Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and neither Yinyin nor I had conceived Shen Jiayuan’s child.

Lady Qin was both furious and stifled, and she took it all out on me.

There was no helping it. Compared with Yinyin, Shen Jiayuan and I were more compatible, and I was still the one he summoned most often.

I stood for discipline in Lady Qin’s courtyard for three full hours. The sun was brutal, beating down until my head swam and throbbed.

Lady Qin had always liked making me stand for discipline. At first, I was unused to it, but later I gained experience. I stood with my head high and my chest out, posture perfectly proper, and even tanned myself to a wheatish glow.

Shen Jiayuan especially liked it. Once, he even praised me in public, saying I had a distinctive charm.

So Lady Qin stopped punishing me by making me stand. Instead, she punished me by making me copy the Diamond Sutra.

Now that was going too far. The thing I feared most was copying books.

But I did not dare offend her. As the mistress of the household, she held the power of life and death over maidservants and concubines.

A few days ago, Shen Jiayuan told me he had already entrusted someone with taking my younger brother, Ah Ying, to the border defense barracks.

Ah Ying was a criminal slave. Now he was serving as a book boy among the military advisers under General Qi. If he performed well in the future and earned military merit, perhaps he could be freed from his lowly registration.

I was overjoyed when I heard it. That night, beneath Shen Jiayuan, I served him with all my might, fawning over him like a little lackey and flattering him again and again.

“My lord, you’re so amazing. I can’t live without you. Please never abandon me, all right? You are everything in my life.

“My lord, I want to bear you a child. No, many, many children. I want to be with you forever.”

My honeyed words proved rather effective. Day by day, Shen Jiayuan treated me better.

When Lady Qin punished me by making me copy the Diamond Sutra, I was scratching my ears and cheeks with Panpan, trying to think of a way out, when Shen Jiayuan suddenly came to my courtyard.

At some point, whenever he had a little free time, he would occasionally pass by my courtyard and come in to look at me.

I was copying the Diamond Sutra, my characters crawling across the page like centipedes. He flipped through a few pages, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

“Stop writing. Tomorrow, I’m going to inspect Xitian Camp. You’ll come with me.”

I could hardly believe it. “But Madam ordered me to copy this.”

His expression was indifferent. “Pack your things. This trip will take several days before we return.”

I nearly wept for joy.

On the road to Xitian Camp, Shen Jiayuan asked if I was tired from sitting in the carriage. I said I was, that the jolting had made my backside ache.

So a servant led over his Dark Steed. Shen Jiayuan wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me onto the horse, and the two of us rode together.

He smelled pleasantly of pine resin, his breath clean and cool. I stole a glance at him and only saw his firm chin and sharply defined profile.

How stirring it was. Unfortunately, the jolting made my backside hurt even worse.

Xitian Camp was a military household post. Shen Jiayuan’s arrival made countless officials, high and low, greet him warmly as if seeing a beloved relative, but I could tell they feared him.

Who would not fear him? Changning Marquis Manor had generations of meritorious service behind it. Their ancestors had produced two empresses and a veteran minister who had served three reigns. The late old Marquis had been a pillar of the state, and Shen Jiayuan himself now held a high position. Who in the palace would not give him face?

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he lifted me down from the horse. As a result, the officials’ female relatives fawned over me endlessly, surrounding me and calling me “Madam” with every breath as they ushered me into the inner room.

If Lady Qin found out, she would flay me alive.

They treated me extremely well, so warm that I hardly knew how to accept it. But I was afraid that saying the wrong thing would cause trouble for Shen Jiayuan, so I kept an especially low profile.

Later, as everyone chatted and laughed, their guard gradually lowered.

I was getting a little bored from entertaining them, and I had no idea when Shen Jiayuan’s discussions would end.

One official’s wife, who was very good at reading the room, noticed my weariness and hurriedly said they had arranged for some performers to come play the guqin later.

I suddenly thought of my Ninth Sister. The court had three military courtesan camps, and Xitian Camp had one of them. I wondered if she was here.

With that thought, the words had already left my mouth. “Are there any performers who can play the konghou?”

My Ninth Sister, once dressed all in white, kneeling with a konghou in her arms, possessed a beauty that could topple cities. Her long hair trailed around her, and with a single melody on the konghou, she had moved the Fifth Prince’s heart.

At first, they said there were none. Later, they said there was indeed a courtesan at Red Feather Military Camp who could play the konghou. She was especially beautiful and deeply favored by General Cao.

But then they added, “No matter how fond he is of her, she’s still just a courtesan. If one of his colleagues takes a liking to the girl, Lord Cao would be generous enough to share her with everyone.”

After that, the ladies moved on to other gossip. They said that in this year’s palace examination, the man who took first place was named Zhang Yang, and that he was as handsome as carved jade, a truly fine-looking young gentleman.

My hand paused around my teacup.

They also said several princesses were fighting to marry him. The Top Scholar had entered the Hanlin Academy after placing first, and his official career was just taking off.

After that, a tiny thought began to trouble me.

Zhang Yang and I had met once before. Back then, the He Family had already betrothed me, their unfavored daughter, to him. One day, he came to the manor to see my second legitimate brother and somehow took a detour to the narrow lane outside my courtyard.

Perhaps he was curious what his future wife looked like. As luck would have it, I had just carried a bucket of water back to wash clothes. When I saw him poking his head around and peering into the alley, I thought he was some lecher from who knew where, so I dumped the entire bucket over his head.

He turned around.

He froze. I froze too.

Though he was poor and plainly dressed, he was exceptionally clean. Especially that face of his-fair-skinned, bright-eyed, and very handsome.

Of course, I was not bad-looking either. Otherwise, he would not have blushed, nor forgotten how drenched he was as he nervously bowed to me.

“Miss Eleven.”

I looked at him curiously. “You know me?”

He pressed his lips together, his face very red, and took a jade pendant from inside his robe.

“This humble student is Zhang Yang, an Imperial Academy Student.”

Then I understood. Pretending to be calm, I asked, “Why are you giving me a jade pendant?”

His gaze burned as he looked at me, the blush spreading all the way to his ears. “This was left to me by my mother. It is meant for my future wife.”

Even with my thick skin, I felt flustered then and hurried past him.

“You should keep it for now. Give it to your wife after she marries into your household.”

As the saying goes, when things remain but people change, all is over; before one can speak, tears already fall.

Another saying goes: everything is fate, and not a bit of it is up to us.

In short, my heart ached for a few seconds. After that, I had no room to think about it, because Shen Jiayuan had drunk too much, and I hurried back to attend to him.

The ever-burning lamps flickered inside the room, filling it with light. Shen Jiayuan smelled of wine. I helped him undress, but his eyes stayed fixed on me the entire time.

His stare made my scalp prickle.

“My lord?”

His hand stroked my face, then gently pinched my chin. Our eyes met, and his gaze was deep. “Shiyi Niang, are you happy?”

I quickly nodded and took the chance to wrap my arms around him, burying my head against his chest.

“I am. As long as I can be with you, my lord, I am very happy. I have admired you all along.”

My sweet words had always worked, but for some reason, ever since we arrived at Xitian Camp, they had lost their effect. The emotion in his eyes was impossible to read. He gave a cold snort and released my chin in disdain.

“You are truly false.”

I froze. He finished undressing and got onto the bed. After that instant of stunned silence, I put my fawning smile back on and followed him onto the bed.

“My lord, every word comes from the bottom of my heart. You are my life. For you, I would climb mountains of blades and plunge into seas of fire. In this life and the next, I will never leave you. In life, I am yours; in death, I will be your ghost.”

This move had always worked, but this time, for some reason, he pushed me away.

I gathered my feelings, then burrowed back into his arms. Tears came pouring down as I looked utterly wronged, my voice thick with sobs.

“My lord-”

I cried as I hugged him, desperately trying to burrow into his embrace.

In my heart, I was truly panicking. How had I somehow fallen out of favor for no reason at all?

Fortunately, he did not insist on pushing me away. When I had smeared tears all over him, he finally held me. My ear pressed to his chest, and I heard a long sigh rumble from deep within him.

“Sigh-”

I had won.