The next morning, Shen Yujiao thought Xie Wuling would be out like he had been the past two days.
Unexpectedly, when she pushed open the door, the main hall’s door was still tightly shut.
Truly strange, he hadn’t woken yet? Could it be that all the buying and moving things yesterday had worn him out?
Shen Yujiao felt this was very likely, and so didn’t dwell on it, going off to the backyard to wash up.
Once she was done, she milked the sheep, started the fire, and boiled the milk,
All things she had learned from Aunt Liu. As soon as she’d said she wanted to learn, Aunt Liu warmly agreed, teaching her while praising that Ah Ling had truly taken a good wife.
Shen Yujiao only thought, better to learn more, if she knew how to do it herself, it was far better than having to ask others.
Don’t look at how Xie Wuling treated her with a thousand kindnesses now, wasn’t it all just the freshness of novelty, his greed for her looks?
But to serve others with beauty, when beauty fades, love wanes. If one day his heart changed and he no longer treated her so well, wouldn’t she still have to rely on herself?
Rather than waiting until then and being utterly unprepared, it was better to learn early. Skills never weigh one down, there was no harm in learning.
Busy the whole morning, she fed Ping’an, then cooked two bowls of toutuo noodles.
Seeing the sun climb higher, with the hall door still shut, she hesitated a moment, then went forward to knock.
“Xie Wuling, are you still not awake?”
Her voice was soft and gentle: “I’ve cooked noodles. If you don’t eat soon, they’ll get cold.”
The room was silent for a while before a man’s lazy, hoarse voice came: “Coming.”
So he really was just sleeping in.
Shen Yujiao answered with an “alright,” and didn’t bother further. She carried out a bowl of noodles and sat in the courtyard to eat.
Before long, the hall door creaked open.
At the sound, Shen Yujiao instinctively looked over.
And saw a man in nothing but thin underpants, bare-chested, hair tousled, walking out half-asleep. She froze, then let out a startled “ah!” and whipped around, eyes squeezed shut.
Xie Wuling’s stretch stiffened mid-motion. Seeing her clutching her bowl, back turned, curling into as small a ball as she could, he scoffed: “What are you shrieking at? It’s midday, not midnight.”
Shen Yujiao’s eyes stayed tightly shut. Just thinking of what she had glimpsed, her ears burned scarlet: “Y-you, you’re not wearing clothes!”
“It was hot last night, so I slept shirtless.”
“But now you’re up, why still not dressed…”
“Didn’t I just get up? Besides, what’s there to fear in my own courtyard?”
His tone was so matter-of-fact. Yet in Shen Yujiao’s mind lingered the broad line of his shoulders and back, his lean waist, and below the underpants,
No, no! She bit her lip hard, trying to banish the indecent image. But footsteps came from behind.
“Careful, hold the bowl steady, don’t spill the noodles…”
“I know.” Shen Yujiao didn’t turn her head, her soft voice betraying panic: “Go put your robe on first.”
The footsteps halted. After a beat, a low lazy chuckle sounded: “Making such a fuss, don’t tell me you’ve never seen a man’s body before?”
Shen Yujiao stiffened.
Had he not said that, it might have been better. But with those words, her already messy thoughts couldn’t help recalling her closeness with Pei Xia in the past.
Though he’d been in the habit of putting out the lamps before bedding her, their wedding night had been ablaze with light. Most of the time she’d kept her eyes squeezed shut, too shy to look. But she had secretly opened them once or twice.
Inside the embroidered canopy, the man’s usually ethereal, aloof face was stained with restrained yet sinking desire.
Those long, narrow eyes at the corners, so vividly alluring.
That touch of allure had made her heart pound wildly, and she had hurried to close her eyes again, not daring another glance.
Yet her heart had spun, dizzy as if drunk, thinking: such a beautiful man, and he was her husband.
In this vast world, only she alone could glimpse this side of a jade-like gentleman.
“Gone mute again?”
The man’s slightly displeased, hard voice jerked her back to herself. Realizing how far her thoughts had strayed, she fumed inwardly.
All his fault, this Xie Wuling, poking at sore spots that shouldn’t be touched.
“In broad daylight, your behavior is indecent.” Her head dropped lower, lips pressed tight, muffled: “If you don’t go put clothes on, I’ll eat inside.”
If she couldn’t provoke him, she could still avoid him.
At her words, Xie Wuling glanced at the young lady sitting with her back to him. In the clear noontime sun, her two white eartips glowed red as if bleeding.
He clicked his tongue inwardly. What an unromantic little bookworm.
If not for the fact that her belly indeed carried a child, he’d suspect that after marrying that short-lived ghost of a husband, the two had lain in bed every night just playing cards.
Else why would she turn so mortified at seeing a man’s body?
“Fine, fine, I’ll go put something on.”
Xie Wuling turned away, casting another look at his own solidly built chest muscles, sighing in regret: “Others would give anything for a look, yet you, foolish woman, blessed and blind to it, ”
Shen Yujiao: “…”
Did he think everyone was as shameless as he was?
—
Once Xie Wuling had changed and noisily downed a full bowl of noodles, he wiped his mouth and said to Shen Yujiao: “I forgot to tell you yesterday. Blind Liu picked out three auspicious dates.”
Shen Yujiao paused in patting the swaddled infant, staring at him in astonishment.
“One’s the twenty-eighth of the ninth month, one’s the ninth of the twelfth month, and one’s the seventh of the second month next spring.”
Xie Wuling said: “I’m planning to set it for the twenty-eighth of the ninth month. The other two, one’s too cold, and the other’s too far off. What do you think?”
“September twenty-eighth?” Shen Yujiao murmured, her willow brows lightly furrowing.“Wouldn’t that be too rushed? It’s already the eighth month now, which means not even two months…”
“It’s not that I can’t wait, it’s your belly that can’t wait.”
Xie Wuling glanced at her slim waist, still delicate with no sign of swelling, and said unhurriedly: “I’ve already told Aunt Liu and Wildcat about your pregnancy. They won’t spread it around. I’m thinking we should get the wedding done early. By the time you give birth to Xie Di, we’ll say he came early, and from then on, he’ll be my own son. If anyone dares to spout nonsense, I’ll twist their head off and use it as a piss pot.”
The latter half carried a harsh edge, not like a joke.
Shen Yujiao still felt marrying at the end of the ninth month was too hasty, but Xie Wuling’s words did make sense,
After all, this wasn’t her first marriage. Sooner or later, what difference did it make?
Besides, last year when she married Pei Xia, it was also a hurried affair.
Perhaps her fate in marriage was destined to be rushed and hasty, never like what she once envisioned in her boudoir days: bowing thrice before her elders, a bridal procession stretching ten miles, glorious and grand.
Forget it.
She tugged at the corner of her lips, lifted her gaze again, and smiled at Xie Wuling with resignation: “Then as you say, September twenty-eighth.”
By the end of the ninth month, the weather would already be turning cool. It wouldn’t be good to have him still sleeping on the floor.
Two months should be enough time for her to grow familiar with him, to slowly adapt to the role of “Xie Niangzi.”
Seeing her agree, Xie Wuling also let out a breath of relief.
He’d thought she would push it back further, but this little lady turned out to be more sensible than he expected.
“Then it’s settled. In a few days, I’ll take you to the yamen to register the household record, and we’ll book what we need for the wedding banquet along the way.”
Saying that, he stood up, humming a little tune as he went to the kitchen to wash the pots and dishes.
***
Three days later, Xie Wuling took Shen Yujiao to the Jinling prefectural office to register. Ping’an was left temporarily in Aunt Liu’s care.
This was the first time since their flight from calamity that Shen Yujiao stepped onto the street neatly dressed and free of burdens.
Passing the first alley, she felt ill at ease at the many glances people cast at her and Xie Wuling.
She tugged at his sleeve quietly, whispering: “Why don’t we buy a veiled hat?”
Whether in Chang’an or Wenxi, a young lady of a good family going out always wore a veiled hat. To expose her face in public was to lose both decorum and propriety.
Xie Wuling was unconcerned: “We’re not some shameful secret affair. What’s the point of that thing?”
But when they passed the second alley and he saw so many men’s eyes falling on Shen Yujiao, his face darkened.
Even if he knew those b*stards only dared to look and wouldn’t dare act, just the thought of their filthy gazes made his chest burn with smothered rage.
In the end, he pulled her along to buy a veiled hat, carefully arranging the white gauze so that not even a glimpse of her could be seen. Only then did the fire in his chest ease a little.
With the veiled hat on, Shen Yujiao also felt much more at ease.
After all, more than ten years of habit couldn’t be changed in a day or two.
Once they had the hat, the two of them went straight to the prefectural office.
Thanks to Sixth Master Chang putting in a word beforehand, the registration process went smoothly.
Shen Yujiao only needed to stand beside Xie Wuling and answer truthfully whatever the clerk asked.
Before leaving, Xie Wuling slipped the clerk a string of copper coins. “Much obliged. Please, sir, have some tea to moisten your throat.”
The clerk, seeing he knew how things worked, weighed the coins in his hand, and his smile grew even warmer. “Brother Xie is too polite. Then let me be the first to congratulate you and your lady on a harmonious union and everlasting bond.”
“Many thanks, many thanks.”
Xie Wuling cupped his hands with a smile, then led Shen Yujiao away from the office.
The clerk tucked the coins into his sleeve, glanced again at the fresh ink on the register, and saw the three characters of “Shen Yujiao.” Carelessly, he thought, that rascal Xie sure has some luck. Just now, that Shen girl not only had fine looks, but judging by her words and conduct, she seemed a steady, virtuous sort.
They say with a good wife, a man meets fewer disasters. If this young lady can keep that rascal in line, perhaps his days ahead won’t be too bad.
Lost in idle thoughts, he waved the register dry, stamped it shut, and strolled off toward the registry room.
—
Jiangnan’s land of beauties, Jinling, imperial capital of the realm.
Compared with the famine-stricken wastelands they’d seen along their flight, where corpses littered the fields and parents ate their children, within Jinling’s walls there were willow-lined bridges and painted halls, markets glittering with pearls and jades, households brimming with silks and brocades. Truly, it was a flourishing, bustling world altogether different.
After leaving the prefectural office, Xie Wuling took Shen Yujiao strolling, eating, and shopping.
By the time they had ordered all the wedding odds and ends, red candles and silk, wedding cakes and fruits, bridal clothes and embroidered handkerchiefs, the wide autumn sky was already steeped in dusk, rosy clouds spread like brocade.
Shen Yujiao thought they were heading home, but instead Xie Wuling brought her to a grand, imposing restaurant.
Looking at the carved beams, painted rafters, and lanterns hanging high, Shen Yujiao forgot her composure and tugged at his sleeve again: “Why are we coming here?”
“To eat.” Xie Wuling glanced at her soft, white hand clutching his sleeve, his dark eyes shifting as he asked, “After walking around all afternoon, aren’t you hungry?”
Shen Yujiao pressed her lips together, answering honestly: “A little.”
Xie Wuling: “Then that settles it. Come on, I’ll treat you to a good meal.”
Her hand still held his sleeve. When he looked back, he saw the delicate young lady’s bright eyes, both nervous and worried: “But a meal here must be very expensive. Why don’t we just go back and boil a bowl of noodles instead?”
Xie Wuling had meant to say, “It’s only a bit of money,” but when he saw her moist, soft gaze, it was as if a cat’s paw had lightly scratched at his heart.
Then he recalled her words, undeserving of such.
Forget it. There would be plenty of chances to take her to restaurants later. Better to let her ease into it.
“As you wish,” Xie Wuling said. “We’ll eat another day.”
Shen Yujiao let out a soft breath of relief and was just about to withdraw her hand when the man suddenly turned his broad palm.
Before she could react, that long hand had firmly clasped hers.
She stared at him in astonishment, but Xie Wuling didn’t look at her at all.
As if holding her hand were nothing but an ordinary matter.
He kept his face lifted, eyes ahead, striding forward: “Let’s go.”
Shen Yujiao tried to pull away, but couldn’t. Her face flushed red. “Xie Wuling.”
Still walking forward, still not looking at her, he answered lazily: “Hm?”
Shen Yujiao hesitated, then stammered: “…your hand.”
Xie Wuling: “What about it?”
Seeing him play dumb, Shen Yujiao felt both shy and annoyed, but since they were on the street, she could only bite her lip and mutter: “This isn’t proper, you should let go.”
“What’s improper about it?”
His grip tightened, and he cast her a domineering glance: “You’re my wife. What’s wrong with holding hands?”
This man even acted shamelessly with such righteous conviction. Shen Yujiao almost blurted out, We’re not even married yet, when suddenly a voice cut in ahead: “Well, if it isn’t Brother Xie!”
Shen Yujiao started slightly and lifted her eyes.
A man decked out in silks was coming toward them, rat-eyed and sly-faced, twirling a folding fan in a show of false elegance. Behind him trailed two servants, one of whom looked vaguely familiar, as if she’d seen him somewhere before.
While she was still pondering, Xie Wuling caught sight of the newcomer, Chang Song. Though he still wore a smile, his eyes were cool and distant. “Second Brother Song, what a coincidence.”
“Indeed, didn’t expect to meet here.”
Chang Song flicked open his fan and stepped closer, his gaze falling on the veiled, petite figure at Xie Wuling’s side. “Brother Xie, could this be that little wife of yours who hasn’t yet entered the door?”
Xie Wuling’s eyes darkened. He moved forward, his tall frame blocking her from sight. “She’s my wife.”
Then he tilted his head slightly and said offhandedly to Shen Yujiao: “This is Second Master Song of the Chang family.”
Even through the thin veil, Shen Yujiao could feel the man’s unabashed gaze sweeping over her. She felt displeasure inside, though she showed none of it, politely dipping in greeting: “Greetings, Second Master Song.”
“No need to be so formal, sister-in-law. Just call me Second Brother, as Brother Xie does.”
Chang Song smiled as he spoke. They say beauties are like flowers beyond the clouds, today, though he only caught the faint, hazy outline through the veil, that delicate silhouette was enough to stir the heart.
Unable to see clearly only made one itch all the more to glimpse her true face.
“It’s getting late.”
Xie Wuling stepped forward again, shielding her almost completely. “If Second Brother has no business, my wife and I will take our leave.”
“In such a hurry? Meeting like this is fate. Besides, aren’t we right at the doors of Six Flavors Pavilion?”
Chang Song snapped his fan shut. “How about this, today I’ll play host and treat you and sister-in-law to a meal. Brother Xie, you won’t refuse me this face, will you?”
Xie Wuling’s dark eyes narrowed.
This b*stard had always been at odds with him. Popping out suddenly to block the way, insisting on hosting dinner, any fool could guess what scheme he was running.
If not for Old Sixth’s sake, he would’ve smashed a fist into him already,
Want to look at his wife? Those dog eyes weren’t worthy.
Suppressing his mounting irritation, Xie Wuling was just about to refuse when a soft, gentle voice came from behind him, calm yet unyielding: “I fear I may have caught a chill. I’m feeling rather dizzy, and wish to return early to rest. Second Master’s kindness, Langjun and I take to heart, but lest I pass on the illness, better we not dine today.”
Both men froze at her words.
Xie Wuling’s gaze flickered. She called me Langjun…. It sounded unexpectedly pleasant.
Chang Song, meanwhile, felt his heart stir. This little lady’s way of speaking, how sweet to the ear.
“Well then, if you’re unwell, best go and rest early,” Chang Song said. “Another time then, another time I’ll invite sister-in, cough, Brother Xie and sister-in-law to a meal!”
Seeing Chang Song like this, Xie Wuling felt only disgust. He tossed out a flat, “Second Brother Song, until next time”— then pulled Shen Yujiao along, striding past the three blocking the way.
Even when they had gone far, Chang Song still stood where he was, gazing after that graceful figure under the long veil, glowing in the sunset. His eyes lingered.
A servant sidled up. “Second Master, well? Didn’t I tell you right?”
“Even if I couldn’t glimpse her true face, just from her speech and bearing, she’s no common sort.”
Chang Song tapped his fan, sighing with regret. “But how is it that such a beauty didn’t fall to me, and instead went to that thug Xie Wuling? What a waste!”
The servant, watching his master’s expression, guessed well enough what thoughts were stirring, but dared not offer suggestions,
That was Xie Wuling’s woman.
Who in Jinling didn’t know that when Xie Wuling went wild, he cared nothing for life or death? At sixteen, he could take on ten men alone, fight until drenched in blood, even crush a man’s skull with his bare fists…
The servant very much wanted to keep living.
On the other side, after walking a distance, Xie Wuling stopped, his long fingers slightly lifting the edge of her veil. His face stern, he fixed her with a look.
“Why did you answer that dog b*stard just now?”
He used coarse words. Shen Yujiao’s brows furrowed; she had the mind to correct him, but seeing his expression, she swallowed it back and only said: “I don’t want you quarreling with him.”
Xie Wuling narrowed his eyes. “And why is that?”
Shen Yujiao pressed her lips together, then lifted the hand that had been tightly gripped all the way. “You squeezed very hard just now, so I guessed you and he must already harbor old grudges. But out of regard for Sixth Master’s face, you were forced to feign civility with him.”
Xie Wuling’s gaze flickered. Looking again at that delicate, graceful little face before him, something different stirred in his eyes. “Go on.”
“If you directly reject him, he’ll lose face and surely hold a grudge. He might even keep pestering you.” Shen Yujiao added, “There are three of them. If it came to blows…”
“Just those three wastes? Not worth fearing.” Xie Wuling sneered.
“A fight might be satisfying, but what about Sixth Master then?”
Having spent these few days together, Shen Yujiao had more or less come to know Xie Wuling’s situation. She softened her tone: “Sixth Master has always looked after you. If you get into a brawl with his son in the street, aren’t you slapping his face in public?”
After a pause, she said, “In truth, you don’t want to fight him either, do you?”
Otherwise, at that moment, he wouldn’t have lost his strength and hurt her hand.
Xie Wuling remained silent. Shen Yujiao thought a bit, then with the fingers wrapped in his palm, lightly hooked at his hand: “Alright.”
Her voice was soft, almost like coaxing, almost like a spoiled plea: “The matter was already brushed over with one sentence. Why fuss about it?”
That little hook of her fingers made him feel as though a feather had brushed across his palm.
It tickled, as if teasing directly at his heart’s core.
Looking into her bright, clear eyes, the stifling pressure in his chest seemed blown away, leaving him much lighter.
“Fine, this time I’ll grant you’re in the right.”
He once again wrapped her hand tightly, leading her forward. “But next time, pay less heed to that sort of person. He’s no good.”
“Got it.”
“Mosquito hum.”
“I said I know!”
“That’s better. Come, let’s go home and make noodles tonight, add two extra eggs.”
The evening breeze stirred, rosy clouds tinted the sky, and the two figures were stretched long, long by the afterglow of the setting sun.
—
Under the autumn sky, the bright moon hung high, its light moist with dew.
When the Pei household’s guards returned from the Huainan military camp with family letters to Luoyang, it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth of the eighth month.
Though the household’s young master was away at war, and just in May a young mistress had passed away, still, in such a grand aristocratic clan, even a casual celebration was resplendent with golden chrysanthemums and blazing lanterns.
Within the waterside pavilion, all three branches of the Pei family attended the banquet. The second and third branches, with their legitimate and concubine-born children, made a lively, bustling crowd.
But the true masters of this mansion, the direct line of the Pei clan’s eldest house, amounted to only one widow, Madam Wang.
Looking at the other branches, all smiles and laughter, Madam Wang sat in the seat of honor. Her face betrayed nothing, but in her heart stirred a faint ripple.
It had been some time since she thought of that Madam Shen. But now, suddenly, she did.
If that day she had waited a bit longer at Wenxi, or sent a pair of trusted aides to fetch her, perhaps now Madam Shen too could be seated at the banquet, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law accompanying one another. Then the eldest branch would not seem so desolate and cold.
Though Madam Shen’s family had declined, her nature was docile and uncontentious… not someone impossible to accept.
The blame lay with that little hoof Pei Tong, whose strike had been so ruthless, forcing Madam Wang to pinch her nose and board the same thief’s ship.
Thinking thus, Madam Wang lifted her cup of chrysanthemum brew, casting an unreadable glance toward the Pei family’s Third Niangzi in her apricot-colored brocade dress, golden hairpin gleaming in her hair.
Seeing her nibble crab with such girlish sweetness, Madam Wang recalled the day their scheme collapsed, when this girl had knelt and wept in pitiful pleas…
Such a girl, was she truly to be admitted into the Wang clan of Langya?
Madam Wang took a sip of the chrysanthemum brew. Though it was warm wine, it slid down her throat carrying a thin, cold chill.
Her thoughts wandered when Gao Momo bent close to report: “Madam, the family letters from Huainan have arrived. The guards await in the side hall.”
A family letter was worth ten thousand in gold, all the more so when it came from her only son on a festival day. Madam Wang, though still at the banquet, could not wait. She dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief and slowly rose. “Please continue, I shall go change clothes.”
With Gao Momo supporting her, she gracefully left the table.
Pei Tong noticed and cast a glance at her own mother, Madam Cui.
Madam Cui pondered a moment, then summoned a maidservant to inquire.
In the side hall, Madam Wang sat elegantly on the armchair, asking carefully about Pei Xia’s condition, had he grown thinner or fatter, darker or fairer, had he suffered any injuries.
The guard answered one by one, finishing with: “Rest assured, Madam, the young lord is in all respects safe and well.”
Only then did Madam Wang’s motherly heart ease. Seeing two letters on the table, her eyelids flickered, and she first opened the one addressed to herself.
Her son had always been steady and mature; his letter said little more than urging her not to worry, to take care, and offering respectful regards.
Setting down that letter, her fingers lingered for a moment before opening the one addressed to Madam Shen,
Compared to the formal words to his mother, this one, though still reporting his well-being, carried an unconscious ease and warmth between the lines.
On the table also lay a pouch with a bamboo-leaf pattern. Madam Wang picked it up. “And this?”
The guard’s face grew uneasy; bowing his head, he said: “Before departing, the young lord bade me deliver this… deliver this satchet for the young mistress.”
He also repeated the young lord’s message.
“Just a token of autumn’s colors…” Madam Wang untied the purse. The osmanthus flowers inside had long since dried, but the moment she opened it, their rich fragrance rushed to fill her nose.
This Shouzhen, ah…
Even at her age, catching that fragrance and seeing those osmanthus blossoms, she couldn’t help but lift her brows.
If Madam Shen were still alive, receiving this refined, thoughtful token from her husband, how overjoyed would that newlywed young wife be, knowing her husband held her in mind…
“Madam,” Gao Momo bent and softly asked, “is it another headache?”
Madam Wang lowered her gaze without replying. She set the pouch back by the table, dismissed the guards, and only then let out a quiet sigh: “In his letter, Shouzhen said the campaign is going smoothly. At the latest, he will return before the new year.”
Gao Momo said, “That is good news.”
“Yes.” Madam Wang’s lips curved faintly, then fell silent.
“Then why sigh, Madam?” Gao Momo hesitated. “Is it… for Madam Shen?”
Madam Wang raised a hand to rub her brow, closed her eyes, and said, “I’ve been thinking of her all night. Just now I even felt a trace of regret.”
Gao Momo faltered, thinking: regret after she’s already gone, what use is that? But aloud she comforted: “The wood has already become a boat; dwelling on it does no good. Madam should think of the brighter side. When the young lord returns triumphant and is granted honors, in Chang’an and Luoyang there will be no shortage of noble daughters for you to choose from. Surely you’ll find a worthy daughter-in-law.”
Madam Wang gave a distracted hum, her gaze drifting again to that pouch of osmanthus, her brows creasing.
She had thought her son’s wish to marry Madam Shen was only to fulfill a gentleman’s promise.
But this “branch of autumn colors”… was it not a matter of affection?
Alas, let it be only her own overthinking.
—
The moon shone over a thousand li, the same sky for those far apart.
In Huainan Prefecture, Xuanzhou’s government hall blazed with light. Wine and cups passed, pipes and flutes sang, dancing girls whirled, the place was abuzz with festivity.
The imperial army had won victory after victory, and just yesterday seized Xuanzhou City, the lair of the rebel Zhang Ying, driving him east with ten thousand battered men, awaiting only the final blow.
Now, with morale soaring and it being Mid-Autumn Festival, the Second Prince ordered fine wine and feasts to reward the soldiers far from home.
The soldiers drank and ate their fill; the generals likewise held banquets. When Zhang Ying fled, he left behind a whole flock of concubines and courtesans. Some bold ones dashed themselves against pillars or hanged themselves; the timid ones were all taken captive.
The Second Prince, known for his virtue and strict governance, forbade his men to abuse these women. They were shut up with the other female captives and set to sewing clothes and patching armor.
But tonight, to enliven the banquet, some of the more striking ones were chosen to play music, sing, dance, and pour wine.
After three rounds of wine, faces flushed and ears warm, the hot-blooded generals each drew a beauty into his arms for a kiss and caress.
At the Second Prince’s side was a favored maid, lovely in appearance, who offered a cup with a smile: “Your Highness, please drink.”
“Good.” The Second Prince curved his lips and drank the cup from her white, soft hands.
Looking over the hall, he saw everyone with a beauty in company, save for the left-hand seat, where the Pei clan heir, clad in white robe and plain crown, sat drinking alone, lofty and untouched, exuding pure and noble grace.
The Second Prince arched a brow. “Shouzhen, drinking alone is dull. I see that little beauty playing the zither has an eye on you, why not give her a chance?”
In truth, not just that zither girl. The moment the courtesans entered, their eyes first fell on that handsome young lord at table before even glancing at the banquet’s highest guest, the Second Prince himself.
But that young man was as cold as ice; no matter how many coquettish glances were sent, he ignored them, keeping his head bowed to drink and eat.
Now, hearing the prince himself speak, the zither girl’s heart leapt with joy. She lifted her tender gaze, brimming with watery charm, toward the man in white: “Yan’er is willing to serve my lord.”
Pei Xia’s brows faintly drew together. He cast her only the lightest glance, then looked toward the head of the table: “Your Highness’s kindness, I accept. But tonight is Mid-Autumn, I think of my kin in Luoyang, and have no mind for women.”
The Second Prince had expected as much, and tugged his lips in a smile. Glancing at Yan’er, he sighed: “Pity, the goddess is willing, but Xiang Wang is without heart.”
Deputy General Peng Xi, at the right, waved his broad hand, face flushed with wine, beckoning the girl: “Come, come! Since Strategist Pei doesn’t want you, tonight let this general cherish you well.”
Yan’er looked from the rough, bearded tiger of a man to the jade-like, icy young lord, bit her lip, then with tearful eyes walked toward Peng.
The Second Prince, cup in hand and half drunk, looked sidelong at Pei Xia with a teasing smile: “Shouzhen, Shouzhen, you’re so oblivious to tender feelings. How many young women’s hearts must you have broken?”
Pei Xia said coolly: “I am only one man. If I had to tend to every tender heart, how would I find the leisure to tend to the people, the state, and the realm?”
The Second Prince was struck dumb by such upright words. Looking again at his austere, unworldly demeanor, he grew curious. “And your wife? Do you treat her, too, with no heart, no feeling?”
Pei Xia’s gaze shifted slightly. After a breath, he said slowly: “How could Your Highness compare a proper wife to other women? My wife and I, she is naturally not the same.”
Once more, the Second Prince was left at a loss for words. These days, seeing this Pei Shouzhen devise and maneuver in war, cunning and resourceful, he had not taken him for a hidebound pedant. But in matters of men and women, he seemed utterly rigid, like some old prude blind to tenderness,
He truly wondered what this man was like in private with his wife.
The Second Prince pondered for a while, then raised his cup to drink with Pei Xia. After setting it down, he suddenly said: “When we capture that old thief Zhang Ying and take his head, you and I will first return to Chang’an. The clearing of the battlefield and the remnants can be left to Generals Kang and Liang.”
Pei Xia thought briefly, then nodded. “Very well.”
The Second Prince pushed aside the beauty beside him, leaned closer to Pei Xia, and lowered his voice: “On the return, we’ll pass through Jinling. My royal mother has written, asking me to visit my aunt there. I plan to stay a few days, Shouzhen, will you accompany me?”
The Second Prince’s royal mother, Madam Yang, one of the four consorts, bore the title of Consort Xian. She came from the illustrious Hongnong Yang clan.
Her own younger sister by birth had married into the Boling Cui family. Later, following her husband’s appointment as Prefect of Jinling, she left the capital, and the two sisters had not met for nearly ten years.
Now, upon learning that her son was campaigning in Huainan, Consort Xian Yang mentioned that, should the war be won and he had leisure, he ought to take the chance to visit Jinling and see her sister’s household.
The Second Prince was deeply filial, and having long lived in Chang’an, he also yearned for the prosperous lands south of the Yangtze. Thus, he kept her words in mind.
With the war now nearing its end and the return journey in sight, he invited Pei Xia to accompany him to Jinling.
“That would be fine,” Pei Xia answered after a pause for thought. “An old acquaintance of mine, Master Jingkong, is at Tongtai Temple in Jinling. I might call on him for a cup of tea.”
The Second Prince’s eyes lit up. Though not himself much gifted in poetry, even he knew that Master Jingkong’s verse was famed throughout the realm.
As expected of Pei Shouzhen, he even had ties with Master Jingkong.
“Excellent, excellent.” The Second Prince laughed. “If time permits, I shall go with you as well and beg a cup of tea.”
Pei Xia agreed, then lowered his gaze once more, quietly watching the clear wine in his cup.
He felt little interest in the bustling city of Jinling. What he longed for was to capture the rebel leader, hasten his return, and perhaps be back in Luoyang by the tenth month.
“Ten rounds of frost shadow turn the courtyard parasol
This night, a wanderer sits alone in the corner…
Surely the fair moon-maiden too knows sorrow,
The jade toad cold and clear, the osmanthus blossoms lonely.”
His long fingers brushed lightly over the jade safety token at his waist. Lifting his eyes to the bright moon outside the window, he wondered,
How were things at home now?
And what was she doing?
Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to read 5 extra chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)
