TL: Hua
Chapter 32.2: The reason
The group had a meal at a restaurant on Lan Yin Street. After eating, Pei Xiting put Pei Jintang into Zhao Yi’s carriage, while he slowly strolled back.
In the evening, Lan Yin Street was lit with many candles, but there was little sign of domestic life. Most of the Longhe Guards who lived near the government office lived alone or with two or three colleagues, rarely with families.
Pei Xiting met two Longhe Guards on the way, nodded in greeting, and returned to his own courtyard.
“Pei-wenshu.” The door to the neighboring courtyard opened, and You Zong stood at the entrance in plain clothes.
Pei Xiting turned around and walked over. “Lord You, you’ve returned very early today.”
You Zong “hmm”ed and said, “I interrogated that thug. This person has been following Wang Yelai for about three months and has never seen Wang Yelai go to Qing Lingling, but he is very close to Young Marquis Shangguan. Today, he was ordered to kidnap you, most likely because of Young Marquis Shangguan. And according to him,” he paused, choosing his words carefully, “Wang Yelai seems to admire Young Marquis Shangguan quite a bit and therefore dislikes you greatly.”
“He likes Shangguan Jie, so he’s jealous of me,” Pei Xiting understood, saying in a low voice, “What a licking dog[mfn]Internet slang, and it’s quite explanatory. The behavior of pleasing someone although the other party treats you like a doormat.[/mfn].”
You Zong didn’t quite understand, but instinctively knew it was a derogatory term. “I have already written a letter to the Changning Marquis Mansion. Young Marquis Shangguan wouldn’t want to make an enemy of the Longhe Division because of Wang Yelai. Once he finds out, he will naturally discipline his dog.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Pei Xiting raised his eyes and looked at You Zong for two breaths, then suddenly said, “Lord You, are you perhaps seeing someone else through me?”
He was that perceptive. You Zong was silent for a moment, then said, “Yes.”
Pei Xiting was curious. “Do I look very much like him?”
“No,” You Zong shook his head. “In terms of appearance, there’s actually no resemblance. But the way he looked at people when trying to ingratiate himself was very similar. And every time he asked me for something, he would say that one sentence.”
Pei Xiting said, “You are truly the best person in the world?”
You Zong smiled faintly. “Yes.”
His voice was very soft, like a murmur. Pei Xiting guessed that the person was no longer alive.
Sure enough, You Zong said, “If he had grown up, he would be eighteen this year… I heard you like to eat fish. He was a wild boy who grew up in the mountains and was best at grilling fish. Even His Highness said it was delicious. Perhaps you would have liked it too.”
“If even His Highness said it was good, then it must have been a top-notch delicacy.” The person was gone, and Pei Xiting couldn’t think of many comforting words. “Lord You, he is the stars and moon in the sky, the four seasons in the world, always accompanying you. As long as you remember him, he will still be by your side.”
He took out a paper packet from his sleeve; inside were candies.
“I just bought some plum candies, sour and refreshing, perfect for this weather. But the owner was a bit of a swindler, kept trying to trick me into buying a big jar. The price was like robbery. If they weren’t so delicious, I wouldn’t have let him rob me…” Pei Xiting grumbled as he picked out six candies and stuffed them into You Zong’s sleeve. “Here, take these. If you don’t like them, don’t throw them away; you can give them back to me.”
Having said that, he turned and walked to his door, opened it, and went inside.
You Zong held the handful of candies, feeling their weight. After a long while, he unwrapped one and ate it. It tasted of plum, but with a mixture of other flavors. Suddenly hearing something, he looked up at the clear, starry sky. A young boy grinned, revealing his canines, waving and calling out with a smile, “Brother!”
You Zong returned to his bedroom, walked to the bookshelf, and twisted a mechanism. A small compartment in the middle of the bookshelf gently flipped open, revealing a small memorial tablet. He lit incense, gently placed it in the lotus burner, and replied, “Your brother is here to see you, Ah Jing.”
Faint smoke curled upwards; the room was extremely quiet.
The Crown Prince opened his eyes, looked at the small memorial tablet in the compartment, and said, “Old Bai’s candy shop closed down. No one’s to blame; it just kept getting worse and worse, and the prices were high. But ‘Kong Family Candy Balls’ on Lan Yin Street are thriving.”
He glanced at the name on the tablet, paused for a moment, then turned and left.
Yu Shaoyun placed the small jar of candy in front of the memorial tablet, reached out and touched it, saying, “I bought you orange candy, Ah Jing. Happy eighteenth birthday.”
*
“No wonder,” Pei Xiting lay on the bamboo chair, drawing, his feet tapping rhythmically. “I was wondering why Lord You was so lenient towards me; it turns out he was missing a deceased friend.”
“He was probably talking about his younger brother, You Jing,” Yuan Fang said, sitting beside him washing clothes. “Back then, there was indeed a young boy who used a saber by the Fifth Prince’s side. He was a fierce little wolf. During the Fifth Prince’s assassination attempt, he protected his master with his life, taking several arrows and dying because of it.”
Pei Xiting had once heard that You Zong’s parents were both hunters. He didn’t have a prominent family background, but he was favored by the Fifth Prince early on and became his attendant, receiving training along the way. Pei Xiting hadn’t known he had such a brave and loyal brother.
Yuan Fang wrung out the water, stood up with the clothes, walked to the courtyard, shook them a few times, and hung them on the rope to dry, including Pei Xiting’s.
The young master didn’t lift a finger for housework, but Yuan Fang was more than happy to earn some money washing clothes. He turned to fetch the water basin when suddenly, he sharply turned his head, noticing a large cat perched on the wall.
“Little King?” Pei Xiting followed his gaze and saw the adorable little creature. He immediately waved his hand. The little creature jumped over the wall and walked with elegant steps to the bamboo chair, haughtily raising its head to look at Pei Xiting.
Seeing that it didn’t seem aggressive, Yuan Fang turned back to his work.
Pei Xiting reached out to pet the tiger’s head, not asking where it came from. He coaxed and tricked it into his arms, pointed to the drawings on his lap, and said, “Pick one.”
Little King “pondered” for a moment, then raised its front paw and pressed it on the “pointed watermelon hat.”
Pei Xiting happily said, “Okay, let’s wear watermelon hats in the summer. I’ll take the design to get it custom-made tomorrow, and we’ll have sun hats too.”
Little King patted Pei Xiting’s leg, as if saying, “This Great King is very satisfied.” Pei Xiting quickly cupped his hands in thanks.
Little King strolled around the courtyard. Pei Xiting ignored it and continued to lower his head to revise the details of the drawing. Suddenly, he heard a thud. Looking back, Little King had jumped over to the neighboring courtyard, probably breaking something.
“Who allowed you to run around on your own?” You Zong’s voice rang out. “Come here.”
Little King quickly ran, but as soon as it poked its head over the wall, a hand pressed it down. It quickly looked at Pei Xiting, seeking help.
Pei Xiting put down his paper and brush, carried a stool over to perch on the wall, and negotiated with You Zong while standing on tiptoes. “Lord You, let the child go.”
Lord You was stern and merciless. “It went out without permission and damaged property. I must arrest it and bring it to the East Palace for questioning.”
“I am willing to fully compensate Lord You for the damaged property and personally apologize to His Highness,” Pei Xiting said sincerely.
Upon hearing this, Lord You thought for a moment and kindly released Little King. Little King quickly climbed over the wall and escaped, landing with Pei Xiting.
Afterward, Pei Xiting paid forty coins out of his own pocket to compensate Lord You for the potted plant. Then he personally wrote a letter, had Little King dip its paw in ink to stamp it, put it in a small satchel, and had the little tiger carry it on its back home.
Late at night, the Crown Prince looked at the little thing that tiptoed to the bedside and said, “Still know how to come back?”
It was the first time Little King had slipped out of the East Palace on its own. It had intended to leave without alerting anyone but unexpectedly caused “legal trouble” outside. Now, under its master’s gaze, its head hung even lower. It cautiously approached the bedside and shook the small satchel on its body.
The Crown Prince looked at the small dog-shaped bag that children liked to carry and took out a letter from it, which clearly read: Respectfully Presented to His Highness.
It was Pei Xiting’s handwriting.
Opening it, the letter was not at all formal or meticulous. In the upper left corner was a drawing of Little King with its paws pressed together, and next to it were small words:
“After self-reflection, I have deeply realized my mistake. I should not have slipped out of the house without permission and damaged Lord You’s potted plant. I know I was wrong and promise not to do it again. I hope Master will not deduct my food.” Below was another drawing of Little King holding a sign that read “I was wrong,” and in the lower right corner was a tiger paw print, clearly Little King’s seal.
The Crown Prince closed the letter, reached out and gently pinched Little King’s ear, and said softly, “You two have quite similar temperaments; you get along well.”
Little King sniffed its master’s hand, sensing that he wasn’t displeased. It then climbed onto the edge of the couch, nudged its head against its master’s leg, rubbed against him affectionately, and kept him company while he attended to official duties.
The candlelight in the bedchamber did not extinguish until a dull thunder flashed in the middle of the night, and then a rainstorm poured in.
The candlelight flickered violently. Pei Xiting was startled by the thunder and burrowed under the covers. Unfortunately, the thin summer quilt wasn’t very effective. He raised his hand and clutched the pillow, his brow furrowed tightly.
The thunder sounded both near and far, indistinct, but one clap followed another, as if trying to shatter one’s eardrums.
“Hurry up and give me the money, or I’ll kill him!” A deliberately lowered, coarse male voice scraped against Pei Xiting’s nerves. He vaguely heard the female voice on the other end of the phone, calm and resolute in a way he admired. “This money, even if you get it, you won’t live to enjoy it. It’s a waste of effort.”
“Don’t talk so much nonsense. Within two days, I want to see the money, or I’ll chop this little brat into pieces and give you a ‘red’ scattering flower show!” The man’s rough hand suddenly clamped Pei Xiting’s cheek, gesturing for him to speak into the phone.
Subconsciously, Pei Xiting struggled with his wrists tied behind his back, his dry lips twitching, and he finally said in a trembling voice, “Mommy…”
There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone. Then the woman said, “The money is impossible for you to get. Let him go, and our family can pretend this never happened.”
The kidnapper sneered. “Who’s stupid enough to believe you! I want the money. From now on, every three hours, I’ll cut off one of this brat’s fingers. Let’s see what he can do without hands in the future!”
“Our family doesn’t only have this one son,” the woman said.
That simple sentence was even more shocking than the muffled thunder outside the warehouse. Pei Xiting was stunned. He looked at the number on the phone screen without speaking.
The kidnapper was also taken aback, then scoffed. “Talking big, trying to scare me, huh? You think I wouldn’t dare, huh?!”
The sharp dagger plunged into the flesh, as if piercing through the heart from the right abdomen. Pei Xiting cried out in pain, gasping for breath as he lay on the kidnapper’s lap like a dying puppy, not begging for mercy or help.
Just as the kidnapper was about to speak, a muffled sound suddenly came from the other end of the phone, like a door being broken open. Then a voice, authoritative without anger, spoke, “Don’t hurt my grandson. The money, I won’t give you a single penny less.”
Pei Xiting’s vision blurred. In his dizziness, he heard the voice say, “Wenjuan, hold on, Grandpa is coming to take you home.”
The faint aroma of tea brushed against his cheek, and Pei Xiting suddenly opened his eyes, but there was no elegant and gentle old man in front of him. He curled up his legs and reached out to touch the scar under the snake tattoo, staring blankly at the blurry bed curtains.
“Are you alright?”
The familiar voice came from outside the door. Pei Xiting then realized that he had kicked the bamboo pillow off the bed in his dream. He paused for a moment and said, “I’m fine, just had a nightmare. Sorry for waking you.”
For Yuanfang, the sound of bamboo pillows falling to the ground was already clear enough.
Yuan Fang didn’t ask much, just said, “I have medicine; do you want some?”
Pei Xiting asked, “What kind of medicine?”
“A kind of internal sedative,” Yuan Fang said. “You’ll fall asleep as soon as you take it.”
Pei Xiting smiled. “Give me a bit.”
Yuan Fang turned and went to his room to get the medicine. He returned and pushed open Pei Xiting’s door, holding a cup of cold water. He had Pei Xiting swallow some of the powdered medicine and said, “How does it taste?”
“No taste…” Pei Xiting pursed his lips and fell back down, unconscious.
Yuan Fang reached out to help Pei Xiting cover himself with the quilt, looked at his slightly red eyelids, and muttered, “Nightmares on a thundering day…”
He looked at the remaining sedative, planning to buy some more tomorrow, as Yejing often had thunderstorms in the summer.
Lowering the bed curtains and extinguishing the candle, Yuan Fang left the room. He closed the door and said, “This is not a place for you to be.”
The person in the bamboo hat, who had been eavesdropping on the roof, stiffened all over, flipped down into the courtyard, and said, “Master asked me to bring you back—”
Rain poured down heavily, and lightning flashed, momentarily illuminating the courtyard as bright as day. Yuan Fang raised his eyes, his pupils black as ink, a murderous intent rising in the dim rain.
The person in the bamboo hat felt a chill in his throat, swallowed hard, turned, and slipped away.
Yuan Fang stood under the eaves, letting out a deep breath.
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