Chapter 124: Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" (Are You the One)

 FlamingoBees 

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 Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" / Are You the One

 

 Chapter 124: 

 

Cui Xingzhou never expected that, while thousands of troops and horses and countless swords and daggers had not claimed his life on the battlefield, he would be so furious over a piece of paper in his own courtyard that it shattered his heart.

Since she had brought it out, if he didn’t take a look, it would seem like he was afraid of her.

Cui Xingzhou coldly unfolded the paper and read it carefully—no wonder she had written the separation agreement for his sister, Cui Fu, with such fluency; she must have practiced it long before.

Skipping over the parts about returning the betrothal gifts and jewelry, Liu Mian Tang was actually trying to take her child away in a dignified manner, just like his sister!

Cui Xingzhou shook the paper, his voice squeezed from his throat: “You have quite a bit of confidence! On what grounds do you think you can take my child?”

Mian Tang sat far from him, her slender fingers tracing the floral pattern on her skirt. She didn’t look at him and held back her tears as she said, “I’ve been craving spicy food these past few days; it might not even be a son—it could be a daughter…”

Prince Huaiyang was so furious that he was about to be driven mad by the big boss of the Lu family. He raised his voice slightly and declared, “No matter if it’s a boy or a girl, you can’t take my child!”

As he spoke, he kicked the table, and it instantly collapsed, sending fruit plates and teacups crashing to the ground.

Despite being married to his princess for such a long time, Prince Huaiyang had never lost his temper like this before. Bicai sensed that the situation was getting out of hand and wanted to rush in to protect the princess.

However, before she could enter, Li Mama grabbed her and whispered, “What good will it do for you to go in? Hurry and find the eldest young lady!”

Bicai realized what she needed to do. Yes, she should call the older sister to handle the younger brother!

With that, she quickly ran off to get help.

Cui Fu had been able to get out of bed and walk around for a few days; she was currently pushing Jin’er on a wooden horse.

Seeing Bicai rush in, panting and out of breath, she said, “It’s bad! The prince is scolding the princess, and we can’t stop him. Young lady, you should go take a look!”

Cui Fu was startled. She had seen her younger brother punish soldiers in the past; usually, he was quite polite as a noble young man, but when it came to punishing, he was ruthless!

How could Mian Tang, who was heavily pregnant, withstand his anger? Cui Fu quickly ordered someone to get her a coat and a wide hat, then led the servants to follow Bicai to her brother’s inner courtyard.

Upon entering, Cui Fu saw the room in complete disarray. Mian Tang was huddled in a corner, her head bowed and silent, her eyes red and puffy. Her slender figure was barely recognizable, only her round belly visibly protruding, making her look pitiful.

Then there was her younger brother, standing with a fierce expression, holding a piece of paper and shouting at Mian Tang.

Cui Fu rushed over and slapped her brother hard across the face.

“Cui Jiu, you’ve gotten bold! Our Cui family has never had a man who hits women! Mian Tang is pregnant; why are you yelling at her?”

Cui Xingzhou’s face turned away from the slap, but since it was his own sister who hit him, he naturally didn’t dare to say anything, merely staring at her with cold intensity, standing tall.

However, Mian Tang was alarmed and quickly stepped forward to cover Cui Xingzhou’s face, saying, “Sister... why are you hitting him?”

Seeing Mian Tang standing up for her brother, Cui Fu felt both amused and exasperated. She said, “Look at you; you’re going wild, and Mian Tang is the one worrying that I hit you! What’s wrong with talking things out? Why scare people instead? Come on, Mian Tang, let’s go back to my room and avoid this.”

As she spoke, Cui Fu grabbed Mian Tang, intending to pull her away to her own courtyard.

At that moment, Prince Huaiyang seemed to have endured a heavy trial, and his aura had subtly elevated. After the thunderous outburst, his anger had dissipated somewhat. He grabbed Mian Tang’s other hand to prevent her from leaving and said to his sister, “It was just a little quarrel. Who told you I hit someone? Sister, you can’t just come running at the slightest hint of trouble. You should go back and rest; I’ll talk to her properly.”

Cui Fu observed that although Mian Tang’s eyes were red, she didn’t really look like someone who had been beaten. In any marriage, it was common for couples to bicker; usually, it was just trivial matters. If outsiders intervened too much, it would only make things worse.

So, she cautiously reminded Cui Xingzhou to be more accommodating towards Mian Tang, warning him not to let the situation escalate to the point where he would regret it later.

After Cui Fu left, the mess in the room was cleaned up.

Cui Xingzhou took a moment to catch his breath, maintaining a cold expression as he helped Mian Tang lie down, telling her to rest her back. However, Mian Tang still couldn’t shake off her worries about that piece of paper and reminded him, “Aside from the child, everything else is negotiable. The child can grow up until thirteen years old and still return to the Prince's residence; we can’t let him be without family from such a young age…”

Cui Xingzhou covered her with a blanket and leaned in close, his handsome face lowered so that his nose almost touched hers. He spoke in a low voice, trying to keep his tone calm, “Liu Mian Tang, if you say one more word today, I will disembowel those four traitors in prison and leave their bodies to rot in the wild.”

Mian Tang could see that his eyes were serious, filled with a murderous intent that made it hard for her to look him in the eye.

After Mian Tang finally fell silent, Cui Xingzhou stood up to leave.

But Mian Tang suddenly grabbed his hand, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes.

Cui Xingzhou tried to maintain his composure, saying, “Why are you holding onto me? Let go.”

Mian Tang remembered his threat and didn’t say a word, but she also didn’t let go.

Since he hadn’t signed the divorce agreement yet, he was still her husband. Even before the divorce, they should cuddle together for a while, allowing her to breathe in his scent and memorize his appearance before parting ways for good!

When they had quarreled about separating in the past, hadn’t he said that suddenly breaking apart would only hurt the heart? It was best to take it slow, letting each other adjust gradually.

Back then, their separation had gone quite well; she was almost used to it. But he had insisted on having her sign the marriage certificate, making her savor the taste of it, and now she was even more addicted.

Why was it that when she made a mistake, he could just say “let’s part” without hesitation? Where was the fairness in that?

Cui Xingzhou didn’t dare to pull away too hard, fearing it would hurt her, but he shook his head helplessly and said with a hint of mockery, “I should have realized earlier that your stubbornness is just like Lu Wen’s—impossible to shake off once entangled.”

Although he knew he was talking about the entanglement of two armies facing each other, it was still too insulting to a girl’s dignity.

Even though Liu Mian Tang wanted to keep quiet, she couldn’t help but retort softly, “Don’t take advantage of my memory loss! I learned all this from you. Weren’t you the one who clung to me stubbornly to marry you?”

Cui Xingzhou’s handsome eyes narrowed like two sharp blades as he coolly countered, “Wasn’t I just feeling sorry for you since you couldn’t get married? That’s why I took you in?”

At this, Mian Tang’s eyes widened in indignation. She suddenly shook off Cui Xingzhou’s hand and clasped her fists in a salute, saying, “Then I should thank Your Highness for your gracious acceptance! However… when you were clinging to the edge of my bed, you weren’t so noble and high-minded! You looked more like a beggar on the street who was starving and came to my bed for a meal!”

Cui Xingzhou’s expression tightened. He realized that he couldn’t match the quick-witted banter of Liu Mian Tang, who had been honed in the lively environment of the North Street.

He was so furious that he was at a loss for words, pointing his long finger at Liu Mian Tang and gesturing emphatically. In the end, he slowly broke into a smile, unbuttoning his collar and loosening his belt.

Mian Tang watched him warily and asked, “What are you doing?”

Cui Xingzhou threw his long robe forcefully onto the ground. “Since Lu Wen has offered me a taste of meat, wouldn’t it be ungrateful not to indulge a little?”

Mian Tang had imagined warm embraces before their separation, but this was not the kind of scene she envisioned. She stammered, “Who… said anything about that? Aren’t we arguing about getting a divorce? Put your clothes back on… Oh dear…”

In the next moment, the starving wolf that had gone seven days without food burrowed into the bed, swallowing Mian Tang’s remaining words entirely.

The servants waiting outside the door noticed the argument had ceased, and Li Mama peeked through the crack of the door. From a distance, she saw the canopy on the bed had been lowered and felt relieved. She quietly instructed the group of wide-eyed maids, “Let’s get back to our own tasks. Prepare the basin of hot water in the corridor; wait for the prince and princess to call for it.”

In the married life of a couple, it’s often just a matter of arguing at the head of the bed and reconciling at the foot. Since the two of them were once again so intimately connected, it seemed that the storm had passed.

However… what had the princess done this time to provoke such a furious reaction from the prince?

Mian Tang hadn’t eaten properly all day. After arguing for so long and then feeding the wolf, she was both tired and exhausted, only wanting to close her eyes and sleep. However, the little one in her belly was restless, demanding food.

So when Mian Tang opened her eyes again, she was so hungry that she felt faint. She couldn’t be bothered to call a maid for food; instead, she pulled the box of pastries from the bed’s side and began to devour them greedily.

Cui Xingzhou hadn’t rested well at the office for the past few days, and after the quarrel today, he felt a bit relieved. He had wanted to hold her and take a nap together, but to his surprise, she was stuffing her mouth with food like a starving beggar.

“What is all this junk food? Did you buy it off the street again?” He noticed that the fried cakes were still dripping with cold oil. Sitting up, he snatched the food from her hands and threw it on the ground.

Despite having her hidden secrets exposed and facing Cui Xingzhou’s anger, smashing things and cursing, Mian Tang had managed not to cry. But when the pastry she hadn’t even chewed was taken away from her, she couldn’t help but feel wronged and burst into tears, “I’m hungry! You… don’t give me any food!”

With that cry, her tears flowed like a dam bursting, pouring out uncontrollably, and soon she was sobbing.

Cui Xingzhou never expected that merely taking away a piece of cold pastry would trigger such an outpouring of emotions. He felt flustered, caught off guard by the sudden torrent of tears.

As he patted Mian Tang’s shoulder to help her catch her breath, Cui Xingzhou anxiously shouted to the maids outside, “Are there any living souls out there? Hurry up and bring hot food for the Princess!”

However, Mian Tang was unyielding, pulling at the blanket in agony and crying out like a three-year-old child, “I want to eat fried cakes!”

Cui Xingzhou took a deep breath, feeling that this tenth level of tribulation was truly unbearable!

He abruptly got up, picked up his clothes, and headed for the door.

Mian Tang realized he must be disgusted with her and wanted to leave the mansion.

Though she wasn’t surprised, she couldn’t control the sorrow swelling in her heart, causing her cries to grow even louder.

As Cui Xingzhou reached the door, the heart-wrenching sobs behind him became even more intense. The veins on his forehead bulged as he turned around and shouted at the tearful figure on the bed:

“What are you crying about? Didn’t you say you wanted to eat fried cakes? I’ll go buy them for you right now!”

© 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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