Suddenly, Liu Miantang grew even more curious about how she had chosen to marry Cui Xingzhou in the first place.
After checking her pulse, Zhao Quan discovered that Miantang’s blood flow had improved compared to before, but there was still some stagnation. He concluded that a blood clot had likely shifted, which might explain why Miantang had forgotten her three years with Cui Xingzhou.
Miantang’s memory loss wasn’t a recent development. Previously, Zhao Quan had suggested prescribing some medicines to improve blood circulation and brain function to treat her amnesia.
Initially, Cui Xingzhou didn’t care much about this woman from Lujiang and was reluctant to expend effort on her behalf. Later, the Prince of Huaiyang, out of jealousy, feared she might still harbor feelings for her previous lover and didn’t want her to regain her memories.
However, now that Liu Miantang had completely forgotten about him, the Prince of Huaiyang, Cui Xingzhou found it unbearable, his heart restless with worry.
Consequently, Dr. Zhao wrote three detailed prescriptions and scheduled acupuncture and hot compress treatments, hoping that this three-pronged approach would yield better results.
To Miantang, however, this seemed like a form of torture. She could eat and sleep well and didn’t feel she was lacking anything, so why should she drink bitter medicine and endure acupuncture?
Perhaps due to the abundance of medicinal decoctions, she had consumed while recovering from her injuries, Miantang now found the mere smell of medicine intolerable and couldn’t drink even a drop.
Mama Li took the lead in gently coaxing her, but Miantang stubbornly refused to take the medicine.
To be honest, since her return, the Princess Consort had been glaring at people fiercely and was extremely stubborn, leaving Mama Li at her wit’s end.
Worst of all, the Prince, the only one capable of keeping the Princess Consort in check, had rarely been returning to the residence lately.
Because Master Xie had nearly been killed by the Japanese and had been threatened at knifepoint by Cui Xingzhou, he had become more compliant and increased the speed of shipbuilding.
The waters around Kou Island were also under increased patrol. The Prince of Huaiyang was determined not to let the Japanese escape back to the East, intending to engage in a life-or-death battle with Takatsukasa-ji before the typhoon season arrived.
Takatsukasa-ji hadn’t just kidnapped Liu Miantang; he had also caused her to completely forget her past with Cui Xingzhou. This pain, like being slowly cut by a thousand knives, tormented Cui Xingzhou and filled his heart with murderous intent.
However, his absence from the residence wasn’t solely due to his busy official duties. Now, every time he saw Liu Miantang’s unfamiliar gaze and her deliberate attempts to avoid him, Cui Xingzhou felt a heavy weight in his heart. Outside of his duties, he preferred to spend time in the military camp, sparring with the soldiers to distract himself.
After all, even if he returned home, Liu Miantang wouldn’t allow him to share her bed. Rather than feeling frustrated, he chose to avoid seeing her altogether.
Surprisingly, Zhao Quan, who was supposed to be administering acupuncture to Liu Miantang, often lingered in the military camp. This time, he had brought a pot of heated wine and a food box, intending to drink with Cui Xingzhou and Li Guangcai.
The Prince of Huaiyang, unable to bear seeing Zhao Quan idle, narrowed his eyes and asked, “Marquis of Zhennan, have you grown lazy again? Has the Princess Consort’s condition improved?”
The Marquis of Zhennan poured himself a cup of wine and drank it without any accompaniment.
Lately, he had found it difficult to part with this liquid courage. The ancient saying that alcohol emboldens the timid held.
After downing the cup, Zhao Quan choked up and asked Cui Xingzhou, “Xingzhou, we’ve been close friends for years. How can you be so heartless and watch me die? Every time I have to perform acupuncture on your beloved consort, I… I cry for half a day before I can leave. I hold the needles while she plays with a dagger in her hand. Once, when I applied a bit more pressure on an acupoint, she nearly stabbed the dagger between my fingers, almost severing them… I miss my mother. I want to go home, get married, and have children… *sob*…”
Before he could finish, Zhao Quan broke down into loud sobs.
Li Guangcai, surprised by the Marquis’s emotional outburst after just one cup of wine, hurriedly tried to console the tearful nobleman while ordering soldiers to prepare a sobering soup.
Cui Xingzhou ignored his weeping friend, lifted his cup, and downed it in one gulp.
If they were to compare, the inner sorrows of these two friends, though different, were equally heart-wrenching, like the melancholy of autumn wind and rain!
Soon, a soldier brought the sobering soup. The Marquis of Zhennan, still sniffling, took it, but after just one sip, he spat it out and glared at the soldier, “Did you bring me the dishwater from your kitchen? It smells rancid!”
The soldier looked helpless, “My Lord, this is indeed a specially prepared sobering concoction. It’s just that in the past, all the food in the commander’s tent was sent by the Princess Consort every few days, and we only needed to reheat it. The camp cooks don’t know how to make anything beyond stews and large pots of rice. Please make do with this…”
Ever since Miantang lost her memory, the kind and considerate Princess Consort they once knew was gone.
Hearing this, Zhao Quan involuntarily stopped his lament, realizing there were greater sorrows in the world.
Upon closer examination, his current situation didn’t seem so bad after all. He could eventually return home to his loving mother, wife, and children.
But now, looking at Cui Xingzhou’s wife, she seemed even worse than his former wife who was devoted to Buddhism. She completely neglected the Prince of Huaiyang’s needs.
Unable to sleep with or touch her, what kind of wife was that?
Li Guangcai, newly married himself, felt that the Prince’s situation was rather pitiful in comparison. After all, men on the frontlines often experienced both physical and mental exhaustion.
It was common for generals returning victorious from battle to bring back one or two women from the front as caring concubines. This was largely due to the need for care during such trying times.
But now, because of her memory loss, the Princess Consort had forgotten all her wifely duties. Although Beihai was a remote place, it didn’t lack beautiful women.
He feared that if the Princess Consort continued to neglect the Prince in this way, by the time she regained her memories, other women might already be taking care of the Prince.
Thinking this, Li Guangcai felt it would be best to give Liu Miantang a gentle reminder. Even if she couldn’t be as loving as before, she shouldn’t keep the Prince at such a distance.
However, as a man, he felt it inappropriate to speak of such matters directly. He decided to discuss it with Cui Fu and let her, as the Prince’s sister, do the talking.
As for Cui Fu, she initially didn’t believe that Miantang had lost her memory. But seeing her return without greeting her or sharing meals, and worse, barely wearing dresses anymore – instead dressing in hunting attire like a tomboy every day – it was as if she had become a different person.
Seeing Cui Xingzhou rarely returning home, Cui Fu also felt this couldn’t continue.
So one day, she specially prepared some purple sweet potato cakes and brought them to Miantang.
Miantang was in the courtyard, leading little Yi’er, who held a wooden sword, in some stretching exercises. In recent days, having watched his mother practice swordsmanship, Yi’er had picked up some rudimentary moves, his little mouth mimicking the “hoo-ha” sounds.
Seeing Cui Fu bringing food, Miantang cupped her hands in thanks and was about to eat. Fangxie, standing nearby, quickly handed a handkerchief to the Princess Consort, reminding her to wipe her hands before eating.
Over the past few days, thanks to the constant reminders from her maids, Miantang had come to understand the fastidious lifestyle she had led for the past three years.
When she first opened her wardrobe, she was stunned to see so many beautiful dresses, all belonging to her. The various gowns were even categorized for different occasions – home, outings, small gatherings, and grand banquets.
When alone in her room, she had secretly tried on a few and found them quite becoming. However, when leaving the courtyard, she still preferred her comfortable short jacket and long trousers.
In Miantang’s current understanding, she felt as if she had just come down from Yangshan Mountain and was accustomed to male attire. The sudden expectation to return to feminine dress and apply makeup made her uncomfortable.
Moreover… her so-called husband always wore a sour expression when he saw her, and recently he hadn’t even been coming home. What was the point of dressing up beautifully if no one was there to see?
So, Liu Miantang continued to dress according to her old habits, simply twisting her hair into a braid.
Cui Fu cleared her throat and smiled at Miantang, “Have you been feeling better these past few days? Any discomfort?”
Miantang picked up a piece of cake and said, “Thank you for your concern, Madam Cui. I’m feeling quite well now. Could you… perhaps tell the Prince of Huaiyang to stop prescribing medicine and acupuncture for me? That Marquis Zhao seems like a nice person, but he trembles every time he sees me, making me suspect he’s here to poison me. It’s quite uncomfortable…”
Hearing this, Cui Fu became displeased, “Don’t call me Madam, I’m your sister-in-law! And poison? Xingzhou would personally taste every morsel of food that enters your mouth if he could. You’re the apple of his eye, who would dare poison you?”
It had been a long time since Miantang had heard anyone describe her as the apple of someone’s eye, and her heart fluttered slightly at the words. Although he wasn’t staying at the residence, he still sent people daily to bring her favorite snacks and seafood.
Seeing Miantang’s expressionless face, Cui Fu thought the former bandit leader was stubborn and sighed, “Don’t think all the local women in Beihai are dark and thin. There are plenty of beautiful and voluptuous ones too! The local customs are quite open as well. Recently, there have been women coming to wash clothes and bathe in the stream near the military camp.
I heard they do it on purpose to attract men. When I went to bring food to our Guangcai, I saw it with my own eyes – those women were in the water wearing nothing but their undergarments! They were washing and singing… and those lyrics were all about ‘my love’ and ‘can’t sleep without a man’ that… It was utterly scandalous! Now that you’ve lost your memory and are neglecting your husband, if this goes on for too long, those barbaric local women will surely try to take advantage of the situation.”
Miantang’s gaze turned cold. She was well aware that some women were skilled at seizing opportunities. Hadn’t her good friend Sun Yunniang wormed her way into Ziyu’s study back then?
It was clear that when choosing a husband, one should never pick a man with good looks, lest one be constantly troubled by swarming bees and fluttering butterflies. She must have agreed to marry Cui Xingzhou only because she had lost her memory, right?
If she had remembered her past, she would never have chosen such a flowery-looking man… all style and no substance!
Though these were her thoughts, Miantang’s voice remained neutral as she asked, “What do you suggest I do, Madam?”
Cui Fu, thinking she had gotten through to her, said, “Naturally, you should care for your husband as you did before, bringing him food and drink. You’re so beautiful, if you walk near the military camp, those village women will understand the meaning of shame and curb their wanton behavior.”