Chapter Ten

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At the Song family residence, Wen Tingyao wore a deeply troubled expression.

That morning, scarcely had she risen from bed when a messenger from the Chancellor’s residence arrived with word that Qi Yunmiao would be recuperating at home for the time being and would not be attending lessons at the academy for the next few days.

The letter had been written in Pei Xun’s voice. In other words, Pei Xun had most likely learned of everything that had happened at the Song residence the day before.

That was only natural. When Qi Yunmiao had left yesterday, her face had been covered in so many scratches. How could such a thing possibly have escaped Pei Xun’s notice?

Besides, Wen Tingyao had no idea what sort of person Shen Ruozhu truly was. Was she genuinely kind and easygoing, or merely amiable on the surface, while secretly being the sort who bore grudges and quibbled over every slight?

After turning the matter over in her mind throughout the entire morning, Wen Tingyao finally made up her mind. She would simply have Song Xiao skip school that day as well. After making the necessary arrangements, she would take him to the Chancellor’s residence and personally apologize.

After yesterday’s incident involving Song Xiao, she had sent Shen Ruozhu and her daughter off before ordering him to kneel in the ancestral hall for the entire day. When his father returned home that evening and learned what had happened, he had given Song Xiao a harsh beating across the palms.

His hands had been swollen and red, and he had cried himself to sleep the night before.

In any case, there was nothing Song Xiao could do at the academy besides sit through lessons. He might as well miss a day of class and go to the Chancellor’s residence to apologize. That was better than sitting around doing nothing.

Having reached that decision, Wen Tingyao no longer hesitated. She rose and hurried toward the academy, intending to drag Song Xiao out.

Yet before she had even left the courtyard, a young servant came to report, “Madam, Young Master Pei has brought Miss Pei to the academy today.”

Wen Tingyao halted. “What did you say?”

The servant repeated himself.

Before he could finish, Wen Tingyao hurriedly said, “Where are they now? Take me to them at once!”

—

Qi Yunmiao walked behind Pei Ze as they made their way toward the Song family academy.

There was no need to pass through the main hall to reach the academy, so she had not encountered the lady or master of the household.

The academy was already just ahead. Qi Yunmiao debated the matter several times in her heart, yet still wanted to tell Pei Ze that he need not escort her inside.

She did not know what Pei Ze intended to do after delivering her to the academy, but her instincts told her it would not be anything good.

“Elder Brother…”

“Jingxuan! Yunmiao!”

Qi Yunmiao was just about to speak when her voice was abruptly interrupted.

She and Pei Ze turned around together and saw the wife of the Song family, Wen Tingyao, hurrying over from the front hall.

“Yunmiao…” Wen Tingyao seized Qi Yunmiao’s hand, her face alight with delight. “You came to school today?”

Qi Yunmiao lifted her still-injured face and nodded.

Wen Tingyao tenderly stroked her cheek.

For a young girl, her face was of the utmost importance. Yet after the commotion Song Xiao had caused the previous day, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Qi Yunmiao’s appearance had been marred.

Wen Tingyao drew her into her arms and hugged her tightly. Only after letting go did she turn to Pei Ze and say, “Jingxuan came as well. Did he bring Yunmiao here especially for school?”

“Yes.”

Pei Ze saluted Wen Tingyao.

Although Song Xiao had undeniably been in the wrong, Pei Ze had always been exceptionally clear about love and hatred. Since his mother’s death, Wen Tingyao had treated him generously, often looking after him in the capacity of an aunt. Thus, he would not conflate her with Song Xiao’s misdeeds.

Seeing Pei Ze’s attitude, Wen Tingyao smiled.

“It is a good thing that you siblings are close. But was he not supposed to return to the Imperial Academy today? Zhaolin came home last night and left early this morning with his father.”

“He can return to the Imperial Academy a little later. Father originally wanted her to rest at home for a few days, but she insisted on coming to school, so I brought her here.” Pei Ze glanced at Qi Yunmiao.

The smile on Wen Tingyao’s face stiffened slightly. Following Pei Ze’s gaze, she lowered her head to look at Qi Yunmiao.

So she had been the one who wanted to come to school.

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It had been her after all.

“Yunmiao…” Wen Tingyao once again gently cupped Qi Yunmiao’s face. Her voice was filled with gratitude and pity. “Let Auntie have another look at your face. What happened yesterday was entirely Song Xiao’s fault. Auntie has already punished him severely…”

Qi Yunmiao gazed at Madam Song with bright, darting eyes.

She had slept through the entire day yesterday, and by the time she awoke that morning, she had nearly forgotten most of what had happened.

But she was not entirely without a memory for grudges. On the contrary, there were times when Qi Yunmiao could hold one with remarkable tenacity. As for Song Xiao, she still disliked him intensely.

She did not dislike Madam Song, however.

Madam Song was gentle and had never mistreated her. Brother Song Su and Song Qingyu were also Madam Song’s children, and she had raised them both well. Song Xiao’s shortcomings belonged to him alone.

Seeing how distressed Madam Song looked, Qi Yunmiao shook her head.

“Auntie, I’m fine now. You don’t need to worry.”

She had meant it kindly.

But Qi Yunmiao did not know that the more sensible she appeared, the more Wen Tingyao would feel consumed by guilt, convinced that she had wronged the girl.

“Then when school lets out today, tell Auntie when you are going home. I will accompany you. All right?” Wen Tingyao asked.

“Hmm…”

Qi Yunmiao glanced at Pei Ze.

Madam Song wanted to accompany her home. Presumably, she intended to apologize there, but Qi Yunmiao truly did not think such an apology was necessary.

Pei Ze received her look and said unhurriedly, “It was not Auntie who did anything wrong. She need not go so far.”

This, Wen Tingyao knew, was precisely why he had personally escorted Qi Yunmiao there that day.

Ultimately, Qi Yunmiao was merely a young girl from the countryside, not the Chancellor’s biological daughter. Those who looked down on her would likely not offer her even the slightest courtesy, and her words would carry no weight at all.

Pei Ze, however, was different.

He was Pei Xun’s own son and had grown up beneath the watchful eyes of the capital’s highest-ranking officials. In the entire capital, how many people would dare disregard Pei Ze’s words? How many would fail to take them seriously?

“Bring Song Xiao with you!” Wen Tingyao immediately added. “I will bring Song Xiao as well. Miao-miao, let Auntie accompany you home, all right?”

“Hmm…”

This time, Qi Yunmiao did not look at Pei Ze again.

She felt that Song Xiao did indeed need to apologize to her.

Thus, she made the decision herself and nodded.

At last, Wen Tingyao smiled in relief.

Taking Qi Yunmiao’s hand, she said to Pei Ze, “Since you have already brought her this far, there are only two more steps to go. I will escort Miao-miao into the academy. You still need to return to the Imperial Academy, Jingxuan, so hurry along. Do not let your lessons suffer.”

Pei Ze glanced at Qi Yunmiao.

She truly was a girl with a mind of her own.

He had come to understand that completely.

Still, it was a good thing. Only someone who knew what she wanted would not easily be deceived in the future.

“Then I shall trouble you, Auntie.”

Seeing that Qi Yunmiao no longer seemed troubled, Pei Ze nodded. After bidding Wen Tingyao farewell, he turned and made his way back along the path he had taken.

His back was straight and his features refined. Step by step, he walked along the Song family’s flagstone path. A light breeze brushed past, leaving only the rustling of leaves on either side to fill his ears.

Wen Tingyao held Qi Yunmiao’s hand as they watched Pei Ze together.

Only after his figure had disappeared around the corner by the wall did they turn back and continue toward the academy.

—

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That day, both Song Xiao and Qi Yunmiao had injuries on their faces—one with scratches across his cheek, the other with a large bruise. The two of them looked equally wretched.

The matter of their injuries soon stirred up a small wave of discussion in the academy.

Some asked Qi Yunmiao whether she had gotten into a fight with Song Xiao.

Others asked Song Xiao whether he had gotten into a fight with Qi Yunmiao.

But both of them denied it flatly.

Song Xiao did so because he was too ashamed to admit the truth. Qi Yunmiao, meanwhile, did not want the matter concerning her mother and father to become the subject of gossip once again.

Although neither she nor her mother had done anything wrong, she simply disliked being talked about in that way.

As the only other person who knew the truth, Song Qingyu did not dare spread the matter any further. The three of them silently guarded the secret, as though they were protecting some momentous affair.

By afternoon, when classes ended, Song Xiao was to ride in a carriage with Qi Yunmiao, one following the other, to the Chancellor’s residence.

Song Xiao was extremely unwilling. He knew perfectly well why his mother was taking him there: to apologize to Qi Yunmiao.

But Song Xiao did not believe he had done anything wrong.

Was Qi Yunmiao and her mother not able to come to the capital and move into the Chancellor’s residence only because her father had died?

If her father had not died, she would still be a wild village girl. How could she possibly have been worthy of studying in the same academy as him?

She climbed trees and got into fights, without the slightest trace of a proper lady’s bearing.

His elder brother had returned home the day before and even said that Qi Yunmiao knew how to shoot a bow. The last time she had practiced archery at the Imperial Academy, she had struck the bull’s-eye with a single arrow and astonished everyone present.

That barbaric little wretch!

When he unwillingly arrived at the Chancellor’s residence, Song Xiao wore an awkward, sullen expression.

Qi Yunmiao walked at the front. Seeing Shen Ruozhu seated in the main hall, she called out from a distance, “Mother, Auntie Song has come!”

Hearing this, Shen Ruozhu set down her teacup and hurried out to receive them.

They had only met the day before, yet when they met again today, their states of mind were entirely different.

Shen Ruozhu and Wen Tingyao exchanged greetings, then invited her and Song Xiao into the main hall to sit.

Wen Tingyao followed her inside, thinking that the moment they entered the hall, she would have Song Xiao apologize to Qi Yunmiao.

Unexpectedly, it was only after entering that she discovered someone else was seated in the Pei family’s main hall.

It was a young woman dressed in a dark blue martial outfit. She wore not a single ornament from head to toe. Her hair was tied high in a neat ponytail, her brows and eyes clear and brisk, her movements concise and practiced. She plainly was not a girl from an ordinary household, but someone trained in martial arts.

Wen Tingyao said, “I did not know you had a guest. Have we come at an inconvenient time?”

“Not at all,” Shen Ruozhu replied. “She is the martial arts instructor I have newly hired for Miao-miao. Since Miao-miao is attending her elder sister’s academy, it happens that you have come at just the right time. You may stay and have a look.”

“A martial arts instructor?”

Two voices rang out simultaneously from the hall.

One came from Wen Tingyao, filled with astonishment.

The other came from Qi Yunmiao, who was far from delighted.

Standing behind his mother, Song Xiao felt as though he were about to faint.

Qi Yunmiao was already so good at fighting, and her family was actually going to find her a martial arts instructor as well?

Once she finished learning martial arts, if he ever fought with her again, would he not be reduced to doing nothing but getting pinned down and beaten?

His vision went black. He felt that he could no longer see any future for himself.