Leaving Madam Wang’s quarters, the second branch’s masters, young lords, and womenfolk were already waiting in the flower hall at the front court.
When the two sides met, Pei Xia went to the outer room to bid farewell to his uncles and cousins, while Shen Yujiao was surrounded by the women in the inner hall.
“Though Luoyang isn’t so very far from Chang’an, your body is heavier now. The greatest taboo is overexertion. In any case, you and Shouzhen are not pressed for time on the road. Travel slowly—taking a few more days won’t matter, only don’t tire yourself out.”
Third Madam, Madam Cheng, spoke earnestly and at length. Then, taking from her maid a large red lacquered carved box of pastries, she handed it to the maid at Shen Yujiao’s side. “Inside are some assorted fruit confections—take them for the journey, to ease your cravings. There are also sour plums and dried apricots. If you grow stuffy after sitting long in the carriage, holding one in your mouth will make you feel better.”
Though Shen Yujiao knew such kindness was tied to interests, Madam Cheng’s thoughtfulness still stirred a trace of gratitude in her. She smiled warmly at her. “Many thanks, Third Aunt.”
“We are family—no need for such politeness.” Madam Cheng smiled, her eyes flicking toward the girl behind her. “Yi’er, didn’t you also prepare a small gift? Why are you standing there dawdling?”
At that, the usually quiet and reserved Fifth Miss Pei stepped forward, blushing as she called, “Eldest Sister-in-law,” and handed over a small carved sandalwood box. “Yi’er has nothing of worth to give. This is incense I compounded by hand in the old method—it calms the spirit, strengthens the qi, and nourishes weakness.”
When Shen Yujiao opened the carved box, a delicate, refreshing fragrance drifted up to her nose. “Plum blossom fragrance?”
“Yes.” Pei Yi smiled softly, two dimples showing at her lips. Suddenly remembering, she grew serious and earnest. “It’s blended with spikenard, angelica, peony bark, Artemisia, fennel, clove, sandalwood, white plum, and aloeswood—no other ingredients. Sister-in-law can use it without worry.”
Hearing her list the components openly, and present it before so many, Shen Yujiao understood her meaning—that she wished to put her at ease.
“Fifth Sister has been thoughtful. The fragrance is delicate and elegant—most fitting for winter.” Shen Yujiao handed the box to Bai Ping to hold, then bent her eyes in a smile toward Pei Yi. “When you come to Chang’an next year, it will be just springtime. If you have leisure, we can make a few spring fragrances together.”
Pei Yi’s face flushed gently, her eyes dropping shyly. “So long as Sister-in-law doesn’t find me troublesome, I would be more than glad.”
Looking at this young beauty, fair as blossoms and snow, Shen Yujiao could see she was intentionally seeking favor.
But such seeking was not displeasing. After all, the young girl would soon marry alone to Chang’an. If she could cultivate ties with her elder brother and sister-in-law in the capital, visiting often in future, it would be a form of support.
While the women chatted, the men stood with hands clasped behind their backs under the corridor. The morning was chill; when they spoke, white mist puffed from their mouths.
Pei Xia, cloaked in a dark blue crane robe with a silken sash at his waist, stood upright and proper. After exhorting his cousins on diligence and learning, he motioned for his two uncles to step aside with him, there quietly entrusting them with clan affairs.
“Though I may not be able to keep constant watch over clan affairs in the future, with my two uncles and the many elders assisting, I trust everything in the clan will run as usual—I have nothing to worry about. The only matter that weighs on me now is the future prospects of the younger generation. A gentleman’s virtue lasts three generations before declining, and in five generations it will be cut off. For a family to continue and flourish, relying solely on the shelter of ancestors is impossible. This truth, the two uncles surely understand better than I.”
Pei Xia said gravely: “Our eldest and second brothers already hold official posts and bear responsibility. But our third and fifth brothers—both already of marrying age with wives and children—have wasted their years, knowing only play and pleasure, unwilling to strive upward. As for our fourth brother, under eldest brother’s urging, he now studies at Bailudong Academy and has achieved a little; come next year’s imperial examinations, he will try his strength.”
At this, he turned toward Second Master: “Next year, when Fourth Brother comes to Chang’an for the spring examinations, he may temporarily stay at my residence and take the exams together with me.”
The Second Master was stunned: “You mean, you will also sit for the exams next year?”
Pei Xia nodded: “Since I have already resolved to enter officialdom, then I ought to do it thoroughly. With a status in hand, my career will be more secure.”
Since the year he passed first place in the provincial exam at sixteen, Pei Xia had not pursued further honors, remaining in the countryside of Wenxi, living like a recluse, reading and writing.
Now that he declared he would sit again next year, with his talent, he was surely aiming straight for the third class of the metropolitan exam.
The Second Master was immediately greatly encouraged. He thought that after seeing off Pei Xia and his wife, he would hurry back to his study to write to Fourth Son, telling him not to return home for New Year but to keep on studying diligently. Otherwise, if next year the two cousins sat for the exams together—one placing within the top three divisions, the other failing—that would be far too shameful.
Best of all would be if both names appeared on the list, a double joy—outsiders would surely praise the Pei clan’s youths as promising indeed.
While the Second Master’s thoughts were turning, Pei Xia continued: “Our seventh, eighth, and ninth brothers are all clever and lively, but they are at the age of being playful, restless, and hard to restrain. As elders, you two uncles should all the more urge and guide them, reminding them at all times: indulgence and pleasure breed bitter fruit, while diligence and simplicity nurture true talent.”
The two masters nodded repeatedly at his words, agreeing without objection.
After entrusting the matter of the clan’s youths, Pei Xia glanced at the sky, then softened his tone: “Since the floods, the old Wenxi estate has been under repair. A few days ago, I rode back in haste to inspect, and the repairs are nearly complete. Luoyang, though bustling and prosperous, is not where the roots of our Pei clan lie. After the New Year, uncles, please take your families and servants back to Wenxi. That, after all, is where fallen leaves return to their roots. If my mother is willing to go back with you, all the better. If she prefers to remain in the old residence here in Luoyang…”
He paused, and his gaze fell upon Third Master Pei: “Then I must trouble Third Uncle and Aunt to discuss whether Fifth Sister might remain, to serve before my mother on my behalf.”
Third Master Pei was taken aback, then quickly responded, almost blurting agreement: “A small matter. After the New Year, she is to marry into the Wang family. At that time she will not only call your mother ‘aunt by marriage,’ but also ‘aunt by blood.’ To be able to attend upon your mother, to grow closer—it is her good fortune.”
Pei Xia raised his sleeve in a formal salute: “Then I thank Third Uncle. When Fifth Sister weds, I will certainly provide her with a generous dowry.”
Third Master beamed: “No need, no need—we’re all one family, Shouzhen, you needn’t be so formal. Just go to Chang’an with your wife in peace, the family matters are in my hands…”
Catching sight of Second Master’s darkened expression, he quickly added: “—in mine and your Second Uncle’s hands. Absolutely no problem!”
Pei Xia inclined his head, then bowed solemnly to both: “For the affairs of the household, I must trouble you two uncles.”
After the farewells, it was already late. Surrounded by the Pei family, Pei Xia and Shen Yujiao boarded the carriage departing the estate.
Watching the long train of carriages rumbling away, both Second and Third Masters felt a trace of wistfulness.
“This trip has truly changed him.”
“Yes…just now, when he spoke with us, I almost thought I was looking at our eldest brother.”
“……Yet I still think eldest brother was kinder.”
Eldest brother might have been stern, but he was deeply affectionate.
This nephew, however—his nature was too cold, like ice and snow that cannot be warmed. Even if his mother had her faults, she was still the widowed woman who raised him with her own hands. And now, to simply leave her behind—was it not too unfeeling, lacking in filial sentiment?
Only when the procession was far gone did they withdraw their gazes. Turning around, their eyes met, and they shared an awkward smile.
“Disperse, disperse, everyone back.” The two masters waved their hands at their attendants.
Then one hurried back to his study to write a letter to his son, urging diligence and tireless effort. The other hastened back to instruct his daughter to manage the household well and serve her aunt properly.
**
Luoyang lay nearly five hundred li from Chang’an. A fast horse could cover the distance in two days, but by carriage at a leisurely pace, the journey took nearly ten.
By the time they reached the outskirts of Chang’an, it was early winter—chill in the air, mist drifting faint, dust scattering light.
Shen Yujiao was wrapped in a yellow silk blanket patterned with branching flowers and lined with fox fur, holding a hand-warmer in her arms. She leaned against the carriage wall with her eyes closed, resting.
To avoid traveling in the dark, they set out at dawn each day. With a brazier and calming incense burning inside the carriage, it was warm and fragrant throughout, making one drowsy as soon as they boarded.
She was constantly sleepy, while Pei Xia was particularly alert, often holding a book to read along the way. Now and then, when she awoke—as if worried she might become dull from too much sleep—he would set up a chessboard and play a match with her—
Shen Yujiao did not much like playing chess with him, for she always lost.
And every move she made seemed to fall right within his prediction. The moment she placed a piece, he could respond without the slightest pause—so quick that she began to wonder if she really had gone dull from sleeping too much.
Later, perhaps seeing she was unhappy at losing, he deliberately let her win a game or two.
At first Shen Yujiao did not notice. After winning two rounds in a row, she could not help lifting her face with a smile, a trace of pride in her tone: “I’ve won again!”
But as soon as she raised her head, she met those dark phoenix eyes of his, not yet able to suppress their smile. At once she understood—he had been letting her win.
“Handing over the game like that is no fun.”
She tossed the white jade piece into the box, then curled back onto the cushion with her fluffy blanket: “I’m not playing anymore.”
Pei Xia pressed his thin lips together: “I didn’t let you.”
Shen Yujiao’s clear eyes stayed fixed on him: “Sincerity is the foundation, keeping one’s word is a treasure. Brother Shouzhen, to lie is not the way of a gentleman.”
Pei Xia: “…”
Perhaps it was because they had left the old residence in Luoyang, and now shared the carriage day and night, but his wife’s temperament had grown noticeably livelier.
She would sometimes tease him.
And whenever she teased, she always called him “Brother Shouzhen,” adding some quotation from the sages to block him.
Every time it left him speechless—both exasperated and amused, with a faint itch in his hands.
The urge to ruffle her hair, to pinch her cheek—
But such gestures were too frivolous, too reckless. He restrained himself.
At this moment, the carriage was approaching Ba Bridge. Pei Xia quietly looked at his wife, resting against the window in slumber.
Today she wore a deep robe of mountain-mist green, a fox-fur blanket of pale yellow satin draped over her shoulders. For the sake of comfort, her cloud-like black hair was tied only with a light ribbon, now loosely spilling down her cheek, making her snow-pale skin all the more luminous, her graceful features softened with a trace of languid charm.
Pei Xia’s gaze deepened.
Perhaps it was because she was with child and her figure had grown more full, or perhaps because it had been half a year since they parted, but in any case, his wife seemed all the more radiant and alluring—
So much so that he could not help wanting to draw closer…
A sudden cool touch brushed her cheek. Shen Yujiao frowned, letting out a muffled sound of displeasure at being disturbed.
When she opened her eyes, she saw those long fingers hovering near her face, almost touching, and the flicker of stiffness between his brows. Somewhat dazed, she asked: “Langjun, you…?”
“A strand of hair was on your lips.” Pei Xia withdrew his hand, back held straight.
“I see…” Shen Yujiao did not doubt him. She raised her own hand to feel, found no hair, and supposed he had already brushed it away.
Sitting up, she asked casually, her voice still husky with sleep: “Where are we now?”
“Ba Bridge,” said Pei Xia.
Shen Yujiao blinked, murmuring: “Ba Bridge…”
She lifted the curtain patterned with grapes in sky-blue, pushing open the window slit. The desolate winter scenery of Ba Bridge spread before her eyes.
Both strange, and familiar.
It was here, last autumn, that she had parted from her parents and elder brother and sister-in-law. And it was here that Pei Xia had ridden in on a light steed, dust at his hooves, descending like a god to take her back to Wenxi.
The past seemed like yesterday—yet already more than a year had gone by.
“Don’t gaze too long, or the cold wind will give you a headache.”
His long hand gently covered her brow. Shen Yujiao faltered, and in the next moment the window was closed by Pei Xia. His clear voice sounded above her: “The cold has come early this year. I expect before long the snow will fall.”
Distracted, Shen Yujiao answered softly, “Mm,” her eyes lifting toward him. He quickly withdrew his hand, as though it truly had been only out of concern for her head against the wind.
“Snow in Chang’an is bitter cold,” Shen Yujiao said, and then, as if remembering something, added: “But in the Western Market there’s a place with very good mutton hotpot. Every winter, my older brother would take me and my sister-in-law there.”
It had been she who discovered the place, but once she told her brother, that fellow, caring more for his wife than his sister, went there secretly with his sister-in-law, leaving her out.
Not until her little niece was born—sticky and troublesome, always hindering the couple’s lovey-dovey ways—did her brother finally bring her along, to help mind the child.
So she and her niece sat heads bent over soup and meat, while across from them her brother and sister-in-law fed each other bites, all tender smiles and whispers—so cloying it was unbearable to watch.
At the time, it seemed ordinary enough.
Now, recalling it, Shen Yujiao’s eyes curved with a smile, yet a heaviness pressed in her chest.
They said Lingnan was rife with miasma, sweltering hot year-round, with little snow. A place like that surely had no mutton hotpot…
Pei Xia saw her shifting expression and guessed what she was thinking.
After a quiet pause, he reached out and gently rubbed her hair.
“Don’t be sad.”
Startled, Shen Yujiao looked at him. He lowered his dark eyes: “This winter, Brother Shouzhen will take Yuniang to eat that same mutton hotpot. Would that be all right?”
It was as though a spring breeze had brushed across her heart, as though beneath thick ice a fissure suddenly opened.
She stared blankly at the man before her, clear and elegant as glazed jade. After a long moment, she murmured, dazed: “All right.”
—
The ancient poem says: Without beholding the imperial residence’s grandeur, how could one know the Son of Heaven’s majesty?
As the secondary capital, Luoyang was already bustling and splendid; yet as the capital of Great Liang, Chang’an was even more magnificent, its grandeur beyond compare.
At dusk, their carriage reached the Mingde Gate on the southern side of Chang’an. The towering walls, rammed with thick yellow earth and faced with layers of gray brick, rose so high they seemed endless. The eaves at the four corners jutted sharply upward. Against the crimson glow of sunset, the city wall loomed with awe-inspiring might, daunting to behold.
Even though she had grown up in Chang’an, every time Shen Yujiao looked at that towering, imposing city gate, she still felt a faint sense of awe and reverence.
Last year, she and her family had been expelled from Chang’an under the name of the Shen clan’s daughter.
This year, she returned again—but now as the wife of the Pei clan.
Pei Xia had promised her that he would overturn the case for the Shen family. But Shen Yujiao knew well enough that righting a case was not something that could be done with just a few words.
Last year, even though her grandfather and uncles had moved tirelessly outside while the whole family sat in prison, they still couldn’t prevent exile. And Pei Xia had only just arrived in Chang’an; even with the Second Prince as his backing, his foundation here was still shallow. To reopen that old case would surely require careful, patient planning, not haste.
As her thoughts churned, the carriage passed through the checkpoint of the city gate and slowly entered the main avenue of Chang’an—Suzaku Avenue.
Though it was already dusk, the broad street was still bustling with people and carriages. Yet the shops in the wards had all shuttered their doors, and passersby hurried along, whether coming into or leaving the city—each rushing home after a day’s toil.
Suddenly, Shen Yujiao thought to ask Pei Xia: “Which ward is the residence we’ll be living in?”
Chang’an had one hundred and eight wards, with Eastern and Western markets within. Each ward was enclosed with walls and gates, which were shut one after another when the evening drum sounded. Those returning late could not enter. Anyone loitering on the main streets and caught by patrolling officers faced not only imprisonment but also a heavy fine.
She had once lived in Chongren Ward, one of the prosperous districts. Her family’s two-entry, two-exit house had been granted to her grandfather, Chancellor Shen, by the Emperor upon his enthronement.
Otherwise, relying on an official’s salary alone, being able to buy even a house in Jingan Ward or Shengping Ward would already have been quite good. As for a prime location like Chongren Ward—one could only afford such property starting from her elder brothers’ generation at best. Houses in Chang’an were truly exorbitant.
Pei Xia replied, “Our residence is in Yongning Ward. It used to belong to the former Vice Minister of Rites, Master Bai. Two years ago, he retired and returned to his hometown, selling the estate to a silk merchant. When I parted ways with the Second Prince in Jinling, I asked him to help find a quiet and elegant house in Chang’an. This was the one he found.”
Yongning Ward? Shen Yujiao secretly drew in a breath. That district was not cheap either.
“So you haven’t seen this house beforehand?”
“No.”
Pei Xia lifted his gaze to her. “Have you ever been to the Bai residence?”
Shen Yujiao thought for a moment. She vaguely recalled there being a Master Bai, but their families had likely had little contact. She knew nothing of the Bai household.
“I’ve never been there,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Pei Xia gave her a faint, gentle smile. “You’ll see our home in just a moment.”
Their home.
A new home with Pei Xia—and the child in her womb.
The word made Shen Yujiao pause, then left her with a sudden, long-lost sense of peace.
Her slender hand came to rest on her rounded belly. Inwardly, she whispered: Be good, little one. We… your father and I, are going home.
After another quarter of an hour of jolting along, the carriage finally stopped.
With Pei Xia’s support, Shen Yujiao stepped down. Before the vermilion gates of the estate, two warm yellow lanterns already glowed, adding a touch of homely warmth to the chill of the early winter night.
Servants were already waiting at the gate, led by the steward. As one, they stepped forward to salute: “We humbly welcome Master and Madam home.”
Pei Xia supported Shen Yujiao with one hand at her waist, the other at her arm. His cool gaze swept over the assembled servants. “Rise.”
The servants rose in unison. The steward, a man nearly forty, stepped forward to introduce himself. His name was Zuo Hao, a native of Chang’an and a hereditary servant of the Pei clan. His family had been stationed in Chang’an since his forebears, tasked with managing the Hedong Pei family’s businesses there.
Now that the master was coming to settle in Chang’an, he had been chosen among the managers to serve as the household steward. The Zuo family was both delighted and apprehensive at the honor.
“My wife and I are weary from the road. Take us first to the main house to rest.”
“Yes, yes, Master, Madam, this way, please—”
Steward Zuo bowed and led the way. Shen Yujiao followed alongside Pei Xia, glancing about as they entered the estate.
Lanterns had been lit along the verandas, but with the night so dark, she could only make out the general layout—orderly and serene—but little else.
Since they would be living here long-term, she wasn’t in a rush. She took only a cursory look before they arrived at the main residence in the rear court.
Of course, it couldn’t compare in grandeur to the prefectural mansion in Luoyang or the old Pei residence in Wenxi.
But for her, Pei Xia, and the child to be born come spring, it would be more than enough for a family of three.
Most importantly, here she would be the mistress of the household.
Aside from Pei Xia, her word would be final.
That feeling—of having no one above pressing down on her—lightened her heart immeasurably, to the point her steps grew light and quick.
Yet what Shen Yujiao had not expected was that something within this residence would delight her even more.
After crossing a covered bridge and circling past two pale walls, they reached the main house where the lady of the household would live.
The gate to the courtyard stood open. Hanging on either side of the door were gold-and-red gauze lanterns shaped like gardenias, glowing softly in the cold wind. Beneath that gentle light stood three people in silence—the foremost, an elderly Momo with graying hair dressed in a dark-blue gown, with two young maids in dark teal skirts standing respectfully behind her.
Shen Yujiao’s steps came to a sudden halt—
Was she dreaming?
Otherwise, how could she be seeing Qiao Momo, the wet nurse who had raised her from childhood, as well as the maids who had served at her side since she was young, Xiaying and Dongxu?
If not for the man beside her still holding her waist firmly—his warmth close against her body, the faint sandalwood fragrance drifting into her nose—she might truly have thought she had returned to the Shen residence in Chongren Ward, back to a perfectly ordinary winter night in her maiden days.
She would have just finished supper in her mother’s quarters, then walked back to her own rooms with Chunxi and Qiushuang, and her nanny would be waiting at the gate with a lantern.
The moment she saw her, her nanny would put on a stern face, feigning severity: “My lady, do not shake your knees when sitting, nor sway your skirts when standing. Walk slower!”
Xiaying and Dongxu, meanwhile, one would hand over a warming hand-stove, while the other would greet her cheerfully: “My lady, why have you come back so late tonight? Did Madam prepare dishes you especially like again?”
But now, separated by the biting chill of winter wind, by a distance neither far nor near, they faced each other in silence, eyes reddening.
At last, Shen Yujiao could not hold back. Forcing out words, her voice carried a trace of stifled sobbing: “Nanny….”
Hearing that familiar voice, Qiao Momo, Xiaying, and Dongxu all broke into tears: “My lady!”
Shen Yujiao staggered, about to rush forward, but the hand at her waist tightened.
She lifted her tear-filled black eyes toward the man at her side: “…?”
“The night is deep, the dew heavy—be careful not to slip.”
Pei Xia said calmly, still supporting her as they walked forward.
Watching the pair emerge slowly from the night, Qiao Momo and the maids felt a swirl of emotions they could hardly name.
When master and mistress drew near, the three dropped to their knees together, kowtowing and weeping as they said: “This old servant/your maids humbly welcome Master and Madam home.”
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