When Pei Huaijin held the full-month banquet for his second son, Xiao Ci arrived with gifts to offer his congratulations, holding the hand of a three-year-old child, though the child’s mother was nowhere to be seen.
“Why didn’t Lingkun come along?” Pei Huaijin asked casually.
Xiao Ci had gotten engaged the year Shen Yunshu entered the Forbidden Palace to become a court lady. They married the following year, but his child came much later, younger than Yuan Yuan by about two years.
Pei Huaijin had met Xiao Ci’s wife a few times; she was a gentle-featured lady, with a temperament that seemed somewhat dull—completely different from the dignified and poised Shen Yunshu.
The reason Xiao Ci married such a temperamentally reserved woman wasn’t out of affection but due to family pressure; he had no choice but to marry her.
After all, with Shen Yunshu as the shining pearl in the family, Xiao Ci never found a girl he liked in the capital. Moreover, he was no longer young, and his marriage was long overdue. When his family grew anxious, Xiao Ci’s father recalled a childhood betrothal he had arranged for him years ago.
Originally, the matter had been long forgotten, and the other family had already moved out of the capital, so there was no obligation to honor it. But Xiao Ci’s father sent someone to inquire, and it turned out the other family still had a daughter of marriageable age—eighteen years old, surname Xia, given name Zhiyi. She was talented and good-looking, but her own marriage had not been settled.
After some mutual understanding, both families agreed to formalize the arrangement based on the original verbal promise.
Xiao Ci had always been exhausted by the family’s constant urging for marriage, so he simply agreed this time to appease them.
Afterward, the two families began following the traditional six rites. The originally scheduled wedding was postponed by half a year due to illness in the other family. In the autumn of the following year, the lady came from afar to marry into the Xiao family, and Xiao Ci was no longer the golden bachelor of the capital.
Pei Huaijin was somewhat close to him and had occasionally heard him mention his wife at home, knowing that they were initially distant and polite to each other, only gradually becoming closer over the years, which led to their first child.
After the child was born, Xiao Ci spoke of his wife more frequently, and their relationship gradually became harmonious.
Thus, seeing Xiao Ci come alone with the child today, Pei Huaijin guessed that perhaps his wife was unwell or had something urgent to attend to, so out of concern, he inquired casually.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Ci let out a helpless laugh: “She ran away.”
The answer caught Pei Huaijin off guard. “Ran away? Why?”
“She wasn’t Xia Zhiyi at all—she was an impostor. Afraid of a scandal, she ran off…” She even left a letter, saying that deceiving him was wrong but that the child they had could be considered her compensation to him.
When Xiao Ci read that letter, he was so furious he laughed bitterly.
He was the Deputy Minister of Justice, skilled at seeing through everything. He had known for a long time that she wasn’t Xia Zhiyi.
But since she was at least obedient and kind, he hadn’t exposed her, letting her continue the deception.
He hadn’t expected that after five years of marriage, she would suddenly feel guilty, abandon the child, and run away.
What was this about?
If she dared to deceive him into marriage, why not deceive him for life? Now that the child was born, why run?
“What do you plan to do?” Pei Huaijin asked.
“I’ve traced her whereabouts, taken a half-month leave from the Ministry of Justice, and I’m going to find her and bring her back…”
Pei Huaijin patted his shoulder. “She doesn’t seem to be a bad person by nature. Maybe she has her reasons. Once you find her, talk to her properly.”
“Yeah.”
In fact, he had sensed something was wrong as early as the third month after the “Xia Zhiyi” came to marry him.
The first three months of their marriage coincided with a complex case at the Ministry of Justice, and he was often away from home, with little time to spend with her.
Later, he learned that the servants in the residence mocked her for feeling neglected. To save her dignity, after finishing that case, he made an effort to come home on time every day, sometimes even putting on a show of marital harmony in front of the servants to silence their gossip.
It was at this time that he realized the household servants were actually quite respectful toward her, but a nanny and two maidservants she had brought from her family showed a somewhat strange attitude toward her.
Xia Zhiyi’s father was the deputy transport commissioner in their region, responsible for taxes, granaries, and measurements. Although not a high-ranking official, it was a lucrative post. One would expect his daughter to have the airs and pride of a proper young lady.
However, the “Xia Zhiyi” Xiao Ci married, though always impeccably dressed and coiffed, bore only a deliberate elegance, lacking the marks of being pampered. Occasionally, there was even a hint of unbefitting timidity in her eyes, which puzzled him.
Moreover, the wedding date had been postponed by half a year before the marriage due to a family illness on her side. Although the Xia family gave a reasonable explanation, his years of experience in solving cases gave him a gut feeling that something was amiss.
So he discreetly observed her and her servants for a long time, and when his intuition was confirmed, he subtly interrogated one of the young maidservants.
Applying interrogation techniques from the Ministry of Justice on a small maid, within an hour, she confessed the truth.
She said the woman who came to marry was not Xia Zhiyi but a herbal gatherer named Zhong Li, who had lost her father young and was raised by her maternal grandparents. She bore a certain resemblance and was brought in to replace the second Miss Xia, who had run away from her marriage.
The second Miss Xia had her own lover and eloped with him after dragging the matter out until the lovers could wait no longer.
The Xia family, unwilling to sever the alliance with the Xiao family, found Zhong Li to stand in.
The half-year delay in the wedding was the Xia family’s time to prepare Zhong Li before sending her off as a substitute bride.
Though surprised, Xiao Ci was not greatly shaken.
Having a substitute bride was something his closest friend had also experienced. For him, marrying a fake daughter-in-law wasn’t earth-shattering or hard to accept.
He could accept it because the lady’s temperament matched his preferences. Exposing her would only cause trouble.
Besides, he was too lazy to find another wife.
As for the three servants who knew the truth, Xiao Ci found excuses to dismiss each of them and sent them away from the capital. As long as the Xia family didn’t expose the truth, no one else would ever know.
Without those three servants to guide her, the lady occasionally made slips, but he turned a blind eye.
Unexpectedly, in the end, it was her own conscience that failed her, leaving the child behind and running away.
Xiao Ci traced her to a few relatives back in her hometown. Only an elderly grandmother remained, and he suspected that after escaping, Zhong Li would return to visit her. So he planned to find her there.
After attending Pei Huaijin’s child’s full-month banquet, Xiao Ci entrusted the child temporarily to his aunt, arranged all matters, and set off for Zhong Li’s hometown—a small town under Ningzhou.
When he found the grandmother’s home, it was already deserted. Asking neighbors, he learned the small house was up for rent or sale but no buyer or tenant had been found.
He then found the estate agent responsible for the house and, posing as an outsider under a false name, expressed his intention to lease the property.
House sales or leases required both parties to go to the government office to sign the contract. On the appointed day, under the broker’s arrangement, he waited at the government office entrance and saw her rushing over.
Unlike when she was his wife at the Xiao residence, she no longer wore the delicate makeup of before. Her face was bare, revealing her originally fair and delicate features. Her hair was no longer immaculately styled; a simple cloud bun with a single silver hairpin was all she had. As she hurried along, a few soft strands fell against her temple.
Her clothes were plain and simple. It was already winter, yet she wasn’t wearing even a cloak, and her nose and cheeks were reddened by the cold wind…
At that moment, Xiao Ci pulled the tie of her cloak open.
Before he could remove it, she caught sight of him, froze, then turned and ran.
No longer burdened by the trappings of a noble lady, she ran surprisingly fast.
But in her panic, she turned into a dead-end alley and was trapped deep inside by Xiao Ci.
She tried to escape again but was stopped by his raised hand, caught between his arm and the wall.
“Running away from what?”
His breathing was slightly ragged as he looked down at her. “You had a decent life, why run off to suffer in this backwater?”
She turned her face away stubbornly, unwilling to meet his gaze, her neck stretched straight, but a small mole on her nape caught his eyes.
“I’ve already told you clearly in the letter—I’m not Xia Zhiyi. Why do you keep coming after me?”
“I knew about it long ago. You were a substitute bride, but does that justify you leaving without a word?”
“You knew all along?” She turned to look at him, shocked, then lowered her gaze. “When did you find out?”
“Half a year after you married.”
“Then… why didn’t you expose me?”
“You were honest and simple, suitable to be a wife. If I’d exposed you, I’d have to find another wife. That would be troublesome…”
“Just because of that?”
“Yes.” It would be a lie to say he kept her because he liked her. After all, it had only been half a year of polite respect between them, with no affection.
“If you like honest and simple girls, I’m done for. You can marry another girl like that. It wouldn’t be troublesome. So why come looking for me?”
“If you wanted to be done, why didn’t you say so earlier? The child is already three years old, yet now you suddenly put on airs?” Xiao Ci pinched her cheek, forcing her to look up. His gaze locked on her without blinking. “Is someone threatening you?”
As he spoke, he observed her expressions carefully.
Sure enough, her eyelashes trembled at his words, and she turned her face away, avoiding his gaze.
It was clear she was being threatened.
He pressed harder with his hand, forcing her to turn back.
“Who’s threatening you? The Xia family? Or those three servants who used to serve you?” If she told him, he could help resolve the problem.
Yet she stubbornly kept her mouth shut, only glaring at him with wet eyes.
Xiao Ci had interrogated many criminals at the Ministry of Justice and was always patient and skilled with people.
He squeezed her smooth cheeks tightly, making her lips pucker. Applying more pressure, the tightly closed mouth suddenly popped open, revealing a few white teeth beneath red lips…
A dark shadow passed through Xiao Ci’s eyes. He decided to switch interrogation methods.
At this moment, there was no mouth he couldn’t pry open as Deputy Minister of Justice…
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