Song of the Bright Moon Chapter 121

“Jiaojiao, make me another embroidered sachet.”

“The old one has long since worn to rags.”

“When it’s finished, that will be the day Pei Xia walks free from prison.”

Even after Xie Wuling had been gone for a long time, Shen Yujiao still sat in the gilded, carved armchair of the flower hall, his words echoing in her ears.

When he had said those words, he’d stood slightly sideways, the afternoon light behind him. She couldn’t see his expression clearly, only the faint movement of his thin lips and the trembling line of his throat.

He hadn’t waited for her reply.

He’d simply left.

His departing figure was sharp, resolute, like a flying arrow piercing straight through her heart, leaving behind a bleeding hollow.

Empty. The cold wind whistled in and out through it.

She still felt sad.

How could she not?

That was Xie Wuling.

The man who had taken her in when she was at her most destitute, feeding and caring for her — Xie Wuling.

The man who had spared no effort to give her everything, who had paraded through half of Jinling in a red bridal robe and an eight-carriage procession just to marry her in broad daylight — Xie Wuling.

The man who had gone south to Ningzhou, west to Chang’an, through blades and fire, life and death, pouring all his passion into ensuring she would never forget him — Xie Wuling.

The man whose heart and eyes held only her — Shen Yujiao.

Such a good man, and she had once again let him down.

Xie Wuling.

Xie Wuling…

Ah.

Shen Yujiao let out a long breath.

Then she remembered what he’d said about the sachet. Her brows knit slightly; her heart felt uneasy.

To embroider a sachet wasn’t difficult but what did he intend, asking for one now?

After what had happened in Jinling, that kiss that had become his obsession, she couldn’t help but fear this sachet might only give rise to another.

But he had said, once she embroidered the sachet, Pei Xia would be released from prison.

Did that mean… he intended to help her?

Then this sachet, was it meant as thanks?

After thinking for a long while, she pushed herself up from the armchair and called aloud, “Someone, prepare the carriage.”

She still had to go out and try something.

She already owed Xie Wuling too much. Unless there was truly no other way, she didn’t want to become further entangled with him.

—

Just as Shen Yujiao stepped out the front door, Xie Wuling led his horse out from the alley beside the Pei residence.

He stroked the faded red twin-lotus sachet hidden in his sleeve, his brows shadowed with gloom.

Would she not even give him a new sachet anymore?

Or… did she no longer believe in him at all?

His lips twisted faintly. Xie Wuling tucked the sachet into his chest, gripped the reins, and turned his horse toward the imperial palace.

The moment he saw Emperor Chunqing, he immediately understood why Pei Xia had been thrown into prison.

There was a clear bruise on the emperor’s left cheekbone.

Truly daring to have struck the emperor himself.

For such an offense, it would not be excessive to imprison one man alone, even to implicate nine generations of his kin.

Xie Wuling glanced at him and feigned polite concern. “Your Majesty, what happened to your face? It looks rather serious.”

Emperor Chunqing could not hide his embarrassment. “I… accidentally bumped it.”

It wasn’t even an excuse, it was the truth.

Yesterday, Pei Xia had stormed into the inner hall like a gust of ice, his aura terrifying.

The emperor, already guilty at heart, had been flustered by Pei Xia’s unrelenting questioning and forceful tone. In his panic, he had missed a step and stumbled, striking his face on a gilded incense burner.

At the time, he had only felt pain but that morning, when he looked in the mirror, he’d found the bruise.

Fortunately, the imperial crown’s twelve jade beads could hide it somewhat. Otherwise, his imperial dignity would have nowhere to stand.

Xie Wuling didn’t know the true story, and assumed the emperor was just trying to save face. Drawing out his words, he said mockingly, “Ah, I see. Then Your Majesty must take greater care when walking next time—”

He’d meant to fan the flames, but remembering Shen Yujiao and her son’s close ties to the Pei family, he suppressed the urge. Instead, he gave a cool, derisive laugh. “Yesterday’s display, Your Majesty, was certainly an eye-opener.”

That morning, when the bruised and battered Lu Ziyang had come crying into the palace, Emperor Chunqing knew things had gone terribly wrong.

The emperor regretted it deeply.

He regretted falling out with Pei Xia and that from Xie Wuling’s side, he had gained nothing. Truly a case of losing both the chicken and the rice, lifting a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

For now, he couldn’t do anything to Xie Wuling. But Pei Xia… Pei Xia he could deal with.

Since their relationship was already ruined, why not send him to meet the King of H*ll?

It wasn’t cruelty, he told himself, Pei Xia had simply been too defiant.

Why couldn’t he just yield, just obey?

He refused to bow, refused to submit.

“Pei Shouzhen is good in every respect, except that once it involves the Shen woman, he becomes a different person entirely. Utterly muddle-headed.”

Back in Jinling, it was also for the sake of the Shen woman that he had been willing to acknowledge him as lord.

And now, again for that same woman, he had turned from loyal minister to enemy.

The cleverest man in the world, made a fool by one woman.

Pitiful, lamentable, laughable.

“I intend to demote him to a post in a distant province,” said Emperor Chunqing. He studied Xie Wuling’s face, his tone meaningful. “This is an excellent opportunity, one you’d do well to seize.”

How could Xie Wuling not understand the emperor’s implication?

During exile, there were far too many “accidents” that could make a man disappear.

Yet back when he himself had escaped a charge of treason and safely reached Yanbei, it had only been because Pei Xia had acted honorably, never stooping to underhanded cruelty.

Otherwise, even if he’d had nine lives like a cat demon, he would have died somewhere along that endless road of exile, his soul scattered in a foreign land.

Now the tables had turned. Pei Xia was the one in chains, and Xie Wuling held the power to decide his fate—

“How to say it… Your Majesty wouldn’t be sitting on that dragon throne today without Pei Shouzhen’s help. If not for merit, then at least for effort’s sake, I ask that Your Majesty show mercy and release him.”

Xie Wuling spoke lazily, his gaze half-lidded as he regarded the young emperor. “Even if you no longer wish to employ him, sending him home to till the fields would still preserve the bond once shared between ruler and subject.”

The emperor was stunned. “You want me to release him?”

Xie Wuling: “Mm.”

Emperor Chunqing couldn’t understand. “If not for him, you and that Shen woman would likely already be together… You don’t hate him?”

“Hate him,” Xie Wuling said. “How could I not? The man who took my wife, how could I not hate him?”

“Then why ask me to let him go?”

“Your Majesty,” Xie Wuling asked softly, “have you ever loved someone?”

The emperor froze.

He thought he hadn’t, but at the question, a hazy image flashed in his mind: a girl in apricot robes, glimpsed in his youth. She had later married far away, and he’d never heard from her again.

Was that love?

A youthful fondness, hardly worthy of the word.

Seeing the emperor’s dazed look, Xie Wuling knew he had never truly loved. He didn’t bother to explain further.

“In the past, yes, I longed for a lifetime spent together. But now I’ve realized, so long as she is well, so long as she finds her own peace, it doesn’t matter if the one beside her isn’t me.”

To love someone is to possess but it can also be to let go.

Only now did he understand that truth.

Of course, he was still unwilling.

But if fulfilling his wish meant bringing her tears then forget it.

How could he bear to make her cry?

He couldn’t.

From the first moment he saw her at the Earth God temple outside Jinling, he was done for.

Xie Wuling lowered his gaze. The emperor, seated behind the purple sandalwood imperial desk, remained silent which told him the “dog emperor” was still nursing his resentment.

He let out a small laugh, then drawled, “Besides, as for Pei Xia himself, three years in office, outstanding achievements, beloved by the common people. It’s only been a short while, and word hasn’t yet spread. But I daresay, come tomorrow’s court session, Your Majesty will be hearing plenty about it.”

“Oh, and Your Majesty, don’t forget, Pei Shouzhen is also the heir of the Hedong Pei clan, and the current leading figure of Liang’s literary world. A man from such a great family, if Your Majesty truly takes his life, those noble houses won’t take it lying down. And as for all those academy students who adore his poems and essays, perhaps they lack real power, but each one of them is a hard-boned idealist. For the sake of what they call the ‘Dao,’ they’d risk their lives without hesitation.”

“Tell me, Your Majesty, if they learn that Pei Shouzhen’s supposed crime of defying the throne was because the emperor drugged and gifted a minister’s wife to a border general, do you think the scholars of the world, with one mouthful of spit each, could drown your dragon throne?”

Xie Wuling’s tone was half-smile, half-mockery. Emperor Chunqing’s expression grew increasingly unsightly.

For everything this shameless man said was precisely what he feared most.

Yes, the emperor held the power of life and death but even killing must follow reason. To kill purely out of whim and pleasure was to be a tyrant, a foolish ruler.

Emperor Chunqing wished to be a wise and virtuous one and such a ruler must never kill the “pure current,” the upright scholars.

For scholars had hard bones and harder pens. Even if their heads fell to the ground, their words could still echo for a thousand years.

Xie Wuling had seized the emperor’s weak point.

He thought inwardly that this emperor was still too young. The late emperor had been vile as well, but at least ruthless and clear-headed.

Whereas Emperor Chunqing was petty and pretentious.

Clearly mediocre, yet unwilling to be so; always straining to stand out.

If he’d only used Pei Shouzhen as the chess piece he was, how could the realm not be at peace? Truly courting his own ruin.

At last, Xie Wuling took the initiative to offer the emperor a way out. “If Your Majesty is willing to let Pei Shouzhen resign and return to his fields, then the twenty percent share of profit can be deferred till next year. The day Pei Shouzhen leaves prison, this minister will immediately lead my brothers of Yanbei back to Yanzhou to continue guarding Your Majesty’s realm.”

With that step offered, Emperor Chunqing pondered for a moment, then followed the cue: “Since General Xie puts it that way, I shall spare him this once. Let him return home.”

Xie Wuling bowed low and called out, “Your Majesty is wise and merciful.”

Yet as his head dipped, the corner of his mouth curled in scorn.

Pretentious.

—

He should have already departed for Yanzhou that day.

But because of Pei Xia’s imprisonment, Xie Wuling discussed it with General Hu and decided to remain two more days.

And indeed, at the next morning’s court, the ministers came forth in droves to plead for Pei Xia’s release.

Seeing nearly eight out of ten civil officials kneeling on the floor, Emperor Chunqing sat on the throne, secretly relieved.

Good. Good thing he’d agreed to Xie Wuling yesterday.

Otherwise, he’d truly be roasted alive today.

The emperor put on a look of sudden enlightenment, humble and receptive, and followed the will of the officials: “Since my loyal ministers all say so, let Pei Shouzhen be spared imprisonment. But as for the post of Chancellor, he’s no longer fit. Send him to Luoyang to serve as Prefect.”

After all, he still coveted Pei Xia’s talents. To really send him back to Wenxi to live as a farmer, that he couldn’t quite bear.

Pei Xia’s late father, Pei Mao, had once served as Prefect of Luoyang, governing it with order and prosperity, bringing peace and flourishing culture to the region.

So long as Pei Xia wasn’t right before him, wagging his tongue, being a local official far away was… acceptable.

When the imperial decree was sent to the Ministry of Justice’s prison, Xie Wuling went along with Chief Eunuch Rong Qing.

Three years had passed, yet the prison looked the same as before.

Only Pei Xia’s cell was far better than the water dungeon where Xie Wuling had once been kept.

And because of Pei Xia’s reputation, even in jail, the guards dared not slight him, no torture, fresh steamed buns, and even the water was clean of dust and insects.

Still, when Xie Wuling saw him, sitting on the straw in a gray prison robe, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pei Shouzhen, oh Pei Shouzhen, you finally have your day.”

He looked him up and down, amused.

How rare. That lofty, pristine gentleman of noble birth, now reduced to this dirt-smeared prisoner.

And yet, even as a prisoner, he sat with the most upright bearing of them all.

Pei Xia slowly lifted his eyes, cool and indifferent. His gaze swept past the decree in Rong Qing’s hands, then landed on Xie Wuling, whose grin was full of mischief.

His eyes darkened.

Why is he here?

Did Yuniang… go to plead with him?

His long, slender fingers tightened around the smooth white jade pendant in his palm. His voice came out low and steady: “What are you doing here?”

Xie Wuling’s eyes curved. “To laugh at your misfortune, of course.”

Pei Xia: “…”

This scoundrel.

He turned his face away, refusing to look at him.

Rong Qing sensed the strange tension between them and felt uneasy. He quickly lifted the decree and cleared his throat: “The Sage’s edict is here. Pei Shouzhen, receive it at once.”

Though he had long since lost all faith in his ruler, Pei Xia still knelt and said, “Pei Xia receives the decree.”

Rong Qing finished reading and then stepped forward to help him up. “Lord Pei, His Majesty still cherishes you deeply.”

Pei Xia sneered inwardly but said nothing.

Xie Wuling, listening from the side, found it amusing. He glanced at Rong Qing. “Eunuch Rong, would you be so kind as to step out for some tea? I’d like a few private words with him.”

Rong Qing understood immediately and left with a bow.

Once the cell held only the two of them, Xie Wuling leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed. “What a pity. If you were still soaking in the water dungeon right now, I think my mood would be much better.”

Pei Xia did not respond to his words, his gaze was cold and sharp as a blade. “Did Yuniang go beg you?”

The smile at the corner of Xie Wuling’s lips faded.

He dropped his hand, straightened his posture, his eyes flickering briefly. “Yes. She came to beg me.”

Pei Xia’s thin lips pressed tightly together.

So she hadn’t listened to the words he’d asked Jinglin to deliver. Instead, she had gone to seek out Xie Wuling…

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to be moved by her steadfastness, or angered by her willfulness.

To go to Xie Wuling, how was that any different from a lamb walking into a tiger’s den?

“What did she promise you? Or rather…”

Pei Xia’s hands clenched unconsciously, his narrow eyes deepening to a shade like thick ink. “What did you do to her?”

Hearing that, Xie Wuling felt an unexpected heaviness in his chest but his mouth refused to yield an inch. “She agreed to divorce you and follow me back to Yanbei. Her trunks are already packed, once you’re released, we’ll leave tomorrow—”

Before he could finish, Pei Xia’s fist came swinging without warning. Xie Wuling barely dodged, teeth gritted as he cursed, “Pei Shouzhen, you b*stard, attacking without warning? No sense of martial honor!”

Pei Xia threw another punch, his voice cold and steady. “Toward a despicable man who takes advantage of others’ misfortune, what martial honor is there to speak of?”

That struck a nerve.

Xie Wuling had only wanted to provoke him with words but now that Pei Xia was throwing punches, the resentment and defiance buried in him burst to the surface.

He’d already been generous enough to let Pei Xia and Jiaojiao be, wasn’t it fair to vent his frustration a little?

The last two times they’d fought, he’d been injured. But today, his body was sound and strong, his limbs flexible. This time, he’d make sure to settle the score properly.

With that thought, Xie Wuling no longer held back. He clenched his fist and swung toward Pei Xia.

“Pei Shouzhen, I’ve put up with you for far too long!”

“……”

Pei Xia was no meek scholar either; his face darkened, and he met Xie Wuling blow for blow.

The dim, damp cell seemed to turn into an underground arena, two tall, handsome men locked in furious combat, each strike full of force and fury, fists meeting flesh, legs clashing against bone, as if both intended to fight to the death.

Pei Xia had some training, but when it came to brawling, he couldn’t match the battle-hardened Xie Wuling.

After several rounds, Xie Wuling grabbed him by the collar and slammed him to the ground. Blood streaked Pei Xia’s mouth and the corner of his eye.

Xie Wuling raised his massive fist high but when he saw that icy, unyielding gaze beneath him, his hand froze mid-air.

A flicker of surprise passed through Pei Xia’s eyes; his thick brows drew slightly together.

Xie Wuling caught the look, snorted, and roughly released his collar. He spread his legs and sat on the ground, touching the split at his lip.

D*mn — Pei Shouzhen’s punches really were solid.

A temporary truce. Both looked disheveled and bruised.

“Xie Wuling,” Pei Xia said, propping himself up with one arm, his body aching all over, “I’d rather you kill me than ever let Yuniang go with you.”

Xie Wuling shot him a cold glance. “If I killed you, wouldn’t Jiaojiao hate me for the rest of her life?”

“As long as I live,” Pei Xia said, his voice low, “I won’t let you take her.”

“And if I insist?”

“Then we keep fighting.”

Pei Xia’s black eyes locked on him. “I’ll fight you to the end.”

Xie Wuling fell silent.

After a long pause, he tugged at the corner of his lips. “Wasn’t it you who preached that a gentleman uses words, not fists? You don’t look much like a gentleman now.”

Pei Xia gave a faint, self-mocking smile. “I’ve suffered enough losses for the sake of being a ‘gentleman.’”

“Oh?” Xie Wuling arched a brow. “So you’re done being one?”

“Still a gentleman,” Pei Xia said quietly, “just no longer bound by what’s written in books.”

He added, “To believe everything in books is worse than having no books at all. After all I’ve been through, I’ve come to see just how much I lacked before.”

Born noble, famous young, arrogance was inevitable.

But now, older, tempered by turmoil, in these days within the prison walls, gazing at the moonlight through the window, he’d reflected deeply.

Was the ‘gentleman’s way’ he had upheld, the loyalty between subject and ruler, truly right?

Should he continue walking that path?

His youthful ambitions, his dreams of serving the nation and bringing prosperity, how was he to follow that road, and not have lived in vain?

Xie Wuling let out a short laugh. “Well, that’s rare, hearing you, Pei Shouzhen, say such things.” The aggression between them had finally eased.

Pei Xia didn’t even know why he was speaking this way to Xie Wuling. Maybe he’d been hit too hard in the head earlier, his brain was muddled.

He wiped the blood from his face and looked at him. “Still want to fight?”

Xie Wuling replied, “No.”

Pei Xia looked faintly surprised, then pressed his lips together. “What I said just now wasn’t a jest. Unless I die, Yuniang will always be my wife.”

“Pei Shouzhen,” Xie Wuling said slowly, “I’ve long wanted to ask, your obsession with Jiaojiao, is it because she’s your wife, and you can’t bear the shame of having your wife taken by another man? Or is it because she’s Shen Yujiao — the woman you truly love, part of your own flesh and blood, impossible to cut away?”

His tone was calm now, none of the earlier mockery.

Pei Xia met his eyes and saw within them a sharp yet steady scrutiny.

He’d heard words like that before from Yuniang herself.

“At first,” Pei Xia said slowly, “I saw her as my wife, respected her, cherished her. But later…”

His throat moved; speaking of this before his rival made him deeply uneasy. After a long silence, he finished, “I was slow to understand love. Not until I nearly lost her did I realize, she had already entered my heart, become my flesh and blood, impossible to separate.”

Xie Wuling listened quietly, his narrow black eyes flicking over every expression on Pei Xia’s face, trying to find a flaw.

But there was none.

This man, toward Yuniang, was sincere. 

Truly sincere.

Sincere enough to spend a lifetime with her.

Pei Xia felt uncomfortable under Xie Wuling’s gaze. He would have preferred Xie Wuling’s usual snide remarks or aggressive demeanor over this eerie calm.

Could it be… those two punches he had thrown had muddled Xie Wuling’s mind?

“Xie Wuling,” he said heavily.

“…?”

“Stop giving me that disgusting look.”

“…???”

Xie Wuling frowned, raising a fist. “You’re the disgusting one.”

Pei Xia: “….”

Finally, this felt normal.

He didn’t want to speak further. Pei Xia propped himself up on a nearby haystack and got to his feet.

Just as he was about to leave the cell, Xie Wuling called after him: “I’ll go with you.”

Pei Xia turned slightly.

Xie Wuling brushed dust and stray straw from his clothes. “I promised Jiaojiao, she embroidered a pouch for me, and I’ll help get you out of prison.”

Pei Xia’s brow furrowed slightly.

Then Xie Wuling stepped closer. “Once I have the pouch, I’ll return to Yanbei with the troops tomorrow, alone.” 

He paused, then cast a cold, indifferent glance at Pei Xia: “Pei Shouzhen, you’ve won.” 

“Jiaojiao… she chose you.”

—

Xie Wuling had come on horseback; he took a carriage to the Pei residence.

His face, bruised purple and blue, was embarrassing to show publicly.

But sitting in the same carriage as Pei Xia, eyes locked in quiet tension, the silence inside was so profound that Xie Wuling thought: he might have been better off just going out and embarrassing himself.

He couldn’t hold back his words. Seeing Pei Xia’s icy face, he finally spoke: “I’m only not arguing with you for Jiaojiao’s sake, so as not to trouble her. It’s not that I’m afraid of you.”

“Just so you know, if you dare harm her in the slightest, betray her, or do anything wrong to her, I’ll know. The first thing I’ll do is strip the skin off your back.”

Pei Xia frowned, thought for a moment, and stayed silent.

Xie Wuling continued: “Jiaojiao seems quiet on the surface, but she’s actually very strong-willed, clever, resilient. She learns fast. When I first brought her home, she learned to cook, tend the fire, milk the sheep, knead dough, make cakes… she even learned some Jinling dialect quickly.”

At that time, he had thought: I’ve found a treasure.

Beautiful, diligent, smart, any children they might have would be clever, maybe even pass the imperial exams one day.

“She likes reading, and teaching others to read. She paints exquisitely, embroiders beautifully, and is skilled in running a household. My shabby little courtyard became a real home with her in it…”

As he spoke, Xie Wuling’s gaze grew distant.

A home…

He almost could have had one.

That had probably been the closest he’d come to happiness.

A warm wife, children by the hearth, what more could a man want?

“Pei Shouzhen, don’t always keep that icy face. No woman likes staring at a frozen expression every day, no matter how handsome. Smile at Jiaojiao, speak some sweet words, everyone likes to hear good things, and she’s no exception. If you don’t know how to say sweet things, I can teach you a few lines…”

Pei Xia’s eyelid twitched. “No need.”

Xie Wuling snorted. “Fine, suit yourself.”

After a moment, he started again: “If you really don’t know how to speak sweetly, then at least bring her gifts now and then, or her favorite snacks. Jiaojiao likes to eat… I always feel like she’s gotten thinner since I last saw her…”

Xie Wuling chattered on endlessly along the way.

Pei Xia’s face remained impassive, but inwardly he was perplexed. Yuniang actually liked someone who talked this much?

The carriage rumbled on. As they neared Yongning Lane, Pei Xia lifted the curtain to look outside.

Across the street, a chestnut horse raced past, rider leaning forward. “Urgent dispatch, clear the way—”

Though only a flash, the messenger’s attire and the dark purple flag he carried were strikingly conspicuous.

The noise outside made Xie Wuling curious, he lifted the curtain, and his expression changed instantly.

Inside the carriage, the two men exchanged a solemn glance.

The dark purple military banner — it was urgent news from Yanbei.