Wish You All the Best - Chapter 34

Chapter 34

At the fifth watch, between the crowing of the rooster and the first light of dawn, the space outside the window was a hazy, dim green.

Pei You'an was half-awake, half-asleep.

Since reaching adulthood, he had never had such a good night's sleep. Although it had begun with fragments of dreams that were not particularly pleasant, once those pieces were dispelled, the sleep had become long and deep—and, oh, so fragrant, warm, and soft...

He tightened his arms. In his hazy state, the soft smoothness he felt across his palm suddenly struck him as strange. His brows furrowed, and his chaotic consciousness, which had felt like drifting through clouds and mist, slowly began to clear.

His eyelids twitched, and he opened them abruptly. Waking up, he caught sight of the faint morning light and found his cousin, Jiafu, sleeping in the same bed and covered by the same quilt. She was curled up entirely in his arms, one arm wrapped around his waist. She looked so small; only her dark hair and half of her face were visible from the corner of the quilt. She was still fast asleep, eyes closed, her cheeks flushed and still. He was embracing her, one arm wrapped around her slender willow waist, his palm pressed against her skin. It seemed they had been sleeping like this for a long time.

Pei You'an was stunned. At first, he thought he was still trapped in a dream. When he finally came to his senses, it felt as if he had been pricked by a needle. He jerked his hand back, sat up abruptly, and instinctively looked down, scanning himself rapidly.

Though he was still wearing his inner garments, they were full of messy creases, and his lower abdomen was experiencing an abnormal sensation, lingering with a dull, throbbing ache...

Pei You'an’s head boomed. He quickly threw off the quilt and leapt from the bed. He grabbed the outer robe she had taken off and hung up the night before, but as he was hastily putting it on, he heard a voice from behind: "Elder Cousin..."

Pei You'an’s hands stopped. He turned around slowly to see that she had been awakened by his movements. She had crawled to a sitting position, hugging the quilt to her chest with one hand while rubbing her eyes with the other. Her starry eyes were half-closed, her face radiant as the morning glory, and her voice was muffled, filled with the light softness and lazy languor of someone just waking from sleep.

She seemed to be wearing nothing underneath. As she sat up, even though she pressed the quilt against her chest, her bare, fragrant shoulders and snow-white arms remained exposed. Even in the dim morning light of the room, her skin shone whiter than snow, alluring as a begonia in spring. It instantly softened his gaze and clouded his mind. Pei You'an felt a tremor in his chest, his eyes reddened, and he closed them for a moment before turning away sharply. Then, the voice behind him rose again: "Elder Cousin, I am your woman now. Although you and I did not have the physical union of man and woman last night, I cannot give this body to anyone else."

She must have been fully awake by then. Though her voice was soft, every word was exceptionally clear.

The air seemed to freeze.

After a long time, Pei You'an’s shoulders moved, and he slowly pulled his robes together.

"Put on your clothes."

He said, his voice hoarse and strained.

From behind him came the slight rustling sound of her dressing. A moment later, he heard her say, "I am finished."

Pei You'an did not turn around immediately, remaining where he stood. After a long while, he suddenly asked, "You had already returned to your own room last night. How did you end up sleeping in my bed later?"

The room behind him was met with silence.

Pei You'an slowly turned around, his gaze falling upon Jiafu.

As the morning light grew whiter, she sat wrapped in her robes, her dark hair covering her shoulders. At first, she was motionless, but gradually she raised her face to meet his gaze.

"I came back on my own," she said softly.

"You are a young lady; who taught you to use such low-class methods?" His voice was tight, his gaze heavy.

"I thought of it myself..." Jiafu’s eyelashes fluttered, and she lowered her head.

The air froze once again.

Jiafu’s heart beat faster and faster, and thin beads of sweat began to bloom on the tip of her nose.

She hated herself for her uselessness. She had clearly planned to tell him that he had woken up thirsty in the middle of the night, that she had heard him and come to serve him, and that he had pulled her onto the bed in a half-drunk, half-sober haze, leaving her unable to resist.

As long as she held firm to that story, even if he didn't believe it, he wouldn't be able to clear his own name.

She had the nerve to climb into his bed, but when it came down to it, now that she was really waiting for his interrogation, she didn't know why, but she suddenly didn't want to use that despicable excuse. Even if telling the truth made him look down on her or even loathe her. Because that excuse sounded so nauseating to her.

How could he possibly be that kind of person?

It was enough for her just to stay by his side. Based on her intuition about him, as long as he kept her, he would certainly protect her. As for the rest, she didn't care.

She told herself this, suppressing the panic and sadness welling up inside, summoned all her courage, and looked up again to meet his gaze.

"Elder Cousin, I have shared a bed with you for an entire night. If you still don't want me, and if I am lucky enough to escape from the Heir’s clutches and survive, I will cut my hair and become a nun for the rest of my life!"

She finished speaking, holding her breath, and watched him without blinking.

Pei You'an stared back at her for a moment, expressionless and noncommittal, then suddenly said, "Go back to your own room. Without my word, you are not allowed to step out even one step!"

"Elder Cousin..." Jiafu pleaded.

"Go back to your room."

He repeated, turning his back to her.

Jiafu’s blood slowly turned cold. She sat blankly for a while, then climbed off the bed and silently walked past him with her head bowed.

The threshold was not high, less than half a foot, but as she stepped over it, her legs felt filled with lead, heavy and weighed down. She shuffled back to her room step by painful step. Jiafu threw herself onto her pillow, and tears began to stream down her face.

She had a feeling that her final gamble had failed after all.

Last night, she had gathered all her courage to return to his room, take off her clothes, and crawl into his embrace. But in her hesitation, she had managed to do nothing at all. Somehow, by the very end, she had simply fallen asleep and stayed that way until just moments ago, startled awake by his movements as he rose.

Was there any fool in this world like her?

Jiafu’s tears flowed more fiercely, but fearing to be heard, she pressed her hands over her mouth and sobbed silently. After crying for a while, she remembered that they were departing today, and fearing her swollen eyes would be noticed, she forced herself to stop. By noon, a guard knocked on her door, saying that Lord Pei had ordered him to tell her she could come out to prepare for departure.

Jiafu did not dare to delay. She took her things and followed the guard out of the Tusi manor with her head down the entire way. Arriving at the entrance, she saw Pei You'an standing in the distance, bidding farewell to the Tusi who had come to see him off, surrounded by many people.

She lowered her head even further and walked quickly toward the carriage parked in the back that had been left for her. Just as she was about to reach it, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Cousin Zhen!"

Jiafu recognized it as An Cangzhu’s voice. She pretended not to hear and hurriedly quickened her pace, but An Cangzhu flew up to her and stood in her path, blocking her way. "Cousin Zhen, when are you returning to Quanzhou? After some time, when I have some free time, I would like to visit Quanzhou as well..."

He suddenly let out an "Oh," and leaned in closer. "Cousin Zhen, what is wrong? Your eyes are a bit swollen? Have you been crying?"

Jiafu felt both ashamed and suffocated with frustration. She shook her head. "I am fine. I am going up now..." She bypassed An Cangzhu and sped toward the carriage.

"Could it be that my sister bothered you again? Tell me..."

As An Cangzhu chased after her, a figure suddenly flickered in front of Jiafu. Yang Yun walked over, took the bundle from her hand, and blocked An Cangzhu. He smiled, "Miss Zhen is doing quite well. Young Master An, please stay, there is no need to see us off any further."

Jiafu climbed into the carriage, closed the door, and sat inside. A moment later, the carriage rocked and swayed into motion; they were finally on the road.

That same evening, Jiafu discovered one thing.

The direction she was headed was not toward Wuding Prefecture where they had started, but eastward, heading straight for Quanzhou.

The people escorting her were Yang Yun and his subordinates, while Pei You'an... he never appeared again.

She had exhausted every method she could imagine and carry out, yet in the end, she had failed to stay by his side, let alone get him to marry her.

Although she had already mentally prepared herself that morning when she stepped over that threshold, realizing it was all true still plunged her into incomparable sorrow, regret, and shame.

Strangely, at such a time, what she should have been thinking about most was the loss of the protection from Pei You'an that she had wanted to grasp so firmly, and how she should handle it if Xiao Yintang were to come for her again. But along this journey eastward, she found herself not thinking about that much at all.

If in the end, it was truly unavoidable and she fell back into the hands of Xiao Yintang, it would be death at worst. Suddenly, she didn't feel so much fear. Instead, every time she thought of what she had done that day, she fell into a depression she couldn't escape. Thus, she returned home to Quanzhou. When Madame Meng saw her daughter, whom she had thought lost, she hugged Jiafu and wept and laughed by turns. Her brother, Zhen Yaoting, was overjoyed, and even her grandmother, Old Madame Hu, had a smile on her face. Once the greetings were done, the family set a banquet that night to welcome Jiafu home, and the joy of the whole family goes without saying.

By the day she returned home, only a few months had passed since Jiafu was abducted. Yet for her, it felt as though everything had changed; her heart was bleak, as if she had just emerged from a long, strange dream.

Half a month later, Old Madame Hu called her granddaughter into the room alone, dismissed the servants, and said, "I heard from that benefactor, Yang, who sent you back, that you were abducted by human traffickers to Yunnan and luckily escaped with the help of his master. It is natural that his master sent you home—that is a good thing. When I have the chance to see this benefactor, I will surely reward him handsomely. But Ah-Fu, tell your grandmother the truth: is your virtue still intact?"

On the day of the Mazu festival, after Jiafu disappeared, Old Madame Hu had searched everywhere while keeping the matter quiet, telling outsiders only that her granddaughter had gone to visit distant relatives. The reason for this was that the old lady had been selecting a match for her granddaughter. There was an official family in the prefecture with a concubine-born son interested in a marriage alliance with the Zhen family. The old lady was afraid the news would leak and ruin Jiafu’s reputation, so she hadn't breathed a word of it. Later, when there was no news of Jiafu and she was in utmost anxiety, suddenly, the joy dropped from the heavens, and someone sent word of Jiafu’s whereabouts, which allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. Now that she had finally awaited her granddaughter’s return, the old lady began planning the marriage again. After asking Jiafu, she stared at her tensely.

Jiafu remained silent. Old Madame Hu understood. Her expression darkened, disappointment showing in her eyes. After a long while, she let out a long, heavy sigh. "Fine. It hasn't been easy for you; it is enough that you are back safe. You may leave."

Jiafu knocked her head on the floor in front of the old lady and said, "Grandmother, I know you have always wanted to use my marriage to gain support for our family. It was the same with the marriage to the Duke’s manor before, and it is the same this time. Since I am no longer pure, what good family would be willing to marry me? Even if I deceived them into the marriage, paper can never wrap up fire. If it is discovered, not only will it fail to help the Zhen family, but it will end in resentment. I ask Grandmother, with the utmost boldness, not to arrange any more marriages for me. I have no intention of marrying, and I beg Grandmother not to force me."

This was the first time in her life she had spoken such words to Old Madame Hu. The old lady was shocked and somewhat displeased. She frowned, staring at her. "Is that how you speak to your grandmother? The matches I look out for you have my consideration for the Zhen family’s support, but none of them are bad families. You are my granddaughter; would I just marry you off randomly? Now that this misfortune has happened, even if you have lost your purity, there are ways to hide it once you are married. Why must you be so disheartened? If a girl doesn't marry, does she just die of old age at home? Where is the reason in that?"

Jiafu said through tears, "Forgive me for being unfilial. If Grandmother arranges another marriage, I will cut my hair and become a nun!"

Old Madame Hu was furious and about to reprimand her when suddenly, the sound of rapid footsteps came from outside the door, and a servant said, "Old Madame, Madame ordered me to come quickly to deliver a message: a distinguished guest has arrived at the house!"

Old Madame Hu restrained her anger, turned her head, and asked, "Which distinguished guest?"

The servant said, "They say it is the eldest young master of the Pei family from the Duke’s manor in the capital!"

Old Madame Hu was startled. She hesitated for a moment, then rose from her seat and said, "Why has he come? Quickly, welcome him in." Having said this, she left Jiafu behind and hurried out.