Recalling his unrestrained smile today, Shen Fuyan turned over in bed.
She had to find an opportunity to tell him that he must never look at her like that again.
The next morning, while Shen Fuyan was still eating, another maid, Lürong, walked in with reddened eyes.
"Miss, the Shen family sent a matron, and they even brought congratulatory gifts to celebrate Second Master's taking a concubine. Old Madame is calling you to the front hall to meet the matron."
Miss was in dire straits, yet the Shen family, fearing to offend the Chancellor's household, actually rushed to send gifts to the concubine and the child born of a kept mistress!
Lürong was deeply grieved. Married women all had their natal families to back them up, but the Shen family only joined the Xuan family in stabbing Shen Fuyan in the back.
"Let's go." Shen Fuyan put down her chopsticks, frost on her lips.
This matter was indeed something her dear mother was capable of.
"Second Madame, Madame Shen specifically instructed me to say a few words to you—that you should display the demeanor of a virtuous wife and be magnanimous toward the concubine, for only then can you have a lasting marriage with Second Master Xuan."
When they reached the front hall, the Shen family's matron delivered a round of admonishments.
Shen Fuyan's expression did not change.
"Does Mother have anything else to say?"
"No." The matron looked at her and could not help adding, "One more thing—Second Madame must quickly have her health examined, to continue the Xuan family line."
Old Madame Xuan, listening nearby, nodded with satisfaction.
This in-law was very much to her liking, actually aligning with them to suppress this daughter-in-law who sought to overturn the heavens.
Thus, she could no longer muster a single ounce of dissatisfaction toward the Shen family.
"Then I shall begin speaking." Shen Fuyan sneered. "Please tell Mother to live her own life well with Second Uncle. Since she once said I was water poured out by the Shen family, where this water now flows is not for her to decide!"
After Master Shen passed away, Madame Shen and Second Master Shen—her nominal brother-in-law—had gotten together.
The matter was unsightly, and Madame Shen had used her husband's military merits to petition the palace, which was how the rumors were quelled and she could legitimately unite with Second Master Shen.
Now that Shen Fuyan mercilessly pointed this out, the faces of the Shen family members immediately turned ugly.
"Fuyan, that is your mother—how can you say such things?" Old Madame Xuan stepped in to smooth things over. "My dear in-law meant well. Fuyan is a good daughter-in-law. Please rest assured, Shen family."
The Shen family members slunk away, and Shen Fuyan looked at the stack of gift boxes in the hall.
Ten-year-old sandalwood, vermilion lacquer surface, inlaid with gold, jade, and kingfisher feathers—extremely lavish.
When she had married, her father had already passed away, and Bai-shi claimed the household was struggling, wishing she could pocket half of Shen Fuyan's dowry.
But her father had established military merits, and the rewards from above flowed like water—how could they be struggling?
So they had only been guarding against her.
"Fuyan, this is what your mother brought to congratulate Chen-ge."
Seeing her gaze fall on the gift boxes, Old Madame cursed inwardly.
A military man's daughter is indeed crude—even over such a small thing she wants to pocket it.
Shen Fuyan lowered her eyes.
Everyone despised her, yet all of them fastened themselves to her, sucking her marrow and picking her bones.
Not even bothering with appearances anymore, she turned and left, boarding the carriage to the imperial city.
Yet in the end, the tears still fell.
Father, since you departed, everyone in this world has been bullying your precious one.
"Miss, do not cry your makeup into ruin. If Master has awareness in heaven, he will surely support your mutual divorce."
Lürong advised from the side, eyes red.
"Yes. Please rest assured, Father—your daughter will not disgrace your integrity and teachings."
Shen Fuyan dabbed away the tears filling her eyes and gazed through a corner of the carriage window at the blue sky above.
Father would bless her.
Just as she was tidying up, the carriage suddenly stopped.
The coachman was one of her own people placed in the Xuan household, and his voice carried a note of tension.
"Madam, the—the carriage collided with another."
"Whose?"
Shen Fuyan rose and poked her head out, only to see a four-horse sandalwood carriage stopped opposite, engraved with a seal belonging exclusively to the Jinyiwei.
A large hand with sharply defined knuckles lifted the curtain, and Pei Yanwei slowly stepped out. He wore the dark black court robes of the Jinyiwei, exuding a barefaced arrogance.
"Eldest Miss Shen, we meet again."
He stood below Shen Fuyan's carriage, looked up at her, and extended his right hand toward her.
Shen Fuyan's expression did not change. She let his hand hang in the air and said coldly, "Commander Pei, men and women should keep their distance."
Behind her, Lürong's face went pale.
This was the head of the Jinyiwei, who killed without blinking—and the young miss dared to speak to him like that.
"I am not a man," Pei Yanwei said with a light laugh, withdrawing his hand. His gaze swept over the faint redness at the corners of Shen Fuyan's eyes, and his expression darkened a little. "To the imperial city?"
Shen Fuyan did not answer him, only lowered her head and said in thanks, "I thank you, Commander, for rescuing this wife yesterday."
If not for this person, who knew how long those Xuan family people would have wrangled with her.
"Who helped you?"
Pei Yanwei's voice carried an inexplicable displeasure.
"This commander was merely acting on imperial orders. I would ask the Second Madam Xuan not to flatter herself."
He never called her "Second Madam Xuan."
The bitterness Shen Fuyan had pressed down in her heart surged up again.
She steadied herself. "Yes. Commander, you have worked hard. This wife will have the coachman clear the way. Please go ahead."
Pei Yanwei did not stand on ceremony. He gave her a faint glance, and as he turned to leave, he pulled a small box from his sleeve and tossed it to her.
"Take it and use it."
Shen Fuyan did not understand why. Only after his carriage had driven far away did she and Lürong get back into theirs.
"Young miss, you and Commander Pei… know each other?"
Lürong could not suppress her curiosity.
"I suppose you could say we know each other."
Shen Fuyan lowered her eyes.
When she was young, she had gone missing and spent two years in a circus troupe. At that time, there was also a fair, jade-like little boy there—that was Pei Yanwei.
Pei Yanwei had no parents. Because he was good-looking, the troupe leader doted on him.
When the people in the troupe bullied her, Pei Yanwei always stood up for her, and he would even share half his food with her. The two had become the closest of friends, as though bound in life and death.
Later, the circus troupe took most of its people out to perform. She stayed behind at the lodging and was discovered by the Shen family, who took her straight back to the capital.
To the outside world, they said only that Eldest Miss Shen had spent two years in a temple cultivating her fate, and had now returned.
Later still, the young girl reached her coming-of-age ceremony, and there was a wedding bow.
The moment Xuan Wenyang lifted her veil, the first person she saw was not her husband, but a childhood friend she had been separated from for many years.
Pei Yanwei had come to observe the ceremony on behalf of the emperor.
One knelt; one stood.
Red silk and candlelight, gazing at each other across a sea of people.
It was just that she did not understand either why Pei Yanwei had become an imperial eunuch official with power that shook the heavens.
The carriage jolted, and Shen Fuyan came back to herself.
"This medicine… seems to be something for reducing swelling and dispersing blood stasis."
Lürong knew a little about medicine. She had also been the first to notice that the Xuan family was putting something into the decoctions.
"I have no wounds on me. Why would he give me this?"
Shen Fuyan looked down at her own hand.
"Young miss, there is a red mark here from a mosquito bite."
Lürong examined it for a moment, then suddenly reached out and touched a hidden spot on the side of Shen Fuyan's neck.
"Commander Pei's eyes are truly sharp. He could even see this."
She opened the box and applied a little to Shen Fuyan.
Feeling the coolness at her neck, Shen Fuyan's face reddened slightly.
Pei Yanwei's lingering gaze as he left was laden with meaning—could he have mistaken this for marks of intimacy?
The medicine was effective; by the time she entered the imperial study, the traces had already faded by seven or eight parts.
The moment she stepped through the door, Shen Fuyan prostrated herself on the ground and performed a grand bow. "This humble daughter pays respects to Your Majesty. I have come today to beseech Your Majesty to render justice on my behalf."
Emperor Qiyuan sat behind his desk, and as his gaze fell upon her, he was reminded of that fierce general of the Shen family who had perished on the battlefield.
"Grant her a seat," he said, and at once a eunuch moved a stool beside Shen Fuyan. "Is this regarding the matter of the Second Young Master of the Xuan family taking a concubine?"
Shen Fuyan remained kneeling. "Indeed, it is."
Emperor Qiyuan's gaze settled upon the younger generation before him. "Chancellor Xuan spoke with me today. The Xuan family's legitimate heir is none other than Xuan Wenyang alone. As Wenyang's lawful wife, having borne no child in three years, you must not be so jealous."
Shen Fuyan remained unmoved. "Your Majesty, I have not come to ask you to prevent the Xuan family from taking a concubine."
She withdrew a box from her sleeve and opened it.
"Today, I merely come to request a decree of Mutual Divorce from Your Majesty."