Chapter 14#

Feng Bing slept in a heavy, groggy stupor. When he woke, his whole body still felt limp with fatigue, and he had no idea what time it was. He blinked dazedly for a while before slowly recalling the events of last night—Pei Dān had come to visit and was ambushed, Feng Cheng’s son had taken poison and killed himself, and he had slept through the night at Pei Dān’s bedside. He was still lying near the very edge of the bed now; one slight roll and he’d fall right off.

But the person on the inner side of the bed was already gone. All the quilts had been gathered to his side, as though to build a brocade fortress around him.

He raised his sleeve to cover his face, sat in silence for a moment, then called out: “Chunshi!”

His voice came out and he discovered it was hoarse.

Chunshi entered at the sound. “Young Master is awake? Shall I help you up to wash?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s nearly the hour of Si.” Chunshi started. “Young Master, what’s wrong with your voice? Wait a moment—let me pour you some tea.”

Chunshi lifted the gauze curtain and helped prop Feng Bing up, pouring a cup of hot tea down his throat. He steadied his breathing but suddenly started coughing. Chunshi hurried to fetch a handkerchief; Feng Bing pressed it to his mouth, coughing muffled and deep for a long while before finally managing to say in a hoarse voice: “When did Pei Dān leave?”

“Chancellor Pei left before dawn.”

Feng Bing pulled the brocade quilt aside a little and absentmindedly felt the bedding. It was truly cold. The winter air showed no gentleness whatsoever, making him hiss immediately.

Watching Pei Dān’s shameless behavior last night, he had expected the man would linger until daybreak.

Chunshi said: “I brought water for you to wash up—oh, you mustn’t exert yourself. You’ve definitely caught a chill!”

Chunshi bustled about, attending to Feng Bing through his washing and breakfast, and then bringing him his medicine. Feng Bing’s knees were bad, so Chunshi had even specially invited a physician to give him acupuncture to invigorate his blood.

He went along with everything Chunshi arranged, remarkably obedient. While the physician inserted the needles, he idly flipped through a book of herbal medicine. Reading along, he suddenly went, “Huh?”

The physician looked up. “Is something uncomfortable, Young Master?”

Feng Bing hastily shut the book, his gaze flustered. “No, no—the physician’s needlework is very steady. I already feel my meridians are much more open.”

After the acupuncture, the physician gave Chunshi a few instructions. Feng Bing listened with distracted inattention on the side, then abruptly reopened the herbal medicine book and turned to the page from before.

Slender green leaves, tender white flowers—a single graceful branch swaying.

“Andrographis paniculata, also known as Yījiànxǐ—‘Joy at First Sight.’”

Feng Bing rested until after noon, when Chen Qiu came knocking. He awkwardly presented some precious medicines, along with warming felt rugs, fur garments, incense, and the like. Feng Bing accepted only a few medicines and politely declined the rest. He then asked Chunshi to set out a soft stool outside the curtain and invited Chen Qiu to sit and talk.

Though Chen Qiu was a rough sort, he excelled at reading people, choosing only the words Feng Bing wanted to hear, and the atmosphere was harmonious for a while. When Chunshi finished brewing the medicine, he proactively took the bowl and spoonful by spoonful, blowing it cool for Feng Bing.

Feng Bing was rather embarrassed. “I can manage on my own.”

Chen Qiu wouldn’t hear of it. “You’re the patient—you absolutely mustn’t exert yourself. The past two days, with everyone watching, I truly had no way to help you. I already felt terribly guilty. Please don’t refuse now.”

Saying this, he held out the spoon, and Feng Bing had no choice but to take small, reluctant sips from it. Seeing Feng Bing’s pale face and the dark circles under his eyes, Chen Qiu couldn’t help asking: “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Feng Bing was startled, but seeing Chen Qiu’s easy, natural manner, he realized he himself was the startled bird, and quietly lowered his eyes. “Thank you for your concern, Prefect Chen.”

“I haven’t much ability—I can only concern myself with you,” Chen Qiu said with a bitter smile. After finishing feeding the medicine, he took a damp cloth and wiped Feng Bing’s hands. Feng Bing felt he couldn’t quite bear so much attention and hurriedly called for Chunshi to bring out the best tea leaves.

“Ah, I heard that after Feng Cheng was thrown in prison, he confessed very quickly. It turns out the Shu brocade he’d brought had already been stolen on its way to the capital. To drag someone down with him, he racked his brain and only with great effort managed to pin it on you…” Chen Qiu watched Feng Bing’s expression; seeing that the latter showed no displeasure, he continued. “But His Majesty decreed that those coerced into following shall not be punished. After Feng Cheng confessed, everyone else was released yesterday.”

Feng Bing silently sipped his medicine, unable even to distinguish the bitterness. He had guessed as much yesterday—Feng Cheng’s son had endured unimaginable torture in the inner prison, and upon release had come seeking revenge. And he… he had merely been lucky. That day, by pure coincidence, Pei Dān had been by his side.

“—Everyone in the city says His Majesty is fair and impartial, and I believe it’s true. Your… your past—His Majesty seems not to hold it against you at all. That’s fortunate.”

What would Second Brother have to hold against him? The whole world was already in his palm. If he wanted to punish someone, a single word could make him kneel in the snow for two days and two nights—how imposing. Feng Bing looked at Chen Qiu, his tone cool. “His Majesty is simply wary of Chancellor Pei.”

Chen Qiu was stunned. He had gone to great lengths to steer the conversation away from Pei Dān, never expecting Feng Bing to bring him up himself. Before Feng Bing could say more, Chunshi suddenly came to announce: “Young Master, Chancellor Pei has sent someone to see you.”

Behind Chunshi stood Uncle Wu, bowing together with a young pageboy, each carrying unremarkable parcels of various sizes. Feng Bing acknowledged them with a single word: “Please come in.” Chunshi ushered them inside. Uncle Wu set the parcels down one by one, and seeing the table already covered with Chen Qiu’s gifts, he couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback.

Feng Bing teased with a smile: “What are you all up to? I’m not dead yet.”

Chen Qiu hastily covered his mouth. “What kind of talk is that!”

Watching the two of them banter, Uncle Wu paid it no mind and simply bowed. “Greetings to Young Master Li and Prefect Chen. This humble one is under Chancellor Pei’s orders, to deliver to you two taels of wild mountain ginseng, one tael of cordyceps, three boxes of Life-Sustaining Pills, five varieties of incense, two fur garments, one roll of wool carpet, half a catty of silver charcoal…”

Chen Qiu’s face grew darker the more he listened. Almost every item Pei Dān was sending was the same category as what he had brought. But Pei Dān was lavish—surely each and every one was finer and more expensive than his own. Then he heard Feng Bing say: “Why send all this? I don’t want them. Take them back.”

When Feng Bing had declined him earlier, he had gone through a long, roundabout speech of perfectly courteous words. But when declining Pei Dān, he simply set his face, curled his lip, let his gaze slide away, and delivered one utterly blunt sentence.

Uncle Wu bent his body even lower. “If Young Master doesn’t want them, that’s fine, but if I take them back, this old set of bones will surely be smashed to pieces by Chancellor Pei. Please, out of pity, just accept them.”

Feng Bing was silent for a long moment, then said something Chen Qiu didn’t understand: “Chancellor Pei still has the strength to beat people?”

Uncle Wu replied: “Chancellor Pei has the day off today—no official business. All his strength has been saved up.”

“I see.” Feng Bing rubbed the bridge of his brow wearily. “Go back then. Leave the things.”

After Uncle Wu left, Feng Bing had Chunshi close the door, ordered a fresh round of tea, and apologized to Chen Qiu.

“What are you saying? Pei Yunwang is, after all, the chief minister of the realm—most people wouldn’t dare offend him lightly.” Chen Qiu held his teacup, gazing at the water’s reflection within it. Then he smiled deeply at Feng Bing. “So it seems Young Master Li enjoys Chancellor Pei’s considerable care. I was far too brazen by comparison.”

Feng Bing didn’t know why Pei Dān had gone to such lengths. Perhaps rumors about the two of them had already spread through the capital, and His Majesty had grown suspicious, so Pei Dān simply decided to be even more open about it. But this was only his guess.

Giving gifts openly, not hiding from outsiders’ eyes, making such a grand show—seemingly an intentional display of intimacy, yet Feng Bing felt that in reality, Pei Dān was actually very far from him.

He had gotten lost in thought and hadn’t noticed Chen Qiu, who had been observing his expression the entire time. After a long while, Chen Qiu spoke carefully: “It seems, Young Master Li, there is something I don’t quite understand.—

“Why did you two originally divorce?”

The word “divorce” struck like a thunderclap, exploding suddenly beside Feng Bing’s ear. He snapped back to attention at once and raised his head.

Thank you all for your well-wishes—yesterday I was so happy!

I have a meeting tomorrow morning, and I’ve been rather busy lately, so I’ll be taking tomorrow off, yow yow. Since I have meetings every Friday, I think I’ll make Friday a rest day from now on… QAQ//// I updated anyway…