Chapter 162

 

Her slender fingers suddenly stopped at her hair, and she didn’t respond.

“Sister, actually he has feelings for you. I guessed it not long after I returned to Chang’an.” Xuyu slowly sat up from her arms and continued.

Wei Yinniang’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she looked up at her.

“It was when you were tortured. Do you remember that when I went to visit you, I saw a bottle of medicine in your room. You probably didn’t want me to find it, so you put it away immediately, but I saw the imperial physician’s sign on it. Different imperial physicians have different sign to distinguish who made the medicine, but outsiders wouldn’t be able tell. Later, I suspected that you still had contact with Li Yan, and wanted to know who in the palace sent you the medicine. I found an excuse to privately check the imperial physician’s record of the medicine, and it turned out to be Yuan Zhi.

“He was ordered to torture you, but considering his usual cruel methods, he actually didn’t use too much force. He even left you some medicine afterwards. How could it be that just because you are a woman? That’s when I suspected that he might have some connection with you.”

Wei Yinniang also remembered the scene at that time, her face flushed and shame appeared in her beautiful eyes.

“Sister!” Xuyu immediately held her hand, “You don’t have to feel guilty, nor should you look down on yourself. You haven’t wronged anyone; it was fate and others who have been mistreating you. You are so beautiful and kind, it’s only natural for anyone to fall in love with you.”

Wei Yinniang lowered her head and said nothing.

“He came to see me yesterday.”

Wei Yinniang raised her eyes.

“I had learned about his origins from Zhao Bandang long ago. His ancestors were all stonemasons, registered under the palace, and had served the imperial family for generations by carving Buddhist grottoes. From the moment he was born, it was fated that his life would be spent within the stone cave. His father was a master craftsman because of his outstanding skills. This was happened in the final year of the Jingsheng reign—turmoil was on the horizon, though no one yet realized it. To show filial piety, the Crown Prince wished to commission a colossal ten-zhang grotto carved into the cliff face as a birthday blessing for the Empress Dowager, and ordered it completed before her birthday. But time was already short. To meet the deadline, the superintendent of the grotto paid no heed to the lives of the craftsmen, forcing them to work day and night carving statues into the cliffs. People died every day. His father spoke up to plead for the workers’ lives, but instead was flogged by the superintendent and soon died of illness. Outraged, he seized the chance to kill the superintendent, but didn’t manage to escape and was caught. He was originally sentenced to death, but fate was on his side. Sister, at the time, the official overseeing the project on behalf of the Crown Prince was your father. He also sympathized with the plight of the grotto craftsmen, but bearing the Crown Prince’s will to fulfill his filial duty left him helpless. When learning what had happened and seeing that Yuan Zhi was still a teenager, he used that as pretext to change the sentence to exile.

“Yuan Zhi thus narrowly escaped with his life, and was imprisoned for a time with other convicts bound for exile. The escort, perhaps having caught wind of some rumor, were lax in their duties, and the prisoners found an opportunity to flee. Yuan Zhi took the chance to escape and happened to run into Zhao Bandang, who was fleeing with me that very night.”

Wei Yinniang froze, a look of astonishment in her eyes.

Xuyu continued, “Zhao Bandang said that in the years after he returned to the palace, he could never find me. He thought I was no longer alive and was stricken with guilt. Unwilling to remain in the palace any longer, he begged my father to let him serve at the mausoleum instead. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I returned, that he came back to the palace as well. As for Yuan Zhi, after Zhao Bandang returned to the palace, he got permission from my father and made an exception to allow him to enter the palace as a eunuch without going through the usual procedures. At first, he was tasked with construction work. Later, my father, recognizing his talent and capability, found an excuse to promote him—”

At this time, the carriage had returned to the Taoist temple and slowly stopped in front of the gate.

The carriage door opened, and Xuyu saw Pei Xiaoyuan had come to pick her up, standing by the road not far away.

She and Wei Yinniang got off the carriage. Wei Yinniang bowed to him, and he nodded in return, then continued to wait there quietly.

Xuyu sent Wei Yinniang to the gate of the Taoist temple and stopped.

“Sister.” She held Wei Yinniang’s hand, looked into her beautiful eyes that were looking at her reluctantly, and called her softly.

“Yuan Zhi asked me to tell you a message. He will leave the capital for Qinzhou tomorrow and will never return to Chang’an in this life. He knows that he comes from a humble background. Chang’an is where you were born and raised. You have many memories here, so he doesn’t dare to force you to go with him. Tomorrow at the Qushui Bridge, five li away from Kaiyuan Gate, he will wait for you until dusk.”

Wei Yinniang did not answer, her face was a little pale, obviously due to her troubled emotions. After a moment, she noticed that Xuyu had not left and was still with her. She turned to glance at the figure, regaining her composure, and a smile appeared at the corners of her lips.

“Marquis Jingbei is waiting for you. Go ahead. I understand.”

“Sister, take care! I’m leaving!”

Under Wei Yinniang’s smiling gaze, Xuyu hugged her one last time, let go, and turned to leave.

Pei Xiaoyuan immediately walked towards her, helped her onto the carriage, and rode on his own horse as they travelled together.

Xuyu leaned out of the carriage window and saw Wei Yinniang still standing outside the Taoist temple. She waved to her.

Wei Yinniang stayed there, reluctantly watching until the carriage completely disappeared at the end of the road. Then she turned around and walked in with her head down, looking worried.

The carriage moved slowly and steadily along the outskirts of the city. The weather was pleasant, with a gentle warm breeze. Xuyu rolled up the curtains of the carriage, and the person leaned on the window frame of the carriage, resting her chin on her hand, gazing outside. Finally, when her eyes fell on the person outside the carriage, she stared for a moment, and her mood turned peaceful, and the last trace of melancholy also disappeared.

Pei Xiaoyuan thought she was admiring the scenery by the road and didn’t pay much attention. After a while, he realized that her eyes seemed to be on him. Finally, he couldn’t help but asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Her eyes moved slightly then she waved to him. He rode his horse and leaned towards her.

“Master Pei is so handsome. The most handsome man I have ever seen.” She said casually in his ear.

“I was thinking, when I get to Ganliang and have nothing to do, I must take advantage of Master Pei’s good looks and paint a few portraits to keep—so that when he grows old, the younger generation won’t fail to know how fine he once looked.”

Pei Xiaoyuan’s face flushed with a subtle heat, and his heartbeat quickened. Were they indoors right now, he would surely have given her a proper retort. But at this moment, he glanced at those around him. Closest sat Yang Zai’en on horseback, eyes fixed straight ahead, not even blinking—clearly, he hadn’t heard a thing.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief and straightened in his saddle as if nothing had happened, though the corner of his mouth couldn’t help but lift ever so slightly.

“I’ve already seen the two of them off,” he quickly changed the subject, lest his princess continue to tease him.

Xuyu smiled slightly, no longer provoking him, and asked, “What did you say?”

Today was also the day when Yuwen Zhi and He Du left the capital to return to their respective homes. Yesterday, the young emperor held a farewell banquet for the two of them in the palace, and Pei Xiaoyuan accompanied them. This morning, he personally escorted the two of them ten li out of Kaiyuan Gate, and then rushed back here to pick her up.

He Du, full of heroic spirit reaching the skies, drained his final cup of wine in the farewell pavilion. He said that after the battle at Dacheng City, he was thoroughly convinced—he now fully acknowledged that Pei Xiaoyuan was a true man among men. Before parting, he insisted they become sworn brothers.

Being two years older than Pei Xiaoyuan, he took the initiative to bring in Ashina—who had not yet arrived in Chang’an—into the oath as well. He made himself the eldest, Pei Xiaoyuan the second, and Ashina the youngest. Pei Xiaoyuan agreed without hesitation.

Since the idea came on a whim and they had no incense on hand, they used a pinch of earth in its place and swore their brotherhood by the roadside. He Du turned to Yuwen Zhi and asked if he wanted to join in. Yuwen Zhi played deaf and pretended not to hear. The two ignored him and went on without him. After the swearing brotherhood, He Du was very happy and agreed that he would ride north every autumn to hunt with Pei Xiaoyuan in the northern wilds. There, beneath the vast skies and open plains, with fat hares and soaring hawks, they would share wine, gallop freely, and test their skills together—what joy could surpass that?

As for Yuwen…

When he heard that He Du had made the annual autumn hunting appointment and asked him whether he would participate, he neither agreed to join nor refused to.

When Xuyu heard this, she said with a smile, “He has always been reserved. I believe he is one hundred percent willing inside, but he just won’t say it. I bet he will come. Then it will be very lively.”

Indeed, Yuwen was used to being strange and eccentric, and being the youngest among them, Pei Xiaoyuan naturally didn’t take offense. After watching the two of them lead their entourage to part ways at the fork in the road, he prepared to return to the city himself—only for Yuwen to suddenly came back on horseback and whispered a few words in his ear. He said that on such-and-such day, Grandpa Ye had arrived like a drifting immortal and specially painted a picture of the Goddess of Luo River just for him. The piece was truly unique in the world, and he would treasure it forever. He also asked Pei Xiaoyuan if he had any paintings given by Grandpa himself. After that, he burst into laughter and rode off again.

Pei Xiaoyuan couldn’t help but suspect he was doing it on purpose to annoy him.

As the ancients said, a wise man has a broad vision and nothing lies beyond his gaze.

As a person, one must be broad-minded and tolerant of everything.

How could he care about Yuwen’s childish behavior?

Even if that was true, at most he only had a painting by Grandpa—how could that compare to himself, who had her, the one raised by Grandpa. However, he still couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed. Hearing her say that again, he secretly hoped that Yuwen might simply not come around again in the future.

He didn’t want to see him anymore.

“What are you thinking about?” Xuyu had finished her words, and seeing that he didn’t say anything for a long time, she couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Pei Xiaoyuan said “oh”, touched his chin, and shook his head, saying that it was nothing.

At this time, they were not far from the city gate. Suddenly, a man on horseback came from the opposite side. It was Qingtou. He looked around and suddenly caught sight of this side from a distance. His eyes lit up and he urged his horse to gallop over. Arriving in front of them, he shouted, “Princess! Master! Guess who’s back?”

When he said this, Pei Xiaoyuan took a guess and asked whether there was any news from his uncle Cui Daosi.

Previously, Cui Daosi had been recovering from his injuries and was unable to return even to attend the captive offering ceremony. Everyone else had come back—he alone remained behind. Then, upon hearing the tragic news of the emperor’s passing, he was overwhelmed with grief and set out overnight to return. But alas, the late emperor had ordered a simplified burial, with days replacing months. The national mourning was over while he was still on the way.

Judging from the time, he should be arriving soon.

Qingtou kept nodding his head.

Just now, an attendant of Uncle Cui came to Yongning Mansion, saying that he had almost reached Chang’an. But due to a flare-up of his leg injury, he could not continue on his journey, and had to stop for a while at Lingao Posthouse. He sent someone to deliver a message to his master first.

“Moreover, they said that King Ashina is here too. They both came together!”

In the previous captive offering ceremony, Ashina himself did not attend, but sent an envoy to attend the ceremony to show his submission to the imperial court. The emperor treated him with the dignity due to a king, and told the envoy that as long as Ashina sincerely recognized his vassal status, all past offenses would be forgiven, and the court would formally confer titles upon him. Unexpectedly, as these words still ringing in the ears, the emperor had already passed away. Moved by the emperor’s kindness, Ashina decided to personally escort Cui Daosi back to Chang’an.

Pei Xiaoyuan and Xuyu looked at each other.

“Where is he now?”

“It seems that he went to Nanshan to seek forgiveness from the Eldest Princess!”

After the funeral was over, in order for her daughter to continue to recuperate, the eldest princess took Lu Wenjun to a villa in Nanshan, where she had lived for some days.

The two of them had a brief discussion and decided to go to Nanshan to check the situation. As for Uncle Cui, they asked Qingtou to go back and pass the news to Uncle Pei Ji, asking him to send someone to meet and receive him.

Once the arrangements were made, the two turned and immediately set off for Nanshan.

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