Chapter 39 – The People of Prince Sui

On the other hand, Yunniang was slapped by Miantang in the daytime, and half of her face was bruised. She was already very angry. Who would have thought that she was surrounded by a group of people at night, and the Dragon Guards were choked by a domineering smoke that made them dizzy? In a daze, she was almost stuffed into a gunny bag and thrown into the carriage.

When she was finally saved, she then knew that it was Prince Sui, the King of the State of Hui who saved her.

At this time, she was already in Prince Sui’s Mansion.

As the younger brother of the former Emperor and the Empress Dowager of that year, Liu Pei was very spoiled. His food and horizon are based on the pomp of the Capital in those days, so Prince Sui Mansion has always been famous for extravagance.

When Yunniang woke up and get washed, she went to see Prince Sui under the lead of several graceful maidens.

Although she had paid a visit to Prince Sui with her father before, she has only met him a few times. His father and Prince Sui address each other as brothers, which turns into a favorable factor and made her recognize Prince Sui as her adoptive father. But if she were to carefully calculate, The Prince was only twelve years older than herself.

Although he is not old, his seniority is Liu Zhen’s Royal grandfather. In fact, Yunniang prefers to call him Grandpa.

However, Yunniang now has to naturally conform to the seniority between her father and Prince Sui. In the face of Prince Sui, who is in his thirties, her calling of “god-father” is smooth.

Prince Sui is enjoying his newly recruited female entertainer playing the instrument of a 4-stringed Chinese lute and showing off the artistic aura of her vocal. A swarthy face that looks similar to the Former Emperor is showing an intoxicated expression.

Yunniang bowed and knelt, and he just treat it as if he could not see it, still holding a jade in his hand and beating to the rhythm.

“If it weren’t for the help of godfather, I would be kidnapped today. I will never forget your great kindness!”

When Yunniang knocked her head loud and clear again, Prince Sui turned his eyes and looked at her, saying kindly, “Since we’re father and daughter, why is there a need to thank me?”

Yunniang got bestowed a seat from Prince Sui, and then asked, “I just don’t know who abducted me, being so arrogant in Lingquan Town?”

Prince Sui waved and ordered the female entertainers to step down first, leaving only a beautiful concubine to serve tea, He then slowly said, “Who else would be so arrogant in that territory other than Prince Huaiyang? If your father hadn’t begged me today to escort you to my other villa for some time, when my bodyguard looked for you, he found figures swaying outside the Inn. This is where he informed General Gongsun in the State of Qing to save you… But I’m curious, how did you offend Prince Huaiyang?”

Yunniang didn’t know that the Mountain of Yang’s sect members had always been the thorn in the side of Prince Huaiyang. If the news of them heading down the mountain was leaked and were known by Prince Huaiyang, he may send someone to catch them.

It’s just that her father wants her to leave the Mountain of Yang. It had made Yunniang dislike it and she was feeling a little anxious at that time.

After having a chat with his god-daughter, Prince Sui didn’t have much means to talk anymore. Seeing that Yunniang still wanted to persuade himself to let her go back, he said directly, “General Sun doesn’t want you to meddle with the marriage of Young Master Ziyu. He needs to marry the daughter of Commander Shi, so he can have a proper identity to be inducted and go to the Capital to accept The Emperor’s investment with rank… It’s all in one fell swoop whether the plot of many years can succeed. So don’t create more trouble. If you don’t want to go, it’s okay. There are sacks… in General Sun’s place!”

Yunniang’s body trembled, looked up at the undisguised threatening eyes of her god-father to her, and quickly bowed her head and said, “How would I dare to disobey the meaning of my father and god-father? It’s just that there is an unfinished matter in Lingquan Town. If it is unsettled, I’m afraid it will increase future troubles…”

Prince Sui had previously heard the report from his subordinates that half of Yunniang’s face was beaten up. Now that he saw the blue and purple patches on her face with his own eyes, it seems that she was badly injured. He was curious for a moment and asked.

This was exactly what Yunniang wants, so she said in a low voice, “Isn’t god-father always curious about Lu Wen? When he was in the Mountain of Yang, he had been trying every means to prevent you and Young Master from jointly attacking the crafty sycophants in the Capital. Now… ‘he’ is in Lingshui Town.”

Prince Sui just took a sip of shredded tobacco for water pipes presented by his beautiful concubine and was enjoying it with his eyes close. Hearing this, he suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Lu Wen? Didn’t ‘he’ got his hands and feet tendons torn by my people and sink into the river?”

Yunniang was delighted to see Prince Sui’s eyes brighten.

In the beginning, his father did not agree to get rid of Lu Wen, the leader of the Mountain of Yang, and his congregation. After all, the Mountain of Yang was built from nothing and depended on Lu Wen’s cohesion. Her father felt that Lu Wen’s presence would be of great use.

But in Yunniang’s eyes, Lu Wen is a thorn in the eyes. They must get rid of him and cut the knot. So she secretly snitched to Prince Sui behind her father’s back, and finally borrowed his hand to get rid of “Lu Wen”.

But who would have thought that “Lu Wen” was haunted and reappeared in Lingquan Town? Whoever started the trouble should end it. Since Ziyu was very careful not to let anyone touch ‘him’, it is safer for Prince Sui to come forward.

Of course, these people have to act secretly behind the people in the Mountain of Yang too.

Prince Sui had never seen Lu Wen with his own eyes, only knowing that “he” was a girl disguised as a man, competing with his god-daughter for the love of his grandson, Liu Zhen.

Except for the important leaders of the Mountain of Yang, no one knows the real details of Lu Wen. After all, it’s a crime that will exterminate nine of their generations. Maybe it’s for fear of implicating their family. Most of the time, “he” won’t even appear in front of people, only pretending that Lu Wen was robbed and served as a concubine on the mountain, which confused the eyes of the people in the Mountain of Yang.

He originally thought that while she was arguing with Liu Zhen, he attacked her secretly, and the root had been eradicated. Who would have thought that Lu Wen narrowly escaped death and returned to Lingquan Town again… It’s getting a little interesting…

So Yunniang speaks without reserve that “he” was seriously injured and had now lost his memory, completely forgotten his past, and was cheated and forcibly occupied by a businessman.

Of course, Prince Sui knew the little tricks of Yunniang. She just wanted to borrow his hand to get rid of her rival in love.

However, Lu Wen had a raging fight with Cui Xingzhou in his neighborhood County previously, which let him reap profits and avoid the eyes and ears of those crafty Imperial Concubines in the Royal Court.

From this point of view, he would also like to thank Lu Wen.

Now that “he” has become a disabled person and lost all his memory, it has aroused his curiosity. If he has some leisure, he should take the time to see why this “Lu Wen” can fascinate Liu Zhen while she is still alive.

Of course, she will still have to die in the end. After all… She’s in his way, isn’t she?

The three states were surging at this time, and everyone was making their calculations. Miantang can’t escape the custom too. She crackled her abacus in the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce too.

Recently, merchants in the Lingquan Porcelain Chamber of Commerce are melancholy. There is no other reason, just because the Lian family turned their back and cancel the order list.

They don’t know how the third daughter of the He family communicated with Lady Lian. Their good relationship, finally turned into bad terms, not only He Zhen was not carried into The Prince Residence, but also caused the Lian family to abandon the near and seek the far, and change to customize porcelains in Qinde Town, 500 miles away.

At the beginning of the month, the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce was very lively for a while, and all the other Masters were surrounding the Second Master He and Lady He tightly packed, pestering them regarding the Lian family who has cancel the order list, and what should they do with the materials they have prepared?

For a time, the colleagues are no longer in a harmony with sharing benefits, and the wrangle is a little out of control.

Miantang knows the reason inside. Looking at the way the Second Master He swallowed his anger and stared at He Zhen repeatedly, she felt a little sorry for her. So she opened her mouth and said, “Come on, everybody, it’s enough. The raw material of porcelain is not rice noodles, and it will not produce insects if it is kept for a long time. Since it has been prepared, you can also save yourself the trouble to choose and buy in the future.”

The Masters agreed in advance to deduct the compensation from the He family. Hearing what Lady Cui said, they immediately can’t tolerate it. Saying in a sarcastic tone, “We are not like you. Only received all the bits and pieces of the Lian family’s order. Naturally, you will not suffer any great losses and have the time to act as a peacemaker here!”

Liu Miantang was offended by several Masters, but she was not angry. She smiled and said, “I’m being kind-hearted. I don’t want you guys to hurt the harmony with each other. Fine. Let me talk about business first and it won’t be too late for you guys to ask the Second Master He for compensation.”

With that, she said straightly, “Lady He, you mentioned to me a few days ago that Prince Huaiyang Residence and the Lian family don’t order from the same list. The Old Princess Consort is used to the He family porcelain, and if she wants to prepare for her son’s marriage, she will ask the steward to choose and buy it. By then, you’d better leave some for our Jade Porcelain Workshop for the list that has a bigger benefit at that time!”

He Zhen is not a fool. She naturally understands the intention of Lady Liu saying something that is not related at all at this time. At that moment, she hurriedly replied, “Oh, this matter is not decided yet. Why did you say it in front of so many people…”

Although these two sisters are not sworn sisters with different surnames, they cooperate very naturally and smoothly, fooling those Masters with some hesitation, and suddenly realized that they are somewhat short-sighted. It turned out that the He family still had the order list from the Royal Residence in their hands. So one by one, they all gradually changed their appearance and amend their words.

He Zhen took Liu Miantang out of the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce with the excuse of going to Liu Miantang’s porcelain shop to see the color of her new dye.

After walking out of Qingshi alley, He Zhen couldn’t help but be grateful and said, “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to get away now, but I couldn’t go back without being scolded by my father. However, the list of the Royal Residence you said was nowhere to be seen yet. I don’t know why Lady Lian is angry with me. If she egged the Old Princess Consort to not patronize the He family anymore, won’t other porcelain shop Masters make trouble with my father again?”

Liu Miantang didn’t worry about this. She smiled and tucked her handkerchief into her waist and said, “When teasing the donkey with the radish, you just have to trick the donkey into moving forward, why would you worry about whether the donkey was able to eat it? You don’t need me to tell you about the reason behind it, right?”

Although He Zhen is capable, her family has always followed the path of being the Imperial merchants, with pride and reserve. Thus, in terms of “profiteers”, it is not as mature as Liu Miantang’s self-taught skills.

He Zhen asked herself that if the He family did not have the skills left by their predecessors and laid a good foundation, the He family would certainly not accelerate so smoothly.

In terms of her ability to settle down, neither she nor her father is far inferior to this Lady Liu from a foreign country.

Thinking so, He Zhen took Liu Miantang’s hand and said, “Recently, I’ve been neglectful and lazy in communicating and socializing, and I didn’t bother to invite you to tea. No time is like the present. Let me invite you to some snacks in the Subao Restaurant today, let’s go!”

Liu Miantang was also idle. Naturally, with a smile, she followed the third daughter of the He family for some snacks.

The dim sum in the Subao Restuarant is famous for its delicious taste, so people usually have to make a reservation before they have a seat. Fortunately, due to business needs, the He family has kept a private room there for many years thus, no reservation is required.

But today, when they got off the carriage, they saw three or four gorgeous carriages parked at the entrance of the Subao Restuarant.

The waiter greeted Lady He and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Lady He. All the private rooms on the second floor are booked by some distinguished guests today. But they have already finished their tea and are about to leave soon… Why don’t you wait on the ground open level first?”

He Zhen was very dissatisfied, “Our He family gave enough deposit at once and reserved the Liuxian Room upstairs for years. Did you turn around and provide our booked room to outsiders just because we didn’t come?”

The waiter also said bitterly, “They are all distinguished guests! Also, we are just a small business, we naturally should be careful to flatter. Moreover, there are many of them and the private rooms are really not enough. Hope that Lady He can pardon us a little.”

These distinguished guests’ origins are unknown. All of them are dressed in Chinese clothes and are super generous. There are more than ten silver taels just for the tips alone. They naturally don’t dare to stop them from entering the private rooms.

He thought that the He family would not come at this time, and it would be all right to use their private room for the time being. He didn’t expect that speaking of the devil, the He family unexpectedly came!

He Zhen looked at the carriages and horses outside the restaurant. It looked different from ordinary merchants. She couldn’t tell which noble officials it was. Their family always deals with the official’s family. She naturally knows the essence of being cautious, so she has no more words.

Liu Miantang also said, “Forget it, we’d better eat elsewhere.”

Just as the two of them were about to turn around and leave, there was a loud voice on the spinal stairs on the second floor, and several talking and laughing men came down.

And the one who was praised by the stars was at the forefront. He had a broad arm, a round waist, and a dark face. He looked very tall. But his dressing is a little different, with long hair, and a fine linen wide robe worn by monks. The robe looks special, and the fine linen is mixed with faint silver thread. A string of golden incense wooded Buddha beads is wrapped around his big palm. The pendant of the Buddha beads is a jade inlaid cicada, which looks like a lay Buddhist who practice with hair.

But in his pair of leopard eyes, there was no means to not seek fame and wealth and the peacefulness that a lay Buddhist should have. His eyes were bright, and he looked at people as if he were staring into people’s flesh.

Miantang inadvertently raised her head and her eyes met with the monk’s eyes with the robe. He was staring at her like a tiger and wolf which made her feel uncomfortable. She immediately leaned down and stepped back, intending to avoid them and let these men go first.

However, the man inadvertently whored for a look. When he saw Miantang, he was involuntarily attracted by the woman’s stunning appearance, slowed down his pace, and smiled at the people behind him, “They all say that Lingquan Town’s porcelain is beautiful, but I think the people here are the beauty. Such a white and snowy woman is really like a porcelain sculpture…”

Hearing what he said, the men in royal clothes behind him also looked at Liu Miantang. Indeed! Such beauty can be regarded as the best in the Capital.

These men act like there’s nobody else around, their language is frivolous, and they are extremely rude.

Bi Cao behind Liu Miantang was angry and was about to rush over and shout, but Servant Li twisted her arm behind her and clamped her hard to stop her from shouting.

Others may not know the disheveled man, but Servant Li has seen him!

Liu Pei, the King of the State of Hui, had boundless influence in the Capital. When Servant Li followed the Old Princess Consort to the Capital previously, she saw Liu Pei in his youth riding across the street, and remembered particularly the rough appearance of this Prince.

He is now dressed as a monk. It is said that when the former Emperor died, he made a promise to practice and transcribe scriptures for his deceased brother for three years.

At that time, Prince Sui lamented the sincerity and faith of his predecessor, and the whole court was full of admiration. It seems that now he was the same who pursued sensuality, and he still has the arrogant look he has in the Capital.

Servant Li recognized Prince Sui and secretly break a cold sweat out for Miantang, for fear that she would go up to argue with them and provoke this Great Yan’s b*stard Prince, as she did a few days ago.

However, Liu Miantang didn’t even lift her eyelids being judged by a group of men in front of her. She quickly turned around, pulled He Zhen from the dim sum Restaurant on the side, and went out along the back door.

Even He Zhen also felt that the men just now were a little impetuous, and only angrily said, “Where did they come from? How can they be so rude and speak ill of people to your face.”

Liu Miantang, on the other hand, was a lot more low-key than before because she had previously provoked gangsters to turn over the wall of her mansion and repented to causing trouble for her husband.

Those people look like they were born well at first sight. She hid when she could. It was only proper to not bring trouble to her husband. With a smile, she only made another appointment with He Zhen to have tea again.

Liu Miantang thought that the encounter was just a chance encounter in the restaurant. It’s irrelevant. She can just avoid it.

After returning to the shop, she took down her gold hairpin. It’s her shop anyway, and she doesn’t need to put up a facade like a jewel in the Porcelain Chamber of Commerce.

She simply braided her hair loosely, then tied a jade hairpin on the top of her head, allowed her fine hair to swirl around her cheeks, put on a loose robe with a collar made of rabbit fur rolled around the edge, and sat on a high stool beside the counter to check the goods and the accounts.

Having dressed like this exudes the romantic feel of a little girl, especially the fluffy and soft rabbit fur, which makes her face look delicate.

Those who often walk down this street, men and women, young and old, can’t help looking in the store when passing by the Jade Porcelain Workshop, hoping to see the first-class beauty in Lingshui Town.

Just then the welcome bell hanging at the door of the store rang.

Miantang smiled and looked up to greet the guests. She was stunned because the one who came in was the mendicant Buddhist monk with a shock of hair who she had seen not long ago.

The man did not look at the porcelain when he came in but looked directly at the counter.

When he saw that Miantang was leaning against the counter, the man seemed to be stunned for a while, his leopard eyes narrowed, and hesitated, “Are you the landlady here?”

Adhering to the principle that all visitors are guests, Miantang could not drive the guests away. She only nodded slightly, and then aroused the shop assistant to say, “Guisheng, come and greet the guests!”

But after the man was stunned, with an evil smile on his mouth, he walked up to the counter and slowly looked at her up and down, saying, “I don’t need anyone else, since you are the landlady, of course, it’s better for you to introduce to me.”

Miantang looked at the broad daylight and was not afraid of what this person would do in her shop, so she calmly asked, “What do you want to buy, Sir?”

This is Liu Pei, Prince Sui!

To be honest, when he saw this beauty in the tea house earlier, he just felt that there was a stunning beauty in this small place, and he didn’t take it too seriously.

However, when he came to the Jade Porcelain Workshop mentioned by Yunniang and saw this delicate-looking woman again, he suddenly realized that this woman was the frightening bandit Lu Wen!

If it weren’t for his firm determination that Yunniang didn’t dare to deceive him, he really couldn’t imagine the situation of this fragile young woman leading on the Mountain of Yang…

Thinking of this, he narrowed his eyes but didn’t answer Miantang’s question. Instead, he leaned forward and stretched out his hand to pull Miantang.

Miantang didn’t expect him to be so bold, and his action was very fast. In a few moments, he had grabbed her wrist at once.

When Liu Pei held her wrist in his hand, he immediately felt that it was useless. As expected, her hamstring was broken… This should be caused by the sneak attack of the martial arts expert he hired at the beginning.

According to those people, when they reported back, the woman’s last-ditch resistance was so strong that they failed to catch her alive. After tearing the hamstring of her hands and legs, she threw herself into the rolling river while they were unprepared. It was far from the shore and they thought that she was seriously injured and could not live.

Now it seems that God may have pity on this rare beauty and let her live… But the next moment, Liu Pei’s hand was violently pinched, making him unbearable the pain thus, he could only loosen his hand to hold Miantang.

Being angry, he turned around and saw a man with a straight face pinching his hand.

“How dare you!” Liu Pei’s bodyguard didn’t expect a man to strike at an unexpected moment and made such a quick move, so he rushed forward wanting to subdue the man.

However, the man let go in time after seeing Liu Pei let go, and the group of people behind him also wanted to rush up. Miantang saw that the atmosphere was not right, and the porcelain in the store would suffer again, she immediately stared and shouted, “Sir, why do you touch me as soon as you enter the store in broad daylight? If you want to have a taste of prison food, there is a Yamen across the street, and I’ll ask someone to treat you!”

Liu Pei came here for a private visit in normal clothes. He didn’t want to alert Cui Xingzhou.

Cui Xingzhou is focused on fighting with anti-bandits in the Mountain of Yang now and the Imperial Court’s troop reduction order. With him blocking in front, Liu Pei is at ease!

Thinking of this, he only smiled at Liu Miantang and said meaningfully, “When you are far away from the Yamen and no one to bother us, I’ll have a good chat with you…”

According to Yunniang, Liu Miantang came down the mountain with a large amount of money and silver. If he can get her to open her mouth on the whereabouts of this money, it will be a big profit.

Since she lost her memory and became a businesswoman, she was easy to handle. As for the man who pinched his hand, he was probably the merchant who cheated her of losing her memory.

Liu Pei was just passing by Lingquan Town. He was curious for a moment, so he came to see the legendary Lu Wen. In fact, he had more important things to do, and he didn’t want to delay here, so he took a deep look at Miantang, turned around, and left the store.

Liu Miantang looked at the man gratefully and found that it was the strong men who helped her send the group of rascals to the Yamen a few days ago. Behind him was his gang of brothers.

“Lady, don’t sit at the counter in the future. If I don’t happen to pass by, won’t you be in trouble again?”

This time, the strong man was able to say some long sentences. After saying that like reciting, he didn’t wait for Lady Liu to take a red envelope and seal the silver for them, he hug his fist and then turned and left.

Liu Miantang called him to take the money, but he didn’t look back.

Miantang was helpless. Standing at the door of the store and felt that the custom in Lingquan Town was very good. Each one of them was so warm-hearted…

On the other hand, the strong man turned into the corner with his men, bowed to a parked carriage, and whispered, “Your Highness, Prince Sui has gone… Do you want us to continue to follow him?”

Cui Xingzhou said coldly, “Not necessary, I already know who he is going to look for.”