Volume 1, Chapter 7: You Can't Just Keep Picking on the Wen Family

Wen Yunmu dismissed Dongmei and needed to select a replacement from the new arrivals. She nodded toward a maid kneeling in the hall. "This is the person the Prince specifically recommended."

Wen Yunmu appraised her. She looked to be in her twenties, with a haughty, aloof demeanor—hardly the look of a maid meant for embroidery and boudoir tasks.

"What is your name?"

"Bai Hong."

*Bai Hong, piercing the sun.* The name itself suggested a heroine capable of great deeds.

"Then you shall serve inside. Xia Wei, show her the ropes."

"Yes, Miss."

Wen Yunmu found it strange. Even though Ye Chuiyun had arranged for the person, there was no need to send someone like this; after all, this was an inner residence, not a battlefield where one needed to fight and kill.

"You never competed or fought before, so you naturally never caught Mother's eye. But now, the winds of change are blowing through the house, and the autumn inspection is approaching. Father and I will be away, and you have no capable people around you. I fear I won’t be able to protect you if something happens." Wen Xuqing walked slowly with Wen Yunmu, chatting. "It was my fault for not realizing you were suffering so much. From now on, no matter what happens, I will back you up."

Wen Xuqing paused. He had previously been unable to understand why his younger sister had suddenly changed so drastically, until a single remark from Ye Chuiyun enlightened him: "It was simply that she could no longer endure it."

*Could no longer endure it.*

A surge of guilt welled up in Wen Xuqing's heart. With their father long absent and he himself frequently stationed at the military camp, the inner residence had been completely dominated by the Qin woman, and he had never realized there was anything wrong with his sister’s situation.

"Brother, don't worry. I am fine. I am grown up now; I won't let others manipulate me like before." Wen Yunmu stopped and smiled. "You should worry more about yourself; you’ll be discussing marriage in a year or two. I hear that the young lady you’re betrothed to has quite a protective brother of her own!"

"My affairs are none of your concern! By the way, this Bai Hong is capable of many things. If you have tasks, just delegate them to her. She will relay information to me, and if I am unavailable in an emergency, you may go to the Prince."

"Understood."

Holding an envelope in her hand, Wen Yunmu hesitated before asking, "Bai Hong, do you take orders from my brother, or from His Highness the Prince of Tang?"

Bai Hong stood straight before the desk and spoke clearly, "I am not under the command of the Young Master, but rather a personal guard to His Highness the Prince of Tang. The Prince instructed that since I have entered the Wen residence, I am to serve you and the Young Master wholeheartedly. Please do not hesitate to give your orders. If there is anything you wish to keep from your brother or the Prince, I will keep your secrets."

"Can you deliver a letter to the Prince of Tang for me? Without my brother knowing."

"Rest assured, Miss."

After all, this was about investigating Wei Yan’s scandalous affairs. It was truly inappropriate for her brother to know, and the only other honorable man she could trust was the noble Prince of Tang. Asking an unmarried imperial prince to go to a pleasure house to investigate another man's romantic preferences for an unmarried lady was truly embarrassing.

Wen Yunmu hesitated as she handed over the letter, but Bai Hong was incredibly swift. Before Wen Yunmu could even blink, she had taken the letter and vanished out the door. Wen Yunmu gently pushed open the window and saw a figure beneath the moonlight leaping with effortless agility, vaulting over the wall so quickly that not a soul was startled.

*This person is clearly no ordinary maid.*

Wen Yunmu closed the window, a warmth spreading in her heart. In her past life, she had misjudged many people and things, overlooking and misinterpreting so much. If she had maintained a normal heart back then, viewing the Prince of Tang as an older brother, she would never have ended up estranged from him until death.

With a major burden off her mind, Wen Yunmu went to bed early that night, though, unfortunately, her sleep was not peaceful.

She returned in her dreams to that ice-cold woodshed, seeing the face of Lu Jia'an. Even in her sleep, Wen Yunmu couldn't stop trembling. She feared Lu Jia'an, for his beatings were excruciating. He would grab whatever was at hand—a rattan whip, a piece of firewood, a thin iron rod. In places hidden from others' eyes, her wounds would heal only to fester, and fester only to heal again.

She never resisted, for she felt she owed him. The Lu family could not compete with the influence of the Wen residence; to marry her, Lu Jia'an's wife had thrown herself into a river. Because of this, Lu Jia'an tortured her for years, demanding she pay with a life.

There was a time she had naively believed she had driven his wife to her death.

But when he kicked her off the city wall, he had said: "Wen Yunmu, you owe me nothing. I pushed my own wife into the river."

Wen Yunmu woke up screaming, clutching her quilt. Xia Wei, who was sleeping in the small parlor, heard the commotion and rushed over, reaching out to touch Wen Yunmu’s face and hair, which were drenched in sweat.

"Miss, what is wrong? I will go get some hot water."

"Don't go." Wen Yunmu grabbed her wrist and pulled her to sit beside her. "Xia Wei." Wen Yunmu embraced her. Xia Wei’s body was soft and warm—a precious, living person.

That winter was bitter; the snow outside was as thick as the threshold. Xia Wei had said: "Miss, why don't we write to the Marquis and see if he can help?"

"Father is far away in Dingzhou; by the time he receives the letter, the winter will be over. Besides, I married into this family in such a disgraced state; I don't know how much pain it caused him. What face do I have to go crying to him? Even if I were to die, I wouldn't seek him out."

"Then let this servant go back and beg the Mistress!"

"The Qin woman would never care. She wishes for us to die in the Lu household."

"Is the Miss just going to sit here and wait for death? The Lu family has swallowed your dowry; they even want to strip you of every copper. To suffer such injustice—even going to the magistrate would be better than waiting here to die!"

Xia Wei, the least eloquent and cunning of her four maids—even she had fought for her back then.

"This cloak was personally sewn by the seamstresses from the Imperial Palace that Father hired. Take it and pawn it; buy some charcoal."

"But Miss, if you pawn this, you truly won't be able to go out this winter."

"Then I won't go out. It's not as if I can go anywhere anyway."

"Miss!"

"Go."

Wen Yunmu leaned on Xia Wei's shoulder. In her past life, she had been beaten to death on the charge of theft—the stolen goods being that very cotton cloak she had never pawned.

"Xia Wei," Wen Yunmu said softly, "in a few years, I will release you from the household and find you a good match so you can live a happy life."

"I don't want that." Xia Wei hugged Wen Yunmu tight. "I want to stay with the Miss for the rest of my life."

"You silly girl!"

"Miss, what kind of dream did you have?"

"Nothing. I dreamed I was bitten to death by a venomous snake. Go to sleep now. Stay here with me; keep me company."

"That won't do. I'll move my bedding in and sleep under your bed, Miss. Please, sleep soundly."

"That will do."

In the study, Ye Chuiyun frowned, reading the letter with an inscrutable expression. After a long silence, he asked Bai Hong, "Have you familiarized yourself with the Wen residence?"

"Give me two more days. Prince, does the Young Master need me to keep a watch on him?"

"No. From now on, you will also take orders from the Young Master. Everyone except the Young Master and the Second Miss is to be monitored by our people, but do not act rashly."

"Yes."

"Go." Ye Chuiyun burned the letter over a candle. "Tell Miss Mu that I have received her message. Three days from now, after lessons, meet me at the Tingtao Pavilion."

"Yes."

Bai Hong closed the door. A figure emerged from behind the screen; it was Wen Xuqing. He laughed, "What did my sister ask of you that you wouldn't let me see? You bypass me, her own brother, to go through someone as distant as you."

"Why distant? Miss Mu is my sister too. She was asking me about Wei Yan." Ye Chuiyun sat behind the desk, resting his chin on his hand, and explained to Wen Xuqing: "This Bai Hong is capable. With the things we need to do now, someone like her is essential. I left her in the Wen residence to assist you as well."

"The deed isn't even done, and you've already meddled in my inner residence. My stepmother probably never imagined that this group of people are your spies. I neglected Miss Mu before, but with you keeping watch, I can rest much easier." Wen Xuqing sifted through the ashes, unable to find a single complete piece, and muttered, "Burned quite thoroughly, didn't it?"

"Miss Mu said something to me that has given me much to ponder."

"What did she say?"

"If the Wen family were one day to be denounced as traitors, how could a single egg remain intact in an overturned nest?" In the candlelight, Ye Chuiyun's eyes were sharp as a blade. "We look for faults in others, and they will certainly trip us up. The Crown Prince has been deposed, and the Empress begged the Emperor to let him lead troops at the desolate border. They call it punishment, but those who went with him are the bravest of soldiers. To build a reputation and military merit is but a matter of three or four years. Once he has prestige in the army, it will be difficult to move against him."

"Miss Mu's words are not wrong. From the day you entered the Wen residence, the life and honor of our family have been tied to yours. In this court, if you fall, we fall. My father’s rotation after the New Year is based on this same consideration; he must go to watch the Crown Prince."

Wen Xuqing placed a stone on the unfinished game on Ye Chuiyun's desk. Ten years as Crown Prince, three years of regency—who knows how many partisans he has, both overt and covert? Relying on the Empress's family as a great tree, who knows what new branches might grow from the old trunk? If one step is taken carelessly, the whole game is lost.

"Miss Mu said your Fifth Sister wants to marry into the Duke of Wei’s mansion. The Duke of Wei plays both sides; having our people inside is not a bad thing."

"Prince, Yunxiu is my sister too. You cannot keep picking at our Wen family—"

"It wasn't me who picked at it. Miss Mu said it was your Fifth Sister who came to beg for it."

"Ah? Tell me more."

"Too lazy to tell you. Go back and ask Miss Mu."

"There is no justice in this! Is she my sister or your sister!"