Chapter 5
The night wind howled like crying ghosts.
Doors and windows rattled. Amid the thickening eeriness, a cold reply came from outside. “Master Pei, your principal husband, is not in the residence tonight.”
“…”
“Please choose someone else, miss.”
No more choosing. At this rate, I’d have enough monsters in my room for a full mahjong table.
“You tell me to change my mind and I’m supposed to obey? Who’s the mistress here?” I decided to be firm. “I don’t care. I want Master Pei tonight! If you can’t do it, get lost!”
A terrible silence fell outside.
I was about to ask where Pei Yu had gone when the door began rattling under frantic blows. The servant was pleading. “Please choose another, miss! Otherwise Xiaozhuzi will be in terrible trouble!”
“Please, miss!”
I ignored him. Gradually, his voice grew shrill and desolate, no longer human.
“Please, miss!”
“Please, miss!”
The crimson wooden door shook under the pounding and soon threatened to collapse. I hurried to the corner and dragged the folding screen against it. That helped. The painted maid had now risen to her feet, both hands raised as though pushing against the door, her eyes fixed fiercely on me.
The forces inside and outside achieved a perfect balance.
Ignoring the manic pounding, I lay back in the lady’s bed. I had no choice: staying idle too long also drained my health bar.
After a night of torment, I finally made it to morning.
At the first crow of a rooster, the pounding stopped.
Then came a long, hoarse howl, as though something refused to accept defeat, or was furiously accusing someone.
Once everything quieted, I moved the screen and opened the door. No one was outside, only a puddle of gray-black pus giving off a pungent stench.
I was covering my nose to step over it when the courtyard gate creaked open nearby. Pei Yu stood beyond it in jade-colored robes, his face veiled, looking toward me.
Some beauties owe their beauty to their features, others to their bearing.
This one’s face wasn’t even necessary. His timeless grace was as pure as frost and snow.
I jumped over the unidentified puddle and nearly slipped on landing. He swept over like a gust of wind and caught me in the crook of his arm.
“Careful, my lady.”
His voice was still clear and gentle.
I turned my face away and pushed him off.
“Where were you last night?”
Tension hung between us. After a long time, Pei Yu spoke. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m your wife. Why shouldn’t I?”
Perhaps he’d never encountered this maneuver. He fell silent.
I wanted to expose that hypocritical face, but knew I couldn’t rush it. My eyes filled with tears. “If you really cared about me, how could you stay out all night and leave me alone here?
“Everything you’ve said was a lie! You deceived me, fooled me, played with me! Boo-hoo!”
I covered my face and sobbed loudly.
My crying made Pei Yu go rigid. One hand hung in the air before he finally patted my back mechanically. “Don’t cry. I was wrong.”
I caught his hand and refused to let go. “You think admitting it is enough?
“No. You have to make it up to me!”
Through the veil, I could faintly see his features, perfectly still and expressionless. “Oh? What compensation does my lady desire?”
Since he didn’t seem about to attack, I seized my chance. “…I want to redecorate my room.”
To my surprise, he agreed.
That very day, he ordered the servants to throw all the strange furniture outside the courtyard.
I meant to throw out the painting too, but Pei Yu, who had been watching without interfering, suddenly objected. “Its owner will be very angry if you discard it.”
An ordinary sentence, with something eerie behind it. I hastily picked up the painting. “You know whose this is?”
He nodded. “That style is unmistakably your own elder brother’s.
“He likes to mix fresh blood with ink, and has some reputation in the city. I warned you long ago, but you would never listen. Seizing his proudest works by force was bound to harm your relationship sooner or later.”
Touched by this wonderfully direct clue, I took his arm. “I was wrong, husband.”
Pei Yu: “…”
“Wait. What did you call me?”
“Husband.”
He stared for a long time, then reached beneath his veil and sighed deeply.
“This is the first time you’ve called me husband.”
A system panel appeared: [Pei Yu’s affection +5. Current affection: 75/100.]
I promptly pulled him toward the door. “Better to make peace than enemies. Husband, why don’t you take me to my brother right now so I can apologize?”