Chapter 17

 

Chapter 17: A Mistaken Call

 

Lan Yunying instinctively let go of Pei Ye’s arm, stunned.

Had he really seen her before?

Her life had never known great storms or earth-shaking incidents. At least back in the Lan household, each day had been plain and uneventful.

But she understood very well, this was not the moment to lose her composure.

And yet, those two words, just her name, were enough to send shock through more than just herself.

Wenbo was there. Wei Xiao was there.

Just a single slip of the tongue, but was enough to spark endless suspicion.

Yunying was struck dumb with panic.

Wenbo struggled to support his master and gave a dry laugh. “My lord, my lord is drunk—he’s talking in his sleep.”

He wanted to save the situation, to smooth it over. If his master hadn’t drunk today, he would never have called out the wrong name.

But spilled water cannot be gathered back into the bowl. Who was there to blame?

Wenbo’s chest was filled with bitterness. No one else knew the torment in his master’s heart.

Yunying herself was speechless. No matter what, she and Pei Ye were husband and wife.

And yet, before her brother-in-law, Pei Ye had called her elder sister’s name.

Unreasonable. Unthinkable.

She had no choice but to follow Wenbo’s lead and cover over the disgrace.

So Yunying forced a smile. “A drunken man speaks nonsense. His words can’t be taken seriously. Go and ask the small kitchen for some hangover soup. Feed it to him before he wakes, so he won’t suffer from the headache.”

If Pei Ye were sober, he would surely regret it.

And if suspicion had already taken root in him, if he had held it in, avoided probing her directly, and instead sought out Wei Xiao, only to end up like this in the end…

Yunying silently clenched her fists. If she had come back just a little later, none of this would have happened.

Wenbo’s emotions churned. My lady must be utterly wounded by my lord.

Her earlier composure already showed her disappointment. Yet she was still helping her husband find a way to step down from this blunder.

The two of them kept their backs turned toward Wei Xiao.

“This servant will fetch it right away,” Wenbo said. His legs felt like jelly. Turning, he saw the towering mountain that was Wei Xiao, standing unmoving.

Her words had saved some of his master’s dignity for the moment.

But in Wenbo’s heart there was nothing but helplessness. His master had wanted to draw closer to the general, to win a hint or two from him.

Now, with one single word, it had all collapsed. Instead of an ally, they would be enemies no rivals in love.

If the general were magnanimous and did not pursue it, then perhaps this would prove a false alarm.

But even if Pei Ye truly was his brother-in-law, even if his suspicion was correct, it was still a grievous sin.

What husband could tolerate another man coveting his wife?

Wenbo longed to explain something to Wei Xiao. But how?

To say his master had no ulterior motives, that it was merely a mistake, drunken nonsense?

But Pei Ye’s tone had been so tender, who would believe that?

The more he explained, the darker it would sound. It was best to say nothing and to act as though nothing had happened.

Wei Xiao’s expression needed no description. He stood rigid, his dark eyes fixed on his brother-in-law; the beast in scholar’s robes.

He was no fool. He had heard Pei Ye call out his wife’s name with his own ears.

There is a saying: “Drunken words are the truest words.”

That muffled thunder had struck him straight in the chest. His fists clenched inside his sleeves until they went numb.

He did not believe in such a ridiculous excuse as drunkenness.

No wonder his brother-in-law always spoke haltingly. No wonder, upon first arriving at the general’s residence, he had sat silent in the main hall.

All along, he had been coveting his wife.

No wonder, that day, he had said he felt guilty before his brother-in-law. Piece by piece, it all fell into place.

…

Wei Xiao had once wondered why Pei Ye seemed so distant from his wife’s younger sister.

But then, his own wife was not particularly warm toward him either.

One speculation after another surged like waves in his mind.

To be fair, Wei Xiao had never thought Pei Ye a lecher. He had seemed a man who knew ethics, who would never harbor unseemly thoughts toward his wife’s elder sister.

But the evidence was plain before him. Even Pei Ye’s own steward was red with shame, unable to offer an explanation.

There was no need to cloak him in sheep’s wool any longer, then what of Madam Lan?

From Pei Ye’s tone, it was as though he knew her well.

If one thought too deeply on it, even three days and nights would not suffice to unravel the knot.

Wenbo bowed low to Wei Xiao, and then slunk out of the side chamber in despair.

Pei Ye had passed out cold.

It was left to Yunying to clean up the disgrace.

She spoke lightly, “Brother-in-law, you see, my husband’s tolerance for drink is truly poor. At the Spring Banquet, please don’t let him near wine, lest he make a fool of himself and lose face.”

Wei Xiao’s hands fell slack at his sides. If anyone ought to be furious, it should be her.

But he was not a man to raise a fuss without cause.

She had reason enough to rage, yet she had swallowed it down, even offering drunkenness as her husband’s shield.

If his own wife had been here, she would likely have brushed past it just the same.

Wei Xiao furrowed his brows. “Yes. My brother-in-law’s words cannot be taken seriously.”

“It’s good that you can think so, brother-in-law,” Yunying said.

---

Dusk smothered the sunlight. The fiery glow of evening painted the sky in dazzling hues.

The glare roused Pei Ye from sleep. He coughed violently as he opened his eyes.

Wenbo had kept vigil at his side. Seeing him awake, he leaned forward anxiously. “My lord, are you feeling better?”

Pei Ye sat up slowly, steadying himself.

He remembered, he had seen Yunying’s face before him.

Yet the room now was empty.

He asked, “Wenbo did elder sister come by?”

Wenbo stifled a sigh and forced calm into his voice. “My lord, today before General Wei, you mistook my lady and called her Yunying.”

He had given him sobering soup. The lady had sat by half the day, watching over him. Only when she was sure he was well had she gone to the front hall for supper.

Pei Ye’s face turned pale. He had ruined a lot of things today.

But still, he did not believe he had mistaken her.

Now he could only risk everything.

He knew he could not confess the truth. Why burden Wenbo with that?

So Pei Ye, unnervingly calm, asked, “And how did the general react?”

Wenbo almost admired his lord’s composure, his nerves like steel. He answered, “The general said nothing. But his expression looked like he had swallowed bitter gourd.”

Pei Ye fell into deep thought. If Wei Xiao had truly suspected something wrong about Yunying and her sister, his reaction would not have been so restrained.

Pei Ye was certain, his slip of the tongue must have stirred Wei Xiao’s suspicion and resentment. His instincts had never failed him.

If the two sisters had not exchanged identities, then why was there such a gulf between their handwriting?

The script was one clue. Their bearing was another.

His thoughts grew like wild grass that even after burning it down, it still sprang back with the wind.

He resolved not to disturb Yunying or her sister again.

Once they returned to Luoyang, once he had uncovered what truly happened on the wedding day…

He wanted only one thing: to confirm that the woman who had stood with him before the bridal candles, who had bowed with him at the hall, was indeed Yunying.

Wenbo wished he could beg his master to stop, to cease gnawing at the knot, to step out of this dead end.

“My lord,” he said softly, “do you know how embarrassed my lady was today? Yet she did not blame you. On the contrary, she made every excuse for you and thought of only sparing you any further shame.”

Pei Ye pressed his palms to the quilt. His voice was no longer so calm as before. “When I called her name… how did she react?”

Wenbo answered without pause, “She was like me startled and afraid…”

His words trailed off. He himself was afraid; afraid because he knew his master’s heart, afraid that the veil of pretense had been pierced.

But what was she afraid of? Why had she been startled?

If she were truly Miss Yunjin, why should she fear at all from being mistaken?

The more Wenbo thought, the more his certainty wavered. His heart tilted like a reed in the wind, bending toward his master’s suspicion.

Perhaps it was not groundless after all.

---

Wenbo had entered the Duke’s household at the age of seven, to accompany young master Pei Ye in his studies.

The boy had been like an uncut jade, brilliant even without polish.

He loved books, but he hated solitude. He was the only son of the main branch.

The Duke doted on children, but the Madam of the house was frail in health.

After giving birth to Pei Ye, even subsequent pregnancies could not escape miscarriage.

At night, the little boy would weep for his mother. Later, when the Duke took concubines, half-brothers were born.

Madam grew despondent, and that piece of jade began to gather dust.

Meals he chewed with painful care, his appetite pitifully small.

His health weakened; illness clung to him.

Yet he persisted in study, even dragging his frail body to read.

At such a young age, he bore the full weight of his mother’s hopes.

On his tenth birthday, he collapsed.

The physician declared his illness was of heart, his worries had hollowed him until the body followed.

Madam held her son and wept bitterly, blaming the Duke’s divided affections, his neglect of their bond.

The boy had a temper too. He raged against his father’s favoritism toward concubines.

From that year on, Wenbo learned to decoct herbs, to strain the bitter dregs, to prepare candied fruits or anything to help his young master endure sickness.

The boy grew fearful of leaving the residence, fearful of bustling streets.

At first, the Duke would still visit, asking after his son’s health.

But the days passed on. The boy’s condition wavered, better one moment, worse the next. The concubines’ children whispered that he was a sickly reed, unlikely to live past twenty.

Wenbo could not endure it. He spoke back and was beaten for it.

Books became the young master’s only solace.

And so, in the Hibiscus Tower, where Luoyang’s maidens and young talents gathered to compose verse there he heard a poem by Lady Yunying of the Lan family.

Lan Yunying was famed throughout Luoyang as a gifted woman of words.

Pei Ye admired her handwriting. After each gathering, he would ask Wenbo to procure a copy of her transcribed poems from the tower’s keeper.

If none were available, Wenbo had to spend silver, inquiring when the next gathering would be held.

At last, Pei Ye yearned to leave his home more often. He longed to see with his own eyes the one whose hand had written those words.

…

Meanwhile, Lan Yunjin knew nothing of what had transpired in the eastern chamber.

She only sensed that her husband’s mood was foul, and that her sister’s expression had been strangely unsettled.

At supper, Yunjin had tentatively asked her sister. But her sister claimed she was only tired, and would retire early.

Yunjin guessed Wei Xiao must have spoken unpleasantly with Pei Ye.

But what exactly had been said?

When the couple returned to Qionghua Courtyard, Wei Xiao did not utter a word. He went straight to bathe.

Waiting, Yunjin heard the splash of water against the wooden tub.

Momo Zhou entered with a bowl of medicine and whispered, “My lady, what troubles the master today?”

Yunjin shook her head.

The momo thought back and nothing untoward had happened in the courtyard.

Besides, her master was well past the age of youthful tempests. No one in the household had provoked him. So why would he be so angry that the smoke and fire is obvious from afar?

Then a thought struck her.

She chuckled softly. “My lady… in these past two nights, have you and the master… shared the bed?”

Yunjin replied, a little embarrassed, “We’ve both been too weary these nights, so—”

The old woman grew thoughtful. She glanced at the bowl of tonic and carried it away.

If the master was abstaining from his wife, yet forced to drink tonics night after night… no wonder his temper was flaring.

Yunjin found the gesture almost comical.

If that was all his anger was about, she could laugh it off.

But if not, then the trouble lay with Pei Ye, and it was no small matter.

The sound of water ceased. Momo Zhou discreetly withdrew.

Through the screen, Yunjin’s eyes followed the outline of her husband’s strong back.

She hesitated, then asked, “What did my brother-in-law say to you today, when you drank tea together?”

Wei Xiao had no intention of telling her the truth. Draping his robe over his shoulders, he replied, “He only asked when you planned to visit your family home.”

Yunjin frowned; unconvinced and suspected he was lying.

The chamber seemed veiled in mist.

Wei Xiao stepped out from behind the screen. Her expression was clear as day, she did not believe him. Her mind had already leapt elsewhere.

Pei Ye’s words still rang in his ears.

He could not help but wonder: was there truly some entanglement between his wife and his brother-in-law? Yet he could not bring himself to ask outright.

And besides, what if Pei Ye had not mistaken anyone at all? What if he had seized the chance, under cover of drunkenness, to test her?

After all, the sisters were alike, and yet not just like their scent of citrus and their gaze; similar, yet distinct.

What if it was no mistake?

Then the woman in his bed… was she Yunying or?

Wei Xiao took comfort only in this; that he had not confronted Pei Ye in anger today. Tomorrow, there would still be room to probe further.

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