“Tease you?” Pei Huaijin’s gaze deepened, tinged with disbelief. “How did she tease you?”
“She demanded I demonstrate my qinggong skills. When I refused, she insisted I perform backflips…”
This young mistress truly had endless patience—perched by the window, she had pestered him relentlessly for a full two hours. Ultimately unable to withstand her persistence, he had demonstrated a martial arts sequence, which finally satisfied her enough to retire for her afternoon nap.
Upon hearing this, Pei Huaijin chuckled. “Oh, so it was like training a monkey?”
Qing Jian’s face turned ashen.
“Enough,” Pei Huaijin patted his shoulder. “I’ll go check on her and reprimand her on your behalf…”
“Young Mistress is no longer in her chamber,” Qing Jian reported. “The moment you lifted her confinement, she dashed out.”
She certainly moved quickly.
In this vast Pei residence, the only place she’d likely go was Ciyou Courtyard where Shen Yunshu resided.
After two days of confinement, she had probably accumulated a bellyful of grievances to pour out to her sister.
Having heard early that morning that Seventh Brother had gone out again and wouldn’t return before nightfall, Pei Huaijin saw no urgency in summoning her back since Seventh Brother wasn’t at Ciyou Courtyard.
Ciyou Courtyard.
Shen Youran arrived just as the kitchen staff delivered the evening meal. Tinglan was arranging the dishes while her sister stood beneath the corridor, feeding a delicate hwamei bird.
This was Shen Youran’s first visit to Ciyou Courtyard, and she was immediately captivated by its exquisitely artistic layout—emerald bamboos, verdant pines, and vibrant flowers creating a uniquely charming atmosphere.
During this season, autumn chrysanthemums and dancing lady orchids bloomed splendidly, with over a dozen pots of kalanchoe flowers bursting in full glory, their fragrance permeating the air…
The comparison was inevitable—against Junzhi Courtyard, this place felt like an ethereal paradise.
This was truly her dream courtyard.
Had the marital arrangements not been swapped, she would have been the one enjoying flowers and playing with birds here.
Wuwu…
“Sister, I was confined for days! Not only did you not visit me, but you have the leisure to play with birds?” Shen Youran complained with a woeful expression, embracing her sister while radiating misery.
Shen Yunshu quickly held her younger sister, explaining, “No, this bird’s constant chirping was grating on my nerves, so I came to feed it…”
“Sister, you have no idea how unreasonable Pei Huaijin is,” Shen Youran protested. “Not only did he confine me, but he made me eat leftovers…”
“He made you eat leftovers?” Shen Yunshu hadn’t expected him to do such a thing, immediately showing concern. “What happened?”
“How should I know? Early this morning, he sent someone with leftover food, saying since I could stomach that indistinguishable paste soup, what difference would leftovers make?”
“Wait, what paste soup are you talking about?”
“That night before last, I was starving beyond endurance. Seventh Young Master took me to the kitchen to find food, but there was none. So he cooked a pot of paste soup—utterly dreadful—but I was so famished I drank half a bowl…”
Regarding that night’s incident, Pei Huaian had already explained to her. Shen Yunshu only knew he had mentioned seeing Third Sister pitifully hungry and casually prepared some food for her. So it turned out to be paste soup.
After brief contemplation, Shen Yunshu pieced together the entire sequence of events.
“It must have been that night when you went hungry. Lord Pei, fearing you’d starve, ordered food sent to you. But you happened to sneak out with the Seventh Young Master and missed the proper meal, ending up with only half a bowl of terrible porridge instead. Lord Pei must have felt slighted, which is why he deliberately had the previous night’s leftovers reheated and sent to you…”
“Felt slighted? What would he feel slighted about? It’s not like he likes me…”
“But I heard that last night…” Shen Yunshu dismissed her maids before continuing, “Last night he stayed in your room?”
Mentioning this made Shen Youran even angrier: “That old stick-in-the-mud has no romance in him at all! Matters of the heart should develop naturally – how could he force things?”
“Heavens!” Shen Yunshu covered her mouth in shock. “Did he force himself on you?”
Seeing her sister’s horrified expression, Shen Youran immediately realized she’d been misunderstood.
“Oh no, not that kind of forcing! It’s…” She furrowed her brows, considering how to explain. “It seems he knows I strongly resist him, so he deliberately does things to try to bring us closer.”
“So what exactly did he do?”
Shen Youran then recounted everything that had happened that morning.
To her surprise, after listening quietly, her sister actually approved of his actions: “Actually, there’s nothing wrong with what he did. You retreat, he advances – he’s actively trying to close the distance between you. If he also remained frozen in place, when would you two ever truly accept each other?”
“But he shouldn’t have said it out loud! Once spoken, all the romance is gone!”
“I actually think being open and honest like this is quite good…”
Shen Youran’s face fell. She released her sister’s hand and stared at her for a long moment before saying: “See? You two are truly made for each other. It’s just too bad I ruined it…”
“Don’t say such things,” Shen Yunshu stroked her sister’s tearful face. “The marriage swap wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was my fault!” Shen Youran insisted. It was all because she’d provoked the Lu family’s stepbrother that this mess had started.
“Truly, it wasn’t your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it should be me.” Shen Yunshu pinched her sister’s cheek and took her hand. “What’s done is done – from now on we must look forward. Didn’t you say you’ve been eating leftovers all day? The dishes in my courtyard are fresh today – stay and eat with me…”
Shen Youran’s eyes welled up with tears as she mumbled agreement, complaining pitifully: “From last night until now, I haven’t had a single decent meal…”
“Perfect timing then – today I had the kitchen prepare your favorite crab-stuffed oranges. You can eat plenty later…”
Danruo and Tinglan washed their hands and stood by their respective mistresses to help shell the crabs. Shen Youran first ate a few bites of other dishes, then waited intently with her chopsticks for the crab meat.
When the crabs were ready, she told Danruo and Tinglan to go eat themselves rather than continue serving.
“Sister, actually I came tonight because I have something very important to tell you.” Naturally, she didn’t need to observe the “no talking during meals” rule with her own sister. While eating, she whispered: “Pei Huaian wants to become a monk.”
Shen Yunshu burst out laughing at this: “How could that be? Where did you hear that?” How could a pleasure-seeking playboy like him possibly abandon worldly joys to enter monastic life?
Shen Youran grew anxious seeing her sister’s nonchalant expression. “It’s true! He said it himself, and I heard it with my own ears!”
“Oh? What exactly did he say?”
Youran thought for a moment. “I guessed it first—I noticed the sandalwood scent on him and deduced he’d been to a temple. He admitted he went to listen to the monks chant scriptures. But why would he go to a temple to hear sutras on the second day of his marriage? When I asked if he wanted to become a monk, he evaded the question and said something about how, whether he took vows or not, he wouldn’t let you live as a widow…”
Though Pei Huaian had sworn under her pressure that he wouldn’t renounce the world, it was clear his vow wasn’t sincere.
“He also made me promise not to tell anyone. I haven’t even told Pei Huaijin, but you’re my own sister, and now his wife—I had to tell you…”
Seeing her younger sister’s earnest expression, Shen Yunshu felt a flicker of doubt despite finding the scenario improbable.
That night, she had indeed noticed the distinct temple incense clinging to Pei Huaian’s clothes, but she hadn’t thought much of it or asked about his temple visit. After all, theirs was a marriage in name only, and they’d agreed not to interfere in each other’s private affairs.
He had left again early this morning, and now with dusk approaching, he still hadn’t returned.
Had he gone back to the temple?
Did he truly intend to “renounce the world”?
But he didn’t seem the type.
Though she couldn’t fathom why he would stage such a drama, now that even Third Sister knew about it, she needed to get to the bottom of things or Youran would keep worrying.
“Thank you for telling me this, but don’t fret too much. I’ll get this sorted out,” Yunshu reassured her sister.
Seeing Yunshu’s expression turn serious, Youran felt relieved that her sister was taking the matter to heart and finally relaxed, scooping another mouthful of crab roe.
Soon, she finished the crab before her.
Noticing how much her sister enjoyed it, Yunshu passed over her own untouched plate of crab meat.
Youran accepted without ceremony and began eating with gusto.
“Sister…”
“Hmm?”
“Why do you think Pei Huaian wants to become a monk?”
Though nothing was confirmed, Youran had already convinced herself it was true.
“I can’t guess yet, but if he really has such thoughts, it’s probably related to the marriage swap.”
“So he’s rebelling against the arranged marriage by trying to escape this union with you?”
“No, we’ve spoken—he’s accepted the marriage swap.” Besides, they’d both signed the Letter of Separation; becoming a monk now would be pointless.
“Then why?” Youran frowned in confusion. “Could it be because he’s lovesick over me and can’t have me, so he wants to join the monastery?”
She never used to believe people could act as irrationally as characters in romantic tales, driven mad by unrequited love. But since deducing that Lu Yi was likely behind the bride-snatching incident, she’d come to accept that some people truly become obsessive, losing themselves over intangible emotions.
Yunshu glanced at Third Sister. Though she found it highly unlikely that Pei Huaian would retreat to monastic life over heartbreak, she humored her sister with a noncommittal, “Perhaps.”
“But before we married, I had only met him once.” And that one time, she hadn’t even seen his face before he frightened her away. “So why is he so deeply devoted to me?”
Seeing her younger sister’s utterly naive expression, Shen Yunshu found it endearing: “Perhaps because you’re wonderful.”
Shen Youran suspected her sister was being sarcastic: “How am I wonderful? I’m lazy and greedy.”
“You have no idea how… entertaining you are!”
Shen Youran snorted: “I knew you were teasing me…”
She stayed for dinner at her sister’s courtyard, then dragged her sister around the garden until complete darkness fell, still unwilling to return.
Shen Yunshu had to urge her: “It’s too late, you should go back and rest. We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow morning when we make our bridal return visit.”
“But I don’t want to go back…” Shen Youran clung to her sister’s hand, wheedling, “Sister, can I sleep with you tonight?”
“We’re both married women now, we can’t act like before our weddings.” Seeing her dawdling reluctance to leave, Shen Yunshu immediately guessed the reason. “Are you afraid of Lord Pei?”
“Yes,” Shen Youran hung her head. “Today he ordered me to copy the fourth chapter of ‘Admonitions for Women’ ten times, and I haven’t written a single character yet.”
“I see…” Compared to her fainting her mother-in-law on her first wedding day and sneaking out with Pei Qilang at midnight, copying ‘Admonitions for Women’ was actually quite light punishment. Moreover, it wasn’t the entire text – the fourth chapter contained less than two hundred characters. Ten copies would total barely two thousand characters. Given her previous practice of writing three to four thousand characters every morning, this amount was truly insignificant.
Shen Yunshu also understood why her sister resisted copying – simply because she believed she hadn’t done anything wrong and therefore refused from the bottom of her heart.
“I know you feel wronged, but outsiders don’t understand. Just the incident of you fainting your mother-in-law alone could have caused quite a scandal. It’s only because Lord Pei suppressed the matter that it didn’t blow up. Confining you and making you copy texts are just for show to outsiders, meant to quickly put this matter behind us. You should cooperate – it’s just two thousand characters, treat it as calligraphy practice…”
Though Shen Youran had been stubborn and defiant during the day, now she knew she was in the wrong.
Especially after hearing her sister’s reasoning, she grew even more afraid to face Pei Huaijin.
“But… but I haven’t copied anything! How should I explain it to him when I go back?”
“What he really wants is your attitude. Go back and take the initiative to yield, tell him you’ll definitely copy it another day. He’s a gentleman, tolerant and several years older than you – he won’t truly hold it against a young girl like you…”
“Really?”
“Trust your sister.”
Encouraged by Shen Yunshu, Shen Youran finally mustered some courage and returned to Junzhi Courtyard with Danruo.
Late as it was, the courtyard blazed with lights, making Shen Youran’s heart flutter with anxiety.
She first went to wash up, then lingered over eye compresses, thus whiling away half an hour. When she returned to the bedchamber door, she quietly asked the maid on duty: “Is he asleep?”
The maid replied: “The lord hasn’t called for me to extinguish the lamps, so he’s probably still awake.”
Shen Youran raised her hand to the partition door but didn’t push, ultimately losing her nerve. Turning to Danruo, she said: “You go in and fetch a set of my clothes. I’m going to take a bath…”
Danruo kindly advised, “Young Mistress, you just bathed the day before yesterday. It’s cold now and late at night. Perhaps you shouldn’t bathe tonight.”
“Just go in when I tell you to…”
“But… but I don’t dare to go in either.”
If her mistress feared that gentleman, how could she, as a maid, not be afraid?
“Come in.” Pei Huaijin’s cool voice came from behind the partition door.
“See? He told you to go in,” Shen Youran urged Danruo.
“Shen Youran, come in.”
Being called by name, Shen Youran could no longer avoid it. With a sullen little face, she shuffled inside step by step.
The room now contained a brass incense burner. Though small, it added considerable warmth to the space.
Before the moon gate bed, red curtains were drawn aside with golden hooks. Pei Huaijin had already changed into sleepwear, leaning against the bed with an auspicious ruyi pillow behind him, casually flipping through a book.
Shen Youran approached and saw he was reading “Admonitions for Women.” She couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
“Um…” Before he noticed, Shen Youran proactively confessed, “I didn’t copy ‘Admonitions for Women’ today.”
“Why not?”
“Because… my eyes haven’t recovered yet.”
“Tell the truth.”
“Because I was lazy…”
“Since you recognize your laziness, you must correct it from now on.”
“Okay.”
Though she agreed verbally, her diamond-shaped lips were pouted and her tone was reluctant—hardly indicative of someone willing to change.
Never mind. A temperament cultivated over years couldn’t be altered overnight.
“If you don’t want to copy it, forget it…”
Hearing this from below the bed, Shen Youran immediately looked up, her dark, glistening eyes filled with surprise and delight.
“Memorizing it is just as good,” he added.
Her previously bright eyes shifted, and she shot him a sidelong glance with the whites of her eyes.
Pei Huaijin pretended not to see and patted the spot beside him. “Come up and recite.”
Is the bed a place for reciting?
The bed is for sleeping.
“Can’t I memorize it tomorrow? It’s already very late today…”
“Today’s tasks should be done today. Tomorrow we have the bridal return visit—you won’t have time to memorize.”
“But my eyes aren’t well. Father and sister never let me read at night.” Although she wasn’t that obedient and often secretly read romance novels at night.
“In that case, I’ll read, and you listen. You’ll sleep only when you’ve memorized it…”
It seemed he had no intention of letting her off tonight.
Shen Youran pouted, first removed her hairpins and ornaments, then changed into sleepwear behind the screen before reluctantly climbing onto the bed.
He sat on the outer side, so she had to go to the inner side, where a quilt had been laid out in advance.
She wrapped the quilt around herself, sitting bundled up like a zongzi, her expression both defiant and helpless.
Seeing she was ready, Pei Huaijin turned to the fourth chapter and read word by word: “Women have four virtues: first, womanly virtue; second, womanly speech; third, womanly appearance; fourth, womanly work…”
Shen Youran repeated after him.
Pei Huaijin: “As for womanly virtue, it does not require exceptional talent or intelligence…”
Shen Youran: “As for womanly virtue, it does not require exceptional talent or intelligence.”
“Womanly speech does not require sharp or clever talk…”
“Womanly speech does not require…”
After reading it for the third time, Pei Huaijin set the book down and asked her, “Have you memorized it?”
Shen Youran, her gaze already unfocused, shook her head honestly: those phrases slipped through her mind like the translucent, slippery coating on water shield leaves, leaving not a single trace behind.
Pei Huaijin frowned: such a simple text—he could memorize it after just one or two readings—yet she still couldn’t recite it even after he had read it to her three times?
So he patiently taught her to read it two more times.
By the end of these two readings, Shen Youran could barely sit still, swaying unsteadily, her eyes struggling to stay open.
Pei Huaijin corrected her posture: “Sit properly. Don’t sway your head.”
“I’m not swaying my head—I’m just really sleepy…” She never enjoyed studying; aside from reading storybooks, all other books seemed to be laced with knockout drugs. The moment she opened one, that drowsy haze would envelop her, making her unbearably sleepy.
When her elder sister used to force her to study, she would usually choose mornings or after her midday nap, when she was well-rested and alert, so reading wouldn’t make her drowsy.
But now, it was almost Hai hour (9–11 p.m.), the time for sleep, and the dry, tedious phrases from Pei Huaijin’s mouth only fueled her sleepiness. Unable to resist, she leaned back abruptly, about to tumble backward.
“You…” Pei Huaijin swiftly reached out and pulled her back.
Unexpectedly, she followed his momentum and plunged headfirst into his embrace.
“Please let me sleep, I’m so tired…” she murmured with closed eyes, her voice pitiful and pleading, “I don’t want to recite. I just want to sleep…”
The hand that had been about to push her away froze mid-air.
He knew she was being coquettish and feigning innocence, but she had succeeded—no man could resist a girl who looked as pitiful as a helpless kitten, and he was no exception.
His hand slowly settled on her shoulder, not pushing her away but even patting her gently a couple of times.
“Alright, no more reciting for now.”
Utterly exhausted, she went limp, her forehead pressing against him as she mumbled again, her tone full of grievance: “And I don’t want to eat leftovers either…”
Pei Huaijin was taken aback, then let out a soft, helpless chuckle from his throat.
Just two meals of leftovers, and she was this aggrieved? As if she had suffered some great injustice.
He lowered his gaze, noticing her fluffy hair, a few stray strands bouncing lightly with her movements, tickling him faintly.
Her body continued to slump downward, and before he could respond to her complaint, he felt a weight on his leg—she had curled up and fallen asleep right there on his lap.
She must have been truly exhausted. Just yesterday, she had been avoiding him, yet today she was so tired she could sleep on his lap.
Well, he supposed girls her age needed their sleep. They could resume memorizing the “Admonitions for Women” tomorrow night.
Pei Huaijin removed the quilt from her, set it aside for the moment, then helped her lie down properly on the inner side of the bed, arranging her limbs neatly before covering her with the quilt again.
Those eyes, usually either sulking or sparkling with joy, were now peacefully closed, her long, delicate lashes casting a faint shadow beneath them—nothing like the fluttering lashes from her feigned sleep this morning.
If only she could be as quiet and well-behaved when awake as she was in her sleep.
Although she hadn’t memorized the fourth chapter of “Admonitions for Women” before bed, Shen Youran had a dream where Pei Huaijin kept forcing her to recite it, threatening that if she didn’t memorize it, he would consummate the marriage, frightening her into reciting while crying…
But in the dream, aside from the first sentence, all the characters in that copy of “Admonitions for Women” were twisted and unrecognizable—she couldn’t even comprehend them, let alone memorize the text. Growing increasingly anxious, she wanted to seek out her elder sister, but Pei Huaijin pounced on her like a tiger, biting her lips and saying he would consummate the marriage with her…
“Wuwu I don’t want to consummate the marriage,” she wept, kneeling to beg for mercy, “please don’t eat me…”
Just as she was about to cry herself awake, a large hand gently patted her shoulder: “I won’t eat you, sleep peacefully.”
“Wuwu…”
The great tiger in her dream suddenly released her, and drowsily, she fell back asleep.