Pei Huaian’s reckless embrace tore open the wound on his chest once again.
After gently laying him down, he pressed his hand against the injury, drawing sharp, shallow breaths of pain as his pale face flushed white.
Shen Yunshu felt a mixture of pity and frustration.
She helped him back to his room to change the bandages, scolding him gently as she did so, “Careless as always. The wound was finally starting to heal. Couldn’t you just stay still for once?”
Pei Huaian grinned at her, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Wife, do you know? Back at the temple fair, the person I fell in love with at first sight wasn’t You Ran.”
“Not You Ran? Then who was it?”
“It was you!”
“Me?”
“You were the one, weren’t you? Standing by the bookstall that day?”
Shen Yunshu thought for a moment.
“I believe so.”
“You were wearing a curtain veil identical to You Ran’s…”
“Yes.”
“At that moment, I only caught sight of your eyes. But when I turned my head, you were gone. Later, I saw You Ran at the music stall and mistakenly thought she was you. That’s why I pulled off her veil and caused all the confusion.”
Pei Huaian had thought she would be just as delighted as he was hearing this, but instead, she was silent for a while, her face shadowed by a faint melancholy.
“So if you hadn’t seen me that day, you and You Ran wouldn’t have had any connection. Maybe I wouldn’t have tried to matchmake you two. You Ran wouldn’t have married into the Pei Family, and all these messy troubles wouldn’t have happened…”
Pei Huaijin was surprised she was thinking along those lines, as if burdened with guilt over Shen You Ran marrying into the Pei Family.
“She ended up marrying my eldest brother by accident, and that’s not bad at all.”
Shen Yunshu sighed softly.
Pei Huaijin was naturally a good match, but if their third sister could have married someone better suited, maybe she would have lived more freely and wouldn’t have been dragged into all this, getting hurt by Lu Yi time and again…
Originally, Pei Huaian had told her this story hoping to cheer her up, but it backfired and only made her gloomier.
Trying to lighten the mood, when Shen Yunshu brought over the medicine box and told him to lift his shirt, he suddenly took off his entire upper garment in one swift motion.
He enjoyed horseback riding, and his waist and abdomen were tight and firm from the morning exercises he’d been doing recently.
When flexed, the pale skin revealed faint lines of muscle underneath.
“Wife, feel here,” he took her hand and placed it on his waist and abdomen.
“How does it feel?”
Shen Yunshu had already turned her eyes away when he took off his shirt.
She was about to ask him to put it back on when he grabbed her hand and pressed it against his side.
“Don’t do this…”
She blushed deeply, trying to pull her hand back.
But he pressed even more firmly.
“Don’t be shy, wife. Feel it. Do you like it?”
She could clearly feel the thin muscles under her palm, elastic and firm, filled with power beneath the surface.
It was a strange sensation, but…it felt good.
She didn’t dislike it.
“So? Wife?”
Pei Huaian noticed the resistance fading from her face little by little and smirked.
“Satisfied?”
Although pleased in her heart, Shen Yunshu wouldn’t say so outright.
Instead, she gave him a reproachful glance.
“You’re not a martial artist. What use do you have for muscles like these?”
“They’re definitely useful…very useful.”
Pei Huaian avoided dwelling on that thought, but since she had shown him those spring palace pictures earlier, he was no longer the innocent boy he once was.
Thinking about the purpose of those muscles made him blush and stammer, “You’ll know someday, wife.”
On the fifth day after Shen You Ran was rescued, Dali Si’s Sifu, Xiao Ci, arrived at the Pei residence to take her for questioning.
He did not come directly for her but first met with her sister.
The sister then sent Tinglan to the Yunzhi Courtyard to fetch her, saying she needed company to the Dali Si.
The officials questioned her about the events before and after her capture, telling her that the evidence against the bandits for hostage-taking and extortion was complete.
Those captured would be charged, including Lu Yi.
The remaining fugitives would be pursued relentlessly until justice was served.
Then they asked about something else: whether she had seen a boy around sixteen or seventeen years old at the bandits’ hideout in Songlin Ao.
What did he look like?
This question was timely.
During her captivity in Songlin Ao, all the bandits concealed their faces with scarves—except that boy.
She had seen his true face.
“There was such a boy, around sixteen or seventeen years old…”
Shen You Ran tried to say he was about Pei Huaian’s age.
Since Huaian was not present, she glanced around and pointed at Xiao Ci, “He was about as tall as Lord Xiao, sturdier, with slightly dark skin, wearing a wolf fur vest…”
As she described him, the artist began sketching.
After a rough portrait was drawn, Shen You Ran shook her head.
The artist carefully adjusted the features based on her feedback.
“The eyebrows aren’t like this, not so thick but dense…”
“The eyes aren’t like that either. His irises were very black and bright, the shape was a bit like peach blossom eyes…or no, more like a woman’s eyes…Hmm…no, that’s not right…”
Eyes were notoriously difficult to capture.
The artist tried repeatedly but could not replicate the pair she remembered.
Growing anxious, the artist said patiently, “If you really can’t recall clearly, let’s move on to other features.”
“The nose is probably about right, but I don’t know what his mouth looks like. He had a beard that covered it, so I didn’t see…”
They returned to the eyes again.
The artist put down the brush, letting her reflect further before continuing.
Shen You Ran didn’t want to waste ink, but the eyes the artist drew just didn’t match her memory.
She grew anxious too.
During the artist’s break, Shen Yunshu came over to comfort her.
Xiao Ci poured two cups of tea and handed them to the sisters.
“Don’t be anxious. You were in such a terrible environment; it’s understandable your memory is affected. If you can’t recall today, just rest for now and come back later.”
“Didn’t you catch some bandits alive? They must know what their young master looks like.”
“We asked them. Their descriptions differ, and none would tell the truth.”
“Oh.”
Suddenly, Shen You Ran thought of something.
“I can’t describe his eyes yet, but there’s one characteristic I’m absolutely sure of.”
“What characteristic?”
“… His back, near the right shoulder, has a birthmark.”
Shen You Ran raised her hand, gesturing about half an inch in size.
“About this big.”
That was an unexpected lead.
Xiao Ci ordered someone to record this trait.
“He told me he was picked up by two heads of the bandits and doesn’t know who his real parents are. But he knew my name, probably because a girl with the same name knew me in childhood. That’s why he didn’t harm me…”
“He knew your name?”
Surprise flickered on Xiao Ci and the others’ faces.
After exchanging a glance, Xiao Ci asked another question, “Do you remember if Shangshu Da Ren ever took you into the Palace as a child?”
Huh?
Why ask this now?
Though puzzled, Shen You Ran answered honestly, “I don’t remember ever entering the Palace…”
Xiao Ci nodded understandingly.
“You must have been very young then, before the age of memory. Never mind, I will pay a visit to your father later. He should remember.”
After more questions about the boy, Xiao Ci escorted the sisters back.
Shen Yunshu had already vaguely sensed there was another reason the Dali Si sought those bandits.
It now seemed likely they were searching for that mysterious boy.
The boy rescued by bandits, who remembered You Ran’s name, and Xiao Ci’s question about whether their third sister had been taken to the Palace as a child…
Boy, You Ran, Palace, before the age of memory…
Shen Yunshu furrowed her delicate brows, thinking deeply, and came to a daring hypothesis: over a decade ago, a child of high status had gone missing in the Palace, possibly abducted or taken by the bandits.
Now, the Dali Si was trying to find this noble person’s whereabouts.
A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, about the same age as Pei Huaian and the third sister.
If lost before the age of memory, at most around three or four years old then, who could this noble child be?
Shen You Ran had no time to ponder these things.
She leaned on her sister’s shoulder, drowsy.
In recent days, Pei Huaijin had been coming home late every night.
She was used to falling asleep wrapped in his arms, but after her rescue, she kept having nightmares.
When he wasn’t home, she couldn’t sleep and was always sleep-deprived.
When she asked why he couldn’t come home earlier, he just said his official duties were busy and that things would settle down soon.
For some reason, though he behaved normally, Shen You Ran felt he was troubled by something.
Sometimes he sighed.
When she asked, he told her not to think too much.
But how could she not think?
He was definitely hiding something important from her.
She was deeply upset but couldn’t figure out why.
Returning to the Yunzhi Courtyard, she was about to rest when someone from Haitang Courtyard came for her, relaying the matriarch’s summons.
Her mother-in-law rarely saw her, and the last two visits she had made to Haitang Courtyard had been unpleasant.
Being summoned again so suddenly could hardly be a good sign.
Though reluctant, Shen You Ran had to go.
Ignoring the summons might make her seem disrespectful and unfilial.
She took Danruo and Qinghe with her, grudgingly walking toward Haitang Courtyard.
Pei Huaijin wasn’t home, nor was Qingjian.
If even one of them had accompanied her, she wouldn’t feel so unsettled.
Upon entering the hall and paying respects, Zhu Shi dismissed all the serving maids, including Danruo and Qinghe, sending them to wait in the courtyard.
Only then did she speak to Shen You Ran, her tone cool: “Brother Jin’s wife, is your health fully restored?”
“Thank you, madam. I’m fine now.”
Earlier, her sister had taken on the disgrace of her abduction, while Pei Huaijin told others she was ill.
Shen You Ran had not wanted her sister to bear this unjust shame, but since her sister insisted and Pei Huaijin and Pei Huaian agreed, the household had been calm with no rumors against her sister.
So Shen You Ran accepted her sister’s kindness.
That day, seeing her sister and Pei Huaian’s affection growing closer and having no estrangement with Pei Huaijin, Shen You Ran thought life could continue smoothly.
But Zhu Shi’s next words struck her like a blow.
“Actually, I know it wasn’t Brother An’s wife who was abducted, but you…”
The color drained from Shen You Ran’s face as if pulled from her skin.
“Such an incident is hard for anyone to accept, let alone you,” Zhu Shi said, though she disliked her, she did not want her to suffer so.
Thinking about what she was about to say, knowing it would hurt her again, Zhu Shi hesitated but still spoke on.
“I know this is not your fault, but you were held captive for three full days. Some things, we all understand. I don’t want to say it bluntly…”
Shen You Ran’s face turned pale.
“Madam, what exactly do you mean?”
“Then I’ll speak plainly,” Zhu Shi changed her tone slowly.
“I know you never planned to have children so soon, and now with this mess, it’s natural that resentments will grow between you and Brother Jin. As for offspring…I’m afraid you won’t have any for a while. So I thought to take a concubine for Brother Jin. What do you think?”
“No!”
Shen You Ran jumped up, cutting her off.
“I do not agree!”
Zhu Shi’s expression, which had held some remorse, turned cold.
“Brother Jin’s wife, things have come to this. You need to be sensible…”
“If you were sensible, you wouldn’t have made this decision only three months after your daughter-in-law came into the house,” Shen You Ran fixed her with a gaze full of faint anger.
“If you insist, then have your son divorce me first, then talk about taking a concubine.”
Zhu Shi had thought that, given Shen You Ran’s current ‘withered’ status, a decent woman would give up her husband out of shame.
She never expected her to hold onto Pei Huaijin stubbornly and even threaten divorce…
Where did she get the confidence?
Zhu Shi sneered coldly, “You say that because you think Brother Jin won’t actually divorce you. Indeed, he is responsible and wouldn’t leave you voluntarily. But haven’t you noticed the growing rift between you two? He’s been coming home later and later these days…”
Shen You Ran’s heart skipped a beat.
Pei Huaijin’s long hours and late returns—he said it was busy with official business, and she wanted to believe him.
But deep down, doubts quietly surfaced: was it truly his duties, or was he avoiding coming home early because he suspected her purity?
She refused to accept the latter but couldn’t deny the facts.
He had been preoccupied and distant, no longer as affectionate as before.
He hadn’t kissed her much these days.
So, did Pei Huaijin not believe she was innocent?
Was he troubled by this matter?
Seeing Shen You Ran’s haughty spirit weaken, Zhu Shi knew she had hit a nerve.
She said no more and waved her off, “Think it over carefully.”
Shen You Ran left Haitang Courtyard in a daze.
It was the first day of the minor cold solar term, and snow fell outside.
That night, Pei Huaijin returned even later than usual.
Shen You Ran sat on the bed, her thoughts growing colder and colder.
Back when Danruo had tried to get contraceptives for her but was caught by Zhu Shi, she learned from Danruo that her mother-in-law had already thought about taking a concubine for Pei Huaijin then.
At that time, she comforted Danruo, saying that if her mother-in-law insisted on taking a concubine, she would go back to her natal family.
Today, Zhu Shi brought up her chastity again, repeating the matter of concubinage with an attitude as if Shen You Ran had no choice but to agree.
It was truly bullying.
Yet, Pei Huaijin’s coldness toward her these days was undeniable.
Her heart felt stabbed by a thorn the deeper she dwelled on these thoughts.
Fine, she would get a divorce.
She thought.
She hadn’t wanted to marry Pei Huaijin from the start anyway.
She didn’t even like him.
Well, actually, there was a little bit of liking.
So she could never accept Pei Huaijin’s doubts about her, nor could she agree to him taking a concubine.
Divorce!
Must divorce!
The screen door of the bedchamber was pushed open.
Pei Huaijin walked in, snowflakes dusting his brows.
Seeing her sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to the door, tidying something, he smiled faintly as he approached.
“You Ran, there’s something I want to talk to you about…”
In the next moment, she flung the item in her hand forcefully onto the couch and turned around, shouting at him, “Divorce then! Divorce!”