in this leisure time, he has to find something to kill time. Somehow, a pink-cheeked face appeared in the thought of Liu Pei.

The female bandit leader who has lost her memory and all her martial arts… Unfortunately, she has a face that even he can’t help but love upon seeing her.

Such freshness and tenderness person, it aroused Liu Pei’s appetite.

So when returning, Liu Pei deliberately passed by Lingquan Town again, hoping to meet the young lady for a while.

But the person sitting on the counter of the porcelain shop was an old man with a messy beard. When he asked, he then knew that the woman had suffered from her old disease and the boss hold her so dearly that he wouldn’t let her come to the store again.

Liu Pei rise his eyebrows after listening and didn’t care much about it. He was only a mere merchant who is lucky to save a flower without its thorn from the river and managed to be the first to connect with her.

However, Liu Pei, as The Prince, naturally can’t forcibly rob civilian women like this. Doesn’t these kinds of actions make him a ruffian that allows people to take it as evidence against him?

He will ask his steward to make an order list of porcelain later as the excuse to try to get the businessman to the State of Hui, place a crime under his name, and put him in prison.

By then, he wants to see if Lady Liu will come to save her nominal husband! At that time, if she were to come to his residence for help, he will open a small gate in the backyard and let Lady Liu in to discuss it in detail…

Liu Miantang didn’t know that someone was plotting a scheme against her. She is attending a tea party at the He family’s Mansion and got to share some colorful fabrics brought by the He family’s big uncle from the Capital.

Lingquan Town is no better than the Capital. Although it is much better than other remote towns, many rare things have to be brought from the Capital by those who have access.

The He Master went to deliver goods to the Capital. There’s a saying that goes “never leave a place without anything”, so he brought back valuable materials, spices, cosmetics, and other items in the Capital and distributed them to the women in the mansion, as well as the official family members who had to take care of their home business.

However, the ladies who had a closer relationship with the third daughter of the He family also got some preferential treatment because of their friendship, and they could get some extra cloth and cosmetic powder from Lady He.

Among the ladies in the crowd, He Zhen was grateful for Lady Liu’s enlightenment before and was a little biased towards her, so she picked up a tricolor handkerchief and wanted to hand it over to Liu Miantang first.

But the fabric used for the handkerchief was so outstanding that several ladies had long placed an eye on it. Seeing that He Zhen gave it to Liu Miantang first, they couldn’t help feeling that their friendship with He Zhen had been discounted, and grow a sour feeling of being betrayed.

“Third Lady, you’re too eccentric. You just gave the gradient plain satin veil to Lady Cui without asking our preferences. Aren’t you afraid that we’ll all ask for it and if you can’t fulfill it, are you gonna block the door and refrain us from going back?” One of the thick-skinned ladies asked directly with a smile.

He Zhen also regretted that she didn’t give Liu Miantang in private, and hurriedly rectify, “This veil was requested by Lady Liu early on, and it’s not the means of disregard. It’s really that the cloth is too hard-to-get, and my big uncle didn’t buy much too…”

“Come on, when your uncle entered the Capital, Lady Cui had just settled down in the town. Where is the connection to reverse a veil with you? You might as well say that our skin color doesn’t match the beauty of this veil!”

The lady is also articulate. Relying on her familiarity with He Zhen, she has no scruples about speaking and is determined to let He Zhen distribute the veil to herself.

He Zhen didn’t expect that Lady Zhao doesn’t do her a favor. For a moment, she was speechless. Recalling the scene at the rockery previously, this Lady Zhao was one of them who speaks ill about her, and she couldn’t help feeling a little angry.

When He Zhen was dividing the items, Miantang didn’t move forward at all, only half lying on the side of the couch warming herself with the stove.

Winter has arrived and Lingshui Town entered a cold and rustling season. Miantang’s hands and feet were injured and she couldn’t bear the cold. So she’s like a cat, going where it’s hot.

Seeing them mention herself, she looked up and walked over with the stove in her arms. These women are not the family members of the craftsman in North Street, and they seem like they lack vision. Is it worth fighting for a handkerchief?

In order not to embarrass He Zhen, she said magnanimously, “Thank you Lady He for your kindness. Since Lady Zhao wants it, just give it to her. My house has something similar to this material, so you don’t have to consider me.”

Lady Zhao was also excited. After listening to Miantang’s words, she began to laugh and say, “Why are you talking so impractically, Lady Cui? This tricolor fabric has only emerged this year, and it was manufactured with Nanyang natural silk that is dyed with the juice of the Jintang flower, and it can produce a flower-like fragrance against the skin when worn. In the Capital, one piece of cloth has been bided at a high price. But you actually said that your family has it? Could it be that you are deceived by unscrupulous profiteers?”

Miantang was stunned and turned around to ask Fang Xie to bring her fur cloak, which she had put aside. This fox fur is made from a new leather material brought by her husband. She chose the cloth material that her husband bought for her to make the lining of the cloak, and the rest of the cloth was also used to make several kinds of inner wear and underwear.

If she remembered correctly, that batch of cloth was made of the same material as this handkerchief!

When Fang Xie took her coat out, all the ladies in the room stopped talking.

What is the real meaning of showing off one wealth? It is by no means full of gold and silver but uses maltose to wash dishes and candles as firewood.

For another example, Lady Liu, casually made cloth worth thousands of gold into the lining of a leather cloak.

Although He Zhen also guessed that the Cui family has some background long ago, she didn’t expect Lady Liu was more extravagant than Lady Lian, the Princess Consort to be. She couldn’t help but say dumbly, “Talking about spending, It still has to be Lady Cui…”

Lady Zhao, who was fighting for the handkerchief, was also embarrassed and felt that she had lost her face.

Liu Miantang realized that she had ruined a precious cloth, she was being angry at herself in her heart and didn’t bother to listen to the compliments of her husband anymore.

When she returned to North Street, Miantang finally waited until her husband returned at night, and immediately confessed her heinous sins to her husband.

Cui Xingzhou doesn’t care much about these things. Nowadays, the things in the North Street Mansion are all given by Steward Gao.

He pitied Miantang for having suffered too much and only ordered the steward to send some good things. He didn’t know the benefits of this so-called gradient plain satin.

Miantang first inquire about how much her husband spent on the cloth. Cui Xingzhou said without blinking his eyes, “It’s a gift from a close friend and I don’t know how much it costs.”

Miantang gasped and asked while combing her husband’s long hair, “What kind of friendship gives you a cloth that is worth hundreds of silver taels?”

Cui Xingzhou replied with his face unchanged, “It’s not a gift. He lost a game of chess to me, so I asked for these cloth as gambling money…”

Miantang knew that the friends of her husband are all spendthrifts of the rich who spent hundreds of silver taels to buy paintings, such as the highly skilled Docter Zhao. So she didn’t doubt Cui Xingzhou’s words at all.

Therefore, after knowing that her husband didn’t spend money indiscriminately, she could solemnly confess her waste of things wholeheartedly for the rest of the time.

Cui Xingzhou couldn’t bear to see her frowning face, and said, “It’s just a cloth. Isn’t it fine as long as it’s used?”

Miantang glanced at her husband in a plain wide robe with thick black long hair, sighed again about her husband being otherworldly, and then said bitterly, “Lady Zhao said that this cloth gives off a fragrant smell on the skin, and the color gradient is naturally rare, so it’s best to use it to make clothes. But I used it to make my lining and inner wear…”

Hearing this, Cui Jiu got a little interested: “Innerwear? I didn’t see you wear…”

Miantang’s face flushed. Her new innerwear hasn’t been worn yet! Naturally, her husband hasn’t seen it.

And although she shared the bed with her husband several times, she only slept with her innerwear on and she was covered tightly…

But how can the cloth worth hundreds of gold be so buried? Someone must appreciate it.

That night, after Miantang rinsed, she hid behind the panel and changed into her new inner shirt.

When Cui Jiu, as usual, read late into the night until Miantang fell asleep and went to bed and lifted the curtain, a refreshing smell of sweet peach and flower fragrance penetrated his nose.

And the young lady’s eyes were bright and she was not sleepy at all.

It was only then that he heard Miantang’s slightly shy words from the brocade curtain, “Do you think this cloth looks good, husband?”

That day, Miantang didn’t get an answer from her husband.

She saw her husband staring at her, suddenly holding her wrist tightly and pulling her over… But before Miantang stabilize her body, he loosened again, pushed her down on the bed, and then walked out of the door.

Where is her husband going in the middle of the night?

Miantang asked anxiously, “It’s cold outside, husband. What are you doing without an outer shirt?”

“I just remembered that I didn’t do my boxing exercise today, and I want to practice a set of boxing now…” A while later in the yard outside, there was a vigor and vitality sound of boxing.

Miantang then lay back in the quilt at ease, comfortably tucked in the quilt, thinking that her husband would come back later, and she would not want him to catch a cold thus, she hug the quilt to keep it warm…

However, when Servant Li heard some noise in the main room, she looked around and saw that The Prince was suddenly practicing boxing in the middle of the night. Moreover, he also scooped cold water from the big jar to drink from time to time. He was indeed being young and roaring with fire!