The carriage and horses set out. Inside the carriage, Suiying picked up a bamboo slip and pretended to read, but the scene at the guesthouse suddenly came back to her.
She reached out and pushed open the window to look outside. The man rode ahead, leading the way, his back straight and tall.
She did not look for long. After only two glances, she closed the window and murmured to herself, “I wonder if there are any nunneries around here.”
If there were none, and that man handed her a divorce letter, how would she establish herself in this unfamiliar Northern Frontier?
At that thought, Suiying’s gaze fell on the bundle she had brought with her…
Soldiers guarded the carriage from the front, back, and both sides. Their weapons were concealed beneath the horses’ bellies as they escorted the newlyweds forward in orderly formation.
The farther north they went, the stronger the wind and sand became.
By noon, the procession slowed and stopped in a sheltered place.
The maid knocked lightly on the carriage window from outside. “Madam, would you like to rest for a moment and relieve yourself?”
Suiying gave a quiet hum, put on her veil hat, and stepped out of the carriage. As usual, she avoided the procession and followed the maid away to relieve herself.
The leader glanced back from his horse and muttered, “She hasn’t said a word the whole way, like she’s mute. She won’t talk to anyone and avoids people as if they were snakes or scorpions. I thought she’d be better after meeting the Grand Protector, but she’s still the same.”
Pei Jing’an looked back at the figures heading toward the slope, and suspicion arose in him as well. She seemed unwilling to talk to anyone.
Pei Huan saw the big lout muttering and brought over some military rations. “Second Brother, Zhao Wende must be muttering again that Sister-in-law isn’t good enough for you or something like that.”
Pei Jing’an accepted the dried meat and took a bite. His gaze withdrew from the slope, where no one could be seen anymore. “What else did he say?”
Recalling what had happened outside the guesthouse, Pei Huan curled his lips. “In short, he’s dissatisfied with Sister-in-law in every way. He thinks you’ve been wronged.”
Pei Jing’an paused in his chewing and beckoned Zhao Wende over.
Receiving the signal, Zhao Wende hurriedly rode up and clasped his fists from horseback. “Grand Protector.”
Pei Jing’an’s expression was solemn as his gaze swept over the entire procession. “From now on, you are not to say anything about me being wronged. She is, at the very least, a noble lady from one of the two great capitals of the Central Plains. My ancestors were bandits. If anyone has been wronged, it is her.”
She had married here alone, a thousand li from home. Even returning to visit her family would be difficult.
And she was a woman, making things even harder for her in a world like this.
He was a grown man who could not even settle this marriage properly, dragging her away from home and separating her from her family by a thousand li. What did he have to feel wronged about?
In this marriage, the ones most wronged were her and the Gu family.
They had been sacrificed for the sake of strengthening the bond between the Central Plains and the Northern Frontier.
Zhao Wende clasped his fists and acknowledged the order, then added in a low voice, “Aside from not speaking, Madam is wonderful in every other respect. She seems afraid of troubling us and eats and drinks very little along the way. She stays in the carriage reading bamboo slips while we travel and always avoids us. It looks like she’s afraid, but not quite afraid. In any case, she simply doesn’t want to get close to us.”
Pei Jing’an recalled what had happened in the guesthouse. Wasn’t that exactly how she had behaved?
He asked, “You saw her reading bamboo slips?”
Zhao Wende swallowed a mouthful of dry rations and immediately understood what the Grand Protector wanted to know. “That’s what the maid said. The maid can’t read, so she doesn’t know what kind of bamboo slips Madam was reading.”
Pei Huan chimed in from the side, “Then it seems Second Brother will have to rearrange the main residence when you return and set aside a place for Sister-in-law’s bamboo slips.”
Pei Jing’an took a drink of water without replying. From the corner of his eye, he noticed someone appear on the slope.
It was Suiying, standing on the slope with the maid, one in front of the other.
She once again swept her gaze around, then looked toward the front through the light veil of her hat.
The mass of dark, oppressive black clouds she had seen yesterday was not far away. That was the center of the storm. Yellow sand covered the surrounding land, pressing down on everything until it was hard to breathe.
The maid glanced at Madam’s lonely back. After thinking for a moment, she stepped forward and bowed, speaking softly. “After receiving acupuncture from Madam yesterday, this servant recovered. Thank you, Madam.”
Not only had the discomfort eased, but she no longer broke out in cold sweats, and the stabbing pain in her lower abdomen had disappeared as well.
“That’s good.” Suiying withdrew her gaze. “Do you remember what I told you yesterday?”
The maid nodded solemnly and reached out to support her. “I remember. Madam, please rest assured. This servant will never say anything.”
The moment they came into contact, Suiying instinctively moved aside, startling the maid.
Those waiting in the distance saw it. Pei Jing’an’s gaze toward Suiying grew even more profound.
She truly was as Zhao Wende had said—she avoided everyone as much as possible.
It seemed she really was dissatisfied with this marriage. That was why she refused to speak, causing Zhao Wende to mistake her for a mute.
Suiying heard several neighs, as though the horses were urging her on. When she returned, she could not help quickening her pace, forcing the maid to trot in order to keep up.
When they reached the carriage, her eyes met those of the man on horseback in front. She immediately climbed inside and let the curtain fall.
“See? She’s just like this. How could she possibly be worthy of the Grand Protector? Never mind entertaining guests and managing social affairs—even getting Madam to say a word is difficult.” Zhao Wende began muttering again.
The Grand Protector had only just taken office, and the three Military Governors under his command had yet to come pay their respects.
After returning and completing the auspicious wedding rites, the newlyweds would have to receive the three Military Governors and their wives. They would also have to summon the wives of the Military Governors from every prefecture to come and meet them.
In short, all matters in the city, great and small, as well as sacrificial ceremonies and the like, would require this Madam to appear in person.
With her behaving like this, what were they supposed to do?
Hearing this, Pei Jing’an looked over with darkened eyes. Zhao Wende immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head.
The procession continued on its way. Suiying did not appear again from inside the carriage, and outside, no one spoke. There was only the sound of wheels rolling over the road and hooves striking the ground.
The carriage and horses moved neither quickly nor slowly. Suiying looked twice at the bundle she had brought with her, then took it out and opened it.
Inside were indeed the private assets her mother had left her, along with land deeds and the income from the shops’ operations, all of it converted into banknotes.
She raised a hand and stroked the edge of the wooden box, her eyes lowered.
No one knew how much time passed before she suddenly lifted her eyes. A faint light had appeared in her previously hollow, dim gaze.
As she closed the box and was about to put it away, the back of Suiying’s hand touched something. She immediately looked down.
It was the marriage document, wrapped in scarlet silk.
After thinking for a moment, she finally reached out and unfolded it.
The next moment, an astonished voice rang out amid the sound of hooves and carriage wheels.
“Pei Jing’an.”
The guards beside the carriage heard it and looked toward the man at the head of the procession.
At the same time, Pei Jing’an turned his horse and rode over.
His hearing naturally caught the voice from inside the carriage. He raised a hand, signaling the procession to stop.
When he reached the carriage, he lifted his hand and knocked twice on the window.
Inside, Suiying heard the knocking and held the marriage document in her fingers, looking at it twice more.
Only then was she certain that the marriage document had not been mistaken.
Her new husband was the Anbei Grand Protector.
—Pei Jing’an.
She had heard that name long ago. On the day she went up the mountain three years earlier, she had heard it mentioned. At the time, he had only been a military commander guarding one region.
Perhaps because there was no response from inside, Pei Jing’an knocked on the window again. “Madam?”
The man’s slow, questioning voice reached her ears. Suiying came to herself in astonishment, swiftly put away the marriage document, and turned toward the window.
The man’s figure was tall and imposing, casting a shadow over everything before her.
She clenched and unclenched her fingers, steadying herself, then pushed open the window and said calmly, “It’s nothing. I only wanted to ask… will the sandstorm ahead affect our progress?”
Originally, Suiying had wanted to ask whether he knew that she was an ill-omened person. But she was afraid he would abandon her in this desolate, uninhabited place, so she had hastily found another excuse.
Pei Jing’an lowered his eyes from horseback and looked at her slightly pale profile. Her lashes were like fans, and dark circles lay beneath her eyes from failing to rest properly during the journey.
After only one glance, he withdrew his gaze. His tone held a smile, and his words carried an obvious implication. “If Madam isn’t afraid of the wind and sand, then we’ll continue forward. If you’re worried, naturally it will affect our progress.”
Suiying paused. Her eyelids moved slightly. His pointed words made it sound, no matter how she listened, as though he were leaving the choice to her.
After thinking for a moment, she kept her voice steady. “The Grand Protector can safeguard the peace of the twenty-four prefectures of the Northern Frontier. It’s only a sandstorm. I imagine the Grand Protector must have a plan for dealing with it.”
She did not directly say whether she was afraid or worried, and instead tossed the question back to him.
A meaningful smile lifted the corners of Pei Jing’an’s lips. He nodded and deliberately asked in return, “Then shall we continue on our way?”
Suiying’s lowered eyes moved slightly. “The Grand Protector may make the arrangements.”
Seeing how obedient she was, Pei Jing’an could not help looking at her twice more. He reached out and pushed the window shut, then waved once toward the front to signal that they should set out.