Chapter 5
We moved into our new home with our son.
For a long time afterward, Su Yanbai raised the child almost entirely by himself.
I devoted all my energy to building my agricultural estate.
I went from “Madam Su” to “Mistress Xu.”
Every day, I left at dawn and returned after dark with the craftsmen, too busy to catch my breath.
Naturally, the money Pei Ye had left us provided the initial capital.
After more than half a year, the estate began to take shape.
The fields bustled with activity.
Some people plowed, some planted vegetables, some herded geese, and others caught fish. Everyone had work to do.
With an abacus in one hand and an account book in the other, I calculated our finances from the beginning of the year to the end.
When Su Yanbai realized I had no time for him, he took our son fishing for crabs.
Father and son stayed from dawn until nightfall, brimming with enthusiasm, and returned empty-handed.
The world changed greatly during that time.
The former prefect left to take up a post in the capital.
The Crown Prince successfully ascended the throne.
When I learned that Pei Ye had become Emperor, unease stirred within me.
Su Yanbai told me not to worry.
“I will never let anyone take your child away.”
I sat on the swing in our courtyard and leaned back against him.
“Now that he is Emperor, surrounded by beautiful women, surely he will not remember me.”
But Heaven is seldom reasonable.
In the fourth month, blossoms drifted through the air.
While inspecting the rice paddies, I overheard several aunties chatting.
“They say the Emperor is coming here!”
I stopped dead.
“Yes, yes, I heard it too! His Majesty once suffered some misfortune here. They say he is returning to revisit the old place…”
Panic seized me. I turned and ran home.
“Mistress! Mistress Xu! What is wrong?”
I left my steward behind without a word.
When I reached home, neither the man nor the child was there.
I sent someone to fetch Su Yanbai and hurried out again to find my son.
“Little Yi! Little Yi, come home!”
A dark mass of people had gathered beneath the willow at the village entrance.
“This child looks exactly like His Majesty did when he was young.”
“As if they came from the same mold!”
Even from a distance, I saw my son surrounded by people who were gawking as though he were some marvel.
At the center of the crowd, a man crouched before Little Yi and studied him with a smile.
“What an astonishing resemblance. Even a man’s own son could hardly look more like him.”
I recognized Pei Ye.
I stopped at once and turned to flee.
But then my son’s clear voice drew everyone’s attention.
“Mother!” Xu Yi pointed at me. “That is my mother!”
I froze for a heartbeat, then bolted.
The more strangely I behaved, the more suspicious I appeared.
Pei Ye ordered his men to stop me and bring me before him.
“Xu Qing, how can it be you?” He stared at me in shock. “Is this your child?”
I stood there in awkward panic, repeatedly trying to push Xu Yi away as he clung to my leg.
“No. He belongs to someone else. I do not know him.”
Xu Yi was as excited as a puppy and impossible to dislodge.
“Mother! Mother!”
I glared down at him. “Hush. Do not call me that.”
Frightened by my scolding, my son finally went still.
Pei Ye picked him up. He stared without blinking, and his eyes gradually reddened.
“So you…” He suddenly turned to me, his voice choking. “Ah Qing, you have suffered all these years.”
I was speechless for a moment.
“It… has not been so bad.”
Did he think I had raised the child alone?
Then, with our son in one arm, he pulled me into the other.
“It is over now. I have come to take you back to the capital.”
I had not caught up with events.
“What?”
Our son stared blankly too.
“But what about Father?”
Pei Ye’s body stiffened. He wiped away his tears and stared at Xu Yi.
“What did you just say?”
I immediately clapped a hand over my son’s mouth.
“He said, what about the fields? Spring plowing has only just begun. Farm work is terribly busy, and the child is worried.”
Pei Ye frowned, pain flashing in his eyes.
“You have had to farm to support your child all these years? Did I not leave you a great deal of money?”
I fell silent for a beat.
“Children are expensive.”
Pei Ye laughed softly.
“Perhaps. Ah Qing, come with me. You will never have to endure such hardship again.”
His men surrounded us.
I took my son from his arms.
“Your Majesty, let us speak at my home.”
Pei Ye agreed. He wanted to see it again as well.
“This does not seem to be the way home.”
I walked slowly with Xu Yi’s hand in mine while Pei Ye followed.
“We left the old courtyard long ago.”
Villagers greeted me along the road.
“Mistress Xu, do you have family visiting?”
“Mistress Xu, Doctor Su is looking for you.”
Pei Ye narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“Who is Doctor Su?”
“You will find out soon.”
Before long, we reached the house.
Our mountain residence was elegant and spacious, filled with lush greenery as birds flitted beneath the eaves.
“You live much better than before.”
“Thanks entirely to you.”
Pei Ye chatted with me as we walked.
“Does your brother live in such a large estate too?”
“Yes. He lives here.”
“Has he married?”
“Yes.”
“Any children?”
“One.”
I poured him tea.
Pei Ye took a sip. The tea was cold.
“Pei Ye, I will not return with you.”
He rose at once and seized my wrist.
“Why? Ah Qing, I had my reasons back then. I could not take you with me…”
“I understand. The problem is that I have my reasons too.”
I cut him off.
“Then tell me. Whatever it is, I can solve it for you.”
I pulled free and retreated several steps.
“The main difficulty is that if I tell you, I am afraid you may lose control and hurt me.”
Pei Ye paused, then laughed helplessly. His voice was perfectly calm.
“Ah Qing, you worry too much. I have endured countless trials these past years, including several brushes with death. Nothing can disturb my heart anymore.”
He finished the cup of cold tea as if savoring a lingering sweetness.
“Only when I remember our time together do I feel that being alive has any meaning.”
His words left me strangely melancholy.
“Pei Ye, the truth is that I…”
At that moment, Su Yanbai hurried inside.
“Ah Qing!”
Our son darted in from nowhere and flung himself into Su Yanbai’s arms.
“Father! Father, you are back!”
Su Yanbai caught him. Then he looked up and met Pei Ye’s eyes.
The room fell deathly silent.
“Pei Ye, I have something to tell you.” I tugged at his sleeve.
“Wait.”
Frowning in confusion, Pei Ye stepped closer.
“What is going on? Should he not call you Uncle?”
It was unclear whom he was asking. Perhaps he was speaking to himself.
Pei Ye turned and stared at me.
“Did you give the child to Brother Xu to raise as his own?”
I opened my mouth but hesitated.
Xu Yi blinked his enormous eyes and looked at Pei Ye as though the man were an idiot.
“My mother’s brother would be my uncle. This is my mother’s husband—my father!”
Pei Ye went rigid.
“Pei Ye, let me explain properly…”
He turned toward me without expression.
“You had better explain quickly.”
He truly had become much steadier, I thought.
“I will tell him.”
Su Yanbai lifted our son and came to stand beside me.
“My surname is Su, not Xu. We are husband and wife, not brother and sister.”
Pei Ye stood utterly motionless, as if his soul had left his body.