Miantang found herself unable to muster much enthusiasm. With her dream of drawing a bow to shoot great eagles unfulfilled, she sat listlessly in a small wooden cabin by the hunting grounds, lost in thought.
Cui Fu, noticing her impressive attire, asked if she wanted to hunt rabbits.
Miantang replied with a hint of melancholy, telling her sister-in-law that bullying the weak was not the chivalrous way of a martial artist, and she couldn’t bring herself to kill defenseless rabbits.
Cui Fu rolled her eyes helplessly and went with Li Guangcai to admire the plum blossoms in the nearby plum garden.
Cui Xingzhou came over and took Miantang’s hand, saying, “I brought you out to have fun, yet you’re not happy. When little Yi’er wakes up, you’ll have even less time to play.”
Because their son was still young and needed to nurse frequently, he had come along too. However, he wasn’t in the hunting grounds but in a warm room at the restaurant, looked after by wet nurses and elderly servants, sleeping soundly at the moment.
This made the mother’s free time all the more precious.
Miantang’s lips drooped slightly as she said, “You hunted a tiger last time. Aren’t there any worthy prey in these hunting grounds?”
Cui Xingzhou gently tapped her forehead, saying, “At this time of year, if we went to a real hunting ground, we’d encounter newly awakened black bears. Even experienced hunters fear starving, frenzied bears. Do you, a novice, still want to show off? When autumn comes, I’ll take you hunting again, and I guarantee you’ll have your fill of hunting foxes and wolves.”
With that, he led Liu Miantang to the deer park, where he hunted a plump, captive-raised deer to add to today’s menu.
Now that Miantang had given up on the idea of hunting, she treated the outing as a simple trip to the restaurant. After hunting the deer, she followed Cui Xingzhou for a walk up the back hill.
The area, frequently visited by noble ladies, was dotted with pavilions and towers. Standing at a pavilion on the hilltop and looking out, one could see the distant official road and scattered villages in the surroundings.
The scenery was quite pleasant, and other ladies and young misses were also strolling about the hills.
However, most visitors knew to keep their distance. After all, this wasn’t a tea party requiring polite small talk. It was enough to spot each other’s servants from afar and simply avoid crossing paths.
So Miantang and her companions had a peaceful walk.
But as they were coming down the hill, they bumped into a young lady surrounded by servants and maids.
The young lady appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen, with fair skin, a slender figure, and delicate, pretty features.
When she saw the Prince of Huaiyang from a short distance, the young lady lowered her head shyly and said, “To think I’d encounter Your Highness here. It’s been a few days since we last met. Have you been well?”
These words were somewhat suggestive. Miantang couldn’t help but step forward to examine this young lady closely, wondering about the nature of her “few days’ absence” relationship with her husband.
Upon closer inspection, she realized this young lady must be Shi Xiujin, the youngest legitimate daughter of General Shi Yikuan.
Shi Yikuan was a man who had risen to power later in life. His first wife had been a simple village woman, and although he had taken several concubines afterward, he still wasn’t satisfied. It was said that this daughter was born to an official’s daughter whom Shi Yikuan had married as his second wife after his rise to power, and she had been pampered far more than his other children. She was incomparable to daughters like the Empress Shi, who were born to concubines.
Now, with Shi Yikuan a powerful figure at court and enjoying his position as the emperor’s father-in-law, he was riding high. He was skilled at flattery and showed utmost respect to the emperor, winning imperial favor.
As a result, the young Shi Xiujin, of marriageable age, had become the most sought-after young lady in the capital. Unmarried young masters from noble families were all trying to learn her birth date and time for matchmaking purposes.
And now, this young lady’s bright, lively eyes were fixed directly on the tall, handsome Prince of Huaiyang standing nearby in his loose robes.
Strictly speaking, Shi Xiujin had seen the Prince of Huaiyang before when she was still in her hometown of Qingzhou. Although she had been young then, she could distinguish between beauty and ugliness and had found the prince breathtakingly handsome at first sight.
She had thought it was due to her limited experience, but after entering the capital and seeing so many dashing young gentlemen, none could compare to the prince’s appearance and demeanor.
It was a captivating blend of a scholar’s elegance and a warrior’s vigor. At every banquet, once her gaze fell upon him, she found it impossible to look away.
The pity was that he had already married a princess consort, making him an unsuitable match.
However, later on, scandalous rumors about the Princess of Huaiyang suddenly arose, spreading throughout the capital. Shi Xiujin couldn’t help but rekindle her hopes, wishing for the rumors to be true – that the Princess of Huaiyang had died from postpartum hemorrhage. If that happened, she could have her father propose a marriage, allowing her to legitimately become the mistress of the Prince of Huaiyang’s mansion.
People said her half-sister had married well, but in Miss Shi’s view, even if Liu Yu was the emperor, a sickly weakling was nothing to envy.
Without the Prince of Huaiyang, Liu Yu’s position on the throne wouldn’t be very secure. Even now, her father was quite wary of this prince, showing that he was truly capable. If Cui Xingzhou were to marry her and become a son-in-law of the Shi family, it might not be certain who would ultimately sit on the imperial throne.
And if she were to become the mother of the nation in the future, she would be far more suitable than her pig-like sister.
With these thoughts, Miss Shi’s unrequited love grew even stronger, and she often exchanged pleasantries with the prince at various banquets.
Unfortunately, the Princess of Huaiyang had given birth so smoothly, unlike the rumors of her dying in childbirth.
Miss Shi’s hopes were dashed, leaving her feeling so miserable that she lost her appetite.
Unexpectedly, she encountered the Prince of Huaiyang here today, so Miss Shi hadn’t even noticed the woman in military attire beside him, assuming she was one of the prince’s guards. Shi Xiujin’s eyes were fixed ardently on the prince.
It wasn’t until the woman in military attire suddenly stepped forward, standing firmly in front of her, that she recognized her as the Princess of Huaiyang who had just given birth.
Unlike other women who became plump after childbirth, this princess seemed even more slender than before. Her alluring eyes gazed at Shi Xiujin without mercy, carrying a hint of murderous intent.
Caught off guard, Shi Xiujin felt as if she had seen a ghost, letting out a startled “Ah!” and losing her composure.
Liu Miantang smiled slightly and said, “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you, Miss Shi. I’ve missed you too! How have you been?”
Shi Xiujin smiled awkwardly and hurriedly bowed to Liu Miantang, saying, “Thanks to your blessing, all is well. Princess, you’ve just completed your postpartum confinement and are already out enjoying yourself. You’ve recovered so well, it’s truly enviable… I won’t disturb the prince and princess’s outing any further. I’ll take my leave now…” With that, she hurriedly led her maids and guards onto another small path.
Liu Miantang watched Miss Shi’s hastily retreating figure, then turned to give her husband a meaningful look.
She had to take back her earlier words. Even if he was an insensitive block of wood, he was still a handsome, attractive flower! During the days she had been confined in the prince’s mansion, who knew how many young and beautiful girls Cui Xingzhou had met at various banquets.
Cui Xingzhou hadn’t noticed the undercurrents between the two women earlier. In his view, Shi Xiujin was just a somewhat talkative young girl, and he had never thought of her in that way.
The Prince of Huaiyang always conserved his mental energy where he could.
However, when Liu Miantang, with puffed cheeks, said she would accompany him to all future banquets, big and small, he smiled and said, “If you like, you can come along. It’s just that I can’t stand the noise at those banquets, and I always use the excuse that you’re unwell at home and need my care to leave early. If you come along in the future, I’ll have to find a new excuse.”
Liu Miantang’s mouth half-open, said, “So that’s why there are always wild rumors about my frail health and inability to withstand childbirth. It turns out you, Your Highness, are the source of these rumors! But if you keep spreading such unfavorable news about me, won’t you provoke some ambitious young ladies into thinking I’m about to pass away, and they could step in as your new wife…”
The Prince of Huaiyang didn’t like hearing this and was about to sternly say she was being ridiculous. But just then, a guard came running, saying urgently, “Your Highness, something terrible has happened down the hill…”
It turned out that they had chosen an unlucky day to go out. The masters of the Duke of Qing’s mansion had also come to the eastern hunting grounds for an outing today.
The Duke of Qing’s household had calculated too much and ended up hindering their son’s prospects.
Seeing that the Prince of Huaiyang’s household had firmly established itself in the capital and that the prince’s official career was steadily advancing, the Duchess of Qing, Lady Gai, was filled with regret.
Guo Yi now increasingly missed Cui Fu’s virtues. In the past, Cui Fu had handled all the household affairs, never troubling Guo Yi with trivial matters. He always had enough money to spend and could enjoy drinking and merrymaking with his colleagues without worry.
But now, he had to go through his mother to ask for money, enduring much nagging, and the amount was never enough to maintain appearances. It was truly difficult to keep up his status.
Without a proper mistress of the house, many household matters had fallen to the favored concubine, Yu Rao. But Yu Rao’s way of doing things was completely different from Cui Fu’s. She was solely focused on sending money and goods to her own family and had placed her half-brothers in charge of the household’s farms and estates.
As a result, when accounts were settled at the end of the year, there was significantly less rent and harvest compared to previous years.
When questioned, Yu Rao had a hundred excuses, crying and making a scene, insisting that when the Gai family had taken her in, they had promised that although she was a concubine, she would be treated no differently from a proper wife.
She hadn’t expected that now, she was living less comfortably than the senior maids in other households.
It was just a matter of supporting her family with some silver, yet they scrutinized it as if it were a court case. The mighty Duke of Qing’s household was behaving worse than an ordinary landowner’s family!
Guo Yi couldn’t out-argue her, and in his helplessness, he increasingly missed Cui Fu. He finally appreciated Cui Fu’s tough exterior but a soft heart. When Cui Fu had married him, had she ever smuggled things to her maiden home like this? Instead, she had always supported him, never letting him worry about money matters.
With these thoughts, Guo Yi became even more keen on reconciling with Cui Fu.
But unexpectedly, today at the hunting grounds, he saw that little upstart Li Guangcai accompanying Cui Fu, admiring plum blossoms in the plum garden, attentively offering her a handkerchief to brush off the fine snow that had fallen from the branches.
Guo Yi’s face flushed with anger, feeling as if he were wearing a green hat (a symbol of cuckoldry). He immediately went over and coldly mocked Li Guangcai.
Li Guangcai’s sharp tongue, honed from his days as a county magistrate in the countryside, could switch between refined and vulgar speech with ease. His sarcasm was like slicing meat with a willow leaf knife, and in just a few words, he had thoroughly provoked Guo Yi.