Wish You All the Best - Chapter 3
Chapter 3
After emerging from the Old Madam’s quarters, Madam Meng asked about her son’s whereabouts.
The family steward, Zhang Da, could not say for sure. He only stated that at noon, he and Zhen Yaoting had been at the docks counting the items destined for the ship the following day. Later, as Zhang Da became occupied with other tasks, he turned around to find that Yaoting and his page had vanished. He had no idea where they had gone.
Naturally, Jiafu’s brother, Zhen Yaoting, was meant to accompany them on this journey north. They were to set out first thing in the morning, yet he was nowhere to be found. Madam Meng could not help but complain. Zhang Da blamed himself, "It was this subordinate’s negligence. I will call for men to go look for him immediately."
Madam Meng sighed, "Enough. I am not blaming you. He has his own two legs to walk on; I cannot expect you to keep an eye on him every second. Just send people to check the places he usually frequents."
Zhang Da acknowledged the order and hurried away.
Madam Meng accompanied her daughter back to her room, instructed her to get some sleep, and then took her leave.
The night gradually deepened, and the entire Zhen estate fell quiet.
They were to depart for the north tomorrow morning.
For the past few days, as long as she closed her eyes, memories of her past life surged in Jiafu’s mind like ocean waves.
Tonight was even more restless; she found herself completely unable to sleep.
She remembered spending a sleepless night on this exact date in her previous life, but her state of mind had been entirely different from tonight.
Back then, beyond the nervousness, there had been a sense of joy and longing for the future.
If she had not died once, how could the woman she was now have ever imagined that the "good match" she was about to marry—her second cousin Pei Xiuzhi of the Duke of Wei’s estate—would turn out to be such a cowardly and selfish man, one who would offer her up to another man on a silver platter?
There was no one who knew more about the Pei family of the Duke of Wei’s estate—the house she was about to enter—than she did.
The Duke of Wei’s estate had two branches. Madam Meng of the second branch was her own mother’s sister, and she was the mother of her third cousin, Pei Xiuluo, and fourth cousin, Pei Xiuhong. Pei Xiuzhi was the second son of Madam Xin of the first branch, but just like Xiuluo and Xiuhong, Jiafu called him "cousin."
The Pei family’s golden age occurred over twenty years ago. At that time, the Duke’s eldest daughter, Wen Jing, was renowned for both her beauty and talent. She was installed as the Crown Princess, and a few years later, when the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne as the Tianxi Emperor, she became the Empress. Regrettably, heaven was jealous of such a beauty; she contracted a plague the following year and, after spending more than a year recuperating in a royal temple, she unfortunately passed away.
Although the first Empress was gone, the Pei family’s favor with the Emperor grew even more profound, a state that lasted for nearly twenty years. It was during that period that the eldest grandson of the Pei family, the Heir Pei You'an, gradually grew up and filled the capital with his fame as the "Young Prime Minister," and the Pei family’s splendor was unmatched.
As the saying goes, the moon wanes after it is full, and prosperity reaches its peak only to decline. For the Pei family, their downward spiral seemed to begin with the death of the Duke of Wei.
The events unfolded in the 16th year of Tianxi. At the time, the northern border was unsettled, and the Duke of Wei had been ordered to lead troops to guard it. That year, he fell ill and died. Pei You'an, who had been accompanying his father in the army, returned escorting his father’s coffin. Who would have thought that shortly thereafter, rumors would spread in the capital claiming that the Heir, Pei You'an, had forced himself upon one of the Duke’s beautiful concubines while under the influence of medicinal wine? The act was reportedly witnessed by a servant, and the concubine, out of shame and indignation, took her own life. Although Madam Xin tried her best to suppress the scandal and cover it up for her son, it was of no use. In the end, an imperial censor submitted a petition to the Tianxi Emperor himself.
The current dynasty was founded on the principle of filial piety. During his father’s mourning period, Pei You'an drinking medicinal wine due to his health might have been excusable, but for a son to commit such a lewd act while his father’s body was not yet cold was an unforgivable crime. The Tianxi Emperor did not believe it and personally summoned Pei You'an for questioning, hoping to clear his name. Yet, it was rumored that Pei You'an did not say a single word, effectively admitting to the charge. Helpless, the Tianxi Emperor stripped him of his honors, revoked his status as the Heir, and banished him from the capital and the Pei family.
Like a meteor streaking across the sky, Pei You'an, the once-dazzling and brilliant Heir to the Duke of Wei, vanished from public view, burdened by disgrace. That year, he was sixteen.
The Pei family’s favor with the Emperor had been too intense, and having been in the spotlight for so many years, they inevitably invited jealousy. This scandal became a hot topic of gossip. But this was not the extent of the Pei family’s misfortune; the subsequent court upheavals in the following years were the decisive factors that truly altered the fates of the capital’s noble families.
Two years later, in the 18th year of Tianxi, the Tianxi Emperor fell gravely ill and passed the throne to the 8-year-old Crown Prince, Xiao Yu. Because Xiao Yu was young, in addition to appointing regents, the Emperor specifically entrusted the Crown Prince to his trusted younger brother, the Prince of Shun'an, who served as a supervisor of the state to assist in government until the Crown Prince came of age.
Later, there were rumors that the Tianxi Emperor, on his deathbed, specifically warned the Prince of Shun'an to guard against the rebellious intentions of the Prince of Yunzhong, Xiao Lie. He had never felt at ease with this younger brother, who possessed both ambition and military accomplishments. However, Xiao Lie had acted with impeccable decorum for years, and coupled with the Tianxi Emperor’s soft-hearted nature, he remained indecisive, allowing the brothers to coexist peacefully until the end.
With the tearful, prostrating promises of the Prince of Shun'an, the Tianxi Emperor passed away in peace. Eight-year-old Xiao Yu became the new Emperor of Great Wei, establishing the reign title of Chengning, with the Prince of Shun'an acting as regent.
Two years later, in the 3rd year of Chengning, the young Emperor accidentally fell from his horse and died during an autumn hunt. The Prince of Shun'an, long known for his virtue, was naturally pushed forward by his ministers to be the new Emperor, and the Great Wei entered the Yongxi era.
The rise of the Prince of Shun'an was not entirely smooth. The Grand Tutor Zhang, who had been appointed by the late Emperor as a regent, was a man of upright character who openly declared the young Emperor’s death suspicious, accusing the Prince of Shun'an of regicide. Others wishfully imagined that the young Emperor had not died, but had been spirited away by loyal subjects. However, these voices of opposition and doubt were quickly silenced. The Prince of Shun'an declared himself Emperor with the full backing of the other regent, killed or demoted the faction of old ministers led by Grand Tutor Zhang, and quickly solidified his court.
Ever since the Duke of Wei died years ago, the Pei family had lacked a central figure in the court. Among the younger generation, since Pei You'an had left, there were no outstanding individuals left. Moreover, each Emperor brings his own ministers. The Pei family daughter had been the Tianxi Emperor’s first Empress, and the family’s ties to that era were deep. Although the Duke’s estate remained silent and showed not the slightest hint of opposition to the Prince of Shun'an’s ascension, it was impossible for them to regain their former imperial favor. The Yongxi Emperor remained cold and distant toward the Pei family. Everyone in the wealthy circles of the capital knew that the Duke of Wei’s estate was a spent force, a fading flower whose standing was not what it used to be. They were now even forced to endure the condescension of their in-laws, the Song family.
The year Jiafu was reborn was the 3rd year of Yongxi, and the Prince of Shun'an had been Emperor for over two years.
She did not know how she had returned to the past. Her life had clearly reached its end; at the very last moment, she had seen her father again in a hallucination, and upon waking, she found she was alive, back on this day of her sixteenth year, the third anniversary of his death.
How many high buildings rose, and how many fell.
Jiafu knew that it would not be long before the fates of many in the Great Wei dynasty would once again undergo tumultuous changes.
In her previous life, a year after she married Pei Xiuzhi, brothers turned against each other in the palace. The Yongxi Emperor moved against the Prince of Yunzhong, Xiao Lie, who used the banner of "seeking justice for the late Emperor Chengning" as a pretext to start a rebellion. Both sides went to war, and half of the Great Wei was plunged into chaos.
Jiafu’s fate, too, was completely altered by this struggle for the throne among the Xiao family.
When the war first began, everyone assumed the Yongxi Emperor would win. Pei Xiuzhi, who had already succeeded to the title of Duke of Wei, led troops to suppress the rebellion, hoping to show his loyalty to the Emperor and win military merit. Unexpectedly, in the end, the Prince of Yunzhong won, and the great army gradually approached the capital. Many in the court began to defect. Pei Xiuzhi fought desperately to defend Qingzhou, a strategic point on the way to the capital, but when the city fell, he took Jiafu and fled, only to be captured on the road by Xiao Yintang, then the Heir to the Prince of Yunzhong.
The rest of what happened went without saying.
Jiafu’s beauty was enough to bring down cities.
Pei Xiuzhi tacitly accepted Xiao Yintang’s act of seizing his wife.
If that had been the only thing, Jiafu might have been able to understand.
But what happened next was what made her utterly despair of this man.
After she fell into Xiao Yintang’s hands, she threatened to take her own life, so Xiao Yintang did not force himself on her, merely keeping her by his side. Shortly after, Jiafu was surprised to discover that Pei You'an, who had left the capital years ago, was now in the Prince of Yunzhong’s army.
She and Pei You'an had only met a few times when she was young and visited the Pei household; there was no contact between them. Calling him "cousin" was merely following the relationship between her mother and his branch. Back then, she was small, and in her impression, this youth who always carried the bitter scent of medicine had a slightly pale face and a pair of beautiful, pitch-black eyes that revealed a maturity and coldness far beyond his years. He was noble and distant. In her childish eyes, he was beyond reach. She even feared him, and if she ever encountered him on the road, she would immediately avoid him if possible. Although she held little hope, in that situation, he was her only hope. She tried every means to meet him and begged for his help. Pei You'an helped her, coming forward to demand her back from Xiao Yintang and sending her back to Pei Xiuzhi’s side.
What made Jiafu feel utter despair was the action her husband, Pei Xiuzhi, took next.
Xiao Yintang was determined to have her. Although he had agreed to let her go out of respect for Pei You'an, he secretly sent people to hint at things to Pei Xiuzhi.
Jiafu never knew what he had promised or what he had been threatened with. In any case, the final outcome was that she was handed over to Xiao Yintang by her own husband, with his own hands.
She still felt a chill in her bones whenever she thought of that scene.
That day, Pei Xiuzhi set out a small table and drank with her. He acted as if he were drunk, staring fixedly at Jiafu as tears streamed down his face.
Jiafu knew he had always wanted to restore the Pei family’s prestige. Because of this, he had suffered many grievances, fawning over his former father-in-law, the Song family, who held power after supporting the Yongxi Emperor. Now, ordered to suppress the rebellion, he had seen this as a golden opportunity to win merit, but it had ended in such a miserable failure. The momentum was gone; all his ambitions and dreams had turned to ash.
Knowing he was heartbroken, Jiafu comforted him in every way she could. He held her, wailing like a child, saying he was sorry to her and that he was unworthy of being a man.
Jiafu did not understand his words then. Seeing him in such distress, she only hated herself for being useless and unable to share her husband’s burdens, so she could only weep along with him.
At the end of that night, she was drunk and carried back to the bedroom in his arms. When she woke up, she found the man beside her had changed; Xiao Yintang was holding her in his arms, still sound asleep, and she was completely unclothed, her head throbbing with pain.
From that moment on, Jiafu lost her freedom.
She went from being the Duchess of Wei to a forbidden toy hidden away by Xiao Yintang—a piece of "meat" destined to never see the light of day.
The Prince of Yunzhong won the war and had even searched high and low for the young Emperor Xiao Yu. After it was confirmed that he was truly dead, the country could not be without a ruler. With the backing of all his civil and military officials, he ascended the throne as the Shizong Emperor. He granted general amnesty and treated the officials of the Yongxi era with leniency, which included Pei Xiuzhi. But Jiafu never saw her former husband again.
For many years, Xiao Yintang had been extremely indulgent of her. After he became Emperor, simply because her name contained the character "Fu," he had planted the garden of her Jinbi Palace full of Chinese hibiscus. When the hibiscus blossomed in the autumn, it was as beautiful as a human fairyland, just like her name.
Therefore, she had to repay him. The final repayment of a forbidden toy to an emperor was perhaps to be buried with him, following him into the underground palace.
Jiafu’s eyes grew hot, her nose felt blocked, and for a moment, she could not catch her breath.
The moonlight climbed higher, slanting into the room from the western window. The room was shrouded in haze, and the distant sound of the watchman’s clapper reached her ears, making the night seem even more serene.
It was the end of the Hai hour (11:00 PM).
She sat up from her pillow, her hair cascading over her shoulders like silk, gently enveloping her body. She sat for a long time before turning to step off the bed. She dressed and walked to the outer room.
Tanxiang was sleeping there. The maid on duty with her tonight, Muxiang, was sleeping soundly, but Tanxiang was a light sleeper. Jiafu called her softly, and she woke up.
"Follow me to a place."
Jiafu instructed.