Chapter 53 (1/2)

Chapter Fifty-Three

At home Pei Jin reflected about Wang Fu Mu’s note.

Yan Shi Ning felt Pei Jin toss and turn on the bed.

‘Pei Jin, are you a cong you bing?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Yan Shi Ning kicked Pei Jin who was crawling under her inner robe.

‘Shi Ning, your temper is worse by the day,’ Pei Jin teased.

Yan Shi Ning didn’t want to admit Pei Jin was right about her temper.

‘What are you going to do if you can’t tolerate my temper?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘Of course I can tolerate your temper,’ Pei Jin said.

Pei Jin knew if he teased Yan Shi Ning too much then she would kick him outside their chamber.

Yan Shi Ning knew Pei Jin was troubled about something otherwise he wouldn’t have trouble sleeping. ‘Pei Jin, what’s wrong? Did something happen in the palace?’

‘Shi Ning, what do you think about tenth brother?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘He’s soft, calm and beautiful,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘At a glance he looks like someone harmless.’

‘What if my harmless tenth brother wants to harm me?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘What?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Pei Jin explained to Yan Shi Ning about Wang Fu Mu’s note.

‘We didn’t leave a trace at the harvest festival,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘How did the crown prince know we were involved?’

‘I don’t know why he knows but he wouldn’t want to warn imperial father unless he has evidence,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning thought perhaps it was her fault that the crown prince found evidence. She slowly recalled everything that happened at the Yan Manor and she suspected the crown prince was involved in Yan Shi Ting’s death.

‘Pei Jin, do you remember I told you Yan Shi Ting’s death was suspicious?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

Pei Jin nodded his head. He remembered Yan Shi Ning wasn’t certain if someone pushed Yan Shi Ting into the well or Yan Shi Ting accidently fell into the well.

‘Shi Ning are you saying that tenth brother killed Yan Shi Ting?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘That day Yan Shi Ting scared me and I left her in the gardens,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘A while later her body was found in the well. I remember in the gardens there’s a sculpture. Perhaps the crown prince was hiding behind it that day, overheard what I said to Yan Shi Ting and that’s how he knows we were involved in the wedding incident.’

‘Shi Ning if your speculations are true then why would tenth brother kill Yan Shi Ting?’ Pei Jin asked.

Yan Shi Ning couldn’t believe someone who looked harmless like the crown prince would push Yan Shi Ting into the well. ‘Pei Jin, perhaps my speculations are wrong and the crown prince didn’t kill Yan Shi Ting.’

Pei Jin knew Yan Shi Ning was frightened that a harmless Pei Lam was capable of heartlessly killing Yan Shi Ting. ‘Shi Ning, I didn’t want to go see tenth brother but now I need to go see him.’

Yan Shi Ning heard the sadness in Pei Jin’s tone. After Bei Dou captured the crown prince, Bei Dou locked the crown prince in a secure place. But Pei Jin never visited the crown prince and she thought perhaps Pei Jin wanted to maintain the small brotherly bond between them.

‘In the past I was reluctant to let Bei Dou deal with the crown prince,’ Pei Jin said. ‘But now I know I was naive. If imperial father found out the truth then three years of firewood collected would be burned within a shichen hour.’

Yan Shi Ning was scared Pei Jin’s fear was true and the emperor would kill Pei Jin if the emperor found out the truth.

‘Pei Jin, why does the emperor hate you?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘I thought about why for many years,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I even suspected I wasn’t imperial father’s blood son.’

‘Pei Jin, you know that’s not true,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘If you’re not the emperor’s blood son then you wouldn’t be alive now.’

‘That’s why at the right opportunity I need to ask my imperial father why he hates me,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning’s heart ached for Pei Jin because it was something that troubled his heart for years.

‘Pei Jin, there’s something else,’ Yan Shi Ning said.

‘What?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Why would Wang Fu Mu who is the closest person to the emperor pass a note to you?’ Yan Shi Ning asked suspiciously.

Pei Jin hesitated to answer.

‘Last time you promised you wouldn’t hide anything else from me!’ Yan Shi Ning said.

‘Shi Ning… you didn’t ask me about this so I didn’t lie to you,’ Pei Jin said. ‘Shi Ning… I’ll tell you another secret I haven’t told anyone else before.’

Yan Shi Ning silently listened to Pei Jin talk about Wang Fu Mu.