Despite hearing that her monthly cycle hadn’t arrived, Cui Fu’s face showed no joy. Instead, she appeared melancholic.
Mian Tang, noticing her sister-in-law’s unusual demeanor, asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Cui Fu, still dizzy from seasickness, felt physically uncomfortable. However, what truly dampened her spirits were memories of her pregnancy with Jin’er.
Her mother-in-law, Lady An, the wife of the Marquis of Qingguo, was a strict woman. Even when Cui Fu had finally conceived Jin’er, she received no special treatment. Recalling those times still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Now pregnant again, Cui Fu worried about the challenges ahead. The An family had just moved to the capital, and as the daughter-in-law, she had numerous responsibilities both inside and outside the household. She wasn’t sure if her body could handle the strain.
Of course, Cui Fu wouldn’t share these family matters with Liu Mian Tang. She thought to herself, “My sister-in-law is fortunate. Mother-in-law dotes on her for merely eating some bird’s nest soup. If she had to deal with someone like my mother-in-law, Lady An, I doubt her delicate constitution could withstand it.”
So when Mian Tang inquired, Cui Fu impatiently replied, “How can I feel comfortable when I’m vomiting like this? I’m not sure about your medical skills. We should consult a physician once we reach shore.”
Cui Fu had initially planned to endure until they reached the capital. However, after docking for a night, Prince Huaiyang arranged for several carriages, intending to continue the journey by land.
Cui Fu knew her brother was eager to report to the capital, and traveling by land would delay them further. But Cui Xingzhou insisted, “Mian Tang says you’re pregnant. If you continue vomiting like this, it could be detrimental to your health. I’m worried about letting you travel alone by land, so it’s best if we all go together. A few extra days won’t matter.”
Cui Fu protested, “You’ve been summoned by the Emperor himself. How can you delay because of me?”
Knowing his sister’s stubbornness, Cui Xingzhou had already made up his mind. He cut off her protests, saying, “No need to argue. A few days won’t make a difference. On a journey like this, who can predict the exact arrival date?”
He then instructed his guards to transfer essential items from the boat to the carriages, allowing the ship to continue with the remaining luggage.
Once in the carriage, Cui Fu continued to complain about Mian Tang’s intervention, which had delayed her brother’s journey.
Mian Tang offered Cui Fu a bowl of black chicken and goji berry soup prepared by Mama Li to soothe her empty stomach. She then smiled gently and said, “It was my body that couldn’t handle the boat journey. I begged the Prince to travel by land. Besides, didn’t he say a few days’ delay wouldn’t matter? Sister, don’t worry about it. Just rest easy.”
Cui Fu knew her sister-in-law was robust. Despite being pregnant for so long, Mian Tang ate and slept well, never showing signs of discomfort. Mian Tang was trying to alleviate Cui Fu’s guilt.
Truthfully, after spending time together, Cui Fu began to understand why her proud brother was so captivated by the humble-born Liu Mian Tang. This young woman wasn’t just beautiful; she possessed an indescribable air of magnanimity. Her tolerance and generosity differed from Cousin Lian’s deliberate display of virtue.
Many trivial matters that other women would fuss over seemed inconsequential to the Countess. Sometimes, when Cui Fu spoke harshly to her, she felt childish in the face of her sister-in-law’s mature, tolerant gaze, which could extinguish even the hottest anger.
Now that Mian Tang had taken responsibility for the delay, Cui Fu softened her tone and sighed, “You should always remember that your husband is a pillar of the state, not some countryside gentleman who can afford to be leisurely. Don’t trouble him with household matters.”
Mian Tang, peeling an orange, replied, “You’re right, sister. I’ll remember that… Would you like Mama Li to make sour fish soup for lunch? It’s appetizing and goes well with rice. We could also have some pickled radish, which would be delicious.”
Cui Fu, who had never eaten pickled radish, said, “What kind of side dish is that? It sounds good, but I have no appetite. You eat whatever you like, and I’ll try a bite.”
Mian Tang was craving pickled radish. This humble food, which she had eaten out of necessity during her “frugal” days on North Street, had been appearing in her dreams lately. She had asked Mama Li to dry some to bring on the journey.
At noon, the convoy stopped at a flat area beside the official road to rest and prepare meals. Mian Tang and Cui Fu, both heavily pregnant, sat on folding beds to bask in the sunshine.
Soon, the aroma of food filled the air. As Mian Tang had requested, there was sour fish soup and steamed pickled radish with yellow beans. Cui Fu, feeling better since leaving the boat, had slept well all morning in the carriage. Now, smelling the radish, she felt hungry.
Mian Tang taught her to mix the sour soup with rice for a more appetizing meal. However, Prince Huaiyang seemed to detest the pickled radish, not touching it at all.
Cui Xingzhou indeed disliked it. During their time pretending to be bankrupt merchants on North Street, pickled radish had been a constant on their table. Whether salted, steamed, or mixed with sauce, it always turned his stomach.
He couldn’t understand why Mian Tang suddenly craved it during her pregnancy. But, prioritizing the pregnant women’s needs, seeing both his wife and sister eating with relish, he reluctantly took a bite.
This slower pace, catering to the pregnant women’s needs, significantly delayed their original schedule. In hindsight, it was a fortunate twist of fate, a blessing from heaven.
On the second day after switching to land travel, a messenger on horseback arrived from the docks with urgent news for Prince Huaiyang. Their large ship had encountered an underwater explosive while sailing through Lian River. The blast had torn a huge hole in the bow, allowing water to gush in rapidly. Within the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the entire ship had sunk.
Many sailors who couldn’t escape in time, despite their swimming skills, were dragged down by the sinking ship’s vortex and perished.
Afterward, the guard ships captured the culprits who had planted the explosives. They were local boatmen who habitually used explosives for fishing, a practice well-known in the area.
However, they usually did this in ponds, rarely in busy river channels. This time, their attempt to blast fish in the Lian River had resulted in a catastrophe.
The naval guards felt something was amiss. Typically, the explosives used by local fishermen wouldn’t be powerful enough to sink such a large ship. Upon further investigation, they discovered that the amount of gunpowder in the explosive packages was doubled. The terrified fishermen denied using so much gunpowder, insisting they hadn’t put that much in.
Cui Xingzhou frowned as he listened, realizing these ignorant local fishermen were likely scapegoats. Someone had intentionally targeted him, planting powerful explosives along the route that Prince Huaiyang’s ship would inevitably take to the capital.
The Lian River channel was notoriously narrow. Anyone who prepared explosives and timed their deployment correctly could leave approaching ships with no escape.
Cui Fu, overhearing this, turned pale with fear, exclaiming how close they had come to disaster. She realized that if Mian Tang hadn’t persuaded her brother to travel by land, they might all be ghosts at the bottom of the river now.
Mian Tang appeared calm, gently comforting Cui Fu. She said the Prince was blessed with good fortune, and now that they were close to the capital, extra caution would ensure their safety for the remainder of the journey.
Although Mian Tang attributed Cui Xingzhou’s luck to his own merits, Cui Fu remembered her mother’s words. Duchess Chu had once told her privately that despite the Countess’s humble origins, her birth chart seemed to bring good fortune to Xingzhou, helping the Cui family narrowly escape danger several times.
At the time, Cui Fu thought her mother was making excuses to prevent her from mistreating Liu Mian Tang. But now, it seemed true – this Countess of Huaisang, whom she had somewhat looked down upon, truly had a blessed aura.
For the rest of the journey, Cui Xingzhou deployed scouts to explore the road ahead. Thanks to the naval guards’ quick thinking in not announcing the absence of important passengers on the sunken ship, and their early decision to take smaller roads instead of official routes (avoiding the need to reveal their identities at post stations), their hidden enemies remained unaware of Prince Huaiyang’s current whereabouts.
However, by the time they safely reached the capital, rumors of Prince Huaiyang and his family perishing in a shipwreck had spread like wildfire throughout the city.
The court was in turmoil. Emperor Liu Yu immediately dispatched an imperial envoy to investigate the incident at Lian River. The envoy, carrying the imperial mandate, left the capital that very day, speeding towards the site of Prince Huaiyang’s sunken ship.
By then, of course, the river surface showed no trace of the incident. Prince Huaiyang’s guards, following his instructions, pretended not to know he had left the ship, responding to all inquiries from the imperial envoy with professed ignorance.
The local authorities had detained all vessels that had been in the vicinity at the time, awaiting the imperial investigation.
The imperial envoy personally questioned the owners and crew members of the ships closest to Prince Huaiyang’s official vessel. These boat owners, with decades of experience on the waterways, were all familiar with fishermen using explosives. However, they agreed that the power of this particular blast was extraordinary.
They recounted seeing a massive splash of water suddenly engulf the entire bow of Prince Huaiyang’s ship, lifting it out of the water. Only then did they hear a tremendous boom, followed by the sound of water crashing back onto the surface. Some crew members with keen hearing reported their ears ringing from the blast.
When this dangerous sequence of events was recorded in the official report and sent back to the capital, no one could believe Prince Huaiyang might have survived.
The loss of such a meritorious official who had pacified the Northwest deeply saddened the court. The new Emperor, upon hearing that Prince Huaiyang and his newlywed wife might have perished together, was so overcome with grief that he coughed up blood after reading the report.
This terrified the attendants, who hurriedly summoned the imperial physicians to treat His Majesty.
At that very moment, Prince Huaiyang sent a messenger to report his arrival at the city gates.
This news was akin to someone rising from the dead! Empress Shi sternly instructed the eunuch who came to report, telling him to break the news of Prince Huaiyang’s survival slowly and gently to avoid shocking His Majesty with such an extreme turn of events.