With the Stone family’s downfall, their pregnant daughters in the palace lost their influence. However, Empress Stone, due to her distant relationship with her family, remained unaffected.
Liu Yu, now wielding imperial power, had purged his old subordinates from Yangshan. Finally, he could unleash his ambitions.
Cui Xingzhou, however, only wished to retire and live peacefully with Mian Tang.
Mian Tang was an intoxicating fruit, constantly catching Liu Yu’s eye. There was a risk he might develop designs on her.
Thus, after Liu Yu stabilized the capital’s political situation, Prince of Huaiyang Cui Xingzhou resigned from his military post, relinquishing command of the Northern Sea Fleet, and returned to his hometown with his wife.
Cui Xingzhou’s timely withdrawal at the height of his favor preserved a tale of harmonious relations between ruler and subject.
As they boarded the ship leaving the capital, Cui Xingzhou stood at the bow, embracing Mian Tang’s slender waist. He whispered in her ear, “When we return to Zhenzhou, I’ll take you back to North Street. You must manage the business well to support your husband.”
Mian Tang thought she couldn’t be so incompetent as to lose money supporting a pretty boy.
Yet, as she turned to look at her husband Cui Jiu, his features as enchanting as distant mountains, she realized keeping him in her small courtyard would indeed be delightful.
She hugged his waist in return, whispering, “Since you’re eating my food, you’d better put in the effort. If you don’t serve me well at night, don’t blame me for not supporting you…”
Cui Xingzhou mused that the former Miss Liu would never have uttered such outrageous words.
Back then, she had willingly supported him, even fearing to hurt his male pride!
With such a mischievous wife, he, as her husband, naturally had to take on the task of educating her. This offense of improper speech would require at least three days and nights of punishment in bed…
With this thought, he scooped up the still-giggling Mian Tang and carried her into the cabin, saying softly, “Little Yi is grown now. Shouldn’t you give him a sweet little sister?”
Hearing this, Mian Tang hesitated, her eyes widening, “Giving birth… won’t it be very painful?”
“Not at all. You’ll deliver more easily than a cow!”
“Cui Xingzhou, how dare you insult me like that!”
“No, I’m praising you. If you don’t believe me, try having another one…”
Laughter filled the cabin, accompanied by the sound of waves as they journeyed south.
This episode became a favorite tale for later generations. Some commented that the Prince of Huaiyang was truly a blessed general, always maintaining his stance through several palace upheavals, never boasting of his military achievements – a minister for the ages.
Six years after his military resignation, Emperor Liu Yu, whose liver had been damaged by poisoned wine in his youth and who suffered from accumulated exhaustion, fell gravely ill. On his deathbed, he issued an edict summoning the Prince of Huaiyang to be the chief regent, assisting Crown Prince Liu Zhong.
During his regency, Cui Xingzhou, along with two other regents, served diligently, wholeheartedly supporting the young emperor.
When rumors spread that the Prince of Huaiyang harbored ulterior motives and sought to monopolize power, Empress Dowager Stone defied popular opinion and showed unprecedented favor towards him.
When the young ruler turned sixteen, the Prince of Huaiyang voluntarily relinquished his regency, moving the young emperor to tears, nearly kneeling to beg the regent to stay.
This touching story of mutual affection between ruler and subject once again went down in history!
When the Prince of Huaiyang retired to Zhenzhou again, he often lingered in North Street of Lingquan Town, just as he had in his earlier years there.
In the summer afternoons on North Street, cicadas chirped loudly, jujube flowers bloomed brilliantly, and the fragrance of stewed radish wafted from courtyards.
Though Cui Jiu had reached middle age, he was like a mellow wine or aged incense, his charm only deepening. Dressed in a loose robe, he exuded an ineffable scholarly elegance.
Sitting opposite this refined man was a stunningly beautiful woman of indeterminate age, wearing a short lotus-colored jacket. Her long hair was held up by a single jade hairpin, and two pearl earrings like water droplets swayed at her earlobes, accentuating her snow-white neck.
However, this vision of beauty furrowed her brow, seemingly faced with an unsolvable problem. She glared at the handkerchief in her hand, embroidered with ducks instead of mandarin ducks, realizing her embroidery skills hadn’t improved in decades.
She quickly glanced at the immortal-like figure across from her, pretending to be engrossed in his abacus. Seeing that he hadn’t looked at her once, she finally couldn’t hold back her frustration and exclaimed, “Can you stop pretending to be so serious, Regent? I’m getting tired just watching you!”
Cui Xingzhou leisurely raised his head, holding up the account book, “Didn’t you say you’d stop being angry if I sorted out your accounts?”
Liu Mian Tang tossed aside her handkerchief, raising an eyebrow, “When did I ever say that? To think I used to praise your sincerity to everyone. I never imagined you’d be such a big liar!”
One should never do anything to betray one’s conscience, lest heaven fail to forgive.
That despicable Cui had taken advantage of her forgotten three years to tell countless lies. When he first brought her back to North Street, he deceived her, claiming that she had lusted after his beauty uncontrollably and attacked him at night, forcing him to submit to her desires.
To jog her memory, he insisted on reenacting the scene where she had allegedly forced herself on him.
Mian Tang now wished she could erase that shameful process from her memory with a spoon. To her chagrin, she had fully believed his words at the time and, dissatisfied with the lack of detail in their “reenactment,” had insisted on practicing several times…
Looking back, she realized she had thoroughly indulged that lying lecher!
Besides this, similar scandalous scenes of reversed roles were scattered throughout their small courtyard – in the kitchen, by the stove, on the desk, and the swing. For a time, Mian Tang had deeply doubted her character, wondering why she had been so lustful and absurd.
Just a few days ago, she had awakened feeling unusually clear-headed. The medicine prescribed by that mediocre doctor Zhao Quan had finally taken effect, and she suddenly recalled those three years. Thinking of how she had been deceived all these years, old grudges mixed with new, and she nearly wanted to eat him alive.
This alarmed their thirteen-year-old daughter Cui Ling’er, who believed it to be true and secretly ran with her brother to tell their grandmother that Mother wanted to divorce Father.
Seeing his wife upset again, Cui Jiu simply smiled and embraced her, saying, “Haven’t I already apologized? Besides, didn’t you always end up enjoying it immensely? If you’re still angry, shall we do it all over again in reverse?”
Mian Tang felt that Cui Jiu was truly a born merchant, always profiting either way. She couldn’t help but laugh as she pounded his chest, saying, “Get away from me…”
Cui Xingzhou took the opportunity to kiss his lovely wife’s cherry lips. Though he kissed this woman almost daily, he never tired of it.
After their brief moment of intimacy, Liu Mian Tang leaned against him and asked, “I heard that a few days ago, the Emperor snuck out of the palace and insisted on coming to Zhenzhou to find you. Is that true?”
Cui Xingzhou snorted coldly, “He’s not missing this old minister at all. He clearly has designs on our Ling’er. The little lecher is just like his late father!”
Just then, footsteps were heard at the courtyard gate. A delicately beautiful young girl eagerly entered, carrying a birdcage, and called out loudly, “Father, Mother! Look what Brother Zhao Xi gave me!”
Behind Cui Ling’er followed a boy with a foolish grin – Zhao Xi, the legitimate son of Marquis Zhao Quan of Zhennan, a year younger than Cui Ling’er.
Mian Tang watched with amusement as Cui Xingzhou’s face soured even further.
As their daughter grew, the Prince of Huaiyang inevitably found the world suddenly full of detestable young boys, disliking them all.
Her daughter had inherited her mother’s beauty and was attracting quite a lot of attention!
At that moment, smoke rose gently from the small courtyard. Soon, their eldest son Cui Yi would return from the academy with his cousin for dinner.
Zhao Xi, thick-skinned as he was, seemed likely to stay for dinner as well.
In these peaceful days, which she felt she had seen before in her dreams, Mian Tang wished for nothing more than this simple happiness to last forever.