Having napped during the day, the couple found themselves wide awake at night, and their activities continued until dawn began to break.
Cui Xingzhou, satisfied after his “feast,” contentedly held the soft and fragrant Miantang in his arms.
Liu Miantang, catching her breath, decided to retract her earlier statement. A man with the looks of a celestial being was already appealing enough, but he was also ambitious, constantly refining his skills. Each day seemed to bring a new flavor to their intimacy, making it far from monotonous…
However, she wouldn’t dare compliment the prince to his face about such things. He was already a hungry wolf; praising him into a fierce tiger would be more than anyone could handle.
As she was about to drift off to sleep, exhausted, the man she thought was already asleep suddenly spoke: “If one day you recover all your memories, would you forget only me…”
His voice was so soft that it could have been mistaken for sleep-talking. Miantang turned back, surprised, to look at his still-closed eyes. She gently caressed his eyelids, feeling them twitch uneasily.
All this time, Miantang had been anxious about him discovering her secret, never realizing that the seemingly lofty Prince of Huaiyang harbored his insecurities.
Was he… afraid that she would remember her past, and that’s why he was reluctant to let her reconnect with her former acquaintances and experiences?
Realizing this, Miantang’s heart softened, and she felt genuinely sorry for quarreling with him.
Resting her chin on his shoulder, she spoke softly, “If I forget, don’t panic. We still have our courtyard in Lingquan Town’s North Street. When that time comes, you can take me there again. You can pretend to be my husband, Cui Jiu, and I’ll be your wife. We can start our life together anew, bit by bit. How about that?”
Cui Xingzhou turned to look at her, gently pecking her lips. “Are you trying to trick me into accompanying you to North Street to eat pickled vegetables again?”
Miantang giggled softly, whispering to him, “Who says there’s nothing good in that house? Let me tell you, there’s a money box buried in the ground of the west wing in the North Street courtyard! When I followed you to the Northwest, I was worried that if something happened to me and we got separated, you wouldn’t have money to buy rice when you returned from the army. So I specially left a money box and even wrote an acrostic poem on the pillar in the room for you. In the future, if Your Highness ever finds himself short of funds, you can go there and dig up some money to spend…”
Cui Xingzhou felt these words were unlike those of a virtuous wife wishing for her husband’s promotion. He couldn’t help but playfully discipline his coy wife once more, filling the bedchamber with laughter and teasing.
With the prince and princess reconciled, the maids and servants in the courtyard all breathed a sigh of relief.
Having agreed to bring back Miantang’s Yangshan followers, Cui Xingzhou naturally kept his word. The next day, he sent people to search for those who had been sent away.
However, while it had been easy to send them away initially, finding them now proved difficult. The dispatched guards all returned empty-handed, unable to locate any of them.
Cui Xingzhou had been busy with official duties these past few days. He hadn’t expected those bandits to cause him trouble! If they couldn’t be found, wouldn’t Miantang misunderstand and think he had killed them all?
So the Prince of Huaiyang sternly reprimanded the guards, ordering them to send out more men to search thoroughly and ensure they found all the “loyal and righteous” individuals.
He had expected Miantang to be upset with him when the men weren’t found, but after listening to his grave explanation, she just lowered her head without a word.
Ignoring the milk little Yi’er had just spit up on his shoulder, Cui Xingzhou gently patted the soft baby’s back and asked solemnly, “You don’t believe me?”
Miantang snapped out of her thoughts and replied, “No, I was just thinking they probably… returned to Yangshan.”
Cui Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, not understanding why Miantang would guess this.
Liu Miantang explained seriously, “Your men, acting like bandits themselves, drove them away without letting them take enough money and valuables. They have families to support now, and without money, they can’t come to the city to find me since you’ve chased them away. Naturally, they’d need to find some funds to get by… I remember them mentioning before that they had hidden some money in the mountains before leaving Yangshan. They’ve probably gone there to retrieve that silver to spend.”
Previously, when Liu Miantang had said she had brought these four loyal brothers out, the Prince of Huaiyang hadn’t quite believed her. Now, seeing this inherited skill of burying money everywhere, he was convinced.
Since Liu Miantang had pointed out a direction, Cui Xingzhou could now send people to search.
In the past, he had hoped these troublemakers would meet with some unfortunate accident and never return.
But now, in between handling official matters, the Prince of Huaiyang worried that these brothers might not take care of themselves. If something happened to them while they were wandering about, his child’s mother might become heartbroken and lose her milk again. In that case, it would be his son who would go hungry!
Having completed her postpartum confinement, Miantang could finally relax a bit and occasionally accompany Empress Dowager and her sister-in-law Cui Fu for social engagements.
Since the downfall of the Prince of Sui, the gates of the Prince of Huaiyang’s mansion had become incredibly busy, with the Empress Dowager and Cui Fu suddenly gaining many more close friends.
However, Miantang had arranged several performances at the mansion these past few days, all featuring stories of incompetent matriarchs befriending ill-intentioned people, leading to the execution of entire families.
The Empress Dowager Chu felt a chill down her spine and asked Miantang if she hadn’t given the theater troupe a generous enough red envelope, wondering why they always performed such tragic plays.
Cui Fu, standing nearby, understood and explained to her mother with a smile, “Mother, your daughter-in-law is giving you a hint. In the capital, it’s best to keep relationships with outsiders as light as water between gentlemen. Don’t be as careless with your words as you were in Zhenzhou. Xingzhou now has many political enemies in court. An unintended word from you could scatter the entire household like monkeys from a fallen tree.”
The Empress Dowager Chu glared at Liu Miantang, who was busy cracking melon seeds: “Do you take me for some country bumpkin without any experience? When I was socializing in the capital with your father-in-law, you were still a nursing infant!”
Miantang smiled, grabbing a handful of melon seeds roasted with sheep’s milk cheese, and offered them to the Empress Dowager Chu, saying, “Don’t listen to sister’s nonsense. It’s just that these plays are newly arranged, and I thought we’d try something new. If you don’t like them, Mother, we can switch to more cheerful ones. I’ll have them change to something like ‘Over the Wall, On Horseback,’ a romance between a scholar and a beauty. That should be more enjoyable…”
Hearing this, Cui Fu couldn’t help but give Miantang a deep look, suspecting the play might be alluding to her situation.
Recently, Lord Li had been frequently inviting her for boat rides and lakeside strolls. Unfortunately, while Lord Li was outstanding in his scholarship and cautious in his political dealings, he was somewhat lacking in his approach to courting women.
The weather had just begun to warm, and the ice on the lake had only recently melted. Standing on a boat, even with several braziers, was still chilly from all sides.
She had accepted one invitation, but as if heaven was warning her that this match was unsuitable, she caught a cold upon returning home and was ill for over a week.
Miantang had heard about Lord Li’s private invitation later from Cui Fu’s lips.
She was also surprised that Lord Li would arrange such a clumsy private meeting.
Weren’t the plum blossoms still blooming in various courtyards around the capital beautiful enough? Wouldn’t it have been nice to visit some private vegetarian restaurants on the outskirts of the city? With so many pleasant options available, why choose to drink in the biting north wind on the lake, making the beauty ill? It was truly regrettable!
However, when she mentioned this to Cui Xingzhou, the prince raised an eyebrow and said, “What’s wrong with a boat ride? When Guangcai asked me, I told him my sister enjoyed boat rides…”
Miantang hadn’t expected the root of the problem to lie with her husband, so she patiently asked, “Does your sister also go boating in the north wind?”
Cui Xingzhou thought for a moment and suddenly realized the difference in weather between the south and the north.
Indeed, it wasn’t suitable for boating in the capital at this time, which explained why Brother Guangcai had been looking at him with such a sour expression these past few days.
At this point, Liu Miantang felt she had thoroughly seen through her husband.
Despite his handsome appearance, without his illustrious family background to support him, judging by his lack of attention to women’s needs, he probably would have been like his friend Guangcai, unable to find a wife for a long time.
Hearing Liu Miantang’s teasing, the Prince of Huaiyang was unfazed: “Who says so? Haven’t I managed to trick a delicate wife into bearing my children on my own merits?”
This retort left Miantang speechless, as she realized that she and Cui Xingzhou had indeed started their domestic life together right away, without any memories of courtship between a graceful lady and a gentleman.
Thinking about it this way, she realized she might have been the most foolish of all!
Cui Xingzhou might be able to ignore his friend’s sour face, but he couldn’t ignore his own wife’s dejected expression. So he said, “If you think about it, there were some thoughtful moments. Didn’t I especially take you to soak in hot springs back then?”
Miantang mumbled, “We only soaked once before you slept with me…”
The Prince of Huaiyang paused, smiling as he recalled that this was indeed the case.
Since they had missed out on the process of the prince courting his wife, it was only fitting to make up for it during their leisure time now.
Coincidentally, he also felt he owed something to brother Guangcai, so the four of them agreed to go hunting together at the hunting grounds on the east side of the capital.
Miantang had been cooped up in the prince’s mansion for too long and was excited all night just hearing that the prince would take her hunting.
Early the next morning, the princess got up and called for her maids to dress her in a complete set of dark hunting attire. A headband inlaid with green tourmaline was tied around her forehead, and her thick long hair was tied into a high ponytail. Her slender legs looked even straighter in high-top cowhide boots, and a wide belt cinched her waist, with two short daggers tucked diagonally at her back.
When the fully armed princess jumped nimbly from the carriage without anyone’s help, it was truly a breathtaking sight.
However, as Miantang excitedly surveyed her surroundings, she was somewhat dumbfounded and asked the prince, “Didn’t you say you were taking me hunting?”
The Prince of Huaiyang hadn’t even changed into hunting attire, still wearing his wide-sleeved robe and jade crown. He pointed at the fat rabbits hopping all over the field and said, “Aren’t these enough for you to hunt?”
It was early spring, and encountering hungry bears and other wild animals just awakening from hibernation in the wilderness would be no joke.
Therefore, the hunting grounds in the eastern suburbs were different from the western hunting grounds filled with fierce beasts. Instead, they offered a gentle and approachable way for noble ladies to pass the time.
Stupid rabbits with their hind legs tied were everywhere, along with herds of sika deer for the well-fed gentlemen to show off their archery skills.
For someone like Cui Xingzhou, accustomed to using powerful bows, these docile prey held little interest, so he didn’t bother changing into hunting attire. However, the attached restaurant here served excellent grilled dishes, so it was a good place to bring Miantang and his sister to relax.
Miantang looked around and realized she was the only one fully armed among the four of them, feeling utterly disappointed.
Once again, she was convinced that if it weren’t for his trickery, her husband would never have been able to find a wife!