Mian Tang stared at the seal of the Capital’s Prefect on the notice for a while. She then asked the neighboring shops about what had happened to the escort agency.
The shopkeepers all shrank back, timidly saying they didn’t know. Since Mian Tang hadn’t frequented the agency before, the people around didn’t recognize her as the renowned Princess of Huaiyang.
After some thought, Mian Tang went to a neighboring cosmetics shop. After buying over a dozen boxes of rouge and powder, she became familiar with the shopkeeper’s wife. She then mentioned that she had a distant cousin in the neighboring escort agency and was anxious about not being able to find him.
The shopkeeper’s wife, seeing Mian Tang’s delicate appearance and teary-eyed look, thought she seemed like someone searching for a childhood sweetheart. Softening, she revealed, “They say the head of that escort agency was arrested for colluding with bandits. Though he was released later, the next day their cargo ship was seized. Those brothers were then driven out of the capital. It was a pitiful sight when they left, like chasing away stray dogs. They were all shoved into carts and taken out of the city…”
Mian Tang listened with wide eyes. After thanking the shopkeeper’s wife, she turned and headed straight for the Capital Prefect’s office.
In the carriage, Mian Tang asked her four maids if anyone from the escort agency had come looking for her during her final days of pregnancy.
All four maids honestly said no. Mian Tang pursed her lips, thinking it was unlike the four brothers to be quietly driven away without trying to sneak back into the city to contact her.
At the office, hearing that the Princess of Huaiyang had come to inquire about something, the Prefect came running to greet her.
Mian Tang graciously thanked the Prefect for looking after her various shops, then asked what crime the escort agency had committed to be sealed.
The Prefect made a show of thinking, had his secretary bring the case files, and after a long search said, “Your Highness, contraband was repeatedly found in the goods transported by this agency. Although it’s your agency, it must still follow the law. I had no choice but to seal it…”
Mian Tang asked, “Were the agency’s escorts arrested?”
The Prefect looked troubled, “They were only fined, not arrested. This case is too old, I really can’t remember the details…”
Just then, a runner came, pretending to be out of breath, “Sir… Sir, your wife is ill. You need to return home to see her!”
Hearing his wife was ill, the Prefect’s eyes betrayed his relief. He sighed, “I’ll return home immediately!”
He then turned back to Liu Mian Tang with a troubled expression.
At this point, Mian Tang had no interest in watching the Prefect’s poor acting. She politely bid farewell and got into her carriage, ordering, “Back to the manor!”
When she returned, Cui Xingzhou hadn’t yet come back.
There was a palace banquet that night. Mian Tang had declined, as she was still breastfeeding and couldn’t drink alcohol.
So after changing, the Princess spent the remaining time interrogating the manor’s gatekeepers.
At first, the gatekeepers insisted that no one from the escort agency had come looking for the Princess.
But when the Princess’s expression darkened and she brought out her bandit chief aura, preparing a curved knife as if to flay them alive, someone finally broke: “A while ago, the former outer courtyard guard Lu Yi did come looking for the Princess. But the Prince had ordered that such trivial matters shouldn’t disturb the Princess’s pregnancy. So we reported directly to the Prince, who had Lu Yi tied up and thrown out of the city…”
After her investigation, Mian Tang finally understood that it was indeed the Prince of Huaiyang who had ordered the sealing of the escort agency and the expulsion of the four brothers from the capital.
Bi Cao, seeing the Princess’s tense expression, knew she was angry. She softly advised, “The Prince didn’t tell you because he didn’t want you to worry. I’ve noticed that ever since you met those four brothers, you’ve been constantly cleaning up their messes. It’s good that they’re gone. It saves you from further trouble…”
Halfway through, Bi Cao saw Mian Tang glaring coldly at her and became too frightened to continue.
By nightfall, a slightly tipsy Prince of Huaiyang finally returned. As soon as he got out of the carriage, someone reported the Princess’s inquiries about the escort agency.
When the Prince returned to their chambers, little Xiao Yi’er had just finished nursing and was sleeping soundly with chubby cheeks. Mian Tang wore a loose robe with a slack collar, her long hair cascading down one shoulder. Her slender arms cradled the plump infant. In the dim light, it was a seductive scene.
Unfortunately, though the beauty was stunning, her eyes glared at him coldly.
The Prince of Huaiyang calmly allowed the maids to remove his robes. After washing up and changing, he sat beside Mian Tang. Carefully taking their sleeping son and handing him to the wet nurse, he then turned to embrace Mian Tang, saying, “I heard the Princess held court today. Even threatened to light human lanterns? The gatekeepers were terrified. I heard some even wet themselves.”
Mian Tang, suppressing her anger, asked, “May I ask, Your Highness, was it you who ordered the Prefect to seal the escort agency? And prevented the brothers from coming to see me?”
At this point, Cui Xingzhou didn’t deny it and simply nodded in acknowledgment.
“You’re now the Princess of this manor. Those past affairs from Yang Shan no longer concern you. Keeping them around would only implicate you. They have hands and feet, do they still need someone to support them?”
Liu Mian Tang slowly straightened her back and said, “Then let me ask Your Highness, have I ever interfered or made unilateral decisions regarding your affairs, whether in court or the military camp?”
Cui Xingzhou narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean?”
“I’ve never interfered with your military affairs. What right do you have to manage my brothers?”
She had always thought the bandit days on Yang Shan were over. She hadn’t expected that although Cui Xingzhou had forgiven her past as Lu Wen, he still despised that part of her experience, to the point of disbanding her old Yang Shan comrades without even informing her.
At that moment, Liu Mian Tang’s chest felt like it would explode with anger as she glared directly at Cui Xingzhou.
The Prince of Huaiyang, having drunk some wine, was slightly tipsy. He frowned and said, “You’ve admitted it was youthful ignorance and a mistake. So it should be cut off cleanly. Do you think I don’t know what Lu Yi’s intentions are, always staring at you so intently? I spared their dog lives back then only for your sake. That was already mercy beyond the law… Come, help me massage my temple.”
Liu Mian Tang habitually reached out to massage him, but halfway there, she pulled back her hand and said, “Their release was due to the Emperor’s amnesty, pardoning their past crimes. How does that require your mercy? Lu Yi is my brother. The way he looks at me is far more respectful than the way your close friend Marquis Zhao looks at me!”
Cui Xingzhou found these words particularly distasteful.
To be honest, his Princess’s temper had been growing lately. Before, in the small courtyard on North Street, she had been respectful to her husband. Later, in the Northwest, she still observed wifely etiquette.
But after that, when she had leverage over him for his deception, the Liu family’s eldest daughter began to look down her nose at him a bit.
Then, when he got hold of her weakness – her concealed bandit past – she picked up the humility of the little lady from the Cui family on North Street again, flattering him for quite a while.
But now, was this person glaring at him with flared nostrils still his Princess? She looked more like the unyielding leader of Yang Shan, ready to hold him accountable.
Usually, he was willing to indulge and spoil her in small matters. But keeping those Yang Shan remnants around – what was that for?
Just like that divorce paper tucked in the account book, was she keeping a backup plan, ready to leave him at any time and return to the mountains as a bandit rebel?
Thinking of this, Cui Xingzhou suddenly stood up, raising his voice, “Liu Mian Tang! Listen to yourself! They’re just a few former bandits. Are they worth you arguing with me?”
Liu Mian Tang fell silent for a moment. She half-lowered her head, her beautiful hair cascading down, looking delicately moving.
Seeing her dejected appearance, the Prince of Huaiyang softened, feeling he shouldn’t have raised his voice at her. Just as he was about to step forward to comfort her, Liu Mian Tang spoke, “They’re not just my former brothers, they’re also part of my lost memories… I don’t want to realize I’ve mistreated them and failed to repay their kindness when I finally remember that part of my past…”
They had both tacitly avoided mentioning Mian Tang’s lost memories before.
But now Mian Tang had brought it up. Cui Xingzhou’s lips slowly tightened, “In those memories, it wasn’t just them who was kind to you, but also the current Emperor. If you remember, do you also intend to repay your ‘Ziyu Gongzi’ for his deep affection?”
Mian Tang disliked mentioning the past, fearing Cui Xingzhou’s jealousy. The seemingly cold and elegant Prince had a heart as small as a needle’s eye.
Usually, upon hearing such words, Mian Tang would certainly have coaxed the stubborn mule, stroking his fur, hugging and kissing him to soothe him.
But today, Cui Xingzhou had truly touched Mian Tang’s sore spot. So seeing him get jealous again, Mian Tang half-raised her head, as if trying hard to recall that memory hidden in the mist. After a long moment, she said, “How would I know what I’ll feel when I remember? Why don’t you ask Marquis Zhao to use acupuncture on me again? Maybe after a few needles, I’ll remember everything…”
Before she could finish, Cui Xingzhou, with a dark face, had already kicked open the door and stormed out of the bedchamber.
Bi Cao and Fang Xie, standing guard outside, looked at each other in dismay. They peeked inside.
The Princess hadn’t even gotten off the bed. She casually gathered her hair and lay down, then ordered them, “Put out the lights and close the door well. I’m going to sleep.”
In the past, when the Prince and Princess argued and he slept in the study, the Princess would always send them to bring him some soup or food, or at least some clothes and quilts.
So this time, Fang Xie carefully asked, “The kitchen is brewing some sobering soup. Shall we bring it to the Prince later, saying it’s on your orders…”
Mian Tang half-turned, looking calmly at the two maids, “Aren’t his servants and maids alive? Remember, everyone in my courtyard, not even a grain of rice is to be sent over!”
Fang Xie was stunned, only managing to close the door numbly, still looking at Bi Cao in disbelief.
This… not even leaving the Prince a shred of dignity, how would the master and mistress reconcile?
In the end, it was Bi Cao who understood the County Princess better. She sighed helplessly, “The Prince has truly angered the Princess this time. The Princess is going to confront the Prince head-on!”