Chapter 7

 

Her eyes turned and fell squarely on his face.

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t want to look her in the eye and was about to look away to say something else when he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a scar on her forehead. His gaze paused unconsciously and finally saw it clearly.

Indeed. The evening light completely revealed the unobstructed mark. It was like a tiny broken star, lying quietly in the center of her smooth forehead, just above her eyebrows.

“Master Pei is looking for me?”

The voice of questioning came to his ears again.

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled and immediately looked away.

She did not invite him inside, and he remained standing there, with a threshold between them.

“I just came from my uncle’s place, and he told me about your meeting with him this morning.”

While he spoke, his expression was calm.

“I specially came here to tell you that everything is up to you and I have no objection.”

Xuyu bowed deeply to the man outside the door: “It’s entirely my fault. I am most fortunate that Lord Pei and Master Pei did not blame me!”

He raised his right arm towards her, indicating that she didn’t need to bow.

“Don’t worry about this matter. Just pretend it never happened. From now on, you can treat this place as your home. Besides that, I have something else I want to discuss with you.”

“Please speak, Sir.”

“I remember that you came here with your grandfather when you were young, which shows that you have a deep connection with our Pei family. My uncle treats you as his own, and so do I. I am older than you, and if you are willing, you can regard me as your elder brother in the future, and you as my younger sister. We can call each other brother and sister. What do you think?”

Pei Xiaoyuan explained his purpose and saw that she seemed stunned. She looked at him and did not respond immediately. He suspected that she didn’t know how to react.

He nodded to her, smiling, and said in the gentlest tone he could, “I am the second child. I have a cousin in my family, who is the son of my uncle, but he died for the country when I was young. Now if I can have a younger sister like you, it will make up for my regrets, which is a great blessing for me.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at the woman opposite him with a smile.

“Brother, please accept my greeting!”

Xuyu hesitated for a moment, but finally bowed again and changed her words to call him brother.

“Sister, get up quickly. You don’t have to be polite with me from now on!”

Pei Xiaoyuan took a step towards her, but ultimately did not step over the threshold. This time he stretched out his hands, half an arm’s length away from her, and again lifted them up in the air.

Xuyu bowed to him meticulously and then stood up.

From then on, the two of them recognized each other as brother and sister. After the formalities, they looked at each other in silence for a while.

Pei Xiaoyuan came here for this purpose. At this moment, his purpose was successfully achieved, and he felt that he should leave. But if he left like this, it seemed too abrupt. Not leaving? He didn’t know what else to say, and secretly hoped that she would speak first, but she seemed more reluctant to speak than him.

In this way, Pei Xiaoyuan and his new sister stood face to face across a threshold. He couldn’t keep looking into her eyes, so his sight could only drop down and stop at the sunset between the two of them, which was gently wrapping her shadow. In the beam of light, another hidden world appeared, with thousands of dust particles flying, each piece clearly visible. In this silent world, his ears seemed to catch a few faint sounds from her breath, and he couldn’t get rid of them. For a moment, he felt torment of slowing time.

It seemed like a long time had passed, or maybe it was just his illusion. Suddenly, he finally remembered something and patted his forehead lightly: “Look at me, I was just thinking about how to recognize you as my sister, and I forgot to prepare a gift for you. Sister, just tell me what you want!”

Xuyu looked at him and smiled, shaking her head: “Lord Pei and Brother treat me like this is already a great gift I can received.” She paused slightly, glanced at the threshold in front of him, moved out of the beam of light, stepped aside, and invited him to come in and sit down to talk with a smile.

Pei Xiaoyuan waved his hand.

“I won’t go in. In that case, let’s leave it for now. When you think of something, Sister, just tell me later. Don’t be polite with me.”

“Alright, I’ll make a note of that. Thank you, Brother.”

Pei Xiaoyuan nodded, turned around and looked at the darkening clouds above the west wall. “It’s getting late, I won’t bother you anymore. If you have any questions in the future, just tell me. I’m leaving now.”

“Brother please take care.”

Xuyu followed him out of the door and after walking a few steps, Pei Xiaoyuan motioned for her to come inside.

Xuyu didn’t insist any longer. She stopped and stood outside the threshold, watching him stride out of the yard until his back disappear.

Early the next morning, before the people in the county governor mansion had recovered from the excitement of the happy event that had just been reported during the day yesterday, another piece of news that had just been learned last night was spread. It was rumored that Master Pei and Miss Ye, who were supposed to be married, had recognized each other as siblings. Everyone didn’t believe it at first, but soon, word spread from He shi‘s side that Miss Ye had come here to visit relatives, and the so-called marriage was an arrangement that the county governor had made for Master Pei some time ago. The two things happened to coincide, so the rumor spread, and the family was ordered to strictly forbid anyone from talking about the matter again, let alone talking nonsense.

Some people didn’t know the truth and think it was true, but some people found it strange, such as Qingtou.

He remembered clearly that when Master Pei returned from hunting yesterday evening and he congratulated him, he mentioned Miss Ye. Judging from his reaction at that time, he had clearly acquiesced to the marriage. How come after Qingtou woke up, the old hen turned into a duck? But since He shi had said so, he naturally did not dare to say anything more. This morning, when it was just light, he saw Master Pei going out alone. He pretended not to see him. After the person left, he found that a few black-winged white-bellied magpies had flown in and landed on the wall next to the gate, chirping and making a lot of noise. This time, he was not polite and picked up a few clods of earth and blasted them away.

Chengping slept in the post house last night, and must still be sleeping soundly now. Pei Xiaoyuan got up so early to personally check all the matters before Chengping set out today, so as to avoid any omissions and make up for the inconvenience after he got on the road. He rode to the camp outside the city and saw a man striding towards him with a smile. It was He Jin.

He Jin needed to escort Chengping out of Ganliang, so he came earlier than Pei Xiaoyuan, and arrived at fifth watch (3-5 am). He had already checked everything and was waiting for Chengping to come. When he saw Pei Xiaoyuan appear, he asked: “Master, why do you have to go through so much trouble? Are you still unsure of my work?”

Pei Xiaoyuan looked around and saw clear flags, neat queues, and sufficient supplies.

“When I got up, I have nothing to do, so I just came out to run a little, just to wake the horse up.”

He Jin laughed out loud: “Master, could it be the saying ‘a joyful occasion boosts one’s spirit’? I am so stupid! I picked up Miss Ye all the way here and didn’t even notice it! It was only yesterday that I heard the news and learned about the happy event between you and Miss Ye! Congratulations, Master! Best wishes, Master! Miss Ye and you are truly a match made in heaven, a perfect pair! But, Master, when will the wedding be? On that day, I, Old He, will drink three hundred cups of wine and not go home until I get drunk!”

The surrounding team of soldiers led by He Jin also took the opportunity to gather around, echoing He Jin’s words, and congratulating Pei Xiaoyuan. Thinking that they would be able to have a feast and drink, everyone was all very excited – it turned out they were not as well-informed as the people in the county governor mansion, and they had not been updated of the latest developments.

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t expect to encounter such a scene when he came out early in the morning. He felt embarrassed in his heart, but still maintained a nonchalant look and said, “I’m afraid there’s a misunderstanding. Miss Ye has a deep connection with our Pei family. This time she only came to visit relatives. The so-called marriage is completely false. She and I are already call each other Brother and Sister. Please don’t spread rumors and ruin my sister’s reputation!”

Everyone looked at each other.

He Jin was stunned at first, and after glancing at his expression, he quickly stopped smiling, scanned the crowd, and said fiercely, “So that’s how it is! Damn it! Who started spreading those rumors yesterday?” He then turned to Pei Xiaoyuan, “Rest assured, Master! Now that I know, if anyone dares to spread this again and I, Old He, hear it, I will be the first to break his neck!”

Everyone who was caught in his glance felt a chill on their necks. They quickly shut up and scattered like birds.

Pei Xiaoyuan looked more serious and nodded slightly: “Since there’s nothing to do here, I will go first. Thank you Uncle He for your concern. I will come with His Highness later.”

“Take care, Sir!” He Jin smiled again and saw him off happily.

Pei Xiaoyuan was actually reluctant to go back immediately. When he came out just now, the look that Qingtou, that little servant, gave him made him feel uncomfortable. The other servants in the county governor mansion were probably also talking behind his back.

He felt a little annoyed and pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to go back to the post house, a man on horseback came over. He was Chengping’s attendant and said that his master had just changed his mind and would not leave for the time being, asking the people here to disperse and there was no need to wait for him.

Pei Xiaoyuan had no idea what Chengping was up to. When he found Chengping, he discovered that he had gone to the county governor mansion. He had just left Pei Ji’s place and was looking for him. When they bumped into each other, he asked Pei Xiaoyuan, “Where did you go so early in the morning? I didn’t see you when I came here!”

Pei Xiaoyuan just said he went out to run the horse.

“Why are you not leaving today? The troops are already assembled outside the city, waiting for you.”

“Just now I went to say goodbye to the county governor, and I heard that you and that girl has become brother and sister. From now on, you are her brother and she your sister?”

Pei Xiaoyuan nodded: “Yes.”

“What the hell is going on? I woke up and everything was completely different! I was with your uncle just now, so I can’t ask too much. Tell me quickly!”

Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t want to say too much, and only said: “She also has no intention of getting married, so Uncle made the decision and the marriage contract was terminated.”

Cheng Ping was stunned after hearing this, but soon, he pointed at him and laughed, almost laughing to his heart’s content: “Good Heavens! There are such things in this world! You actually can’t get into her eyes! Well, well, you reluctantly accept and she doesn’t want to do it, so you both just go your separate ways and each got what they want!”

Pei Xiaoyuan expressionlessly let him laugh, and when he finished laughing, he reminded him: “Are you really not leaving today?”

“No, no!”

Chengping looked around, stopped smiling and came closer, saying, “I’m going to ask you one more question, and you must answer me honestly.”

“What?”

“Are you really not interested in that young lady?”

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled, then said unhappily: “Who do you think I am? Since I have already recognized her as my adopted sister, I naturally treat her as my own sister. Why do you say that?”

“Okay! Since you said that, I don’t have to worry about anything!”

Pei Xiaoyuan glanced sideways: “What do you mean?”

“I heard that she is good at painting, so I want to ask her to paint for me.”

Pei Xiaoyuan turned and looked at him for a long time without saying a word.

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