Chapter 122 – Find Out the Truth

Miantang was worried that Prince Huaiyang would not be able to eat in the government office, so she sent someone with a food box to deliver it to the government office.

 

When the food box was brought to Cui Xingzhou’s face, the lid opened and a steaming aroma emanated.

 

The dishes in it were all Cui Xingzhou’s favorite. Garlic mutton in fried tender, a white bun wrapped with bacon was slightly open, and a plate of hot fried prawns. Seeing the bright red color, Miantang should have fried it herself.

 

Cui Xingzhou looked at the plate of shrimp with a gloomy expression and slowly lifted his chopsticks and put one into his mouth to chew.

 

After being a husband and wife for so long, Liu Miantang was certainly familiar with his taste, with a moderate salty taste and a balance of sweetness and spiciness, just as delicious as usual.

 

Now, she was familiar with his taste, knows his hobbies, and even carries his child.

 

But he doesn’t know who she was!

 

Could Miantang be Lu Wen? If he hadn’t salvaged a woman with bruises and frailties from the water, he might not have easily believed such an incredible thing.

 

Now, Prince Sui confidently claims that she was Lu Wen, and Cui Xingzhou has already believed about 30 percent of it.

 

In his opinion, Liu Miantang’s cunning actions were much better than that of Liu Yu sitting in the palace, supported by his father-in-law and a group of old ministers.

 

When he first identified Liu Yu as Lu Wen, Cui Xingzhou even secretly despised himself, causing this weak chicken-like man to place him in a difficult position for so long!

 

But what if Lu Wen was not Liu Yu? Did it not happen to coincide with his rescue of Miantang when the Mountain of Yang crowd suddenly felt like they had been drained of spiritual energy and were vulnerable to a single blow?

 

The dishes in front of him were only eaten once, and the heat gradually faded away.

 

Cui Xingzhou waved his hand and called in his subordinates in the capital to collect information. He coldly ordered, “Send someone to carefully track down the new servants the princess consort has taken in, and see what their background is! In addition, send some people to search for some old troops in the Mountain of Yang to investigate who Lu Wen is.”

 

It was easy to find out Lu Wen’s details now, but in the past, he was too careless. Just because the court has offered amnesty and enlistment to rebels, he missed this section but never thought that the person he was thinking of wanting to arrest would be hidden by his side.

 

He had several life-and-death battles with Lu Wen, but unexpectedly, he fell into her trap and scam.

 

Mo Ru, who was guarding the door, did not know what had happened to the prince today. He only watched as Prince Huaiyang sat motionless with a gloomy face as if there were no signs of returning to his residence.

 

What’s wrong with him today? Isn’t the prince has a complete victory in the court? Why was he so decadent now that it feels like being crowned with green?

 

He cautiously poked his head and said, “When the princess consort sent someone to deliver the meal earlier, she even asked the servants to ask when will you return.”

 

Cui Xingzhou’s chin tightened tightly, and after a long time, he coldly replied, “Tell her that the government is busy and I won’t be going back today.”

 

Upon hearing this, Mo Ru went to inform the servants and went back to report the duty.

 

When the words arrived at Miantang, although she was somewhat disappointed, it was not surprising. After all, when Cui Xingzhou left in the morning, he also told her that he was afraid he would be busy in the future.

 

So Miantang ordered people to pick up the prince’s changing clothes, as well as the commonly used bamboo salt mouthwash tea, and pack them. They only sent them over the next morning, so that he could wash in the official office after a night of official work.

 

Late at night, lying alone on a slightly empty bed made it look much colder. Sometimes, half asleep and half awake, she always wanted to hug her side. After each empty moment, she can only touch her own belly. Fortunately, there was a small one accompanying her. Miantang fondly rubbed her face against the empty pillow next to her and slowly fell asleep.

 

But Miantang didn’t expect that Cui Xingzhou wouldn’t come back for the next two days.

 

However, the front of the Prince’s Residence gradually became lively.

 

The old military case was widely implicated, and those officials who were involved saw the power of Prince Huaiyang’s suppression of people. They also regretted offending him deeply and tried to find excuses to show loyalty by exploiting the threshold of the royal residence.

 

Miantang stood in the outer courtyard listening to the bustling traffic and thought to herself, No wonder he didn’t come back. It turned out he was hiding from these people.

 

Since the prince was not around, these people are all driven away. Not long after, a guard came out and said with a stern face, “The princess consort’s birth is unstable. You are so noisy that she cannot rest peacefully. Please take your belongings back to the mansion. The prince is not in the residence, it is useless for you to wait at the door.”

 

The instability of the princess consort’s fetal vitality was a crucial matter, and no one dares to associate such crimes with it. In addition, it was true that Prince Huaiyang has not returned to his residence, so they dispersed.

 

Miantang saw that they had gone clean, and she wanted to take a walk outside the residence.

 

In a few days, Lu Zhong, the eldest of the four loyal brothers, will get married. He was going to marry a young widow he met in Lingquan Town.

 

The two of them did not go through matchmaking, it was their own preference. Lu Zhong followed the leader to the capital, and the little widow also followed him to the capital.

 

Although she was getting married for the second time, it was the first time for Lu Zhong and the wedding cannot be simplified. Miantang bought them a small house in the suburbs of the capital and even selected an auspicious days to complete the matchmaker’s dowry.

 

For seven consecutive days, Cui Xingzhou did not return to the residence, and tomorrow will be the day when Lu Zhong gets married. Miantang personally came to take a look and also delivered her congratulatory gift in advance.

 

There are no other choices, she’s now known as the Princess Consort Huaiyang, so it’s not easy for her to have a wedding banquet with a group of friends. Only congratulating them in advance and sending her heartfelt was enough.

 

When these few brothers, along with those old brothers, got married and had children, and settled down, she finally unloaded the burden and led a group of brothers who had been led astray by herself back on the right path.

 

When Miantang’s carriage drove to the courtyard, she saw a mess in the distance. Lu Zhong’s fiancée Huang Sanniang was sitting at the entrance of the courtyard, crying bitterly.

 

Seeing Miantang poking her head out of the carriage, she immediately stumbled up and rushed to the side of the carriage, crying, “Princess Consort, you’re finally here. A group of officers and soldiers just arrived. Without saying a word, they twisted Lu Zhong and his four brothers and threw them into the carriage, and took them away.”

 

Miantang was taken aback when she heard this. At the feet of the emperor, the officers and soldiers did not dare to arrest people recklessly, otherwise, they would be impeached by the officials. These officers and soldiers and their superiors were afraid of losing their heads.

 

They should have some reasons when they come to catch Lu Zhong and others.

 

Miantang asked Huang Sanniang what the four brothers have done recently. Huang Sanniang wept and said, “We are getting married soon. Lu Zhong has been busy preparing for the wedding, and even the escort agency’s business has stopped. God knows when and who caused trouble. Princess Consort, you have a wide range of ways. Can you inquire about what they have done?”

 

The soldiers and horses in the capital came from different barracks, and the embroidered characters on the uniforms are also different. Firstly, it was important to know which battalion captured Lu Zhong’s four soldiers. Miantang asked about the clothing details of the officers and soldiers and found that they were actually under the Ministry of War. Miantang thought for a moment, turned her horse’s head, and went to the military department.

 

After careful calculation, Miantang hasn’t seen the prince for a long time. She didn’t want to come and see either, as she knew that Cui Xingzhou was busy with official affairs and was cleaning up officials. She always didn’t like to visit at all times, which delayed the prince’s business. But today, for the sake of those four brothers, she had to come and inquire about the reason.

 

It was noon, and the prince was eating in the official study. Watching Miantang walk all the way, her forehead was sweating, and her fair cheeks were slightly flushed.

 

He hasn’t seen her for a few days, it seems like her belly has grown a bit bigger, but she walks so fast.

 

Cui Xingzhou remained silent for a moment, frowned, got up, and walked over. He grabbed her soft catkin and helped her sit down, saying, “Since you are pregnant now, why are you walking so urgently? Don’t you know how to slow down?”

 

Miantang had originally heard the news of the four brothers being arrested, but she was still a bit uneasy, worried that she might have revealed the truth. But now, seeing Cui Xingzhou’s face as usual and not as if the secret has been revealed, she cautiously said, “You haven’t returned to the residence these days. I missed you and came to see you. I naturally felt a bit anxious.”

 

Before, when Cui Xingzhou heard this, his face always showed an indescribable smile. But today he was also smiling, however, his smile was not wide. His expression remained motionless and he raised his eyebrows slightly, saying, “My wife is so diligent that I am moved.”

 

After hearing this, Miantang couldn’t help but look up at him deeply. Cui Xingzhou poured her a cup of tea and said, “What’s the matter?”

 

Miantang dared not say that today’s prince felt strange, so she simply asked, “It seems that some of the guys from my escort agency were taken by your soldiers just now. Their relatives were crying at home and happened to be caught up by me. They begged me to come and inquire about what they had done.”

 

Cui Xingzhou seemed to be looking at a stranger and kept looking at Miantang silently.

 

Although the beauty was pregnant, she still has a smooth and fair face, slender shoulders, and graceful willows. It was said that she was once the leader of a bandit, and even a knife on her neck cannot be convincing.

 

However, the past few days of his investigation of the Mountain of Yang have revealed little by little, gradually forming a thread and being piled up into a shape. Cui Xingzhou, no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, could only admit that he had been playing with eagles all his life but had been pecked by eagles and gone blind.

 

The person next to him was the fierce bandit Lu Wen from the Mountain of Yang.

 

At this moment, he should have clasped his fists and shouted, “You indeed played good chess, Leader Lu. You have been hidden around me for so long.

 

At first, he wanted to convince himself that Miantang had hurt her head and completely forgotten the past.

 

But those four brothers were clearly her right-hand men on the Mountain of Yang. If she didn’t remember the past, how could she so desperately defend those four bandits?

 

In recent days, Cui Xingzhou’s heart has been scorching on a volcano and sinking in a glacier. His chest has been filled with deceitful anger and he cannot even return to his residence.

 

She was still pregnant with his child, and he was afraid that he can’t help but accidentally strangle this lying person.

 

It’s like now, looking at that thin white neck, Cui Xingzhou wanted to strangle and ask, deceiving him like this. Does she feel proud in her heart?

 

Now when Miantang asked about the situation of the four fierce bandits in the Mountain of Yang, Cui Xingzhou tried to suppress his fire and slowly spoke up, “Oh, what happened? Mo Ru, go and ask what happened.”

 

Mo Ru, who was completely bewildered, thought to himself, Aren’t those four brothers been placed next to the execution room by the prince personally, listening to their trial? Why did he pretend not to know now?

 

But he didn’t dare to say much. The prince ordered him to take a walk and inquire. After hesitating outside for a while, he returned to report, “Report to Your Highness, someone has reported that these four brothers have been involved in banditry.”