Chapter 2 — Leaving the Capital, Zhaowei

It was only then, with a crushing, belated realization, that the breathtaking young man who had kept me company throughout the entire night was none other than my very own eldest brother! I was so utterly terrified that the color drained from my face, and my voice pitched into a breathless squeak.

"No, it is not."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, his lips curling into a knowing, leisurely smile. A cold wave of panic prickled across my scalp. If he ever discovered that I was the third young lady of the household, sneaking out of the manor would become an unforgivable, inescapable crime! In sheer desperation, I spun around on my heel and bolted. Throwing a panicked fabrication over my shoulder as I fled, I cried out.

"I am the cousin from the Yongning Marquis Estate, not some daughter of your Jing An Marquis Estate!"

I wandered aimlessly through the bustling streets for another half-hour. Only after convincing myself that no prying eyes had followed me did I cautiously slip back inside through a secluded side gate. That entire night, dread kept me awake, my heart hammering against my ribs. I lay shivering in the dark, paralyzed by the fear that my deception would be exposed and severe punishment would follow. By the next morning, the terror had manifested into a genuine fever, and I fell ill. The holiday season gave me a perfect excuse to avoid everyone while my illness kept me confined. Seven agonizing days passed, and yet within the household, not a single soul uttered a word about the lantern festival. Finally, I let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. Little did I expect that right after the New Year celebrations, Pei Yanzhuo would send a matchmaker to the Yongning Marquis Estate. He claimed he wished to formalize a betrothal with a certain Miss Ye, a cousin residing within their gates. Yet, where on earth was there any such cousin named Ye? The Yongning Marquis Estate was utterly baffled, and the Jing An Marquis Estate was equally clueless. When the two sides finally compared notes, Pei Yanzhuo provided a detailed description of the young woman in question. Radiant brows, almond-shaped eyes, and peachy cheeks that dimpled ever so softly whenever she smiled. Instantly, I was dragged out into the harsh light of day. That very afternoon, the legal mother turned pale with fury, and my secondary mother wept until she nearly fainted. An elder brother seeking to marry his own sister! If word of this ever leaked out, the entire noble household would become the laughingstock of the capital. As punishment, the legal mother forced Pei Yanzhuo to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days and three nights. Meanwhile, my secondary mother locked me away in my bedchamber, compelling me to copy the Precepts for Women for half a month.

From that day onward, acutely aware of the mortification between us, I made it a point to avoid him at every turn. Little did I know that this avoidance only deepened his utter disdain for me. One afternoon, while paying my respects to the legal mother, I happened to pass by the waterside pavilion and overheard voices drifting from within. It was the eldest sister. She seemed to be gently admonishing Pei Yanzhuo.

"Third sister is still so young; that day she was merely swept up in a moment of playful mischief. Is it really worth holding a grudge against her for all this time?"

A moment later, his indifferent voice pierced the air.

"At such a tender age, she is already capable of spinning a web of lies, tricking men outside into running themselves ragged for her amusement?"

My footsteps froze in place. The delicate handkerchief in my hand crumpled and twisted beyond recognition under my tightening grip. Eldest sister sighed softly.

"What other man outside could she possibly mean? Was it not simply you?"

Pei Yanzhuo let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"Among sisters of the same household, which of them fails to keep within the bounds of propriety and decorum?"

"She alone acts with such reckless abandon, constantly stirring up trouble."

"If she is not disciplined properly now, heaven only knows how much disgrace she will bring upon our family name in the future."

Standing beneath the shaded veranda, I felt the warmth drain slowly from my entire body, leaving me utterly cold.

Following the festivities, Pei Yanzhuo was required to return to the academy to resume his scholarly pursuits. Outside the main gates of the manor, pages bustled about, hoisting heavy bookcases and traveling trunks onto a waiting carriage. The legal mother stood upon the stone steps, offering parting words of caution for his journey. The young ladies of the household had all prepared parting gifts for him. Eldest sister had embroidered a fine book pouch, while the second sister had stitched a decorative fan case. Pei Yanzhuo accepted each token graciously. Standing quietly behind the crowd, I clutched a sachet hidden tightly within my sleeve. I had only recently begun learning needlework from the estate's seamstress. Over the past half-year, my fingertips had been pricked by needles countless times, until I had finally managed to stitch together something marginally presentable. Upon its surface were embroidered two slender stalks of green bamboo. The bamboo leaves varied in length, and the stitching was far from refined. The seamstress had consoled me, saying that green bamboo symbolized integrity, making it the most fitting gift for a scholar. Initially, I had intended to present it to Pei Yanzhuo. But after the harsh reproaches he hurled at me that day, I realized I was entirely unworthy of the two months of painstaking effort I had poured into it. All I wished for now was for this farewell ceremony to end swiftly. Once he climbed into the carriage, this ordeal would finally be over. To my utter dismay, the legal mother suddenly turned her gaze toward me.

"Where is Zhaowei?"

I froze, caught off guard. The legal mother softened her tone.

"Did you not also prepare a parting gift for your eldest brother?"

The surrounding courtyard fell into an absolute, suffocating silence. I wanted to deny it outright, but the legal mother's eyes held a flicker of expectant warmth. Perhaps she hoped to use this trivial gesture to gently mend the rift between Pei Yanzhuo and me. Unwilling to disappoint her, I slowly retrieved the sachet from the folds of my sleeve. I stepped forward with my head bowed, my voice barely a whisper.

"Eldest brother."

"I embroidered this myself."

Pei Yanzhuo lowered his gaze, glancing at it indifferently. My hand remained frozen in mid-air, held out for so long that the muscles began to ache. After a long, agonizing pause, he spoke in a flat, detached tone.

"Unnecessary."

"These frivolous things—you would do well to spend less time on them in the future."

"Lest they fall into the wrong hands and invite misunderstandings."

My fingertips trembled violently. The sachet nearly slipped from my grasp. The legal mother frowned and chided sharply,

"Yanzhuo!"

Only then did Pei Yanzhuo casually pinch the corner of the sachet between two fingers, lifting it up with utter nonchalance. He remarked coldly,

"For a young woman, propriety and self-respect come first."

"If you truly wish to spare me any worry, you would do well to simply stay out of trouble and behave yourself."

Without another word, he turned and mounted the carriage. The driver cracked his whip, and the heavy carriage lurched forward. It had barely moved a few paces when a small object was suddenly tossed out from the carriage window. I stood frozen in place. Before I could even step forward to retrieve it, the trailing carriage laden with his bookcases rolled heavily right over it.