The Possession of My Beloved - CH 41

When he returned to the room, the young lady in the curtain had fallen asleep with her head tilted, her smooth black hair scattered, and her thin white arms were thrown out of the quilt, looking like she was not sleeping well.

Fortunately, she had put on her blouse again… Cui Xingzhou couldn’t tell whether he was relieved or feeling a little disappointed for a moment.

Miantang didn’t know that he was not her real husband, so he couldn’t take her in such a muddle-headed way.

Cui Xingzhou does not follow the path of a gentleman but inherits the pride of a man. He is not those ruffian on the street that has to cheat to sleep with a woman.

If he takes advantage of what she doesn’t know and takes her down, it’s ruining Cui Xingzhou’s pride.

Because Miantang was afraid of cold, he sat by the bed for a while and didn’t go to bed until his body was warm.

But when the young lady habitually leaned over in her sleep, the fragrant is still arousing around her. Cui Xingzhou took a deep breath, frowned, and closed his eyes… After a while, he couldn’t help but hug her, and her hair was wrapped around him, snuggled to sleep…

The ancient allusions to recuperation have their origins.

Even the iron body can’t bear the self-abuse actions of practicing boxing and drinking cold water in the middle of the night.

The next day, after a sleepless night, Cui Xingzhou felt a little dizzy when he got up in the morning.

Miantang found something unusual about the person beside her in bed and reached out to touch him. It was hot.

However, he was already so ill and he still wanted to go out to meet some chess friends. Miantang pressed him back on the bed and said, “Even if The Emperor looks for you, you have to stay on the bed honestly today!”

With that, she put a cool veil on his forehead.

Cui Xingzhou rarely fell ill. At this time, he was suffering from a high fever and joint pain. He was also tired and lazy for a moment, so he followed the young lady’s wishes and lay back on the bed.

Miantang saw that her husband was finally obedient, so she felt relieved. While tidying her hair, she shout out from the window and called Mo Ru to find a doctor.

In Mo Ru’s opinion, The Prince is ill, and he can’t find some random doctors in town to take a look at him. But if he were to ask the doctor who is used in The Prince’s Residence, wouldn’t this so-called “mistress” make the Old Princess Consort angry when the news is spread to her ears?

Mo Ru is also exquisite. After thinking about it, he can only find Marquis Zhennan to fill the position.

However, Marquis Zhennan had recently been on bad terms with Prince Huaiyang. Hearing that this guy was ill in North Street, he suspected that he was pretending to be ill and won the pity of the beautiful lady. He cursed at him for a moment

But he couldn’t stand Mo Ru’s persuasion of good words, so he changed his clothes and went out with the medical box of his Marquis’s Mansion.

Before, when Zhao Quan came here, he always felt that the house on North Street was cold. It’s just a house for decoration, a base to lure the enemy. At that time, he was still pitying Lady Liu. She ate dried radish every day and was living her life miserably. How could she endure it?

After that, he didn’t come to North Street for a long time. Anyway, Miantang didn’t allow anyone to open the door for him.

Now, as soon as he entered the courtyard, Zhao Quan only felt the smell of livelihood “popping” on his face.

What came into view were several washed long shirts for men, next to the woman’s innerwear, waving in the wind on the clothes and warmed in the sun.

Under the eaves are strings of peppers and dried persimmons. On a bamboo and rattan rocking chair, there was a cat that looked like a newly weaned cat, huddled in a small ball and looked warily at Zhao Quan, an outsider.

Somehow, Zhao Quan felt that there was no longer the perfunctory indifference he used to be when he came here, and it seemed that he wanted to live forever…

Miantang saw that Zhao Quan was invited by Mo Ru, so she quickly avoided going to the kitchen and cooked the ginger soup for her husband with Servant Li, letting Zhao Quan take a look at Cui Xingzhou in the inner room.

Zhao Quan pulled up the sleeve for Cui Xingzhou in a slightly rude way, and place his fingers on his pulse. After a while, he said in a grumpy tone, “You are snuggling up here with a beauty, pretending to be her husband and take advantage of the lady. How can you still make the heat in your body high and blood essence gush?”

Cui Xingzhou didn’t answer his friend’s sour-like words, but closed his eyes and said, “Is there a prescription with faster efficacy? The high-ranking officials of the Court are coming to the Military Camp tomorrow, and I would have to accompany them.”

Zhao Quan was naturally able to cope with such common colds. He only expertly prescribed a prescription for him and then applied the acupuncture to vent his anger.

When putting on the acupuncture, Zhao Quan said leisurely, “My relatives from the Capital came to my mansion yesterday. I heard that the northwest is in great chaos now. The barbarians tore up the peace terms of the late Emperor period and even killed Princess Jing’an who had been married to the northwest for the past ten years and her corpse was left in the wilderness. Our Great Yan’s inner face was severely trampled underfoot. The officials who advocated peace are now being thrown rotten eggs by the people when they go out. So such errands as going out of the Capital to inspect the southern military barracks have become a beautiful job, and officials are eager to hide from the mess in the Captial for the time being! So this tour of inspection is just to go through a process, you just have to care about the hospitality of good wine and good food. ”

Cui Xingzhou also knows what Zhao Quan said. According to his informer who sends the message to him through a pigeon messenger in the Capital, the actual situation at the border is worse than what the people know.

The Great Yan Dynasty army, which has been pampered for many years, has long been the division between tigers and wolves in the late Emperor period. One by one, the deficit in the military provision and taking advantage of others or the public from top to bottom. It is said that the weapon was not made of pure iron. When it was knocked hard, the blade of the halberd broke. The border has lost five counties in a row. The Jinjia Checkpoint now is only struggling to survive supported by the natural barrier of the terrain.

Once the Jinjia checkpoint was breakthrough, the Great Yan Dynasty will be like a clamshell, leaving the barbarians to peck at their flesh and penetrate inland without resistance…

Thinking of the Crown Prince’s orphan who is still alive, and they don’t know what Prince Sui is up to, Cui Xingzhou feels that the Great Yan Dynasty is now suffering from internal and external troubles, and the situation is in jeopardy.

However, the prosperous events created during the late Emperor period fascinated the eyes of the world, just like boiled frogs in warm water, which made people not know how to struggle.

Thinking of the former Imperial Concubine Xi becoming the Empress Dowager Wu in the Court who is now high above, Cui Xingzhou couldn’t help sneering at her as she was still thinking about allotments and collecting power.

If the day when the city broke and the country fell were to come, he doesn’t know what would happen if the Empress Dowager Wu, who was once beloved by the former Emperor, fell into the hands of barbarians.

After Zhao Quan prescribed the medicine and gave an acupuncture treatment, Cui Xingzhou’s headache was greatly relieved. Miantang asked Fang Xie to pay Zhao Quan as a reward for the visit.

Zhao Quan stared at the bag of silver money in his hand, groaned angrily, and threw it back to Fang Xie. He stretched out his neck and said to Liu Miantang, who was hiding in the small kitchen, “His cold has not subsided yet. Please keep away from him. Don’t be infected with his sickness… If you were let down in the future, come to me. Although I have a friendship with Cui Jiu, my conduct is different from him…”

Miantang didn’t expect that the highly skilled doctor was full of nonsense even when her husband was still at home. She was so angry that she went to carry the pot of water that was burning hot in the kitchen. Servant Li was so scared that she grabbed it quickly. Otherwise, the pillar of Marquis Zhennan’s family would be scalded.

After Zhao Quan left, Miantang was still raging till her cheeks are red. While feeding Cui Xingzhou with the medicine, she said, “Why is he like this? Is he mentally ill?”

Cui Xingzhou said with a gentle smile, “He’s the only child in the family and is spoiled. Just ignore him.”

Miantang stared at her husband for the first time, “Not only do I have to ignore him, but you should also ignore him too. What can you learn from making friends with such people?”

Cui Xingzhou smiled, “I didn’t expect to learn anything from him anyway. It was just easy to communicate.”

Miantang felt that this was an excuse made by her husband. While delivering the spoon of medicine, she said, “You can learn many things from him. He can teach you how to be glib-tongued, collude with other’ female family members, and be arrogant. Sooner or later, he will say something wrong and be killed in the street…”

Cui Xingzhou frowned and took another sip. He couldn’t help but say slowly, “Are you so angry that you have to feed the medicine spoon-by-spoon to me like this?”

Miantang knew it later and smelled the medicine. It was bitter.

Cui Xingzhou grabbed the bowl and drank the rest of the medicine in one gulp. Strictly speaking, this lady and Zhao Quan are also around the same. If she is a servant, she will be dragged down and killed in the Prince’s Residence.

Miantang saw that her husband had finished the medicine, hurriedly checked her snack box, took out a few candied fruits, put them into her husband’s mouth, and then carefully said, “I forgot how I tend to serve you to take medicine before, and I hope you will not blame me for this. Next time you are ill, I know the procedures…”

Cui Xingzhou pinched her nose, “Do you expect me to get sick?”

Miantang nestled in his arms shyly, “Don’t get too sick, just be like now, accompany me more at home…”

At this time, she hasn’t been out much. Unlike before, she always went out to make a living and manage the shop. She feels a little uncomfortable when she’s free for a while.

Cui Xingzhou understood her boredom these days, so he hugged her and lowered his head, and coaxed her, “… When the things at hand are settled, I will take you out of town to play and relieve your boredom…”

The house on North Street is too small. After when he told Miantang the truth, he will send her to another residence outside the State of Zhen.

There is another residence built by his father to relieve the summer heat. Next to the mountain, there are all kinds of pavilions, terraces, and open halls, and many servants are also raised. The other residence also comes with a manor, which grows a lot of melons and fruits by itself.

She likes to manage things. She can be busy there, and the foods are no worse than that in The Prince’s Residence. Most importantly, the other residence is not far from his main residence. He can head over at any time, and there will be no shortage of care…

Cui Xingzhou felt that this arrangement was better than leaving her alone in Lingquan Town for a long time after he got married.

Thinking so, when Cui Xingzhou went out the next day, he told Mo Ru to remember to inform the steward in his other residence in the State of Zhen to install more fire tunnels under the ground in the hall and the master bedroom.

Miantang is afraid of the cold. It’s comfortable to live with more fire tunnels underground.

When he returned to his Military Camp, the special envoy from the Capital had arrived early and was already inspecting the Military Camp accompanied by several participating generals.

Cui Xingzhou only knew when he saw that this time, it was the biological younger brother of the former Imperial Concubine Xi, the current Empress Dowager Wu, the Supreme Government Official in charge of military affairs today, Wu Junqing.

When Cui Xingzhou saw that the visitor turned out to be the brother of the monarch’s legal wife, he guessed that the visitor didn’t come with good intentions.

However, compared with the several aggressive disarmament edicts of the Court, the tone of The Emperor’s brother of his legal wife is in a very kind state this time.

In his words, he praised Prince Huaiyang, who had governed the army strictly and arranged and operated methodically. He was the pillar of the Great Yan Dynasty and an indispensable handsome talent for the stability of the country.

Cui Xingzhou listened with a smile, but there was some bad feeling in his heart. He was afraid that the special envoy came with a bad intention, and that the request for him will be difficult to comply with.

Sure enough, The Emperor’s brother of his legal wife mentioned the barbarian unrest at the border after three cups of wine during the banquet. Frankly speaking, there are no good generals in the Court to be dispatched anymore.

In recent years, the Court has been fighting throughout the years, and there are not many experienced handsome talents. Prince Huaiyang should be second to none. If Prince Huaiyang is willing to fight for his country this time, he will surely achieve immortal achievements, be recorded in the annals of history, and be sung for thousands of generations.

Cui Xingzhou didn’t expect the Imperial Court had such an idea.

Let alone the Court wants to cut off the vassals of the kings of different surnames, but they still want to use his soldiers to fight in the front line? What an idiot’s daydream.

However, Wu Junqing is well prepared for this.

The northwest is in danger, and the Jinjia Checkpoint can’t last for too long. The government has sent three reinforcements to recapture the five counties that were lost. Unfortunately, those soldiers are useless, and they are lured into the encirclement by barbarians with tricky ways, and their army provisions are cut off.

In desperation, The Emperor can only adopt the strategy of the senior minister, Lord Geng, and let Cui Xingzhou, who has made countless achievements in suppressing bandits, rush to the front line to resist the enemy.

Firstly, it is to see if he can help to guard over the Jinjia Checkpoint and alleviate the urgent need of the front line. Secondly, even if he can’t win the battle, he will lose most of his soldiers.

As for the Imperial Court, there are only advantages and no disadvantages!

But Cui Xingzhou is not a general in the Court and a hereditary King. How is it easy to let him leave his fief?

However, when Wu Junqing came here, he passed by the State of Hui and the State of Qing and made complete arrangements. In the beginning, the former Emperor was also afraid that the kings with a different surnames would build on their power, so there were heavy soldiers placed around the State of Zhen.

If the Kings with a different surname keep in mind The Emperor’s kindness, it’s good if they follow the rules. If not, it is the mouse in the barrel. There is absolutely no way out until the flood surrounds it.

In fact, during the late Emperor period, the number of troops stationed by the Kings with different surnames was subject to considerable control. Cui Xingzhou took advantage of the opportunity to suppress bandits to expand his army, which exceeded his ancestral system.

It’s fine if he were to go to the front line.

If he doesn’t, these actions of cravenly clinging to life instead of braving death will be publicized, and the people will also scold Prince Huaiyang, for not protecting his family and defending the country. At that time, the Imperial Court will have a good reason. In addition, the State of Qing and the State of Hui have issued guarantees, that they will never make life easy for this Prince too.

So seeing that Cui Xingzhou didn’t answer, Wu Junqing was not afraid that he would suddenly turn hostile. He only give a smile of treachery and only said those terrible situations to Prince Huaiyang.

After the banquet that day, Prince Huaiyang didn’t go anywhere and walked along the river all night.

Now the State of Zhen is stable, and the completion of the canal excavation is just around the corner. At that time, the towns here will be more prosperous.

All the plants and trees here are the painstaking efforts of the Cui family for two generations. How can he bear to watch a hundred miles around fall into a sea of fire?

But the Court now takes him as a fat pig to be slaughtered, and wishes they could kill it and divide the meat immediately.

At today’s banquet, Wu Junqing with a murderous heart under a smiling exterior and was attacking him with sharp words. If possible, Cui Xingzhou wanted to turn over the table and kill this old scumbag Wu Junqing.

But he knew that his time was not right.

Once he fell out with the Court, whether it was the Crown Prince’s orphan of the Mountain of Yang or the King of the State of Hui, Prince Sui, they would step on his bones and up their rank. There was no chance of victory being attacked by the enemy both front and back.

Moreover, if he continues to stay in the State of Zhen, he is bound to be involved in the civil strife of collusion and rebellion between the Crown Prince’s orphan and Prince Sui.

If he told the Wu family the truth about the Mountain of Yang’s anti-bandits, he might be able to stay and be used by the Wu family to exterminate the Crown Prince’s orphan of the Mountain of Yang.

But once the identity of Liu Zhen was revealed, Cui Xingzhou will become the party of the wicked concubine and a traitor, mutilating the former Crown Prince’s illegitimate son…

For a time, Cui Xingzhou put all kinds of possibilities aside, and suddenly found that perhaps leading the army to conquer the northwest was not the worst situation.

Looking at the stars in the sky, Cui Xingzhou remembered what his mentor said when he had a secret talk with him who returned a few days ago, “Troubled times make heroes. we will see if you have such luck and ability in the future.”

The “troubled times” now are beginning to show signs, but how to show his ability… It depends on his choice.

Wu Junqing bluntly said that the Imperial edict appointing Cui Xingzhou to go to the northwest to fight against the barbarians will come in no time. Now that the situation in the State of Zhen is surging and it all depends on whether he can obey the edict…

Cui Xingzhou was standing still on the bank of the canal until the sky gradually turned bright, and then made a perfect determination.

Two days later, the Imperial edict arrived at Prince Huaiyang’s Residence.

The servants of the residence knelt together to receive the order.

When the Imperial envoy read out the Imperial edict and appointed Cui Xingzhou as the Commander of the West expedition, and when the Old Princess Consort suddenly heard the news that her son was going to the battlefield in the northwest, her body tilted slightly. If it weren’t for the support of the nanny on the side, she would almost fall to the ground.

However, Cui Xingzhou was indifferent to personal gains and losses, calmly accepted the order, and kowtowed to thank the grace of The Emperor. He then ordered Steward Gao to distribute some red envelopes and reward these eunuchs, and the etiquette wasn’t lessened.

The eunuch who came to preach this time saw Cui Xingzhou’s reaction in his eyes and nodded with satisfaction.

Empress Dowager Wu later ordered that if Prince Huaiyang was a little unhappy or refused to accept the order, he should immediately inherit it to the Huaidong Camp ten miles away from the State of Zhen.

With only one night’s effort, the State of Zhen will be surrounded!

At that time, even if Cui Xingzhou wants to receive this edict, he can’t receive it!

After the residence envoy left, the Old Princess Consort Chu was already crying heartbrokenly.

Their royal residence is much more well-informed than the folk. What does the current Jinjia Checkpoint look like? That is a bottomless pit that devours human flesh!

It is said that Jiang Kang, a fierce general of the current Dynasty, also died in the Jinjia Checkpoint not long ago.

In the beginning, General Jiang was very successful. With the experience of the old method, he escaped the lost county. But it turned out that this was just the barbarian pretending to surrender and tempting him into a trap. Later, the barbarians sneaked into his Commander’s camp, dragged the sleeping General Jiang out of his tent, hung his stomach with a gold hook, and ran around the Jinjia Checkpoint three times. The man was dragged to death.

The defenders in the city looked at it, and the blood on the ground was red. It was miserable!

It was precisely because of the tragic death of General Jiang that shocked the government and the public. People who have connections have found their way and saved themselves from getting summoned. But this time, they let her boy go against repelling the barbarians, isn’t that sending him gone forever?

The Old Princess Consort Chu has only one son, and he has not yet married to continue their family’s bloodline. If he dies on the battlefield, isn’t she the only one left? For a time, the Old Princess Consort cried like rain.

However, Cui Xingzhou gently advised that the war situation was not as terrible as his mother had heard.

The Old Princess Consort Chu didn’t listen to her son’s explanation and ordered someone to find her sister Lian-Chu. She then cried to her sister, “You can’t delay any longer, Sister. You’d better let Binglan marry Xingzhou quickly. If God has eyes, bless Binglan to conceive the bones and flesh of the Chu family quickly, otherwise if Xingzhou has any misfortune… Isn’t the only blood of the Cui family interrupted?”

The Old Princess Consort Chu cried really hard, and her sister Lian-Chu was also shocked.

What situation is this? Oh, her Cui family can continue their bloodline, but her daughter will have to be a widow?

Lian-Chu’s had a lot going on her mind, but she was calm on the outside. She just persuaded the Old Princess Consort to be more open, but she didn’t respond to the words of marrying in advance.

Turning around, she quickly took the carriage home on the excuse of discomfort.

She only told her husband Lian Hanshan, his son, and his daughter Lian Binglan about Prince Huaiyang going to the Jinjia Checkpoint for war.

Lian Hanshan went to the Capital to hold a post a few days ago. He once heard his colleagues talk about it, only saying that the Imperial Court has made preparations to negotiate and pay tribute and money for it. But if there are no actions of resisting and falling without war, it won’t be nice in the citizen’s eyes.

Therefore, the general selected at this time is most lightly sacrificing offerings of throwing a meat-stuffed bun at a dog. One can never get back what he gives away.

Hearing this, the Lian family mother and daughter both fell on their chairs.

Lian Binglan’s eyes were red, and she trembled and said, “In that case, why didn’t my cousin pretend to be ill and push this job away?”

The eldest brother Lian Xuan frowned and said, “The country is in dire need. If Prince Huaiyang disobeys the order, how can he be called the minister? Wouldn’t he left a reputation as a traitor through the ages?”

Lian-Chu looked at his son, who was as old-fashioned as his dad and was so regretful that his son does not live up to her expectations, “There is no Imperial Censor here. By you showing your loyalty like this, no one is here to appreciate it! It’s better to think of a way for your sister. The Old Princess Consort wants to arrange their marriage these days, and the day your sister becomes a widow is just around the corner.”

Lian Hanshan was also worried about his daughter but felt that his wife was a little exaggerated. He said, “Look at what you said, it seems that he will die in battle if he were to go. If others were to hear what you said, won’t they say that you are selfish and biased?”

Lian-Chu glared, “How many people have died in the Jinjia Checkpoint? You just came back from the Capital, how can you know? The soldiers who went to the Jinjia Checkpoint now, their relatives were all dressed in white to see them off, and the cry continued from the gate of the Capital to the ten-mile fork. Is he Cui Xingzhou with three heads or six arms? He just killed one or two mountain bandits, and was said to have made great achievements in war! Once the Jinjia Checkpoint is lost, even if he would return alive, The Emperor will also punish him for his incompetence. At that time, it’s not only our daughter who will be a widow but also the future of you both father and son will be lost! ”

This sentence, however, was also the concern of the Lian family. The family sat around in silence, listening to Lian-Chu’s endless statements about the serious matter of this situation.

At night, Lian Binglan finally opened her mouth and spoke. Thinking that her cousin might die in battle, her eyes had been crying bitterly. But the Old Princess Consort wanted her to marry into The Prince Residence in a hurry, which was inappropriate.

Cui Xingzhou is the only legitimate son of the Cui family. If she can’t conceive in one fell swoop after entering the gate, and her cousin did encounter the accident. The Old Princess Consort Chu will definitely choose one from the sons and grandchildren of those concubines, stand under her name, inherit as the legitimate son, and thus cut off her path of remarriage.

At that time, she is young but has to be widowed and raise other people’s children… What is the use of such a day, even if it is a towering wealth?

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