Chapter 20: Unusual
The room was filled with the fragrance of tea. The leaves
were from Shunning, their scent fresh and clean.
Lan Yunjin lifted the lid of her cup without betraying a
flicker of emotion.
During these few days Pei Ye had been staying at the
General’s Estate, unless her mother-in-law invited him to the main hall to dine
with the elders, he would remain in the east wing reading.
Guiyuan and Yuchan often grumbled that the Young Lord was a
bookworm and just as he had been in Luoyang, he was no different here in
Chang’an. He didn’t even think to take his wife for a stroll down Vermilion
Bird Street, nor spend time with the other brothers-in-law.
Lan Yunjin parted her lips, blew lightly across her cup, and
the steam dispersed.
And another thing, Wei Xiao had not mentioned last night
that Pei Ye had been drunk and rambling.
What words could Pei Ye have spoken that angered him?
Pei Ye was cunning; she didn’t intend to tumble into the pit
he had dug. So she said soothingly, “If Brother-in-law truly spoke nonsense, my
husband would never hold it against you. When he came back last night, the only
thing he mentioned was that the tea in your quarters was very fine.”
She paused, and then added with a soft smile, “He said not a
word about drinking with you. Had you not spoken of it today, I would have
known nothing.”
Pei Ye sat at the far western end, in an official’s chair,
several seats away from her.
Momo Zhou frowned in puzzlement. She remembered clearly that
her young master had indeed returned with a temper last night. Yet the Young
Lord was always courteous and his way of speaking was like riddles, leaving
one’s head aching.
Pei Ye’s features were severe, almost unfeeling. His face
was pale, his frame delicate. From years of medicine, he carried a faint
bitterness of herbs on his body. Knowing it was unpleasant, he tied at his
waist a green silk sachet embroidered with fine patterns.
Sitting there, he made the whole room seem colder.
“If Brother-in-law is not angered by my reckless words, then
still, I must apologize for my neglect yesterday.” His timing was exact. Then
he turned his gaze toward the woman in the main seat. “Elder Sister, have you
had breakfast?”
After all this waiting, he asked something so trivial.
Lan Yunjin answered demurely, “I rose late today.”
Through most of her life, she and Pei Ye had lived under the
same roof, yet the number of conversations that lasted even half an hour could
be counted on one hand.
Pei Ye had always been attentive to the Duke’s household. He
never took concubines. And though the inner court was left to her to manage, he
often involved himself to lend a hand.
Every New Year, Wenbo would hang peach branches in her
courtyard, send her New Year charms and auspicious notes. Year after year, it
was the same. She had never thought the courtyard lonely.
When Pei Ye passed, the burden of the Duke’s Estate had
fallen entirely upon her shoulders.
As she grew old and weary, she often murmured to Guiyuan
that perhaps in her previous life she had owed the Duke’s household a debt, and
in this one she must exhaust herself within these walls until the lamp oil ran
dry before she could be released.
Facing the younger Pei Ye now, she felt a weariness she
dared not show.
“Bring the jujube cakes on the desk to the Young Lord,” Lan
Yunjin said.
Whatever else, he was still her brother-in-law, and she must
treat him with care.
Momo Zhou, warm but measured, carried over a small plate of
jujube cakes. “The young lady praised these for being soft and sweet. Please
try them, Young Lord. If you like them, I’ll have some sent to the east wing
later.”
Pei Ye nodded, not bothering with false courtesy, and tasted
one.
A little maid entered with a bundle of sun-dried clothes for
Lan Yunjin.
Pei Ye kept his gaze proper.
Today, Wenbo had exhausted his words in urging and
dissuading him.
Yet Pei Ye, after much weighing, could not simply brush away
yesterday’s matter.
It had been he who invited Wei Xiao for tea; it had been he
who erred in decorum. To dismiss it as mere drunken folly seemed laughable.
A wrong already committed, if he followed that path forward,
who could say what might be uncovered?
The little maid asked, “Madam, Madam Shen has sent over the
dress for the banquet. What fragrance would you like it perfumed with?”
Lan Yunjin thought a moment. “Use the lilac I brought from
Luoyang. Do not make it too heavy.”
“Yes and remember, His Majesty suffers from throat ailments.
Strong scents will bother him. Do not use up an entire jar of powder on one
robe,” Momo Zhou scolded as she led the girl into the inner room to set the
clothes down. “Last time, Madam Wang’s second daughter-in-law made a fool of
herself at the Banquet of Blossoms. The ladies of Chang’an laughed at our
General’s Estate as uncouth, ignorant of manners. The Old Madam was so angry
she could not eat.”
“We must not shame our Madam again. If you are unsure, ask Yuchan.”
The maid nodded nervously.
The chamber held scents of tea, soap, and a woman’s powder.
Pei Ye drained his cup, recognizing it as Shunning red tea.
But his nose wrinkled—this faint fragrance of cosmetics was
here too, just as it lingered in his own quarters.
Lan Yunjin saw that he meant to linger until Wei Xiao returned.
She smiled. “If Brother-in-law insists on apologizing in person, then why not
join my sister for lunch in Qionghua Court?”
Pei Ye met her eyes directly as he replied, “When
Brother-in-law returns, I will go fetch Yunjin.”
His tone was calm, detached, with nothing unusual in it.
Yet Lan Yunjin’s heart gave a violent jolt. Her own name,
spoken aloud from Pei Ye’s lips, was strangely terrifying.
She nodded, and told Pipa to prepare brush and ink, asking
Pei Ye if he had any taboos with food, so the kitchen could draw up a list.
But Pei Ye did not move. He only gazed at her smiling face.
Identities could be exchanged but bodies could not.
---
When lessons were dismissed at the study hall, the young
ladies bowed to their teacher before leaving.
Guiyuan sat in the courtyard washing clothes, laughter
drifting from beyond the wall.
She leaned forward, calling toward the window, “Lady,
lessons are over. Why has the young lord not returned yet?”
Lan Yunying sat as though on needles, nervously twisting the
little wooden doll in her hands.
Last night, Pei Ye had apologized to her for what he said
while drunk.
She had been stiff and uneasy, unwilling to pursue the
matter further. She only smiled, brushed it aside, and said she didn’t mind it.
Perhaps it was the weariness of the night pressing down on
her, but Lan Yunying had even felt the urge to confess the truth about their
exchange of identities.
She wrestled with it again and again. If she admitted it,
how would the elders of both families face one another? What if they demanded
the marriages to be switched back? What if the matter became public…?
But if she did not admit it then how should she handle Pei
Ye, and how to erase the doubts in his heart?
She was caught in a bind, no path forward, no path back.
In the courtyard, Guiyuan was striking laundry with her
wooden beater; one soft, one hard, muttering as she worked. “Young Master was
really out of line yesterday! To mistake my lady for the Fourth Young Lady, and
in the General’s Estate no less! We are lucky no one else overheard.”
“Good heavens, if another maid had caught wind of it, they’d
be running straight to Madam Zhang with gossip about the Young Master and
Fourth Young Lady!”
Already tangled in her troubled thoughts, Lan Yunying pushed
open the window and said with a frown, “Do not speak of it again.”
Guiyuan turned her head, face all scrunched in complaint. “My
Lady, I’m only speaking up for you…”
“You have to hold back your grievances. If you spread this,
how would I ever face it?” Lan Yunying’s head was spinning. She didn’t even
need to imitate her younger sister’s temper the expression came naturally to
her. “Enough, I know you’re upset on my behalf. Leave the clothes for now, go
find Yuchan and talk with her to ease yourself.”
Guiyuan puffed out her cheeks in defiance. “I’m not going.”
“You little thing,” Lan Yunying couldn’t help but laugh,
half exasperated. “I’ve spoiled you. You speak without respect and even disobey
your Madam.”
“Madam dotes on me that’s why it hurts me so,” Guiyuan’s
voice trembled. “Young Master ignores you completely. When we return to
Luoyang, you mustn’t tend to his meals or his household affairs again.”
She seethed with indignation, laying out plans on how her Madam
should neglect Pei Ye.
Since a maid could not openly scold her master, she turned
her anger instead on his servant. She muttered under her breath, cursing Wenbo
roundly to vent her fury.
Just then, Yuchan came with a little maid to the east wing,
looking for Guiyuan to fetch some incense.
As she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Guiyuan grumbling
to herself and laughed. “Guiyuan, what are you doing? You’ll beat holes into Madam’s
clothes at this rate.”
On the drying line hung women’s garments like fine skirts,
silk stockings, and cloth strips for the monthly cycle.
Guiyuan stopped what she was doing and asked, “And what are
you here for?”
Yuchan handed the little maid a plate of jujube cakes to
bring inside, and then came to Guiyuan’s side with a smile. “Momo Zhou sent me.
Tomorrow’s palace banquet; Fifth Young Lady’s gown must be scented. Did you
bring incense? If not, you can use some of ours.”
“I brought some. I’ll get it for you,” Guiyuan said.
“No hurry.” Yuchan lifted her gaze toward the cloth strips
on the line. “Fifth Young Lady’s monthly cycle just ended?”
“What of it?” Guiyuan asked suspiciously. “My lady’s cycle
has been late for many days now.”
Yuchan’s voice dropped, muttering her surprise, then she
asked softly, “And did Fifth Young Lady suffer much pain?”
Guiyuan might be careless in other things, but never when it
came to her lady’s health. She answered carefully, “Just the other day, I was
saying the doctor’s prescription must be miraculous that the lady didn’t suffer
at all this time.”
Yuchan fell silent, not daring to press further.
One’s cycle early, the other’s delayed.
Could it be only coincidence?
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