46 Protection

During the New Year festival, the entire estate was bustling with activity, but the Wutong Courtyard had always operated independently. It never communicated with the main courtyard, nor did it celebrate the New Year together with them. At best, out of respect for Old Madame Ye, the residents of the courtyard would join Master Ye and "Mistress Pan" for a single New Year's Eve dinner. Qinglan was relatively polite and would still offer Master Ye a New Year's greeting. As for Lingbo, she refused to even call him "father," and Yanyan followed her example, infuriating Master Ye so much that he blew his beard and glared in anger, yet he was completely powerless against them.

This year was no exception. Pan Yurong was managing the household, but Lingbo refused to speak to her altogether, consulting only the chief steward even for New Year arrangements. Hearing that news had arrived from the ancestral home, she brought her maids and older female servants to the front courtyard to make inquiries. She was fiercely pragmatic; though she looked down upon the main courtyard, as the three legitimate daughters of the house, they had to secure everything that was rightfully theirs. Even Mistress Yang rubbed her palms together in excitement and said, "That is precisely how it should be. Our Second Young Lady is brilliant after all."

Acuo was originally combing her hair by the window. Hearing this, she immediately chimed in, "I want to go too. Second Sister, take me with you."

A flicker of emotion crossed Lingbo's expression, but she remained silent. Xiaoliu, however, hesitated with words on the tip of her tongue and murmured, " Cousin..."

"It's fine." Lingbo stopped Xiaoliu with a gesture, smiled, and beckoned to Acuo. "If Acuo wants to come, she can come along. It will be a good chance to learn the rules of household management."

Acuo was still young, and after tagging along with Lingbo, she could not discern anything unusual. Lingbo had merely asked the elderly steward of the Ye family about the harvest of the ancestral estates and matters concerning the clan. It was a brief exchange of casual talk, which seemed hardly worth the trouble of a special trip.

An unexpected encounter occurred on their return journey. The New Year was traditionally a time for the disciples and old acquaintances of officials in the capital to pay visits. Although Master Ye held a relatively minor post as a vice minister, he had previously served in the Imperial Academy, leaving him with quite a number of disciples. Coincidentally, several of them had returned to the capital this year to report on their duties, and a group of a dozen classmates and close friends had arranged to visit together. They were all young men, and the leaders among them were scholarly and exceptionally refined youths.

As Lingbo led her retinue of maids and older servants past the covered corridor, she ran straight into them. Being a sheltered young lady of a good family, Lingbo naturally stepped behind Mistress Yang to avoid them. Mistress Yang, however, recognized the visitors and greeted them, "Young Master Zou, Young Master Qi, have you come to pay your respects to Master Ye? Greetings."

As she curtsied, the two young men bowed in return. The one wearing the green robe was particularly amiable and said, "Greetings, Mistress Yang. When the Master's wife passed away, this nephew was away in Yangzhou and unable to return in time, which I deeply regret. Please convey my apologies to the Young Lady on my behalf."

The young man in the crimson robe was much quieter and simply returned the bow alongside him.

"You are too kind." Lingbo's voice came calmly from behind Mistress Yang. "Please thank the two Senior Brothers on my behalf, Mistress Yang. There are no elders in the household, so it is inconvenient to invite you to stay for a meal. Please forgive my lack of hospitality."

Only then did the young men raise their heads. They had originally intended to catch a glimpse of Lingbo, but Acuo stood directly behind her, wearing a silver-red padded jacket and a pomegranate-red skirt. A white fox-fur cloak framed a face as lovely as a peony blossom. Although only half her face was visible, it left them too stunned for words.

Seeing this, Xiaoliu could only sigh inwardly.

Her young lady had gone to such painstaking lengths to orchestrate everything, only to end up acting as a bridesmaid for someone else.

Acuo noticed nothing, and Lingbo said nothing, maintaining her composure as she brought Acuo back to the Wutong Courtyard. Fearing that the younger girl might be bored, she arranged for a young maid to play the flying-flower poetry game with her. The four major banquets for young gentlemen would not take place until after spring, and since Acuo was too young to start practicing horseback riding now, training her in poetry was a fine alternative. Beauty was undoubtedly a great asset, but when paired with true talent, it became truly invincible. As a good elder sister, she naturally planned far ahead for Acuo's future.

Lunch was served in the warm parlor. Lingbo had indeed caught a slight chill and ate a simple meal. She had intended to go over the household accounts in the afternoon, but Xiaoliu walked in hesitatingly, wearing an expression that suggested she had something difficult to say. Lingbo saw through her at a glance and asked, "Has that scoundrel come again?"

In truth, Pei Zhao was hardly a scoundrel in any real sense, but Lingbo simply had a strange impulse to scold him, often finding her teeth itching with irritation even before she laid eyes on him.

This time was no exception. On a heavy snow day, Lingbo could not be bothered to walk out to the alley to meet him, so she simply had him brought directly inside. There were plenty of people reporting matters anyway, including elderly stewards in charge of various estates giving their updates. Pei Zhao blended right in among them, no different from Liu Ji.

Yet, vexingly, Pei Zhao never bothered to dress up, showing up once again in drab, dust-gray clothing. Of course, he relied on his striking good looks, which made anything he wore look exceptional. His old military tunic from the Fire Battalion was a deep, faded cyan, cut loosely, yet when he wore it, it draped as gorgeously as brocade. It was infuriating.

Following Lingbo's lead, Xiaoliu looked at him with disdain and complained, "You're dressed like that again. The Young Lady is going to scold you."

Pei Zhao did not get angry at all. He merely raised his head, flashed a casual smile, and looked completely unconcerned. Xiaoliu instantly felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks as she lifted the door curtain and stepped inside.

Lingbo was in the middle of reviewing the accounts, leaning against the warming brazier by the bed. She wore an autumn-fragrance-yellow jacket with her hair unbound, save for a small topknot, and held a vermilion brush as she marked circles and dots. Her features were ordinary, but she had an abundance of hair that tumbled down her back like rolling waves, resembling a cluster of clouds. Her face was delicate, and the light falling upon it gave her the warm, translucent luster of fine porcelain.

Pei Zhao deliberately crept over and leaned in to inspect her ledger. Lingbo had actually known he was coming all along, but she pretended to be unaware until he leaned close, then reversed her brush and gave his face a quick stroke.

Pei Zhao leaned back and easily dodged it, smiling brightly, "Ha, you missed!"

He truly possessed a remarkably supple waist, reminiscent of the renowned generals skilled in mounted archery described in poetry, or the wind-swift youths of the northern tribes. After he had defeated Cui Jingyu with three consecutive arrows beneath the watchtower last time, the noble young ladies who witnessed that contest probably could never forget the imposing grace of his backward shot from horseback.

Lingbo, however, cared nothing for such romantic notions. She had long since grown accustomed to acting as the competent Second Young Lady of the household, rather than some fluttering maiden experiencing the first stirrings of romance. Matters of moonlight and flowers had nothing to do with her. Just as she had taught Acuo, only by taking control of one's own destiny could one adequately protect oneself and one's family.

"Shameless," Lingbo retracted her brush with a look of disgust and asked impatiently, "What news do you bring?"

"Can't I come if there's no news?" Pei Zhao teased her with a smile. In response, Lingbo immediately widened her eyes. Her expressions of annoyance were rather intimidating; even Old Madame Ye dared not provoke her, and Lu Wenying and her sister had only just suffered at her hands. Yet Pei Zhao was truly thick-skinned. Crossing his arms, he smiled and asked, "Is the Young Lady satisfied now?"

Regarding him, Lingbo still felt a faint twinge of guilt. After all, Shen Biwei had only guessed at roughly half the plan, whereas Pei Zhao had watched the entire process of how she schemed against the Lu sisters. Yet the guiltier she felt, the fiercer she became. "What do you know?" she snapped. "I was merely responding to whatever moves they made. Didn't you see when the Lu family sisters were bullying our household? You only saw my retaliation. So now I've turned into a venomous snake, haven't I?"

"I didn't say a word of the sort," Pei Zhao replied with an air of absolute innocence.

"Your eyes said it," Lingbo arched an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, I said it," Pei Zhao chuckled.

"Look, you finally admitted it. That just proves you thought it all along," Lingbo retorted instantly.

Amused by her antics, Pei Zhao laughed and raised his hands in surrender. "I surrender. It's all my fault—I am judging a noble heart with a petty mind."

"That's more like it." Lingbo finally let him off the hook and demanded, "Speak up, what are you here for?"

"I came to deliver something to the Young Lady."

"What is it?" Lingbo asked offhandedly.

Without a word, Pei Zhao produced a key. The moment Lingbo saw it, her expression shifted drastically. She reached out to snatch it, but Pei Zhao nimbly sidestepped and put his hand behind his back. Lingbo circled around behind him to grab it, but Pei Zhao held the key high above his head. He towered over Lingbo by a full head.

Being a sheltered young lady of a good family, although Lingbo was anxious, she would never actually wrestle or grapple with him. She could only demand angrily, "Are you going to give it to me or not?"

Pei Zhao looked down at her with a beaming smile. "And what if I don't?"

"Then you won't be walking out this door today," Lingbo threatened fiercely. At that, the look in Pei Zhao's eyes darkened slightly. As it turned out, he possessed a formidable presence of his own; having been through the battlefield and having taken countless lives, a chilling coldness crossed his features that could make anyone's heart freeze. Though Lingbo was unafraid, she instinctively stepped back. Realizing this immediately, Pei Zhao softened his expression and curled his lips back into a smile.

"All right, I'll give it to you." He reverted to his usual lazy demeanor, tossing the key through the air straight into Lingbo's lap. Lingbo picked it up, took one look, and grew even more furious.

"This isn't the key to our lock!" she glared, her eyebrows shooting up in rage.

"I never said it was the key to that lock," Pei Zhao replied with a grin.

Xiaoliu happened to walk in carrying a tray of tea at that moment. Having learned from the previous incident involving Second Maid Er-ya that her young lady's affairs did not need to be hidden from Pei Zhao, she smiled open-heartedly and asked, "What key is the Young Lady talking about? The key to our bronze lock is still safely kept with me. Is this the one the Young Lady wants?"

This time, Lingbo was genuinely furious, wishing she could pick up the cup of tea and fling it at him. Pei Zhao prudently offered, "Have mercy on me, Young Lady."

Lingbo looked at him with an expression of utter exasperation at his incorrigibility.

"Pei Zhao, look at you. With all the schemes in that head of yours, why do you only ever spend your energy sparring with me? If you walked the righteous path—with skills as exceptional as yours and your military achievements—you should have been ennobled as a marquis long ago. When would it ever be Cui Jingyu's turn to act so arrogantly?"

"Not interested. It's boring," Pei Zhao said as he settled into a nearby armchair and lazily picked up a teacup to inspect it.

"Then what is interesting?"

"Teasing you is quite interesting," Pei Zhao replied, his peach-blossom eyes curving into bright crescents.

If not for the decorum required of a young lady of her status, Lingbo would have beaten him half to death several times over by tonight.

"Enough," Lingbo's patience had been honed by Shen Biwei. "I can't be bothered to manage you people anymore. People like you are all the same anyway."

"What kind of people?"

"People like you and Biwei." Lingbo paused her brush and looked at him seriously. "Tell me, what is actually wrong with the two of you? Clearly, you were blessed with good looks, natural talent, high capability, and striking appearances—so why on earth are you so unwilling to strive for the top? Isn't it wonderful to be above others? Power, wealth, status—things the whole world pursues. Why do you deliberately reject them? Even if not for yourself, you ought to work hard for your family's sake."

"If everyone climbed to the top, who would remain at the bottom?" Pei Zhao lounged in the chair, speaking with nonchalant indifference.

Lingbo was so exasperated by him that she wanted to laugh.

"So you decided to be at the bottom just to fill the vacancy, is that it?" She shot him a sidelong glance, and seeing his thick-skinned expression, she let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Perhaps you are even laughing at me in your hearts, mocking me for being so frantic and caught up in petty intrigues..."

"No," Pei Zhao said, toying with his teacup.

"What?" Lingbo missed his meaning, instinctively sensing that he was about to make fun of her again, and she braced herself.

Pei Zhao withdrew his gaze from the teacup and looked directly at her.

"I said, I would never laugh at you in my heart. I know you always have a reason for what you do. Besides, you are quite formidable. With just a map of Vice Minister Huang's estate, you managed to stir up so much. If you had been born a man, you would certainly have been an infallible, brilliant military strategist."