Pei Ying sat in the carriage, rolling up one side of the curtain, watching the small county town beside Xiaojiang Prefecture with great interest.
This small town was located west of Xiaojiang Prefecture, closer to the Western Regions, so there were more Hu people. They wore coiled turbans, colorful woven cloths draped over their shoulders, gathered in groups, conducting business in halting, imperfect Great Chu speech.
The golden sun sank westward, dyeing vast stretches of the sky in warm hues of orange and yellow. Beneath this canopy, the small town was bustling. Occasionally, a melody of a Western Regions folk song would drift by, adding a unique flavor to the scene.
Pei Ying felt hungry. She called out to Huo Zhizhang, "Young Master Huo."
Huo Zhizhang was riding ahead on horseback. Hearing Pei Ying call him, he initially didn't want to respond, but her voice was gentle as water, without a trace of haughtiness, making it difficult to ignore.
Huo Zhizhang's brows furrowed and then relaxed. After several such moments, he finally turned his horse around and rode up to the carriage. "What is it?"
"It's mealtime now. How about we find an eatery to dine?" Pei Ying paused before adding, "My treat, as thanks for bringing me out."
Huo Zhizhang thought for a moment. He was actually hungry too, but actively seeking out an eatery sounded like he was taking care of her.
"Very well, let's find one. But there's no need for you to pay; I'm not short of money for a meal," Huo Zhizhang said, turning his face away. Having a woman treat him to a meal would be laughable if word got out.
In the end, Huo Zhizhang found a clean-looking establishment. He had initially intended to sit in the main hall, but upon entering, he noticed that even though Pei Ying wore a veil hat, many people were stealing glances at her.
Huo Zhizhang muttered "troublesome" under his breath and quickly had the attendant secure a private room.
This eatery specialized in hot pot, but due to the many Western Regions merchants passing through the town, the selection of condiments was much more complete compared to Yanmen Prefecture.
Two small bronze pots were soon brought up and placed into the hollowed-out slots on the low table.
Huo Zhizhang sat opposite Pei Ying, the two facing each other. The charcoal had just been lit, and the water in the pots had not yet boiled, leaving them with nothing to do for the moment.
Pei Ying was not a talkative person. After sitting down, she quietly waited for the water to boil.
Huo Zhizhang's gaze fell on Pei Ying several times before he finally couldn't hold back. "How did you come to know my father?"
Pei Ying replied, "We met by chance."
Thinking back now, if she hadn't encountered that hypocritical Constable Hao that day, if he hadn't seen her, perhaps everything would have been different.
But unfortunately, there were no 'what ifs' in some matters. Just as, if she had known her daughter would be in a carriage accident that day, she would never have let her leave the house.
Huo Zhizhang felt he had frowned more today than in the past month combined. "Why do you keep stating the obvious?"
Pei Ying thought for a moment. "I have no obligation to answer your questions for free. How about this: we exchange questions. You ask me one, then it's my turn to ask you one."
Huo Zhizhang pondered briefly and then nodded. "My question remains the same as before."
This time, Pei Ying answered: "The county town I originally lived in suffered from banditry. My husband, the Assistant Magistrate, died in the line of duty. One of his minor clerk colleagues came to my home, perhaps seeking the wealth of the deceased, or perhaps for other reasons. In any case, he happened upon me as I was about to go out. That clerk had ambitions for advancement, so he offered me as a stepping stone to your father."
Pei Ying saw no need to conceal anything, as these were all facts. Even if she didn't say it now, he would find out later.
However, speaking of that time, her thoughts drifted to that Constable Hao. After he presented her to Huo Tingshan, she didn't know what benefits he received. She would have to ask him when she returned.
Pei Ying spoke calmly, but her words struck Huo Zhizhang like thunder.
Her husband had been an Assistant Magistrate, and he had died a martyr's death. This meant she was not only a woman from a respectable family but also the properly wedded wife of an official.
Huo Zhizhang's face turned pale, then flushed, feeling a burning heat.
Watching his changing expression, Pei Ying recalled a term from before: 'idol collapse'. Huo Tingshan's image might have crumbled a little in his son's eyes.
"My turn to ask. Who else knows about your coming to Xiaojiang Prefecture?" Pei Ying inquired.
It took Huo Zhizhang a while to compose himself. "My elder brother. I left him a letter before departing. Besides him, only the guards who accompanied me."
Pei Ying thought to herself that he was indeed not the eldest son.
It was Huo Zhizhang's turn again, but he remained silent for a long time before speaking. "Do you truly not have feelings for my father?"
Pei Ying paused slightly, lowered her eyes, and then shook her head.
She had stayed by Huo Tingshan's side for two seasons, during which many things had happened.
He had forced her to stay, but had also offered her protection. They had established a partnership, gone into business together, their entanglements growing ever more complex.
She knew he was a good official. She was grateful he had sent people to rescue her daughter after the earthquake, admired his attitude towards the common people, and marveled at his keen sense for new ventures.
But romantic feelings...
Huo Zhizhang's expression softened, but after a sigh of relief, he felt an inexplicable sense of discontent.
His father had gone to the battlefield at twelve to resist the northern barbarians. At twenty, coming of age, he led troops to crush the Xiongnu at Jiaotengkou, annihilating fifty thousand of their elite forces. If not for bad weather, the Xiongnu royal court would have ceased to exist long ago.
Later, as his grandfather's legitimate son, his father went alone to the treacherous den that was Chang'an to receive his title, and returned completely unscathed.
Three years later, his grandfather passed away from old wounds, and his father, while succeeding as Governor of Youzhou, dealt with each of his restless great-uncles one by one, shouldering the banner of the Huo family.
A few more years later, as his father reached thirty, the Xiongnu, having recuperated for a decade, invaded again. His father led the troops once more, this time beheading the Left Virtuous King on the battlefield, causing the Xiongnu to retreat in terror.
Later, when traitors in the court caused trouble, cutting off Youzhou's military funds and even fabricating evidence of rebellion, his father navigated those difficult hurdles one by one.
In Huo Zhizhang's view, there was no man more heroic in this world than his father. How could she say she didn't have feelings for him?
After Pei Ying answered, it was her turn again. "Earlier, you said you would send me away. How do you plan to do it?"
Huo Zhizhang said, "The Shi family has been entrenched in Bingzhou for many years; there are always some remnants hiding in the corners. I'll arrange a fake death for you."
Pei Ying looked at Huo Zhizhang. "Is that all?"
"Naturally," Huo Zhizhang replied, his back stiffening slightly under her gaze. "What are you getting at?"
"Has your father ever struck a woman?" Pei Ying suddenly asked.
Huo Zhizhang answered without hesitation, "Of course not." If a woman was unwilling, one simply declined. There was no need to strike her.
Pei Ying asked again, "Then has he ever struck you?"
Huo Zhizhang's expression became somewhat awkward. "What son hasn't been beaten? There's an old saying, 'Filial sons come from under the rod.'"
So he had been beaten.
With that, Pei Ying was completely reassured.
"Why are you asking these things?" Huo Zhizhang felt a sudden unease, a vague sense of foreboding.
Pei Ying smiled without answering.
At that moment, the water in the pots boiled, the broth releasing its fragrant aroma. Pei Ying picked up her chopsticks and began placing the meat dishes into her small pot.
Huo Zhizhang also began to eat.
Both of them were hungry and, as if by tacit agreement, stopped their previous question-and-answer session to begin their meal.
Pei Ying was taller and more slender than most women, so naturally she was no small eater. But compared to Huo Zhizhang sitting opposite her, she was completely out of his league.
Huo Zhizhang devoured four plates of meat dishes and two plates of vegetables in one go. Still unsatisfied, he asked the young servant to bring two more portions of noodles.
Pei Ying looked at the noodles pushed in front of her and suddenly felt rather full. "I still have much food left in my ding vessel, I cannot eat this much."
From where Huo Zhizhang sat, he couldn't see Pei Ying's small ding. "Just leave it there for now. We'll see if you can't finish it later."
Pei Ying truly couldn't finish it. When she put down her bamboo chopsticks, the plate of noodles Huo Zhizhang had pushed over remained untouched.
Seeing this, Huo Zhizhang took the noodles back and polished them off clean.
By the time they finished this hot pot meal, it was dark outside.
Night had fallen, and the curfew was approaching.
Huo Zhizhang took Pei Ying to find a place to stay. He did not choose a government post station, but instead sent someone to the streets where merchants from the Western Regions conducted business. They finally found a wine lodge jointly run by a Western Regions merchant and a merchant from Great Chu.
Somehow, Huo Zhizhang managed it so that their party could lodge at the wine lodge that night.
Pei Ying shared a room with Xin Jin that night, with Huo Zhizhang's room next door.
Xin Jin was tidying up the room for Pei Ying. "Madam, how will this situation be resolved if it continues like this?"
Having followed along this journey, Xin Jin had been watching from the sidelines and had come to understand that Pei Ying's departure this time wasn't truly intended as an escape.
For one, Young Lady Meng was still back at the Provincial Governor's residence. Secondly, Pei Ying was too composed, as if she were merely out for an excursion, completely lacking the panic she had shown when fleeing in Beichuan County.
Pei Ying pursed her lips and smiled faintly. "It's fine. Huo Tingshan's son said he doesn't hit women."
Unless Emperor Zhao passed away before summer, her marriage to Huo Tingshan was a foregone conclusion.
The other party had heirs, and the heir was already this grown, surely possessing his own capabilities.
For the sake of harmonious coexistence in the future, she needed to make her stance clear, or perhaps it should be said, to tell them the truth—
This marriage was not what she wanted; she was not the one desperately clinging to their father.
She did not love their father and naturally would not bear him children. They need not worry about new siblings arriving because of her presence.
Looking at the curve of Pei Ying's lips, Xin Jin suddenly remembered that night back in Yanmen Commandery, when she had heard faint, pitiful sobbing in the dead of night.
Xin Jin opened her mouth to speak, but seeing Pei Ying in good spirits now, ultimately said nothing.
This residence was a wine lodge. Ever since entering, Pei Ying had caught the scent of alcohol.
It lingered in the air, never dissipating.
Smelling the wine, Pei Ying suddenly remembered something and said urgently, "Xin Jin, I need to go out for a moment."
Xin Jin asked in surprise, "Madam, it's so late now. Where are you going?"
"Just out of the room, not out of the residence," Pei Ying replied.
When Pei Ying found Huo Zhizhang, he and Guo Dajiang were in the courtyard, standing face to face, the atmosphere seeming somewhat tense.
Seeing Pei Ying approach, Guo Dajiang took a step back, standing slightly behind to make space for Pei Ying and Huo Zhizhang.
"What is it?" Huo Zhizhang asked.
Pei Ying answered truthfully, "This is a wine lodge, so it must store various types of fine wine. Could you ask the proprietor to bring some out for me to see?"
"A woman with such a fondness for drink?" Huo Zhizhang exclaimed in surprise.
Pei Ying replied, "I'll need a livelihood in the future. I'm thinking of dealing in wine later on."
If white sugar could be produced, it could indeed fetch sky-high prices, but the raw material, sugarcane, wasn't readily available. Bringing seeds or stem cuttings from the south to plant in the north, then waiting for them to grow into a large sugarcane field, would take at least two years.
But wine was different.
Wine was brewed from grains or fruits, raw materials available in the north.
Although Pei Ying tried to keep her tone calm as she spoke, she was unaware of how brightly her eyes shone.
Huo Zhizhang pondered for a moment and finally agreed. He called for the proprietor and, under the pretext of buying wine, had the storeroom opened.
Inside the storeroom, rows of wine jars were neatly arranged, categorized by type, with different labels hanging on the shelves.
Malt wine, golden nectar wine, Hongliang wine...
Due to the proximity to the Western Regions and the frequent passage of merchants from there, the lodge also stored a considerable amount of grape wine and kumis.
Pei Ying bought one jar of each type. After paying, she asked Guo Dajiang to fetch a wine cup.
Seeing Pei Ying about to drink, Guo Dajiang worriedly said, "Madam."
"It's alright, just a little taste," Pei Ying said, taking the cup filled with malt wine and taking a small sip.
Pei Ying smiled. "Just as I thought!"
Huo Zhizhang beside her was about to ask 'just as you thought what?' when a guard hurried over. "Second Young Master, the Grand General's cavalry has arrived."
That guard had originally accompanied Pei Ying when she left, protecting her along with Guo Dajiang and the others. After arriving at the wine lodge, he was stationed at the main gate when he suddenly heard the sound of hoofbeats in the distance.
Each member of the guard squad had their own specialty; this guard had exceptionally sharp eyesight, able to see in the dark. From afar, he recognized the familiar figure leading the cavalry.
Not daring to delay, he rushed to report.
Huo Zhizhang's face changed dramatically, and for a moment he was at a loss.
There wasn't much time for him to think. Soon, he heard the hoofbeats.
"Clop, clop, clop—"
The hoofbeats grew closer, sounding as if they were heading straight through the side gate into the courtyard.
Huo Zhizhang stood under the corridor, stiffly turning his head slowly. In the darkness, a man and his horse were the first to enter the wine lodge courtyard through the side gate.
The large black horse had glossy fur and sturdy limbs, its eyes dark as ink. Upon seeing him in the courtyard, it snorted, as if greeting him.
However, Huo Zhizhang had no mind to acknowledge Wu Ye. He only felt himself locked in by a gaze both icy and terrifying. In those narrow eyes, he seemed to see a terrifying hurricane, or perhaps magma erupting from a chasm.
"Fa... Father..."
Before he could finish the word, a black horsewhip cut through the air with a sharp crack, landing fiercely on Huo Zhizhang's body.
The whip struck from his chest across to his abdomen. The force was so great that he cried out in pain, stumbling back two steps.
The area across his chest and abdomen burned with a fiery pain, even giving him the illusion that his internal organs had been displaced.
Huo Tingshan dismounted from Wu Ye in one fluid motion and strode over.
Huo Zhizhang's chest and abdomen throbbed with pain, but he dared not clutch them. He was still in his adolescent frame, far shorter in stature than Huo Tingshan, and even more so in presence.
The oppressive aura, heavy as mountains and vast as seas, surged over him overwhelmingly. Huo Zhizhang's face turned deathly pale, from both pain and shock. He had never felt such fear as he did in this moment.
"How impressive, scheming against me now." The voice was cold as black ice.
"Father, I didn't..."
Before Huo Zhizhang could finish his sentence, the man before him raised his foot and kicked. The blow landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying several meters back.
The guards who had come with Huo Zhizhang were horrified, but not one dared step forward.
After kicking the young man, Huo Tingshan was about to call for Guo Dajiang, but as he turned his gaze, he caught sight of a corner of apricot-colored clothing within the open storeroom ahead.
Huo Tingshan continued striding inside.
When he entered the warehouse and saw the beautiful woman standing beside the opened wine jar, a wine cup still in her hand, the man's frost-cold expression became extremely grim, darker than ink ground from an inkstone.
"You've come, General." Pei Ying set down the wine cup.
Huo Tingshan was infuriated by her nonchalant manner. She hadn't returned to the residence after dark, had left Xiaojiang County without a word following that rebellious son of his, had gone out drinking, and now showed not a shred of remorse.
Was her timid appearance merely a rabbit's skin, hiding a leopard's heart within?
"Have I been too lenient usually, making you truly believe I am a kind man?" Huo Tingshan advanced step by step, his face cold.
Pei Ying stiffened slightly.
Last time he found her at the clinic, she could sense he was somewhat angry then too, but not like this towering rage. The heavy, oppressive force crashed down like a tidal wave, seemingly freezing one's very blood.
"I just came out for a walk..."
Before she could finish, her wrist was abruptly seized. Pei Ying was pulled forward, stumbling, by that domineering force.
The hem of his robe swept up coldly, brushing past the wine cup on the small cabinet. The ceramic cup was swept off, shattering into pieces on the floor.
After two steps, Pei Ying couldn't keep up with his pace. "Huo Tingshan!"
The man stopped, directly picked her up, and carried her out with long strides.
Wu Ye was in the courtyard. Huo Tingshan placed Pei Ying on the horse's back, then swiftly mounted behind her.
As he took the reins to turn the horse, his gaze swept over the young man not far away. "Take this rebellious son back under guard."
Leaving only that command, Wu Ye began galloping away.
Pei Ying had come by carriage, taking an hour to reach the small town. Now, the return journey took less than half an hour.
The steed flew forward, the wind whipping fiercely. Pei Ying tried to speak several times, but the wind robbed her of words.
The horse's back was jarring. She clung tightly to his chest, her hands gripping Wu Ye's mane. When she couldn't hold on, she had to grasp the iron-like arm encircling her waist.
It was already under curfew when they returned to Xiaojiang County.
The clatter of hooves arrogantly echoed through the silent streets and alleys. Residents on both sides stealthily pushed open their windows to look, but upon seeing the troop of cavalry galloping past, immediately closed them again.
Huo Tingshan rode to the east gate of the Provincial Governor's residence and entered through the side gate.
This gate led most directly to the main house.
When she was lifted off the horse, Pei Ying was disoriented. Though physically in the main courtyard, her spirit hadn't caught up with Wu Ye's speed.
Huo Tingshan carried her inside, pushing the door open and then slamming it shut behind them.
As the door closed, the daylight spilling into the courtyard was cut off.
Darkness enveloped them, so deep she couldn't see her own hand. Just as Pei Ying was about to speak, a large, calloused palm cupped her chin, tilting her head up.
A kiss laden with anger descended.
Fierce and voracious, rage and heat fused within it, savage and brutal, as if he meant to devour her whole.
Her chin was held, her waist gripped. With Huo Tingshan before her and her back against the wooden door, she couldn't move, forced to accept it all.
Her hands clutched his lapels. As moments passed, the beautiful woman's slender fingers gradually tightened, crumpling the fabric.
A few frantic whimpers escaped her nose. Pei Ying patted his shoulder blades, but the man before her paid no heed, relentlessly tormenting the little fleeing fish.
A flushed pink gradually spread beneath Pei Ying's eyes. Unable to bear it any longer, she thought to bite him, but he sensed it. The fingers on her chin pressed inward slightly, the flesh of her cheek preventing her teeth from closing.
Pei Ying let out a short, sharp whimper, utterly helpless.
After a long while, the man finally drew back slightly.
Pei Ying's legs felt as if treading on clouds, her limbs weak. If not for the long arm around her waist, she would have slid down along the door behind her.
"Discipline the son before others, instruct the wife in private. Since there are principles my wife still doesn't understand, I will teach you carefully today, lest you take leave without word again another day."
Pei Ying meant to say it wasn't so, but suddenly heard the tearing sound of fabric.
Her mind went blank for an instant.
The ruqun skirt, the inner garment, the trousers... Shu brocade, praised as 'worth gold by the bolt,' the fine, lustrous yellow cloth coveted by noblewomen in the capital—all were destroyed piece by piece in his hands.
"Huo Tingshan, you haven't shaved." Pei Ying tried to stop his hands. The muscle under her palm was firm; she could even feel the pronounced tendons standing out.
Those tendons pulsed slightly, unabashedly displaying the rush of hot blood.
He didn't respond, continuing his task.
Pei Ying flushed crimson with anxiety. Just as she was about to cry out again, he lowered his head once more, swallowing her unspoken words.
The hand gripping her chin finally released, only to slide downward, seizing one of her thighs and pulling it aside.
...
Xin Jin returned by carriage, anxious all the way. By the time she finally reached the Provincial Governor's residence, it was the usual hour for retiring.
The carriage stopped at the gate. Xin Jin alighted and walked to the main courtyard on foot. Both rooms in the main courtyard were unlit.
Puzzled, Xin Jin didn't stop, proceeding directly to the side room where Pei Ying stayed. She gently pushed the door open, about to call out "Madam."
But the two words caught in her throat.
The door opened a crack of about three fingers' width. Moonlight slipped through the gap into the room, and Xin Jin saw a scatter of clothing on the floor.
At the bottom was the apricot-colored ruqun skirt Madam had worn today. Layered atop it was the inner garment, then the trousers, and on top, a dudou with its ties broken.
Madam's dudou today was goose-yellow. The moonlight fell upon it, revealing an unusual dark patch, as if dampened by something.
Xin Jin heard familiar, fragmented weeping. Compared to last time's clear, charming tone, the usually gentle voice now held a hoarse note, like a peony flower wilted from lack of water.
"Huo Tingshan, don't tie them, don't tie..."
"Will Madam run away again next time?" The man's voice was gravelly, like some large beast with meat in its jaws.
Xin Jin dared not listen further and quickly closed the door.
Inside the room.
Pei Ying lay prone on the bed, the brocade quilt she usually covered with was underneath her. Even without looking, just by touch, she could tell the quilt was in disarray.
The two hair ribbons from her hair now served as accomplices, threaded through the gaps in the carved wooden bed frame ahead, winding around her wrists like vines.
Her hands were bound together, forced to stretch forward. Her elbows and bent knees were not far apart. Her fair kneecaps, rubbing against the quilt with his movements, gradually turned pink and red.
Pei Ying's lashes were damp, her eyes holding a pool of tears. Her red lips and the nape of her neck trembled and shuddered incessantly. A layer of fragrant sweat covered her body, as if she had just been pulled from water.
At a certain moment, the beautiful woman shook her head violently, weeping so hard she nearly lost her breath, her voice utterly fragmented.
She wanted to move forward, wanted to simply press herself fully against the brocade quilt, but was hauled back up with a domineering force.
"Will my lady leave without saying goodbye again in the future?"
Pei Ying trembled, shaking her head slightly.
"What does shaking your head mean?" Huo Tingshan looked at her.
Her dark hair had come loose, cascading like water to one side, revealing a stretch of snow-white skin mottled with plum-blossom-like marks. The rosy traces upon it were from the scrape of his beard, and from other things.
"I won't..." Pei Ying murmured, her cheek resting on the brocade quilt, her eyes vacant.
"Remember the words you've spoken yourself from now on." Huo Tingshan reached out, pulled the hair ribbon from her wrist, and then turned her over.
Just as Pei Ying thought he was going to carry her to bathe, he gripped her legs once more and pulled her towards him.
Outside the window, the night was thick and viscous. As time passed, the lamps of a thousand households extinguished one by one.
The town beneath the vast sky gradually grew quiet, while in the wilderness, the tiger that lay hidden by day emerged for its nightly hunt.
A little white rabbit that had hopped out from its burrow heard a strange sound and alertly pricked up its long ears. Yet, there was no further movement, as if what it had heard was merely an illusion.
The rabbit hopped along searching for food, wandering farther than it realized. Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out from the woods like lightning, pinning the white rabbit beneath its paw.
The white rabbit struggled, kicking its legs futilely, as the brightly-furred tiger devoured it bite by bite, savoring every last morsel, even the flavor from within its bones.
The night was deep. Within a city dwelling, someone whispered against the person in their embrace: "Don't drink that contraceptive medicine anymore. My lady, bear me a child."
