Yun Lou lay on the bed, waiting with eager anticipation. After a while, Yinyin and Wensi came in carrying hot water.
"Madam, the master sent us to prepare your bath."
Behind the folding screen, the wooden tub was soon filled with water, scattered with peony petals picked fresh that day. The ripples shimmered gently, and the fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.
Yun Lou had worked up a sweat playing shuttlecock. She slipped off her clothes and sat down in the tub. Her dark hair floated on the surface, tangled with the petals, covering the old scars that crisscrossed her body.
"Where's Pei Xu?"
"The master has gone to the study."
Yun Lou pouted. Liar.
She had stretched her limbs today, and her body felt wonderfully loose and relaxed. She could sense her inner strength recovering faster, and the lingering weakness that had plagued her since her injury was finally starting to dissipate.
Yun Lou soaked contentedly in the bath, emerging feeling refreshed all over. By the time Yinyin helped her dress, Wensi had already begun setting out the meal.
The moment Pei Xu entered the room, he caught the fragrance of the bath lingering in the air. It had seeped into her hair and her skin, practically seeping into every pore.
He sat down slowly at the dining table.
Yun Lou was still praising Aunt Zhou's cooking and didn't notice that her husband across from her was unusually quiet today, his mind wandering.
"...Pei Xu!"
"Hm? Yes, my dear, what is it?"
Yun Lou looked at him suspiciously. "What are you thinking about? You're not even paying attention while eating."
Pei Xu kept his expression steady. "Something to do with the clinic."
Yun Lou leaned in closer. "Is the clinic in trouble?"
She remembered that shameless scoundrel from today. Had she not hit him hard enough? How dare some trash bully the man she'd set her sights on—tomorrow she'd go kill him!
Pei Xu caught the sudden fierceness flickering in his delicate wife's eyes and chuckled, shaking his head. "No, it's just some issues with sourcing medicinal herbs." He picked up a dish she liked and placed it in her bowl, speaking gently. "Are you full?"
Yun Lou finished the food he'd given her and nodded. Pei Xu then called for the maids to clear the table.
The sky had already darkened, the moon bright and the breeze clear. Yun Lou had changed into a pale moon-white nightgown and lay on her stomach on the daybed by the window, letting her hair dry.
By the wall outside the window grew a cluster of trumpet creepers. Through the moonlight, a sprig crept in through the window slits. Yun Lou reached out and picked a flower, tucking it into her hair. The crimson petal slid down her cascading, ink-black mane, finally landing on her pale ankle.
A small patch of cinnabar red, like a strangely bewitching flower blooming from her very flesh. The sight was strangely arresting.
Pei Xu averted his gaze after a single glance. He threw on an outer robe and hurried toward the door, while his wife called out behind him, "Pei Xu, where are you going?"
He didn't turn back, only said in a gentle tone, "There are some texts I haven't finished reading. I'm off to the study."
Yun Lou made an "oh" sound and went back to playing with the trumpet creeper.
The summer night was calm and breezy. She dozed off briefly, and when she woke, her hair was already dry. She rubbed her arms, hopped off the daybed, and realized Pei Xu still hadn't returned.
Yinyin heard her stir and pushed the door open. "Madam, would you like to retire for the night?"
Yun Lou asked, "Where's Pei Xu?"
Yinyin began making the bed and said, "The master is spending the night in the study. Le'an has already set up his bed there."
Yun Lou was stunned. "What?!"
Shocking! Her husband of merely three days was sleeping in a separate room! Was this the crumbling of human decency or the betrayal of moral vows!
Yinyin explained, "The master often used to sleep in the study as well. He frequently reads late into the night and worried that coming back in the middle of the night would disturb your rest."
Yun Lou thought it over. He did seem to not have been sleeping well these past couple days.
Probably he was used to sleeping alone and hadn't adjusted to having someone next to him. Remembering the dark circles under his eyes, she decided against marching to the study: "Fine."
The night had grown deep, and crickets at the base of the wall were chirping merrily.
Pei Xu restlessly flipped through a few pages of text, finding the noise extremely irritating.
Le'an pushed the door open to refill his water and found the pot was empty again, drained by his master.
The master suddenly spoke up. "Has my wife gone to bed?"
Le'an replied, "She's asleep."
Pei Xu gave a soft "Mm," and said nothing else.
Le'an said, "Master, you should turn in soon too."
Pei Xu looked at the book he had barely turned a single page of, pressed his brow which was throbbing with mild headache, and finally went to bed. As he slept, he felt as though the peony fragrance lingered all around him, elusive and inescapable.
The next morning, Yun Lou was almost done with her breakfast when Pei Xu finally showed up.
She noticed the dark circles that still hadn't faded beneath his eyes and thought to herself that he hadn't slept any better alone in the study either.
Noticing his wife's gaze fixed on his face, Pei Xu looked up. "What is it?"
Yun Lou looked thoughtful. "You still didn't sleep well?"
He mustered his spirits. "I slept decently."
Yun Lou said, "Liar."
Her little face turned serious. "Has something happened? Are there problems with the clinic's account books? Or is it that business with the bandits on our wedding day that's still troubling you?"
At this rate, that handsome face was going to lose its looks!
His wife had already furnished him with a plausible excuse, so Pei Xu immediately grasped the lifeline. "Yes, well—the man who took you hostage remains unidentified. Constable Bian hasn't been able to trace the culprit. It keeps me unsettled at night."
Those dark and murky thoughts he was ashamed to face himself, and certainly didn't want her to know.
Yun Lou comforted him. "Don't worry. With Zhong Shi and Zhao Shitou around, they know martial arts well. Even if more thieves break in, they'll be caught."
Pei Xu let out a melancholy sigh.
Yun Lou dutifully placed food on his plate. "Stop worrying. Eat a bit more, okay?"
After breakfast, Le'an directed the servants to begin taking down the red silks hung around the house.
Yun Lou changed into plain clothes and accompanied Pei Xu to the outskirts of the city to pay respects at his mother's grave.
The tombstone was inscribed with "In Memory of the Deceased Mother, Madam Liu." The calligraphy was the same as the signboard over the Suspended Relief Hall—presumably both were Pei Xu's own hand.
In these days since the wedding, Yun Lou had heard plenty about Madam Liu's benevolent deeds. She truly admired this healer who cared for all living beings. With great sincerity, she kowtowed and offered incense.
Pei Xu crouched before the grave, gently wiping the dust from the stone.
When his mother was alive, she had always worried he would be bound by the past. She had hoped he would settle in this remote, peaceful place, marry and have children, and live a serene life to the end. After her death, those obsessions seemed to lose their anchor and turned to ash in the wind.
A faint soft sound reached his ears. Pei Xu turned his head and saw Yun Lou kneeling before the grave, palms pressed together, eyes closed, muttering something under her breath. She looked so innocent, so devoutly adorable.
When his mother heard her whispered words, she would surely also laugh the way he was laughing now, wouldn't she?
When the two returned to the Pei residence after paying respects, they ran into the mason who had come with drawings for Yun Lou to look over.
The pergola design she wanted was laid out clearly on the paper. Yun Lou looked at it with satisfaction, then turned to Pei Xu. "Is this all right?"
Pei Xu said, "Whatever you like is fine."
She then proudly handed the designs back to the craftsman. "Build it just like this—start construction today!"
The backyard of the Pei residence underwent a lively renovation.
The pergola Yun Lou wanted slowly took shape. The already elegant courtyard gained a fresh, flourishing vitality.
To satisfy Yun Lou's requirement of being able to both sit and lie down, the pergola was hung with light gauze drapes on all four sides. Inside, along with a low tea table and cushions, there was also a reclining lounge chair. When resting, one could lower the gauze to keep out the bugs.
Yun Lou was absolutely delighted with this retirement garden. For several days in a row, she barely left the house, spending each day under the parasol tree with a round fan in hand, watching the craftsmen work their magic on the renovations.
Pei Xu discovered that spending the night in the study wasn't all that different from the bedchamber, so he moved back the very same evening.
Fortunately, Yun Lou had been so occupied with the garden these past few days that she had no energy to tease him, and Pei Xu finally managed to get a decent night's sleep.
Just as dawn was breaking, rain began to fall outside.
Summer rain always came fast and fierce. Pei Xu was woken by the relentless patter, and by the dim, hazy morning light, he looked down at the wife in his arms.
She was, predictably, frowning in displeasure, mumbling drowsily: "Why is it raining again."
Whenever it rained, she couldn't lie out in the gazebo. The chaise lounge out there had recently become her new favorite spot—aside from eating and sleeping, she spent most of her day lounging on it.
The rain grew more insistent, and his wife rolled around in his arms, throwing a little tantrum: "Pei Xu—do something about this weather! Make it stop raining!"
Pei Xu was actually quite pleased.
Because his wife actually believed that he, an ordinary man, could command the wind and the rain.
He said soothingly: "I won't go to the clinic today. How about I take you to the Rain Pavilion to listen to storytellers and watch a show? The willow-lined embankment by the lake looks best in the rain, and they have your favorite pastries there too."
Yun Lou relented: "Fine then."
Pei Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
Since they were awake anyway and neither felt like going back to sleep, they got up and washed up. The parasol tree actually looked beautiful in the rain—its leaves washed to a rich, verdant green. Yun Lou was standing under the eaves catching raindrops in her hand when she suddenly spotted Le'an running toward them in a hurry under an umbrella.
His shoes and socks were soaked through, but he didn't seem to care, his face full of panic: "Master! Something's happened!"
Pei Xu came out quickly and heard Le'an say urgently: "Chen Wenze is back! He ran into bandits on Luoma Road and got robbed!"
Chen Wenze was the son of Dr. Chen, the physician who came to see Yun Lou every time. He worked as a purchasing clerk for herbs at Xuanji Hall.
The town of Fengping was small, so many herbs had to be purchased and transported back from larger places like Jiangling. Chen Wenze was responsible for this, and in all these years, he'd never had a single mishap.
Pei Xu asked in a low voice: "Is he safe?"
Le'an wiped the rain from his face: "He's fine, just the herbs got stolen. It's been raining for days and the roads were bad. Wenze said their cart got stuck on Luoma Road, and the bandits suddenly rushed out, grabbed the crates and ran—they even took the money pouch off him."
Pei Xu said: "As long as he's safe." Then he frowned: "They usually ship by water. Why did they take the overland route this time?"
Le'an said: "That's what I was wondering too. Luoma Road passes right by Beiwu Mountain, and everyone tries to avoid it when transporting goods. Chen Wenze should know better than to make that kind of mistake."
As the two of them talked, they began to head out. Pei Xu turned back with an apologetic look at Yun Lou: "I won't be able to take you to the Rain Pavilion today. Once everything's—"
"It's fine, the clinic matters more." Yun Lou cut him off, also throwing on an outer robe: "I'll come with you."
By the time the three of them arrived at Xuanji Hall, a burly young man was sitting inside with his head hung low and dejected. Dr. Chen was bandaging a wound on his arm while scolding him the whole time.
Chen Wenze was already upset about the stolen goods, and now he had to endure his father's nagging on top of that. He complained loudly: "I didn't want to take Luoma Road either, but with the Shen family's disaster, all the waterways were shut down! What was I supposed to do? Just stay in Jiangling forever? And who knew I'd get this unlucky—I haven't taken that road in years, and the one time I do, I run straight into bandits! Waaah—"
Pei Xu walked up: "Uncle Chen, don't scold Wenze anymore. The important thing is that he made it back safe."
"Master! Waaah—"
The moment Chen Wenze saw him, he started crying even harder.
Pei Xu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He waited until the tears subsided before asking: "You mentioned the Shen family's big trouble earlier. What happened?"
The Shen family was a wealthy local clan in Jiangling, controlling most of the water transport in the city and serving as the official grain transport commissioner. Jiangling was a hub connecting north and south, where most cargo in the country was transshipped.
Chen Wenze usually bought herbs in Jiangling and shipped them via the Shen family's water routes. The Shen family had checkpoints along the river, ensuring safe passage.
True, the Shen family's cut was steep, but compared to the risks of traveling overland, merchants preferred to pay for peace of mind.
Better that than getting robbed clean, like Chen Wenze had just experienced.
"The head of the Shen family was murdered the night before last! I heard his throat was slit in one stroke—blood spattered everywhere in the room!"
Le'an: "Good heavens! Really?"
"Of course it's true! It's all over Jiangling!" At the mention of gossip, Chen Wenze forgot his grievances and his lingering fear, his face lighting up as he spoke.
"The Shen family is one of the most influential clans in the area. The patriarch was young but shrewd and capable, and he'd married the eldest daughter of the Qianji Manor. A man that formidable—gone just like that! The Shen family must be in chaos. The entire Jiangling has been thrown into disarray because of this!"
The Shen family... Yun Lou knew of them.
Jiangling was a murky place, teeming with several major underworld powers. She'd crossed paths with them back in her Thin Blade days.
"No wonder you risked the overland route." Le'an nodded solemnly and patted Chen Wenze on the shoulder: "Then this isn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's the killer who murdered the Shen patriarch—starting so much trouble that it burned innocent bystanders like us."
Chen Wenze sighed: "I heard the Shen family has issued a bounty hunter's warrant to kill the murderer. Blood for blood."
Pei Xu frowned: "They're hunting the killer? Have they found him already?"
Chen Wenze nodded: "The Shen family is a force to be reckoned with in Jiangling, and with the eldest daughter of Qianji Manor as the matriarch, the Shen mansion's defenses were airtight—even a mosquito couldn't get in. Yet the patriarch was killed so easily, without leaving a single trace behind."
"With skills so elusive and a single-stroke kill, they say there's only one person in the world capable of such an assassination."
Chen Wenze lowered his voice slowly: "The Thin Blade. The Night Wanderer."
Yun Lou, who had been listening to the gossip with rapt attention: ?
Huh?
Me?
