Xiao Zhufeng then entered the Pei Mansion.
He disguised himself, adopting an unremarkable face that one would glance at and never think of again. After much effort, he finally became a guard in the courtyard of Pei Yunshu.
He saw Pei Yunshu.
The eighteen-year-old Pei Yunshu, raised in seclusion, appeared as any heiress of a noble family might: uninteresting, dull, gentle. If anything set her apart, it was her good nature; she never mistreated servants and even when bullied, she did not retort.
Pei Yunshu’s days in Zhao Ning Manor were not easy.
Even though she was the legitimate daughter of the Pei Family, after Pei Di married a new woman following Lady Zhao Ning’s death a year prior, the stepmother Jiang Wan was seemingly kind yet endured hardship, and the concubine Mei Yinang was no easy character. Pei Di himself was cold and indifferent. Pei Yunshu, despite not lacking food or clothing within the Pei Mansion, faced a difficult situation.
Xiao Zhufeng, who had grown up in the Ciyou Bureau and later followed Yan Xu, was far better at reading people than others. Seeing the life Pei Yunshu led within the Pei Mansion touched his heart deeply.
He had thought that the daughter of a wealthy family would not have to live at the mercy of others, yet it became clear that adversity exists everywhere and at every time.
However, Pei Yunshu herself was very clear-headed. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Aside from worrying about her brother’s affairs, she was calm and composed most of the time. She pretended not to hear Jiang Wan’s velvet-gloved barbs, deftly diffused the concubines’ attempts at sowing discord, and even faced her father’s cold indifference without taking it to heart.
She lived deliberately and with great effort, as if waiting for someone to return and not wanting to hold that person back, so she did her utmost within her capabilities.
Once, during a quarrel between Mei Yinang and the new head of the mistress’s maids over some matter, as Pei Yunshu passed by, hot sweet soup from a food basket threatened to splash on her face; Xiao Zhufeng leaped forward and shielded her from the scalding liquid.
His purpose in coming to the Pei Mansion was to secretly protect Pei Yunshu.
Later, Pei Di’s people came and resolved the issue. Xiao Zhufeng returned to his post at the courtyard gate, only to be approached by someone that evening.
"I’ve been looking for you for a long time," Pei Yunshu said, "and at last, I’ve found you."
Xiao Zhufeng started, nearly touching his face subconsciously, afraid that his disguise had been revealed.
"Weren’t you hurt?" she extended her hand, pushing a bottle of medicine into his hand, "I saw everything earlier. That soup was scalding hot; your arm must be hurt, probably in pain, and might even scar. This medicine is very effective, be sure to apply it."
"Thank you for earlier."
She smiled, nodded her thanks to him, and walked away, lifting her skirt.
Xiao Zhufeng looked at the medicine bottle in his hand, pursing his lips.
He had been injured many times before, and such burns were nothing. No one had ever shown concern or cared whether he was in pain following an injury in the past. His teacher always told them to be strong; those who feared pain could not thrive in the future.
Only a daughter raised in seclusion would worry about scars.
He snorted in his heart but perhaps because it was the first time someone had offered him wound medicine, he kept it.
Pei Yunshu was eighteen now, and in Shengjing, girls of her age had already begun discussing marriage prospects.
It was said that Pei Di was also beginning to select a suitable match for Pei Yunshu.
The leaves of the plane tree in the courtyard had turned yellow, and Pei Yunshu had her maids gather many to mimic scholars and poets by writing on them; after finishing, she would scatter them from the upper floor and then go down to pick them up herself.
One day, a leaf went missing, and no matter how much she searched, it couldn’t be found. She eventually gave up, considering there was no signature on the leaf anyway.
Later on, Xiao Zhufeng found that missing leaf high on the courtyard wall during a night stroll; it must have drifted there accidentally when Pei Yunshu scattered the leaves and got caught.
He looked down and saw the leaf inscribed with graceful delicate handwriting:
Gathering brows to veil my paints, burdened by a heavy heart. Holding the brush in the courtyard so dim, inscribing words of longing apart...
These words are not written of old, not upon paper though fit to be told. They’re scribed upon autumn leaves, with a wish to drift in the autumn breeze...
In this world, those who understand love, know too well the pangs of such drive. Yet those who are faithless, unaware of desperate yearning and love’s strive...
For the caring and the uncaring, where do their endings reside?
He was not versed in poetry, and only after scouring countless books did he learn that these lines came from a former dynasty’s minister, who, leaning in a temple, had a plane leaf fall into his lap; upon picking it up, he found this poem written on it. The minister cherished the leaf, and many years later, when he married, he discovered his wife was the poet.
Perhaps Pei Yunshu, contemplating her arranged marriage and future, had deliberately inscribed these words upon the leaf.
He should have thrown away that leaf, but inexplicably, he picked up the leaf and tucked it inside a book.
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