As the familiar voice spoke, Mian Tang knew without looking up which consort had left the palace.
The mountain temple they were visiting was Wangfeng Temple. It was said that the Guanyin enshrined there was an incarnation of Miaoshan, the Guanyin who grants children. She was particularly efficacious in protecting women during pregnancy and childbirth.
Many women who came to burn incense here did so for this Child-Giving Guanyin, either to pray for children or, like Mian Tang and Cui Fu, to pray for a safe delivery.
Cui Fu had long heard of this Guanyin’s power. Her previous childbirth had been very difficult, leaving her quite fearful. She had been thinking of coming here to pray for divine protection. As for Consort Yun, who had been in the palace for a long time without bearing children, she was likely here to pray for a child.
It had been a long time since Consort Yun had seen Liu Mian Tang after entering the palace.
She couldn’t believe that the Prince of Sui’s carefully planned explosion on the river hadn’t killed the Prince of Huaiyang and Mian Tang. This couple truly had incredible luck.
In the past, Sun Yun Niang had pitied Mian Tang because she had become disabled and lost her reputation as a swindler. Although Yun Niang still wanted to eliminate her, every time she saw Liu Mian Tang in Lingquan Town, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority.
Now, looking at herself, she had struggled greatly to snatch Zi Yu from Liu Mian Tang’s hands, but this victory brought no joy.
Zi Yu still couldn’t forget Liu Mian Tang and even tried to interfere with the Prince of Huaiyang’s marriage. And that Liu Mian Tang, whether due to her memory loss or not, had discarded Zi Yu like an old shoe, as if tossing her leftovers to Yun Niang!
In the past, Yun Niang had looked down on Cui Jiu from North Street, thinking he had only looks but no integrity or future.
Now, every time she saw the Prince of Huaiyang at palace banquets, observing his relaxed and noble bearing, Yun Niang had to admit that in terms of appearance, Cui Xingzhou was indeed a rare beauty among men.
Moreover, the Prince of Huaiyang was not just good-looking; among the princes, he was one with real ability, a powerful regional official that even the emperor had to rely on.
Now, looking at Liu Mian Tang, she realized she had been hiding her true nature! Not only had she married the illustrious Prince of Huaiyang, who had been her mortal enemy, but the prince also doted on her greatly, and she was now pregnant.
In comparison, Yun Niang felt she was merely guarding an empty palace day after day. How could she hope to bear a dragon’s son?
Today, upon hearing from her spy in the prince’s mansion that Liu Mian Tang was coming to pray at the temple, she had found an excuse to invite the Princess of Sui, the Duchess of Qing, and several friendly marchionesses to visit the mountain temple together, ostensibly to lift their spirits. In reality, she deliberately wanted to encounter Liu Mian Tang and give her a hard time.
Having timed it well, she indeed met Liu Mian Tang on the way.
It had rained just yesterday, and although Liu Mian Tang and Cui Fu had cushions under their knees as they knelt by the roadside to make way, the cold was still seeping through after kneeling for so long.
But Consort Yun, having finally found a chance to be alone with Liu Mian Tang, was not about to let it pass. Now, without the Prince of Huaiyang to protect her, it was only proper for the wife of a subject to kneel and pay respects to a palace consort!
It was quite common for palace consorts to teach manners to the wives of officials outside the palace. There was no need for underhanded tactics; she could simply use the excuse of casual conversation to keep her kneeling for a while, which would be enough to give the pregnant woman a hard time!
So Consort Yun spoke in a soft voice, endlessly asking Liu Mian Tang about her daily life since moving to the capital.
At first, asking one or two questions seemed like a mere formality, but as she continued to keep them by the roadside with endless questions, even the Princess of Sui, who was accompanying her, began to feel it was inappropriate.
However, this time the Princess of Sui did not speak up. Since the confrontation between the Princess of Huaiyang and the Prince of Sui at the last banquet, the Princess of Sui, long confined to the inner quarters, had also sensed the undercurrents.
As the wife of the Prince of Sui, she naturally had no reason to help Liu Mian Tang out of this situation. But she also felt that making things difficult for a pregnant woman was unconscionable. So she turned her head away, pretending to admire the scenery by the road.
Mian Tang herself was fine. After her body had stabilized, she hadn’t stopped practicing martial arts, doing small grappling exercises almost daily that didn’t require much movement. This set of exercises had been specially designed for her by Cui Xingzhou, requiring almost no footwork.
So even if Consort Yun meant to make things difficult, kneeling a bit longer was no problem for her. However, her sister-in-law Cui Fu’s body couldn’t withstand it, and she was already swaying slightly.
The Duchess of Qing, not expecting to encounter her daughter-in-law who had been avoiding her, here in the mountains, became instantly furious. She said from the side, “Have you forgotten all the manners taught to you at home? You always complain about how harsh I am to you, but look at yourself now, so lazy in your posture before Consort Yun. What kind of behavior is this!”
Although Cui Fu had decided to divorce the Guo family, she was still their daughter-in-law for now. Moreover, in front of so many noble ladies, if she talked back to her mother-in-law, it would truly reflect poorly on the Cui family’s upbringing, as if they had raised a daughter who defied her elders.
So upon hearing the Duchess of Qing’s words, Cui Fu could only act as if accepting the teaching, adjusting her kneeling posture.
The Duchess of Qing, with a long face, took advantage of Consort Yun’s presence to start listing Cui Fu’s faults.
Consort Yun listened with a smile, appearing to mediate but adding fuel to the fire, continuing to provoke the Guo family.
The other noble ladies, seeing that Consort Yun was not allowing the two to rise for so long, seemed to sense something amiss. They exchanged glances as if watching a show.
Mian Tang knew Cui Fu couldn’t endure this. She also realized that given the current situation, they might be forced to kneel for another hour!
She had to find a way to drive away these troublemakers quickly… So she secretly put her hand behind her back, making hand signals.
After Mian Tang had entered the capital, Lu Yi, one of the Loyal Four Brothers, along with three or five other brothers, took up positions as guards in the prince’s mansion, following Fan Hu.
Today, when they left the mansion, Lu Yi had also come along. Although Mian Tang had lost her memories of Yanshan, she occasionally asked Lu Yi questions, picking up quite a few experiences from the jianghu. These finger signals were one of them.
Now she placed one hand behind her back, quickly bending her fingers, twisting and turning them. Unless one was from the same circle, it was impossible to understand what it meant.
But Lu Yi, after seeing the boss demonstrate twice, immediately understood. He thought for a moment, then slowly moved his body, hiding behind the carriage. Then, with two brothers, using the carriage as cover, he quietly rolled down the hillside by the road and quickly ran towards the back of the mountain along the rugged mountain path…
The Duchess of Qing was getting more and more worked up, while Cui Fu could no longer hold on. Her body swayed slightly, and if it weren’t for Liu Mian Tang’s quick reflexes in supporting her, she might have fallen face-first onto the ground.
Mian Tang could no longer hold back her cold laugh. “Duchess of Qing, you’re truly eye-opening! Other mothers-in-law accompany their daughters-in-law to Wangfeng Temple to pray for the protection of life and offspring. But you’re something else, treating the sacred ground before the deities as your backyard. Even Consort Yun can’t stop you; you’re determined to show off your authority as a mother-in-law in front of all these ladies, completely disregarding that your daughter-in-law is carrying twins.
Why did she return to the Prince of Huaiyang’s mansion? Others might not know, but don’t you? Wasn’t it because she couldn’t have a healthy pregnancy at your Duke of Qing’s mansion, having to stand at attention every day? If my sister is fine today, all will be well. But if anything happens to her, you’ll see if our Prince of Huaiyang’s household will let you people who deliberately make things difficult for pregnant women off the hook!”
As she spoke, Liu Mian Tang’s eyes flashed dangerously, not only glaring at the Duchess of Qing but also staring directly at Sun Yun Niang.
That outlaw-like, overbearing manner made Sun Yun Niang’s heart tremble.
The long-standing fear made her reflexively afraid of this reckless Lu Wen. After all, when Lu Wen truly lost her temper, there was no telling what she might do!
For a moment, Sun Yun Niang almost forgot that she was now a palace consort and shouldn’t be threatened by a subject’s wife. Her face turned pale with fright.
The Duchess of Qing hadn’t expected Liu Mian Tang to dare to be so sharp-tongued and arrogant in front of a palace consort. Her face turned ashen with anger as she said, “I am still your elder, being the Princess of Huaiyang’s senior. Is this how you speak to people?”
Mian Tang glanced casually at the mountaintop, then said coldly, “If you want to be someone’s elder, you should act like one. Otherwise, if you blacken your conscience and even mistreat your pregnant daughter-in-law carrying your grandchildren, even the most merciful Bodhisattva would not stand for it and would manifest to punish evil…”
Just as she finished speaking, they heard someone shouting in terror from the mountain, “Not good, there’s a mountain fire! A mountain fire has started!”
Immediately after, they saw people running down the mountain in panic.
Everyone looked up — indeed, they saw billowing smoke in the distance, as if a large fire had truly broken out.
Mountain fires were the most terrifying. With the help of wind, the entire mountaintop could be burnt to ashes.
The palace guards, fearing responsibility, didn’t even wait for Consort Yun’s orders. They hurriedly commanded to turn the horses around and escort the consort down the mountain quickly.
Sun Yun Niang, harboring ill intentions, had pretended that today’s mountain visit was a sudden decision. She had only informed the Empress of leaving the palace and had hurriedly come out to look, without taking the usual precautions of other palace nobles visiting the mountain to pray, such as clearing the mountain and road a day in advance to keep commoners away.
Suddenly, with the fire breaking out on the mountain, everyone was in a state of panic. Some commoners who had originally been waiting by the roadside stood up and ran down the mountain. After Consort Yun’s carriage turned around, it charged down recklessly, even knocking down quite a few commoners.
In an instant, the not-so-wide road was filled with wailing and chaos. Mian Tang watched with a frown, surprised at how the palace guards were behaving.
Cui Fu, already feeling unwell, became even more anxious at the sight. She wanted to pull Liu Mian Tang to quickly get on the carriage and go down the mountain.
But Liu Mian Tang helped her onto the carriage instead. She had her lie down flat, then instructed Fan Hu and the others not to panic, but to wait until there was order on the road before leaving.
Cui Fu said anxiously, “Why aren’t we leaving? The mountain fire might spread over here soon.”
Mian Tang smiled and said, “I see that the fire isn’t too strong, and it rained yesterday. It’s not the dry season either, so there won’t be any major problems. If we leave now, that’s when accidents might happen. If we were ambushed by villains, we wouldn’t even be able to investigate. Don’t worry, sister, I’ve got everything under control.”
Cui Fu had heard her mother say before that this child Mian Tang was most steady and decisive when others were panicking. Today she experienced it firsthand, and hearing her words, she felt less anxious.
After less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, just as Liu Mian Tang had said, the black smoke seemed to have lessened considerably.
Liu Mian Tang, seeing that there were fewer people on the road, finally ordered the carriage to turn back, leaving one carriage behind for those commoners who had injured their legs to ride down the mountain for treatment.
Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance. They saw Cui Xingzhou leading his guards, galloping towards them.
When he saw the carriage from afar, Cui Xingzhou spurred his mount forward, coming to the front of Liu Mian Tang’s carriage. He lifted the curtain and asked, “Are you alright?”
Mian Tang was holding Cui Fu, looking at her increasingly pale face. She said urgently, “I’m fine, but sister doesn’t look well…”