Chapter 163

 

In the foothills, amidst the noisy chirping of bird, deep within the dense shade, the two black lacquered doors that had been tightly closed finally opened. An old steward walked out quickly, bowed to the man kneeling at the steps outside the Lu family’s door, and then said, “You should leave quickly! The Eldest Princess will not see you!”

Chengping had been kneeling like this for an hour. He raised his head and said, “Sir, please pass on a message for me. Tell them that I came here to offer a humble apology and seek an audience with the Eldest Princess. As long as she can be appeased, even if she wants me to atone for my sins with my life, I am willing to accept it!”

Seeing that he so stubborn, the steward sighed repeatedly and waved his hands: “Why don’t you listen to what others say? Why does the Eldest Princess want your life? If she says she won’t see you, then she won’t see you! Just listen to my advice and leave quickly—”

Before he finished speaking, a young man came out from behind the door, walked up to Chengping and said, “Ashina, even if you kneel here until nightfall, it’s useless! This time my mother truly hates you to the core. If you still don’t leave and she gets angry, it won’t end well!”

Chengping grabbed Lu Wenzhong’s arm.

“How is your sister now?” he asked in a low voice.

“She’s fine!”

Lu Wenzhong, afraid his mother would see him and punish him, kept glancing nervously at the movement behind the door while trying to drag Chengping up.

“My sister remembers everything, but has completely forgotten about you. She’s very happy every day. Don’t worry!”

Chengping was stunned, seeming to be happy and sad at the same time. While he was in a daze, he heard a chaotic sound of footsteps from inside the door.

Lu Wenzhong turned his head and saw the stewardess beside his mother leading a group of over ten sturdy servant women charging out, each holding a stick, their momentum fierce and intimidating. Meanwhile, a house servant was carrying out a full chamber pot from a side door. Wherever he passed, the maids pinched their noses and retreated in disgust. Wenzhong stomped his foot in panic and cried, “It’s over! I told you! Now run, quickly!” With that, he fled and hid himself.

The servant brought out the chamber pot, brimming with foul yellow and white waste, and an unbearable stench filled the air. But Chengping, still lost in his thoughts, remained kneeling firmly at the foot of the steps, unmoving. The stewardess marched out at the head of the group, hands planted on her hips, glancing over him with a sneer. “He won’t drink wine but insists on vinegar—some people just can’t be talked out of courting death! Alright, throw this piece of filth far away, and let him taste the ‘sobering soup’ we’ve prepared for him. Don’t let him dirty the doorstep and bring ill fortune!”

At her command, a dozen strong women rushed up, raising their sticks and swinging them wildly down on Chengping.

This scene was different from the last time Chengping was previously beaten. Although at that time the grand princess had led people to beat Chengping, after all the occasion was the wedding of the princess and the prince consort. She only took the opportunity to teach him a slight lessen, so the actions were somewhat measure. This time, however, it was a true beating—brutal and merciless. After a fierce round of strikes, the stewardess stepped forward herself and, lifting a foot as broad as a boat, kicked Chengping off the steps. He tumbled down, crashing into a grassy ditch.

“Throw it at him!” the stewardess shouted.

Chengping lay curled like a dying dog, blood streaming from his head, motionless. The servants carrying the chamber pot looked at each other uncertainly.

This was the eldest princess’s order—how could they dare disobey? They were just about to dump the contents onto him when, at that moment, the family head rushed out and shouted for them to stop.

It turned out that after the previous incident, the relationship between the eldest princess and her husband Lu Jinghu had eased a lot, and they have reconciled. These couple of days he finally had some free time and came here to accompany his wife and daughter. Upon seeing what was happening, he came out to stop it. The servant hurriedly ceased their actions. Unexpectedly, the eldest princess followed him out after hearing the news and was determined not to let Chengping off.

Lu Jinghu tried to intervene: “This man has brought great harm to Wenjun. Even if he were cut into a thousand pieces, it would not quell the hatred in our hearts. But today he has come claiming to atone for his sins, and given his current status, if we humiliate him too severely, it may not be proper. Our daughter is already out of danger and seems to have put the matter behind her—best to leave it at that. There’s no need to tangle further with this man. Just drive him away.”

Her only beloved daughter was humiliated, not only losing her purity but also nearly losing her life because of this Hu boy. The eldest princess wished to tear off a piece of his flesh herself. Now that her fury had finally erupted, how could she possibly listen to reason? She scolded her husband, accusing him of siding with outsiders instead of caring for his own daughter. Lu Jinghu knew her temper and let her scold him. He just blocked her way and ordered the servants to send the man away immediately.

What was meant to be a humiliation for the person who delivered themselves had now turned into a quarrel between the eldest princess and her husband. The stewardess and the servants looked at each other, not knowing who to listen to. In the midst of the chaos, Chengping moved from the grassy ditch below. Slowly, he opened his eyes and began to crawl out of the pit. Before the eldest princess and Lu Jinghu, who were still in the midst of their argument, he knelt and kowtowed deeply. Then, without a word, he got to his feet—blood gushing from the wound on his head, running down his face—and turned away. Staggering slightly, he walked off.

The hot blood flowed freely, covering his face, but Chengping felt no pain. All he could hear, echoing endlessly in his ears, were the words of her father and brother.

She was fine, but she had forgotten people and many things.

This news was mentioned in the letter Pei Xiaoyuan sent to him before he left Ganliang. Now he mustered up the courage and finally came back to face her, but he learned that she had remembered everything else except him, and she was living a good life now.

That was great. A girl like her who was blessed by heaven should be carefree and stay away from people like him.

From now on, he could be free and no longer be trapped in the shadow of her jumping off the watchtower and unable to sleep.

Why, however, after telling himself this, what came to his mind were the scenes in the past when she would rush out in anger and ruin his banquets from time to time.

At that time, he clearly wanted to avoid her. And yet—on closer thought—it was as if, in his heart, he had never truly resented those actions of hers. In fact, later on, he even did such things on purpose, subtly waiting to see her storm in, flustered and furious, to overturn his wine table and drive out the wine girls. If she didn’t appear, then no matter how beautiful the women at the banquet were, no matter how they tried to stir a man’s desire, the feast would become boring and tasteless.

And then, there was that night.

He remembered it again. He had had no real intention of taking things that far with her. It had all started with her own suggestion—that he bite her neck a few times and leave some marks, just for show. But when she closed her eyes, and he leaned in close, seeing her trembling lashes flutter with nervousness, yet watching her still resolutely refuse to back away—he had been utterly bewitched. He couldn’t stop himself. And in the end, what should’ve been mere pretense became a night of true intimacy…

With blood covered his eyelids, he could not see the way out of the mountain for a while. He stumbled and fell to the ground, his whole body in pain, unable to move for a long time. However, he inexplicably gained some pleasure from it, and even hated that the Lu family had beaten him too lightly, and that he fell too lightly just now. He should have a knife cutting off his flesh one by one, so that he would feel pleasure. The more pain his body felt, the less pain he felt in his heart.

Suddenly, he felt as if someone was coming from the opposite side. He raised his head and through his hazy eyes, he finally vaguely made out the figure.

“Pei Er?”

A smile appeared on his face. He wiped his eyes and waved at him: “You came at the right time!” He got up, but a wave of dizziness from blood loss hit him, causing him to stagger.

“We haven’t had a drink together for a long time. Come on, keep me company—”

Pei Xiaoyuan lunged forward to catch the man before he collapsed entirely, and helped him sit under a roadside tree. With nothing on hand to bandage the wound, he quickly tore a strip from the hem of his own garment and pressed it firmly against the gash on Chengping’s still-bleeding head. Then he turned toward Xuyu.

Xuyu gave a nod, signaling for him to go. She watched as he helped Chengping away before continuing on alone toward the Lu family’s villa up ahead. Seeing her coming, Lu Jinghu breathed a sigh of relief, and the eldest princess managed to rein in her anger and took her to see her daughter. Unexpectedly, when she turned around and went inside, she saw her daughter standing timidly behind the door, looking out and asking: “What happened just now? Who is here? Why so much commotion? Were there fights? It made you and Father angry again, arguing with each other?”

Today, that Hu guy suddenly came to the house. The eldest princess naturally didn’t want her daughter to know anything, for fear of provoking her painful memories and causing her old illness to relapse. She had only just coaxed her to sleep before going out to confront him. Seeing her coming, she hurriedly covered up, saying it had only been some shameless rogue come for her brother to collect gambling debts, refusing to leave, which caused a bit of a stir. She also reassured her that she and her father were perfectly fine and told her not to worry.

“Look, who’s here to see you?” The eldest princess quickly pointed at Xuyu and said to her daughter in order to divert her attention.

“Sister!” When Lu Wenjun saw her, her eyes sparkled, and finally a smile appeared on her face. She even threw herself into her arms.

Xuyu smiled and hugged her, said a few words of greeting, they linked their arms together and went inside.

She stayed with Lu Wenjun until almost evening, until Pei Xiaoyuan came to pick her up. After bidding farewell to the eldest princess and her husband, on the way back to the city, she asked about Chengping and learned that he had been sent back to the Jinzouyuan. He drunk a lot of wine and fell asleep, only then Pei Xiaoyuan was able to escape.

“County Princess Lu…has she really forgotten him completely?” Pei Xiaoyuan hesitated, looked at her and asked.

“Otherwise?”

Xuyu replied lightly with a question, and then stared at him again: “Are you worried about your good brother and want to speak for him?”

Pei Xiaoyuan was silent for a moment and sighed.

“What can I say for him? It’s just that he looks a little different this time…”

He glanced at Xuyu and noticed her tense expression. Feeling something was off, he quickly changed his tone, “Forget it. This way is also good. From now on, County Princess and he can go their separate ways and find their own peace, with no more trouble between them.”

Xuyu snorted: “Men are all no good! Except my Xiao Hu’er!”

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t know what he had said to offend her—somehow, she’d ended up taking it out on him. He gave a wry smile and hurried to change the subject: “My uncle personally went to bring Uncle Cui back. Tonight, there’s a welcome feast in his honor, and it also serves as our farewell dinner. Let’s go, so they’re not kept waiting.”

Only then did Xuyu let the matter go. She followed him in haste back to the city. Once home, she freshened up and redid her evening makeup. Taking Xiao Hu’er with her, along with attendants Qingtou, Zhu’er, and others, they headed together to his uncle Pei Ji’s residence.

This mansion was given to Pei Ji by the emperor when he returned to the capital, to save him the trouble of traveling early in the morning for court sessions in the future. It had an excellent location, being located right next to the imperial palace.

The two of them were about to leave the capital, and they would not be able to fulfill their filial duties nearby. Their uncle was old, and they were worried there was no thoughtful person to take care of him. After some discussion, they thought that He shi was the most reliable person. So they asked her to stay behind and look after their uncle’s daily needs on their behalf. It also spared her from the hardships of traveling north with them. Unlike the younger pair, she would not fare as well in the bitter cold and wind-blown sands of the northern frontier. It was far more suitable for her to remain in Chang’an.

Besides, now that Xiao Hu’er was growing up and no longer afraid of strangers, He shi finally had her hands free again. When the two arrived, they were welcomed by the servants and saw He shi busily overseeing banquet preparations with a young woman by her side. The woman looked quite young, with gentle, pleasant features. She followed closely behind He shi, carefully observing how she delegated tasks to the staff and arranged the cups, plates, and bowls. He shi, for her part, was patient and meticulous, explaining everything to her in detail.

The two guessed that this young woman must be the Hu woman that Ashina had sent to serve his uncle.

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