Pei Xia and Shen Yujiao had thought they would be led to Madam Wang’s own courtyard. Never did they expect her to bring them instead to the ancestral hall.
As they stepped into the solemn hall, with its carved brickwork and upturned eaves, both of their expressions grew grave.
This hall was not as grand as the one back in Wenshi village, but when the summer floods came roaring, there had been no time to spare. They had hurried to move the ancestral tablets, portraits, and genealogies here to Luoyang for temporary safekeeping.
Once the rural ancestral hall was repaired, the tablets of the Pei ancestors would be returned in full ceremony.
Inside, the spirit altar held row upon row of ancestral tablets and portraits. Even their breathing slowed.
Compared to their solemn reverence, Madam Wang moved with cool ease, stopping by the altar and signaling the old Gao Momo with a glance.
Understanding at once, Gao Momo led the servants away.
In a moment, only three remained in the austere hall—together with the spirits of the Pei forebears.
Pei Xia was first to speak, breaking the silence. “Mother, why bring us here?”
Madam Wang gave him a look, then took six sticks of incense from the altar, lit them at the candle, and said evenly: “You have been campaigning half a year. Now that you’ve returned safely, of course we must thank the ancestors for their protection.”
When the incense caught flame, Madam Wang walked back and divided three sticks, holding them out toward him.
“Before offering incense, I will ask you one question. You must answer truthfully before the ancestors.”
Pei Xia’s gaze flickered, then he raised his sleeve. “Please ask, Mother.”
Madam Wang looked at the young man, now taller than herself, and after a pause, her voice grave: “What promise did you make to Consort Xian and her son?”
Her words fell, and the hall was still.
Both Pei Xia and Shen Yujiao felt a flash of surprise, but soon calmed. With Madam Wang’s vision and shrewdness, after hearing the rumors that spread so loudly, it would not be hard to guess the truth behind them.
Pei Xia still bowed, silent for two breaths, then said: “I promised the Second Prince that I would devote my life to helping him achieve his wish.”
And what wish could a prince have, if not the supreme throne?
It was exactly as she suspected.
Madam Wang did not even lift her thin lids, only curled her lips faintly, her tone detached: “The Pei clan has stood for a hundred years, with thousands serving in office. Every head of the clan has always put the family above all, steering clear of factions, upholding fairness. Only you, Pei Shouzhen, so arrogant and rash—before the court has even settled, you dare to choose a master. Do you know that one misstep of yours could drag the entire clan into the abyss?”
Pei Xia lowered his dark eyes. “Your son knows the dangers, and knows the shifting tides of the realm. Yet what’s done is done—an apology now is too late. I can only beg Mother and the ancestors to watch over me, that I may speak and act with care henceforth, and not disgrace our forebears’ honor.”
At his words, Madam Wang was momentarily speechless.
This son was born with a clever tongue. She could not out-argue him.
And as he said, what was done was done—further words were useless.
Drawing a deep breath, she finally handed the incense to him.
Pei Xia received it. “Thank you, Mother.”
Then Madam Wang went to Shen Yujiao, three sticks still in hand. But she did not give them immediately, only said: “Before offering incense, I too have a question for you.”
Shen Yujiao bowed her head, yet she could feel Madam Wang’s piercing gaze fixed on the center of her brow, as if to burn a hole through her face.
Her fingers in her sleeve gently tightened. She said, “Mother, please ask.”
Madam Wang said, “Raise your head. Look at me when you answer.”
If this had been before, Shen Yujiao would certainly have found a pile of reasons to decline, but now she knew well that fencing words with Madam Wang was meaningless. So she no longer dawdled, lifted her gaze, and met her eyes.
“Madam Shen, I only ask you this: the child in your belly—is it Shouzhen’s bloodline?”
“……”
On the journey back, Shen Yujiao had already guessed Madam Wang might suspect her child, yet she hadn’t expected the woman to be so impatient as to blurt it out the moment they met— And right before all the Pei ancestors.
“Mother.” Pei Xia frowned. “What Yuniang carries—”
“Let her answer herself.”
Madam Wang brusquely cut him off. Her piercing eyes, as if they could see straight through a person’s heart, fixed unerringly on Shen Yujiao’s face. “Madam Shen, I want to hear it from your own lips. Yes, or no?”
Shen Yujiao silently clenched her fingers, shame and anger surging. She longed to retort rebelliously, ‘And if yes, what of it? If not, what of it?’—
After all, being the Pei family’s matriarchal daughter-in-law was never her wish, nor did she care to return to this mansion.
But faced with Madam Wang’s gaze, more solemn than usual, and surrounded by the portraits and spirit tablets of their ancestors, she knew this was not the place to win a petty war of words. Neither should she risk her own reputation or her child’s bloodline as fuel for defiance—that would only invite misunderstanding and trouble.
So she drew a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.”
Calmly, she met Madam Wang’s eyes. “Counting the days, I should also thank the lady physician you invited.”
Madam Wang caught the edge of irony in her tone, yet did not grow angry. She only said, “Since you answer thus, then I will believe you.”
“To gain such trust from Mother truly leaves this daughter-in-law uneasy.”
“No need for barbs and thorns.”
Madam Wang gave her a cool side glance. “One matter is one matter. Though I dislike you, I trust the Shen family’s upbringing. Shen Wenzheng Gong’s most cherished legitimate granddaughter should not be someone shameless, who consorts without matchmakers or rites.”
Shen Yujiao’s brows twitched.
Shen Wenzheng Gong—that was her grandfather, Grand Chancellor Shen.
“Wenzheng”—that posthumous title, one countless civil officials dreamed of, had been personally bestowed by the Emperor upon the Shen family, proof of their past glory and of her grandfather’s lifetime achievements.
That Madam Wang trusted her Shen family’s upbringing was, no doubt, a good thing. Yet those words afterward—“shameless, consorting without rites”—struck Shen Yujiao with a guilty pang.
Though she had never lain with Xie Wuling, in those days together he had held her hand, she had seen his bare chest, and before parting, she had even kissed him once…
If such matters were ever known, not even nine lives would suffice to escape being drowned in a pig cage.
“Mother, your words go too far.”
Pei Xia’s usually cool voice rang out, and on his upright face appeared, rarely, a trace of anger.
Madam Wang, however, seemed utterly unconcerned. She glanced at him sideways. “Too far? Which part—when I said I dislike her, or when I said I trust her?”
Pei Xia frowned. “Yuniang is my wife. Why does Mother treat her harshly?”
“Harshly…” Madam Wang gave a short laugh. “You’ve not yet been granted office, and already you accuse your mother of slander?”
“Since she entered this house, when have I ever treated her harshly? At most I do not like her, and I’ve been cold. But since you two have returned today prepared to bare your fangs at me, then I may as well lay things plain. Madam Shen, let me ask you—since you entered this household, have I ever shorted you food, clothing, or monthly stipends? Have I ever, before outsiders, spoken a word of insult against you?”
Shen Yujiao was taken aback, silent for a moment, then shook her head. “No, never.”
Indeed, as Madam Wang said—she had never mistreated her, only been cold.
Even before she married into the Pei family, her mother Madam Li had warned her: this mother-in-law had high standards, higher pride.
And once she entered, Madam Wang’s disdain was plain to see.
Yet disdain was one thing—true difficulty, Shen Yujiao could hardly recall beyond the brazier incident at her wedding.
Morning and evening greetings—such had been custom for generations, every daughter-in-law must do them.
Serving decoctions, massaging shoulders and back—these too were duties of filial piety.
As for the brazier, later it was found the servant woman had simply been careless, but whether it was real carelessness, or flattery to the mistress, or someone else’s instigation, no one could say.
Still, even if someone had indeed plotted, Shen Yujiao did not believe it to be Madam Wang—the trick was too clumsy. If her skirt had truly caught fire, it would disgrace the entire main branch.
Madam Wang was proud and aloof, above such pettiness, and far from foolish enough to do it.
Shen Yujiao knew well: her mother-in-law simply disliked her, so much so that she disdained even to put up a polite façade.
But as a daughter-in-law—worse, as the daughter of a disgraced minister living under the Pei family’s roof—she had no choice but to present a meek face, pressing her warmth against cold indifference.
If she had a choice, she would not willingly deal with one who so clearly disliked her. At times, she even envied Madam Wang—at least, in all of Wenxi, no one could make Madam Wang bow her head. She was free to scorn whomever she pleased.
“Pei Shouzhen, you heard it. Your darling just admitted it herself—I have never mistreated her.”
Madam Wang arched her brows toward Pei Xia. “As for kindness—spare me. When you rushed off to Chang’an, I told you plain: if you insisted on bringing her back, your legs are your own, I could not stop you. But once she entered this house, don’t expect me to give her a smiling face. Do you remember those words?”
Pei Xia had not expected his mother to be so blunt today.
Yet those words—Madam Wang truly had spoken them before.
Only, at that time his mind was set on hurrying to Chang’an to fulfill his promise. After bringing Shen Yujiao back, he had thought: with Yuniang’s gentle and kind nature, given time, surely Mother would be moved…
“Enough, the incense is nearly burned through.”
Madam Wang handed the other three sticks to Shen Yujiao, saying lightly, “First pay respects to the ancestors, then speak of other matters with me.”
At her words, Pei Xia and Shen Yujiao exchanged a glance, each seeing in the other’s eyes a trace of complexity.
But they said no more, took the incense in hand, and stepped forward to kneel before the prayer mat.
“The ancestors’ virtue is profound, the family’s prosperity will endure. I, unworthy descendant Pei Xia, come today with my wife of the Shen clan, to bow before our forebears, to give thanks for their spirits’ protection in heaven—that though we were long apart, by separate roads we return together, and as a family of three, safely come home.”
Following behind, Shen Yujiao also bowed her head, “Madam Shen gives thanks to the honored ancestors, and prays for the child in my womb to grow in health along the way.”
Whether the Pei ancestors would truly protect her, she could not say. Yet that this child had survived so many hardships and remained safe until now—surely could be counted as the ancestors’ blessing.
Once the three sticks were burned, Pei Xia helped Shen Yujiao to her feet.
He looked again at Madam Wang, standing with her hands clasped behind her back beside the altar. Rising threads of smoke from the incense burner blurred her features, making her face seem ever more somber, unreadable.
They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Then Pei Xia’s expression turned solemn, his thin lips parting. “The incense is offered. Mother’s doubts, Yuniang and I have answered. Now, should it not be your turn to resolve our doubts?”
Madam Wang had long anticipated this moment. Calmly, she swept her gaze over the young couple before her, then raised her voice slightly: “Bring them in.”
Soon, Gao Momo entered, leading two people.
At the sight of them, Shen Yujiao’s eyes widened in shock—
The tall man was the very guard, Sun Ming, who had once spared her life. Beside him clung a young woman to his sleeve—Pei Tong’s close maid, if she recalled right, called… Qiu Man?
Seeing their masters in the ancestral hall, both Sun Ming and Qiu Man looked equally startled.
But after their surprise, they quickly dropped to their knees in fear. “Subordinate/servant greets Madam, greets Young Master, greets Young Madam.”
Pei Xia’s gaze swept across the hall, then, noticing Shen Yujiao’s astonished face, he clasped her fingertips.
Shen Yujiao turned her face aside, lashes trembling. “That is the guard who was sent to kill me that day.”
Her voice was soft, but martial ears are sharp. Kneeling, Sun Ming heard her words and hastily banged his head on the floor. “Young Madam, please see clearly! This servant never wished to harm you. It was villains who forced me—forced me! That day I spared you because I thought, you are a good person, and good people should not die so wrongly. Grievances have a head, debts a master—please, Young Madam, show mercy and spare this worthless life!”
He kowtowed hard, the thuds echoing, until blood soon stained his forehead.
Shen Yujiao started in alarm and quickly said, “Stop—don’t kowtow. I hold no blame toward you. That day you spared me, I’ve been grateful ever since.”
“Second Brother, did you hear? Stop it—Young Madam says she does not blame you.” Qiu Man, heart aching for her man, pulled at him. Then, tearfully looking to Shen Yujiao, she pleaded, “Young Madam, please see clearly. We are but lowly servants—even if you gave us a hundred guts, we would never dare offend you. It was only…”
She bit off her words in time, and lifted her tear-stained face toward Gao Momo.
Gao Momo glanced toward Madam Wang. Seeing her stand silent at the altar, eyes fixed on the spirit tablet of her late husband Pei Mao, Gao Momo understood. She turned back to the kneeling pair. “Speak. Tell the whole story, every detail, to Young Master and Young Madam—leave nothing out.”
Given the order, Qiu Man and Sun Ming no longer hid the truth, and confessed every instruction Pei Tong had given them.
Shen Yujiao reeled in shock, her body swaying. Pei Xia’s eyes flashed, and he hurried to steady her waist. “Careful.”
Stunned, Shen Yujiao could scarcely believe—the hand behind it all was Pei Tong of the second branch.
She had known her little sister-in-law always flattered the high and trampled the low, never showing her elder brother’s wife any respect. But she had never thought that a girl of only sixteen, a maiden of the boudoir, could harbor such venom!
To think, the same Pei Tong who appeared before Madam Wang so innocent and lively, could in private be this ruthless—it sent a chill crawling down Shen Yujiao’s spine.
Truly, a painted skin may mimic a tiger’s face, but never its bones. You may know a person’s face, not their heart.
“Young Madam, this servant knows it was wrong to harm you—but Third Miss’s temper, you must also have heard of it.” Qiu Man wept, choking, “She threatened, if I refused, she would take me with her when she married to Chang’an. But I am already pledged to Second Brother, I would rather die than be given to another…”
A maid who followed her mistress into marriage—if taken by the master of the house, at best she could be made a concubine.
Though Qiu Man was a servant, she had her pride. She would rather be a small family’s wife than a noble household’s concubine.
“Madam, Young Master, Young Madam, please spare Qiu Man. Let all punishment fall on me.” Sun Ming prostrated himself, voice choked. “Qiu Man is with child—she cannot endure punishment. I beg our masters for mercy!”
Seeing the two kneeling, shivering in fear, Shen Yujiao sighed softly, turned her gaze to Pei Xia. “Husband.”
Meeting her eyes, catching the plea within, Pei Xia considered a moment, then said, “Though circumstances explain it, still it was betrayal and wrongdoing. Death may be spared, but punishment cannot be avoided. Sun Ming—twenty strokes, and stripped of his guard post. Maid Qiu Man—one year’s wages docked. Both of you will be sent to the estate farm to do labor.”
When he finished speaking, he looked at Shen Yujiao. “If you think that’s too light—”
“It’s enough.” Shen Yujiao glanced once at the two people on the floor. Having suffered so much while cast adrift, she knew all too well how many of the lower folk have no choice in such matters.
Besides, these two had no real malice in their hearts; they were tools forced into wrongdoing. The ones who truly deserved punishment were someone else.
Hearing the masters’ sentence, Sun Ming and his wife took it as a pardon and kowtowed, thanking them profusely.
Gao Momo saw that the young master had already spoken and Madam had nothing further to say, so she led Sun Ming and Qiu Man away—better to remove them quickly so they wouldn’t noisily disturb the ancestors.
The ancestral hall returned to silence.
Madam Wang, like a soul settling back into its shell, smoothed her embroidered sleeve and looked at Pei Xia and Shen Yujiao. “Now, do you understand?”
Shen Yujiao pressed her lips together; worry still creased her brow.
Pei Xia understood the knot in her heart—
She could not bring herself to speak of it, so as her husband he must speak for her.
“Mother,” he ventured, “may I ask boldly—did you only learn of this plot in the past few days, or did you know when it happened?”
Pei Xia’s brows were grave.
Madam Wang’s eyes flickered. After a moment she let a faint arc of a smile tug at her mouth. “What do you think?”
A coldness suddenly descended in Pei Xia’s chest.
He looked at this proud, aloof noblewoman before him; disappointment and pain edged his voice. “Mother, you are the head of the house—how could you become an accomplice to a tiger and tolerate Pei Tong’s wicked deeds?”
Madam Wang stared at him for a long moment, then said, “Pei Shouzhen, are you asking your mother this in front of others?”
Pei Xia’s jaw tightened. “It was Mother who was at fault first.”
“Ha—ha.” Madam Wang sneered twice, stepping back two paces, one hand braced hard on the table. “Fine. Since you have decided to defy me for this Shen woman, then I have nothing more to say.”
She went on, “Yes—I admit it, I was an accomplice. I helped a tyrant. I knew full well that Pei Tong, that brazen wretch, wished to harm the main wife of the first branch, and I remained unmoved, even sheltered her. I admit it, I admit it all… I, Wang Xianzhi, since I dared do it, I will take responsibility. And if you ask whether I regret it? I say I do not. Even if it happened again, I would still turn a blind eye, pretend all is well.”
“Don’t look at me with that expression, Shouzhen—my dear son. I am no paragon of virtue like you. Who in this world can match your moral purity? If you wish to be a saint, fine—do not hold me to the same standard. I am merely a housewife; I married your father at sixteen and have worn the Pei household’s gate for twenty-three years. In those twenty-three years I cannot claim I sacrificed more than others, but I have exhausted myself and poured my heart and blood into this Pei family, into the Pei clan of Hedong!”
“Actually I have little to complain about. Even widowed young, raising children alone to hold up the household, I never nursed great resentments… Well, I did resent one thing: your father’s rigidness. When Lord Jing rebelled, he insisted on holding the city himself—struck by stray arrows, his lungs were ruined; he lay on the sickbed for half a year and then could not be saved. Yes, he gained a reputation for loyalty and bravery, but he left us widows and orphans neglected.”
On these words, Madam Wang’s gaze fell on the black lacquer spirit tablet at her side. She ground her teeth as if in fury, yet her eyes betrayed an even more complicated feeling. “Pei Heng—ah, what a cold heart you had, what a cold heart!”
Pei Xia had never heard his mother speak like this before.
His impression of her had always been one of calm intelligence, decisiveness and fortitude; she had loved his father deeply and had shown him kindness.
He still remembered the autumn when his father died, when his uncle and aunt traveled a thousand li to attend the funeral.
He was only five then; a grandaunt quietly said to him, “Shouzhen, go listen to what your uncle and aunt say. If they tell your mother to remarry, follow my advice—grab your mother’s skirt and cry, the louder the better, or your mother will be gone and you will have no one to care for you.”
Through a window crack, the child Pei Xia overheard his aunt speak to his mother: “That Ji Duwei is sincere—he admired you when you were young. He has never taken a formal wife, only two concubines. Now that you are widowed, we should send word at once—he wishes to make you his proper wife… Xianzhi, you are still young, heed sister’s counsel…”
Back then Madam Wang was only twenty-three, in the bloom of life.
Clad in white with silver hairpins, her brow resolute and proud, she had said, “Once a Pei woman, always a Pei woman. If I were to remarry, how could I face Shouzhen? He lost his father so young. If his mother abandons him now, he would hate me.”
Uncle and aunt tried to persuade her for a long time, but could not change her mind.
Before leaving for Langya, his uncle bent to pat his head. “Shouzhen, you have a good mother. Study hard and when you are grown you must take care of her—understand?”
He had raised his sleeve and returned the respectful bow like a boy far older than his years: “I will remember my uncle’s teaching, and I will care for my mother in her old age.”
That childhood promise still rang in his ears.
Now he stood before his mother, shoulders straight, chin high—her face frosty. “Your father acted without consulting me and took a Shen daughter as your wife. Fine—I swallowed that. You went against my objections and insisted on bringing the Shen daughter in. Fine—I swallowed that too. I never once made her life difficult, nor did I harm her; if she has incurred misfortune through her own unworthiness, that is not my doing. Must I welcome a daughter-in-law I dislike with open arms, feed her, clothe her, coddle her like my own child? Ha—are there such mothers-in-law in the world?”
“Let’s just say in this world there truly are mothers- and daughters-in-law who are as close as mother and daughter. My cultivation is not that high; I cannot reach such a realm. I am but a vulgar woman, able only to gaze upon this little patch of land before my eyes, and in my heart, I can only calculate for the Pei clan, for your future. If you feel I’ve disappointed you, if you think me narrow-minded and venomous, then I have no more words. It is only you, this upright gentleman, who was wronged to be born from my womb, tainting your pure reputation and good name.”
Having said so with a cold laugh, Madam Wang raised her hand to smooth her sleeve. Her posture grew even straighter as she looked toward Pei Xia: “These words, since I dare say them in front of the ancestors of the Pei clan, then my conscience is clear. Perhaps I am somewhat guilty toward the Shen family, but I have not wronged the Pei clan in the slightest, nor wronged you, Pei Shouzhen!”
“Truly not wronged?”
Suddenly, a soft, even voice sounded, cutting off the confrontation between mother and son.
Madam Wang frowned, her gaze filled with displeasure turning toward that ‘bane’ who had driven a wedge between mother and son.
Pei Xia’s brows also drew faintly together, his voice low and steady: “Yuniang, I will handle this matter.”
In the past, Shen Yujiao would likely have lowered her gaze into silence.
But now, she no longer wished to remain silent—nor could she.
For Pei Xia, as a son, no matter how his mother erred, he would always owe her. He could not be like Nezha, cutting flesh to repay his father, cutting bones to repay his mother.
Drawing two deep breaths, Shen Yujiao stepped forward, coming to Pei Xia’s side, and looked at Madam Wang: “Mother indeed has no obligation to like me, nor to lend me a hand when I was in dire straits. It is I who lack the ability, who fail to enter your eyes. I admit it.”
“Since you have spoken plainly today, then as your daughter-in-law, I shall also speak one truth. Before my downfall, though I knew mother disliked me, treated me coldly, I bore no grievance. I have self-awareness. As the daughter of a criminal minister entering the gates of the Pei clan, it was indeed climbing above my station. Since it was climbing high, I should have the consciousness of climbing high. So I bowed low, served with docility, without resentment.”
“When disaster first befell me, I did suspect mother, yet I dared not be sure, for I thought, mother is the legitimate daughter of the Wang clan, born of a noble family—how could you stoop to such vicious means? Only just now, learning you were not the mastermind, I truly let out a breath of relief… Do you know why? I breathed for my husband’s sake, and also for the sake of the child in my womb. If it truly were you who schemed to harm me, what then would my husband do, caught in the middle? And after the child is born, to know it nearly perished at its grandmother’s hand—how should it bear such knowledge?”
“Mother just said you have not wronged my husband, not wronged the Pei clan. But to harm your son’s wife, harm your son’s child, and further destroy in your son’s heart the image of that mother he has always respected and cherished—does this not count as wronging him? As the Madam of the Pei clan, it is your duty to see the household prosper and the bloodline continue. If I and the child in my womb had perished together, would that not have been dereliction of your duty as Madam?”
Shen Yujiao spoke all the words long pent up in her chest in one breath. Inside the ancestral hall, silence fell, uncanny and heavy.
Doing her utmost to ignore the deep, shadowed gaze of the man at her side, she stepped forward again, still fixing her eyes on Madam Wang, raising her sleeve in salute: “I beg mother to resolve my doubt.”
