Chapter 8 - The Kite Rises
"M'lord! M'lord!"
The pageboy hurriedly chased after her.
After leaving the Fengming Pavillion, Pei Xuan strode a good distance before the sounds of Zhou Ye and the others' mocking laughter faded from her ears. The image of Sun Ze enduring humiliation in silence replayed in her mind.
She punched the elm tree by the roadside, ignoring her bleeding knuckles. Her long lashes lowered as her bright, beautiful face turned cold and gloomy for a moment.
The pageboy was shocked. "M'lord! Why are you hurting yourself like this?"
He busied himself with tearing a clean handkerchief to bandage Pei Xuan's hand.
Pei Xuan was unmoved, her heavy brows brewing a storm no one could see clearly.
The Countess of Xining had chosen the Sun family for her eldest daughter?
Eldest M'lord Sun already had concubines, Second M'lord Sun was engaged to the Yang family's second daughter. The only one who met the conditions was the lecherous Third M'lord Sun.
What kind of man was Third M'lord Sun? How dare he defile the bright moon in her heart!
She gritted her teeth, pushed the pageboy aside, and walked home hugging the portrait.
"M'lor--!"
He hurried to catch up, glanced at her expression, and wisely kept his mouth shut so as not to annoy his master.
Even a clay figurine had a temper. The heir of the Prime Minister was no clay figure to be kneaded and molded by others. If anyone was foolish enough to underestimate her, they would have to grovel in the mud first and know the feeling of being trampled underfoot.
Pei Xuan returned home and locked herself in her room to brood alone. When Lady Pei asked, the pageboy truthfully recounted the events, leaving mistress and servant equally puzzled.
"What nonsense is she up to now?"
The pageboy scratched his head. "My lady, the M'lord's hand is injured. You should go in and take a look."
Lady Pei took two steps forward and raised her arm to knock on the door, but ultimately lowered her hand. "Forget it. Something must have happened to put her in this mood. Let her think it through on her own first."
She asked the pageboy, "You said the M'lord lost his temper over a painting?"
"That's right, it was just a painting!"
Their conversation outside was heard clearly by Pei Xuan, but she paid it no heed.
The portrait lay flat on the table. She sat with her back to the light, silent.
Lady Pei walked away before quietly asking, "It was a young lady?"
"The person in the painting was indeed a young lady."
"Did you get a clear look at her appearance?"
The pageboy shook his head. "No, I was too busy watching the M'lord. Anyway, the M'lord saw that painting and got upset. M'lord Zhou wanted to buy the painting from M'lord Sun, and the M'lord rushed over in just a few steps...I guess you could say his anger flared to defend a beauty's honor."
The speaker had no intent, but the listener found meaning.
Lady Pei murmured softly, "To defend a beauty's honor?"
She glanced back at the tightly shut door, as if she could see Pei Xuan's frustrated silhouette through the wood, unable to vent her distress.
Xuan'er lived as a man, and was acquainted with many men. As for women...she thought of the ill-favored eldest daughter of the Count of Xining.
Living in a tumbledown shack, blind, with only one loyal maid at her side.
She started to recall how many times Pei Xuan had mentioned the blind girl recently.
Pei Xuan was not one to chatter idly. Though young, she was calmer than most lively boys and girls. She was steady, but not some dull piece of wood without any sense of fun.
She enjoyed playing too, and would go fly kites when she finally got a breath after the exams.
The kite fell into the courtyard, and so did Pei Xuan.
Whenever she spoke of the young lady living in that courtyard, her words were full of warmth and praise, as if she was not speaking of a blind girl with defects, but a bright moon hanging in the sky.
Lighting up her heart, filling her vision, the lifelong dream she wanted to grasp.
A gust of wind blew past Lady Pei's ear, startling her into realization.
The door opened.
Lady Pei composed herself before stepping inside. Her peony-embroidered skirt hem swept over the mirrored floor tiles. The bamboo curtain was lifted, and she saw her daughter alone in the yellow dusk.
"Still upset?"
She walked over and took the chance while brewing tea to casually glance over. She clearly saw the portrait placed on the table.
As expected, it was the young lady she had seen before.
"No longer upset." Calmed down, Pei Xuan raised her brows at the dignified woman. "Mother, what should I do?"
She was completely out of ideas.
So it turned out that liking someone was just liking them. Favoring was just favoring. A moment's attraction could last a long, long time. She could not stand M'lord Zhou and the others being rude to Lady Cui. She could not tolerate Lady Cui marrying someone unworthy.
She was anxious.
She was upset.
She even wanted to tear apart the Count and Countess of Xining!
Pei Xuan rested her chin on her folded wrists, her fingertips brushing over the straight nose and pinching the soft cheeks of the refined figure in the painting. Admiring her flawless neck and shoulders.
Lady Pei was experienced in these matters. Seeing she did not even bother to pretend, it took some time for the initial shock in her heart to fade before she gently chided, "How did you come to like her so? I've never seen you show interest in other young ladies before."
"That's because I hadn't met her yet." The top scholar's aura was even gentler than the spring breeze.
"Your father has already prepared a suitable 'bride' to conceal your identity. He originally intended to arrange the wedding after you obtained an official post."
"I don't want that."
She rested her chin on her folded arms. "Mother, I already have someone I wish to marry."
Zheng Wuji was right. If you like someone, then marry them, and talk it over afterwards.
If she missed her chance with Lady Cui, she would regret it for life.
"Xuan'er, you've put your mother in a difficult position."
Pei Xuan rose and bowed deeply to her mother. "I ask for nothing else, only that I may have her by my side for the rest of my life."
On a clear day, Bai Ge sneezed, her eyelids kept twitching uncontrollably, first the left, then the right. In frustration, she inserted two thin, blunt toothpicks beneath her upper eyelids to keep them steady.
"You twitching lids, when will you stop this relentless dance?"
The young maid muttered under her breath, visibly irritated.
Cui Ti couldn't see her expression, but she could vividly imagine it and thought Bai Ge looked utterly adorable. "Be careful, don't harm your eyes."
"Miss, don't worry. I'm used to doing this. It's harmless."
Even as she insisted it was harmless, she was well aware that Cui Ti cared more about her eyes than she did herself. She set the toothpicks down and glimpsed a kite on the table, her mood lifting instantly. "Miss, when will we fly the kite?"
Earlier in the morning, she'd secretly bribed a fellow maid with a piece of osmanthus cake to reveal a piece of gossip: the Prime Minister's wife was already making wedding arrangements for Miss.
With the backing of the Prime Minister's eldest son and the current top scholar, not only the Prime Minister's wife but even the earls had to curry favor with M'lord Pei.
Bai Ge increasingly recognized Pei Xuan's merits. He hailed from a good family, was handsome, erudite, and kind-hearted. Above all, he treated her mistress with exceptional fondness.
She secretly regarded Pei Xuan as her future M'lord. Reminded by Bai Ge's hints, Cui Ti suddenly recalled a saying: Better sooner than later.
Delay might bring unforeseen changes.
"Bai Bai, come help me. I want to fly this kite myself."
With gusto, Bai Ge sprang up, hands on her hips. "Sure thing!"
She knelt straight on the ground, calmly accepting her father's anger that welled in his chest.
Lady Pei could not handle this daughter, so she asked Prime Minister Pei to come persuade his 'son'.
To the outside, people only knew that Prime Minister Pei had one heir. No one knew Lady Pei had actually given birth to a precious daughter all those years ago.
From birth until now, Pei Xuan had pretended to be a boy for nearly eighteen years.
Prime Minister Pei went to the unethical lengths of abusing his power and connections to allow her to take the imperial exams under false pretense, all so he could boast about his 'son'. But now, what was this son asking of him?
Anger surged. He forcibly suppressed it, unwilling to damage the father-daughter relationship.
"You've been bewitched by lust. How can I allow you to act so foolishly?"
"Your child is ashamed to have failed father and mother's teachings."
She heavily kowtowed, intending to kowtow a second time.
Lady Pei, hard on the outside but soft on the inside, threw a soft tussock cushion on the floor.
Kowtowing onto the cushion, Pei Xuan gently explained, "She is blind, so will not see through this child's true identity. The Count and Countess of Xining are cruel people, how would they find a good match for her? I cannot stand by and watch her jump into flames."
"If you don't want her to jump into flames, do you want hundreds of others to accompany you in leaping into fire? Revealing your identity would mean execution of your entire clan!
"Back then, your father's temper was fierce. I swore that as Prime Minister, my child would also one day be a virtuous minister of state. You were a girl and could not serve office, yet I stubbornly insisted on putting you into government service, to compete with those men.
"In this, I have wronged you.
"Fortunately, you were intelligent since childhood, with ambition and backbone."
At this, his expression softened. "Xuan'er, your father has paved a bright future for you. Why will you not take it, and instead insist on taking the difficult path - gambling on fickle human feelings?
"You say she is good, but what if she is wicked?"
Prime Minister Pei lowered his head to adjust his sleeves. "Stay kneeling. I will not agree to this marriage, even if you kneel until your knees shatter. I absolutely will not--"
"Husband!"
Lady Pei stopped him from speaking harshly.
Pei Xuan pressed her lips together, kneeling upright.
Seeing her stubborn appearance made Prime Minister Pei angry. He waved his sleeves. "Then I'll just watch here and see how long you can kneel!"
"M'lord! The kite, the kite flew up! The kite flew up!"
The guard posted to keep daily watch on the small courtyard did not dare delay and ran back, not daring to create a disturbance inside or miss the M'lord's important affair. Despite risking punishment, he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Just as he was about to yell again, the Prime Minister's personal attendant covered his mouth and dragged him away.
"Have you no fear for your life? The old master is inside lecturing the M'lord! What are you shouting about?"
"Lecturing the M'lord?" The man's eyes went wide. He hurriedly slapped a gag over his mouth.
"Where do you think you're going? Come back!"
Prime Minister Pei angrily scolded. Pei Xuan's path was blocked.
The beautiful kite had been floating alone halfway up the sky for nearly an hour.
White Dove fretted anxiously, "My lady, why hasn't he come yet?"
Didn't he say he would rush over swiftly? Could he have lied?
"He will come."
Cui Ti sat waiting at the front doorstep, watching the stars scatter across the sky,
watching the moon forced to hide behind clouds.
The wind rose and clouds swirled. A lightning bolt cracked and spring showers moistened the earth, pitter-pattering.
"The weather changed so quickly." An umbrella shielded Cui Ti's head as White Dove kept her company waiting.
They waited, and waited, waiting through the first half of the night, the second half of the night, waited until the night rain ceased, waited until the horizon lightened before dawn.
White Dove was so angry she nearly cried. Yet she did not speak the words, "All men are lying pigs' trotters." She consoled her mistress, "He will definitely come. He must have been held up by something else?"
Cui Ti's lower lip clearly showed teeth marks. "The kite was ruined by the rain. Let's make a new one."
"Alright!"
Mistress and maid enthusiastically started on a new kite. Meanwhile, at the Sun house.
When Third M'lord Sun learned that Pei Xuan had snatched away the portrait, and from Second Brother also learned that his future bride was famed for beauty, he was so disturbed that he hardly slept all night. Upon waking, he pestered Lady Sun to go propose marriage at the Count of Xining's estate.
As the youngest son, he was the most doted upon. With him nagging incessantly, Lady Sun also felt it best to settle the marriage early.
Sun Ze had no chance to speak at all.
By the time he realized this was improper, Mother had already prepared gifts and led the matchmaker out the door by carriage.
The small courtyard, the sun high in the sky.
The newly made kite flew toward the heavens, billowing in the wind.
"White, is the line unbroken?"
"It's fine!" White Dove looked up twice. "It's still floating up there!"
Cui Ti was relieved.
She believed Pei Xuan would come.
She only feared change occurring between this life and her past life, feared Pei Xuan arriving late.
"Late..."
"M'lord! Your boots!"
The pageboy held up a pair of tall boots behind him yelling.
Pei Xuan spurred her mount and rode like the wind!