Read Novel Full CHAPTER 62 PART2
CHAPTER 62 PART2
These past days, whenever she went to pay her respects, the elders either ignored her entirely or refused to see her.
It had not been like this before.
Madam She let out a quiet sigh in her heart.
When she arrived at the main courtyard, sure enough, a maid stopped her at the veranda. “Madam, please wait here. I’ll go inform Old Master and Old Madam at once.”
So She had no choice but to remain under the eaves. Restless, she had the urge to pace, but feared Zhu momo would scold her for being undignified. She couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “Momo, I don’t think Mother-in-law intends to see me.”
Zhu momo smiled faintly. “From what this servant can see, Madam Yin is a kind and gracious woman. She treats everyone with courtesy.”
“Yes, that’s true.” She nodded in agreement.
Indeed, Madam Yin was gentle. For over ten years, she had always been good to her, never once raising her voice—except that one day…
“Most likely, it was Young Master who angered her,” Zhu momo sighed softly.
Exactly. She nodded repeatedly, thinking this old woman was truly perceptive.
Yes, she herself had done nothing. The Yin family was wealthy and prosperous, not like some small household unable to tolerate a daughter returning for a short stay. Driving Madam Yin away had never been her idea—it was clearly her husband’s…
Just then, the curtain leading to the banquet hall was lifted by a maid, breaking her train of thought. She looked up anxiously and saw Xiao Yanfei step gracefully out.
The girl’s lips held a perfectly measured smile, her bright eyes shining like sunlight on a spring lake, warming the heart of anyone who looked at her.
“Xiao Yanfei.” She greeted her warmly, feeling suddenly closer to her.
“Aunt,” Xiao Yanfei bit her lip, hesitating, “Grandfather isn’t in a good mood right now. I think you’d better go back for the time being.”
“…” The encouragement Zhu momo had just given her instantly deflated, like air leaking from a punctured ball.
Pity flickered in Xiao Yanfei’s gaze.
She raised her hand slightly, and Haitang at once understood, quickly dismissing the maids and attendants nearby.
Only the three of them remained beneath the veranda.
Xiao Yanfei stepped closer, lowering her voice at She’s ear. “Grandfather is upset. It seems there’s something wrong with the maritime trade accounts… he’s going through the books.”
“Aunt, it’s best you return. I’ll make sure he knows of your filial concern.”
Madam She’s heart lurched violently. Meeting the compassion in Xiao Yanfei’s eyes, she suddenly realized: Old Master Yin wasn’t merely reviewing the accounts—he knew. He must know that her husband had embezzled the maritime funds!
Fear and dread seized her chest.
But why? They had already paid the fifty thousand taels as demanded in that letter to silence the matter. How had the old master still discovered it?
“Aunt,” Xiao Yanfei said, beckoning Haitang over again, “Mother went out today and bought a few boxes of pastries. They’re still warm. Please, take them home and try some.”
Haitang carried over a food box and handed it to She’s chief maid.
But Madam She’s mind was in turmoil.
Her sister-in-law had gone out today? Could it be… to meet Xiao Luanfei?
Her eyes fell on the words Ding Shi Ji stamped on the food box, and she froze. She knew that shop—it was right by Marquis Wu’an’s residence!
It had to be Xiao Luanfei.
Yes—how could a concubine-born girl ever be made crown prince’s consort? Of course she needed to coax Madam back and be registered under her name.
Sister-in-law was normally unyielding, but if Xiao Luanfei told her that her husband had embezzled silver from the maritime trade, even hinted that it was he who had caused Old Master’s stroke and nearly cost him his life…
Then perhaps, out of nearly two decades of mother-daughter bonds, Madam might give in to her plea.
No wonder the moment Madam returned this afternoon, the old master began to examine the accounts!
Cold dread spread through her, as though plunged into an icy abyss.
Xiao Luanfei was playing both sides!
How vicious. How ruthless.
She left in a daze, her maid following with the food box in hand.
Xiao Yanfei smiled at Zhu momo, rewarding her with a look of approval, then turned and strolled leisurely back inside.
“Yan’er!”
Inside the banquet hall, Madam Yin waved cheerfully to her daughter. “Why bother dealing with that woman?”
Xiao Yanfei only smiled, her delicate features blooming like spring blossoms.
Old Master Yin, watching the sly sparkle in her eyes, stroked his beard and chuckled, his narrow eyes crinkling into foxlike slits.
“Yan’er,” he beckoned her closer with a laugh. “What are you up to now?”
Xiao Yanfei sat down at his side, leaning in to whisper. “The year before last, when I was staying at the manor, I saw two dogs. One guarded the gate, the other the orchard. Most days, they played together, inseparable.
Then one day, a child threw a big juicy bone between them…”
“Guess what happened?”
Her voice was so low that only Old Master Yin could hear.
Dog-eat-dog, eh! The smile on his face deepened, until he could no longer restrain his laughter.
Madam Yin didn’t bother asking what had been whispered. Smiling, she beckoned her daughter over with eager delight.
“Come, let’s go back to your quarters and try on the clothes.”
These days, she had been almost vengefully determined to make it up to Xiao Yanfei, staying up several nights in a row to rush out a set of ceremonial robes for her capping rite. She had even sewn the matching embroidered shoes herself.
In the original host’s memories, it had been Madam Yin who embroidered Xiao Luanfei’s capping dress.
The host had envied it deeply. A girl only had one capping ceremony in her lifetime—miss it once, and it was gone forever. To the host, it had always been a regret.
Perhaps it was Madam Yin’s regret as well.
Suppressing a faint ache in her heart, Xiao Yanfei went back with Madam Yin in cheerful compliance to try on the new clothes.
The robe, with its layered skirts and long panels, was intricate and cumbersome. Even with Haitang and Dingxiang serving her carefully, it still took a full incense stick’s time to get dressed.
The fitted robe clung to her graceful figure, while the embroidered sash drew in her waist so finely it seemed it could be encircled by a single hand.
To Xiao Yanfei, the attire was already flawless—she could find no fault. But Madam Yin was not satisfied. With almost pedantic precision, she began listing flaws one after another:
“The sleeves are still too long. They need to be shortened by half an inch.”
“The cloud pattern at the cuffs should be done in silver thread.”
“The neckline, here under the arm—it doesn’t lie flat enough.”
“…And so on.”
After conferring with Nanny Zhao in low tones, Madam Yin hurried off with the garment the moment Xiao Yanfei changed out of it, intent on alterations.
Xiao Yanfei felt utterly relieved, as though a weight had lifted. She thought to herself that even the two rounds of polo she had played at Qinghui Garden hadn’t been half as exhausting as trying on that robe. She slumped lazily into the armchair, not wanting to move a muscle.
Knock, knock!
Someone rapped on the window to her right.
Her eyes, half-lidded, opened again at the sound. She turned her head.
Outside the half-open window stood Gu Feichi, clad in a dark robe, knocking lightly on the frame.
He wore no half-mask this time. Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, his eyes caught threads of gold. Every gesture was casual and unrestrained, yet carried an effortless nobility.
From the moment she had returned from Huangjue Temple, Xiao Yanfei had already sent Zhiqiu to deliver word. Zhiqiu was a shadow guard of the Duke Wei’s household—by sending her, no unwanted eyes would be alerted.
“Come in.” Xiao Yanfei crooked her finger at him with a languid smile, like a sleek, contented Persian cat.
Gu Feichi did not stand on ceremony. Bracing one hand on the window frame, he vaulted inside with easy grace, his movements clean and practiced as ever.
He was travel-worn, dust still clinging to him, as though just back from outside.
Xiao Yanfei plucked a stray leaf from his shoulder before slipping the golden jade-inlaid bracelet from her own wrist and handing it to him.
“This was given to me by Ming Rui today.”
She recounted her encounter at the steles in Huangjue Temple, repeating Ming Rui’s words, including that one line—“General Xie is innocent.”
Gu Feichi examined the bracelet in silence, his fingers running lightly over the patterns. Then, with a silver needle, he pressed and levered a hidden seam in the gold casing, neatly dismantling it.
His long, elegant fingers moved with a deftness that made even the simplest action look precise and refined. In moments, he had drawn from the hollow tube of gold a strip of silk, folded tightly.
A strip of white silk stained with dark red blotches.
Even without unfolding it, even without leaning close, Xiao Yanfei knew—it was dried blood.
Gu Feichi unrolled the fragile slip of silk with care, his eyes scanning the contents swiftly.
He said nothing. His lips pressed into a hard line, his narrow lids lowering, while something dark flickered in his gaze—a suppressed surge of blood-red rage.
Around him, grief seeped out in silence, mingled with a chill that seemed to cut straight to the bone.
Xiao Yanfei sat close at Gu Feichi’s side. He made no attempt to hide the paper from her, so she too read the words upon it. Her chest tightened as if weighted by a heavy stone, leaving behind a dull, aching pain.
She reached for the teapot, poured two cups, and slid one toward him.
For a moment, silence filled the room. Then Gu Feichi suddenly lifted his fingers, forming a circle with thumb and forefinger, and blew a sharp, piercing whistle through them.
At once, the cry of an eagle rang out from beyond the window, answering his call.
A lithe white eagle swept down from the heights, wings slicing through the air. With a swift dive, it folded its wings and landed squarely on the window ledge, talons gripping firm.
Its ice-blue eyes surveyed the humans with a detached, emotionless calm—cold, distant, sovereign.
Xiao Yanfei’s eyes lit up at once, her spirits rising.
It was rare to see the eagle so close. She couldn’t help herself and reached out her hand instinctively to smooth its feathers.
The plumage was sleek and glossy, soft under her palm, even finer than stroking little Xiao Ye’s kitten.
So soft… so wonderful.
Xiao Yanfei’s eyes curved into a smile.
But the eagle was no kitten to be pampered. With a sharp twist of its head, it lunged, its beak darting at her hand. Before it could strike, Gu Feichi tapped the bird lightly on the head.
“Good,” the young man murmured.
The eagle stilled. It gave a low, rumbling croak, and somehow, in those icy eyes, a trace of grievance flickered.
Xiao Yanfei stared, wide-eyed, then cheekily ran her hand down its feathers again.
Meanwhile, Gu Feichi folded the blood-stained slip back into a neat strip and sealed it inside a slim bamboo tube. Once fastened tight, he bound the tube to the eagle’s leg.
He tossed it a strip of dried meat.
The bird didn’t even glance—its pale beak snapped the meat clean from the air, talons gripping the sill without shifting.
“Go. Find Xie Wudan,” Gu Feichi said softly. His voice was low, rough-edged, yet steady.
In just that brief time, he had reined in the grief and fury from before, forcing his emotions back under control.
The eagle swallowed the meat, rubbed its head against his arm once, then sprang skyward. With powerful wings, it shot into the heavens, loosing a cry so fierce it startled the sparrows across the courtyard into flight.
Soon, it had vanished into the blue, soaring higher and higher…
Magnificent.
Xiao Yanfei gazed after it in a daze, entranced, until Gu Feichi’s voice cut in abruptly.
“What… exactly are you doing?”
Reluctantly, she tore her gaze from the sky and followed his eyes—down to her own desk.
The carved redwood table was in utter disarray, cluttered with bamboo strips, scraps of paper, daggers, carving knives, brushes, and ink.
She remembered now. Before Princess Ning Shu had called her away to Huangjue Temple, she had left her projects half-finished, instructing the maids not to tidy up.
Her lips curled into a sly smile, eyes sparkling like morning stars. “Gu Feichi, do you believe in a guilty conscience?”
“When someone’s done something shameful—heaven strikes with thunderbolts.”
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