Chapter 5
Lu Yan had only just reached the camp gates when someone called him over. Young General Pei wanted to see him.
He had no time to put down his things before going to Pei Xuan.
When they had finished discussing military business, Pei Xuan looked at him.
“I hear you’ve just married. No wonder you waited until the very last day to return. When the fighting eases, I’ll give you a few days to spend with your wife.”
Lu Yan thanked him.
Pei Xuan’s gaze fell on the food box beside him.
Before Lu Yan left, I had filled it with red-bean pastries.
Lu Yan hesitated.
“If you’d like to try one, General, you may have a piece.”
Pei Xuan heard what he was leaving unsaid and could not resist teasing him.
“Did your wife make them? How possessive. You can only bear to spare a single piece.”
Lu Yan flushed at the teasing and murmured an assent.
Of all the soldiers Pei Xuan had met since arriving, Lu Yan was the most outstanding, the one he admired most.
Young, composed, brave.
His background was unblemished, too. Pei Xuan hoped to advance him and make him a trusted confidant, so he spoke freely.
“These are very popular in the capital, you know. I never expected to find them on the frontier.”
“As it happens, my sweetheart makes them particularly well. Better than the finest restaurant in the capital.”
Pei Xuan took a bite. His smile slowly faded.
By the time he swallowed the last mouthful, his face was expressionless.
The sweetness of red bean still lingered on his tongue.
Suddenly he asked,
“You said your wife made these.”
“They’re only found in the capital. Is that where she’s from?”
“What is your wife’s name?”
“You guessed correctly, General. My wife is indeed from the capital.”
Pei Xuan pressed him.
“Which household? What’s her surname? Her full name?”
Usually, to win people over, he put on an easygoing manner.
Now his gaze chilled as he looked at Lu Yan, and something menacing entered his expression.
“The Lins.”
Lu Yan spoke the name.
Pei Xuan’s eyes grew darker.
But then Lu Yan continued,
“She was Miss Lin’s personal maid. Her name is Xiaotao. We married recently, and she came to the frontier with me.”
“Xiaotao?”
Pei Xuan repeated the name. Slowly, his expression relaxed.
“Ah, I remember. She did have a few maids called Tao and Chun and such.”
“A personal maid, always with her mistress—of course she’d have learned to make these pastries.”
“You’re a fortunate man, Lu Yan.”
That seemed to remind Pei Xuan of something.
“Convenient, too, with you serving under me. When I marry my fiancée, order this Xiaotao to come and keep her company. We can reunite mistress and maid.”
Lu Yan did not look overcome with gratitude.
He frowned slightly.
“General, I cannot decide for my wife. If she wishes to go, I won’t stop her. But I won’t order her to.”
A flicker of contempt passed through Pei Xuan’s eyes, though aloud he said,
“All right. We know you’re newly married and devoted to your wife.”
He kept the rest to himself.
To cherish a mere maid so dearly—just what one would expect from a peasant.
Pei Xuan changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, my fiancée is part of the reason I came here.”
Lu Yan was clever. He recognized that Pei Xuan wanted to move on and obliged him.
“Why is that?”
“My father won’t let me marry her. He says her birth is too low. At most, she’d be allowed to become a concubine.”
A smile touched Pei Xuan’s eyes.
“She’s proud and sensitive. Ask her to be a concubine, and she’d sooner throw herself in a river than marry me.”
“So I came to the frontier. Once I’ve earned military honors and made something of myself, my family won’t be able to dictate to me.”
Lu Yan said,
“Life on the frontier is harsh, General. You’ve endured a great deal.”
But Pei Xuan shook his head.
“I only want to marry the woman I love.”
As if in passing, he added,
“Miss Lin and I have been promised to each other since childhood. We grew up together. Our feelings are mutual.”
“We quarrel now and then, and she gets cross with me. But once she calms down, I’m still the one she loves most.”
Pei Xuan fixed Lu Yan with a look, a faint smile on his lips.
“If we win next month, there will be a victory feast.”
“The soldiers will be allowed to bring their families.”
“Since your wife is from the capital, and was my fiancée’s personal maid,”
“bring her along.”
“I’d like to see what she looks like. I’ll give her a reward, too.”
Pei Xuan was cautious.
His suspicions had not yet been laid to rest.