However, others were unaware of the undercurrent between these two young women. Lady Taihou smiled and said, “You’re from the He family, here to deliver porcelain, right?”
He San slowly bowed her head and replied, “Yes, Lady Taihou. I’m the third daughter of the He family’s head. You may call me He San.”
Lady Taihou waved for someone to bring the porcelain she had presented. The porcelain was indeed translucent, and Lady Taihou passed it to Princess Sui and Duchess Chu to admire.
Duchess Chu smiled as she examined it, then turned to He San and said, “This porcelain is indeed excellent. We’ve always used He family porcelain. Xingzhou is about to marry Miantang in a few days, and it’s quite rushed. Many things haven’t been arranged yet. I wonder if your He family can produce what we need?”
He Zhen, of course, knew about Cui Xingzhou’s upcoming wedding. After all, Lady Taihou’s household used their porcelain, and when the order came in, she had heard about the Prince of Huaiyang marrying a County Lady, which had left her feeling dejected once again.
So when the Duchess asked her, she suddenly spoke up directly, “If the Duchess is in a hurry, why not transfer some of the order to the Yushao Porcelain Shop in Lingquan Town? Their porcelain is also worth admiring…”
He Zhen’s words had a probing intent. If the Duchess heard this suggestion and turned to Liu Miantang saying, “Then you prepare some for me,” it would indicate that the Duchess knew of Liu Miantang’s merchant background.
If the Duchess didn’t respond, it would mean she was unaware that Liu Miantang was a merchant’s daughter. He Zhen wondered what methods Liu Miantang had used to transform herself into a County Lady, truly a brazen female con artist…
Liu Miantang knew she couldn’t avoid the situation. She took a deep breath, about to speak, when a voice came from outside the hall: “Since Mother is accustomed to using He family porcelain, let’s continue using it. If they can’t produce what we need and delay matters, they’ll have failed to live up to their imperial supplier title. In that case, our household won’t use them in the future.”
Everyone turned to look. It was the Prince of Huaiyang, accompanied by the Marquis of Zhennan, entering the hall.
These two men were both tall and imposing, dressed in elegant robes and jade crowns, their long sleeves flowing gracefully—a truly eye-catching sight.
He Zhen caught a glimpse of the Prince of Huaiyang, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, and her fingertips trembled slightly.
Zhao Quan walked over first. As he passed by He Zhen, he said to a nearby steward, “Please escort her out. I have something to discuss with our esteemed guests.”
This was the Marquis’s residence, and as the host had spoken, He Zhen naturally had no reason to stay.
Although her heart was filled with indignation at being deceived, she understood that losing her composure in such a setting would greatly affect the He family. So, while she could still control herself, she hurriedly stood up and followed the steward out.
Cui Xingzhou gave Mo Ru a meaningful look, and Mo Ru immediately understood, following them out as well.
Lady Marquis, unaware that her son was helping Liu Miantang out of a difficult situation, smiled and asked, “What do you have to discuss with our guests?”
Zhao Quan had just heard from Cui Xingzhou that He San might expose Liu Miantang’s background, which is why he had hurriedly found an excuse to send her away. What serious matter did he have to discuss with the ladies?
Now that his mother had asked, Zhao Quan thought for a moment and said, “When you ladies eat fish later, please be careful not to get a fishbone stuck in your throat. I recently treated a young master who had a fishbone stuck and couldn’t close his mouth. His saliva had soaked the front of his clothes…”
Lady Marquis, long accustomed to her son’s random outbursts, heard him speaking nonsense in front of others again and said, trying to contain her anger, “Which of the guests here looks like a child you’ve treated? What’s this about choking on fishbones? You’re truly talking nonsense!”
Seeing his mother’s anger, Zhao Quan sat down next to her and said, “As a doctor, I have a duty of care. When I see special cases, I can’t help but want to warn others. I often remind you, Mother, not to indulge in sweets to avoid blood rushing to your head and causing headaches! You’re not a child, but have you ever listened to me? Don’t you still sneak sweets behind my back?”
This comment exposed Lady Marquis’s secret habit, almost making her want to pinch her son’s mouth. The other ladies burst into laughter.
Although this Marquis of Zhennan lacked ambition in his official career, he also lacked the stuffiness of many officials. He was truly an interesting person!
Miantang knew that Zhao Quan was making a fool of himself to help her out of the difficult situation, and she gave him a few grateful looks.
Receiving the grateful glances from the beauty, Zhao Quan felt he would go through fire and water for her.
Earlier, he had almost ended his friendship with Cui Xingzhou because of his behind-the-scenes interference. But later, Zhao Quan thought about Cui Xingzhou’s upcoming bandit-suppression mission in Dongzhou. With the bandit problem being so severe, he still had a chance.
So when Cui Xingzhou came to find him, he openly expressed his thoughts. Regarding his friend’s long-standing hope of inheriting his widow, Cui Xingzhou calmly stated that if the Marquis had patience, he could wait.
Thus, their friendship, which was on the brink of collapse, was temporarily repaired.
When the two arrived at the courtyard, they overheard Miss He San’s words. Zhao Quan, acting before Cui Xingzhou, helped Liu Miantang out of her predicament.
While Zhao Quan was joking with the ladies, Cui Xingzhou used the excuse of changing clothes to leave the courtyard.
He Zhen hadn’t left the Marquis’s residence but was detained by Mo Ru and his men in the woodshed of the outer courtyard.
He Zhen had long been imagining the scene of her face-to-face reunion with her dream immortal, but she never expected it to come true like this today.
However, the immortal was no longer the heroic figure who had come to rescue her from trouble last time. Instead, he sat in a chair with a fierce expression, asking, “May I ask, Miss, what was your intention in bringing up the Yushao Porcelain Shop just now?”
He Zhen anxiously said, “Your Highness, I… I was just upset… Do you know that Liu Miantang… she deceived you…”
Cui Xingzhou, who had no fondness for this Miss He San who had inexplicably slandered him in front of Miantang several times, coldly asked, “What did she deceive me about?”
He Zhen had no idea how Liu Miantang had tricked Cui Xingzhou and was at a loss for words. Although she had some experience in the world, she had just been forcibly dragged into the woodshed by two burly guards, her mouth covered.
Now, the Prince of Huaiyang was looking at her with murderous intent, clearly ill-disposed. She had often visited such high-ranking households and naturally had heard of some of the bloody and unsavory things that happened behind the seemingly glorious vermilion gates.
Now that she was detained here, surrounded by a group of menacing men, she naturally became frightened and finally broke down crying, “I… I don’t know…”
He Zhen truly didn’t know, nor did she know that her life had just hung by a thread. If she had said anything slandering Liu Miantang, Cui Xingzhou would not have let her off easily.
Cui Xingzhou didn’t speak again. Mo Ru coldly said from the side, “You’re just the daughter of a small merchant family, yet you spend your days dreaming of attaching yourself to the powerful. Don’t go around stirring up trouble and spreading rumors. Do you believe we’ll dismember you right here in this woodshed and feed you to the dogs?”
He Zhen’s body trembled, tears streaming down her face. She believed it.
At that moment, Fangxie’s trembling voice came from outside, “Your Highness, the County Lady is feeling unwell and told the Duchess she’s returning home first. She asked me to tell you that if Miss He San is with you, to bring her along. She wants to visit Lingquan Town anyway.”
When He San got into Liu Miantang’s carriage, she was in a daze, like a delicate flower ravaged by a storm.
Miantang heard from Fangxie about how the Prince and his servants had frightened He Zhen in the woodshed. She sighed inwardly, handed He Zhen some hot water, and said gently, “It’s alright now, drink this.”
Looking at Miantang’s face, He Zhen seemed to wake from a nightmare and burst into tears.
“Why… why did you all conspire to bully me?”
Miantang slowly put down the teacup and said softly, “I didn’t mean to deceive you. I didn’t know he was the Prince of Huaiyang at the time.”
Then Miantang briefly explained how she had fallen into the water and lost her memory, mistaking the Prince of Huaiyang for her fiancé Cui the Ninth, omitting the part about Yangshan.
He Zhen had known about Liu Miantang’s previous injury, and now hearing the true story, she was utterly astonished.
If someone had told her a day earlier that Cui Xingzhou was a scoundrel who tricked decent women into becoming his mistresses, He Zhen would have fought them to the death for her dream immortal.
Unfortunately, He San had just come out of the woodshed, nearly wetting herself from fear of the immortal and his evil servant. Now, hearing Miantang’s experience, she felt a sense of shared misfortune and even some resentment towards a common enemy…
“He deceived you like that? So from the beginning when he went to the Northwest and left you a divorce letter, he was planning to abandon you?”
Miantang thought for a moment, feeling that He Zhen’s words weren’t far from the truth, and honestly nodded.
He Zhen drew in another sharp breath.
If any other woman had said this, it would have been nonsense. But Liu Miantang was so beautiful, how could any man not be moved? She just never expected the Prince of Huaiyang to be so despicable, tricking such a virtuous and intelligent woman into becoming his mistress, intending to play with her, and then abandoning her without consequences.
If it weren’t for Miantang’s deep love, chasing him to the Northwest and softening the Prince’s cold heart, leading him to agree to marry her, Miantang might have carried the stigma of impurity to her grave.
Thinking back to how hard Miantang had worked to earn money and support her family, who in Lingquan Town didn’t say that whoever married Miss Liu would be blessed for three lifetimes? How could she be a vain woman seeking to climb the social ladder?
And now, although Cui Xingzhou had a change of heart and was willing to take responsibility, marrying into a prince’s household without any background, who knew how much contempt Miantang would face? And that prince was still best friends with Marquis Zhao.
She thought about how Marquis Zhao had recently divorced his wife, using the excuse that she had difficulty conceiving after a miscarriage, and divorced his first wife. It showed how fickle these nobles could be!
Birds of a feather flock together. If Marquis Zhao was so heartless, Cui Xingzhou would probably be able to divorce his wife just as easily in the future.
For a moment, He San forgot her misery and grabbed Miantang’s hand, tears flowing freely.
“Miantang, he’s so despicable. What will you do after marrying him?”
Liu Miantang hadn’t intentionally slandered the Prince; she had just tried to tell the truth of the situation as much as possible, hoping to lessen He San’s resentment. As for her friendship with He Zhen, she hadn’t dared to hope it could be maintained.
But unexpectedly, Miss He San had filled in some unknown details in her mind and was now looking at her with sympathy, as if she were about to marry an evil dragon.