Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Xing Shuwei listened carefully to every word Zhang Mingan said.
As she listened, she weighed each one in detail.
She knew little of the affairs of court and the imperial harem, and understood even less about the connections among the various family factions.
She had, however, once heard Pei Xianjing say that the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and Noble Consort Zhang represented three competing powers in the harem, all struggling over Consort Chu’s Eleventh Prince.
Consort Chu was also close to the Empress Dowager.
Now Pei Xianjing was Imperial Tutor to the Eleventh Prince.
By rights, the Empress Dowager ought to have done Pei Xianjing an easy favor. Why had she instead offered Xing Shuwei to Princess Jin’an as a favor?
After thinking for a moment, Xing Shuwei picked up her teacup and took a sip. “If this wasn’t your arrangement, then I cannot enter Princess Jin’an’s residence.”
That sensation of floating on water with nothing to hold on to surged through her again.
“I don’t want to die. If I enter Princess Jin’an’s residence, there is no chance I will come out alive.
“Noble heir, save me.”
After everything that had happened recently, she was utterly certain that Princess Jin’an’s residence was a death trap for her.
Unless it was part of Zhang Mingan’s arrangement, she absolutely could not go.
“What do you want me to do?” Zhang Mingan asked solemnly.
“No matter what method you use, stop me from going to Princess Jin’an’s residence to serve her. Then help me meet the Empress Dowager.”
By asking Zhang Mingan this, she was wagering that he had feelings for her.
Those feelings might not be deep enough for him to risk everything for her.
But it would be enough if they moved him to keep her away from Princess Jin’an and arrange a meeting with the Empress Dowager.
Zhang Mingan lowered his eyes in thought.
Consort Chu believed the Eleventh Prince’s position as heir apparent was secure and had already fallen out with the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager would now rather see Consort Chu and her son dead than allow the Eleventh Prince to become heir apparent.
If Zhang Mingan defected to the Empress Dowager’s side, he would have to eliminate the Eleventh Prince.
And Pei Xianjing was Imperial Tutor to the Eleventh Prince.
That would inevitably mean an open break with Pei Xianjing.
Breaking with Pei Xianjing was equivalent to breaking with the Grand Secretariat and every civil official.
“Things are different now. Even if your mother’s family may have some connection with the Empress Dowager,
“when set against the greater tide, I fear the Empress Dowager will not honor that slight consideration,” Zhang Mingan mused.
Zhang Mingan weighed the situation.
He had assumed that after Consort Chu fell out with the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager would join hands with his aunt, Noble Consort Zhang.
He had never expected the Empress Dowager to sacrifice Xing Shuwei instead, offering a favor to the Empress and Princess Jin’an.
Under these circumstances, he did not think meeting the Empress Dowager was a good option.
“I still have to try. Otherwise, only death awaits me.”
Xing Shuwei gazed at him with limpid eyes.
Zhang Mingan suddenly asked, “That isn’t the only thing you want my help with, is it?”
It was not.
But Xing Shuwei knew she could not be greedy.
She shook her head. “There is nothing else.”
“Weiwei, you weren’t like this before,” Zhang Mingan said bluntly.
Xing Shuwei looked at him in confusion. “What was I like with you before?”
“You were only afraid you wouldn’t get enough from me. You never worried about troubling me.
“You can always be that way with me.
“Don’t worry. If you truly escape with your life, I will provide for you siblings for the rest of your lives.
“Treat the property the Pei family seized as the price of averting disaster.
“In the future, I will be the head of the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate.
“Whatever you desire, you will never lack it.”
Zhang Mingan’s gentle voice brushed past her ears like a breeze in early spring.
She smiled faintly.
Such promises went in one ear and out the other.
It was not that she refused to trust anyone. She had trusted before and gained nothing good from it.
Xing Shuwei said distractedly, “Thank you, noble heir.”
“There is no need to thank me,” he said. “Tell me about any other urgent and difficult matters at once.”
Xing Shuwei did not wish to dwell on these trivialities. She pulled the banknotes from inside her clothes. “Then please help me purchase a residence and a shop in the capital.
“I also entrust the matter of meeting the Empress Dowager to you.
“If I am fortunate enough to survive, I will repay your great kindness in any way I can.”
As she spoke, she glanced at the sky outside the window.
Sensing that she wanted to leave, Zhang Mingan rose to see her off. “Wait without worry. It will be within the next day or two.”
“Mm.” Xing Shuwei’s voice was light as she gave him a polite curtsy.
After leaving Spring Breeze Restaurant, she did not linger and headed directly to the Duke of Qi’s estate.
Upon entering the estate, Xing Shuwei did not return to Qianchen Pavilion but went straight to Qiansheng Pavilion to wait for Pei Xianjing.
At a quarter to seven, dusk deepened across the horizon.
Xing Shuwei sat at the square table, her chin propped on one hand as she quietly watched the doorway and waited.
Before long, Pei Xianjing’s hurried footsteps approached.
“Brother Jing is back?” Xing Shuwei sprang to her feet to meet him.
“Mm.” Pei Xianjing removed his outer robe and changed into a clean one.
After washing his hands, he drew her to the table and sat down with her.
“You needn’t wait for me. When it is time to eat, eat first. Do you think I would let myself go hungry?” Pei Xianjing sat in the chair and pressed her down onto his lap.
She complained coyly, “How are we supposed to eat like this?”
“You feed me and I feed you. Like this.” He indicated that she should pick up the chopsticks.
He was becoming less proper by the day.
Xing Shuwei smiled, picked up a piece of fish, and placed it in the small bowl before her. After carefully removing the bones, she brought it to his lips.
He opened his mouth, swallowed the bite, and asked, “What would you like?”
Xing Shuwei glanced at the table full of delicacies. “Brother Jing knows I am never particular about food.”
Pei Xianjing picked up a piece of bamboo shoot with his left hand.
He bit lightly into one end and arched a brow, signaling for her to take the other.
Xing Shuwei frowned.
What strange predilection was this?
Seeing her freeze, he gently squeezed the hand resting at her waist.
Xing Shuwei had no choice but to bend down and close her eyes as she took a bite.
Her pearly teeth had barely caught the edge and were about to bite through when Pei Xianjing suddenly cupped the back of her head and forced her closer.
“Mmph.”
The unexpected kiss fell upon her lips.
He seemed to be in a good mood today and teased her. “From now on, shall I feed you all three meals like this?”
Xing Shuwei pretended to be shy. “If you like it, I suppose that would be fine.”
Once he and Princess Jin’an married, he would surely share such intimate games with the princess every day as well.
Pei Xianjing handled the chopsticks in his left hand with practiced ease.
Looking over the table as if selecting a dish she liked, he asked casually, “Before you met me, which teacher taught you to read and write?”
Alarm bells rang in Xing Shuwei’s heart. Why had he suddenly asked that?
Could Zhang Mingan have told Pei Xianjing that the characters she wrote with her left hand closely resembled the Empress Dowager’s?
Suppressing the violent pounding of her heart, Xing Shuwei naturally did not dare feed him nonsense. “Father often traveled on business when I was young. Mother taught Weiwei to read and write.”
After speaking, she wrapped both arms around his neck and raised her lashes slightly to observe his expression.
His face showed no change whatsoever.
It was as if the question had truly been asked in passing.
He picked up a piece of red-braised pork and brought it to her lips.
“It’s too big,” Xing Shuwei complained coyly.
“You think this is too big as well?” Pei Xianjing stared at her crimson lips, drawing out the final word.
Xing Shuwei was speechless.
She bit off a mouthful in annoyance. Her cheeks bulged as she chewed with effort.
Pei Xianjing remained perfectly still, watching her chew.
Embarrassed by his stare, she pretended to be angry. “After you marry the princess, will you dare tease her this way too?”