In a flurry of excitement, the two plates became the center of a bidding war among several wealthy households. The price soared, eventually reaching an astonishing 230 taels of silver. Many affluent individuals who missed out on the auction left deposits with Mian Tang, intending to send people to Zhenzhou later to acquire more pieces.
The reputation of “Jade Kiln Porcelain Workshop” had now been firmly established in Qingzhou. Holding the hundred-tael banknote, Mian Tang felt that burning a few more incense sticks for the assassin deity would be entirely appropriate.
However, the question of how to safely return to Zhenzhou with such a large sum of money now posed a problem. Mian Tang suggested hiring escorts from a local security bureau, but Mama Li insisted they would be safe on their journey without wasting money on protection.
Mian Tang, however, felt that Mama Li underestimated the dangers of the world. Some expenses were necessary. Her maternal grandfather’s family ran a security bureau, so she was well aware of the various methods bandits used to rob travelers. If she were a bandit herself, she’d be tempted to rob someone as wealthy as she now was!
Despite Mama Li’s objections, Mian Tang spent ten taels of silver to hire two strong-armed guards from the security bureau to escort them back to Zhenzhou by river and carriage.
When Cui Xingzhou arrived at the North District residence for lunch between official duties, he noticed that Liu Niangzi, who usually greeted him at the door, was nowhere to be seen. He silently questioned Mama Li with his eyes, and she helplessly pointed to a tightly closed door, whispering, “She’s been like this since early this morning after exchanging the banknotes at the silver shop. She won’t even come out to eat!”
Cui Xingzhou raised an eyebrow and strode towards the room. He pushed the door, but it was barred from inside. Just as the Prince of Huaiyang was about to kick it open, suspecting some mischief, Liu Niangzi asked from within, “Who’s there?”
Cui Xingzhou replied curtly, “Me.”
The next moment, the bar was lifted, and a slender arm reached out from the crack in the door, pulling Cui Xingzhou inside. He saw that Liu Niangzi was wearing short pants and a short-sleeved shirt, her long hair hastily pinned up with a few hairpins. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and she was holding a small shovel.
Cui Jiu looked her up and down impassively, then asked, “What are you doing?”
Mian Tang, her arms aching from exhaustion, had been wondering how to proceed when her husband arrived, like a godsend. After carefully closing the door, she led him into the inner room and pointed to where the wooden bed had been moved aside. “I’m digging a deep hole here to hide money. You’ve come at the perfect time, husband. Help me continue digging!”
Cui Xingzhou looked at the half-dug shallow pit, then at the neatly stacked small mountain of silver ingots on the bed. He said coolly, “You should know that depositing silver in a bank would earn interest. Burying it under the bed is not only a waste of effort but also earns no profit.”
Mian Tang walked to the bed, gently caressing the shiny silver ingots, then said with a smile, “I’ve divided the money into three parts. One part is deposited in the bank to earn interest, another is for the shop to use as capital for purchasing fine goods. This part is for emergencies – our lifeline. It needs to be buried securely. Although the world seems peaceful now, if something unexpected happens and chaos breaks out, even bank owners might flee with their assets. Silver notes won’t buy you flatbread then… Husband, quickly! Help me dig!”
The unrest in Qingzhou had made Mian Tang cautious, believing it was best to have a backup plan. She had decided to bury the silver herself, not even trusting the household servants to help.
Cui Xingzhou, having spent half the day laboring in the military camp, had not come here to do manual labor. He wasn’t about to dig holes at Liu Niangzi’s behest. So, without responding, he took out his book, pushed the silver on the bed aside, stretched out his long legs, and began reading while half-reclining.
Seeing her husband’s inaction, Mian Tang wasn’t bothered. Only rural nouveaux riches would engage in burying silver, and asking her husband to do so would indeed be beneath his dignity. Fortunately, after resting for a while, her injured wrist had regained some strength. So, rather than disturbing her husband’s studies, she simply picked up the short shovel and continued digging.
Cui Xingzhou read for a while, but his gaze involuntarily shifted to the woman wielding the shovel. As the saying goes, “It’s easier to move mountains than to change one’s nature.” Although this woman had lost her memory, her love for money remained unchanged.
He recalled when he had fished her out of the water, severely injured. Not only did she have a cosmetics box with some jewelry in the bundle tied around her waist, but there were also silver notes wrapped in oiled paper and sealed with wax in the soles of her hemp-rope-bound shoes.
It seemed to fit her method of hiding money in multiple places, like a crafty rabbit with three burrows. Cui Xingzhou wasn’t a bandit, so after rescuing her, he had ordered her belongings to be placed by her bedside under the mattress.
Remembering that the first thing she did when she could move was to search for her possessions, the Prince of Huaiyang curled his lips in boredom.
The soil in the room had been compacted when the foundation was laid, making it hard and solid. Liu Mian Tang’s wrist had been severely injured, and she struggled even to hold bowls in daily life, let alone engage in such strenuous activity.
Before long, her slender arms began to tremble visibly. She kept her lips tightly closed as she dug, one small shovelful at a time. Large beads of sweat rolled down her smooth forehead, coursing merrily along her delicate neck before disappearing into her loose collar…
Cui Xingzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed unconsciously, and he quickly returned his gaze to his book.
The room was far from quiet. Liu Niangzi, doing the heavy work, was struggling to keep up, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Perhaps disturbed by Liu Niangzi’s labored breathing and unable to concentrate on his reading, Cui Jiu closed his eyes, trying to endure. Suddenly, he sprang up, removed his outer robe, tucked in the hem of his clothes, strode over, and snatched the short shovel from Liu Niangzi’s hands. He began digging with powerful strokes.
Men naturally possess greater strength than women, so it didn’t take long for Cui Xingzhou to finish digging the deep hole. He then handed the shovel back to Mian Tang and asked in a gentle tone, “Is this enough?”
Mian Tang, still basking in the sweetness of her husband’s capability, nodded obediently and said, “It’s perfect. There’s even room to bury more silver in the future!”
Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, Cui Jiu had already tossed aside the iron shovel and strode out of the room.
Liu Mian Tang shook her head helplessly. Her husband’s scholarly temperament made him impatient with such trivial matters. In the future, she’d have to hide money by herself.
That afternoon, Mama Li prepared perch, a fat salted duck, and even a soup with whole large shrimp. Now that the porcelain business had taken off, the dining table at the North Street residence had suddenly become more lavish, with no sign of the preserved radishes that had once been a staple.
During the meal, Mian Tang remembered the Qingzhou specialties she had bought for the neighbors and said to Cui Xingzhou, “Husband, after we finish eating, don’t forget to accompany me to visit our neighbors. We’ve been away on a long journey, so it would be nice to distribute some local specialties as a gesture of goodwill, thanking them for their care these past days.”
After the mundane task of digging a hole to bury money, the Prince of Huaiyang’s tolerance seemed to have increased slightly. Hearing Mian Tang’s feeble request, he glanced at her and, surprisingly, didn’t object.
So, after lunch, taking advantage of the time when neighbors had returned home for their meals, Mama Li carried baskets filled with prepared specialties, following behind the “couple” Cui Jiu and Mian Tang as they visited each household to deliver gifts.
North Street was bathed in the early summer sunlight, with colorful flowers from various households’ courtyard walls creating a vibrant, dappled scene.
Mian Tang wore a newly tailored light dress and sported a fashionable cloud-like hairstyle. She stood gracefully next to the scholarly man in his Confucian robes, greeting the neighbors with a gentle smile. They truly appeared to be a loving couple, like celestial beings among mortals.
This scene of summer romance reflected in the eyes of Yun Niang sitting in a carriage at the entrance of the street, seemed somewhat jarring.
The young maid Screen by Yun Niang’s side exclaimed in a low voice, “Miss, she… she’s still alive!”
Yun Niang, her usually gentle face now frosty, whispered back, “Shut up!”
Just then, the man next to Mian Tang suddenly looked up in their direction, his deep eyes piercing, startling Yun Niang. She immediately ordered the driver to quickly leave the alley.
Chastised by her mistress, Screen dared not speak carelessly. After a while, Yun Niang asked the carriage boy, “Are you sure the one selling porcelain in the market that day was Liu Mian Tang?”
The servant, Yan Chi, was Yun Niang’s confidant. He nodded quickly and said, “I followed the young master until I saw him stop at that porcelain stall. When I saw him talking to her, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I thought I had seen a ghost…”
Yun Niang glanced coldly at him and Screen, sneering, “In the future, if you see Liu Mian Tang again, try to stay calm. Whether she’s dead or alive has nothing to do with us. If you act suspiciously, won’t it look like we have guilty consciences?”
Screen hurriedly lowered her head in agreement but couldn’t help adding worriedly, “But if the young master insists on seeing her again… what should we do?”
Yun Niang’s long nails dug into her palm as she said coldly, “Didn’t Yan Chi say she berated the young master harshly that day? She probably won’t have anything to do with him anymore. Whether they meet or not, what does it matter? Besides, she’s married now. Although that merchant is of low status, he’s quite handsome… For a woman who has lost her martial arts, marrying such a man means she wants to live a stable life. Compared to her, that illegitimate daughter of General Shi is the one we need to worry about! If Liu Mian Tang doesn’t cause trouble, let her have a few days of peace…”
Screen nodded, saying that the miss indeed had everything under control.
However, Yun Niang’s face remained slightly dark as she thought of the smile on Mian Tang’s face earlier.
She didn’t seem at all dejected or resigned to a life with a common merchant. The resentment in Yun Niang’s eyes deepened slightly. “My dear sister,” she thought, “have you let go of everything and contentedly become a merchant’s wife?”
The ordinary carriage, seemingly having taken a wrong turn, lingered at the entrance of North Street for a moment before silently departing, just as it had arrived.
After finishing his neighborly duties, Cui Jiu could finally return to the residence for a good rest.
Mian Tang eagerly prepared tea for her husband, then sat at the foot of the bed to massage his legs. She cautiously probed, “Husband, you said all your clothes are temporarily kept at the chess pavilion. Although you need some clothes there for changing, shouldn’t we keep some at home too? Otherwise, I can’t wash or mend them for you. What kind of wife would I be if…”
Before she could finish, her eyes began to redden, as if she had suffered some endless grievance.
Cui Xingzhou glanced at her sideways, suspecting she might be feigning tears.