Chapter 77
Chapter 77
That night, Pei Xianjing made a trip to the palace.
When he emerged again, he held the imperial edict he had requested.
He vaulted onto his horse and, with a cry of “Hyah,” rode straight for Princess Jin’an’s residence.
When the gatekeeper saw who had arrived, he welcomed Pei Xianjing inside with a broad smile.
Princess Jin’an had been preparing for bed. When she heard that Pei Xianjing had come to visit in the middle of the night bearing an imperial edict, she had Menglian dress her hair and asked, “Why do you think he has come to see me at this hour?”
“He must regret dissolving the engagement,” Menglian mused. “He executed the Princess’s maternal grandfather and his entire family without permission. He probably feared the Princess would resent him and refuse to marry him, so he ended the engagement first. Now he has come rushing back to beg.”
As she spoke, Menglian inserted a gold hairpin into Princess Jin’an’s hair. “He needs to be taught a lesson by the Princess. You gave him the cold shoulder for a time, and now he has come offering you his eager devotion, has he not?
“From now on, if the Princess orders him east, he certainly will not dare go west.”
Princess Jin’an was delighted. “Then hurry and invite him in.”
The door opened, and Menglian was just about to welcome Pei Xianjing inside.
But his chilling voice came from beyond it. “Tell Princess Jin’an to come out and receive the edict.”
Menglian discreetly raised her eyes. One glance at his frost-covered expression sent her hurrying back to escort Princess Jin’an beneath the covered walkway.
“Kneel and receive the edict.” Pei Xianjing’s flaying gaze fell upon Princess Jin’an’s face like the descending cuts of a slow execution.
Princess Jin’an dropped to her knees and lowered her eyes.
No matter how displeased she felt, she still waited in silence for Pei Xianjing to read the edict aloud.
To her surprise, Pei Xianjing said nothing and hurled the edict directly at her head.
She flew into a rage. In all her life, not even her imperial father had treated her this way.
“Eldest Young Master Pei, you are behaving far too discourteously before this Princess.” Jin’an’s expression darkened.
Pei Xianjing said coldly, “From this day forward, you are a commoner.
“The Emperor has issued an edict stripping you of your title.
“From now on, there is no legitimate princess named Jin’an in this world.”
“What did you say?” Jin’an’s face changed in horror.
Her brows drew tightly together. “Pei Xianjing, have you gone mad?
“I am the legitimate daughter of the Empress, the treasured pearl in my imperial father’s palm. How could that be possible?”
Pei Xianjing merely watched her coldly, his gaze making every hair on her body stand upright.
With trembling hands, she opened the imperial edict.
After a long while, she forced out, “Impossible.”
Yet the words upon the edict were exactly as Pei Xianjing had said.
Her imperial father had reduced her to a commoner and ordered her to leave the capital at once.
“No.” Jin’an could not accept it. She threw the imperial edict to the ground.
That was an act of treasonous disrespect. Menglian hurriedly picked it up and hugged it to her chest.
“Pei Xianjing, it was you, was it not? You forced Imperial Father to do this.” Jin’an glared at Pei Xianjing with hatred as she questioned him.
Pei Xianjing’s voice, cold as shards of ice, poured down over her head. “What you should consider now is how you will struggle to survive after leaving the capital.”
“When you chose to do evil, you should have known that one day it would all be repaid upon you twofold.”
With that, he turned and left, ignoring Jin’an as she demanded to know what he meant.
Bailiffs from the Ministry of Justice entered the residence immediately afterward and sealed every room.
The once exalted legitimate princess was now roughly driven out of Princess Jin’an’s residence by common bailiffs.
Jin’an collapsed onto the ground. The moment the jeweled hairpins fell from her head, beggars rushed over, shoving her aside as they scrambled to pick them up.
Her lovely face went white with fright, and she sprang up from the ground with a shriek.
* * *
Beneath a dark sky and high winds, Pei Xianjing rode toward the northwest.
News that he was heading for Panzhou passed from one person to another until it reached Qizhou.
Unease stirred in Xing Shuwei’s heart, and the old sense of dread rose within her once more.
Dressed in coarse cloth, she sat by the window of her bedchamber and gazed toward the distant capital.
“Is Miss worried that the Eldest Young Master is coming northwest to look for you?” Qiutong asked, handing her a damp cloth.
Xing Shuwei accepted it and clenched it in her hand.
She shook her head. “The Empress Dowager is meticulous. He should not have noticed anything amiss.
“The noble heir said the bond between him and the sovereign has fractured, so his career is probably obstructed as well.
“Most likely, he is coming northwest for his own sake.
“I am only worried that Panzhou is very close to Qizhou. What if a sudden impulse brings him here?”
Although the new identities the Empress Dowager had given them were thoroughly considered, they were still living in the Xing family’s ancestral home. However unlikely the danger, they could not afford the slightest chance.
“I think we should rent another small home tomorrow and stay there until his time in the northwest is over,” Xing Shuwei said.
The thought that Pei Xianjing might discover she was still alive filled her with tension.
As they spoke, Zhang Mingan’s voice came from outside the door.
Xing Shuwei rose and entered the courtyard, the clouds of worry still lingering on her face.
Zhang Mingan asked, “Did Shuyan tell you that Pei Xianjing is coming to Panzhou?”
Xing Shuwei shook her head. “I heard people talking about it in the wounded soldiers’ camp.
“The soldiers’ morale soared the instant they heard he was coming.”
“Are you afraid he will find you?” Zhang Mingan asked bluntly.
Xing Shuwei’s heart pounded.
Yes. She was afraid.
She did not believe Pei Xianjing cared deeply for her, yet somewhere in her subconscious, she sensed something very strange in his sudden journey northwest.
“Do not worry too much. He is coming to investigate the weapons, armor, and supply-train case.
“The weapons of the Qizhou Regional Military Commission were previously allocated through his office.
“Now that something has gone wrong and the losses are severe, both duty and reason demand that he intervene.
“He previously slaughtered Qi Yusheng and his entire family with sweeping force, offending many people in the process.
“With the Eleventh Prince dead as well, Pei Xianjing has lost his political foothold.
“Trouble surrounds him now. He can barely protect himself and has no attention to spare for you,” Zhang Mingan reassured her.
Xing Shuwei nodded. “Even without all that trouble, he would never make such a great commotion and rush to the northwest solely to find me.
“It is only that I deceived him, and he hates deception more than anything, so I…”
“If he had trusted you enough, why would you have needed to go to such lengths to hide the truth from him?
“He wronged you first. Why are you blaming yourself instead?
“Weiwei, he harmed you deeply. You have already escaped with your life, yet your thoughts are still filled with him.”
Zhang Mingan’s expression was grave.
Xing Shuwei raised her head in confusion and hastily denied it. “They are not.”
Her thoughts were not filled with Pei Xianjing.
She was merely afraid of being forced back into the life she had once endured.
Zhang Mingan did not understand. If Pei Xianjing learned she had deceived him and escaped through a staged death, he would certainly take her back to the Duke of Qi’s estate.
In that man-eating Duke of Qi’s estate, her and Yan’er’s circumstances would only become worse than before.
“Weiwei, even if he learns the truth, he cannot take you away,” Zhang Mingan said.
His words did not reassure Xing Shuwei.
He continued, “Pei Xianjing could never remain in Qizhou as a general guarding the frontier.
“I dared accept this commission in a crisis and come here alone because I knew no one could replace me.”
“Pei Xianjing cannot let go of the imperial court. The entire Duke of Qi’s estate stands behind him.
“I am different. No one stands behind me, and I can abandon everything in the capital.”
He said, “I am willing to risk more than Pei Xianjing. That is why he is destined to be unable to take you from my side.”