Chapter 81
Chapter 81
Xing Shuwei turned in a slow circle and looked all around. Only after making certain there was truly nothing unusual did she finally set her mind at ease and carry the wooden basin toward their home at the end of the alley.
She did not know that a tall, slender figure was following behind her at a measured distance.
* * *
As dusk closed in, someone knocked on Xing Shuwei’s door.
Qiutong opened it to find an unfamiliar man of about forty standing outside.
“Have you knocked on the wrong door?” she asked the man, who was dressed like a wealthy merchant.
When she moved to close the door, he stepped forward and braced an elbow against it. “May I ask if this is Miss Yu’s home?”
After arriving in Qizhou, Xing Shuwei had assumed the new identity the Empress Dowager had given her-Yu Xintao.
Thus, when Qiutong heard him address Xing Shuwei as “Miss Yu,” she concluded that he must be a merchant from Qizhou.
“What business do you have with my young lady?”
“I came from Panzhou to trade in medicinal herbs. My name is Xu Liangcai. My family’s Houde Apothecary has been open for many years and is well known throughout Panzhou.”
The visitor introduced himself.
Qiutong said nothing, waiting quietly for him to continue.
“I heard that Miss Yu supplies medicine to the Qizhou army camp.
“The General of Distant Pacification has just come through a major battle, and this must be precisely when medicine is most urgently needed. So I made a special trip from Panzhou to see whether I might do some business with Miss Yu.
“Would it be convenient for Miss Yu to come and inspect the herbs now? I have a great many.”
Qiutong glanced at the sky. “It will be dark any moment. Let us go after daybreak tomorrow.”
The herb merchant said, “The place where I am staying is not far from here, right by the western city gate. A visit will not take long, and you will soon be back.”
As he spoke, Xing Shuwei came over.
Qiutong explained the situation to her.
Xing Shuwei looked at the sky. Night was almost upon them, and the air had turned cool.
She lowered her rolled-up sleeves and said unhurriedly, “The western gate is not far. It is less than an hour away on foot. I can go and have a look with you.
“But there is one thing I must make clear beforehand. If your price is too high, I cannot afford it.”
They had already spent almost all the banknotes they had brought from the capital.
The gold, silver, and jewels Zhang Mingan had obtained earlier by exchanging prisoners of war and seizing enemy spoils had also been spent down to the last piece.
The man nodded earnestly. “To tell you the truth, Miss, I came to Qizhou to sell medicinal herbs for two reasons. First, I hope to do a good deed and accumulate virtue and blessings for my descendants.
“Second, I hope to form a connection with the General of Distant Pacification.
“The herbs are all of the finest quality, and I guarantee my prices will be the lowest you will find.
“You may rest assured, Miss Yu. Everyone knows you have a close relationship with the General of Distant Pacification. I could never go to all this trouble only to cheat you and end up shooting myself in the foot.”
At first, hearing that the herbs would be exceptionally cheap made Xing Shuwei suspicious, but his latter words dispelled her doubts.
How many merchants had exhausted their family fortunes trying to ingratiate themselves with the powerful and win their descendants a place among the honored houses of merit?
When Dowager Lady Pei, Xing Huiyi, married into the Pei family, she had taken half the Xing family’s fortune with her.
The Xing family had believed this would finally allow them to cast off their status as merchants. Instead, after Xing Huiyi became a lady of the Pei family, she severed all contact with them.
Only when Xing Shuwei and Xing Shuyan were the sole orphans left of the Xing family, the Duke of Qi’s estate had become impressive only on the outside, and Xing Huiyi’s fourth son proved worthless did she begin coveting the Xing family’s fortune and remember these distant relatives.
Otherwise, the Xing and Pei families would never have become entangled again.
Seeing Xing Shuwei remain silent, the man gestured behind him. “My family came with me as well. After you inspect the herbs, my wife and I will escort you home, so you need not worry for your safety.
“You may rest assured about the way I, Xu, conduct myself.”
Not far behind him, a woman bowed to Xing Shuwei.
Neither of them looked like a villain, and Qizhou truly did lack medicinal herbs. After a brief consideration, Xing Shuwei agreed. “Very well. I will go with you and take a look.”
Qiutong wanted to accompany her, but Xing Shuwei made her stay behind.
She was afraid Xing Shuyan would return home, find them both absent, and become anxious.
Once they left Xujiakou Alley, Xing Shuwei was invited into an empty carriage.
The herb merchant and his wife boarded another.
Although Xing Shuwei found this faintly strange, she also thought it perfectly normal for husband and wife to ride together, so she said nothing.
The moment she entered the carriage, the familiar scent of osmanthus rushed over her.
A cry of “Hyah!” sounded outside, and the carriage sped forward.
The unease in Xing Shuwei’s heart instantly deepened.
She looked around the carriage. Apart from an incense burner and a plate of osmanthus cakes on the small table beside her, there was nothing else inside.
Thin white smoke curled from the burner, carrying a fragrance blended with the scent of osmanthus.
For no reason, she thought of Pei Xianjing. He always kept osmanthus cakes in his room.
He often worked on official matters late into the night. If he grew hungry, he would simply eat a little osmanthus cake to fill his stomach, never troubling the servants to prepare a meal for him in the middle of the night.
Her hand trembling, Xing Shuwei picked up a cake.
A memory of Pei Xianjing in bed rose unbidden-one arm locked around her waist as he took her.
All the while, he would hold an osmanthus cake between his teeth and feed it into her mouth.
Every cry she made would turn into an embarrassed swallow, while he kissed her neck without cease.
Lost in the memory, she dropped the cake onto the carriage’s wooden floor. At the same moment, the carriage came to a stop midway along the road.
Xing Shuwei stilled her breath. She wanted to ask what had happened, but her head felt heavy and muddled, and her eyelids were weighted down.
Her eyes closed beyond her control, and she pitched forward.
She did not strike the floor, but fell into a firm embrace.
Pei Xianjing lifted her and settled her on his lap.
With her head pillowed on his arm, she slipped into a drugged sleep.
Pei Xianjing extinguished the incense burner. By the light of a small lantern in the carriage, he gazed at the face he had yearned to see day and night.
His broad palm settled against Xing Shuwei’s cheek, and the pad of his thumb pressed hard as it rubbed across her lips.
Then it followed the line of her jaw and stroked down to her swanlike neck.
How he hated her.
He wanted nothing more than to strangle her to death.
Yet even when the knuckles of his long fingers turned white and the veins stood out along the back of his hand, he could not bear to harm Xing Shuwei in the slightest.
He held her and bent down.
He buried his face in the hollow of her neck.
The osmanthus fragrance on her body intoxicated him.
He had to admit that the relief of regaining what he had lost drove away all his resentment and hatred toward Xing Shuwei.
He remembered the days and nights he had spent embracing her cold gravestone.
His greatest wish had once been to hurry to the underworld so he could see her.
Whenever he imagined their reunion, it had always taken place in another world.
Yet at this moment, she lay in his arms, breathing evenly.
Still in this world.
Her body still held the warmth he knew and the faint scent of osmanthus.
He held her, unwilling to release her, yet unable to bear holding her too tightly.
His cool, thin lips kissed her neck again and again.
“I will make you understand that in this world, I alone am worthy of your trust-the only one you can rely on.”