Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five (Part 1)

Yan Shi Ning slept through the rest of the night.

The following morning Yan Shi Ning woke up and didn’t see Pei Jin. She asked a maid to prepare a water basin for her to wash her face then she changed into a dress.

After Yan Shi Ning washed and dressed, she slowly walked toward the gardens. It was still painful between her legs, but she didn’t want the maids to know what happened and forced herself to straighten her back.

Yan Shi Ning circled the gardens and returned to her chamber but she didn’t see Pei Jin.

‘Where’s ninth prince?’ Yan Shi Ning asked a maid.

‘Mistress, ninth prince is visiting Gentleman Bei,’ the maid said.

Yan Shi Ning nodded her head and she remembered the physician Bei Dou who wore black clothes and a stiff expression on his face.

Yan Shi Ning felt that Bei Dou had a cold aura. She thought that even someone cold would have a face that at least occasionally changed expressions. But each time she met him, his face stayed the same stiff expression. It made her curious about his real identity and why Pei Jin treated him sincerely.

Yan Shi Ning didn’t ask Pei Jin about Bei Dou. She knew Pei Jin had many secrets. But she was happy to be Pei Jin’s wife who ate and slept. Suddenly she felt hungry and was about to ask a maid to bring her food from the kitchen but Pei Jin entered their chamber with a platter of food.

‘Wife, why aren’t you sleeping?’ Pei Jin asked and put the bowl of beef congee and the bowl of cong you bings on a table.

The delicious fragrance brightened Yan Shi Ning’s eyes. After the maids left the chamber, she tucked a cong you bing in her mouth. While she was chewing, the pain between her legs increased and she took deep breaths.

Pei Jin saw Yan Shi Ning frowned. ‘Wife, what’s wrong?’

‘It hurts!’ Yan Shi Ning said and looked at Pei Jin accusingly.

Pei Jin laughed and carried Yan Shi Ning onto the bed.

‘What do you want to do?’ Yan Shi Ning asked wearily.

Yan Shi Ning swallowed the cong you bing in her mouth and looked at Pei Jin suspiciously. Outside the window the sky was still bright, she didn’t know how he could shamelessly want to eat her.

Pei Jin lifted Yan Shi Ning’s dress and took off her pants and undergarments while smiling shadily at her.

Yan Shi Ning pulled down her dress and she scrunched her face like an angry bore. ‘You… you… it’s still morning.’

‘Wife, does that mean… if it isn’t morning then it’s alright?’ Pei Jin asked.

Pei Jin took out a jade bottle from his pouch and poured some of the herbal remedy on his fingers.

Yan Shi Ning remembered Pei Jin’s fingers teased her body last night and she wanted to hit him. Then she was curious about the sweet scent from the herbal remedy on his fingers. ‘What is that?’

‘It’s good,’ Pei Jin said.

Pei Jin pulled Yan Shi Ning’s hands away from her dress and inserted his fingers between her legs.

Yan Shi Ning’s whole body stiffened the moment she felt his fingers inside her.

‘Wife, you don’t need to be nervous,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I’m only rubbing the herbal remedy inside to soothe the pain.’

Pei Jin wanted to continue teasing Yan Shi Ning, but he saw her anxiously bit her lower lip and decided to be honest.

Pei Jin remembered Yan Shi Ning cried out in pain throughout the night so earlier in the morning he woke Bei Dou up. He ignored Bei Dou’s resentment for being woken up too early and asked Bei Dou for a herbal remedy. Bei Dou didn’t ask him what kind of herbal remedy he wanted instead Bei Dou’s forehead to the neck turned red. Then Bei Dou wrote the name of the herbal remedy on a paper and told him to go buy it.

Yan Shi Ning’s body relaxed after Pei Jin explained the purpose of the herbal remedy. But she felt a strange sensation having his fingers gently stroked inside her and her body stiffened again.

‘I… I… can do it myself,’ Yan Shi Ning stuttered.

‘Wife, can you see where the sore spots are?’ Pei Jin asked.

Yan Shi Ning bit her lower lip. She did feel shy about inserting her fingers inside herself. But it was better than having his fingers inside her.

Yan Shi Ning held onto Pei Jin’s arms. ‘I can do it myself.’

‘Alright, you can do it yourself,’ Pei Jin said. His fingers circled inside her one more time and withdrew. ‘But I finished putting it on the sore spots.’

Yan Shi Ning glared at Pei Jin’s rotten smile.

Pei Jin pulled out a handkerchief and consoled Yan Shi Ning while he wiped his fingers. ‘Wife, don’t be sad. We can’t this time, but there’ll be a next time soon.’

Yan Shi Ning’s heart cursed Pei Jin, ‘Sad your sister!’

Yan Shi Ning put on her undergarments and pants then she kicked Pei Jin off the bed.

Pei Jin pulled Yan Shi Ning off the bed with him. She fell on top of him. Then he rolled her under him and she opened her mouth but his mouth swallowed her curse.

Earlier Pei Jin felt frustrated while his fingers were inside Yan Shi Ning’s body. He thought it wasn’t right that a delicious meat was in front of him but he had to endure. He wondered when he could eat to his satisfaction.

Pei Jin thought one day soon he needed to be a bandit and pluck Yan Shi Ning otherwise he feared he would die from starving himself.

Yan Shi Ning felt Pei Jin kissed her long enough to make her forget to breathe. She noticed the bowl of congee on the table and pushed him off her.

‘The congee will be cold soon,’ Yan Shi Ning said.

Pei Jin knew if he continued kissing Yan Shi Ning, it would be hard for him to stop so he let her push him off her.

Yan Shi Ning happily ate the bowl of delicious beef congee and occasionally bit a cong you bing.

‘Did you change the head cook of your manor?’ Yan Shi Ning asked. ‘Why does the food taste better than usual?’

Yan Shi Ning finished eating the whole bowl of beef congee. Then she remembered since she arrived at Pei Jin’s manor, the cooks’ food weren’t as delicious as the cooks’ food at the Yan Manor. It wasn’t a surprise because Princess Kang Hua and Yan Shi Ting used a lot of money to hire a cook from a famous restaurant in the imperial city. But she was surprised the food Pei Jin bought earlier tasted better than the cooks’ food at the Yan Manor.

Pei Jin was happy Yan Shi Ning liked the food he bought for her. But he knocked her forehead after he heard her said ‘your manor.’

‘Wife, what is the head cook of your manor?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘Do you still see yourself as an outsider?’

Yan Shi Ning rubbed her sore forehead and glared at Pei Jin. But she admitted she wasn’t used to thinking of herself as the mistress of Pei Jin’s manor.

‘The cooks in our home didn’t make these dishes,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I bought it at Fu Qing on the way to buy the herbal remedy.’

The mention of ‘Fu Qing’ brightened Yan Shi Ning’s eyes. Before she arrived at the imperial city, she heard of Fu Qing, the best restaurant in the imperial city. After she lived in the Yan Manor, she never had the opportunity to eat at Fu Qing. She was happy she got to wear clothes from Su’s dressmakers and eat food from Fu Qing.

Pei Jin saw the excitement on Yan Shi Ning’s face and he rubbed his chin. ‘Wife, do you want to go there?’

Yan Shi Ning looked suspiciously at Pei Jin. ‘Can we actually go there?’

‘Wife, do you want to see the singers and musicians perform?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Yes,’ Yan Shi Ning said.

‘Alright, then we can go,’ Pei Jin said.

On the way to Fu Qing, Yan Shi Ning thought about a childhood memory inside the horse carriage. That year a group of singers and musicians visited Xuan Qing to perform. Other children her age had their mothers take them to see the singers and musicians perform. She wanted to go too but her mother didn’t have enough money and her precious pouch was light as a cat’s whisker. In her sad state, Pei Jin stood in front of her and asked, ‘Do you want to see the singers and musicians perform?’

Yan Shi Ning couldn’t ignore Pei Jin after she heard his question and she foolishly nodded her head. Afterward he actually did take her to see the singers and musicians perform. But they didn’t buy tickets at the entrance like other people… they climbed a wall.

That night was cold but Yan Shi Ning’s heart was warm. She sat on the wall and saw the singers and musicians perform on a platform while she ate dried dates. That day she thought life was beautiful… of course if that thief didn’t steal a copper coin from her precious pouch to buy the dried dates then life would have been more beautiful.

‘Little sister, I took you to see the singers and musicians perform,’ that thief said. ‘But why haven’t you thanked me?’

Yan Shi Ning’s childhood memory from that year reminded her to be weary of Pei Jin.

‘Did you bring enough money?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Yan Shi Ning was worried Pei Jin was taking her to climb another wall.

Pei Jin looked at the Yan Shi Ning dressed in a man’s clothes and wanted to laugh because she couldn’t disguise her feminine beauty. He pulled out a paper note worth one thousand silver taels and put it inside her inner robe. ‘I don’t have silver taels. Wife, you’ll be the host.’

Yan Shi Ning was shocked to see the paper note… how rich was Pei Jin?

***

End of Chapter Twenty-Five (Part 1)

Chapter Twenty-Five (Part 2 of 2)

Pei Jin took Yan Shi Ning for a stroll around the imperial city.

The streets were crowded with people, there were many sights to see and food to taste. Yan Shi Ning thought she could relax after leaving the manor with Pei Jin. But two of Pei Jin’s guards followed them around the imperial city so she was forced to act like a gentleman in her disguise.

Pei Jin noticed Yan Shi Ning’s reluctance to move around freely.

‘Guards, you don’t need to follow us,’ Pei Jin said to his guards. ‘You can go find a place to drink wine.’

Yan Shi Ning began to worry a little after the guards left. ‘Is it safe? What if there are assassins?’

Before Yan Shi Ning left the manor, she hesitated to leave because of the assassination attempt in the palace. But Pei Jin reassured her and brought guards with them outside the manor.

Pei Jin didn’t know what to explain to Yan Shi Ning to reassure her. What was he supposed to say? Wife, don’t worry two of those assassins were sent by your husband?

After thinking for a while Pei Jin chose the most tactful explanation to reassure Yan Shi Ning. ‘Wife, don’t worry there are guards secretly following us.’

Half of Yan Shi Ning believed and the half of her suspected Pei Jin’s explanation. But if there were guards secretly following them then she could continue to play on the streets.

Pei Jin and Yan Shi Ning continued sightseeing until she noticed someone familiar. She held onto his arm to stop him.

‘Who does that person look like?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Pei Jin’s eyes followed Yan Shi Ning’s gaze. He saw a familiar woman walk out of a medicine shop and the woman held a bundle.

‘Widow Li?’ Pei Jin asked.

Yan Shi Ning was happy Pei Jin recognised widow Li too and that her eyes weren’t mistaken.

Pei Jin was happy Yan Shi Ning was holding his arm. She was pulling him in the direction of widow Li.

After Widow Li bought the medicine, she began walking home with a heavy conscience. Her conscience became heavier the moment she saw who stood in front of her and her face paled.

‘Mistress Yan,’ widow Li said.

Yan Shi Ning looked happy to see widow Li. But Pei Jin didn’t understand why widow Li looked scared to see Yan Shi Ning.

‘Widow Li, didn’t you say you were travelling south?’ Yan Shi Ning asked. ‘Why are you in the imperial city?’

Widow Li pretended to fix her hair to think of a reasonable explanation. ‘I… I was planning to visit my older cousin in the south. But he said he wanted to be a merchant in the imperial city so I came here with him.’

‘If you’re in the imperial city why didn’t you look for me?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘I… I can’t be that shameless to look for you,’ widow Li said.

‘Let’s find a place to sit and talk,’ Pei Jin said.

‘Uh, no I have somewhere I need to be,’ widow Li declined.

Pei Jin glanced at the bulky bundle of medicine widow Li was carrying.

‘Widow Li, why did you need to buy a lot of medicine?’ Pei Jin asked.

Widow Li sighed sadly. ‘My older cousin is ill. Mistress Yan, ninth prince, I’ll leave first. I need to prepare the medicine for him.’

Widow Li hurriedly left without waiting for Yan Shi Ning and Pei Jin’s reply.

Yan Shi Ning looked at widow Li’s back and frowned. ‘Pei Jin, do you think that widow Li has changed?’

Pei Jin was relieved Yan Shi Ning noticed the change in widow Li’s personality too.

‘Perhaps something has happened,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I forgot, Bei Dou asked me to buy some medicine for him. Wife, wait for me here. I’ll go inside to buy the medicine and I’ll come out soon.’

Pei Jin walked into the shop and requested to see the shop owner.

‘What medicine did the woman who came into your shop earlier buy?’ Pei Jin asked.

The shop owner told Pei Jin what medicine widow Li bought and it made Pei Jin more uneasy.

Pei Jin knew the medicine widow Li bought were expensive. Widow Li was wearing ordinary clothes, he didn’t understand how she could afford to buy expensive medicine. Also, the shop owner said that she was a regular customer who had been buying the same medicine for many months. He wondered where widow Li would find more than one thousand silver taels to buy the medicine frequently.

Pei Jin remembered widow Li’s panicked expression the moment widow Li saw Yan Shi Ning and his intuition warned him that something was wrong. He decided after he returned to the manor, he would ask some of his guards to wait nearby the medicine shop and secretly follow widow Li.

Pei Jin thought if widow Li was in trouble, he would help widow Li because widow Li was important to Yan Shi Ning. But if widow Li was hiding a dangerous secret involving Yan Shi Ning then he would be prepared to stop widow Li from harming Yan Shi Ning.

***

End of Chapter Twenty-Five (Part 2)