Chapter 123: Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" (Are You the One)

 FlamingoBees 

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 Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" / Are You the One

 

 Chapter 123: 

 

Upon hearing this, Mian Tang, who had been sitting upright, slowly leaned back against the chair. The reason was simple: she felt guilty.

“C-colluded with what bandits?” 

Mo Ru continued to answer truthfully: “Someone has seen these four men on Yangshan Mountain. It seems they were involved in the case of the imperial tribute being hijacked that Your Highness handled back in the day… And when the Eastern Prefecture rebelled, people saw them among the leaders stirring up trouble!”

Mian Tang sniffed and murmured softly, “But the people from Yangshan were pardoned when they surrendered… Besides, even if they really did participate in the Eastern Prefecture rebellion, it was out of desperation due to famine. Now they’ve become law-abiding citizens, right? They’ve been working hard in the escort agency and are about to get married and have children. Why must we… why must we dig up old grievances?”

Cui Xingzhou raised an eyebrow: “So, according to you, as long as they get married and have children, everything should be forgiven? Then if someone kills or commits robbery, they really won’t have any burden at all!”

Liu Mian Tang was once again rendered speechless… Well, she herself had thought that after getting married and having children, she could treat her dark past as if it never happened… In hindsight, that really made her feel guilty.

“Your Highness, they are actually good people. Could you possibly show them some leniency, given my past relationship with them...?”

“In the eyes of the law, how could I show favoritism?”

Mian Tang stopped speaking, cradling her belly as she stood up and walked out.

Cui Xingzhou furrowed his brow and asked, “Where are you going?” 

Liu Mian Tang replied without looking back, “Back to the manor!”

It seemed that the identities of the four brothers had already been leaked. In fact, the old grievances with Yangshan were minor matters, but the incident in the Eastern Prefecture was the most serious. Once they were found guilty, their entire families would face execution without a doubt.

Mian Tang knew that they would never betray her, even unto death. However, she couldn't just stand by and watch them suffer torture or be executed. The principle of loyalty and righteousness was something she had engraved in them herself. If they hadn't misunderstood her death, they wouldn’t have joined the Eastern Prefecture rebellion to seek revenge for her.

Now that they were in trouble, how could she be heartless and ungrateful, living her life in peace and safety while they faced peril?

Mian Tang realized that if she revealed her identity and sincerely admitted her mistakes to Cui Xingzhou, she might have a three in ten chance that he would forgive her and grant clemency to the four brothers.

However, given Cui Xingzhou's jealousy, there was a sixty percent chance that he would be furious and execute the four brothers to prevent any scandal, then detain her and settle accounts with her after she gave birth.

Therefore, revealing her identity could very likely lead to losing her freedom and watching the four brothers be executed before her eyes.

After weighing her options, Liu Mian Tang felt she couldn't risk lives.

Since she couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason to persuade Cui Xingzhou to release them, Liu Mian Tang decided not to waste any more time there and resolved to return to the manor to think of another plan—since the men were in the Military Division, they would eventually be transferred to the Criminal Division for interrogation. There seemed to be a glimmer of hope in that process...

For a moment, Mian Tang’s thoughts boldly leaped to another matter, and she walked briskly.

She didn’t look back, so she naturally didn’t notice that Cui Xingzhou’s hands were trembling with anger. However, his voice still betrayed no emotion as he solemnly asked, “After not seeing me for so long, don’t you have anything else to say?”

Mian Tang, cradling her belly and lifting her skirts, was almost out of the courtyard when she turned her head back slightly and called out, “Even if you’re busy, Your Highness, you still need to eat and dress. Take care of your health!”

Before her voice had faded, she was already gone, leaving no trace behind.

Mo Ru had long been accustomed to the hurried comings and goings of the princess. She was always a decisive person; since she had come to plead for her guards, it was normal for her to leave once she saw no hope. After all, the prince was still busy at the office and didn’t have time for a long chat.

However, the prince had just been about to eat, and he had hardly touched his chopsticks. Seeing the princess leave, Mo Ru dutifully stood by the prince's side and said, “Your Highness, please eat quickly while it’s hot. The princess specifically reminded you to take care of your health!”

Before he could finish, Cui Xingzhou suddenly raised his foot and kicked the table over with a loud crash, sending the dishes and rice flying everywhere. He then coldly said to Mo Ru, “Get out!”

Mo Ru was so frightened that she didn’t dare make a sound and quickly bowed her head and left.

Cui Xingzhou couldn't eat at all; he was too filled with anger!

He had originally wanted to give her another chance to confess on her own. However, with things having reached this point, she still managed to pretend as if nothing was wrong and kept silent.

Liu Mian Tang, you really are something!

As for Liu Mian Tang, she was unaware that she had left in such a clean and decisive manner, nearly driving the esteemed Prince Huaiyang to his wit's end.

On her way back, Mian Tang's mind spun with countless thoughts. Kidnapping prisoners was a bit crazy and unrealistic. So, she could only seek a special pardon once more.

Liu Mian Tang suddenly thought of Liu Yu. As the emperor, it should be quite easy for him to grant clemency to a few insignificant prisoners.

However, she couldn't go and ask Liu Yu. If she did that, it would mean throwing her husband’s face into the dirt.

As a secondary option, Mian Tang decided to explore the possibility of reaching out to Empress Shi.

Having made this decision, Mian Tang didn't want to delay any further and ordered someone to deliver a message to the palace. However, before the message could even be sent out, news broke that Empress Shi had gone into labor to give birth to the prince.

As a result, the message was unable to be delivered at all.

Mian Tang fell dejectedly onto her bed, feeling that since her pregnancy, the already scarce capacity of her mind had dwindled even further.

Could it be that the heavens were deliberately making things difficult for those four brothers? Or did she have no choice but to personally plead with Liu Yu to save their lives?

Just when she was feeling at a loss, Cui Xingzhou finally returned to the residence.

However, the prince’s expression was ashen, clearly indicating that he was in an extremely foul mood.

After he entered the inner courtyard, before Mian Tang could even rise, he slammed the message she had intended to send to the palace onto the table.

“You’ve never been keen on going to the palace; why this time did you take the initiative to send a message?”

Mian Tang calmly replied, “The empress has given birth, and now she is pregnant again. Naturally, I wanted to inquire about her health and, while I was at it, discuss some insights on childbirth.”

Cui Xingzhou thought to himself how he had never noticed before that this woman could lie so effortlessly without even batting an eye, speaking so openly. In his anger, he couldn’t help but laugh, “Since when did you become the empress's intimate friend? I was completely unaware!”

Mian Tang stood up, poured herself a glass of water, took a sip, and then asked Cui Xingzhou nonchalantly, “If I have matters to discuss with the empress, I naturally need to get a little closer. If the prince seems upset, are you looking to pick a fight with me?”

Cui Xingzhou tightly clenched his fists and asked her, “We’ve known each other for a long time. Have I ever vented my anger on you or taken my frustrations out on you?”

Mian Tang thought for a moment; back in North Street, he had indeed gotten angry at her for no apparent reason. But later she learned that it was because she had spoken ill of Prince Huaiyang right in front of him, and no wonder Cui Xingzhou had been upset.

Since then, there had been times when he was frustrated due to official matters, but at most, he would just speak less. He had never lashed out like the drunken men on North Street who beat their wives in a fit of rage.

Over the past few days, Mian Tang had been contemplating how to help the four brothers, and at that moment, she noticed that Cui Xingzhou’s mood was off.

Since he wasn’t just venting his anger, it seemed he was truly angry at her.

Mian Tang looked up at Cui Xingzhou and finally saw the chilling coldness in his eyes.

She bit her lip, silently gazing at him.

Cui Xingzhou was so infuriated by this taciturn iron gourd that he was nearly transcending his earthly form, yet he remained steadfast in asking, “My beloved, I will give you one more chance. Is there anything you would like to say to me?”

Liu Mian Tang tentatively asked, “Did those four men confess to you?”

Cui Xingzhou simply stopped speaking, resting his hands on the chair. His gaze was profound, and his thin lips were pressed into a tight line. He remained as handsome as ever, but his entire demeanor was like that of a statue carved from a thousand-year-old ice, exuding a chilling aura.

Mian Tang took a deep breath, feeling that there was no secret that couldn’t be uncovered. Since it was bound to come to light eventually, she might as well face it early and be done with it. So she straightforwardly said, “They told you, I... am Lu Wen from Yangshan!”

Cui Xingzhou seemed unshaken, remaining still as he fixed his piercing gaze on Liu Mian Tang, but his eyes churned with bubbling magma.

However, after Mian Tang uttered that sentence, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, as if she had detoxed. She had felt guilty about hiding this from Cui Xingzhou, but now that she had revealed everything to him, she was ready to face whatever came next!

Cui Xingzhou stared at Liu Mian Tang for a long moment before finally speaking, “Did you lie to me about your amnesia?”

Liu Mian Tang answered honestly, “I really couldn’t remember anything about Yangshan. If it hadn’t been for those four brothers running into me during the chaos in Zhenzhou, I wouldn’t have known I had that past... I wanted to tell you at the time, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it…”

Seeing that Cui Xingzhou had become as gloomy and silent as a stone statue, she realized that he was very bothered by her dark past.

Others might not know, but how could she be oblivious? After all, every time Cui Xingzhou recalled their past struggles with Lu Wen, he had always been gritting his teeth, filled with such hatred that it seemed he would have torn the other person apart and eaten them.

It wasn’t until later, when Liu Yu ascended to the throne, that the situation improved somewhat.

But that was only because he believed Liu Yu was Lu Wen’s ally. Now, he suddenly realized that he had been played like a fool by his arch-enemy and had even married the man’s former partner. How could a man as proud as Prince Huaiyang endure such humiliation?

Although she had thought countless times about what they would do once the truth came out, now that the moment had arrived, Mian Tang didn’t want to beg for Cui Xingzhou’s forgiveness with tears.

She had been deceived before and knew how painful that feeling could be, so she wouldn’t use her tears to plead for his tolerance of an unforgivable past.

After pondering for a moment, she walked into the inner chamber and pulled out a separation agreement that she had written a long time ago from a stack of account books.

“I deceived you, and that was my fault. I was just so enamored with the time we spent together that I delayed saying anything. Although I can’t remember, I’ve heard from others how much you hate Lu Wen... What we had together was real, just as you once said. I may have deceived you, but my feelings were genuine. Let’s part on good terms... Take a look; is this written well? If you think it needs anything else, we can discuss it. If you still feel it’s not enough to ease your anger, feel free to divorce me.”

Cui Xingzhou stared at the piece of paper as if it were a monster. The veins on his hands were standing out prominently as he clenched his fists, yet he spoke with a lightness in his voice, “The Great Lu's perspective is indeed far-reaching; you even had this prepared in advance!”

Liu Mian Tang turned her head, not wanting her tears to fall.

How could she explain that she had written this hoping she would never need to use it in her life?

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

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