CXD - 57

Jiang Zhiyi was momentarily stunned, recalling how she had drifted off to the sound of water in the bathing chamber. In her sleep, she had dreamed of that rainy night in February when he had bathed in her room at the inn. Mistakenly thinking she was still there, she had unconsciously reached out.

Seeing his smug expression, Jiang Zhiyi’s anger flared so intensely that her hair seemed to stand on end. “It’s just another one of my dizzy spells!”

“...”

“Stop taking advantage of the situation and pretending to be innocent! You say I made the first move—couldn’t you have pushed me away?”

Yuan Ce turned his head away. “I didn’t have the strength to push.”

Jiang Zhiyi pointed to the makeshift defense system by the bed, now rendered useless. “But you had the strength to jump over this?”

“I used up all my strength right here.”

“...”

Exhausted from arguing, Jiang Zhiyi pressed her fingers to her temple, feeling a headache coming on. “I haven’t slept for a day and a night. I’m so tired my eyelids are fighting each other, and now I can’t even sleep without winning an argument...”

Yuan Ce noticed the bloodshot veins in her eyes. Sitting up straight, he exhaled deeply and gestured toward the bed, signaling for her to lie down. “You win.”

“If I fall asleep, will you start touching me again? Let me go back—”

“Then tie my hands and feet. Will that do?”

Half an hour later, Jiang Zhiyi looked down at Yuan Ce’s wrists, which were bound with ten loops of cloth. She tied the ends into ten tight knots, finally reassured, and collapsed onto her pillow, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Jiang Zhiyi was awakened by a sharp intake of breath.

Opening her eyes, she saw Jingzhe standing helplessly by the bed, surveying the chaotic state of the room. “Princess, did General Shen mistreat you last night...?”

Still half-asleep, Jiang Zhiyi yawned and closed her eyes again. “He doesn’t have the ability to mistreat me.”

“Princess, don’t hide the truth to spare us servants!” Jingzhe urged anxiously.

“What I said is the truth.”

“Then why is the carved stand broken?”

“It snapped from my anger.”

“And… and why is the bed curtain torn?”

“Because I needed strips of cloth to tie him up.”

“He dared to bind you...?”

“No, I bound him.”

Jingzhe sighed in relief but then froze halfway, realizing something was off. “Wait… you’re saying General Shen let you tie him up?”

“Yes, otherwise how could I possibly sleep peacefully...” Jiang Zhiyi yawned again, wanting Jingzhe to stop asking questions so she could rest. Before she could speak—

“But… but I saw him walk out earlier completely unbound!”

Jiang Zhiyi turned her head and blinked. “Then someone must have come in and untied him. I tied ten tight knots, after all!”

“I’ve been waiting outside since before dawn, and General Shen didn’t call anyone in...”

Slowly sitting up, Jiang Zhiyi leaned over the edge of the bed and looked down. There on the floor lay the remnants of the cloth strips, seemingly snapped apart with brute force. She drew in the same sharp breath Jingzhe had earlier.

Ten loops of cloth, ten tight knots—just like that, they were broken?

Was he treating her like a three-year-old child?

“Jingzhe, this person is truly, truly terrifying...” Jiang Zhiyi clutched her trembling heart. There was no way she could sleep anymore. “We need to find a way to return to the capital as soon as possible...”

“What options do we have now, Princess?”

Jiang Zhiyi thought for a moment, steadying herself. “Go tell him that I’ve been in Hexi for days and need to send a letter home to my uncle to reassure him. I’ll let him read the letter before it’s sent—it won’t mention any of his secrets.”

Jingzhe nodded and hurried to carry out her instructions.

An hour later, at the Xiance Camp on the outskirts of the city, Yuan Ce sat at a desk and took the letter presented to him by Mu Xinhong. He pulled the stationery from the envelope.

The familiar gold-flecked paper and handwriting greeted him, just like the letters sent to the Shen residence during the weeks Jiang Zhiyi had been recovering from her foot injury.

“General,” Mu Xinhong began cautiously, “given the young mistress’s temperament, back when she couldn’t see you for half a month due to her injury, she wrote to you every day. Now that she’s been separated from Lord Yong’en for so long, if she doesn’t send word, it will surely raise suspicions. This letter really should be sent. If you approve its contents, I’ll arrange for it to be dispatched...”

Mu Xinhong trailed off as he noticed Yuan Ce slowly clenching his fist around the letter and tossing it aside.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Xinhong cautiously peeked at the discarded letter, skimming it quickly. “It’s just rambling about her journey. What’s the issue, General?”

“Look at the first character of each line.”

“Uncle... Father... Will... Take... Me... Back... To... The... Capital... And... End... The... Engagement...?”

“Did I ask you to look? Did I ask you to read it aloud?” Yuan Ce shot him a sharp glare.

“...” As if not reading it aloud would somehow lessen the impact of the letter.

Mu Xinhong chuckled nervously. “Thank goodness the general has sharp eyes and saw through the young mistress’s scheme. Then we won’t send this letter. No, we won’t send it at all...”

After failing to seek refuge with the imperial envoy, failing to negotiate kindly, and now failing with a hidden-message letter, Jiang Zhiyi found herself trapped in the estate, utterly at a loss.

Coincidentally, Yuan Ce had been preoccupied with military affairs for the past two days and hadn’t returned home. With nowhere to vent her frustration, the atmosphere in the inner courtyard grew increasingly somber.

Jingzhe and Guyu, seeing her cooped up in her room all day, urged her to take a walk outside.

“Even if I step out of this door, I’ll still be watched like a prisoner.” Jiang Zhiyi showed little interest.

Jingzhe: “But staying cooped up here won’t make solutions fall from the sky. Who knows, maybe something unexpected will happen if you go outside?”

Guyu: “Even if nothing happens, think of it this way—you’ll leave here someday. For now, treat it as sightseeing. Wouldn’t it be a waste to stay cooped up like this?”

Jiang Zhiyi, after much persuasion from her two attendants, finally decided to go out on the streets on this sunny day.

Under the bright sun, the marketplace was bustling with vendors. However, the persistent presence of Sanqi, the soldier trailing behind her, dampened Jiang Zhiyi’s enthusiasm for exploration. She was aimlessly pulled along by her maids, Jingzhe and Guyu.

“Princess, they sell sugar figurines here in Güzang too. Didn’t you like them before? Let’s buy one!” Guyu pointed to a sugar figurine stall across the street, trying to cheer her up.

Jiang Zhiyi looked in the direction Guyu indicated, recalling the incident where she had competed with Pei Xueqing over a sugar figurine. Just as she was about to say that she no longer liked them, she noticed a young man dressed in Central Plains attire standing in front of the stall. He wore an elegant round-collared robe, with a tall and graceful figure, and his profile was refined and gentle.

Jiang Zhiyi stared at his profile, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.

This was Güzang, more than a thousand miles away from Chang’an—how could Pei Zisong be here?

She must have been hallucinating from being cooped up indoors, thinking of Pei Xueqing and therefore seeing her brother, Pei Zisong.

Jingzhe also glanced over, astonished: “Princess, isn’t that—”

Jiang Zhiyi pinched Jingzhe’s arm.

Realizing the presence of someone watching them closely from behind, Jingzhe quickly continued: “Isn’t that a different kind of sugar figurine compared to those in Chang’an? Let’s go take a look.”

Jiang Zhiyi nodded, leading her two attendants toward the stall across the street. As they drew closer, the figure became clearer.

Though puzzled about how Pei Zisong ended up in Güzang, his appearance was undoubtedly her unexpected encounter!

Jiang Zhiyi, delighted, quickened her pace. When she was just a few steps away from the sugar figurine stall, she saw Pei Zisong take the figurine handed to him by the vendor, pay, and turn to leave.

Jiang Zhiyi opened her mouth to call out but remembered the ever-present shadow trailing behind her and stopped herself.

Watching Pei Zisong walk away, Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes darted around, looking for inspiration. Spotting a nearby stall, she pointed: “Oh, there are xun flutes for sale. Let’s check that out first.”

The two attendants followed Jiang Zhiyi to the antique stall.

Jiang Zhiyi picked up a bone xun flute from the stall and asked the vendor: “Can I try playing this here to test its sound?”

“Miss, that’s not possible. The xun is played by blowing into it. If everyone tried it, it wouldn’t sell.”

“Then I’ll buy it,” Jiang Zhiyi signaled Jingzhe with a glance, “but I still need to test the sound here.”

“Please, go ahead,” the vendor happily accepted the gold leaf offered by Jingzhe.

Jiang Zhiyi glanced at Pei Zisong’s retreating figure, recalling the piece “Yu Boya Mourns Zhong Ziqi” they had once played together at the academy last year. Quickly, she began to play the xun.

The music drifted gently on the wind, reaching the far end of the long street. Pei Zisong unexpectedly stopped, turning back to look.

Catching this moment from the corner of her eye, Jiang Zhiyi’s heart raced, but she continued to play nonchalantly. As Pei Zisong approached, Sanqi, noticing something amiss, stepped forward.

“Princess?” Pei Zisong had reached Jiang Zhiyi.

Seeing Sanqi’s gesture to draw his sword, Jiang Zhiyi raised her hand: “This is the eldest son of Chancellor Pei’s family, not a villain.”

Sanqi’s expression changed slightly, but he did not lower his sword.

Pei Zisong was taken aback, bowing deeply: “I am Pei Zisong, the Princess’s former classmate at the academy. I just happened to see you and came to greet you, with no intention of causing trouble.”

Jiang Zhiyi: “Stand down. If you harm the Chancellor’s son, General Shen will be held accountable.”

Sanqi bowed and retreated behind Jiang Zhiyi.

“Why are you in Hexi, Master Pei? Is this trip related to official duties?”

“Not official duties. My sister fell ill for over half a month in January. After recovering, she said she wanted to visit Hexi. The family couldn’t let her travel alone, so I accompanied her. We actually started just a few days after you and General Shen. We planned to rest for a couple of days before visiting you.”

So that’s why. Pei Xueqing wanted to visit Hexi, likely because of Shen Yuance…

Shen Yuance, your spirit has finally come to rein in your terrifying younger brother!

Jiang Zhiyi nervously took a deep breath: “Could Master Pei step aside to a quiet place to talk?”

“What? You want to call off the engagement?” In the private room on the second floor of the teahouse by the street, Pei Zisong was surprised after hearing Jiang Zhiyi’s hurried explanation.

“I don’t have much time to talk with you now. There’s no pen or paper in the street either. Once you leave the teahouse, immediately write a letter and send it urgently to Chang’an, conveying my intention to break off the engagement to the Marquis’s residence so my uncle can quickly send someone to fetch me.” While speaking, Jiang Zhiyi glanced out the window, observing below the teahouse—Sanqi must have gone to the military camp to report. She didn’t know how much time she had left.

In Chang’an, Pei Zisong had only seen Jiang Zhiyi as a proud peacock. Now, for the first time, he saw her so panicked, as if fearing every word might be her last to him.

“Is the Princess merely having a common disagreement with General Shen, or has some big trouble arisen?” Pei Zisong recalled how Jiang Zhiyi had played the xun to catch his attention earlier and thought of the soldier’s seemingly protective yet guard-like demeanor. Hesitantly, he guessed: “General Shen wouldn’t dare confine you, would he?”

Jiang Zhiyi’s hands clenched lightly within her sleeves.

Beside her, Jingzhe exchanged glances, urging her to tell the truth.

After a long silence, Jiang Zhiyi clutched the hem of her sleeve and smiled: “No, he wouldn’t dare confine me. It’s just a minor disagreement, but even though it’s a trivial matter, I’ve made up my mind. Please help me.”

As always, Pei Zisong didn’t press further on matters she chose not to disclose. After a moment, he said: “Alright, I understand. But an eight-hundred-mile urgent dispatch can only be used for imperial edicts or urgent military situations. If I use my father’s name, the fastest I can achieve is four hundred miles.”

Jiang Zhiyi nodded: “As long as we use Chancellor Pei’s name to ensure the letter reaches safely, that’s fine. Thank you.”

Pei Zisong rose to take his leave: “Then I should hurry. I’ll go take care of it now.”

Jiang Zhiyi watched Pei Zisong leave the teahouse. The tension that had been building suddenly dissipated, and she sat at the tea table, lowering her gaze and falling into a daze.

Jingzhe stood beside her, worried: “Princess, why didn’t you tell him everything? Even General Shen cannot intercept letters sent under Chancellor Pei’s name. This was a rare chance to send a message. You should have reported all of General Shen’s misdeeds. With the Emperor’s intervention, we wouldn’t need to wait for the Marquis to send someone; we could return to the capital upon receiving the imperial decree.”

Jiang Zhiyi sat silently for a while, murmuring softly with her head bowed: “If Pei Zisong knew too much, he’d be in danger.”

Suddenly, the door of the private room was pushed open from the outside.

Jiang Zhiyi looked up and was startled to see who it was. She abruptly stood up.

Jingzhe immediately stepped in front of Jiang Zhiyi.

Yuan Ce crossed the threshold, slowly walking in with his black leather boots. His dark, menacing presence made each step tremble the hearts of those present.

Master and servant both shrank back slightly.

Yuan Ce stopped at the tea table, looking down at the steaming cup of tea opposite her. After a moment, he spoke: “Do you really want to leave that badly?”

Jiang Zhiyi took a deep breath, pushing Jingzhe aside, and looked up at him: “If I don’t leave, do you plan to keep me locked up like a prisoner for life?”

Yuan Ce remained silent, his eyes lowered.

Jiang Zhiyi followed his gaze to Pei Zisong’s teacup: “Since you refuse to let me go, I had no choice but to resort to this. The message should already be sent. You can’t possibly stop a letter bearing Chancellor Pei’s name.”

“And if I insist on stopping it?”

Jiang Zhiyi stamped her foot in frustration: “I’ve already said I won’t reveal your secrets. If I wanted to, just now would have been the perfect opportunity, but I said nothing—why won’t you let me go?”

Yuan Ce’s Adam’s apple moved slightly as he raised his eyes: “Could it be because I like you?”