The Bait Is Set

He sat beside the bed, looking tired.

“Wanning was in danger today, so I stayed longer.”

“Is she feeling better?”

“If she’s still alive, she’ll recover in time.”

He answered quickly, as if he’d prepared the reply in advance.

I suddenly smiled.

“You have more faith in her recovery than in your own son’s.”

Pei Cheng’an’s expression stiffened.

“My lady, are you blaming me?”

“How could I blame you?” I looked at him. “Your cousin is alone and in hardship. It’s only right that you take care of her. I merely remembered that on our wedding day you promised there would only ever be one mistress of the Pei household—me—and that you would give me all the accounting-room keys.”

His eyes darkened slightly.

“Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

“Nothing in particular.”

I rested a hand on my lower abdomen.

“Once the baby has recovered, I’d like to reorganize the household accounts. There’s another person in the residence now; I can’t keep letting you shoulder everything.”

Pei Cheng’an looked at me for a long while.

In that moment, perhaps he was weighing whether I truly wanted to manage the accounts, or whether I had learned something.

At last, he smiled.

“If my lady wishes to take charge, I’d naturally be glad.”

“Then have the accounts office bring me the keys tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow won’t work,” he said. “Several of the household stewards have been away these past two days. Let’s wait a few more days.”

“All right.”

I agreed readily.

He seemed surprised that I was so easy to persuade and reached out to stroke my hair.

I turned my face away and picked up the bowl of medicine beside me.

“You must be tired, my lord. Go rest early.”

His hand stopped in midair.

It was the first time I had ever avoided him.

Pei Cheng’an did not get angry. The warmth in his eyes simply grew colder.

He stood and left the room, then turned back to look at the Warm Pavilion once more.

His gaze was like someone looking at a coffin whose lid was about to be opened.

At daybreak, a cry of alarm came from the Warm Pavilion.

Qingque staggered out, her face pale. She said the young master had vomited milk again during the night and might not make it through the day.

The news quickly spread through the marquis’s residence.

Even Lu Wanning was helped over by a maid.

She wore a snow-fox cloak, her face nearly translucent with pallor. After every two steps, she coughed.

As soon as she entered, she took my hand, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Sister-in-law, it’s all my fault.”

I looked at her.

Lu Wanning cried beautifully. Even the arc of each falling tear seemed perfectly rehearsed.

“What have you done wrong?” I asked.

Her lips were pale. As if she had said something wrong, she hurriedly lowered her head.

“I… I only feel sorry for the young master.”

“Sorry for him?”

I clasped her hand in return, placing my fingertips on her pulse.

“Then why did you ask Daoist Yunxu to prepare medicine last night?”

Lu Wanning suddenly raised her head.

Her tears stopped.

I gave her no chance to explain. I only smiled faintly.

“I heard the maids say your illness kept you awake. I suppose I must have heard wrong.”

She tried to pull her hand away, but I wasn’t holding tightly. I simply waited for her to free herself.

Pei Cheng’an happened to enter just then. Seeing us, he frowned slightly.

“My lady, Wanning is frail. Don’t make her stand too long.”

I let go of Lu Wanning’s hand and said calmly, “My lord is right. Your cousin’s life is precious.”

Lu Wanning’s face grew even paler.

I noticed half a yellow talisman slipping from her sleeve.

Fresh vermilion ink stained it.

Only four characters had been written on it:

“Take the guide at Zi hour.”

I bent down, picked it up, and handed it back to her.

“Cousin,” I said, “hold on to this.”

Her fingertips were icy. When she took the talisman, she even forgot to pretend to smile.

I knew the fish had taken the bait.

Now I only needed to slowly tighten the line.

Physician Xie’s reply arrived that afternoon.

The letter was thin, but three densely written sheets were tucked inside.

In the past six months, four families in the capital had given birth to boys who then died in infancy.

At first, none of the four families could determine what illness had caused the deaths. Afterward, every one of them had invited Yunxu of White Cloud Temple to conduct a ritual.

More suspiciously, two of the families sold their land after the deaths and sent a large sum of money to Miaochun Pharmacy in the western part of the city.

On the last page was a warning handwritten by Physician Xie.

“Yunxu is not a member of the Daoist clergy. He was expelled for using forbidden prescriptions to harm people. The so-called Life-Continuing Guide requires a placenta and umbilical blood; if the infant is alive, it also requires heart’s blood taken within the first three days after birth.”

I stared at the words “heart’s blood” for a long time without moving.

Qingque stood beside me, trembling with rage.

“How dare they!”

“They dare.”

I folded the sheets.

“They’ve already harmed people before.”

When Pei Cheng’an arranged for me to take aconite powder, he had already decided that both my baby and I were expendable.

I couldn’t simply drive him out of my life.

I wanted to make sure he could never reach out and touch anyone again.

At dusk, Pei Cheng’an brought me news.

He said Lu Wanning was close to death. Daoist Yunxu had examined her and declared that she needed to borrow the good fortune of the Pei family’s newborn son for a blessing ritual.

It was to take place at Zi hour that night, in the small Buddhist shrine behind the Orchid Courtyard.

“A blessing ritual?” I asked.

“Just a blessing ritual,” he replied.

“The baby is so ill. Does he have to go too?”

Pei Cheng’an’s gaze wavered.

“The Daoist said the baby doesn’t need to be carried over. A lock of hair and a drop of blood will be enough.”

I laughed.

A few days ago, it was the placenta and umbilical blood. Today, it was a lock of hair and a drop of blood.

He’d told so many lies that even he seemed tired of them.

“Very well,” I said. “As his mother, I should pray for the baby myself.”

Pei Cheng’an clearly hadn’t expected me to agree.

He frowned. “You’ve only just given birth. It’s windy at night.”

“Didn’t you say the baby mattered more than anything?”

I looked up at him.

“If so, I’d crawl there if I had to.”

He was at a loss for words and could only agree.

After he left, Qingque lowered her voice.

“My lady, do you really want to go? That’s their territory.”

“That’s exactly why I have to go.”

I took a small key from beneath my pillow.

“How are things on Steward Li’s end?”

“The account books, the medicine packets, and the evidence of Fang Cheng’s dealings with the shopkeeper at Miaochun Pharmacy have all been delivered to Eldest Young Master. Physician Xie has also gone to invite people from the Court of Judicial Review.”

“What about Lu Wanning’s illness?”

Qingque sneered.

“Physician Xie examined her old prescriptions. She does have a cold ailment, but it’s nowhere near life-threatening. For three years, she’s been drinking cold-natured medicine that damaged her body, then pretending to vomit blood every few days to make the marquis feel sorry for her.”

I wasn’t surprised.

Lu Wanning’s greatest talent was making one part illness look ten parts pitiful.

She knew what Pei Cheng’an liked.

He liked being depended on.

He liked people placing their lives in his hands.

He liked feeling like an all-powerful savior.

And he truly enjoyed it.

So a woman feigning illness and a man feigning deep devotion had decided to use my baby to sanctify their little drama.

“One more thing,” Qingque said, bringing over a brocade pouch.