Chapter 6

11

The secret chamber, lit by candlelight, was not full of gold and jewels as I’d imagined. The walls were covered in paintings.

The person in them wore robes or padded jackets, looked angry or smiled… and every one of them was me.

No—more precisely, they were my elder brother.

Something flashed through my mind as I stared at the paintings, then vanished before I could grasp it.

My gaze settled on the man standing in front of them. I couldn’t look away.

Fu Nangui sat before the paintings, half-undressed, breathing heavily as he struggled to apply medicine to his own wound.

When he turned and saw all of us, he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Lord Pei, why bring so many people to visit without giving me any warning?”

Visit?

The way he said it made it sound as if this were my home—as if he and I had lived together for a long time.

And then there were all those paintings…

My pupils trembled.

I turned and saw the court historian writing furiously.

“In the seventh year of Great Zhou, on the day of the Summer Solstice, officials of the Censorate, led by Pei Feng, entered the manor of Regent Fu Nangui. They discovered an entire secret chamber full of indecent portraits of Pei Feng, while the Regent himself stood half-clothed, his springtime charms on full display, suffering unbearable pleasure as he did that thing while facing the portraits…”

I snatched the brush from his hand and snapped it in two.

“Before becoming an official, did you have an honest profession? Which of these portraits is indecent? Point it out! And what do you mean, ‘did that thing’? He was applying medicine! Don’t you know how to write ‘apply’ or ‘medicine’? Want me to teach you?”

The historian scratched his head, embarrassed.

“I was just… adding a little literary flair.”

Wonderful.

You added so much literary flair that it turned into erotica, did you?

Who writes like that?

I was usually so cautious, yet I reacted so fiercely that everyone around me looked at me with a knowing expression.

I could only see a dark future ahead.

The Censorate officials behind me whispered among themselves.

“Weren’t we here to investigate embezzlement?”

“I’m not sure… We should just report what we see. At least we’ll have something to write.”

“What should we write? That the Regent and Lord Pei are having an affair?”

I glared at the speaker.

He immediately changed his tune.

“It’s not clear yet, but it’s true that the Regent is in unrequited love with Lord Pei.”

That was it.

Not only had the rumor that Fu Nangui liked men been confirmed, but I’d become the story’s main character, too.

Everyone crowded in, then—almost in perfect unison—left me behind and filed out.

Fu Nangui and I looked at each other, then quietly looked away.

He’d put on an outer robe, but it hung open enough to reveal the clear lines of his chest.

I suspected he was doing it on purpose, but I had no proof.

“Your Highness, the lights here are too big… I mean, too bright. They’re dazzling. I’ll leave first.”

“Lord Pei.”

Fu Nangui called me back, his expression complicated.

“Now that you’ve seen all this… is there nothing you want to ask me?”

I raised a hand to stop him.

“No need. I understand.”

You’re in love with my brother. I can’t make that decision for him.

12

All the way home, I wondered how I should write to my brother about this.

But when I arrived, my real elder brother, Pei Feng, was walking toward me.

“Little sister! Your brother is here!”

I stared at him for a long moment, then burst into tears.

“You finally came! If you’d waited any longer, I’d have been played to death!”

My brother clearly had no idea how serious the situation was.

He thumped his chest confidently. “Don’t worry, little sister. I’ve completely recovered from the poison. This time, I’m going to make my mark in the capital!”

“Brother! I wish you every success. Since you’re here, I’m leaving!”

That night, I immediately packed my things.

At dawn, I set out for our old home in Pei County.

Before I left, I gave Pei Feng three pieces of advice.

“Be careful of the emperor.

“Be careful of Fu Nangui.

“Above all, remember the second one.”

I arrived home on the third day.

By my reckoning, the gift I’d ordered for Pei Feng at the blacksmith’s should be ready by now.

Brother, I don’t have much to give you.

An iron chastity belt… That’s how much I care.

13

Back in Pei County, I returned to the good life I’d had before: teasing cats and dogs, and climbing the wall to admire the handsome scholar next door whenever I was bored.

Still, I sometimes remembered my days at the prince’s manor.

I thought about Fu Nangui, wondering how he was doing now.

Before long, Pei Feng sent me a letter.

He said the rumor about Fu Nangui’s preference for men had spread throughout the court. To quell the gossip, the emperor had sent him to the battlefield, taking advantage of a disturbance on the border.

Pei Feng, meanwhile, had not only escaped the fallout—just as he’d promised, in a mere three months he had impeached everyone from top to bottom in the court.

Word was, he’d already been beaten twice after someone pulled a sack over his head.

The good reputation I’d carefully maintained for three years had been ruined by my brother.

Two more months passed.

On the day of the Winter Solstice, I heard that Second Cow from across the street had returned, bringing several fellow soldiers with him.

A whole group of handsome, muscular young men!

How could I not take a look?

I climbed onto the wall with practiced ease. But the moment I leaned down, I saw a face I knew all too well.

“Fu Nangui?”

Fu Nangui wore his armor. His usually sharp, cold gaze seemed to melt like snow in spring the moment he saw me.

“You don’t have to worry about finding somewhere to sleep.”

The moment he spoke, every soldier in the courtyard fell silent.

Fu Nangui pointed at me, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

“I’ll stay at her house.”

It turned out that his group had returned from the border and stopped to rest at Second Cow’s house in Pei County. But the house was too small to accommodate them all. They’d been worrying about where to sleep when I appeared.

Fu Nangui wanted to come, and I couldn’t exactly refuse.

After all, in my identity as Pei Ning, I’d worked at his manor for a few days.

“Didn’t you say the prince’s manor treated you well? Why did you suddenly stop coming?”

Fu Nangui asked casually on the way back to my house.

I smiled awkwardly.

“My brother… found some money on the road. We’re not struggling as much as before.”