The Possession of My Beloved

But Liu Miantang didn’t know that she unintentionally offended her husband. She just concentrates on talking about her trip today, so that her husband can know.

Cui Xingzhou frowned, listening to the third lady of the He family infatuation was bound out of favor, and felt that he needs to correct Lady Liu’s prejudice.

Because he didn’t make the mistake that Miantang said. Hearing her misunderstanding, Prince Huaiyang felt inexplicably uncomfortable, so he said, “How can a merchant woman like Lady He recognize Prince Huaiyang? Should it be that she was deceived by some rogue and mistaken it herself?”

Miantang was just chatting with her husband. Seeing that he was so serious, she said, “Lady He is not a lady in the boudoir who doesn’t step out of the gate, and she should not be able to recognize the wrong person. It’s just that I have no idea what Prince Huaiyang looks like, which can make He Zhen lose her thoughts and rather give up her lifelong happiness? In my opinion, she just didn’t see enough good men. If she meets someone like you, she will know that Prince Huaiyang is not worth mentioning.”

TL/Notes: HAHAHAHA!! I wonder how will Miantang feel when she finds out that Prince Huaiyang who she always “bad-mouth” was actually her husband.

Her words made Cui Jiu’s face turns a little better. The topic of He Zhen’s non-marriage has come to an end.

However, after the event, Prince Huaiyang took advantage of his return to his residence for dinner at the beginning of the month and called Steward Gao to inquire.

After thinking about it for a while, the steward recalled the intersection between The Prince and the He family. It seems that when Cui Xingzhou’s sister Cui Fu was getting married, various shops came to show samples of their shop’s distinctive dowries, including the He family.

At that time, when the society in the State of Zhen was at its worst, the He family encountered robbers on the way. Fortunately, The Prince led the soldiers and save the He family’s chariots and horses on their way.

Steward Gao has a good memory. If he remembers correctly, the third daughter of the He family should have been in the carriage and witnessed the Young Prince’s heroism

Speaking of this, the steward also looked carefully at The Prince, and he was unclear why The Prince suddenly thought of asking such aged things.

However, to attract such a big customer as The Prince’s Residence, many shops tend to give some gifts to the steward during the Spring Festival so as to let the stewards put on some good words for them thus, the steward naturally knows that the third daughter of the He family is reluctant to get married.

Now, hearing The Prince suddenly ask, it is inevitable to suspect that the marriage star in the sky is moving, which leads to the red line for Lady He, whose favor is bound out being infatuated.

Thinking that The Prince just ordered him to send tonics to the outer mansion on the North Street of Lingquan Town. Maybe there is a woman there who is pregnant. If she’s carrying a baby, she won’t be able to serve for the time being.

The Prince did not idle either. Here he is, finding the next beauty.

The Ninth Master must have inherited the legacy of the Old Prince’s loose personality, and even excelled at the blue!

Thinking of this, the steward couldn’t help sighing secretly for Lady Lian in the mansion. It’s not easy to be the head Princess Consort of the residence! He wonders if the Ninth Master can defeat his father by holding a group of concubines in the house of the Royal Residence in the future…

Lian Binglan also got the news.

She is the future hostess of The Prince’s Residence. There is no need to deliberately give benefits and someone will come to flatter her with information secretly.

The nourishing list sent to North Street was copied into Lian Binglan’s hand before it was sent out.

Looking at those tonics that are for the preparation for pregnancy, Lian-Chu panicked. She slammed on the table and say to her daughter, “Your thinking is more considerate than me in other things, but you are still too poor in dealing with men! Think about it, The Prince is in his prime, but he hasn’t gotten married after so long. If you don’t arrange a person to serve beside him, he naturally wants to find it by himself. In the beginning, I wanted to let Lian Xiang serve The Prince, but you just won’t agree. Now, he’s getting obsessed with the seduction of the vixen, which makes him short-sighted. Is… Is he going to let the mistress outside get pregnant before you? ”

Lian Binglan had a rage in her heart. But she force herself to calm down and said, “Isn’t that person in North Street going to go out of favor too? The young servant boy next to Steward Gao came to me and said that The Prince seemed to be more interested in the third daughter of the He family…”

Lian-Chu was even angrier after hearing this to the extent that she was going to tell her sister immediately about the absurd things her son had done.

But Lian Binglan stopped her mother, “Mom, what’s the use of talking to the Old Princess Consort? My cousin is not controlled by the Old Princess Consort at all. It will be useless except annoys my cousin…”

Lian-Chu knew this, but she shook her head helplessly and thought, “Then why don’t you tell me, what should we do?”

Lian Binglan tightly pursed her mouth and said, “Didn’t you want to give Lian Xiang to my cousin initially, but my cousin didn’t like it, so I naturally didn’t accept it. Since that’s the case, we’ll help the lady which my cousin is interested in and recruit her into The Prince’s Residence in advance. First of all, this can prevent The Prince from constantly being away for long. Secondly, this concubine can also learn some rules with the Old Princess Consort and avoid mistakes thinking about something she shouldn’t have.”

Lian-Chu understood her daughter’s meaning somewhat, but still frowned and said, “What kind of origin is the woman in North Street? How can we let her inside The Prince’s Residence?”

Lian Binglan sneered and said, “The North Street lady is too unbearable, so it’s naturally not good to let her in. Otherwise, my cousin would not settle a house outside for her. But He Zhen, although she was born a merchant, her family is the Imperial merchant for the Royal supply, and she also has some connections with the high-ranking Concubine Xi in The Palace. Although such a young lady is not a high-graded concubine, we shouldn’t neglect her either. Don’t you think this is how it is supposed to be, Mom?”

Lian-Chu thought carefully and suddenly realized that her daughter could distinguish the weight between what is serious and what is not. No matter how much The Prince favors the lady in North Street, it’s just happened that The Prince allows her to have some children so that she will have someone to depend on in the future.

However, children born outside The Prince’s Residence can’t even get on the genealogy. But Lady He’s family is different. In the end, she is a decent lady with a clean background. In the future, if she really gets favored by The Prince, she will be the biggest enemy of her daughter. Sure enough, she needs to take the initiative to win her over!

After the mother and daughter discussed this, Lian Binglan was ready to go to the He family porcelain shop in Lingquan Town to see how beautiful the third daughter of the He family was that she can make The Prince enchanted with her and inquire the steward about her in his residence.

Cui Xingzhou didn’t know that his future wife in his residence is being so considerate that she carefully planned for him, and was ready to welcome an innocent lady to serve him as a concubine.

He rode a fast horse to the boundary of the State of Qing Prefecture these two days and checked the archives files of several local officials.

It was not prompted by an impulse. A few days ago, he had a long talk with Senior Official Meng, who returned to his hometown. On the contrary, he learned some secrets about the sudden change of the East Palace from the mouth of the senior statesman of three dynasties.

It is said that after The Queen was persecuted by the highest-ranked Concubine Xi, she was sent to the deserted yard in The Palace. However, The Crown Prince had made preparations long before. Although he was deceived into The Palace by Concubine Xi’s false Imperial edict, he was poured into poisoned wine and died miserably. In spite of being poisoned, the two legitimate sons were rescued by The Crown Prince’s trusted follower, and their whereabouts were unknown from then on.

Until now, the two children who escaped are both a sore point for Empress Dowager Xi.

In those days, Concubine Xi’s methods of supporting the current Emperor to his throne were too vicious. After being in power, she supported her party members and harmed the loyal and good officials. Many courtiers are furious but dared not speak, and they all missed the virtuous Crown Prince in their hearts.

According to his age, Senior Official Meng was at his best time to be proficient in politics, but he refuse to associate himself with undesirable elements. So he only finds an excuse for being sick and returns to his hometown early.

Cui Xingzhou was a very proud student of his, and they had a close relationship. Now, it seems that this student is indeed promising and does not rely on his father’s shadow. Therefore, Senior Official Meng also placed high hopes on Cui Xingzhou, telling all he know and saying it without reserve.

They both talked in a secret room for a long time. When they were about to separate, Senior Official Meng said to him earnestly, “I am not good at seeing things clearly, but now the miasma in The Palace is everywhere, and the villains are fooling around, which is by no means a long-term plan for governing the country. I also hope that you can judge the hour and size up the situation, don’t be too pedantic, and preserve real power. Once there is a change in the middle of the court, you need loyal people and good power to turn the tide, and set the sea thousands of miles away…”

Cui Xingzhou arched his hand and said that he had memorized his mentor’s teachings, so he said goodbye.

He then came to the State of Qing to check the files.

When investigating, he did find some clues, but a few volumes of official file pages were missing, and he doesn’t know who tear them out.

When he returned to Lingquan Town, the sky was full of stars. He returned to the house on North Street and thought of calling Servant Li to prepare something for him to eat.

But Miantang said to him while putting on her clothes, “Servant Li got up in the morning and felt that her head was a little heavy. It seems that she had a cold after eating melon yesterday. The doctor came to check on her just now and she has drunk the medicine and gone to sleep. What do you want to eat, husband? I’ll do it for you.”

Cui Xingzhou felt that it was cold outside at night, and Miantang would catch a cold if she go out like this, so he asked, “Where are the two new servant girls? Let them do it.”

Miantang shook her head helplessly and said, “Fang Xie and Bi Cao looked quick and efficient, but Servant Li was too strict with the newcomers, just the task of pouring water, Servant Li make them practice for the entire afternoon. The poor two little girls had swollen wrists now. Fortunately, Servant Li was ill today, so I let them have a good rest and await Servant Li’s new assigned lessons tomorrow!”

The Cui family is not big, but Servant Li has so many rules that she doesn’t know where she learned from. When pouring water, they should be silent, and no drops of water can be spilled. Besides, they should also pay attention to their waist gestures.

To be honest, when Miantang got married, the female teacher her father invited to her was not as finicky as Servant Li. Miantang stopped Servant Li from being so particular at first, but Servant Li really couldn’t bear to look at the unruly appearance of the two little servant girls. She just looked straight at them, her face was as black as ink, and she give the expression of “If I don’t say it, my body will be suffocated”, and she didn’t have the mood to cook.

In the end, Miantang dumps the responsibility away and lets her discipline the two young ones in exchange for a harmonious home. Thus, three meals are scheduled with three dishes and one soup.

Now, Servant Li is sleeping, and the two little servant girls are very pitiful. Her husband dislikes the pickling made by the servant who does tough chores and never eats what she makes. Thus, she can only do it herself.

Cui Xingzhou knows Miantang’s cooking skills, and only occasionally some individual dishes are up to standard. She is not good at home-cooked kinds of dishes, and her cutting skills are also average. She will require someone to help her. So while half lying on the soft bed, he asked, “What are you going to cook for me?”

Miantang thought of another basket of river shrimp, and said, “How about fried shrimp? I learned from Servant Li. I can cook the fried shrimp to be more crispy, sprinkled with some pepper and salt, and you can eat it with rice.”

Cui Xingzhou was also hungry, thinking that it would be ok if she cooked it, so he nodded.

Seeing her husband nodding, Liu Miantang happily bun up her hair and wrapped it with a handkerchief. She then took Cui Jiu to sit at the table in front of the window, lit the candlelight, polished the ink, and let her husband write while waiting.

Her husband’s handwriting is particularly good, so she recently begged her husband to write a set of calligraphy for her to copy in her spare time.

After arranging him, she tied her apron and sat on a small stool under the porch outside the window, with a small copper basin on her leg to cut shrimp whiskers. From time to time, she could see her husband’s side face writing in front of a candle.

Cui Xingzhou occasionally looked up and looked out along the open window. Across the light blue window panel, he looked at her having to take a rest every few times after cutting the shrimps with scissors.

Her wrist is not endurance. This type of job was usually done by the servants.

Seeing Miantang putting down the scissors several times because she didn’t have enough strength, Cui Jiu finally put his brush down, strode out, and also conveniently pulled the bench to sit, took her scissors, and cut the shrimp whiskers neatly.

Miantang’s favorite thing about her husband is that although he doesn’t say much, she holds dearly to her every move. Looking at his slender fingers, which should have held a writing brush to draw, is now doing women’s chores. It really made her ashamed of her incompetence, making her husband who is so tired after a long day unable to have hot meals to eat immediately after coming home.

When the shrimp were handled properly, Miantang followed Servant Li’s usual way to beat eggs and mix the batter for the shrimps, and then dipped the shrimp in the batter and fried it in the oil pan.

Fortunately, she always learns from Servant Li. Although this is the first time doing it, it is also in a presentable shape.

The fried river shrimp is golden, sprinkled with pepper and salt, and served with a bowl of rice. It was just right.

Cui Xingzhou ate two bowls of fried shrimp and two dishes of pickled vegetables. Miantang’s determination to become a good wife was greatly satisfied, and she eagerly attentively serve her husband rice and shrimp.

When Servant Li passed by the inner courtyard at night, she saw a pair of shadows reflected on the porch window, and suddenly felt particularly perfect!

She shook her head, suspecting that she must be having bad diarrhea and was confused.

Summer is over now, and the weather is getting cooler. Miantang felt that she was unable to adapt to the winter weather in the south. But it was the cold on the inside that shows the advantage of having a man in the quilt. It’s so warm that she doesn’t have to drink any soup or water to dispel cold.

Miantang hugged her husband’s arm and doesn’t want to get off the bed.

However, today is the meeting with the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce that was informed last minute. Yesterday, the He family specifically sent a letter. Everyone has to come to the meeting tomorrow, and she can’t delay it.

Miantang gritted her teeth and was finally about to get up.

Cui Xingzhou hurried to write several letters to Mo Ru to send out while Miantang fell asleep last night. So he went to bed very late. At this time, he closed his eyes and grabbed Miantang’s wrist, “Why do you get up so early, lie down with me for a while…”

Miantang doesn’t want to separate from her husband too early too. Unfortunately, she has business to do and she needs to make money to support her family! It was only after she gently coaxed her husband to let go that she was able to get up, wash herself up, and get changed.

Servant Li felt better today, so she assigned the task scope to all the worker’s eariler. The task of serving the couple in the inner room was entrusted to the young servant girl Fang Xie, while the task of the kitchen was entrusted to Bi Cao who was good at cooking.

She is still feeling a little weak and has to stay in bed for a few days.

Because Servant Li is too ill to get up. The two young servant girls didn’t have to continue with their training, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

They all have signed the contract to sell themself, which naturally made them uneasy about the nature of their masters.

Fortunately, the two owners of this family are generous except that the senior servant is difficult to deal with. Needless to say, their master is so handsome beyond description. They can’t bear to blink at it. Every move is free and admirable. At first glance, they can tell that he’s a noble young master who has been educated. But, he doesn’t speak much and never looks at these young servant girls.

Also, The Lady is a stunning beauty. At first, she doesn’t look like a person easy to get along with. But after getting to know each other, they find that she is kind and loves to smile, so much better than Servant Li.

The Master and his wife are nice, and the family is rich. They all have meat and seafood dishes in their meals. The two young servant girls are glad that they have been sold into a good family. Naturally, they are diligent.

Miantang took the warm tonic from the young servant girl Fang Xie and drank it all. These tonics have a faint fragrance. They taste sweet and are not difficult to swallow. It’s just that no matter how delicious it is, she’ll inevitably get bored having to eat it every day.

But her husband said that she must drink regularly to dispel the cold. Otherwise, if she wants a child in the future, she will have some trouble.

When Miantang heard this, she had to swallow it no matter how bitter it was for the descendants of the Cui family! Thus, she had it every day and make sure that it is carefully nourished.

Even those medicinal materials look very valuable. She doesn’t know how many chess games her husband has won recently. The money is spent like water, but he didn’t miss the payout of family expenses. He looks very well-off.

Thinking of this, she picked up the newly added jewelry on the dressing table, turned to her husband behind the bead curtain, and said, “Husband, my jewelry is enough, you don’t need to add on for me anymore.”

“It’s not a bad thing to have much of those things. Just wear them differently.”

Cui Jiu also got up at this time. His loose innerwear could not cover his broad chest muscles and waistline. At a glance, she knew that he was an expert in daily martial arts practice.

As soon as Fang Xie combed her hair for The Lady, she blushed and wanted to go over and help to change the clothes for the Master. But Liu Miantang came to her husband first.

Miantang doesn’t like to hand over private tasks such as changing clothes to others. She can serve her own man herself.

After cleaning up, Cui Jiu is going to practice boxing in the yard to relax his muscles and bones. Miantang watched her husband practice boxing while drinking lean pork porridge.

She loved practicing martial arts since childhood. Naturally, she can tell that her husband practiced different sets of martial skills every day. But because the venue was limited, he only practiced martial arts such as arrest techniques.

After she earns money, it’s time to change to a bigger yard. At that time, she will build a martial arts training ground for her husband, so that he can put his strength to good use.

Miantang thought so and went out to the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce.

After entering the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce, Miantang exchanged greetings with the shopkeepers who has arrived. Only then did she know the reason for this special meeting today. It turned out that the future Princess Consort of Prince Huaiyang, Lady Lian Binglan, wanted to choose her wedding ritual vessels, porcelain bowls and other objects by herself.

This is a big order. To avoid an internal fight between peers and uneven distribution, the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce naturally has to hold a meeting to discuss it. Everyone makes money together in a friendly and harmonious way.

Liu Miantang has not seen the third daughter of the He family for a long time since the last tea party.

When they meet again this time, He Zhen has adjusted her mood. Even if the fiancee of the person she admires comes personally to choose porcelain, her face did not change, and is calm.

Miantang naturally wouldn’t pick that topic to see Lady He makes fools of herself and pretend that nothing had happened, and she managed to greet and socialize with Lady He.

The final result of the negotiation was that each family took out two or three pieces of porcelain and let the Lian family choose. This kind of order is usually in large quantity. If it’s urgent, no one can take the order by themselves, and they have to be helped by others.

Lingquan Town has been able to do well and survive, which is also related to the unwritten rules of the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce. There is no reason for one family to survive and others to starve to death.

Miantang carefully wrote down what the Second Master He said, and had planned the objects to be displayed in her heart.

The next step is to sweep the stores and wait for the Lian family to come.

Miantang didn’t expect much from this order. After all, her family business accounted a lot for The Emperor’s offerings previously. If she take in a huge part of the order again this time, she would seem a little greedy.

So in the end, the samples she ordered her shop worker to bring were just exquisite tea sets, which were not the treasures of her town store. The Second Master He also found that Lady Cui didn’t mean to steal the spotlight of the He family this time. He couldn’t help but felt relief and finally show some smiles at Liu Miantang.

Because the Jade Porcelain Workshop deliberately hides her inadequacy by keeping quiet, the He family naturally shines in the spotlight here. People from the Lian family even choose several designs from the He family porcelain shop. Of course, there are others, but they are all small orders.

Because Liu Miantang know how to behave in a delicate situation, although the Jade Porcelain Workshop did not make a big profit this time, it also shared the orders and maintained the harmony of the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce.

Miantang felt very satisfied, but she would like to inquire about some of the trivia matters on the order list with the third daughter of the He family.

However, Lady He’s social intercourse had suddenly increased. Several times Miantang sent a worker to ask, and she got the news that the third daughter of the He family had been invited by the Lian family to attend a tea party in the Capital of the State of Zhen.

In this way, there is no way to ask about it. The Second Master He has more affairs. She can’t find anyone except sometimes seeing him in the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce.

Later, she finally inadvertently bumps into He Zhen’s carriage thus, she let Servant Li pass the message.

He Zhen put her head out of the carriage and invited Liu Miantang to get on the carriage. Sitting on the carriage, she was just talking.

Compared with the uncomfortable look on Lady He’s face a few days ago, she is full of spring breeze this time. She should have made many friends in the upper-class tea group in the State of Zhen.

Miantang asked briefly, and He Zhen couldn’t help but say with a little intention of showing off, “Lady Lian is really approachable. The last time she came to our He family porcelain shop to shop in person, she was like old friends with me at first sight, and there were many endless topics, so as soon as there was a tea party in the State of Zhen, she invited me to go. It happens that the tea party today will be in The Prince’s Residence!”

Liu Miantang knew the allusion to He Zhen’s love for Prince Huaiyang. But why is this woman feeling happy when she is friends with the fiancee of the man she was secretly in love with? Miantang felt that she must have little talent and less learning, so she couldn’t figure it out.

At that moment, Miantang just looked at He Zhen silently, wondering if she was forcing a smile.

But He Zhen now is filled with happiness to talk about. Anyway, Lady Liu is also an insider. The so-called lice are not afraid of itching, so she can also spit out her worries and have a good talk with her mouth.

“Lady Cui, to be honest, Lady Lian and I both fell in love at first sight. She said that The Prince was busy with official business and there was always a shortage of people being able to serve around him. How could those high-ranking families and men have no concubines? But Lady Lian couldn’t find anyone with the right appearance, so she asked me if I wanted to enter The Prince Residence in the future and keep company with her in the future…”

Liu Miantang didn’t know what to say for a moment. In her heart, she just wanted to say that Lady Lian and Lady He are strange women! It’s a pity if they can’t become sworn sisters!