Liu Miantang cast a contemptuous sidelong glare at the speaker. Before her stood a dissolute young man garbed in a blue robe, his headscarf askew with studied carelessness—clearly a local wealthy ne'er-do-well, flanked by two grinning servants whose expressions promised trouble.
Miantang's withering glare left the rake visibly weak-kneed. One of his servants, evidently well-practiced in facilitating his master's unsavory dalliances, leered forward with a presumptuous grin. "What's your name, miss? Our young master is the esteemed nephew of Lingquan Town's garrison commander. If you cultivate his acquaintance, there could be substantial benefits for you!"
Miantang maintained an icy silence, while Li Mama—seemingly paralyzed by fear—followed meekly behind. The ruffians persisted with escalating boldness, making their intentions unmistakably clear: they wouldn't permit her departure unless she boarded their sedan chair.
Miantang, however, remained remarkably composed. Her striking appearance had always attracted such unwanted attention throughout her life, and she possessed considerable experience managing such contemptible scoundrels.
In the past, when she occasionally escaped her maiden home's confines with her maids for clandestine adventures, she would typically drag such bothersome suitors into shadowed alleys, methodically dislocate their joints, and beat them until their own parents wouldn't recognize their battered faces.
But now, weakened substantially by her recent life-threatening illness, she lacked the physical strength to execute her martial arts techniques with their former devastating precision.
Unwilling to endure the harassment—which violated every principle she held sacred—she tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear with deceptive delicacy, bit her lower lip slightly in apparent hesitation, and wordlessly turned into a nearby alley.
The garrison commander's nephew felt a surge of triumphant delight at this apparent surrender. He knew intimately that the alley terminated in a dead end—the beauty would have no choice but to comply with his wishes if she hoped to depart.
With a subtle glance, he signaled his servants. They immediately comprehended, directing the sedan bearers to guard the alley entrance while they followed their master into the narrow passage.
The servants anticipated gleefully that if the young woman attempted resistance, they might need to physically restrain her for their master's pleasure—an act that promised its own sordid rewards...
The rake, eyes gleaming with predatory excitement, entered the alley and moved eagerly to embrace the beauty from behind. Suddenly, Liu Miantang spun with fluid grace—a silver flash materializing in her hand. Before he could process what was happening, a sharp object pressed with threatening precision against his vulnerable throat.
As everyone's vision adjusted to the dimmer light, they realized the instrument was a silver hairpin extracted from the lady's elaborate coiffure.
Miantang had mustered every fragment of her remaining strength for this decisive move. Fortunately, the lecher was far too blinded by lustful anticipation to mount any defense, allowing her to strike a critical pressure point with surgical accuracy.
Witnessing this unexpected reversal, the two servants rushed forward instinctively, but the seemingly delicate young woman issued a chilling warning in tones cold as winter frost: "I've pierced a vital meridian point in his neck. If you dare advance another step, I'll end his miserable existence immediately. Then you can provide explanations to your superiors!"
Indeed, their young master—merely pricked by a slender silver hairpin—had collapsed heavily to his knees. His mouth and eyes contorted grotesquely, saliva flowing uncontrollably, and his eyes had rolled back alarmingly white, presenting a genuinely frightening spectacle.
As the young woman's deceptively delicate hand pressed the hairpin incrementally deeper, their master's nose began hemorrhaging freely, and his body convulsed with violent spasms beyond his control.
The two servants, mere underlings in the household hierarchy, understood with crystalline clarity they'd be implicated catastrophically if anything fatal befell their master. Utterly terrified by the disturbing scene unfolding before them, they froze completely.
One servant, desperately summoning his faltering courage, attempted threats: "Y-you impudent woman! If you harm a single hair on our young master's head, you'll pay dearly for such audacity!"
Miantang remained utterly unintimidated by such hollow posturing. During her journey to Lingquan Town, she had occasionally lodged overnight on passenger boats and overheard travelers gathered around evening campfires discussing how Lingquan Town fell under the administrative jurisdiction of Zhen Prefecture. The new lord governing Zhen Prefecture's fief was the Prince of Huaiyang, who had recently inherited his father's prestigious title.
The young prince had established a formidable reputation for maintaining strict military discipline and had recently crushed the Yangshan rebels' violent uprising with decisive force, gaining immense public prestige. He was also aggressively cracking down on corruption among local officials, earning widespread popular support.
If the Lingquan Town garrison commander's nephew was brazenly harassing respectable women on public streets, she could certainly report this outrage to her husband and file a formal complaint directly with the Prince of Huaiyang's administrative office!
Observing their young master entirely at the mercy of this delicate young woman's hairpin, the two servants could no longer maintain their threatening posture. With thoroughly dejected expressions, they began begging pathetically for the young lady to cease and show merciful clemency by releasing their master unharmed.
At this critical moment, Li Mama—who had maintained conspicuous silence behind Liu Miantang throughout the confrontation—spoke up with calculated timing, "Madam, the master still has important business transactions to conduct. Please refrain from causing a death."
Liu Miantang's eyes flickered with subtle acknowledgment as she glanced meaningfully toward a shadowed corner of the alley. She smiled with deceptive faintness and addressed the two trembling lackeys, "Releasing your master is remarkably simple. It merely depends on how satisfactorily you perform..."
Meanwhile, her supposed husband Cui Jiu wasn't buried beneath ledgers and accounts at any shop. Instead, he reclined comfortably at the Canghaishan Pavilion, savoring fine wine with a distinguished companion while overlooking the surging river below.
The mighty river flowed with relentless power, with merchant vessels constantly passing in both directions, presenting a bustling and prosperous scene of commercial vitality.
His companion, Zhao Quan, the Marquis of Zhengnan, remarked with genuine emotion, "Just two years past, this entire waterway was infested with ruthless river bandits, striking paralyzing fear into merchants' hearts. Now it flows peaceful and orderly. Your personal contribution to this transformation cannot be overstated!"
Cui Jiu casually consumed a cup of wine without offering any response. Zhao Quan understood immediately—his friend must be brooding over the old courtiers in the capital who had formally accused him of illegally amassing military forces beyond authorized limits.
Therefore, Zhao Quan attempted consolation, "Xingzhou, you needn't trouble yourself excessively over those censors' accusations. His Majesty must surely understand that with the bandit problem throughout Zhen Prefecture remaining dangerously unresolved, without adequate troops, the rebels would have reached the capital's very gates long ago. If they were to punish you for necessary military preparations, it would contradict heaven's will and prove impossible for reasonable people to accept!"
Cui Jiu maintained his contemplative silence, idly caressing his wine cup with long fingers, thoroughly lost in private calculations.
Just then, a thin, dark-faced elderly woman was escorted by guards to the pavilion's entrance. She prostrated herself immediately and announced with practiced formality, "Your Highness, this servant has urgent matters to report."
Cui Jiu—or more accurately, Cui Xingzhou, the newly appointed Prince of Huaiyang who had recently inherited his father's distinguished title—responded with calculated impassivity, "You accompanied her to the marketplace today. Was there anything unusual worthy of note?"
The dark-faced elderly woman was none other than Li Mama, who by all rights should have returned to North Street with the madam to prepare the evening meal.
Following the alley incident, Liu Miantang had lost all enthusiasm for visiting the fabric shop and returned home considerably earlier than planned with Li Mama.
Thoroughly exhausted by the day's unexpected events, her weakened constitution couldn't endure prolonged activity, and she had fallen into deep sleep almost immediately upon returning.
Observing that she wouldn't wake for considerable time, Li Mama had seized the opportunity to take a discreet carriage and report directly to her actual master.
Hearing the prince's measured inquiry, she responded with utmost respect, "There were indeed several notable incidents, which I've come to report comprehensively to Your Highness."
She then recounted the marketplace encounter with the ruffians in meticulous detail, omitting nothing of significance.
Cui Xingzhou's expression remained utterly unmoved, his aristocratic features maintaining perfect impassivity as he silently absorbed her complete account of the alley confrontation.
Zhao Quan, conversely, felt genuine sympathy for the woman who could only desperately defend herself against such predatory advances. But when he heard the specific details of how Liu Miantang had employed her silver hairpin to completely subdue the ruffian in the confined alley, he couldn't suppress raising his eyebrows in undisguised surprise. "Did she eventually release the scoundrel unharmed?"
Li Mama, involuntarily recalling the disturbing scene with visceral clarity, couldn't prevent herself from retching slightly before forcing herself to continue through obvious discomfort, "Yes, she did release them... but not before..."
"What precisely did she do to them?" the previously silent Prince of Huaiyang, Cui Xingzhou, suddenly interjected with sharpened interest.
Li Mama's face contorted with extraordinary distaste, as though she might vomit again at any moment. Her already dark complexion adopted a distinctly purplish hue as she struggled to articulate, "She... she compelled the two servants to consume dog excrement from the alley floor..."
Remembering the sight of the two servants supporting their incapacitated young master as they fled the alley in abject humiliation, desperately searching for water to rinse their contaminated mouths, Li Mama felt certain that her meals wouldn't taste remotely palatable for at least a year.
This utterly unexpected response left everyone present momentarily speechless.
Zhao Quan, who had been preparing to sample some delicacies, immediately lost his appetite entirely and replaced his chopsticks with visible distaste.
After absorbing Li Mama's complete report, Cui Xingzhou waved his hand dismissively, releasing her from immediate service.
However, Li Mama possessed one additional matter requiring urgent attention. She quickly added with barely concealed anxiety, "She persistently keeps inquiring of this servant regarding the precise location of the master's shop. It appears she fully intends to visit personally... This woman is extraordinarily dangerous. In this servant's humble opinion, Your Highness should reveal the complete truth immediately and cease indulging her foolish delusions. Moreover, you absolutely shouldn't permit her to approach too closely..."
The Prince of Huaiyang raised his gaze to Li Mama with penetrating directness, his expression unmoved, and spoke in tones of absolute finality, "Li Mama, simply execute this prince's instructions exactly as given."
Though his voice carried no particular volume, Li Mama's expression immediately transformed to profound seriousness, and she prostrated herself in genuine fear. Although she had attended the prince throughout his childhood, she understood better than anyone that he had never tolerated others attempting to control or influence his decisions. As a mere servant, she had truly overstepped her appointed bounds egregiously.
At this juncture, Cui Xingzhou issued instructions to a nearby guard, "Proceed to town and purchase a suitable commercial establishment. Stock it adequately with various porcelain wares of quality. Then inform Li Mama of the precise address."
After receiving the prince's explicit instructions, his subordinate accepted the assignment and descended the mountain path immediately. Li Mama likewise returned to her duties on North Street in town.
The Marquis of Zhengnan smiled with undisguised bitterness. "Xingzhou, she has completely lost her memory and genuinely doesn't remember the rebel Lu Wen. Using this vulnerable woman as deliberate bait seems rather beneath your dignity as a gentleman of noble character."
Cui Xingzhou didn't even glance toward his longtime friend Zhao Quan. He simply raised his wine cup with studied nonchalance and responded in tones frosted with cold irony, "You were the one who initiated this entire charade, weren't you, Brother Zhao? Wasn't it precisely you who first led her to believe that this prince was her lawfully wedded husband?"
How could Zhao Quan have possibly anticipated that his casual, thoughtless jest would ultimately lead to the current extraordinarily complicated situation?
He could only respond helplessly to his formidable friend, "My lord Jiu, it was you who urgently dispatched me to provide emergency medical treatment for her initially. When I inquired regarding her identity, you steadfastly refused to clarify. Observing her exceptional beauty, I naturally assumed she was some captivating woman you had encountered during your travels. Subsequently, when she regained speech and you weren't present, she overheard me addressing you jokingly as 'Lord Cui Jiu' and inquired directly who Lord Cui Jiu was in relation to her. I casually replied that he was the young lady's beloved... You never explicitly denied this characterization afterward, did you?"
Cui Xingzhou checked the sun's position, calculating the hour with practiced precision, then set down his wine cup and prepared to descend the mountain path to board his waiting vessel. The military campaign against the persistent bandits had intensified considerably in recent days, and he needed to return to headquarters to personally oversee tactical operations. This visit to Lingquan Town served dual purposes: not only to personally select exceptional porcelain to be formally presented to the Empress Dowager on his mother's behalf, but also to maintain vigilant surveillance over the conveniently amnesiac wife of the rebel leader, Liu Miantang.
When he had inadvertently captured this severely wounded woman during a recent skirmish, Cui Xingzhou had improvised brilliantly to avoid arousing suspicion, enlisting the assistance of Zhao Quan—an idle aristocratic visitor with considerable medical expertise—to manage the emergency situation.
Who could have possibly anticipated that upon waking, the woman would mistake him for her intended husband, the merchant Cui Jiu, due to an embroidered pouch he happened to be wearing and Zhao Quan's misguided, careless words?
As for subsequent developments, it had simply become a pragmatic case of accommodating the convenient misunderstanding. He had never actually stated explicitly that he was her husband. It was merely that the woman, having sustained significant head trauma, had foolishly misidentified him through her confusion.
After all, a woman harboring conscious hostility—even if physically weakened—could potentially cause unnecessary complications and security risks. It proved far simpler to allow her to believe she was the legitimate daughter-in-law of the merchant Cui family, who had recently relocated to Lingquan Town for business purposes.
It was reliably reported that the rebel leader Lu Wen greatly favored this particular woman above all others. If she were to appear prominently in Lingquan Town—located strategically not far from the rebel stronghold's hidden location—it would surely draw the snake from its concealed hole. However, he genuinely hadn't anticipated the woman possessed hidden martial skills. The demonstrated ability to strike vital pressure points from a defensive position required years of dedicated training and natural talent.
Contemplating how the woman called Miantang consistently acted obedient and virtuously submissive in his presence, showing absolutely no indication of being a dangerous thorny flower concealing lethal capabilities...
The corner of Prince Huaiyang Cui Xingzhou's mouth curved into an expression of even colder, more calculating amusement. Observing Cui Xingzhou's almost predatory expression, Zhao Quan secretly perspired with vicarious anxiety for the unfortunate amnesiac woman who had no comprehension of the dangerous game being played around her.
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