Chapter 4

“Who knows where she got the money to buy cloth here? Perhaps she got it by…”

“Pei Shan!”

Pei Ying was furious.

“One more rude word, and I’ll tell our brother to send you to the ancestral hall for three days of repentance!”

Pei Shan was unwilling, but she shut her mouth.

After that, when we met in the schoolroom, she mostly confined herself to glaring and grinding her teeth.

The army’s return was drawing near.

To turn the new cloth into clothes, I would need my brother’s measurements. That would have to wait until he came home.

For now, an embroidered belt would make a fitting welcome-home gift.

The sky had been clear for days. As the sun sank westward, evening clouds spread across the horizon.

I sat in the courtyard, enjoying the view as I leisurely embroidered multicolored clouds and birds in flight.

Chunxin couldn’t help exclaiming, “Such fine silk and thread must have cost so much. Can you really bear to spend it, my lady?”

I smiled.

“However much it costs, it’s worth it.”

Because it was for my brother.

Outside the courtyard, Pei Yan stood silently, a slight smile on his lips.

Hearing me hesitate over how to embroider one auspicious cloud, he spoke with unusual gentleness.

“If you can’t decide, leave it for now. There’s plenty of time.”

“First, you should embroider your wedding robes.”

I sprang to my feet.

Pei Yan approached slowly. His mild expression made my skin crawl.

“Master Pei, what do you mean? Have the matriarch and Lady Pei arranged a marriage for me?”

I questioned him urgently, too frightened to care about etiquette.

“If I’m betrothed, why haven’t I been told? My brother will soon be back in the capital. Surely my marriage ought to be decided by him…”

The girl’s lips kept moving.

In her agitation, a sunset flush spread over her pale cheeks. Not a garden full of flowers could rival her beauty.

Pei Yan lifted his hand and lightly caught a strand of black hair drifting in the evening breeze.

He had always known she was beautiful.

Otherwise, that first glimpse through the window by the crabapple tree could never have made him forget the mountain of files on his desk and stand there staring.

But her low standing made her an unsuitable match.

And the head of the Pei clan must never lose himself in a woman’s beauty.

The more infatuated she became, the more firmly he had to sever the attachment. She needed to understand that a man with his brilliant future was not a husband she could presume to desire.

Yet people were right to say that love was difficult to unravel.

Her tricks were scarcely clever. Somehow, nevertheless, he had fallen into them.

When his grandmother and mother mentioned that the cousin was getting older and asked whether they should find her a husband, he had blurted out, “No need.”

“I mean, the Lis have no relatives left to care for her, and she is devoted to me. We may as well keep her by my side. It would be a way to look after the daughter of Father’s old friend.”

Once he’d said it, his mind was made up.

Yes.

A cunning, deceitful woman like her ought to be kept close, where he could teach her properly, little by little.

Pei Yan smiled faintly and condescended to reassure her.

“Why the panic? Are you so unwilling to marry anyone else?”

“You’re going to marry me.”

“You’ll begin as a concubine. When I have a lawful wife, if you serve her diligently, it may be possible to raise you to senior concubine.”

His eyes held mine, as though waiting for me to rejoice, then kneel and thank him for the favor.

There was not a trace of joy on my face.

His smile slowly disappeared.

“What is it? Aren’t you happy to be with me?”

“Haven’t you always been infatuated with me, doing everything you could to attach yourself to me?”

He stepped closer.

I backed away sharply.

“No!”

His face darkened. Afraid to anger him, I tried desperately to explain.

“Before… the matriarch and Lady Pei wanted to bring us together. That was why I had the audacity to approach you, Cousin. I’m sorry for troubling you so often.”

“After the spring banquet, I understood how much you hated me. I gave up any such thoughts long ago. I would never dare pester you again!”

“If the matriarch is forcing you to marry me because she wants an heir, I’ll explain everything to her now. She mustn’t make a rash match that damages your future!”

I turned toward Wutong Courtyard, but Pei Yan seized my arm.

He studied every line of my face, trying to see whether I was lying.

After a long scrutiny, he gave a soft laugh.

“A practiced liar indeed.”

“Even now, you’re pretending to retreat so you can gain more.”

“Do you think being a concubine is beneath you? Are you still after the position of lawful wife?”