Chapter 99: Sugar

“Fifth Sister went to Second Sister’s place,” Ji Xiangzhen said with a smile as she looked at Jia Ling. “She just left.”

“Oh, that’s a pity. I’ll leave the gifts I prepared here. When she gets back, give them to her to take home; they’re just some little trinkets girls like.” Jia Ling smiled back at Ji Xiangzhen. It had been a long time since she had spoken to him so pleasantly. Jia Ling assumed that after seeing her sister, Ji Xiangzhen had been persuaded to see reason and had finally “come around.” He was very pleased.

Jia Ling raised his hand to drape it over Ji Xiangzhen’s shoulder, leading her toward the inner room. “Is your body feeling better?” he asked.

Ji Xiangzhen tightened her grip on the small vial of knockout incense, a shadow of gloom flashing through her eyes. This hand currently draped over her—who knew how many women it had held? They said a courtesan’s jade arms were pillows for a thousand men; how was Jia Ling any better? Were his arms not pillows for ten thousand? Ji Xiangzhen felt a sudden surge of nausea.

She forced a smile and replied softly, “Much better.”

Underneath her sleeve, she stealthily uncorked the vial and sprinkled the dust-like powder onto her handkerchief. Halfway through, Jia Ling suddenly tugged at her. Ji Xiangzhen panicked for a split second and spilled half the bottle. She immediately held her breath.

Jia Ling pulled her down to sit beside him on the edge of the bed. He asked softly, “Xiangzhen, regarding the matter of Xue Fu, have you thought it through?”

He paused, then continued, “You must believe me. All I want is a child. In my eyes, she is no different from a pig or a sheep. The only love in my heart is for you.”

Ji Xiangzhen stopped looking at him. Suppressing her disgust, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “Rest assured, I have thought it through clearly.”

Jia Ling laughed. He was a handsome man with two deep dimples on his cheeks. “That’s wonderful,” he said.

“We haven’t been close in a long time.” Jia Ling stood up, bolted the door from the inside, and returned to Ji Xiangzhen’s side. He shed his outer robe and embraced her. “Xiangzhen, I missed you. Did you miss me too?”

The scent of a man pressed against her. Ji Xiangzhen’s brow furrowed. She rubbed the handkerchief stained with the incense between her fingers, gritted her teeth, and wrapped her arms around Jia Ling’s waist. “I missed you too,” she whispered.

“Good,” Jia Ling said. “Let’s go to the bed.”

As he spoke, he moved to take off his inner tunic, but Ji Xiangzhen stopped him.

“No need. I’ll help you undress in a moment.”

Ji Xiangzhen laughed softly. “First, close your eyes…”

Jia Ling laughed heartily. “Alright.” He leaned over to embrace Ji Xiangzhen, pushing her down onto the bed, and closed his eyes to kiss her.

…

Bao Ning was hidden inside a cramped, dark wardrobe. Clothes and bedding took up most of the space, forcing her to huddle in Pei Yuan’s arms. She listened to the commotion outside in shock, her face burning.

“A-Yuan, A-Yuan, let’s go,” Bao Ning whispered, her toes curling in embarrassment. “How can we eavesdrop on a corner like this? How am I supposed to face Big Sister in the future? I can’t look anyone in the eye!”

“They are both right out there. Where could you possibly run to?” Pei Yuan leaned carelessly against the back of the wardrobe, one long arm hooking Bao Ning against his chest. He lifted her chin with a finger and smirked. “How about we join in too? You two can listen to each other, then no one owes anyone anything.”

Bao Ning gave him a light pinch. “What shameless nonsense are you talking about!”

“You think I’m joking?” Pei Yuan lowered his voice. “Do I look like I’m joking with you?”

It was pitch black in the wardrobe. Bao Ning couldn’t see Pei Yuan’s expression, only his eyes—dark and brilliant. Bao Ning knew Pei Yuan’s temperament; she had no idea what went on in his head. He did whatever he felt like and possessed almost no bottom line. A thing like this… he was truly capable of doing it.

“Don’t cause trouble…”

Bao Ning tried to back away immediately. She stumbled, stepped on something, and her legs went weak as she nearly fell.

Pei Yuan growled through gritted teeth as he caught her waist. “You stepped on my foot!”

Bao Ning pursed her lips, then suddenly let out a stifled giggle.

Pei Yuan whispered, “Still stepping on it! Let go!”

Laughing, Bao Ning fell back into his embrace and hugged his waist. “I didn’t know your foot was there,” she whispered. “My fault, I didn’t mean it.”

“Is the Marquis of Chongyuan’s estate so poor? Making such a tiny place… I can’t even fit my legs.” Pei Yuan grabbed Bao Ning’s arms and pulled her in front of him, dismissively dusting off his sleeve. “Don’t gnaw on me when you laugh. You’ve gotten my sleeve wet. I didn’t have many nice clothes to begin with…”

Outside, Ji Xiangzhen and Jia Ling were busy with goodness-knows-what. Bao Ning leaned against Pei Yuan’s chest, tugging at his hair, listening to the sounds while chatting about domestic trifles.

“Look at you, acting so aggrieved. Am I mistreating you? Not giving you food or clothes? What do you mean you don’t have nice clothes?”

“Half this wardrobe is filled with your dresses. My clothes are folded and piled in a tiny corner, not even as high as one of your fingers. You call that being rich?” Pei Yuan squeezed her hand. “Behave. Put your hands down and stop pulling my hair.”

Bao Ning put her hands behind her back and argued, “I prepared plenty for you, but you wouldn’t wear them. Later, they all got moth-eaten.”

Pei Yuan asked, “What about my old clothes?”

Bao Ning replied, “I let Mama Liu cut them up to use as rags in the kitchen. Mama Liu said your fabric is high quality—it absorbs water and oil particularly well. The kitchen servants were all fighting to use them…” Seeing Pei Yuan’s increasingly hostile gaze, she stopped and mouthed: What’s wrong?

Pei Yuan said resentfully, “You turned my old clothes into kitchen rags?”

Bao Ning asked, “Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

Pei Yuan asked again, “And my old boots?”

“Burned,” Bao Ning answered. “I asked Uncle Zhang who feeds the horses if your boot soles could be used for horseshoes. He said no, that horseshoes must be made of iron. So I threw them into the woodpile as kindling. The kitchen servants even said your soles were great for starting fires—they burn long and bright…”

Pei Yuan asked, “And your old clothes?”

“Those are kept in a large trunk, of course,” Bao Ning said. “My styles are very nice. They’re old now and out of fashion, but who knows, they might become trendy again in a few years. I have to keep the patterns and styles.”

“Oh.” Pei Yuan narrowed his eyes at her. “So my clothes aren’t good-looking?”

Bao Ning looked surprised. “Don’t all men’s clothes look the same? You just change the color. What’s there to look good or not?”

She sensed Pei Yuan was getting a bit annoyed, so she reached into her satchel to find some sugar. “Alright, alright. Here, have some sugar. I’ll give you some money tomorrow; you can go buy whatever you like. Don’t argue with me here.”

Bao Ning fished out two plum candies. She peeled the paper and stuffed one into Pei Yuan’s mouth and one into her own. She asked, “You’ve been standing for so long, do your legs hurt?”

Pei Yuan mumbled around the candy, “It’s fine. Bearable.”

“Rest your head on my shoulder.” Bao Ning pulled his head onto her shoulder. “I’ll help support some of the weight; you’ll feel better.”

Bao Ning smiled and pinched his cheek. “Be a good boy, A-Yuan. When we go home tomorrow, I’ll make you something delicious. You’ve worked hard today.”

Pei Yuan gave her a strange look, feeling a bit awkward. He was a prominent figure outside, used to giving orders and having countless people hanging on his every breath. How was it that with Bao Ning, he was being coaxed like a child?

However, it felt quite comfortable.

No matter how bitter, exhausting, or irritating his work was, he could always find a moment of ease and peace with Bao Ning.

…

Zhao Qian followed the carriage to the stables in the back courtyard of the Marquis of Chongyuan’s estate.

The horses were tied to pillars. He was hanging under the carriage, watching with his own eyes as a horse flicked its tail and dropped a pile of filth right beneath it. Zhao Qian was already sick; he had been shaken dizzy during the journey. Faced with such a disgusting sight, he nearly vomited up bile.

He waited until the driver went to relieve himself, then quickly untied the ropes binding him and crawled out from under the carriage.

Faced with the overpowering smell of horse manure, Zhao Qian bent over the carriage wheel, gasping for air.

Fortunately, this trip hadn’t been for nothing. Under the carriage, during the first half of the journey, he had indeed overheard much useful information. It was only during the second half that he couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted, only waking up slowly after they entered the city gates.

Zhao Qian wiped his face, forcing his trembling legs to walk. Limping, he avoided the staff and found a back gate to slip out.

He had to tell Pei Xiao quickly.

He had to write him a letter!

Lacking paper and pen, Zhao Qian tore a strip from his white inner tunic. He went to the back door of a kitchen and found a piece of charcoal. He sharpened the charcoal and recalled the things he heard under the carriage, writing them down point by point.

He folded the fabric, found a begging child on the street, and pressed five mace of silver into his hand. “Kid, go to the Crown Prince’s manor. Pretend to be a beggar and look for a man named Chang Xi. Give this to him. Did you hear me?”

Zhao Qian crouched down and threatened him fiercely, “If you do it well, come back to me and I’ll give you another five mace. Otherwise, I’ll slaughter you.”

The child was terrified by his soot-covered, bedraggled appearance. Not daring to refuse, he hurried away.

Zhao Qian breathed a sigh of relief. As if all his strength had left him, he lay down on the child’s burlap sack to rest his feet, not caring about the dirt. He took a bite of a steamed bun from a broken bowl, but it tasted sour, so he spat it out. He squinted at the child’s receding back, thinking secretly: Once this succeeds, my life of hardship will finally be over, won’t it?!

…

At the street corner ahead, Wei Meng had been following him with his sword in his arms for a long time.

When there is an extra person on a carriage, the sound of the wheels and the tracks left on the ground change. Pei Yuan had noticed from the start and told him to pay close attention. Sure enough, not fifteen minutes after arriving at the Marquis’s estate, a “mud monkey” crawled out from under the carriage.

This “Qian-er” was interesting. With such perseverance, why not take the imperial exams? Why choose the filthy business of clinging to the bottom of a carriage?

Wei Meng shook his head. He could foresee that this Qian-er’s future would be miserable; Pei Yuan would not let him off easily.

Wei Meng stretched out a foot to stop the begging child. He used two taels of silver to trick the secret message out of his hand, then gave him another two taels, coaxing him, “Go walk around the entrance of the Crown Prince’s manor for a bit, then go back and tell that man the letter has been delivered.”

The child was overjoyed to hold the silver and nodded vigorously.

“Thank you, Master!”

…

Inside the wardrobe, Bao Ning had already eaten two candies. She and Pei Yuan were huddled together, so drowsy they were about to fall asleep.

Pei Yuan asked, “What flavor is the candy in your mouth?”

Bao Ning said, “Peanut.”

“I haven’t tried that yet.” Pei Yuan pinched her cheeks, forcing her mouth open. “Spit it out and let me taste.”

Bao Ning pushed the candy out with the tip of her tongue, holding it between her lips. As Pei Yuan leaned down to take it, Ji Xiangzhen suddenly pulled open the wardrobe door.

Her hair was a bit messy, but her clothes were mostly in order. She said, ” I’ve drugged him unconscious. Come out quickly!”

Seeing the scene inside, Ji Xiangzhen froze. “Or, uh, do you two need more time?”

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