The night stretched long, the bright moon slowly sinking westward, the cold stars thinning. A fresh breeze brushed past the branches outside the window, and before long, the faint light of dawn appeared at the edge of the sky.
Jiang Weiyao had been dozing by the bedside when the sound of the door opening woke her. Aunt Zhou said sheepishly, "I still woke you."
"No," Jiang Weiyao explained. "It was the aroma that woke me."
Aunt Zhou was carrying a food box containing two bowls of sweet porridge and several plates of vegetables, and she had also bought eight meat buns on the way.
Hearing this, she quickly handed a meat bun to Jiang Weiyao, smiling. "You must try this meat bun. Don't let the low price fool you—it tastes excellent."
Jiang Weiyao took it and bit in.
The snow-white skin was steamed soft and fluffy, and the savory, juicy filling mixed with the fragrance of scallions had already seeped through the dough. With one bite, steam rose, the oil fragrance was just right, and it wasn't greasy at all.
"It really is delicious."
Jiang Weiyao praised it without reservation, then asked in confusion, "Where is my husband?"
Aunt Zhou was about to answer when her gaze caught the window ledge out of the corner of her eye, and she laughed. "I said this young lady would surely ask about you the moment she didn't see you."
Pei Yunheng walked in along the corridor.
After teasing him, Aunt Zhou turned to Jiang Weiyao to explain. "Little Pei has quick legs, so I had him help me find a physician at the front courtyard. Erya's wound needs its dressing changed."
Aunt Zhou looked at Jiang Weiyao with a mischievous grin. "I'm old and slow, so I've been putting your husband to work. I hope you don't mind."
Jiang Weiyao lowered her head, not daring to raise it. "If you have any tasks, just assign them to him. What would I have to mind?"
She had intended to put on a shy act, but having not slept well the night before, she couldn't manage to blush no matter how she tried, so she gave up.
With his eyes lowered, Pei Yunheng paid no heed to these words.
His eyelids were thin, and when he lowered his gaze, they made him seem all the more cold-hearted—like a handful of fresh snow atop a winter mountain peak, carrying a hint of aloof indifference.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhou couldn't help but sigh inwardly for Jiang Weiyao.
After waking Erya, the four of them sat down together for breakfast.
Jiang Weiyao genuinely thought the meat buns were delicious, so she made a point of saying to Pei Yunheng, "Husband, try this bun. It's fresh and fragrant."
Pei Yunheng was a wary man.
He was not only wary, sharp, and suspicious, but also extremely guarded against her.
Anything that passed through her hands, any dish she said was good—Pei Yunheng avoided all of it without exception.
Sure enough, the moment her words fell, Pei Yunheng, who had been about to reach for a meat bun, paused his wrist and withdrew his hand.
Jiang Weiyao then very naturally ate his portion of meat buns as well, completely satisfied.
Aunt Zhou caught on to the pattern and beamed. "So Little Pei is cold on the outside but warm on the inside—he knows how to care for his wife."
Pei Yunheng truly had no idea how she had arrived at that conclusion.
"Yes," Jiang Weiyao said, rubbing her overstuffed belly, sparing no effort in heaping praise on him. "My husband treats me very well. Whenever I say something tastes good, he never eats more of it."
Aunt Zhou gave her approval. "That's what a good husband does."
Pei Yunheng: "…"
When the physician from the clinic arrived, he immediately went outside.
Standing in the corridor, his tall and straight figure seemed to receive special favor from the spring scenery. A few strands of daylight fell upon his brows and eyes, yet only added to his air of distance.
Jiang Weiyao thoughtfully withdrew her gaze.
Watching the physician change the dressing, Aunt Zhou casually asked, "It's just a dressing change—why did you come yourself? Where's Xiao Dong? You could have left such trivial matters to him."
Xiao Dong was the pharmacy's errand boy and apprentice; in the past, he had always been the one to change the dressings.
"Who knows where that little brat has run off to? He was gone first thing in the morning—most likely he's gone gambling again!" Doctor Zhao cursed while instructing, "Still, keep it away from water. The wound is already healing."
Xiao Dong was Uncle Liu's eldest son. Aunt Zhou wanted to put in a good word for him, but she also felt that Xiao Dong did indeed act rashly.
Sighing, Aunt Zhou decided she would go back and urge Uncle Liu to keep him in check.
After Doctor Zhao left, Erya, who had been silent all along, suddenly walked up to Aunt Zhou and knelt down.
"What are you doing?" Aunt Zhou was startled and hurried to help Erya up.
"Mother, I was wrong…"
A line of tears streamed down. Erya cried, "Your daughter was willful and reckless, said many wrong things, and made things difficult for you in the village."
Once Erya started crying, Aunt Zhou couldn't hold back her own tears either. "You silly child, what's the point of saying such things within the family? As long as you're well, your mother's heart is at ease. Your elder sister… this is fate. There's nothing I can do either…"
Erya said no more, only threw her arms around Aunt Zhou and cried bitterly.
Jiang Weiyao shed tears along with them.
For a time, cries big and small filled the entire room.
Pei Yunheng glanced over casually.
Jiang Weiyao was bowing her head and weeping, her eyes reddened from crying.
It was clear that she had absolutely held nothing back the night before—her crying was practically carved from the same mold as Erya's undulating sobs, even the rises and falls of the pitch identical.
Was this all the tricks she had?
His sword-like brows pressed down slightly. A faint scoff escaped Pei Yunheng's throat. He withdrew his gaze with a lack of interest, too lazy to look again.
"Mother…" Erya choked out, "I want to go back to the village."
Aunt Zhou's expression stiffened.
"Your daughter promises she will never cause trouble again." Erya clutched tightly at Aunt Zhou's fingers. "Elder Sister is about to be married. At the very least, let me see her off. I—I'm afraid I'll never see her again…"
Her body trembling violently, Aunt Zhou could no longer bring herself to refuse. In the end, she nodded through her tears.
But though they decided to return, there was no rush to leave that very moment. Jiang Weiyao had kept watch all night and was exhausted and drowsy, so naturally she needed to rest now.
"Husband."
After offering the two a few words of comfort, Jiang Weiyao walked to the door and called out, "Take me to the side room where I rested last night."
Before Pei Yunheng could speak, Aunt Zhou said, "Exactly. If young Pei doesn't accompany you, the little monk at the temple won't recognize you and probably won't let you into the side room."
"Husband."
As if afraid he would refuse, Jiang Weiyao called out again in a low voice.
The imperceptible frost in his eyes deepened a few more degrees. Pei Yunheng turned his head and sized up her expression, then turned and walked off without a word.
He seemed even colder today than usual.
Jiang Weiyao feigned ignorance and hurried to follow.
"Tending to the sick is truly hard work. Look, I've stayed up until my eyes are red."
Jiang Weiyao pointed pitifully at her eyes, but she didn't expect Pei Yunheng to actually look over—after all, in the past he had always ignored such remarks.
Unexpectedly, today the moment the words left her mouth, Pei Yunheng actually raised his eyelids, and those dark eyes gazed over with an unreadable meaning.
After a long moment, he seemed to curl his lips ever so slightly: "Indeed, hard work."
Jiang Weiyao's steps paused. She felt a chill run down her spine, yet her face betrayed not the slightest crack. She chattered on, following Pei Yunheng's lead.
It wasn't until they entered the temple and her footsteps stopped in front of the wing-room door that she finally fell silent.
Pei Yunheng waited for her to push the door open and go in before leaving, but Jiang Weiyao stood in front of the door, glancing left and right, then reached out and tugged at Pei Yunheng's sleeve: "Husband, I have something to tell you."
Pei Yunheng's sword-like brows rose slightly.
Jiang Weiyao's face was urgent, and she intensified her tone: "It's a matter of importance, husband, come in quickly."
As she spoke, she practically dragged Pei Yunheng inside, then hurried back to close the door, even shutting the windows.
His knuckles tapped the table, Pei Yunheng's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked slowly and deliberately: "What matter of importance?"
Clutching the hem of her clothes, Jiang Weiyao shuffled over to Pei Yunheng, lowered her head, and hesitated to speak: "If I tell you, husband, you mustn't blame me."
Her hesitant, halting manner looked all too familiar. Pei Yunheng's brow suddenly furrowed, and he asked suspiciously: "Did you wreck the kitchen at the medical clinic too?"
Jiang Weiyao: "?"
"…Of course not!" Jiang Weiyao retorted loudly. "It's about Erya."
His expression paused. Pei Yunheng's eyelids lifted slightly, and he watched her without betraying any emotion.
"Last night, Erya tried to slip away, but I caught her. I called her back to question her, and unexpectedly, I uncovered something major…"
Jiang Weiyao did not conceal anything, recounting word for word the conversation she had with Erya the previous night, including how she had taught Erya to feign weakness.
Jiang Weiyao laughed awkwardly: "I know I shouldn't stick my nose into other people's business, but I really couldn't stand by and watch. I told you this village was off. They actually ignored the laws of the imperial court and did something so utterly unconscionable…"
Pei Yunheng was silent at first, his dark eyes fixed on her, a cold, stern look mixed with a trace of unexpected stupefaction.
He had thought…
He had thought that last night the fox had revealed its true colors.
He had still been watching coldly, waiting to see her next trick, but unexpectedly, the fox had now laid bare its true face entirely, and was even smug about it…
"After my father brought me back home, I cried often. I know best how to cry in a way that moves people. Last night I taught by word and example, and today Erya indeed cried pitifully, cried brilliantly, cried unlike any other…"
As she spoke, Jiang Weiyao didn't even feel guilty anymore. She was quite proud, and even lifted her head.
"Why tell me?" His thin lips pressed slightly together as Pei Yunheng interrupted her pride.
"What?" Jiang Weiyao was puzzled.
Gazing steadily at Jiang Weiyao, Pei Yunheng asked: "Why tell me all this?"
Since feigning weakness was a weapon that could numb the enemy.
Then why tell me so openly?
Hearing this, Jiang Weiyao seemed even more confused: "You and I are husband and wife, one body. Naturally we are open and honest with each other. Why would I hide anything?"
Her gaze was burning, and she retorted with perfect righteousness.
His long lashes trembled slightly. Pei Yunheng instinctively avoided Jiang Weiyao's gaze, and for a moment was at a loss for words.
Seeing him silent, Jiang Weiyao seemed to grow anxious again: "Only now, thinking back carefully, do I realize how frightened I am. The two of us are alone and weak in this village. If we really ruined the village head's plans, would we be retaliated against…"
That familiar crying sound rose again. Tears streamed down Jiang Weiyao's face one after another, and she choked out: "Husband, say something, I'm scared…"
Still that familiar tone.
Still that familiar choking sob.
One hand propping up his forehead, unable to hide his complicated expression, Pei Yunheng had not yet sorted out his thoughts. Listening to this lingering, reverberating crying, he suddenly felt a headache coming on.