Xie Wuling lay on a long couch covered with soft brocade, staring dazedly at the lavish warm chamber before him, its lamps blazing and curtains rich with embroidery. He felt utterly disoriented, as if dreaming.
Had that big oaf crushed him to death? Otherwise, how could he open his eyes to find himself in heaven?
But in this life, Xie Wuling had lied and cheated, never done a good deed. Not going to h*ll was already merciful of King Yama—how had he ended up in heaven?
Could it be the merit from saving that little girl and the tall fellow?
As his dizzy brain wandered, a delicate voice sounded outside: “Blessings upon Your Highness.”
“How is he?” The man’s voice was deep yet not dull, resonant and strong.
“Half an hour ago we changed his medicine and fed him a decoction to restore qi and dispel stasis. He is still asleep.”
“Mm. I’ll go in and take a look.”
As the words fell, steady footsteps approached.
Xie Wuling pressed his thin lips together, hurriedly shut his eyes, and kept pretending to be unconscious.
A moment later, it seemed the man had come to his side. A gaze with palpable weight fixed steadily on his face.
After a stretch of silence, the man said: “If you’re awake, then open your eyes. What’s the use of pretending?”
Xie Wuling: “…”
He cracked open just one eye and glanced sideways at the man beside the couch.
Under the bright lamplight stood a tall figure, about twenty-something years old, with a handsome, upright face and long brows reaching his temples. Clad in a dark robe, his skin was swarthy, yet his entire bearing exuded a nobility that could not be concealed—proof enough that he was of no ordinary birth.
Even though the chaos with the frightened horse had been too sudden for him to look closely, Xie Wuling still recognized him now: this was the very fop who had used him as a meat cushion!
“Why don’t you speak? Broke your bones and smashed your brain as well?”
The dark-robed young man flicked his sleeve. A servant brought over a stool, and he sat slowly, giving Xie Wuling a sidelong glance, half stern, half amused: “Don’t think you can escape punishment by playing dumb. You injured my beloved steed in the street and nearly caused me to be thrown—this account will not be let go.”
At those words, recalling the maid’s form of address outside, and seeing the somewhat effeminate attendant at his side, Xie Wuling faintly guessed the truth.
“Are you, perchance, His Highness the Third Prince?” he rasped hoarsely.
The dark-robed man raised a thick brow: “You know me?”
“I…” Xie Wuling’s throat itched; he coughed twice. Pain flared through every bone in his body, but he still couldn’t suppress the coughs: “Cough—cough!”
The prince’s face darkened slightly, and he cast a glance at his attendant.
The attendant immediately stepped forward with a cup of warm water, supporting Xie Wuling: “Slowly, hero.”
Xie Wuling waved him off, cold sweat dripping as he leaned against the couch and coughed twice more—then suddenly hacked up a mouthful of pitch-black blood.
The black blood splattered onto the richly patterned crimson carpet, soaking it through.
The Third Prince frowned: “This is a fine Persian carpet, worth a hundred gold pieces. You troublemaker—not only did you harm my good horse, but now you’ve ruined my carpet. Your crime has only worsened. By rights, you ought to be dragged out and beaten to death with sticks.”
After vomiting blood, Xie Wuling was already dizzy, his ears ringing, and his whole body weak. Now, hearing this d*mned prince still yapping on, he couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
What kind of lunatics were these so-called nobles of Chang’an? Each one acted like they had some brain disease.
If not for fear of causing a death and getting dragged into a lawsuit, whether that dog of a wastrel or the Third Prince himself, it’d be best if they were all smashed into meat paste and trampled by horses!
But curse as he might, when it was time to bow his head, he still had to bow. Gathering his strength, he lifted his head and said to the man before him: “Long have I heard of Third Highness’s unmatched valor. Seeing you today, truly, dragon’s bearing and phoenix’s grace, an exemplar among men. For this lowly one to serve as Your Highness’s stepping stone—cough cough—even should I die, this cheap life would be worth it…”
The Third Prince, Sima Ze, sat there arrogantly, his black eyes fixed on this brazen fellow.
At dusk, when the horse bolted, this man’s skill and quick reflexes were indeed remarkable.
Now that he was awake, this sharpness of wit—cheap and shameless as it was—nonetheless stirred Sima Ze’s interest.
And another thing: this man really did… look good.
A strong build, striking features, and for some reason gave off an inexplicable sense of familiarity—
Just now, while washing up and changing clothes, looking into the mirror, Sima Ze had, by some strange impulse, thought this commoner resembled himself somewhat.
As to where exactly the resemblance lay, he couldn’t quite say. Perhaps it was their tall, broad figures, or a certain angle of the profile. In any case, it was a subtle, indescribable feeling.
People have an instinctive bias toward those or things similar to themselves.
Sima Ze was no exception.
He pressed his hands to his knees, tall body leaning slightly forward, looking down at Xie Wuling on the couch: “Judging from that waist token you wear, you’re from Marquis Zhennan’s household?”
Xie Wuling’s eyes flickered twice, quick as lightning, before he answered: “This lowly one is a personal guard by Huo Shizi’s side.”
“Huo Shizi…” Sima Ze murmured, then, as though recalling something, fixed Xie Wuling’s face with great interest: “Could it be you’re the guard my imperial aunt took a liking to?”
Xie Wuling: “…”
Sure enough, good news never leaves the door, but scandal travels a thousand miles. Who’d have thought these Chang’an nobles were so gossipy?
Seeing his face suddenly turn green, Sima Ze laughed loudly with a “so it really is so” expression. Only after laughing himself tired did he say: “Well now, what a case of the great river flooding the Dragon King’s temple. If you had agreed to my aunt, I’d have to call you ‘little uncle’ right now.”
The corner of Xie Wuling’s mouth twitched. If not for the pain wracking his body, he’d really have liked to curse this d*mned prince as brain-sick.
Sima Ze asked again: “Do you want to go to my aunt’s household? If you’re willing, I can send someone to deliver you there now. It’d earn me some favor with her, and her physicians could tend to your injuries.”
Xie Wuling’s eyelids twitched violently. At the moment, he still couldn’t quite read the Third Prince’s temperament.
If, by chance, aunt and nephew truly were close, and they “gifted” him as a favor—then in his current immobile state, wouldn’t that be like a lamb thrown to a tiger, his chastity doomed?
“Third Highness mustn’t joke. I’m just a humble commoner, clumsy and crude—how could I serve Her Highness the Princess, as noble as she is?” After a pause, he added: “Besides, this trip to Chang’an was under General Huo Xiao’s orders. Ningzhou still awaits our return to report.”
Sima Ze smiled faintly: “That’s easily settled. If the Princess wants you, would Huo Xiao really not let you go?”
Xie Wuling choked.
Inwardly, he cursed viciously.
Seeing him struck dumb, Sima Ze couldn’t help but burst into laughter again. After his laughter faded, he narrowed his eyes and asked: “My aunt may be older, but she’s still quite charming. And she’s always generous with her subordinates. If you attached yourself to her, the riches and glory would be endless—not much worse than being a mere guard in Huo’s household, is it?”
“Grateful though I am for the Princess’s regard, I already have a wife back home.”
“Then divorce her.”
“How can a lifelong wife be cast aside so casually? Wouldn’t that make me a scoundrel?” Xie Wuling felt this d*mned prince’s words truly unbearable, but he kept his face calm, eyes lowered, and said: “My wife and I made vows before the local earth god. In this life, she alone is my partner. If I were to betray her, may thunder strike me down. This lowly one is timid—I wouldn’t dare deceive the gods.”
Whether the man before him believed it or not, he pondered a moment, then said: “If you won’t yield to my aunt, would you be willing to follow me instead?”
Xie Wuling’s head snapped up, his peach-blossom eyes opened wide.
Even if he said nothing, in those eyes flashed shock, alarm, disgust—disgust, and more disgust.
Sima Ze: “…”
Realizing what that look meant, his face turned green, and he snapped: “What nonsense are you thinking? This prince does not fancy men!”
Xie Wuling let out a long breath of relief and said awkwardly: “Your Highness, next time you’d best mind your phrasing. I truly am timid and cannot bear such frights.”
“You? Timid?”
Sima Ze sneered, but then softened his expression slightly. Looking again at the man on the bed, he asked in all seriousness: “I see your skill is not bad, and you’re rather quick-witted. Though you injured my fine steed today, you also risked yourself to save me. The merit and fault balance out. Meeting you can also be called fate…
So—are you willing to serve at my side?”
—
Shen Yujiao only learned of the Third Prince’s horse-riding incident three days later.
At that time, she was leaning against a bright red, ice-crack patterned silk pillow, a soft yellow blanket embroidered with five clusters of floral medallions draped over her lap, leisurely eating rock-sugar bird’s nest.
Xiaying and Dongxu, her two maids—one kneaded her legs, while the other held needle and thread, embroidering a tiger-head cap for the child as she chatted about recent curiosities and gossip in Chang’an—
The Third Prince’s wild riding was one such story.
“I heard that day he was hunting outside the city with the two young lords of Duke Ying’s household, the eldest son of the Minister of War, and Duan Wang Shizi. Perhaps they had drunk too much wine, but the group started racing their horses in the streets. It was right at dusk, when the drum had sounded and the streets were full of commoners going home or leaving the city. Their gang came barreling through, causing utter chaos—people knocked over, chickens and dogs in a frenzy.”
“…Just as the Third Prince’s horse was about to trample a young child, a strapping man, eight feet tall, drew his blade and with a single stroke pierced the horse’s throat, saving the little girl. And when the Third Prince himself was about to fall from the saddle, that hero performed a ‘swallow skimming the waves,’ catching the prince steady in mid-fall! The townsfolk at the roadside were stunned. Once they regained their senses, the Third Prince had already invited the hero back to his residence and treated him with the highest courtesy.”
Dongxu spoke with vivid gestures, eyes sparkling. Shen Yujiao, spoon in hand, listened with her mouth slightly agape.
A moment later, she set down her white porcelain spoon, frowned, and laughed softly: “‘Swallow skimming the waves’? Your tongue is sharper than the storytellers in the East Market tea houses. I don’t believe a word.”
“Madam, don’t doubt me—this story is all over the streets.” Dongxu pouted, but then her eyes rolled with mischief. Smiling, she added, “If you don’t believe your maid, then when young master comes home, ask him yourself! Surely he wouldn’t deceive you?”
Hearing the teasing in her tone, Shen Yujiao shot her a playful glare: “Seems I’ve spoiled you lot too much—you even dare poke fun at me now. Xiaying, go tickle her for me.”
“Gladly.” Xiaying chuckled, warmed her hands with a puff of breath, then pounced toward Dongxu: “Little rascal, don’t run—let me give you a proper lesson for Madam’s sake!”
“Hahaha, no—don’t tickle me… good Madam, I was wrong…”
The two maids tumbled and laughed by the couch, while Shen Yujiao couldn’t help but laugh along. Only, she dared not laugh too hard. Her belly was now round and heavy, and the child inside increasingly sensitive—any commotion outside, and it would respond.
Sometimes by rolling over, sometimes by kicking at her belly.
Once, when she placed her hand on her stomach, the child, as though knowing where her palm rested, moved precisely beneath it.
As if, through the thin barrier of her belly, it was giving her a high-five.
For Shen Yujiao, the feeling was both novel and filled with an indescribable tenderness.
This was her flesh and blood, the child she carried for ten months…
There was no kin closer than this in all the world. To fashion another life out of one’s own flesh and blood—what a wondrous thing.
“What’s all this racket? Mad and silly all day long, no proper decorum.”
Qiao Momo lifted the curtain and came in. Seeing the two maids roughhousing by the couch, she shook her head. “You two, take care! If you bump into Madam, I’ll not spare you!”
Among the household, the servants feared Qiao Momo the most. Xiaying and Dongxu were no exception. They immediately stopped, standing obediently at the side: “We’ll remember your teaching, Momo. We won’t dare again.”
“Don’t frighten them, I’m lying here perfectly well. How could they bump into me?” Shen Yujiao sat up slowly, then looked toward Huang Momo who had followed behind. Smiling politely, she said: “Huang Momo, you honor us with your presence. The girls in my courtyard are still young and careless—you must forgive their rudeness.”
Hands folded, Huang Momo bent slightly: “Madam Pei is too kind. Your lenience toward your servants only shows the compassion in your heart.”
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Shen Yujiao, supported by her two maids, lay down on a short couch nearby.
Huang Momo, meanwhile, rolled up her sleeves and sat by her side, beginning the day’s prenatal massage—
According to her, a daily half-hour of her special technique could gradually correct the baby’s position, ensuring the child would be safely delivered when the time came.
Qiao Momo, who had once served in the palace, had also heard that the imperial consorts received such massages, though few midwives truly mastered the skill.
That their Madam should encounter one was indeed good fortune. Delighted, Qiao Momo thought to herself: if the child’s position was corrected, then childbirth would be much easier!
That night, when the courtyard lay hushed under a sparse starry moon, Shen Yujiao lay in bed. Perhaps because she had napped much in the day, she wasn’t sleepy. So casually, she asked Pei Xia about the Third Prince’s wild riding incident: “I heard he caused quite a stir, injuring commoners, and even nearly fell off his horse himself?”
Within the darkened canopy, there was silence for two beats before the man’s calm voice sounded: “It is true. At morning court two days ago, the censors impeached him. His Majesty was furious, scolded the Third Prince soundly, and docked him a month’s salary. Duke Ying’s household, the Minister of War’s son, and Duan Wang were also named by His Majesty, rebuked for failing to teach their sons properly, and all had their stipends cut.”
Hearing this, Shen Yujiao sighed: “This Third Prince—everyone already knew he was stubborn and arrogant, hungry for glory. But after two years, he’s grown even more reckless, trampling over the lives of the people, daring to gallop through the streets.”
He might have been drunk, but drunk or not, did he not know what ought to be done and what ought not? In the end, it only showed he regarded the laws and court regulations as nothing, and the commoners’ lives as worthless.
“His Majesty has already scolded him. After this lesson, I expect he’ll restrain himself somewhat in the future.”
“Ah… let’s hope so.”
Shen Yujiao spoke, then turned onto her side. After a moment’s hesitation, she asked: “Langjun, with the Third Prince in such trouble, it should benefit the Second Prince, shouldn’t it?”
“The struggle for the throne, gains and losses ebb and flow.” Pei Xia spoke evenly, reaching out to gently pat his wife’s back. “Court affairs are not for you to worry over. What matters most for you now is to rest well and safely bring our child into the world.”
Shen Yujiao also knew such matters were not something a woman confined to the inner chambers could meddle in. Her long lashes lowered, and she gave a soft “mm.”
“I also heard,” she said, “that the Second Prince nearly fell from his horse, and was saved by some man of great martial skill?”
She thought this question should not touch upon politics, yet the hand patting her shoulder and back clearly paused.
Shen Yujiao’s heart grew uneasy. Could it be that even this she must not ask?
After a while, a faintly distant voice came from above her head: “There was such a thing.”
Just those few plain words, with no intention of saying more.
Shen Yujiao thought, he must truly dislike her asking about these matters. Very well, if she must not ask, then she would not. In any case, they had little to do with her.
The two fell into silence, the tent quieting down. Before long, Shen Yujiao had dozed off against Pei Xia’s firm chest.
Hearing the soft, even breaths of the one in his arms, Pei Xia lowered his dark eyes, thoughtful.
After a long time, he too closed his eyes, resting his chin atop his wife’s hair, one hand laid over her belly.
So what if there were things he withheld?
Those trivial people and affairs had no need to be spoken of to her—better to spare her needless worries.
—
The days of the second month were short; in the blink of an eye, it was the third. Everywhere peach blossoms and willows showed green, orioles sang, swallows danced.
In this season when spring returned to the earth and ice and snow melted, the households of Chang’an all went out to enjoy the scenery and host feasts—such as the Shangsi Festival on the third of the third month, flower-viewing banquets, springtime feasts, outings to climb heights, horseback hunts, poetry gatherings… it was truly the season with the richest variety of entertainments.
Shen Yujiao could not leave the house. Looking at the trees and grasses in the estate that had withered through the winter now budding green and sprouting new shoots under the gentle sun, she felt a faint yearning stir inside.
A poem says: On the third day of the third month, the weather turns fresh; by the waters of Chang’an gather many beauties.
In past years, the Shangsi Festival by Qujiang Pond was the liveliest of times.
The court would even grant officials a seven-day spring holiday, allowing them to take their wives and children out to enjoy the fine season.
Thus, once the third of the third month arrived, whole families would go out for outings in grand style. Even her father, who usually disliked going out, would ride with them in the carriage to Qujiang to view flowers, admire the scenery, and fly kites.
Remembering those days of happiness, Shen Yujiao felt both nostalgia and melancholy.
When Pei Xia came into the courtyard, he saw his wife sitting under the eaves, staring in a daze at the newly-bloomed peach blossoms on the branches.
“The sun shines so brightly today, why does Yuniang look as if sighing over spring and mourning autumn?”
“Langjun?” Shen Yujiao started, turning to look at the man in a freshly tailored robe of spring-water green, and scolded him lightly: “How do you walk without a sound?”
“Plainly it is you who were too absorbed.”
Pei Xia walked over and sat by her side. Seeing she wore only a thin spring garment, he picked up a light blanket and draped it over her. “Though the weather is warmer, the spring wind still carries a lingering chill. You must take care to stay warm.”
“All right.” Shen Yujiao answered, then looked at him. “Wasn’t Langjun to go preside over cousin’s capping ceremony? Why have you not left yet?”
From mid-second month, Pei Xia had ceased going out—both to devote himself to preparing for the Spring Examinations, and out of worry that Shen Yujiao might go into labor without him at her side.
On such fine spring days, many households had sent invitations, asking him to attend poetry gatherings and elegant assemblies, but he refused them all without exception.
Only today was the coming-of-age ceremony of Pei Yan’s fourth son at the elder clan uncle’s estate. When he had gone there to pay New Year’s respects in the first month, the elder uncle had already spoken of it, wishing Pei Xia, as clan heir, to act as the chief guest of the ceremony.
Whether by duty as clan heir, or by ties between the two branches, Pei Xia could not decline, and so he agreed.
Shen Yujiao saw him today in azure robe, jade crown, broad sash, under the glorious spring light like a flawless jade gentleman. She could not help curving her eyes in a smile: “Langjun, the way you are dressed today is truly very handsome.”
She had always known he was very good-looking.
From the first moment she had seen him at Baqiao Bridge, she had known.
Hearing his wife’s praise, Pei Xia’s thin lips curved faintly.
Perhaps it was pity that she, in this fine spring, was confined indoors, or perhaps it was that her smiling eyes were simply too charming—he suddenly leaned down, bringing his lips to her ear: “If Yuniang likes, then when I return later, your husband will let you admire him as much as you please.”
The warmth of his breath entered her ear, and Shen Yujiao’s ears flushed crimson at once.
Looking again at the man before her, upright and proper, she almost thought she had imagined it.
If not a hallucination, how could he suddenly… say such things!
It was teasing—surely this counted as teasing!
Pei Xia lowered his gaze, looking at his little wife with her face blushing scarlet and her eyes gone blank, the smile in his eyes deepening.
He raised his hand, lightly rubbed her hair, and said: “You and the child be good at home. Once I’m finished there, I’ll return.”
Shen Yujiao was still dazed.
Only when that tall, elegant figure had vanished beyond the pink walls of the courtyard did she finally recover her senses. Staring at a peach blossom beyond the wall, she thought in wonder—this truly was a new year and new atmosphere. Even Pei Shouzhen had learned how to tease!
She sat again under the eaves for a while. A wind rose outside; indeed, just as Pei Xia said, it carried a sharp chill.
Shen Yujiao drew close her pink-and-white outer robe embroidered with golden thread, and was just about to rise and return indoors when she glimpsed, out of the corner of her eye, two figures standing before the gate—Bai Ping and a young servant from the outer courtyard, muttering about something.
She stood by the pillar and raised her voice slightly: “Bai Ping, is there something the matter?”
The two at the gate started, then Bai Ping quickly came forward, curtsied to Shen Yujiao, and said with a troubled look: “My lady, there is a gentleman outside the gate. He says he is an old acquaintance of our lord, and that he is soon to travel far, so he came specially to bid farewell.”
After a slight pause, she added, “He also brought quite a few gifts, and they look rather generous.”
Shen Yujiao was a little surprised. “An old acquaintance of my husband’s, come to bid farewell?”
“Yes,” Bai Ping said. “But what poor timing—our lord had just gone out the front door when he came right after. Steward Zuo also went out together with our lord, and the younger servants at the gate didn’t know what to do, so they came running to ask you for instructions.”
Shen Yujiao’s brows knit lightly. She thought for a moment, then asked: “That gentleman—what household is he from? Did he give his name?”
“That gentleman did not give his full name, only said his surname was Xie.” Bai Ping thought aloud. “He said as soon as the master hears that surname, he would know his origins.”
Shen Yujiao’s heart gave a sudden jolt.
The surname Xie, showing up so coincidentally while avoiding Pei Xia—who else could it be but that lawless Xie Wuling?
But it was already the third month. Why had he not left Chang’an yet?
It had been over a month without news of him; she thought he had long since returned to Ningzhou.
Who would have thought not only was he still in Chang’an, he had grown even bolder, daring to openly stride into her very hall.
“My lady?” Bai Ping’s soft call pulled back Shen Yujiao’s scattered thoughts. Seeing her mistress’s complicated expression, she carefully asked: “Shall we invite the guest to the front hall for tea and wait for the master’s return, or…?”
Xie Wuling had clearly come for her; the one he wished to bid farewell to was her.
Lifting her eyes toward the bright sun in the sky, Shen Yujiao drew a deep breath, composed a calm and unhurried demeanor, and said softly, “Since he is my husband’s old acquaintance, and has specially come with gifts to bid farewell, it would be unseemly to leave him waiting idly outside. You and Qiulu, help me to the front courtyard to receive this honored guest.”
