The Possession of My Beloved

Mo Ru thinks that Fan Hu is really stupid, why should Prince Huaiyang be like a ruffian in the countryside and tie up a woman?

But Cui Xingzhou seemed to think it over carefully after listening to Fan Hu’s words. He then said, “Just tell her to wait for me…”

As for what will he say after he went back to see her, Cui Xingzhou had not thought about it yet. But their separation was so sudden and hasty. Cui Xingzhou always felt that he should see her again…

At present, the Northwest is about to be pacified. The day of his return is not far away. At that time, he will pass by the State of Xi and can go to see her.

He only hopes that when the time comes, she will not have the idea of remarriage… Cui Xingzhou did not realize that he used the word remarriage as if she had married him.

At that moment, someone entered the military tent and reported that the leader of the Chaxi tribe wanted to introduce a person to Prince Huaiyang. Cui Xingzhou asked, “Who is he going to recommend?”

The guard who came to report said hesitantly, “It’s… It’s a masked woman…”

Prince Huaiyang did not expect the leader of Chaxi like the business of being the middleman to bring together men and women to engage in improper relations. He frowned and said, “No!”

The bodyguard immediately went out to convey The Prince’s meaning.

But at that moment, a woman outside the door said, “I am the daughter of Kesi Shanyu of the Wangqi tribe. I am here especially to see Prince Huaiyang!”

Cui Xingzhou hears this and is reminded that Kesi Shanyu is the old Shanyu who was killed by his adopted son Agufan.

If he were still alive, there would not be such a war at the border.

Thinking of this, he said in a low voice, “Let them in.”

When the leader of Chaxi led a masked woman into the Marshal’s tent, the woman took off her headscarf, looked up at Cui Xingzhou, but cried out, “How come… it’s you?”

It turned out that Lin Siyue, the daughter of the deceased Old Shanyu, came here to see Prince Huaiyang, seeking to revive the tribe.

However, she never thought that the man sitting in the high seat of the Marshal was Lady Liu’s husband, Military Master Cui!

Cui Xingzhou was also shocked when he saw Lady Lin. He did not expect that the merchant’s abandoned wife treated by Liu Miantang was actually the daughter of the barbarian Old Shanyu!

Both of them were a little preoccupied for a moment, and the leader of Chaxi was confused.

If it had been a few days ago, he would have dared to speculate that Prince Huaiyang has taken a liking to the Old Shanyu’s daughter. However, after such a flower-like girl was brought into the tent by Prince Huaiyang and wrote big characters all night, the leader of Chaxi felt that he could not see through these Han noblemen.

However, Cui Xingzhou took the lead in saying, “You said that you are the daughter of the Old Shanyu. What’s your proof?”

Lin Siyue had already prepared. She ordered her attendants to present the eagle head seal of the Old Shanyu. The seal was sent by the Great-Great-Grandfather Emperor when the barbarians were in good relations with the Great Yan Dynasty.

But now the usurper Agufan searched everywhere, but he did not find the seal. So the seal he uses now is only a private gold seal, which is not true to the name.

This is also the reason why Agufan has been searching for Old Shanyu’s daughter all the time.

After seeing the seal and being introduced by the leader of Chaxi, a big tribe of barbarians, Lin Siyue’s identity is certain. Cui Xingzhou also understood why she was able to send so many warriors to Miantang when she turned to Lin Siyue for help, that Fan Hu, who was hiding in the dark, had no use and was paid freely for workers.

However, Lin Siyue questioned the identity of Prince Huaiyang. She looked straight at him and said, “Are you really Cui Xingzhou, Prince Huaiyang?”

Cui rowed slowly and said, “I’m not being chased. Why do I need someone to disguise?”

Lin Siyue, however, raised her eyebrows and said, “That means you pretended to be a Commander, cheated on a young lady in the Wuning Checkpoint, and then abandoned her?”

Cui Xingzhou’s face darkened when he heard the words. Mo Ru on the other side said angrily, “How dare you slander The Prince! Is Prince Huaiyang someone you can offend?”

According to him, it’s the opposite. Although his Master did cheat on the Young Lady, he never said to not take responsible!

The leader of Chaxi on the other side was also anxious and gave an eye signal at Lin Siyue. They came here to ask for help from Prince Huaiyang, but she suddenly said this. Won’t all their efforts be in vain?

Lin Siyue also knew that she should not ask, but she couldn’t help fighting for Lady Liu when she thought of the dirty little face and the hard work of shipping and selling goods in the cold wind.

However, Cui Xingzhou’s face darkened for a moment, and he calmed down and said, “She is just throwing a little temper with me… But I still want to thank you for taking trouble for Miantang and sending someone to protect her to Jintuo Town safely.”

Lin Siyue is not sure after hearing Cui Xingzhou say so. Since Cui Xingzhou can know about Liu Miantang’s transportation of the Black Tail Sheep, is it true that, as he said, the two people are just having a small fight and have made up?

But she learned Chinese when she was a child. She knew that the red tape of the Central Plains could never become the Princess Consort of Prince Huaiyang, depending on the origin of Lady Liu.

Then this Prince is too stingy towards the outer Mistress. As the Marshal of the Northwest, he has to rely on his outside Mistress to open a pharmacy and buy goods privately to support his family?

Lin Siyue is defending injustice for Liu Miantang, but he is here to shoulder the great task of revitalizing the tribe. So she could only suppress her anger, droop her eyelids, and order people to present her written statement.

Because her father was granted the title of the great ancestor, and Agufan was just a usurper. Now Agufan is in decline. Lin Siyue wants to seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize the Wangqi Tribe.

Cui Xingzhou has read the offer letter, which roughly means that the daughter of the Old Shanyu wants to win the Imperial Edict so that she can speak up to Agufan and avoid further division among the barbarians.

In fact, before that, some people had tried to talk about this matter to Prince Huaiyang, who never answered.

The Great Yan Dynasty has no obligation to maintain the prosperity of the barbarians. And now Prince Huaiyang doesn’t need external help to defeat Agufan.

If he didn’t see Lin Siyue today, Cui Xingzhou would not have paid any attention to such requests.

Therefore, when he wanted to reject the offer, he suddenly thought of Liu Miantang.

This Young Lady is slick and not a model to follow. But Cui Xingzhou can occasionally learn some life lessons from her. For example, Lady Liu often said in his ear, “Leave some mercy in life, so that when meeting in the future again, it won’t be too bad.

On reflection, whether she is in the porcelain business or the medicine business, she has made the most of her contacts accumulated in a short time.

At present, the daughter of the Old Shanyu has a good reputation among the barbarians. It doesn’t matter if he refuses at this time. But he will also offend the tribes of all sizes on the grassland.

Thinking of this, Cui Xingzhou hesitated and thought for a moment, “I have understood the meaning of yours. The Old Shanyu was granted the title by the Former Emperor, and he is highly respected. It is rare that you have the intention to be in good relations with the Great Yan Dynasty again. I will tell the Court the story and wait for the title to be conferred again…”

Lin Siyue sent people to test the means of Prince Huaiyang, but she was repeatedly rejected. She doesn’t have much hope today. But she didn’t expect Cui Xingzhou to be easy to convince this time. It’s really surprising.

To express his sincerity, Cui Xingzhou wrote a memorial letter to The Emperor in front of the daughter of the Old Shanyu and Chaxi leader and sent someone to deliver it quickly.

Mo Ru looked aside and felt that The Prince of his family seemed to be much more tactful. In this way, Prince Huaiyang was completely benevolent. If The Emperor rejects this matter, it does not concern Prince Huaiyang. But if he agrees, the future Queen on the grassland will also be full of gratitude for Cui Xingzhou’s kindness and righteousness.

Sure enough, when Lin Siyue left, the dislike of Prince Huaiyang at the start had decreased a lot, and her face also showed some respect.

However, before leaving, Lin Siyue did not rest assured and asked about Lady Liu’s whereabouts. Cui Xingzhou said without changing the composure of his face, “If you are free in the future, I will take Lady Liu to the Wangqi Tribe to taste the authentic horse milk wine on the grassland.”

Hearing what he said, Lin Siyue was relieved. So she asked the guards to take the beef jerky and cheese specially made by the Wangqi Tribe, as well as the unique cold dispelling herbs on the grassland.

“I prepared these for Lady Liu, but she was in such a hurry that I forgot. It would be best if Your Highness could bring them to her for me. Especially the herbs, which are unique to the grassland. It can only bear fruit once every five years. The shell can be ground into medicine, which is good for her cold and the damaged hamstrings and bones.”

Cui Xingzhou ordered Mo Ru to take it, and said to Lin Siyue, “Don’t worry, I will definitely bring it to her!”

After that day, The Prince was a little happier and told Mo Ru to keep the items entrusted by the daughter of the Old Shanyu properly.

In fact, Mo Ru wanted to ask, “Have you finally found an excuse to find Lady Liu, Your Highness?”

However, looking at Cui Xingzhou’s powerful iron fist in the moonlight, he still shrank his neck and decided to act confused.

On the grassland, the Northwest Marshal brought Lady Liu’s tactfulness into full play.

However, when it was the ancestor of smoothness, Liu Miantang, encountered some problems.

The difficulties of Shenwei Escort Agency are far more serious than she thought.

In fact, her grandfather has accumulated a lot of money over the years. Even if she had paid a large amount of silver for her father, it would not have ended in bankruptcy.

However, his family values benevolence and justice and needs to support too many founding members. The business of the Escort Agency has plummeted, so the income cannot make ends meet. In these years, the money was earned by the boss. But the earnings were bad in the latter and the Northwest had to make a living by selling farmland.

But even the largest camel can’t stand such gnawing. If her grandfather sold his last farmland, the Lu family property accumulated over a long time would have few left.

After Miantang had a rest for two days, she asked the accountant to copy the list of the senior escorts who are still in the Lu family receiving the monthly salary to her.

The treasurer who handled the accounts had wandered the Jianghu with the Old Master when he was young. According to his seniority, Liu Miantang had to call him Second Grandpa Zhang.

So after listening to Miantang’s instructions, he looked up at Liu Miantang from the thick account book and asked, “What do you want this for, Lady Liu?”

Liu Miantang asked Fang Xie to move a bench for her, Sitting in the charcoal basin in the accounting room, she roasted her hands and said, “Isn’t New Year’s Day coming? I haven’t been back to the Lu’s for a long time! I’m not a child now, and I can’t spare the etiquette. I don’t want to bother my Grandfather, so I thought about asking you to write a list for me. By then, I can arrange the priorities of these uncles according to the level of monthly salary, and visit them one by one to give them a gift. It can also be regarded as a flavorsome visit on behalf of my grandfather.”

Grandfather Zhang likes to hear this, but he still reminds her according to the elders’ practice, “Those who can fight with the Old Master Lu are all capable and practical, so why arrange the priorities? It doesn’t matter how many fruit wines you will be sending, if you are willing, those uncles will appreciate your heart.”

Miantang smiled and rubbed her hands, “That’s the truth, but I’m not a good talker like you. If you are busy, just give me the latest account book of their usual expenses, and I can just copy one myself.”

These words are exactly what the Second Grandpa Zhang hopes for. He was old this year, he would not like to do such delicate work. Besides, there was nothing to be afraid of reading the usual monthly interest book. So he asked the young worker to take three thick books and handed them to Fang Xie.

After Liu Miantang came out of the accounting room, she happened to pass by her Second Uncle’s yard and looked into the moon gate. Not only did the window paper change, but also the lanterns under the corridor were changed. They were all made of gauze with plum blossom patterns. When the flower candles were lit, the ground under the corridor would be dotted with plum blossoms, which was very elegant.

However, such fashionable lanterns are not cheap, and the territory of the State of Xi can not be bought!

Liu Miantang looked and returned to her room. Let Fang Xie polish the ink and let Bi Cao lit up the incense. She spread the paper and copied the list in the account book.

Bi Cao doesn’t understand why writing must burn incense. In fact, Miantang didn’t quite understand it too. but Cui Jiu wrote carefully in the curly fragrance when he was writing in North Street. Some habits have been imperceptibly influenced, so Miantang now needs incense to copy an account book.

Reminded by Bi Cao, Miantang found that she was also infected with the bad habit of the extravagance of The Prince’s Residence. She should practice frugality in everything after being back in the State of Xi. So when she saw she hasn’t started, Miantang let Bi Cao put out the incense fragrance.

But somehow, after the incense was extinguished, the words written were not as good as they were just now. Miantang secretly believed in evil, so she asked Bi Cao to burn the incense again.

Bi Cao was also scared to do it over and over again. She lit up the incense and said, “This incense is used to drive away mosquitoes in the mansion. Although it is not as harsh as earthly incense, it is not a valuable thing. Please rest assured, Young Lady. At most I will buy you a box with my monthly money. It’s enough to copy a scripture!”

Fang Xie glared at Bi Cao and said, “If you continue to be garrulous again, be careful the Young Lady will deduct your monthly salary so you can’t be generous in front of the Master!”

Bi Cao put out her tongue and quickly knelt in front of the table. She spread the written list on the mat on the ground for Miantang, waiting for the ink to dry, and then gathered it together.

Miantang spent almost half a day before she finally finished copying the account of the seniors raised by the Lu Mansion.

As a result, there are a total of 160 households alive and not alive.

It is needless to say that those who are still alive are orphans and widows. Lu Wu also pays them every month to take care of them.

After Miantang finished writing the list, Bi Cao asked, “Do you want to order fruit snacks next, Lady? The paper used to wrap snacks in the room is not enough, so we have to buy more…”

Miantang waved her aching wrist and said, “No, we will go door to door from tomorrow for a secret visit.”

The two servant girls looked at each other. They didn’t know what is the Young Lady up to.

But Miantang really went in disguise the next day. She combed a married woman’s hair again, wore a hood with gauze, and led two servant girls, pretending to be a businesswoman who came from other places to buy shops. She went door to door according to the address on the list.

Miantang’s visit mainly depends on asking questions. When the weather is good on each street, there are always groups of old women chatting together. Under the pretext of renting a house or shop in the street, Miantang quietly inquired about the situation of the neighbors.

After all, her skills of chatting and gossiping on the bench in Lingquan North Street are not a false reputation, and it is easy to quickly reach a consensus with these old women.

However, the results of visiting these days have made Miantang’s heart choke.

The elders who led the monthly expenses spent most of their days in prosperity.

For example, Master Cao, who was in charge of water transportation for her grandfather, went to the Lu family and cry about poverty. He only said that he had lost his wife and it was not easy to raise his three children. So her grandfather gave him two extra monthly expenses. However, when the escort agency was not doing well, he set up another stall to attract the old customers of Shenwei Escort Agency at a low price.

In the beginning, although his water transportation capital was not very abundant, he relied on the Lu family to eat reliably and slowly did his business little by little to build up. But maybe he was afraid that the Lu family will find out about his doings so he didn’t dare to be in the limelight, but let one of his nephews take care of the business. However, his nephew used to be a farmer in the countryside. He always said that he can’t make the decision. He had to ask his uncle about everything.

Neighbors often heard that Mr. Cao was leaving in a hurry and scolding his nephew for his bad work.

There is also Mr. Zhan, who once went through the bandit stronghold alone with her grandfather. He always liked to talk about sharing life and death with her grandfather. He also received higher monthly expenses than others and bought countless properties in the countryside. Although Mr. Zhan is low-key, he has a wife who likes to show off. One time, when she was inadvertently making shoe soles with the neighbor’s women, she made a slip tongue and said that she had hired a dozen tenants alone!

For such rich families, there is a great number in the top ranks of the register. Her grandfather valued friendship, but most of the elders who had exhausted their family’s resources had found a new livelihood. They had a good life, but they still take the benefits from the Lu family for granted.

However, there are also some who need the help of the Lu Family, but only a dozen.

Miantang walked away and secretly felt sorry for her grandfather. To be honest, after her grandfather fell ill, she was not energetic enough, and there were also omissions in management. Most of the so-called brothers who lived and died together with him has grown to have bad intention. They move in their ways and carry on a secret affair, emptying the escort agency from inside to outside, and each made a fortune. But they still accept the pension money from the Lu family for granted.

When Miantang came back from outside, she called her Big Uncle and told her about her investigation. She asked him if he knew about it and why he didn’t reduce their given monthly expenses.

Lu Xian was so worried that he waved his hand, “My little ancestor, if you were not careful, you would almost stab the hornet’s nest! Don’t reduce the monthly money in front of your grandfather!”

It turned out that Lu Xian was also aware of these people’s secret actions.

But when he said he would not give the monthly expenses anymore, the group of elders agreed to kneel in front of the Lu Mansion and cry. They only said that they had devoted most of their life to the Shenwei Escort Agency. However, the Escort Agency disbanded and leave them unattended. The Elder Master is now charging them with being greedy and trying his best to find an excuse to dump these useless old people. They are not determined to die, and if that leads to death, they will bend themselves to the task unto death.

Grandfather valued friendship and could not listen to it. He was so angry that he almost whipped Lu Xian alive in front of the ancestral temple. Since then, no one in the Lu family has dared to mention the word “monthly money reduction”.

Miantang, however, did not move her eyebrows and asked, “What did my Second Uncle say about that?”

Lu Xian sighed, “Your Second Uncle knows how to be an upright man, and he also advised me not to worry too much. After all, those elders sold their lives for the Escort Agency, so they should be divided. Besides, it’s not like the Lu family can’t afford to support them, so why provoke a group of people to kneel in front of the Mansion and let the Old Master bear the name of injustice…”

Miantang frowned slightly, but unexpectedly, her Second Uncle, who was careful about everything, will speak on behalf of the outsiders.

Her grandmother passed away early, and Shen-Shi, the wife of her Eldest Uncle, was loyal and honest, unlike Quan-Shi, her Second Aunt. So now the head of the Lu family is Quan-Shi. All the bills, including the distribution of the monthly salary, are under the charge of the Second Room.

After returning home after so long, Miantang paid attention to everything. Her cousin Lu Qingxia under her Elder Uncle has been married. It is said that her dowry was not rich at the beginning. When her Elder Cousin Lu Zhirong got married, it was not too dignified. Her Second Cousin Lu Zhihua has not married yet. It is said that she has left school early to learn business with her mother’s side brothers.

However, when she came to the second room, it looked super wealthy. The average daily food and clothing are different from that of the people in the entire Mansion.

However, Quan said it reasonably. She only said that these are her dowry subsidies. Her parent’s Mansion is the official family. She can’t live a miserable life just because she married a merchant!

However, according to Miantang’s understanding of her Second Aunt, she is not a person who will help her husband’s family with her private savings. And as she looked coldly, her Second Aunt was considerate and convinced by her Second Uncle.

Only those men who have earned some money from outside can speak confidently in front of their official wives like her Second Uncle!

That night, because it was not the beginning of the month, it was unnecessary for the whole family to get together. Miantang accompanies her grandfather to dinner as usual.

She just looked at her grandfather and sighed. Lu Wu puts down his soup bowl and asks her why she sighs.

Miantang said honestly, “When I was young, my mother said that my grandmother was a very powerful person, and you were afraid of her, so I thought it would be better if she were still here…”

Lu Wu almost choke on the soup he had just drunk. His old story of being afraid of his wife was revealed by his granddaughter. So he stared and said, “Little bastard, are you going to piss me off? As I say, you look just like your grandmother! I don’t know which misfortune will be in your hands in the future!”

Miantang smiled and said, “I don’t care about other people’s affairs, but I care about my grandfather’s affairs!”