Bicao’s loud voice caused all the ladies on the bridge to turn and look at Shi Xiujin.
The Shi family’s maid, who had never expected the Prince of Huaiyang’s household to talk back after mentioning the Empress, was furious. As she was about to argue, Shi Xiujin, her face red with embarrassment, scolded her, “Knowing they’re uncouth people, why did you shout at them? You’ve tarnished my reputation! Watch your mouth when we return home!”
With that, Shi Xiujin quickly boarded her carriage, disregarding the bumpy bridge planks and not waiting for her maid’s assistance. She told the driver to cross the bridge quickly.
The accelerating carriage forced the ladies on the bridge to hurriedly move aside. In the commotion, one officer’s wife stumbled and couldn’t dodge in time. She fell sideways, over the bridge railing, screaming as she plummeted headfirst.
Due to the light spring rain, the water level hadn’t risen much, and the riverbed was partially exposed. If she fell like this, she would likely be severely injured.
Liu Mian Tang was close to the officer’s wife. With a warrior’s instinct, her body reacted faster than her mind. As others gasped in shock, she had already leaped up, gripping the bridge railing with one hand while firmly grasping the falling woman with the other.
In that instant, onlookers only saw a fluttering skirt before realizing the Princess of Huaiyang was hanging upside down from the bridge. Their cries of alarm grew even louder.
The Prince of Huaiyang’s guards rushed forward the moment the princess jumped, quickly grabbing her to prevent her from falling into the river with the officer’s wife.
The Shi family’s people, witnessing someone fall off the bridge during the officer’s wife’s panic, chose to ignore it and drove away quickly.
When Liu Mian Tang was pulled back up, her anger had reached its peak. She commanded Fan Hu and the others, “Go! Stop that carriage for me!”
Fan Hu and his men obeyed without hesitation, charging forward and leaping onto the carriage to seize the reins.
Shi Xiujin had just heard from her maid that their carriage had pushed someone off the bridge. Startled and unsure of what to do, she only wanted to leave quickly and report to her father, letting him handle it. However, just as the carriage crossed the bridge, it was suddenly stopped by several burly guards. The abrupt halt nearly threw her off balance inside.
At that moment, Liu Mian Tang approached the end of the bridge with her maids and servants. She coldly said, “Miss Shi, you’re quite impressive, recklessly charging through such a crowded place, knocking someone off the bridge without even looking back. I doubt anyone else in the entire capital could match such behavior.”
Shi Xiujin had never been scolded like this before and sat helplessly in her carriage. But with Liu Mian Tang calling her out by name outside the carriage, she couldn’t just remain inside. Shi Xiujin put on a stern face and, supported by her maid, stepped down from the carriage. She angrily confronted Liu Mian Tang, “The Princess of Huaiyang is the one being impressive, stopping someone else’s carriage at will. With so many people on the bridge, how can you say it was my carriage that pushed that person off?”
Before Liu Mian Tang could respond, the surrounding ladies spoke up, “We are all witnesses. We saw your carriage speeding across the bridge. If the princess hadn’t jumped down to grab that person, you’d be facing a manslaughter charge now.”
Shi Xiujin knew she was in the wrong, but being publicly humiliated was more than she could bear. Accustomed to being overbearing, she raised her head defiantly, “Isn’t that person unharmed? Does the Princess of Huaiyang intend to drag me to the magistrate’s office for punishment?”
Seeing her attempt to argue despite being clearly at fault, Liu Mian Tang realized she was a spoiled child. However, with Zhenzhou’s troops just having departed, their shadows barely out of sight, and a wife seeing them nearly falling off the bridge, Mian Tang knew the importance of justice. As a former leader herself, she understood that if she didn’t secure justice for the lady, word would spread, potentially causing dissatisfaction among the Prince of Huaiyang’s soldiers. So, Liu Mian Tang approached Shi Xiujin and said, “The magistrate is always busy. There’s no need to trouble the officials with this bridge incident. You only need to sincerely apologize to this lady, and the matter will be settled. As for the cost of medicine to calm her nerves, our Prince of Huaiyang’s household will cover it for you, Miss Shi.”
Shi Xiujin, considering herself the Empress’s sister and her father now second only to the Emperor in court, couldn’t fathom apologizing to a mere officer’s wife. She felt the Princess of Huaiyang’s demand was unreasonable and deliberately difficult.
So she decided not to speak further with the Princess of Huaiyang, snorted coldly, and turned to get back into her carriage. At this moment, Liu Mian Tang stepped forward and grabbed Shi Xiujin’s wrist, giving it a gentle tug.
How could a pampered young lady like Shi Xiujin compare to Liu Mian Tang? With a cry of pain, she lowered her head, her body sinking with both knees touching the ground, appearing as if she were kneeling in apology.
Seeing their young miss at a disadvantage, the Shi family’s guards rushed forward. Seeing Fan Hu blocking their way, they tried to push him aside but were no match for him. In just two moves, they were subdued, their arms twisted behind their backs.
Mian Tang, smiling, held Shi Xiujin down with one hand and said, “I merely asked Miss Shi to apologize, yet she offers such a grand gesture, even kneeling to the officer’s wife!”
At this point, the surrounding ladies began to laugh.
Shi Xiujin had never been so humiliated before. Unable to control herself, tears began to fall. After crushing her pride, Mian Tang, still smiling, gently helped her up and said, “Miss Shi must have other matters to attend to. I won’t keep you any longer. Please, get back in your carriage.”
Knowing she was no match for Liu Mian Tang, Shi Xiujin shook off Mian Tang’s hand and returned to her carriage, crying, telling the driver to hurry back to their residence.
The guards on the ground got up and followed the carriage, cursing as they left.
The surrounding ladies, seeing the previously arrogant Imperial in-law’s daughter fleeing in tears, felt greatly satisfied. They admired the Princess, especially the officer’s wife, who repeatedly thanked her.
However, Fang Xie, always perceptive, couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Princess, won’t this offend the Empress?”
Liu Mian Tang smiled lightly and said, “The Empress has always been mindful of her reputation. The Shi father and daughter often abuse their status as imperial relatives to act arrogantly. By forcing the Shi family’s daughter to apologize, I’ve protected the Empress’s reputation. How could the Empress blame me for that?”
Meanwhile, Shi Xiujin cried all the way home and immediately complained to her father.
Shi Yikuan was no longer the minor general of Qingzhou. Since becoming the Emperor’s father-in-law, his temper had grown increasingly short.
Seeing his daughter’s arm bruised, he flew into a rage and took her straight to the palace to complain.
Liu Yu had been in low spirits ever since hearing that Mian Tang was determined to follow Cui Xingzhou to the Northern Sea, causing his old ailments to flare up.
So the Shi Empress had prepared a nourishing lung-clearing soup and was personally bringing it to the Imperial Study for the Emperor to drink.
Unexpectedly, she arrived just as her father was dragging her sister Shi Xiujin in to complain. Wanting to avoid the situation but unable to leave in time, she could only sit silently to the side, waiting for His Majesty to make a decision.
After listening to Shi Yikuan’s furious accusations, Liu Yu slowly took a sip of the soup the Shi Empress had brought him, then began to reminisce, “Her temper is unchangeable… Imperial Father-in-law is family, so I can speak of some old matters… When I was still waiting for the restoration of the Eastern Palace in Yangshan, the Duchess of Huisang was also in Yangshan assisting me. At that time, she trained most of the troops there. The troops needed money for food and supplies, but she wouldn’t allow them to harass the common people, so she had to find alternative ways to make money, opening up some profitable trade routes.
Once, when she went down the mountain, she encountered the son of an arrogant family bullying commoners. She was in disguise and shouldn’t have gotten involved, but when she saw that young master harassing a married woman and beating her husband, she couldn’t contain her anger. Not only did she save the couple, but she also wanted to teach that young master a lesson. I was there at the time and stopped her, advising her not to cause trouble. She listened to me then and didn’t intervene, but when we returned to the mountain, I found she had disappeared.”
“Later, when she came back, she was covered in blood. I asked her what she had done. She answered, ‘At first, I just thought that boy deserved a beating, and if I had beaten him then, it would have been enough to vent my anger. But being stopped at that time made me angrier, so I returned that night and hung that young master upside down from a big tree in the busy market of the town, and castrated him with a knife…'”
Hearing this, Shi Xiujin had turned pale with fear, recalling the way Liu Mian Tang had glared at her earlier that day, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Shi Yikuan gritted his teeth and said, “She truly can’t shake off her bandit ways! At that time, Liu Mian Tang in Yangshan was…” He had wanted to say “turned bandit,” but realizing this would implicate the Emperor, he quickly changed course, “Your Majesty means to say that despite your earnest advice for her to mend her ways, she remains stubbornly unrepentant. Now, with the Prince of Huaiyang as her backing, she’s become even more arrogant. If Your Majesty doesn’t punish her, how can this be allowed!”
Liu Yu put down his teacup and smiled at the father and daughter before him, “What I mean is, the Duchess of Huisang doesn’t hold grudges overnight. Since she bruised your sister’s arm on the spot and vented her anger, she probably won’t come to the Shi residence to beat or scold her again. Imperial Father-in-law, you can set your mind at ease…”
Shi Yikuan stood with his mouth half-open, hardly believing that His Majesty would say such biased and absurd words. What did he mean by setting his mind at ease? Was he supposed to believe that Liu Mian Tang had been magnanimous today? Should he be grateful that she hadn’t cut off half his daughter’s arm?
The Shi Empress lowered her eyes and said to her father, “His Majesty is feeling unwell today. If you have no other urgent matters, you may take your leave…”
Shi Xiujin had followed her father into the palace hoping that her imperial brother-in-law would avenge her, but instead, she left having heard an earful of bloody stories.
As they exited the palace gates, she said tearfully, “Such… such a terrifying woman, what’s good about her? Why does the Prince of Huaiyang love her so much?”
Shi Yikuan was also full of anger. He looked back at the palace gates and snorted sarcastically, “A woman like her is indeed attractive. She’s not loved by just one person!”
However, thinking of the Empress’s expression earlier, Shi Yikuan gradually suppressed his anger and coldly smiled: For now, let that couple be arrogant. Whether they can return from the Northern Sea is another matter entirely!