Lu Xian was anxious enough to climb walls, but he had no one to confide in or discuss these inner troubles. When the Prince of Huaiyang’s men summoned him, he could only steel himself and go.
Seeing the Prince of Huaiyang now was quite different from their casual drinking at the family banquet last time. The prince sat behind a desk piled with documents, wearing a jade crown and gold belt, his thick eyebrows furrowed as he lowered his head to review and approve papers, presenting an image of working tirelessly without rest.
Lu Xian entered and knelt to pay his respects, but the prince didn’t look up for a long time, leaving Lu Xian kneeling anxiously.
After quite a while, the prince finally raised his head and said coolly, “Why is Mr. Lu still kneeling? Please rise quickly.”
Lu Xian knew the prince was trying to intimidate him. But what was he, a mere commoner, in the face of such an illustrious prince? He could only hurriedly thank him for the favor but didn’t dare to stand up.
Cui Xingzhou waved his hand, calling Mo Ru to bring a chair for Lu Xian to sit on.
Only then did Lu Xian rise, perching on the edge of the chair.
Cui Xingzhou, appearing quite approachable, asked about Lu Xian’s previous injury and how his recovery was going, and inquired about the health of the Lu family elders.
When they had almost run out of small talk, Lu Xian couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “My unworthy niece has troubled Your Highness for too long. I was thinking of taking her back today to avoid disturbing Your Highness’s rest.”
Cui Xingzhou smiled, “She came to see me out of concern for my leg injury, so it’s not a bother. I’ve been taking care of her for more than a day or two, so a few more days won’t make a difference…”
These words left no room for response. Lu Xian steeled himself and didn’t engage with this topic, continuing, “If there’s nothing else, this lowly one will take his leave and bring my niece back.”
Cui Xingzhou leaned back in his chair, his long fingers tapping the desk, “I hear that matchmakers have been frequenting the Lu household lately. Is Mr. Lu in such a hurry to return to continue finding matches for Mian Tang?”
Lu Xian was inwardly startled, surprised that the Prince of Huaiyang knew about the Lu family’s activities. Unable to guess the prince’s intentions, he said softly, “That’s not it, we’re just worried about the elders at home…”
Cui Xingzhou nodded, “That’s good. Others may not know, but you, Mr. Lu, are aware that Mian Tang and I were husband and wife in all but the formal ceremony. How can two years of marital affection be forgotten so easily? It’s fine if she stays safely in the Lu family, but if someone were to quietly marry her off, where would that leave my face?”
Lu Xian was not a man of many words. Although he felt the prince’s words were somewhat absurd, he didn’t know how to refute them. Moreover, the prince spoke with such conviction that his words seemed to hold some truth.
But… according to his meaning, wouldn’t Mian Tang have to remain an old maid, unable to marry, for her entire life?
So he mustered his courage and said, “I can’t make decisions about Mian Tang’s marriage; it’s up to the elders in the family. As Your Highness said, Mian Tang wasn’t your wife by the formal ceremony. To put it bluntly… it was… it was an informal union, not recognized anywhere. Didn’t Your Highness release Mian Tang to return home back then, agreeing that her future marriage would be free, with no debts between you?”
Cui Xingzhou frowned, his voice cold, “You’re Mian Tang’s elder. How can you sully your own family’s daughter like this? Moreover, Mian Tang is the most proper person. If she knew you spoke of her this way, wouldn’t she be heartbroken? Furthermore, knowing she was with me, yet still intending to marry her off to another man, what are your intentions? If her future husband learns of this, how will he mistreat her?”
Lu Xian of course knew Mian Tang’s current predicament, but even if all the men in the world died, she still couldn’t marry the Prince of Huaiyang!
If Cui Xingzhou were to learn of Mian Tang’s past actions… Lu Xian broke into a cold sweat just thinking about it.
But when it came to sophistry, he was no match for the Prince of Huaiyang. Feeling anxious, his rough manners surfaced, and he glared as he asked, “Then is Your Highness’s intention to waste away our Mian Tang?”
Cui Xingzhou waved for Mo Ru to pour Lu Xian another cup of tea, “Listen to what Mr. Lu is saying. Mian Tang and I are just having a temporary disagreement. She can’t keep ignoring me out of spite forever, can she? It’s just that I’m currently busy with official duties and have no time for personal matters. But if someone were to take advantage of my devotion to the country and scheme to take away my woman, I would never allow it, even if I were to fall into the Yellow Springs!”
With this, the matter seemed settled. The general meaning was clear: Mian Tang could be taken home, but she couldn’t be married off!
When Lu Xian left the prince’s study, Mo Ru led him to a courtyard in the guest house. As soon as he entered, he saw Mian Tang removing the splints from her hands and feet.
In recent days, her limbs had regained much more strength compared to before. Although they couldn’t be as healthy as before her injury, they were more than sufficient for daily activities.
However, fearing that the tendons might shift again, she had kept them immobilized. Now that they were better, walking with splints was inconvenient, so she simply removed them.
Lu Xian didn’t bother asking about Mian Tang’s condition, instead urgently saying, “Why did you come here again? Do you know what he just told me?”
Mian Tang dismissed the maid attending her, and once they were alone, she said to her uncle, “Whatever the prince said, you should just treat it as nonsense. I’ve had Bicao and Fangxie pack our things. We can return to Xizhou at any time.”
Lu Xian slapped his thigh, “But he’s the Prince of Huaiyang! To us commoners, his words are like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. How can we treat them as nonsense? He… he means to forbid you from marrying anyone else!”
Mian Tang had already heard Cui Xingzhou’s domineering remarks, so she wasn’t surprised. She continued folding clothes while speaking pleasantly to her uncle, “He’s just trying to save face for now. Back in Wuning Pass, I shouldn’t have been the first to suggest leaving; I should have waited for him to ask me to go. Now the prince has lost face and can’t accept being abandoned first, so he needs to regain some dignity. He’s not getting any younger. Once the Northwestern campaign ends, his mother will arrange a marriage for him. Once he has a wife and children, how will he have time to concern himself with others?”
Mian Tang spoke lightly, but Lu Xian felt that Cui Xingzhou’s words didn’t seem like a joke, “What if he keeps thinking of you? Will you never marry? These past few days, have you and he…”
There were some things an uncle couldn’t ask. Lu Xian was so anxious his mustache twitched.
Mian Tang kindly helped her uncle out of his awkward position, “Since I know he’s not my husband, of course, I wouldn’t share a room with him. Now I’m just giving him some time to adjust, and we’ll gradually separate.”
Lu Xian had married according to his parents’ wishes. He had never heard of these ways of young people’s love affairs, separations, and reunions.
But seeing Mian Tang’s calm and relaxed demeanor, he felt that the situation might not be as serious as he had thought. However, not allowing Mian Tang to marry…
“If he never marries, does that mean you can’t find a husband? Girls aren’t like boys; they can’t afford to waste time!”
Mian Tang smiled gently, “Uncle, you worry too much. Even a reformed madam with money will have plenty of young men around her. I’m not ugly, so I’ll just earn more money in the future. Who knows, I might meet someone even more handsome than him…”
Lu Xian felt that Mian Tang had the same problem as her mother, only looking at a man’s appearance. The conversation suddenly turned to how to identify a man’s inner qualities.
Seeing her uncle distracted, Mian Tang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Cui Xingzhou’s regret over their hasty separation had also caught her by surprise.
But no matter what, she and he were not meant to be in this life. These days were just a fleeting beauty, like flowers reflected in a mirror or the moon in water, leaving some memories for both of them.
Since his leg wasn’t a problem, she could set her mind at ease.
In the future, she always had to remember that Cui Xingzhou wasn’t the down-and-out Cui Jiu she had thought him to be. This was a man destined for great things; his well-being wasn’t something she needed to worry about.
This time she had meddled and come here, provoking him. Next time she would learn her lesson and not concern herself with him at all.
According to Uncle Lu Xian’s wishes, they should leave immediately.
But Cui Xingzhou asked the uncle to stay for a few days, to enjoy Youzhou’s hot springs and delicacies before leaving.
The situation in the northwest had changed.
Lin Siyue—whose real name was Chunyue—had officially received an imperial title from Great Yan, becoming the female khan of the barbarian tribes. Agu Shan had been chased by Cui Xingzhou’s subordinates all the way north of the Snow Mountains and was no longer a threat.
In less than a year, Cui Xingzhou had pacified the northwest, his military achievements glorious. By rights, he should return to the capital to report and transfer military power.
But now, because of his leg injury, he could legitimately recuperate in Youzhou, enjoying a rare period of leisure after nearly a year.
Although it was only early February, Youzhou, being in a basin, enjoyed an especially mild and warm spring. The slopes outside Youzhou city were covered with vast fields of butterfly flowers.
Purple painted the hillsides, forming an immense sea of flowers, attracting many couples to go sightseeing. When they encountered lush flower clusters, they would spread out mats, sit on the ground, drink their own wine and cold dishes, and appreciate the beauty of spring.
The Prince of Huaiyang traveled in plain clothes. Although he had many servants with him, they looked no different from the wealthy young men traveling in groups.
However, his leg injury hadn’t fully healed, so he still walked with a cane.
From a distance, the handsome young man in a jade crown and scholar’s robe, walking with a limp, truly evoked a sense of regret in onlookers.
The white-robed woman standing beside this distinguished young man was even more eye-catching.
Women in spring often favored bright, colorful dresses. However, when the flowers were in full bloom, overly bright dresses could detract from their radiance.
But this white figure standing amidst a sea of pale purple flowers was just right. Combined with her beauty, slender waist, and black hair in a bun, when she turned to gaze, observers couldn’t help but hold their breath, feeling as if a spirit had sprung to life from the flowers.
Lu Xian didn’t go with them, instead sitting on a mat not far from the pair.
The couple standing by the river seemed to be talking about something. Mian Tang appeared to have made the Prince of Huaiyang laugh heartily, but his niece still seemed quite angry.
Next, the prince, in a manner not quite befitting etiquette, reached out to hold Mian Tang’s hand, swinging her arm back and forth as if coaxing a child.
Lu Xian watched anxiously, immediately standing up to rush over and separate them.
But before he could stand, he was tripped by the servant Mo Ru: “Oh, Mr. Lu, the wine has just been warmed for you. Please drink it while it’s hot!”
Lu Xian was so anxious he stuttered, “Dr-dr-drink what? He… he’s hol-hol-holding…”
Mo Ru looked in the direction he was pointing. By now, the prince was no longer holding Miss Liu’s hand. Instead, they were both crouching by the riverbank, using a tree branch to write something on the shore.
Their heads were quite close together, whispering something, looking every bit like young lovers on a spring outing, sharing an intimate moment.
Moru looked at the couple, thinking they were truly a sight for sore eyes. He then turned to Lu Xian and said, “To be frank, back at Wuning Pass, if you hadn’t suddenly appeared, our Prince and Miss Liu were getting along well. But when you came, everything fell apart. You didn’t even say goodbye before quietly taking her away… You left our Prince sleepless at night! Fortunately, our Prince is a man of great talent, strong willpower, and capability, who drove the barbarians to flee in panic. Otherwise, just for quietly taking Miss Liu away and disturbing the Prince’s peace of mind, you could be charged with the crime of disrupting military morale!”
Lu Xian was too straightforward and was so angered by Moru’s words that he choked, unable to speak: “Charge… charge…”
Bicao, who was listening nearby, couldn’t stand it anymore and immediately came to her master’s defense: “Charge your big ghostly head! Our Prince is always polite to our master, yet you little devil dare to fabricate stories! May I ask, Master Mo, are you a general or a marshal now, that you speak of charging people with crimes at every turn?”
Moru wasn’t willing to back down and immediately started arguing with Bicao.
Finally, Mama Li’s face darkened, and she said in a low voice, “What kind of talk is this? If you keep arguing, you’ll all go back and receive the paddle!” This finally stopped their bickering.
However, by this time, Lu Xian looked again and saw that the couple had already walked quite far. He stepped to the riverbank where they had been and saw a flamboyantly written poem on the ground: “Last night’s dream unfinished, only remembering the lone lamp’s faint light. Reunion brief as a chink in time, hoping one day we’ll be paired swallows…”
The poem was truly passionate!
In his youth, Lu Xian had never written poems to flirt with girls. But his father had said that pretentious scholars were the most shameless, able to openly write about what should be unspoken feelings between men and women. Worse still, they might even create some eternal famous line passed down through generations.
Those who could write such sour words were not proper people!
Now it seemed his father was indeed wise. But young girls always fell for this trick.
Lu Xian truly feared that his niece would once again be bewitched by the Prince of Huaiyang’s sour poems, unable to resist his persistence and agreeing to become his concubine.
The Prince of Huaiyang had been inspired to write the poem on the beach. In the past, when his cousin wrote poems to express her feelings under the moonlight, he had been visibly impatient, thinking who had time to compose such things.
But now he discovered that he could effortlessly write such romantic poems.
Unfortunately, Mian Tang didn’t appreciate it. After seeing the poem, she became unhappy instead.
“Always puffing up your face like a bun. Didn’t we agree to only think about happy things today and not mention anything unpleasant?” Cui Xingzhou said, holding her hand as they walked.
Mian Tang looked very beautiful even when angry. The rippling water by the riverside made her face glow, her eyebrows shrouded in a spiritual light.
Mian Tang sighed and said, “There are too many matters at the escort agency that I need to handle personally. I really can’t delay. Please understand, Your Highness, and allow my uncle and me to return tomorrow.”
Cui Xingzhou paused and said, “Didn’t we agree that you would stay for a while longer?”
Mian Tang lowered her head, her eyelids drooping, and said, “That was just you saying it. I never agreed.”
Cui Xingzhou drawled, “In the past, whenever I had to leave, you were always so reluctant to part. What’s different now? You’re eager to get away from me…”
Mian Tang turned her face away and said coldly, “I was foolish before, not knowing I was being deceived. Now I’ve grown a year older, I can’t always be so stupid. If Your Highness feels dissatisfied, you can find someone else. With your looks and talents, you can easily find plenty of women willing to sew your clothes, cook your meals, and be your devoted wife.”
Cui Xingzhou took a deep breath, knowing he had no chance of winning if the conversation turned in this direction. He softened his tone and gently patted her back, saying, “Alright, I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have deceived you. If you want to leave, I won’t try to keep you. Anyway, it won’t be long before I go to Xizhou… Don’t think about anything. I’ll arrange everything for the future. When we return to Zhenzhou, everything will be as you wish…”
Mian Tang didn’t say anything. She was determined never to return to Zhenzhou with him. If he still harbored thoughts of taking her as a concubine, he would have to give up one day.
The next day, Mian Tang boarded the ship with her uncle. Unlike her secret departure from Wuning Pass, this time Cui Xingzhou personally saw them off at the dock.
“This time, I’m having Mama Li accompany you back,” Cui Xingzhou said, pointing to Mama Li who was standing nearby with her luggage.
When Mian Tang heard he wanted Mama Li to come along, she immediately said, “That’s not necessary. The Lu family has plenty of servants. I’m not short of people to serve me.”
She now understood that Mama Li was Cui Xingzhou’s eyes and ears to monitor her, so no matter how good the old woman’s cooking was, she didn’t dare to keep her!
But Cui Xingzhou said, “If you’re not short of people to serve you, why have you gotten so thin? Every few days you want to eat Mama Li’s specialty dishes, complaining that the Lu family’s cooks aren’t skilled enough. Now that I’m sending her with you, you can have whatever you want to eat. Also… if you want to learn some etiquette, Mama Li can teach you wholeheartedly. A young lady can’t just learn martial arts without knowing proper etiquette.”
Hearing this, Mian Tang politely expressed that she was just running an escort agency, and even drinking tea from teacups with her employees felt pretentious – drinking from big bowls was more satisfying. The etiquette Mama Li would teach was probably for ladies attending tea parties. She likely wouldn’t have use for it in the future.
Seeing her contradict him again, Cui Xingzhou’s face darkened and he said, “In any case, I’m assigning her to you. If you don’t like her, you can sell her to a slave trader.”
As the Prince of Huaiyang said this, Mama Li stood nearby, her back straight. Even when the Prince said he would sell her to a slave trader, her eyebrows didn’t move a bit.
This was truly the demeanor of a royal household’s headmaid, unmoved by favor or disgrace, unshaken by storms!
However, the old woman’s gaze towards Miss Liu was deep, and her face was dark.
Mian Tang felt that Mama Li was quite old, and it wouldn’t be good for her to be frightened, so she immediately turned to her and said, “The Prince is joking. How could I sell you, Mama…”
Mama Li bowed formally and said, “The Prince is right. If Miss feels that this slave is not loyal or diligent enough, not to mention selling me, even beating me to death would be appropriate!”
This beating servants to death must also be a family tradition of those noble houses. Mama Li said it as casually as if she were eating crispy beans.
Hearing this, Fangxie and Bicao shrank their necks.
Because when Mama Li had scolded them before, she had said more than once that with their incompetent behavior, if they had entered a prince’s or marquis’s household, they would have been rolled up in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave long ago!
Before, they thought Mama Li was joking, but now they belatedly realized that when Mama Li said these things, she was exuding a murderous aura.
Thinking that the dark-faced old woman was coming with them again, both little maids looked a bit dejected.
Next, the Prince of Huaiyang gave a series of worried instructions.
Most importantly, if she received his reply letter, she must respond promptly. The previous behavior of not even accepting his letters was intolerable!
After finally boarding the ship, Lu Xian looked at the Prince of Huaiyang, who was still standing at the dock without leaving, and asked Mian Tang apprehensively, “Do you think the Prince can truly let go?”
Mian Tang didn’t speak, but walked to the bow of the ship and silently watched the ripples stirred up on both sides of the boat.
Whether he let go or not was his business. But in her own life, she had to plan and live herself.
When she got back, she would have to work hard to save money.
Because being an old maid due to his entanglement wasn’t scary, what was scary was being both old and poor.
Thinking this way, this separation didn’t feel as outwardly calm but inwardly heavy as the first time.
So it seemed that Cui Xingzhou’s proposal to gradually get used to separation was indeed somewhat effective. Mian Tang felt that even before returning, she already had a lot of things to do.
The boat journey continued without incident, and after some days, they reached the territory of Xizhou.
When Mian Tang left, she had said she was going to handle business for the escort agency. Although this had worried the old master somewhat, it was reasonable. Only the eldest master had seemed extremely worried and had chased after her, but others didn’t find it unusual.
However, this time when Miss Liu returned, she brought back a dark-faced mama. This caused Lu Qingying to pout and say, “How grand she’s become! Two maids aren’t enough to serve her, so she’s even bought an old woman! I think she looks more like an official’s daughter than the county magistrate’s daughter!”
At that time, the second branch of the family was having a meal. Hearing his daughter’s sour words, Lu Mu glared at her and said, “That Marquis Zhao has taken a liking to Mian Tang. When she becomes a noble concubine in the marquis’s household, of course, she’ll have more prestige than you, the granddaughter of a county magistrate! Your cousin is formidable. If you say such things in front of her, see if she’ll let you off easily!”
Lu Qingying pursed her lips and said, “Father, you’re thinking too well of it. Can everyone the Marquis likes be brought into his household? I heard from Young Master Fan that Marquis Zhao has many concubines in his house. What’s noble or not, when there are so many, they’re all cheap… Maybe the marquis just wants a brief affair with her!”