Chapter 15
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Shen Zhiyi stepped into the field and looked up at the Crescent Moon Bow hanging high overhead.
The gilded cloud patterns along its body glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight, almost as though her big brother were winking at her.
This time, she had won first place in the competition single-handedly, and her reputation had soared overnight. Even the official in charge now regarded her with new respect. The moment he saw her approach, he put on what he clearly believed to be a warm and gentle smile and asked solicitously, “My lady, have you been injured? Why not come to the magistrate’s office and rest for a while? We can have a physician examine you.”
Before Shen Zhiyi could answer, an arm suddenly slipped around her shoulders.
Her body stiffened, and the tips of her ears grew faintly warm. Then she heard the man’s amused voice above her head.
“There is no need to trouble yourself, my lord. My wife has me to care for her. She is quite well.”
Pei Huaijin was currently disguised as the wealthy merchant Li Che. When he smiled, he was dashing and rakish. Standing beside Shen Zhiyi, the two of them made a strikingly handsome couple.
The official scratched his head awkwardly and nodded repeatedly before hurrying off elsewhere, calling out orders as he went.
Pei Huaijin released her and patted her back.
“Go on. I’ll wait for you in the carriage.”
After the prizes had been awarded, Shen Zhiyi returned to the carriage with her brother’s bow, just as she had hoped.
Pei Huaijin was leaning against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, one hand absently kneading the space between his brows.
The carriage was utterly quiet. Shen Zhiyi held the bow in her hands, her heartbeat growing louder and faster, while her cheeks gradually warmed.
“Thank you.”
She lowered her head, her voice as soft as a kitten’s mew.
Now that everything was over and she was alone with him, a trace of unease finally emerged beneath her joy and sweetness.
Because of her recklessness, she had caused him to break his oath for her sake…
Shen Zhiyi bowed her head and gripped the Crescent Moon Bow tightly. After waiting a while, she heard the man’s voice above her.
“Mm.”
The carriage began to move slowly, and Pei Huaijin’s gaze fell upon the gilded Crescent Moon Bow clenched in her hands.
“I once saw Shen Yuzhou use this bow.”
Shen Zhiyi looked up at him in surprise. But the moment she met those star-deep eyes, she became like a little fish frightened away by a fishhook and hastily lowered her gaze.
Pei Huaijin glanced at her, his voice calm.
“It was during the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet in the eighteenth year of the Xuanming era. With envoys from every kingdom present to offer their congratulations, your brother used this bow to shoot a falling flower petal from a hundred paces and pin it in place. The Emperor was so delighted that he promoted him to Assistant Commander.”
Shen Zhiyi listened without speaking.
She remembered that palace banquet. After her big brother’s promotion, the Shen family had enjoyed a long period of glory.
She had been only ten years old at the time. Because of that incident, the Third Prince had even visited their home to propose marriage, intending to welcome her into his household as a secondary consort once she came of age, thereby winning the support of the Shen family.
To this day, Shen Zhiyi still remembered the Third Prince’s sharp, glittering eyes as she watched him from behind a screen.
Her father naturally had not agreed at once. But the Third Prince was a member of the imperial family, and once he had spoken those words, no one else dared seek a marital alliance with the Shen family. Everyone tacitly assumed that Shen Zhiyi was destined to belong to the Third Prince.
Later, she never learned exactly what had happened. In any case, before long, one of the Third Prince’s most important ministers was dismissed for misconduct. The Emperor reprimanded the Third Prince as well and confined him to his residence for more than a month.
After that, the Third Prince never mentioned the Shen family again.
And so the matter gradually came to nothing.
“Shen Zhiyi…”
Pei Huaijin called her name. Her fingertips trembled abruptly, and she slowly raised her head to meet his gaze.
His eyelids were thin, and when he looked down at someone from beneath them, his cold, pale eyes gave him an air of indifferent severity that inspired fear without reason.
Shen Zhiyi swallowed. Under his tangible, penetrating stare, her heart began to pound once more.
After a long while, the man withdrew his gaze from her. The pads of his right fingers moved slowly, as though the sensation of bowstring and arrow against his skin still lingered there, carrying with it a secret, long-forgotten tremor.
He said carelessly, “I helped you today only because I could not bear to see your brother’s relic fall into the hands of strangers. It had nothing… to do with you. Do you understand?”
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Shen Zhiyi frowned.
She did not understand what Pei Huaijin meant. How could it have nothing to do with her?
“If…”
She lifted her eyes to meet his. Her heart trembled, but she clenched her palms and forced herself to speak.
“If the person in danger today had been Qin Yin, would Brother Huaijin have helped her in the same way?”
The moment the words left Shen Zhiyi’s lips, Pei Huaijin’s gaze darkened.
“Qin Yin will one day become the mistress of the Pei household. As for you, I regard you as a younger sister. Your father and brother are gone, so naturally I am looking after you in their place. I thought you understood that.”
His ink-black eyes fixed on her for a moment. His tone turned faintly cold, and it was impossible to tell whether he was speaking for Shen Zhiyi’s benefit or his own.
“As for the question you just asked, I do not wish to hear you mention it again.”
A cold wind swept back the carriage curtain. The bustle outside stood in stark contrast to the icy atmosphere within.
Shen Zhiyi lowered her lashes and blinked repeatedly, forcing back the tears surging in her eyes.
She did her best to ignore the sour ache churning in her heart and nodded obediently. Her throat was tight and raw, so constricted that she could not even produce a reply.
For a time, an eerie silence settled over the carriage.
The party later went to the largest restaurant in Yongzhou for lunch.
When they emerged, Shen Zhiyi saw that Pei Huaijin intended to keep walking and hurriedly tugged lightly at his sleeve.
Pei Huaijin halted and glanced down at the small hand clutching him.
“What is it?”
In a small voice, Shen Zhiyi said, “My lord, I… I would like to look over there.”
Following the direction of her finger, Pei Huaijin saw a jewelry shop. Besides ornaments, it also sold various items for women.
He paused.
“I’ll wait for you in the carriage.”
With that, he called to Su An, “Bring five hundred taels of silver and accompany Madam—”
“No need!”
Hearing that he intended to have Su An accompany her, Shen Zhiyi hastily refused.
“I’m only going to look around. I’ll be back shortly. There’s no need for anyone to accompany me.”
Pei Huaijin noticed her embarrassment. Then he looked again at the shop and immediately understood. He gave a slight nod.
“Very well. Be careful. I’ll wait for you ahead.”
Shen Zhiyi nodded. The moment Pei Huaijin had walked a short distance away, she slipped swiftly into the medical clinic next door to the jewelry shop.
It was the quiet lull in the afternoon, and the clinic was not busy. As soon as Shen Zhiyi entered, an attendant came forward to ask, “My lady, are you here for a consultation or to purchase medicine?”
Shen Zhiyi pressed her lips together and asked softly, “May I ask, does your clinic carry a medicine called dragon’s blood?”
The attendant stared blankly, then scratched his head.
“Dragon’s blood? I’ve never heard of it… But I can ask our proprietor. He has practiced medicine for decades and knows this trade inside and out.”
Shen Zhiyi had already lost hope at the attendant’s first words, but upon hearing that he could ask the proprietor, she hurriedly nodded.
“Then I’m afraid I must trouble you. Please hurry—I’m rather short on time.”
The attendant said nothing more and dashed upstairs.
Below, Shen Zhiyi could neither sit nor stand at ease. Every breath seemed to hang by a thread.
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After an unknown length of time, the attendant came back down, frowning.
“My lady, our proprietor says that in all his decades of practicing medicine, he has only heard of dragon’s blood and has never seen it. I’m afraid the whole city of Yongzhou may not have any. If you need it urgently, you should try looking elsewhere.”
Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyes and remained silent for a moment. Then she looked up and gave the attendant a radiant smile.
“I understand. Thank you.”
She had intended to leave him a string of coins, but the attendant waved his hands repeatedly, insisting that he had not helped her and refusing to accept anything. Shen Zhiyi finally let the matter go.
When she emerged from the clinic, Shen Zhiyi walked toward the carriage in a daze.
“Nothing you liked?”
Pei Huaijin raised a brow, seemingly surprised.
After all, whenever the former Eldest Miss Shen went shopping, no one would have found it strange if she bought out half a street’s worth of jewelry.
Only then did Shen Zhiyi realize that she had not bought anything.
A flicker of panic crossed her face. She avoided his eyes, answered vaguely, and forced a smile.
“N-no, I didn’t see anything I wanted.”
She turned to continue walking, but Pei Huaijin blocked her path in front of the carriage.
He was tall and broad-shouldered. At such close range, Shen Zhiyi had to tilt her head back as far as she could to see his face.
His lowered gaze was unfathomably deep as he stared fixedly at her expression for a long while, eventually settling on the faint redness at the corners of her eyes.
His brow tightened almost imperceptibly. His voice betrayed no emotion.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
Shen Zhiyi panicked at once, her eyes darting about.
“N-no…”
“What did you go to the clinic for?”
Pei Huaijin’s question struck her like a boulder suddenly rolling down a mountain, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
She dug her nails into her palm before she could steady her breathing.
She stared into his deep, dark eyes and remembered how he had shot down the arrow that had veered toward her, remembered the indulgent smile and raised brow he had given her. A voice inside her cried out wildly:
Tell him the truth!
She wanted so badly to trust him just once.
Shen Zhiyi clenched her hands and met Pei Huaijin’s eyes directly. As though she had finally made up her mind, she began, “The truth is, I…”
“My lord! A letter from the capital!”
Su An came running from the side, a pink letter in his raised hand.
Shen Zhiyi stopped speaking abruptly. Her gaze fell upon the pink letter, and in that single instant, the courage she had finally mustered collapsed with a crash.
She no longer wanted to say anything.
Pei Huaijin took the letter and unfolded it.
Shen Zhiyi noticed the barely perceptible smile curving his lips.
She silently lowered her eyes and stared at the tips of her shoes.
After reading the letter, Pei Huaijin folded it and slipped it into his sleeve. Only then did he seem to remember their interrupted conversation. He glanced at her and instructed, “If you feel unwell, remember to tell Su An and have him find a physician for you.”
Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyelids and gave a soft laugh, her tone obedient.
“I understand, my lord.”
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