Chapter 69

 

As soon as Zhao Zhongfang and the carriage carrying the young painter left, Han Kerang’s expression changed.

He turned to his subordinate standing nearby, glanced at him up and down, and said coldly: “Follow me!” He then strode to an empty place near the city gate and stood there.

Pei Xiaoyuan followed silently and stopped in front of him.

“What’s wrong with you? Zhang Dunyi said that you falsely conveyed the imperial decree last night and took the painter away from him?” Han Kerang started by questioning, with an unprecedented harsh tone.

On the way back, when his thoughts slowly withdrew from the intense emotions that had run wild last night, Pei Xiaoyuan’s mind regained its composure. He knew that he had made a big mistake and was ready to face the consequence.

That didn’t matter to him. He said those words and done those things. The only thing that made him feel guilty was that his action might implicate his boss who had always been very caring towards him.

“Yes.” He admitted, “This subordinate was indeed not thoughtful at the time. But the deed has been done, and this subordinate will go to His Majesty to confess his guilt. Whatever the consequences are, they are all this subordinate’s fault. If His Majesty takes his anger out on General, this subordinate will explain it to His Majesty that this is all this subordinate’s fault.”

After hearing this, Han Kerang realized that the whole thing was indeed true. For a while he could not vent his anger, and just feeling dumbfounded while raising a hand to point at Pei’s son opposite him.

“You, you, how could you be so confused!”

He was really angry, and even more so, he was disappointed. If the man in front of him was his own son, he would have slapped in the face by now.

He put his hands away, put them behind his back, and walked back and forth under the city wall.

“It’s too late! Do you think you can bear the blame alone? Can you bear it? When you were having fun outside with that little painter, I was called by the emperor and scolded to death! I gave you three days off so that you could go to mourn Lady Cui, but you! You actually caused me such a big mess!”

He stepped back in front of Pei Xiaoyuan, lowering his voice. “Let me tell you, Chen Sida would love nothing more than to see me in trouble—he’s watching my every move, watching you every day! As soon as Shizi Yuwen came back in the morning, his son-in-law went to the Yuwen family’s Jinzouyuan! Luckily, this time you burned high incense for good fortune, because Shizi himself got into trouble last night and must not have said anything. He sent him off with a scowl. Otherwise, with the way he would love to tear you apart, if he had any dirt on you, do you think he’d cover for you? He’d be shouting it out for all of the Southern Court to hear that you, Pei Xiaoyuan, forged an imperial edict just to compete with him for a handsome painter! What do you expect His Majesty will do? Where do you think that leaves my face? I’m the one who pulled you out of that godforsaken place and brought you to the capital! And here you are, putting me in a position like this. Even if I had a hundred mouths to explain, I couldn’t avoid a charge of negligence!”

Pei Xiaoyuan listened to the scolding and reflected on his behavior last night. He was indeed too reckless. At that time, he was impulsive and did not consider any other consequences except the thought of taking the person away.

“General is right! Xiaoyuan knows he was wrong! Not only did he implicate General, he also failed to live up to his high expectations!”

Pei Xiaoyuan bowed solemnly to Han Kerang, stood up, and walked away.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Han Kerang shouted.

“This subordinate will go to the palace to apologize. Whatever happens, this subordinate will take full responsibility!”

Han Kerang was frightened by him and rushed forward to pull the man back.

“I don’t think you’re usually like this! Where’s your brain? Did you have too much fun hanging out with that little painter outside last night, that you haven’t brought your brain back yet?”

Pei Xiaoyuan looked at his boss’ distressed expression, thinking that the emperor might be scolding her for not returning home at night, and he became more confused and upset.

Han Kerang continued to lecture him: “Can’t you see that Zhao Zhongfang was just trying to keep things quiet and didn’t want to make things worse? He’s just eunuch, where does his attitude come from? Obviously, it’s His Majesty’s will! Now that the people are back and the little painter has been taken away, His Majesty didn’t ask you to go over. Are you worried things aren’t messy enough? Is the cut on your head not enough? Do you want to rush over there so he can crack your skull wide open and feed you a big bowl of incense ash?

“Pei’s son, you are a newborn calf, you are not afraid, but I am an old man, I can’t stand the torture, I am afraid!”

After he finished lecturing, his tone gradually became gentler.

“Don’t enter the palace without permission, lest you make things worse. For now, just pretend nothing happened and see what happens tomorrow. If nothing happens, that’s the best, then probably the matter has passed. If something does happen, I’ll share the responsibility with you! Even if my old face is useless in front of His Majesty, I think it can still be of some use.”

Since the first night in the capital, when they met outside Ziyun Palace, this boss had always taking good care of him. Pei Xiaoyuan knew this clearly. Last night, he had acted impulsively and made a mistake that he should have avoided; Han Kerang’s reprimand was entirely justified. Yet in the end, he had shown such a stance, leaving Pei Xiaoyuan genuinely moved.

He wasn’t someone who wore his emotions on his sleeve. After a brief silence, he replied, “Thank you, General. This subordinate will obey your orders.”

Han Kerang felt he’d mostly said his piece. Just as he was about to leave, he hesitated, then looked once more at the young man before him. Unable to restrain himself, he glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, pulled him into a more secluded corner, and lowered his voice, asking, “Is that little painter really that special?”

“When you searched all over Chang’an to find him, I felt something was amiss! Sure enough!”

Pei Xiaoyuan hurriedly said: “General has misunderstood, she and I—”

He paused, and suddenly realized that no matter how he explained the matter, after last night, any cover up would only make it worse.

He slowly closed his mouth.

Han Kerang looked like he had been holding back for a long time and couldn’t hold back any longer. He looked at him and shook his head, “Are women not good? Even if the families who tried to arrange marriage with you are not suitable, even if you don’t want to marry, just go to Pingkang Lane! You can find all kinds of women there. If ordinary women aren’t interesting enough, they have Hu women, Silla women, Pusaman girls—short, tall, slender, plump, all types! And with your standing, I bet you wouldn’t even need to pay; there’d be countless ones throwing themselves at you! Why are you so stubborn that you have to poke on His Majesty’s sore spot?

“I shouldn’t have said this. You still have your uncle. But I really can’t bear to see you sinking deeper into the quagmire and making the same mistake over and over again! That little painter can get such a favor from by His Majesty, will he be an ordinary person? What His Majesty doesn’t like, you should also know. You are young, have made outstanding military achievements, and have a bright future. In the end, if you ruin yourself because of something like this, it would be too much of a loss!”

“Thank you for your concern, General. This is all my fault, and has nothing to do with that little painter.”

At this point, Pei Xiaoyuan had nothing else to say except to take the blame.

Han Kerang remembered the little painter’s behavior tonight.

Obviously, the person had already got into the carriage, but he actually got off and whispered something to Pei’s in front of everyone. After doing those affectionate things, he then left.

In Han Kerang’s opinion, this was simply a shameless way of seducing his subordinate.

He looked at Pei’s son for a moment, a smile reappearing on his face as he reassured him, “Enough, how could this be entirely your fault? I know you’re always disciplined, and you come from one of the most upright and reputable families—this must have been an unguarded moment that led you astray. Learn from this setback; as long as you understand it yourself, that’s enough. As for last night’s incident, if I’m not mistaken, His Majesty’s reaction is likely all thunder and no rain. So don’t worry too much. Take this as a lesson, keep your distance from that little painter, and don’t make such a mistake again—His Majesty still values you.”

Pei Xiaoyuan said yes.

After chatting a bit more, Han Kerang saw that it was getting late and told him to relax and go get some rest. He also reminded him that tomorrow was the Yulan Festival and instructed him to be ready for the trip to Cangshan after finishing the rituals at Ci’en Temple.

Pei Xiaoyuan saw his boss off and looked out in the direction of the imperial palace in the distance for a long time before driving his horse forward.

Although the emperor should not impose any punishment on her, she was taken away by him last night and did not return all night. Given the emperor’s temper, he must have scolded her harshly. If she sided with the emperor, naturally it would be fine. But if she spoke up for him, would it anger the emperor, causing a dispute between father and daughter, and the emperor end up venting his anger on her?

Thinking of the scene where she got on the carriage and came down to comfort him tonight, Pei Xiaoyuan became more and more uneasy and wished he could go into the palace immediately to see what was going on.

Even if he was really hit on the head with the incense burner by the emperor, it was what he deserved. However, as Han Kerang said, it was simple for him to go to the palace to apologize, and this move could also show his responsibility, but if he caused the matter to get out of hand again, it would be tantamount to overcorrecting.

But how could he sleep as if nothing happened and go back to rest as Han Kerang instructed?

Pei Xiaoyuan was laden with anxiety. After some hesitation, he finally came to the palace, but did not enter.

One of the guards on duty tonight was his man. He asked him to call Zhang Shun out while he waited outside the palace gate.

He didn’t have to wait long, it was faster than he expected. In less than a cup of tea, Zhang Shun quietly came. Without waiting for Pei Xiaoyuan to speak, he asked in a low voice: “Master, are you going to ask about Ziyun Palace?”

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled, and then he heard Zhang Shun continued, “Young Master Ye came to see this servant just now and said that you might come to call this servant tonight. If you do, Young Master Ye told this servant to tell you that the clouds in Ziyun Palace has been cleared and the emperor has gone to bed.”

After telling Zhang Shun to go back, he stood outside the palace gate in the dark night for a long time before mounting his horse and leave.

To understand laughter, one should also be able to speak.

What kind of delicate mind and extreme intelligence girl she is.

Not to mention, she has a noble status and unparalleled beauty.

For the first time, Pei Xiaoyuan had a feeling that his flesh, blood, bones, and internal organs seemed transparent in front of another person.

She seemed to always know what he was thinking easily, even if those thoughts were hidden in the deepest and most twisted part of his soul and no one else could see through them, but she could always hit the mark with one stroke.

Perhaps because of his current identity as a military man, Pei Xiaoyuan couldn’t help but entertain an almost absurd thought: if she wanted to toy with him in the palm of her hand, he would have no way to resist her with sword or shield. The only thing he could do, it seemed, was to throw down his armor and be utterly defeated.

If it was someone else, he would find it very scary. But if it was her…

Along the way, he went back to Ci’en Temple. When he arrived, the whole person still had a slightly drunken feeling, like after tasting fine wine, with a mellow aftertaste that lingered for a long time.

This feeling continued until he entered the temple.

He walked alone to the Guanyin Hall, where his mother’s rituals were held.

It was now the second half of the night, strictly speaking, it was the Yulan Day.

Since a few days ago, many believers had come to Ci’en Temple, the most famous imperial temple in Chang’an. Some of them, like him, were performing rituals to pray for the souls of their ancestors, while others were preparing to buy incense for the sutra meeting to be held that day. Therefore, although it was early in the morning, the temple was still brightly lit, with the sound of Buddhist scriptures ringing out, and many monks were taking turns to chant sutras all night long.

When he was almost at the Dharma Assembly place at the back temple and walking along a deserted road, Pei Xiaoyuan suddenly heard someone calling him softly from behind.

“Master Pei.”

It was a woman’s voice, low and soft. It sounded a little strange, but the moment he heard it, he was sure he had heard it somewhere before.

He suddenly remembered and turned around.

A woman walked out slowly from the veranda. She was wearing a veil hat that was common among women when going out. She stopped and pushed aside the veil, revealing a face as beautiful as the full moon behind the hat.

It was the courtesan named Yumian from Jinfeng Tower.

“He knows what Master Pei wishes and wants to meet Master Pei. However, he is unsure whether Master Pei would be willing to spare some time for a meeting.”

The courtesan looked at him and spoke softly.

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