When the people inside the room heard “Sister-in-law,” they all took a couple of steps toward the space behind the screen.
At the same time, the long saber that had been pressed against Suiying’s chin was abruptly withdrawn.
She reached up to straighten the veil hanging from her veiled hat and turned her face aside. She had not looked at the other party from beginning to end, but her hands, folded before her, clenched involuntarily.
The young man noticed that something was wrong and hurriedly asked, “Could it be that she is?”
From the corner of her eye, Suiying saw the man dressed like a bandit raise a hand. The people outside the screen withdrew one after another.
Then he left as well.
When Suiying looked over again, she saw him pause briefly by the door before pulling it shut.
With that, the man’s half-profile vanished completely from her sight.
The maidservant, who had been so frightened that she had crouched on the floor, gradually came to her senses. She hurriedly scrambled to her feet and went to look at Madam. Madam was still standing where she had been, unmoving. The veil hid her face, making it impossible to see her expression.
Still shaken, the maidservant asked, “Madam, were you frightened? Please sit and rest for a while. I’ll go see whether I can get us some food.”
“No. Don’t go out yet. Who knows what’s happening outside.” Suiying had not actually felt afraid. Before coming, she had already considered all sorts of possibilities. A dangerous situation like this was within her expectations.
The maidservant found her calm tone unbelievable. With such a commotion, she had not been frightened at all.
After glancing at her several times, the maidservant took her bundle and put it away, then stood quietly to one side with her head bowed.
Suiying walked slowly to the small couch, gathered her skirt, and sat down. With her eyes lowered, she thought about the group that had just barged in.
Second Brother?
Sister-in-law?
Could that man be the Anbei Grand Protector?
At that thought, Suiying lifted off her veiled hat and could not help glancing toward her bundle.
She had not yet looked at the marriage document since setting out, and did not even know the Grand Protector’s name.
Her thoughts had been plentiful throughout the journey. The farther she moved from Luoyang, the more her grandfather’s words on his deathbed surged through her mind like a rushing tide.
—Live well. No matter where you are, your mother did not die because of you, and neither did those two men die because of you. One of them had been sick for years and concealed it until he came to be betrothed to you; the other lost his life fighting over a courtesan. Neither of them was worthy of becoming the old man’s successor.
At first, she had not taken the rumors outside to heart at all. It was only after her grandfather passed away and the Gu family lost its backbone, scattering like loose sand and finding everything it did going awry, that people began placing every accusation on her head.
Even her father had done so.
Fortunately, during the three years she had lived alone at the temple, her medical skills had improved considerably. The temple provided her with food, and in return she treated the nuns’ difficult illnesses. Her days had remained bearable.
She had thought that she would spend the rest of her life wasting away in that temple. Who could have expected her to end up in such a situation?
Suiying sat there, her thoughts drifting farther and farther away…
The sky had grown completely dark when the maidservant went to light the lamp.
By the dim lamplight, she looked toward Madam. Madam had not moved from where she sat, her eyes lowered as though lost in thought.
The maidservant supposed that the long journey, combined with what had just happened, had exhausted her in body and mind. She approached, bent into a respectful bow, and asked, “Madam, there’s no other movement outside now. I’ll take a look around and bring some water back to serve you.”
Suiying came back to herself and glanced at the maidservant, giving a soft hum. She was indeed tired.
She needed to rest early. Only with a clear mind could she plan the road ahead.
She could only hope that the man would discover the rumors later rather than sooner. Ideally, he would repudiate her only after she had found somewhere to settle.
Otherwise, she truly would end up wandering the streets of the Northern Frontier.
The door creaked. Suiying raised her eyes and looked out, vaguely seeing people standing guard outside.
The maidservant brought in a tray and set it down, then respectfully invited her, “Madam, please have some hot food. I’ll go fetch water.”
Suiying glanced outside the door again before walking slowly over to sit before the dining table.
Seeing her look, the maidservant bent down and reported, “They were already there when I went out. Someone even led me along the way. It seemed they had guessed I would be fetching water, and they had hot water prepared as well. It should have been arranged by the general.”
Suiying’s fingers, which were holding her chopsticks, paused slightly. She said nothing, but thought that it could not have been the round-faced, bearded man. That bearded man did not have such patience or consideration.
Besides, she had secretly observed the expression of the leader throughout the journey. She dared to conclude that the bearded man was not at all pleased to be welcoming this bride.
Had the man outside arranged for those guards?
If her guess was correct, what had brought him to this small city, and what was he searching for?
Judging by the way he was dressed, she did not believe he had come to welcome his bride.
….
The night wind roared. Amid the jumbled rocks and complicated terrain, a fire had been lit in a mountain hollow.
The tall, sturdy warhorses snorted and pawed up the sand from time to time.
Pei Jing'an sat on the ground, pulled the wooden stopper from his waterskin, and took a gulp before taking out some dry rations to eat.
Several men sat around the fire opposite him. One of them was the man who had gone to receive Suiying.
As they ate their military rations, one of them grinned and asked, “I heard the Grand Protector found a woman while searching the city today?”
The man who had escorted Suiying into the Northern Frontier slapped his thigh and jumped to his feet. “What? Was she at the inn in the city?”
They were done for. As soon as they had entered the city and completed the inspection, they had heard a whistle from afar—the signal for a message—which meant that Mohe scouts were nearby.
At the time, he had been focused on helping his comrades capture the scouts and had forgotten about the new Madam. Only now had he remembered her.
The young man who had entered the inn that day rose and glanced at the lazily seated man, then looked at the round-faced man nearby. “So it really is?”
The man looked at Pei Jing'an’s expression and hurriedly cupped his fists. “I’ll return at once.”
Pei Jing'an did not even lift his eyes. Then he suddenly said, “Rest. Everything has already been arranged.”
The young man walked over. The firelight illuminated his dark face, and he wore a thoroughly roguish grin. “It seems Second Brother is very concerned about Sister-in-law.”
Otherwise, he would not have left people there to stand guard. Even a hero could not resist a beauty.
Speaking of beauty, he had not yet seen Sister-in-law’s face.
At the inn that day, he had just been about to turn his head to get a clear look when Second Brother withdrew his saber, and Sister-in-law drew her veil together as well.
Pei Jing'an’s expression remained unchanged. His eyes lowered slightly, and he said nothing, but the scene at the inn came back to him.
She certainly had not been flustered when faced with danger, but her gaze had been too cold and calm. It was like the resolve of someone marching toward death, yet also… empty. He could not understand it.
Perhaps she was dissatisfied with this marriage. Or perhaps she was dissatisfied with him as a person.
She came from one of the Central Plains’ two capitals, and several of her ancestors had served as Directors of the Imperial Medical Institute. She had once belonged to a powerful aristocratic family of Luoyang. How could she possibly take a fancy to someone like him, whose ancestors had been horse bandits?
If she was going to choose someone, she would choose one of those young masters from the powerful Central Plains clans.
But this marriage had been decreed by His Majesty. There were some matters on which he could no longer openly express his position.
He could only wait until things here had completely stabilized before asking her what she wanted. After that, whether she stayed or left would be entirely up to her.
The round-faced, bearded man was somewhat apprehensive as he hurried over and sat down beside Pei Jing'an.
He respectfully cupped his fists, rubbed his hands together, and then said, “This subordinate had no idea His Majesty would arrange a marriage. I simply went to receive the new Madam. Please don’t be angry, Grand Protector.”
Pei Jing'an twisted open his waterskin and drank some ginseng tea. His tone was neither warm nor cold. “What is there to be angry about? Certain people insisted on sticking their hands into this matter. There was no way to stop them.”
He truly had been unable to stop them. When he had received the message delivered by a fast horse at the military camp, he had considered going personally to refuse the marriage, but it had already been too late. The Central Plains had already finalized the choice of a bride to send to the Northern Frontier and forge an alliance with.
The Northern Frontier had not formed an alliance with the Central Plains for many years. This marriage would be a test for both the Northern Frontier and the Central Plains.
Yet he could not understand why they had specifically chosen Gu Suiying to marry into the Northern Frontier.