Mian Tang’s entire bowl of bird’s nest soup with eggs hadn’t gone to waste, as it sustained her until noon. Outside, the sun blazed brightly, yet Mian Tang was almost snoring in her sleep. Even when she had been chased all over Yangshan by Cui Xingzhou’s men, she hadn’t felt this exhausted. Back then, she couldn’t have imagined that falling into the hands of her sworn enemy, the Prince of Huaiyang, could be so…
Meanwhile, the Prince of Huaiyang was in high spirits, having rid himself of a great toxin. He tried to coax Mian Tang to get up and eat before going back to sleep, but his beloved consort mercilessly kicked him in the face.
Cui Xingzhou didn’t mind. He lovingly tucked her delicate feet back under the covers, then went to eat and continued handling official business.
Now that the pirate island had been pacified, internal threats remained unresolved. If the Japanese hadn’t colluded with corrupt elements in the court, they wouldn’t have become so brazen in the North Sea.
The five cannons made of refined iron involved artillery-casting techniques recorded in the capital’s Weapons Manufacturing Bureau. Without someone secretly providing these confidential blueprints, the Japanese at Takatsuji couldn’t have cast such precise cannons, even with refined iron.
The urgent task was to find evidence of Shi Yikuan’s collusion with foreign enemies and expose the Imperial Father-in-law’s true nature.
Unfortunately, Yingsi, whose legs were crushed by the cannon, was a tough man who refused to confess despite torture. However, some of his subordinates were less resilient. After severe torture, they finally admitted that General Yingsi had special channels to obtain various weapons and ship designs. This explained why their ships were always more agile and faster than the local North Sea navy’s vessels.
However, they genuinely didn’t know the identity of the mysterious person providing Yingsi with the blueprints, as only the general had direct contact with them.
As for the two fleeing imperial envoys who had leaked the North Sea navy’s deployment date, they had fulfilled their purpose and were captured without incident by Cui Xingzhou’s men. The Prince of Huaiyang politely requested that they endure temporary discomfort in prison carts, accompanying Yingsi and his Japanese cohorts to the capital’s judicial office to thoroughly explain their collusion.
Cui Xingzhou had already detailed these circumstances in a memorial sent directly to the imperial court.
News of the complete annihilation of the North Sea pirates and the undamaged capture of the Japanese warships quickly reached the capital. The people were elated, and tales of the Prince of Huaiyang’s valor were embellished into various stories, enthusiastically recounted by storytellers in teahouses throughout Da Yan.
After restoring order and eliminating the Japanese remnants, Cui Xingzhou piled the captured Japanese goods in the small parade ground. He tasked Mian Tang and a group of military dependents with sorting and distributing items to nearby villagers who had suffered the most in recent years.
The common people lived in abject poverty. Many poor families had girls aged twelve or thirteen without even cloth skirts to cover themselves, using only locally available palm leaves woven into fine cords to make skirts around their waists.
In contrast, the resources on the pirate island and the plundered goods from merchant ships formed small mountains. After setting aside items for the national treasury, ordinary fabrics and utensils were registered and distributed to local impoverished civilians as a gesture of gratitude for their support of the Zhenzhou soldiers.
Su Xing, the previously aloof official, now actively helped set up awnings for the princesses to sort items, showing uncharacteristic thoughtfulness. He declared that having witnessed the Da Yan army expel the barbarians, he could die contentedly in the North Sea.
Mian Tang was well-versed in this task, finding it similar to her past Robin Hood-like activities on Yangshan. She never imagined she’d return to her old profession after being “recruited” by the Prince of Huaiyang.
Though Cui Fu wasn’t visibly pregnant yet, Mian Tang had a lounge chair placed in the grass hut for her to rest and enjoy cold coconut yogurt while watching the bustling activity.
Liu Mian Tang sat atop a ladder with an oil-paper umbrella, overseeing the entire operation. She directed people on how to sort items and occasionally reminded some opportunistic women to be careful.
“Mrs. Zhou An, handle those tea sets with the reversed garden prints on the bottom gently. They’re valuable, and ordinary folks won’t know how to use them properly. Breaking one would waste a hundred taels of silver. We’ve won such a great victory, so we should let the Emperor and the court see some nice things. Those are to be presented to the Emperor, so don’t put them on the wrong list…”
She took a sip of water from a small porcelain teapot, then glanced around and continued, “And Mrs. Li Shan, what are you sitting on? How many times do I have to tell you? Every time you see nice fabric, you try to keep it for yourself. The officers’ rewards will be calculated separately by the Prince. You’ve been sitting on so much, that it’s almost lifting you to the sky! Don’t worry, you’ll have enough fabric for fresh foot bindings every day!”
Her words elicited laughter from the military dependents in the small square. Mrs. Li Shan sheepishly explained that she was only using the fabric as a cushion because the ground was cold.
Amidst the laughter, someone suddenly rushed over. “Princess, Young Miss, terrible news!” Mo Ru arrived, panting and sweating profusely.
Mian Tang frowned, “What’s the matter? Speak slowly, don’t be so flustered.”
Mo Ru swallowed and said, “News from home in Zhenzhou… they say… they say the Old Consort is dying…”
Upon hearing this, Cui Fu immediately stood up, her body swaying slightly.
Mian Tang quickly descended the ladder to support Cui Fu, frowning as she asked, “What exactly happened?”
Mo Ru shook his head, “I can’t explain it clearly right now. Please, Princess and Young Miss, hurry back to the mansion to discuss it in detail with the Prince.”
When Cui Fu and Mian Tang anxiously returned to the mansion by sedan chair, they found Cui Xingzhou and Li Guangcai sitting together, discussing matters with serious expressions.
Before even entering, Cui Fu tremblingly asked, “What… what happened to my mother?”
Li Guangcai quickly stood up to support her arm, comforting her, “Don’t worry, the Honored Mother-in-law has just caught a cold. With the care of famous doctors, she’ll recover soon.”
Cui Fu took the family letter and read it. She learned that her mother had recently caught a chill at a banquet. At first, she only felt sensitive to cold, but later experienced back pain and chest discomfort. Recently, while walking in the palace garden, she had fallen. If the head steward hadn’t promptly called for the palace doctor to administer Danshen tablets to sustain her life, she might not have regained consciousness.
The head steward dared not conceal the Old Consort’s condition from the Prince and immediately sent a message via express courier.
Normally, even for important court officials, if a parent fell seriously ill, the Emperor would prioritize filial piety and allow the official to return home. After all, being unable to attend to one’s parents in their final moments was considered an intolerable moral flaw.
Given the circumstances, Cui Xingzhou should return to Zhenzhou to visit his mother. If the Consort couldn’t overcome this crisis and passed away, as a son, he would need to return home to observe a three-year mourning period and could not serve in court during that time.
Liu Mian Tang couldn’t clearly remember her mother-in-law, the Consort, and naturally didn’t feel much emotional distress. However, on the way back, she had constantly heard Cui Fu talk about how healthy her mother was, looking even younger than some women in their thirties. How could she suddenly fall so gravely ill?
Hearing this, Mian Tang suddenly thought that if the Consort was seriously ill, perhaps Imperial Father-in-law Shi could take advantage of Cui Xingzhou’s absence from court to overturn the ironclad evidence and escape a great calamity…
But now wasn’t the time to consider such matters. Fortunately, fearing the need to flee in case of defeat, their luggage was already packed.
Cui Xingzhou planned to depart the next day, taking his family back to Zhenzhou first. After assessing his mother’s condition, he would decide whether to return to the capital.
That evening, after playing with little Yi’er for a while and having the nanny take him away to sleep, Cui Xingzhou suddenly said to Mian Tang, “I just received news that there was an assassination attempt on the two imperial envoys and Yingsi while they were being escorted to the capital…”
Mian Tang frowned and said, “Imperial Father-in-law Shi is desperate, trying to eliminate the human evidence of Yingsi and the two envoys to cover up his crime of colluding with the Japanese and framing you. Did they succeed?”
Cui Xingzhou lowered his eyes and said, “These assassins acted very strangely, like specially trained suicide soldiers who feared neither life nor death. They all wore explosive packs and, when unable to break through, would ignite the explosives to die alongside the guards. I sent many guards, including skilled fighters, yet they managed to blast open a path with their flesh and blood. Oddly enough… the assassins only targeted Yingsi and didn’t attempt to kill the two envoys… In the end, Yingsi was blown to pieces.”
Mian Tang listened, perplexed. By her calculation, the strongest evidence of Yingsi’s collusion with the Japanese was the two envoys, as they had intentionally leaked military intelligence to Yingsi.
It made no sense for the suicide soldiers to only kill Yingsi while leaving the two living witnesses alive.
Could it be that these assassins weren’t sent by Imperial Father-in-law Shi? If not, who sent them? And what deadly secret were they trying to conceal?
After pondering for a while, Mian Tang asked, “Did you examine Yingsi’s study on the island where he handled his correspondence?”
Cui Xingzhou replied, “I ordered all items from his study to be brought back. I’ve reviewed all his letters, including those written in Japanese, which were translated. There is indeed evidence of correspondence with Imperial Father-in-law Shi regarding iron ore smuggling, but no mention of the five large cannons.”
Mian Tang listened and fell into silent contemplation. Still unable to draw any conclusions, she said to Cui Xingzhou, “I… I’d like to examine Yingsi’s belongings. Perhaps I can discover something.”
The night was chilly. Cui Xingzhou took a large cloak and draped it over Mian Tang’s shoulders. Hand in hand, they left the room and walked under the twinkling stars and cold moonlight to a courtyard.
Several guards were stationed at the entrance of the courtyard.
Mian Tang and Cui Xingzhou entered the room and lit candles. They saw neatly stacked letters and various objects categorized on the desk and floor, clearly having been meticulously examined.