Pei Xuanyan had just returned to the East Palace after attending to some matters outside the palace, and he headed straight for the study, completely forgetting that a woman was now staying in the side chamber.
It was only when it dawned on him that he was already standing right outside the room.
The interplay of light and shadow cast a bright, clear glow throughout the interior.
Pei Xuanyan’s eyes were cold and somber, radiating a biting chill.
Susu’s soft eyelashes fluttered as she braced herself and stood up to offer her greetings.
“Your Highness…”
Her voice was soft and gentle, touched with a coy, timid bashfulness that made the tips of Jinsui’s ears turn red from where she stood aside.
Yet Pei Xuanyan did not seem the least bit captivated; his pitch-black pupils remained a bottomless, frozen pool. Without a word, he simply waved his hand, signaling a maid to move a stool over.
Back in her past life, Pei Xuanyan had been just like this. Whenever she was pregnant, he would often come to check on her, yet even when the two of them sat at the same table, his words were pitifully scarce. At first, Susu had been terrified, afraid that Pei Xuanyan would take out his anger on her for crawling into his bed, and she suffered from nightmares every night after his visits.
Later, for reasons unknown, Pei Xuanyan discovered this, and from then on, he would bring her little trinkets whenever he came: tiger-head shoes, rattles, nine-linked rings… Occasionally, he would even bring her a plain hairpin or two.
By the later stages of her pregnancy, she no longer feared this cold-faced, detail-oriented man.
Thinking of this, Susu’s eyes curved as she briskly took her seat.
“Your Highness, this concubine is a bit hungry.”
Standing behind her, Jinsui shuddered violently at those words. Even Wei Zheng, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion and arrived just in time to catch the sound, froze in his tracks.
It was already deep into the night, the outside world dead silent with even the chirping of insects long since ceased.
Wei Zheng hesitated for a long moment, pondering whether he should enter at this hour.
To his surprise, Pei Xuanyan merely nodded slightly in response to Susu’s words. “Whatever you wish to eat, tell Wei Zheng.”
Wei Zheng paused. He was Pei Xuanyan’s personal guard, not some little eunuch serving the inner courtyard consorts in the East Palace. Yet since Pei Xuanyan had spoken thus, Wei Zheng couldn’t very well object. He stepped forward, tapped lightly on the door to signal his presence, and then addressed Susu:
“After the Imperial Concubine finishes her meal later, a maid will bring you your medicine.”
“Medicine?”
Susu blinked her eyes. Naturally, Pei Xuanyan offered no explanation.
Standing by her side, Jinsui lowered her voice. “My lady, it’s the medicine Imperial Physician Li prescribed earlier. Although you look much better now, your complexion is still somewhat pale… It’s best to take your medicine properly.”
Susu stood frozen in place. Her bewilderment wasn’t caused by anything else, but rather by the mention of “Imperial Physician Li.”
In her past life, the Imperial Noble Consort had originally intended to arrange for Imperial Physician Li to oversee Susu’s prenatal care, but Qin Huan had preemptively stepped in to demand that Susu refuse him. With her birth mother held hostage in Qin Huan’s hands, even though Susu knew this act would anger the Imperial Noble Consort (the Crown Prince’s birth mother), she had no choice but to swallow her grievance and submit to the Crown Princess’s arrangements, letting a physician closely tied to the Qin family handle her prenatal care instead.
Susu’s delicate eyelashes fluttered.
“Then, Your Highness, what happened to me just now…”
A look of puzzlement crept across Susu’s face as she reached up to massage her temples, her posture radiating utter fragility.
Jinsui looked at her mistress, her eyes brimming with heartache. “My lady, you…”
Before she could blurt out the truth, Wei Zheng chimed in first, cutting her off: “You merely ate something that disagreed with you. It is nothing of consequence.”
He glanced toward Pei Xuanyan. The Prince still had pressing matters to handle, but Wei Zheng could tell that his master genuinely seemed to hold a measure of regard for this new East Palace concubine. As a subordinate, one needed to gauge the master’s moods appropriately, and having grown up by Pei Xuanyan’s side, Wei Zheng naturally understood his temperament.
“Your Highness, regarding Minister Chen’s affairs…”
Wei Zheng had originally intended to prompt him to push the important business forward, but before he could finish, Pei Xuanyan swept his sleeve through the air.
“Do not keep him waiting too long.”
Watching the hem of those robes carve a faint, shallow arc against the inky night sky, Susu bit her lower lip and took a half-step forward.
“Your Highness—”
Pei Xuanyan’s steps faltered. He turned his head slightly, the swaying candlelight casting a sharp shadow along his stern, chiseled jawline.
He didn’t speak, yet the crushing weight of his authority pressed down upon Susu, nearly choking the words right back into her throat.
Had she been the Qin Susu of her past life, she would have cowered like a frightened quail by now. But having grown increasingly close to Pei Xuanyan over the course of her previous life, she was long past fearing him.
Without even realizing it, a hint of coquetry laced her voice: “Will Your Highness… be able to dine with this concubine later?”
Clearly, Pei Xuanyan had not expected Susu to ask him to stay for such a reason.
Before he could reply, Wei Zheng let out a fit of violent coughing brought on by pure shock.
“Cough, cough—”
With a single, slicing glance from Pei Xuanyan, Wei Zheng choked off his noise instantly. His dark face flushed bright crimson as he abruptly lowered his head, not daring to utter another peep.
Pei Xuanyan pulled his gaze back, though he didn’t immediately answer Susu either.
He stared at Susu for a long, quiet moment.
His initial impression of her had been nothing more than stunning beauty paired with a painfully shy, cowardly disposition. He had never imagined she could be so daring behind closed doors.
Recalling the sensation of that night, a dark, obscure gleam flashed through the depths of Pei Xuanyan’s eyes.
“There is no need to wait for Gu.”
Leaving behind those words, Pei Xuanyan turned and strode away.
Once the figures of both the Crown Prince and Wei Zheng vanished completely from sight, Jinsui patted her chest, looking as though she had been scared out of her wits.
“My lady, you are far too bold! This maid was breaking out in a cold sweat for you just now.”
Turning around, Susu looked back at Jinsui.
She knew that while Jinsui’s life in the Qin household hadn’t been easy, she had never been exposed to schemes or plotting, spending her days quietly toiling under the Qin matriarch. In her past life, she herself had been just as foolish, completely blind to Qin Huan’s true colors until it was too late. Now that she possessed the memories of her past life while Jinsui’s mindset was still stuck within the confines of the Qin estate, she could understand her.
However…
People always had to grow.
Susu’s almond-shaped eyes flashed with earnest determination. Despite her soft, delicate features, her expression was tightly drawn.
“Jinsui, do you truly regard me as your mistress?”
Having just seen Susu’s chilling change in demeanor, a wave of panic had already stirred in Jinsui’s heart. Hearing this question now, she straightened her back instantly, looking ready to swear an oath on the spot.
“You are naturally this maid’s mistress—my mistress for a lifetime!”
Susu had never doubted Jinsui’s loyalty, but…
She bit her lower lip, hardening her heart nonetheless.
“In that case, you must listen to me.”
Jinsui blinked, looking somewhat baffled.
The moment Susu leaned in close and whispered a few instructions to her, the expression on Jinsui’s face instantly twisted into one of hesitation and reluctance.
“My lady, this…”
Jinsui tried to protest, but one look at Susu’s resolute, unyielding expression made her swallow her words.
Gritting her teeth, she conceded, “Understood! This maid will obey you in everything.”
That night, Qin Susu did not wait for Pei Xuanyan.
Yet by the very next morning, rumors were flying wildly, spreading straight into the ears of every courtyard and quarter within the East Palace:
The Crown Princess’s younger sister, the newly entered East Palace Concubine, had fallen completely out of favor with His Highness. Last night, she had even been punished to kneel on the floor for an entire night!