Madam Wei picked up her wailing son and seemed about to hurl more barbs, but Pei Yue, sensing trouble, swiftly stepped forward and clamped a firm hand over her mouth.
"Second Sister-in-law, mind your words." Pei Yue pressed her palm down harder, giving Madam Wei no chance to stir up more trouble.
Madam Wei frowned in displeasure. Seeing this, Madam Zhang hurriedly reached out and took Jun-ge'er from Madam Wei's arms, gently patting his back, then turned to smooth things over with the visibly angered Madam Wei.
"Second Sister-in-law, look at you—it's only a First Birthday Grab Ceremony, why get so worked up? You've heard our father-in-law say it himself: twenty years ago, at my San-lang's grab ceremony, out of a whole pile of treasures he grabbed a wolf-hair brush and refused to let go. Father-in-law was overjoyed at the time, certain he would pass the imperial examinations and become an official—and in the end, didn't he go into commerce anyway?"
"Life is unpredictable by nature, so there's no need to take it so seriously. Never mind how impressive and admired by all a general is—even if you didn't want Jun-ge'er to become a general, would he dare defy you, his own mother?"
Madam Zhang's words were airtight. Madam Wei's cheeks flushed red with suppressed fury, her indignation stuck in her throat, the rest of her words muffled by Pei Yue's hand. She mumbled for a long while without getting out a single word, and could only twist her body in frustration.
Seeing this, Pei Yue finally let go.
Madam Wei looked at Shen Qingyin in the crowd, hesitated for a long while, then couldn't help replying to Madam Zhang, "How can you say I shouldn't—"
"That's enough, enough! Today is Jun-ge'er's happy occasion. I know you're anxious, but let's say no more." Pei Zhan tugged at Madam Wei, signaling her to be quiet, then turned to seat the clan relatives one by one. After smoothing things over with a few smiles, the banquet proceeded as usual.
But the anger Madam Wei had already suppressed was reignited by Pei Zhan's words. Pei Yue and Madam Zhang, having no choice, together dragged the still-fuming Madam Wei to the corridor to talk her down.
Through the shifting figures of the crowd, Shen Qingyin gave Pei Zhan a slight bow of her head.
"Er-lang, I'm tired. I'll return to my courtyard first."
She no longer had the strength to refute Madam Wei's earlier words. She knew full well that Madam Wei's sudden outburst was nothing more than retaliation for her protecting Qingniang from becoming a concubine. But over these years she had learned deeply that other people's thoughts could not be changed—playing deaf and dumb was always the best policy.
At the sound of that soft, gentle voice, Pei Zhan stiffened all over, then quickly nodded with a warm smile. "My wife was out of line today. I hope Eldest Sister-in-law will—"
Before he could finish, Shen Qingyin had already turned and left.
Pei Zhan quietly clenched the handkerchief in his sleeve, his gaze fixed on the stretch of fair, slender neck the woman had unwittingly revealed, and murmured, "…Take care, Eldest Sister-in-law."
Along the corridor, Shen Qingyin brushed past Madam Wei.
The grudge in Madam Wei's heart still lingered. She shot Shen Qingyin a sidelong glance, her brows and eyes full of disgust, already scheming how to file a complaint with Liang Wanyou.
Shen Qingyin acted as if she hadn't seen it, and with her servants in tow, walked straight out of Bishan Courtyard.
The moment she stepped into Yuebai Courtyard, Tang-jie'er looked around everywhere. Only after searching for a long while did she say to Shen Qingyin:
"Mama, little brothers—where are my two little brothers? I… I want to play with my little brothers…"
Zhuling, holding Tang-jie'er, teased her gently, "Your two little brothers have gone home. They'll come play with you another day~"
Seeing that Tang-jie'er looked about to cry, Nanny Qing comforted her, "Tang-jie'er, isn't it nice to have us keeping you company?"
"No, no!"
Tang-jie'er shook her head repeatedly, stubbornly insisting, "I want to play with my little brother!"
The wet nurse standing nearby immediately stepped forward with a smile, positioning herself at Shen Qingyin's side. "Madam, children's words are the most prophetic. With Tang-jie'er saying such things, surely your next child will be a little brother for her, bringing more sons and more fortune to the Pei household."
As she spoke, she silently mused that she had served the wives of many high officials in the past and knew how much the mistresses of every household valued a flourishing line of descendants. Words of good omen like these were always sure to earn a reward.
The wet nurse was already calculating how much she stood to gain, and the smile on her face grew even wider.
Yet Shen Qingyin did not respond, nor did her face show the slightest hint of pleasure.
To be sure, the wet nurse had been in the Pei household for three years and had vaguely gathered that this mistress had a rather cold temperament—cold in a way unlike any mistress she had ever served before.
But as the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly fell into dead silence, the smile on the wet nurse's face froze uncontrollably in place, and for a moment she stood there, at a complete loss.
Zhuling said nothing more, and neither did Nanny Qing. No one spoke again.
Only after Shen Qingyin had walked into the inner chamber did Nanny Qing slowly make her way to the wet nurse's side. "You are someone who has spent many years in great households. What may be said and what must be avoided—you ought to know the difference clearly in your heart."
What the wet nurse did not know, Nanny Qing, who attended her mistress at all times, knew best.
Three years ago, the First Madam had suffered a threatened miscarriage because of that incident. The birth had been difficult, and a hemorrhage had nearly cost her her life. Now, anyone who spoke of blessing her with more children was wishing for the First Madam to take another trip through the gates of hell.
Even someone as spiteful as Madam Wei would only sneer in the privacy of her own heart, never mocking Shen Qingyin about the matter of heirs to her face.
The wet nurse clenched her fists, a surge of resentment rising in her chest.
She had kindly wished the First Madam a son, and not only had she received no reward, she had been lectured as well.
But then she recalled the scene earlier that day—Second Young Master Pei, thinking no one was watching, slipping the First Madam's handkerchief into his possession—and her expression turned stern. She quickly lowered her eyes and meekly complied.
The First Madam looked down on her, a mere wet nurse, thought her words carried no weight. But even a cornered rabbit will bite.
First Madam, the days are long. We shall see.
The wet nurse curled her lips into a smirk at Shen Qingyin's retreating figure.
Meanwhile, Zhuling patiently coaxed Tang-jie'er with gentle words, and before long, the little girl who had been clamoring to play was lulled into a deep sleep.
After bathing and changing her clothes, Shen Qingyin tiptoed into the side chamber. By the faint light from the corridor, she gazed at her daughter's peaceful sleeping face before turning and walking back to the inner room of the main quarters.
Zhuling followed anxiously, only to see her mistress calmly lie down on the bed and, within moments, sink into a deep slumber.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
In the past, after something like what had happened today, the First Madam would lie awake until dawn. Now she could fall asleep so quickly.
Though she was reluctant to admit it, that incident three years ago had truly made all three of them—mistress and servants alike—grow a great deal.
……
Shen Qingyin returned to the General's Manor, led by her father's hand.
The moment she stepped through the familiar courtyard gate, the young girl's lively eyes lit up. There, beneath the crabapple tree at the center of the courtyard, stood two figures she knew all too well.
One wore a lotus-pink ruqun, the other a jade-green round-collar robe. Both stood with their hands gently folded before them, their eyes fixed on the courtyard gate, clearly having waited a long while.
"Lin-niang! A-Yu!"
After half a year apart, catching sudden sight of her two dearest friends, all the weariness of Shen Qingyin's long days of travel melted away in an instant.
Without hesitation, she let go of her father's warm, broad palm and dashed toward the two figures beneath the crabapple tree.
"Yin Niang!"
"Yin Niang, you're finally back!"
The three girls, close in age, threw their arms around one another, soft hair pressed together, skirts tangling, small arms wrapped tightly around each other.
Shen Qingyin buried her face in Lin Shu's shoulder. The embrace was so close and warm, yet somehow her eyes only stung, as if…
As if she were dreaming.
A short distance behind her, General Shen watched his daughter's joyful skipping, his stern features softening unconsciously with a gentle smile.
Madam Shen walked over slowly, glancing at Shen Qingyin, and lowered her voice in reproach. "It's all your fault for insisting on taking Yin Niang to the northern frontier for training. That child was already wild at heart—after half a year at the border, I swear she's become utterly untamed! Just look at her—"
Pointing at her daughter, who was laughing up at the sky, Madam Shen huffed in exasperation. "Does she look the least bit like a proper young lady?! She grows more lawless by the day! With a temperament like that, how will she ever marry?!"
General Shen chuckled low at her words. "So what if she can't marry! Our Yin Niang needn't be some clinging dodder vine!"
"The sons of the Shen family can don armor, ride to war, and draw a bow against the enemy—why can't Yin Niang take the field to fight and defend our homeland? In my view, with her bold spirit, she may well become a valiant warrior-general like Fu Hao or Liang Hongyu!"
Madam Shen shot her husband a look, finding his words ridiculous.
Since ancient times, most women's lot had been the inner household. Even if Yin Niang had the constitution for martial training, going to war meant wind, sun, and killing—hardly as pleasant as being a pampered noblewife sheltered by a husband.
She couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Her daughter—she would use every means at her disposal to arrange a good marriage for her.
In the courtyard, the three girls clung to one another for a long while before reluctantly letting go.
Shen Qingyin took Lin Shu's and Luo Yu's hands and ran, laughing all the way, to the swing by the flowerbed. She sat down first, shifted sideways to make room, and pulled her two friends to sit on either side of her.
The swing swayed gently. Lin Shu turned toward her, nudging Shen Qingyin's arm lightly with her elbow, her almond eyes wide.
"Yin Niang, the northern frontier… is it truly as terrifying as they say? I heard my cousin say in his letters that the fighting there never stops, that people die every day…"
Her voice trailing off, she pressed her lips together, a trace of fear flickering in her eyes.
Lin Shu had always been timid. Shen Qingyin, recognized as the leader among the three, gave her friend's arm a gallant pat. "It's true."
"You have no idea how insatiably greedy those northern barbarians are! They keep crossing the border to raid and pillage—not a single day of peace! Several times, my father had just driven off the invading barbarian troops and returned to his tent, barely sat down and picked up his bowl without taking a single bite, when the messenger arrived to report the barbarians had attacked again. Over and over like that—it was truly infuriating."
Luo Yu hopped off the swing and cried out, "Barbarians indeed! Utterly shameless troublemakers, the lot of them!"
Lin Shu's heart tightened at the words, her fingers unconsciously clutching the embroidery on her skirt.
She hesitated before speaking. "Then… what about Zhang Gege? I heard that this time you set out from the northern frontier with General Shen and Zhang Gege, and that you came back together…"
Lin Shu's words trailed off softly midway. Shen Qingyin, sharp-witted as she was, caught a glimpse of her friend's reddened ears from the corner of her eye—combined with how increasingly fidgety Lin Shu had been from the start—and instantly saw right through her little scheme.
"So all that talk, and this is what you really wanted to know…?"
Shen Qingyin spoke slowly, waiting until Lin Shu's cheeks had gone completely crimson before declaring decisively, "Rest assured—my brother is perfectly safe, without a single scratch! He set out early as a scout and arrived in Shangjing half a day before we did!"
Seeing that Lin Shu's brows were still slightly furrowed, Shen Qingyin added with a smile, "Though he didn't return home with Father and me. The moment he entered the city, he went straight to the Dingbei Prince's residence to look for Tan-gege."
Ling Heng, courtesy name Zhantan, was Lin Shu's older cousin.
After Lin Shu's parents divorced, she had gone with her mother to live at the Dingbei Prince's residence. She had known the Shen family would be returning today, but assuming Shen Zhang would surely come back to rest at home with the General, she had specially brought Luo Yu along to wait for them here.
She had never imagined that the first thing Shen Zhang would do upon returning to Shangjing was head to the Dingbei Prince's residence.
Had she known, she wouldn't have come out at all…
Regret filled Lin Shu's expression. Watching her dear friend fret so anxiously over her brother, Shen Qingyin immediately put on a stern face and feigned indignation:
"Well, well, Lin Niang! You've truly become terribly partial these days! Look at you—the engagement with my brother isn't even settled yet, and your heart is already so full of him there's not the slightest room left for me!"
She deliberately let out a heavy sigh, raising a hand to touch her chest in mock disappointment. "And to think I traveled all the way to the northern frontier and picked out one-of-a-kind gifts just for you two. Now it seems that was all a wasted effort! In your heart, I'm afraid there's no place left for your dear bosom friend at all!"
At these words, Luo Yu, who had been idly listening to the two bicker, suddenly perked up. She leaned forward at once, unable to hold back her eager questioning.
"Gifts?! Yin Niang, you brought gifts back for us?"
Joy nearly overflowing from her, Luo Yu hurriedly shook Shen Qingyin's arm.
"Does that mean I get one too? Hurry, take them out and show me! I've long heard the northern frontier has all sorts of rare treasures you can't find in Shangjing—I've been dying to see them!"
Shen Qingyin turned her head to glance at Luo Yu's pleading, puppy-eyed look, feeling soft inside, but she insisted on keeping up an indignant front, pointedly ignoring Luo Yu.
"I was going to take them out, but after how Lin Niang has treated me, I've lost all desire to share!"
"How have I treated you?!"
Lin Shu was already the shyest, most timid of souls, and with Shen Qingyin teasing her so bluntly, her fair cheeks instantly flushed a light shade of pink, spreading from the roots of her ears all the way to her jaw, making her all the more flustered.
"You're the one who spouted nonsense first, Yin Niang! All this talk of engagements—that concerns my reputation. How can you joke about such things…?"
"How is any of it nonsense?"
Shen Qingyin remained relentless. "Every word I said is the truth! Never mind that we've all known each other since childhood, that you love my brother and he loves you, and that you marrying him is just about set in stone—just look at how every single word out of your mouth just now was about my brother. You didn't ask once whether the northern frontier was hard on me, whether I was tired, whether I missed Shangjing. If that isn't proof you've forgotten me, what is?"
"And you still dare tease me!"
Lin Shu, having been left speechless by her retort, simply puffed up her cheeks in return, glaring at Shen Qingyin with a pair of watery apricot eyes and muttering back in defiance:
"Yin Niang, at the end of the day you're just the same! Every time you see my cousin, your eyes see no one else! Can you honestly say I'm not in your heart at all?"
The two young girls bickered back and forth, teasing and squabbling, while Luo Yu stood nearby, glancing at Shen Qingyin, then at the red-faced Lin Shu, feeling utterly caught in the middle with no idea how to mediate.
"What's all this excitement about? What are you discussing?"
Amid the playful commotion, two tall, slender figures of young men quietly appeared at the courtyard gate.
Both walked with measured, dignified strides, unhurried as they made their way toward the swing.
Luo Yu was the first to spot the figures at the gate, and her eyes, so full of dilemma just moments before, suddenly lit up.
"Brother Zhang! Brother Tan! You're back!"
Her crisp voice instantly drowned out the two girls' bickering.
The swaying swing abruptly stilled.
Shen Zhang, walking in front, let out a low chuckle, his tone carrying a hint of teasing laziness.
"I could hear the chattering from the courtyard all the way from afar—"
He approached slowly, his gaze drifting gently over the three on the swing, his brows arching pleasantly before finally settling on Shen Qingyin.
"Let me guess. It must be my Yin Niang showing off again about the little foal she got in the Northern Territories, so pleased with herself that she's made her two little sisters angry. Am I right?"
"Brother! There you go assuming things about me again! I never—"
Shen Qingyin had been reflexively arguing back at Shen Zhang, but the moment she lifted her eyes, her spine suddenly went rigid, her pupils contracting slightly.
Before her stood a young man of about thirteen, already grown tall and slender. A smoky-ink brocade robe set off his upright figure; his nose and lips inherited General Shen's handsome strength, while his brows and eyes were the very picture of dashing charm.
A warm wetness surged without warning into Shen Qingyin's eyes. Great teardrops fell, one after another, down her young cheeks without any premonition, landing on her skirt and the ground, spreading faint damp stains and little splashes of water.
"Brother…"
Beneath the dense shade of the crabapple tree, her brother smiled warmly, as carefree as ever.
And standing shoulder to shoulder at his side was a young man, the purple-crabapple-colored sleeves of his robe fluttering faintly in the breeze.
Shen Qingyin felt as if struck by lightning. Her gaze shifted slowly, disbelievingly, about to turn toward the person beside her brother.
But before she could make out that person's face, a violent jolt suddenly struck, and the old scene before her shattered with a crash.
"Tan Lang…!"
Shen Qingyin's eyes flew open. The world spun around her; the falling petals vanished in an instant, replaced by a canopy of a tent both familiar and strange.
The tent canopy swayed violently.
It took the woman a long while to suppress the churning dizziness in her head. Her lashes trembled as her vision slowly came into focus.
On the bed, moonlight poured down, faintly revealing the man above her—the cold, taut line of his jaw.
"Awake?"
Pei Yu's eyes were lowered, his long lashes casting a faint shadow. His face was indifferent and sharp, showing no consideration for her dazed state upon waking, his movements unceasing.
He cared nothing about her, and naturally paid no mind to why she had cried out that name just now.
"I discussed matters with Father today. He mentioned that our eldest branch is lacking in heirs—he hopes to hold a legitimate grandson soon."
Pei Yu looked down at the woman, his gaze sweeping coolly over her pale face, utterly without ripple.
"Since you're awake now, be cooperative."