Gai didn’t expect this woman, who looked petite and weak with a smile on her face, to be so choking when she spoke! “Your royal residence is indeed not making trouble! Otherwise, what’s the difference between it and a dilapidated family of a municipal escort agency? Don’t you know how was my son’s position at the Ministry of Revenue has been snatched by the recommendation of Prince Huaiyang? She is so jealous that she has ruined her husband’s future. Which family dares to ask for her?”
Liu Miantang pretended not to understand the sarcasm about her birth in her words, but the light in his eyes was no longer hidden, Staring straight at the old godly woman “How dare the Duke and Madam of Qingguo spat nonsense! Your family has so many bad things on your minds that we in the Huaiyang Residence remain silent. What’s wrong with our Prince being loyal to the emperor and recommending talents but having to be subject to the abuse of your Duke of Qingguo? Li Guangcai is a talented person who has learned from others and is well-known throughout the whole dynasty. He only retired when he felt the desire to step down. Now, he is inspired by the New Emperor and wants to join the capital and do his best for the country, which is a commendable good thing. As for his deployment… It all depends on the emperor. Is it possible that because you are related to the prince by marriage, your talent is better than Lord Li Guangcai’s? Are you not satisfied with the decree of the emperor? Do you want to change the appointment of the emperor?”
As soon as she said this, Guo Yi’s forehead burst into a sweat. He had previously disapproved of his mother coming to talk to the princess consort, but now, Princess Consort Huaiyang has been digging a hole all the way and they have fallen into a deep pit of unloyalty.
Although the present emperor was under the control of Empress Dowager, after all, he was the Supreme of the dynasty. What should he do if his mother’s disrespectful words reach Your Majesty’s ears?
With this in mind, Guo Yi quickly rounded up and said, “What are you talking about, Princess Consort? My mother thought that Cui Fu was angry and wouldn’t go home. Since it’s family matters, don’t ever resort to state affairs. If she likes to stay at her younger brother’s house, she can stay as long as she wants.”
The Duke and Madam of Qingguo were blocked by Liu Miantang’s words, which made her even more depressed. Hearing Guo Yi’s words, she snorted, “Since she doesn’t want to come back, it will be difficult for her to come back herself in the future.”
At this point, Liu Miantang’s face lost all the smile, “I’ve heard for a long time that the Old Madam of Qingguo Mansion is very strict. Seeing is better than hearing. It’s not up to your family to decide what will happen in the future. Your Guo family is the grand master of the family, but our Cui family is not any random family too. The men in the residence also fought for the sake of the Great Yan Dynasty. If the lady who has been married has been wronged, the Cui family has no reason to sit back and ignore her. Today, there seems to be no one who understands the situation. If that’s the case, then let’s wait till there is a smart person before having a thorough discussion with our Prince.”
After saying that, without waiting for Gai to speak, Liu Miantang waved her long sleeve and left without turning back with her servant girl and mother-in-law.
At this time, this minor conflict was also spread through the banquet room through word of mouth.
Although the Qingguo Residence seems to have more stable roots than the Huaiyang Residence, it cannot be compared to those wealthy princes in the capital circle.
The Guo family despises the Cui family for their rudeness, but their behavior was also deeply disrespectful to the people of other provinces.
In particular, this matter of taking a concubine without greeting the daughter-in-law has really violated the taboo of the main families of various governments, so they don’t think there was anything wrong with the Cui family doing this. The Old Madam of the government of Qingguo was not a good person to make her pregnant daughter-in-law return to her mother’s home with anger!
After Miantang had a grudge against the Gai family’s mother and son, she greeted Madam Jing’an and went home.
Madam Jing’an knew that she was pregnant, and she didn’t ask her to stay further. Instead, she ordered someone to fill two extra cans of new tea dried in the southern Yunnan tea garden and gave it to Miantang, saying, “Your family now has two people being pregnant, and other strong teas can’t be drunk. The special green tea from these two cans doesn’t have a strong taste, and it’s just right to drink with black wolfberry water.”
Miantang saw the soft clay seal on the teapot and found that the tea from this southern Yunnan tea plantation was not cheap. She smiled and said, “Thank you very much, Marquis Old Lady”
Madam Jing’an smiled slightly and said, “I have a distant nephew who is coming to the capital in recent days. He invited the tea garden in southern Yunnan to send the tea by a merchant ship going north and temporarily placed it at my house. I am just offering a present to you with other people’s things.”
Miantang raised her eyebrows and said, “I wonder who your distant nephew is?”
Madam Jing’an smiled slightly and said, “You should have heard his name too. It’s Li Guangcai, the newly appointed right Deputy Chief of the Sixth Central Department of the Ministry of Revenue.”
This Lord Li was Miantang’s original marriage witness, and she certainly knew him. However, this Lord Li seemed very frugal. When he took office in the State of Xi, he wouldn’t even prepare a carriage and only rented donkeys to ride in the post station.
Now that he hasn’t arrived in the capital, how did he learn about the socializing atmosphere of giving gifts and dredging in the capital, being so generous?
When Miantang returned to her residence, she told Cui Xingzhou about Li Guangcai’s actions to send tea. Cui Xingzhou took a look at the tea can and said, “Brother Guangcai has put in a huge cost this time… My sister likes to drink this tea, please keep some and send the rest to her.”
Miantang was disassembling her hairpin. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but be taken aback. She thought there seemed to be something in it. She turned her face and asked, “Li Guangcai knew that our sister loves to drink, so he sent it here?”
Cui Xingzhou didn’t speak, just lazily half lying on the soft couch, flipping through his book and casually saying, ‘Maybe it’s a coincidence…”
Miantang didn’t believe this, but she didn’t ask. Cui Fu was a married woman with a baby in her stomach now. The idea that flashed through her mind just now was too bizarre, let alone asking, so she stopped talking about it.
This time, the Cui family and the Guo family had a face-off moment. If Miantang were to make a decision, she wouldn’t have made the situation so deadly. But Cui Xingzhou meant it as if he intended not to leave affection for the Guo family, let alone leave a way out for his sister’s marriage.
On the afternoon of the next day, while the maids were leading Jin’er to catch butterflies in the garden, Miantang learned from Cui Fu the words of Guo’s mother and son, who had attended the Jing’an Marquis banquet yesterday.
Cui Fu seems to have healthy colors these two days. In her younger brother’s residence, she spoke with sufficient confidence, and there was no need to constantly pay attention to whether her words will offend Gai, let alone watch her husband walk around a little girl, not to mention how pleasant it was.
After listening to Miantang’s words, She gave a long sigh and said “If I didn’t hear from you, I’d forgotten how frustrated my mother-in-law was. I used to be so far away from you that I didn’t even have a place to avoid being bullied by her. I just kept enduring it and forgot how tough I used to be when I was at my mother’s place. If my mother-in-law was just being stubborn, I wouldn’t care much as I won’t be able to live around for a thousand years, but now, Guo Yi has extinguished all my hopes… When the baby in my belly is born, let Xingzhou arrange for me and make a divorce with the Guo family.”
Miantang was stunned. Unexpectedly, Cui Fu was able to understand the pros and cons so quickly. She only carefully asked, “You are not making this decision out of anger, right?”
Cui Fu smiled slightly, “Yesterday, you went out to the banquet and came back early. You talked to me a little bit. The Guo family was able to enter the capital, but they followed the path of Empress Dowager. His ancestors also had a close friendship with the Empress Dowager’s palace family. Just marrying me makes it seem that the Duke of Qingguo is unclear about their stance and seems to want to find both ways… Therefore, this is also the main reason why Guo Yi’s promotion path cannot be immediately realized. Why did my mother-in-law take in a concubine? Does she really want to continue to prosper the bloodline of the family? This is just the action to prove where the Duke of Qingguo stands toward the Empress Dowager. Although his family has married the sister of Prince Huaiyang, their heart is on Empress Dowager’s side. As for the daughter that the Cui family has married, it is of no importance!”
Miantang frowned as if she understood something, and then said, “Sister, you…”
After Cui Fu had a conversation with her younger brother, the sentimentality between her eyebrows seemed to dissipate a lot, “Without the backing from my parents, what kind of deep love between husband and wife is all bullshit! Although I am a woman, I also understand that the secret competition between Xingzhou and Prince Sui is as fierce as a waterfall. If I cannot do everything possible, it is hard to tell whether that disaster of troops destroying our residence in the State of Zhen will be repeated. Since the Guo family is eager to stand team, how can I delay the prosperity and wealth of the Qingguo Residence?”
After saying this, Cui Fu saw Miantang’s silence and asked, “Why aren’t you talking?”
Liu Miantang reached for the grapes and peeled them as she said, “I can’t compare myself to those of you nobles who grew up in the deep houses. I didn’t even think of this layer…”
Cui Fu smiled bitterly and said, “If I didn’t analyze Xingzhou carefully, I wouldn’t have thought of it, let alone you! Everyone else envies us royals’ children, but how do they understand that even if there is a change in the situation in the court, couples who were originally like celestial couples will suddenly lose their love and the whole family will fall apart…”
That afternoon, after Miantang ended the conversation with her sister, she went back to her bedroom somewhat dejectedly, lying listlessly on the bed.
Cui Xingzhou felt a bit strange when he came into the room that she didn’t speak to himself. Seeing her lying motionless on the bed without paying attention, he also lay beside her and pressed towards her ear, and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Miantang remained silent for a moment and then said straight, “Nothing… I just suddenly realized that, regardless of whether Guo Yi took a concubine or not, you planned to separate your sister from them long ago, didn’t you?”
Cui Xingzhou raised his eyebrows and said, “Why do you say that?”
Liu Miantang slowly turned her head and looked at Cui Xingzhou’s calm handsome eyes and said, “Because the government of Qingguo and your political views are different, your sister should also express her position in time and draw a clear line with the government of Qingguo, which will also save you from the difficult situation at that time. You even… You even have been carefully planning your sister’s future marriage…”
Cui Xingzhou didn’t even deny it, but said lightly, “Is there anything wrong with doing this?”
At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong, but she said speechlessly, “You’re very considerate in your arrangements… How could there be something wrong?'”
Cui Xingzhou looked down at her face, her long curved eyelashes casting shadows on both sides of her tall nose, concealing the starlike cold light in her eyes, and only asked softly, “Since that’s the case, why do you seem to be angry with me?”
Liu Miantang opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything.
Because Cui Fu was indeed unhappy in her marriage. If the decision was in her hands, she will also choose to leave the Guo family.
Moreover, instead of being angry, she suddenly felt a sense of fear in her heart.
If one day she was placed on a scale with towering power, would Cui Xingzhou handle her like her sister’s marriage as he did today, making a rational choice with an iron fist and a clean hand, and throwing her on the road ahead like a shoe?
This man’s unintentional display of cold-blooded intrigue really makes people feel a bit scared. But Cui Xingzhou who knows nothing, gently touched her face and said, “What are you thinking about again?”
Ruth Ibale On TSFLIP Chapter 1133