After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 4

The sunlight shifted slowly along the corridor, pushing Xie Yunqing’s shadow from the north to the east, stretching it from short to long. Looking down, he realized his shadow was about to dissolve into the deepening twilight. Only then did it dawn on him—he had been standing outside this side room for half the day.

Xie Yunqing gazed out beyond the corridor. In the early spring evening, a mountain mist rose like a tide, acting as a white veil that was about to shroud this quiet courtyard, isolating it from the outside world.

It was time to go. The noble would not be coming today.

On the way back, likely because the sky was growing darker, Xie Yunqing’s vision became increasingly blurred. Consequently, at a certain turn, he failed to notice a person suddenly darting out.

He collided straight into them.

“Ouch—!” the person cried out with great exaggeration. He quickly steadied Xie Yunqing’s swaying body and asked urgently, “I didn’t break you, did I?”

Xie Yunqing felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, but instinctively replied, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Upon hearing his answer, the person visibly breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew his hands, and moved to leave. However, after taking only two steps, he inexplicably turned back. He raised his lantern, seemingly to illuminate Xie Yunqing, but also perhaps to show himself. “I am Pei Xuan. If anything happens later, you can find me. I have business today, so I’ll be going now.”

This time, having said his piece, he truly didn’t look back and hurried away like a puff of smoke.

Xie Yunqing stood dazed for a good while before realizing that the person he had just bumped into was actually Pei Xuan. He felt a sense of surreality. Perhaps it was because Pei Xuan was the younger brother of Chancellor Pei—the man his roommates mentioned this morning, whom even the Yu clan of Yingchuan dared not cross.

Encountering Pei Xuan so abruptly left Xie Yunqing feeling a bit lightheaded. However, before today, it wasn’t as if he had never seen Pei Xuan. At the very least, on his first day of enrollment last autumn, he had come face-to-face with him.

At that time, Xie Yunqing didn’t know Pei Xuan’s identity. Having just arrived in the capital, he had stood outside the simple and solemn stone gates of the Academy, squeezed into the bustling crowd, feeling utterly helpless. He had frozen in place, his eyes cautiously observing his surroundings. Because he kept his head down nearly the entire time and the exterior was so lively, no one noticed him.

Just as he was starting to feel at ease, he suddenly tensed up again. A handsome, tall student in brocade robes walked toward him with a radiant smile under the sun. Xie Yunqing had nearly wanted to run away. Fortunately, the student merely passed by him to speak with a tall, thin scholar; the two then burst into laughter and ran through the inner gates together.

Xie Yunqing had watched them for a long time. Perhaps because he had spent so many years hiding in dark corners, he occasionally felt a faint—almost imperceptible—envy for someone like Pei Xuan, who seemed to carry a natural, dazzling radiance.

Later, because they belonged to the same academy, they would occasionally cross paths. Without exception, whenever Pei Xuan appeared, he was smiling, as if he had never known a single worry in his life.

The “never worried” Pei Xuan was currently very worried.

The cause dated back to the end of last year. At that time, all officials were required to have an audience with the Chancellor. When Officer Zhu of the Academy met with his brother, aside from reporting on his duties, he also took the opportunity to file a complaint against Pei Xuan. He claimed that since enrollment, Pei Xuan hadn’t studied properly and spent every day idling about. His poetry and essays were a mess; he had practically branded the words “ignorant and incompetent” onto his own forehead.

Furthermore, that old man Zhu didn’t care about the setting. Rumor had it that he scolded Pei Xuan with spittle flying in front of a group of high-ranking officials.

When Pei Xuan received this news, it was like being struck by lightning on a sunny day. Before his brother even returned, he rushed to the small garden, snapped off several tree branches, tied them to his back, and went to his brother to “proffer a switch and ask for punishment.”

Upon seeing him, his brother showed no particular reaction. He looked the same as always looking up, down, left, or right, he resembled a block of ice that wouldn’t melt for any person or matter. But Pei Xuan was plagued by a guilty conscience. He insisted on seeing a sliver of dissatisfaction in his brother’s unchanging eyes, so he hurried forward, hugged his brother’s leg, and cried and shouted a promise that he would “turn over a new leaf and study hard” in the new year.

Once the act was over, his brother still gave no response. However, Pei Xuan felt comforted, believing his brother’s silence meant forgiveness. He then went off to celebrate the New Year happily.

After the New Year, his brother went to Wu County. This made Pei Xuan feel even more comfortable. In the words of his friend Cui Ji, “When the tiger is away, the monkey is king.” No one in the capital could restrain him now. As for the promise to “turn over a new leaf,” it had long been tossed into some nameless ravine.

At the beginning of the term, to prevent anyone else from complaining to his brother, Pei Xuan at least made an effort to maintain appearances. He went to lectures on time, did his own coursework, and even stayed in the Academy during his days off to pretend he was studying. But the act didn’t last long. Once he heard his brother would be in Wu County for a long period, Pei Xuan slackened completely. He returned to his old ways of idling about and was the first to run out on holidays and the last to return.

Alas, such happy days eventually come to an end.

Today, after returning to the Academy from a day of play, Pei Xuan nearly fell to his knees—he saw his brother’s attendant standing outside his dormitory with a smile, telling him that the Dowager missed him and requested he return home immediately.

Pei Xuan tried to struggle, asking cautiously if it was really just his grandmother who missed him. The attendant didn’t confirm or deny, merely repeating the request. Pei Xuan closed his eyes. This meant his brother was back and was ready to settle the score.

Carrying the despair of someone who might not see tomorrow’s sun, Pei Xuan floated toward the Academy gates like a ghost after the attendant left. On the way, he bumped into a “jade person” who was as thin as a sheet of paper. Fortunately, though the youth looked like the collision hurt, he didn’t break; instead, he gently said he was fine. This lightened Pei Xuan’s guilt, but he soon returned to plotting how to survive his brother’s wrath.

Returning to the Pei Residence by carriage, Pei Xuan plucked up the courage to ask the attendant where his brother was acting like a piece of meat on a cutting board asking where the knife was. To his surprise, despite his bravery, the attendant wouldn’t give him a quick death, telling him only to see his grandmother first.

Left with no choice, the “meat” had to go put on an act for his grandmother.

The moment he stepped into her room, a familiar scent of sandalwood hit his nose. Pei Xuan couldn’t help but sneeze. Even though he had grown up with this scent, he found it hard to adapt to such a heavy concentration his grandmother spent nearly every waking hour burning incense and praying before a Buddha statue.

Whom she was praying for day and night, he wasn’t entirely sure. His grandmother was unwilling to tell him much.

Standing there, Pei Xuan saw the maids clearing away bowls and plates, and he knew what topic his grandmother was about to broach. In recent years, besides praying, her daily routine involved grabbing whoever was nearby to nag about his brother’s marriage prospects.

This time was no different. Although his grandmother showed a perfunctory flicker of joy upon seeing him, she soon pivoted to the main event. She grabbed his hand and sighed. “Your elder brother is good at everything and needs no one to worry about him, except for one thing his temperament is too cold. He barely speaks a few words to anyone, and I’ve never seen him care for anyone. He’s nearly thirty now and still has no one by his side to care for him. What is to be done?”

Pei Xuan intended to give his usual vague responses to get through the lecture. But just as he moved his lips, a maid passed by, and the flickering light caused him to daze for a second. When he looked at his grandmother again, the deep wrinkles formed by her furrowed brows struck him directly.

Pei Xuan suddenly went silent. His eyes shifted and caught the thinning white hair at her temples, which could no longer hold hair ornaments. He felt a trace of bitterness under his tongue. His grandmother was over sixty. At this advanced age, she was still worrying for the children of the house.

For once, Pei Xuan began to seriously consider how to solve his brother’s marriage dilemma. But after thinking for a long time, he couldn’t imagine what kind of “master” could melt the eternal ice of his brother’s heart. Could it be the reincarnation of celestial fire?

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but burst into a snigger. This earned him his grandmother’s dissatisfaction; she claimed seeing his “grinning face” made her irritated and told him to leave her sight. Pei Xuan obeyed. But before leaving, he suddenly leaned down and gave his grandmother a hug.

“Grandmother, you must rest well. I’ll come to see you during my next break.”

Leaving his grandmother’s courtyard, he found his brother’s attendant waiting for him. On the way to the study, Pei Xuan still hadn’t given up on gathering information; if he was to die, he wanted to die with a clear mind.

He carefully worded his question: “When did my brother return?”

“Yesterday,” the attendant replied.

Pei Xuan nodded and pressed on, “After he returned, where did he go and whom did he see?” This was a blatant inquiry into whether anyone had snitched on him.

Perhaps seeing how pitiable he looked, the attendant revealed a bit: “After the eldest master returned, he did indeed make a trip to the Academy.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Xuan wanted to turn and bolt. But they had already reached the study there was no escape. He accepted his fate. Before entering, he looked around for anything to use for a “punishment” act, but finding nothing, he steeled himself and pushed the door open.

The study was brightly lit. Pei Xuan saw his brother sitting upright at the desk, leafing through some essays. His brother ignored him. While his brother was usually indifferent, regardless of the mistake, he had never before refused to even give him a glance. This made Pei Xuan feel a strange sense of grievance alongside his fear.

Daring not to disturb him, he shuffled bit by bit until he reached his brother’s side. He then pretended to casually peek at what his brother was holding. It looked like a policy essay from an Academy student. He couldn’t see the content, but he saw the name at the top clearly Xie Yunqing.

For some reason, Pei Xuan felt the name was very familiar—specifically, a familiarity of someone he had contacted within the last two days. But I’ve been playing outside the Academy these past two days?

Suddenly—Pei Xuan remembered. This Xie Yunqing seemed to be the “jade-like person” he had bumped into on his way out today.

Actually, Pei Xuan had heard the name Xie Yunqing long ago. He had heard the gossip regarding his looks, personality, background, and studies. But since he didn’t care about anything at the Academy, it usually went in one ear and out the other. He had never even been able to match the name to a face.

If he hadn’t bumped into him today, he might never have remembered who Xie Yunqing was even if the name was shoved in front of his eyes.

Suddenly, everything clicked. Pei Xuan felt his brain was terrifyingly sharp right now. An essay that his brother would bring home to read in his study must be the best essay in the Academy. Therefore, it could be deduced that Xie Yunqing himself had earned the recognition of the Academy’s old masters.

He could go a step further: this Xie Yunqing would likely earn his brother’s approval as well after all, the original intent of his brother’s reforms was to select students of ordinary backgrounds but excellent academic performance.

Pei Xuan felt he was terrifyingly brilliant at this moment. If he told his brother that he and Xie Yunqing were actually friends, his brother would surely think he had the potential to be “influenced by good company.” That way, his brother might stop holding his “ignorance” against him.

Steling his courage, Pei Xuan cleared his throat. He first put on a small, faked act of surprise: “Ah, Brother, why are you reading Yunqing’s essay?”

After successfully getting a sliver of his brother’s attention, he pretended to be confused: “Brother, didn’t you know? Yunqing is my friend at the Academy.”

He expected his brother to behave as he had in the past as long as he provided a slight excuse, his brother would let him off easy. Pei Xuan was already thinking about what to have for a midnight snack.

However, this time, his brother did not take him at his word. Instead, in a cold voice, he asked:

“Is that so?”