Chapter Twenty-Seven: Coveting Another Man’s Wife

—

Pei Zhouwu took the firefly-carved wooden hairpin and clenched it tightly in his palm.

“I didn’t expect it to be you. But if it’s you…”

He paused, the pallor of his face stretching into a cryptic smile.

“If it’s me, then what?” Shen Xiunian asked.

Pei Zhouwu turned his eyes toward the door and asked lightly, “How’s the investigation going?”

Shen Xiunian’s eyelid twitched. Pei Zhouwu was sharp—just by seeing who had come, he had already grasped the essence of the matter.

Shen Xiunian raised the incense stick in his hand and spoke calmly.

“This shouldn’t be yours, should it?”

Pei Zhouwu turned slightly and glanced at it without replying.

The answer was obvious—he’d been imprisoned here this whole time. Where would he have gotten such a thing?

“I suspect the guards outside don’t even know about the incense,” Shen Xiunian continued, already forming a clear theory. “Otherwise, they would’ve cleaned it up long ago. No way they’d leave it lying around for someone to find.”

“Most likely…” He watched Pei Zhouwu’s face closely as he spoke.

“Most likely the one who used the incense is already dead—so they couldn’t cover it up.”

With that, the situation became much clearer.

The person who drugged Pei Zhouwu was likely the guard captain who died last night. What remained uncertain was whether the act had been his own idea—or if someone else had orchestrated it from behind the scenes.

It looked simple, but in truth, nothing about it was.

Pei Zhouwu’s expression remained cold and unchanged throughout Shen Xiunian’s words. Only the wooden hairpin in his hand was gripped tighter and tighter.

The two of them harbored their own thoughts—an intriguing contrast.

One suspected the other of having an affair with his wife.

The other could only think of that same wife with longing.

If the woman they were both thinking of knew the situation, who knows how much she’d laugh.

Pei Zhouwu wasn’t really listening to Shen Xiunian. He didn’t much care about the result of today’s investigation. What he did know was that the people sent to Xiangshan weren’t death row guards come to execute him. That had to be thanks to Su Yueying.

She had promised she would help him when she left.

She was so daring.

Even the slightest mistake, and she’d have been beheaded. And yet… she still did it.

How could she… how could she go so far for him?

Su Yueying.

What a fool…

She was already walking a tightrope just being in the Prince Qi’s residence.

Just then, one of Shen Xiunian’s men entered and reported, “General, the guards have been interrogated. That captain who died last night had only just assumed his position. He clashed with the Imperial Uncle earlier that day, was defeated, and swore to take revenge. He went in alone at night while the others slept, attacked the Imperial Uncle, and the noise only alerted the rest of the soldiers.”

“I see.”

So Shen Xiunian’s suspicions were correct.

After the soldier left, he turned back to Pei Zhouwu. “I’ll report everything truthfully to His Majesty.”

A moment later, Pei Zhouwu responded lowly, “Then I’ll trouble the General.”

He didn’t seem very hopeful about clearing his name.

In his heart, only one thing mattered—Su Yueying’s safety.

Shen Xiunian opened his mouth to say something more, but in the end, he closed it again. His gaze fell once more on the wooden hairpin in Pei Zhouwu’s hand, a pang of sympathy stirring in him.

He thought of how he himself clutched a memorial tablet to sleep every night. Was it really any different?

But some things were better left unsaid. Too much sentiment could feel presumptuous between distant acquaintances.

After a long pause, he simply said, “Take care,” and turned to leave.

He stood in the courtyard for a while before his attention was drawn to a pool behind the room. Without realizing, he walked toward it.

The surface of the water was calm, steaming under the afternoon sun.

Looking at his reflection, Shen Xiunian suddenly thought of Liu Fuying. For a moment, the reflection seemed to transform into her face. Staring at it, it felt as if she might emerge from the water at any second.

The pond was silent, but his heart rippled violently.

He shook his head. Why was he thinking of Liu Fuying here?

As if she had once stood at this very pool.

Ridiculous. The mountain was heavily guarded—how could Liu Fuying possibly get in?

With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.

•  

Liu Fuying woke from her afternoon nap, startled by the slanted golden light outside—she’d slept until sunset.

There was a knock at the door. Jinli entered shortly after.

“Madam, guess what I just heard?” Jinli’s anxious expression showed she had big news.

Liu Fuying brushed her hair off her chest, her heart immediately going to Pei Zhouwu.

“Something bad from Xiangshan?”

“Yes and no. Madam, do you know who was sent to Xiangshan on imperial orders?”

“Who?” Liu Fuying asked, growing nervous.

“Our general—General Shen!”

“…”

Liu Fuying’s breath paused. Even her eyelids forgot to blink.

But soon, she broke into laughter.

“Madam?”

“How amusing. How very amusing,” Liu Fuying said, her smile widening. She grabbed Jinli’s hand, eager for confirmation. “Just now, I asked you if the news from Xiangshan was bad. You said yes and no. That means—the bad news is that it was Shen Xiunian, but the good news is Pei Zhouwu is safe, isn’t it?”

Jinli was a little unnerved by Liu Fuying’s bright grin.

“Yes, that’s right. It seems our general found out that the dead guard had tried to take revenge on Lord Pei. He drugged him with incense and injured him badly, but Lord Pei killed him in self-defense—it wasn’t an escape attempt.”

Liu Fuying laughed aloud again.

“Madam, please stop laughing. It’s scary.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Isn’t it hilarious? My husband just personally rescued the lover I’m cheating on him with. How poetic is that?”

“…The more you say, the scarier it sounds, Madam. What if you get exposed?”

“Exposed? He’s the one who told me to go find another man, remember?”

“Madam…”

“Enough of that. Did you prepare the things I asked you to buy?”

Jinli placed the bundle in her hands—it was filled with medicine for Pei Zhouwu’s injuries.

“The carriage is ready too. As you instructed, there’s no driver this time. But I don’t know how to drive, and those mountain roads are so treacherous—I’m scared.”

Liu Fuying was preparing to leave the city again—and wouldn’t be coming back tonight.

This time, it wasn’t for prayer. She had a personal mission. So, no grand displays.

“For the sake of comfort in the future,” she said, “we’ll endure a little hardship now.”

She veiled her face and departed. Her long black hair trailed behind her graceful silhouette. Anyone who saw her would only assume she was a visiting woman from out of town, perhaps in the capital searching for family.