Chapter 61

 

Xuyu shook off the people following her and rode her horse through the desolate, empty streets at night. Along the way, she encountered the Jinwu Guards who were patrolling, which seemed to recognize her. They knew she was a new painter who had recently gained the emperor’s favor in the palace and who also had a close relationship with Pei Xiaoyuan. Hearing the person casually toss out a remark before leaving in a hurry, they couldn’t tell if she was truly on an official mission or something else, so they didn’t forcibly stop her, but the patrol leader immediately sent someone to find Pei Xiaoyuan to report the matter.

Xuyu was aimless at first and didn’t know where she was going.

She didn’t want to go back to Pei’s residence.

The Prince Ding Mansion, her home, had long since changed beyond all recognition.

After all, she couldn’t go to her elder sister’s place whenever she wanted. She was no longer the same person she once was, so how could she add her own suffering and depression to another person who was already suffering?

Xuyu rode her horse with the palace on her back, going farther and farther. The houses on both sides of the wall gradually became lower and sparse. Finally, she was brought by her mount to a desolate wilderness. Nearby was a dilapidated and abandoned wall from a deserted lane, and all around her were darkness. In a trance, she vaguely remembered that this area seemed to be the place where she had escaped that night many years ago. It was in this area that her pursuers almost caught up with her, and she fled alone and fell into a deep ditch. When she woke up, the world had turned upside down, and everything had changed.

Xuyu walked slowly and carefully in the wild field covered with weeds. Finally, she climbed to the top of the highest slope and looked into the distance towards the direction of the imperial palace under the dark night sky.

The fire that once burned in that direction led her to the mural wall, where she met her grandfather and started a new life.

Now that the stolen journey of more than ten years was over, she was here again, and everything seemed to have returned to the starting point.

This was her own choice, and she had no regrets. If she had do it once more, or ten times more, she would not change her mind.

But at this moment, facing the night breeze blowing on her face, when she thought of the scene where the little girl once set out from here, stumbling to the palace to find her mother, and she couldn’t help but shed tears.

At daybreak, the morning drum sounded and the gates of Chang’an were opened.

Chengping’s clothes were disheveled, and remnants of rouge lingered on his neck as he returned from a night of revelry at Chen’s Tavern. He was still not fully sober as he approached the Jinzouyuan. When he dismounted and climbed the steps, his tall body almost tripped over the threshold, but thanks to the support of two attendants, he barely managed to stay upright. Suddenly, he heard the gatekeeper say that there was a visitor early in the morning. Assuming it was Lu Wenjun again, half of his intoxication immediately vanished as he coldly muttered, “Just say I’m still at the tavern”, and brusquely pushed away the attendants helping him. Just as he was about to leave again, he heard behind him, “It’s Young Master Ye,” which made him stop in his tracks and turn his head.

“Who?”

He thought he had misheard. How could Miss Ye come to his place so early in the morning? When he heard her name again, it was definitely her. He was surprised, looked at the direction of the door, and was about to go in hurriedly, but then stopped, looked down, and pulled off the several sachets embroidered with five-colored silk threads that the Chen sisters had tied to his belts last night, wiped the rouge marks on his neck, and asked someone to tell her to wait for a moment while he went to change his clothes.

After a while, when he appeared in front of Xuyu, although he was still a bit drunk and his steps were unsteady, his clothes were neat and tidy, and he no longer looked as frivolous as before.

He saw that she was smiling but her face looked pale. He immediately sent the people away and asked what was the matter. He knew that she would never come to see him without reason.

He probably didn’t know about the many changes that happened to her and Pei Xiaoyuan recently, so Xuyu didn’t mention it. She only said that she had heard some rumors about the Pei family’s past after arriving in the capital, but they were all fragmentary. Because he and Pei Xiaoyuan were good friends, she came to inquire.

Chengping did not answer immediately, but just looked at her carefully, and suddenly asked: “Miss Ye, who are you?”

Xuyu looked at him.

Since he couldn’t help asking, Chengping didn’t hold it in any longer and simply said, “You must be not an ordinary person.”

Pei Er’s behavior toward her was too unusual.

Pei Xiaoyuan had always been indifferent and unemotional toward women, and was a man who strictly adhered to propriety. If it were a matter of affection, it would make even less sense for him to bring her into his residence to live together. And if it were merely due to the instructions of Lord Pei, there was no need to go to such lengths.

“Who do you think I am?” Xuyu asked back.

Chengping was not a stupid person. These days, some suspicions had slowly accumulated in his heart, but how dare he speak them out? He rubbed his temples that were still swollen and painful due to the hangover and smiled bitterly: “Forget it, just pretend I didn’t ask. What do you want to know?”

“The Pei family’s past. What exactly happened to his father’s battle in Beiyuan?”

Cheng Ping said, “I met him in the west several years ago. He’s not one to talk much, and certainly never spoke to me about his father’s past. All I know is that Chen Sida, who is now serving in the court, was an old subordinate of his father, but he betrayed his commander. Feng Zhenping even went so far as to slander his father’s name after his death, which caused the soldiers of the Shenhu Army to be dissatisfied and caused some trouble. They were then convicted of treason and implicated Lord Pei. At that time, his mother, Lady Cui, led him to kneel outside the Danfeng Gate before dawn to appeal for the wronged soldiers who were sentenced to death, which caused a sensation in the whole city. The emperor was just ascending the throne, and it must be due to considerations from all sides that the matter was hastily covered up. He was about eight years old at the time, so he naturally already remembered things. These two men are his enemies, and if given the chance, there will be bloodshed. He will not let them off lightly.

“I don’t know much, that’s all I know.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Xuyu. She was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “Don’t tell him I asked you this.

“Thank you. I’m going.”

She nodded to Chengping, stood up and walked out.

Chengping tried to stop her: “Where are you going? What happened? You look different than usual.”

Xuyu stopped and looked back to see Chengping who was still not fully awake from his drunkenness. She walked back, helped him to sit on the couch and said, “You take a rest. I’m fine.” After that, she called out to the outside, asked someone to come in and ordered them to help Chengping sober up, and then she went out again.

Chengping was stunned. He sat still for a moment, then slowly leaned back and lay down.

Pei Xiaoyuan had been looking for people for most of the night.

He had been looking for her since he learned that she had left people behind and disappeared last night. Later, when he received the news from the night patrol Jinwu Guard, he was not relieved but even more anxious. In his impression, she was always calm and considerate. Her behavior last night, which was so arbitrary and even arrogant, was really abnormal that he could not imagine it before.

What the hell is wrong with her.

Zanxing Nunnery, Wei Yinniang’s house, Aunt Gao’s inn where she stayed when she first came, and even the Ci’en Temple where she painted the blessing painting, he looked at them one by one. No one was there. He also sent people to ask at all the lane gates. Finally, he thought, could she have left the city to go to the mausoleum of Empress Zhaode? Then he walked through all the city gates.

However, her whereabouts were never found.

At the fifth watch in the morning, the morning drum sounded. Han Kerang also received news that he had not found the person.

A sleepless night was originally nothing to Pei Xiaoyuan, but at this moment, worry and panic turned into fatigue and rushed towards him, infinitely magnifying the deep self-blame in his heart.

Could it be true, as the emperor said, that she had devoted her heart to him to such an extent, and he was completely unaware, thus hurting her?

There was still a vast area of wasteland in the southern part of the city that wasn’t fully searched last night. Is that where she went?

Although it was somewhat safer within the city walls and unlikely to encounter wild beasts, in such remote and deserted areas, especially at night, wolves or foxes might still appear.

Pei Xiaoyuan stopped thinking about it and calmed himself down. He was about to lead people to search the south of the city again when suddenly, guards came hurriedly on horseback and reported to him that someone had seen the painter in the Jinzouyuan area and the Shizi of County Prince Xiping had come out personally to take him in, and there was no doubt about it.

Pei Xiaoyuan immediately urged his horse to go and went to the Jinzouyuan of County Prince Mansion.

It was still dark, and the morning light was as hazy as fog, covering the streets and walls. He ordered people to knock on the gate. After a long time, the tightly closed gate finally opened a crack, and a gatekeeper poked his head out. He heard Pei Xiaoyuan asking about the painter named Ye, and asked him to wait, saying that he would go and ask the master.

Pei Xiaoyuan signaled his men to force the gate open, then strode inside.

He entered the front hall and saw that the place used to receive guests was empty and no one was there. His expression became even more solemn.

The steward of the Yuwen family also hurried over at this time. Seeing this, he must have sensed a strange atmosphere and hurriedly bowed to ask about the matter.

“Tell your young master to come out and see me here!” Pei Xiaoyuan ordered in a restrained tone.

The steward said that his young master seemed to be in the back hall at the moment, so he asked him to sit down and wait for a moment and he would inform him immediately.

“Take me there.” Pei Xiaoyuan glanced towards the inner hall and gave the order again, leaving no room for refusal.

The steward led him inside reluctantly and came to a door at the end of the corridor. He knocked gently and announced, “Shizi, are you awake? Chief Pei is here and wants to ask you something.” After a long while, a lazy voice was heard from inside the door.

“Ask him to go back to the front hall! I still have someone here, and I’ll see him when I’m done.”

Pei Xiaoyuan could no longer hold back, losing his usual composure. His eyes darkened, he pushed open the unlatched door and walked in.

The light was dim inside, with gauze curtains hanging down to the ground. There seemed to be overlapping shadows behind it. Dimly, one could see Yuwen Zhi lying on his side on the bed, facing inward, embracing a sleeping person. The person in his arms was motionless, and it was unknown whether they were asleep, drugged, or what.

Pei Xiaoyuan knew that this idea was ridiculous. There was no way she was here at this moment. No matter how rampant Yuwen Zhi was, he wouldn’t dare to do such a thing to her. However, seeing such a situation, he was still shocked, opened the curtain and rushed in, strode to the bed, reached out, and pulled down the quilt that covered Yuwen Zhi’s shoulders and neck, and found that he was hugging a maid. The two were dressed neatly.

Yuwen Zhi suddenly opened his eyes and met Pei Xiaoyuan’s gaze. Then, he let go of the maid he had called temporarily, turned over lazily, and lay on his back.

The maid was obviously still in a daze. With a look of panic on her face, she hurriedly got up, kowtowed, then got off the bed and ran out.

After looking at Pei Xiaoyuan for a moment, Yuwen Zhi raised his eyebrows, curled his red lips, and slowly sat up.

“Who do you think it will be?”

He said this, and then burst into laughter.

The moment he saw it was the maid, Pei Xiaoyuan realized that he was being teased by him.

Yet for some reason, he did not feel angry at all.

He just frowned slightly, took a few steps back, and waited for Yuwen Zhi to stop laughing before asking, “Where is she?”

Yuwen Zhi gently stroked the crease on his sleeve, glanced at him with undisguised jealousy and snorted, “Went back to your house.”

Pei Xiaoyuan paused for a moment, then immediately turned and left, hastily riding toward Yongning’s residence. Upon arriving, he quickly made his way through the courtyard, only to stop abruptly.

She had indeed returned. At this moment, she sat on the bed in the outer room. On the small table beside the bed stood a white porcelain candle holder. She was seated next to the candle, her figure calm and serene.

This scene seemed familiar, and it suddenly reminded him of the time when she first moved in. After the fright of the Qujiang banquet, and after taking a bath, she sat here and wiped her long hair. He walked in, and it was also here that he knelt down in front of her and begged her to take care of herself.

It had not been long. However, when he thought about it now, it seemed very far away, as if it was a lifetime ago.

“Come in.” she called him.

He came to his senses and walked in under her gaze. Just as he was about to ask her where she had been last night, she interrupted him.

“It was my fault last night, making you stay up all night. Perhaps my father even blamed you again. It’s my mistake. I won’t do that again in the future.”

She stood up and apologized.

Pei Xiaoyuan paused for a moment and smiled: “It’s fine. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I’m fine,” she said again.

“Then you have a good rest. If there’s no other order, I will go and make a report first. His Majesty must have been waiting anxiously.”

He said this after some hesitation. In the end, he still didn’t ask her why she went to Yuwen Zhi’s Jinzouyuan so early in the morning.

“I have sent a message to my father,” she said. “I have something else to say to you. It’s not long, just a few words. It won’t take long.”

Pei Xiaoyuan fell silent for a moment, listening as she continued: “I don’t know what my father said about me in front of you before. Here, I want you to know that you are the person I trust the most besides my grandfather. Indeed, I suppose I do have some affection for you. It’s not something that cannot be spoken.

“But, that’s all. Who wouldn’t like someone as nice as you, Master Pei?”

She continued, staring at Pei Xiaoyuan, who looked up at her in surprise at her first half of the sentence, and their eyes met.

“You don’t have to respond, just listen to me.” She saw his eyes move, and smiled slightly.

“You don’t have to feel any burden about this, let alone worry about what my father said. I will advise him when I go back, and tell him not to cause you trouble because of me again. Don’t worry, he will listen to me.

“Also, you have helped me a lot since I met you in Ganliang. I’m extremely grateful to you. I also know that you have important things to do and the road ahead is long and arduous. As a proper return, if you need me in the future, please don’t be shy and just tell me. My ability may be limited, but I will definitely do my best to help you.

“I’m done. I will go to the palace to see my father first. Maybe he was mad at me last night and he’s not feeling well. Master Pei, you’ve been busy all night and must be tired. Go and have a rest. I’ll pass on the message to my father for you. You don’t have to go back to report.”

Xuyu bowed to Pei Xiaoyuan, who was obviously stunned by what he heard, then lowered her eyes, walked past him, and walked out quickly.

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