Chapter 60 Part 1

 

Xuyu’s eyes swept across the scar on his forehead. Compared to the last time she saw him, the wound had shrunk somewhat, but it was obvious that he really didn’t seem to tend it and didn’t go to the Imperial Medical Bureau again as she had instructed.

She resisted the urge to speak again, met his gaze, and said, “Wanwan came to see me. She said that you two… seemed to be discussing marriage?”

He showed a surprised expression, “When did she tell you?”

“Just a couple days ago. She said you went to her house, and Prince Ning proposed marriage?”

“I have been to her house, but——”

Pei Xiaoyuan was surprised to hear her say such words and subconsciously denied it. But suddenly, he remembered the situation at that time and the subtle suggestions from Prince Ning, and suddenly understood something and paused.

Xuyu secretly observed him. How could the subtle changes in his expression escape her eyes? She felt a slight chill in her heart.

“Wanwan doesn’t want to get married yet.” She smiled faintly, “She said that if the marriage really happens, she will never accept it. Anyone who marries her will never live in peace in the future.”

She added the last sentence, then stopped and looked at him. The man’s expression changed several times as she spoke, and finally he laughed in surprise.

“Why are you laughing?”

His reaction made Xuyu feel annoyed, but she suppressed it and didn’t show it, and just asked back.

“She wanted me to pass the words to you, and since I have nothing to do right now, I came here to tell you.”

At this point Pei Xiaoyuan finally understood why the county princess reacted like that when he met her at Prince Ning Mansion, and why Prince Ning said those words in a roundabout way.

He met her cold black eyes, stopped smiling, and immediately explained: “You misunderstood——”

“It’s not me, it’s Wanwan!” Xuyu immediately interrupted him and corrected the ridiculous mistake in his words.

He paused, looked at her, and nodded, “Yes. County Princess misunderstood.”

“I went to Prince Ning Mansion to do only one thing, which is to teach Li Hui some riding and archery skills. Nothing else, so how can we discuss marriage?”

“Really?”

His eyes fell on her face and he nodded again, “Yes. Prince Ning did talk about marriage, but he never mentioned to me that he wanted to marry County Princess to me.”

Xuyu fell silent.

He hesitated for a moment, looked at her again, and added a little more emphasis, and continued: “Even if Prince Ning really thinks highly of me and is willing to bend down to me, I will never agree to the marriage. Please tell County Princess to rest assured.”

Having said this, he shook his head slightly, as if this matter was so absurd that he could not believe it.

Xuyu suddenly felt a little hot in her ears, because he shook his head with his last words, it made her feel very stupid. How could she believe Li Wanwan’s words so easily and thought that he really wanted to be the son-in-law of Prince Ning.

She threw away the broken leaf in her hand that she had already pinched and crushed, and put her hands behind her back. She no longer looked at him, but looked around while saying, “Although you think so, what if Prince Ning went to find Lord Pei to discuss marriage? Last time…”

She had not forgotten that Pei Ji had chosen her as his fiancée without even asking his nephew’s opinion. Halfway through her words, she suddenly realized that something was wrong and stopped talking.

Perhaps he also thought of that because of her abrupt words, and then fell silent. Xuyu couldn’t help but look at him again, and met his two gazes.

“That’s different.” As if he was considering his words carefully, he slowly added, “Even if it’s true as you said, I believe my uncle won’t agree. Although Prince Ning Mansion is a noble family, it doesn’t mean that he will nod and agree to a marriage for me as long as it comes to him.”

What did he mean by this? The implication was that she was different from others, and in Pei Ji’s eyes, she was someone who could be arranged marriage with his nephew without first asking for his consent?

Xuyu knew that she was too shallow, but she couldn’t control herself and felt inexplicably relaxed.

She nodded: “Then I will tell Wanwan so that she can feel at ease.”

He nodded, and then fell silent.

It was a clear evening. The crowds of people and horses on the nearby streets were gradually thinning out. The sky was not yet fully dark, and the heavens above Chang’an revealed a gem-like, crystal-clear deep blue. A pale half-moon hung low in the sky over the river behind him.

A dry wind carrying the heat of summer blew across the river, making the surrounding willows rustled. Amid the rustling of the willow leaves, Xuyu’s eyes fell on his injured forehead again and asked, “Didn’t I tell you to go to the Imperial Medical Bureau to have it checked again? Why didn’t you go?”

He moved as if waking from a dream, smiled, and said that they were just minor injuries. He was already taking medicine and it would heal soon, so there was no need to go through all that trouble.

Xuyu couldn’t force it any longer. She looked at the person in front of her and finally asked the question in her mind: “Why haven’t you come back these few days? Is there so much going on?”

He responded, “Indeed.”

“Are you used to living there?” he then asked.

Xuyu hummed. He looked at her with a smile and nodded: “That’s good.”

Xuyu had nothing else to say to him, except that she was going out of town tomorrow. In fact, she didn’t want to mention this matter, after all, there was no need. But thinking of his previous instructions for her to let him know wherever she was going, she still said it after hesitating for a while.

“Chief Zhang should come with you, right?” he asked.

The Chief Zhang he mentioned was the chief guard who was now assigned to Yongning Residence.

Xuyu didn’t know what she was thinking. Did she still hope that Pei Xiaoyuan could get away and go with her?

“I don’t know.” She responded in a flat tone, and suddenly she felt a little unmotivated.

He seemed to sense her low mood, so he paused and explained, “He is one of General Han’s most useful men, and has experienced the war in the western frontier before. You can rest assured with him accompanying you. In addition, Yuan Zhi should also send someone to accompany you to protect the princess’ safety.”

At this point, Xuyu no longer had any interest.

She didn’t want to talk to him anymore, so she just smiled and said, “I know. That’s it, I’ll go back first.”

“Wait a minute.” He suddenly said again. Xuyu immediately looked at him and heard him say: “I should be very busy in the next period of time, and I don’t think there will be many opportunities to go back home. I’m telling you again in advance so that you can know. You can stay there with peace of mind.”

Xuyu didn’t respond. When he finished speaking, he glanced at the sky and said with a smile, “It’s getting dark. I have something else to do, so I can’t take you home. I’ll ask Liu Bo to send you.”

“No need!”

Xuyu refused.

“You know there are people following me. There’s no need for any of you to send me off.”

After she said that, she didn’t stay any longer, nor did she wait for his reply. She just turned around and left.

She did not hear his footsteps catching up with her. All she could hear was the rustling sound of her own boots as she left the riverside, stepping on the fallen flowers and leaves.

Her intuition told her that he was still standing on the bluestone of the old port, watching her back as she left.

That’s all.

She suppressed the intense feeling of grievance that had risen from who knows where, quickened her pace, left the riverside path, and brushed aside a dense patch of wild willow branches growing by the roadside. She walked diagonally into them, disappearing into the thicket, wanting to vanish from his sight as quickly as possible.

The next morning, before leaving home, Xuyu still instructed Qingtou to send the gauze curtain to the place where his master was living now, and see if anything was missing and buy a complete set of daily utensils.

Qingtou muttered, “Why is it that this place just getting lively, and Master is living over there? If he never comes back, we might as well move his things over there to save some money.”

Xuyu frowned: “I told you to add then just add. Why are you talking so much? I’ll lend you more money!”

Qingtou chuckled: “It still Young Master who is good to our family’s Master! This is the best, when everything is arranged, depending on Master’s convenience, he can live in either place at any time.”

Xuyu handed the money to Qingtou and rode to the south of the city. All the people in the painting department who might participate in the painting of the murals in the future also came. On her side, Song Bokang took the lead. In addition to her and Wang Chunlei, Lin Mingyuan also followed. They were considered the representative of Fang Shanjin. On the other side, Yao Xu’s people were Yang Jiming and his several apprentices. There were more than a dozen people in the group. In addition to carrying the items used for painting, the palace eunuchs were also there to carry food baskets, water, canopy, umbrellas, myrrh and other necessities for going out. Not only that, they were followed by a team of more than twenty palace guards, who were said to be assigned by Yuan Zhi, with the purpose of following them throughout the journey and protected them.

After setting off, these dozens of palace guards walked with them, never leaving their side. After arriving at today’s destination, Nanshan, they took a short rest because the weather was getting hot. Lin Mingyuan found an opportunity to get close to Xuyu, fanning her vigorously with wild banana leaves, while flattering her, saying that court painters had been ordered to go out to see the scenery before, but they had never received such treatment. Even Ye Zhongli of the previous dynasty had never had such a grand style when he went out to collect folk culture material.

“Everyone says that you saved the two county princesses and made great contributions. The painting you made in the West Palace a few days ago also satisfied His Majesty, and His Majesty thinks highly of you. We all benefited from you. But…”

He turned his head and glanced at Yang Jiming’s disciples who were sitting at the other end, and lowered his voice even more.

“They must be very jealous. I heard from a painter that they said bad things about you behind your back. Stay away from them when you get to the mountain!”

During the day, Xuyu climbed many mountain steps. Although the weather was hot and she was very tired, the distant view she saw at the top of the mountain still made her feel refreshed. She almost forgot all her worries, as if she had returned to the carefree days when she was with her grandfather.

As for the hostility between the two sides, it was not new. She had felt it since the first day she entered the painting academy. However, it was not as blatant as Lin Mingyuan said. After reaching the top of the mountain, the two sides had a small conflict over the best view, but it was quickly settled and did not affect her at all. After going down the mountain, Yang Jiming even secretly found Xuyu and reprimanded his disciples, telling her not to mind it. Xuyu naturally would not hold a grudge, and the matter passed.

She returned to the city after dark and went to Yongning’s residence. Although she felt very tired, she still called Qingtou to ask about what happened during the day.

Qingtou told her that the money from the morning was not spent because someone was already doing it. It was Aunt Wang from Cui Mansion who discovered it and told him not to bother. Not only that, master was also called to Cui Mansion for lunch, and Qingtou followed him.

“What’s the matter?”

Xuyu remembered that Pei Xiaoyuan had an average relationship with the Cui family, especially the mistress of the Cui family, Lady Wang, who was always cold towards Pei Xiaoyuan.

“It is said that the anniversary of the death of Master’s mother, Lady Cui, is approaching, and Aunt Wang wants to hold a water and land ritual for Lady Cui at Ci’en Temple. Starting tomorrow, I may have to go over to help. If I go, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of Young Master. However, I will come back immediately after everything is done!”

Xuyu asked about the date and quickly added, “You can go. If you’re too busy, you can borrow the people in the house here.”

Qingtou waved his hand: “No, no! There is a young lady who’s available over there. She should be able to take care of it.”

“What young lady?” Xuyu asked after hesitating.

Seeing that she was interested, Qingtou told her everything he had seen today. He said that at noon, he followed his master to Cui Mansion to discuss the matter of the ritual. There was a girl next to Aunt Wang, named Wang Zhenfeng, who was about the same age as his master and also from the Wang family, which seemed to be the niece of the aunt. It was said that she had been engaged before, but before she got married, her fiancée died of illness. Since then, she was disheartened and never discuss marriage again. She stayed at home to help her mother manage the household affairs. This time, she was called by her aunt to help with the work.

“Not only that, I heard that young lady’s father was a subordinate of Master’s father, and he died in battle in the north with him. She’s truly from a noble family, a descendant of loyal and virtuous men. No wonder I felt that the young lady was generous and capable at first sight, and Master was also polite to her. It couldn’t be better to have her around.”

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