Chapter Nine (Part 1)
The horse carriage travelled from the palace to Pei Jin’s manor.
Inside the horse carriage Yan Shi Ning poked Pei Jin’s arm. ‘Big brother, why didn’t you let me visit Consort Mu’s chamber?’
‘Why do you want to go there?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘Aren’t you scared of her dull company?’
Of course Yan Shi Ning didn’t believe Pei Jin’s excuse.
Pei Jin hugged Yan Shi Ning. ‘Little lion, in the future when we’re summoned to the palace stay away from Consort Mu unless it’s necessary to talk her.’
‘Why?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.
‘I’m scared you’ll be fooled by her,’ Pei Jin said.
Yan Shi Ning supressed her temper. ‘Ninth prince, is there anything else?’
‘Of course,’ Pei Jin said. ‘You can’t impulsively eat, bully and believe other people. Mainly eat more rice and speak less. You only need to laugh and act foolish… wait, you don’t need to act foolish, being yourself is enough.’
Pei Jin gently knocked Yan Shi Ning’s head. She caught his hand and bit him. Her heart remembered his advice clearly, it knew behind the teasing tone was a deeper meaning.
After they returned to Pei Jin’s manor, Yan Shi Ning wanted to rest in their chamber but he stopped her.
‘Wait, I want you to meet someone in the manor,’ Pei Jin said.
Yan Shi Ning was suspicious who Pei Jin wanted her to meet. But she kept quiet because he looked serious.
Pei Jin’s manor was located north of the palace. There was an artificial lake, beautiful gardens and elegant chambers.
Pei Jin led Yan Shi Ning through the gardens. They stopped in front of a secluded chamber at the back of the manor. She could smell many herbal scents even before the door was opened.
Pei Jin looked at a young man dressed in black clothes and who carried bottles of remedies.
‘This is Gentleman Bei Dou, the manor’s physician,’ Pei Jin said.
‘Big brother, why do you want me to meet the physician?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.
Pei Jin laughed. ‘He’s a physician and also my friend.’
Yan Shi Ning understood Pei Jin wouldn’t call someone a friend lightly. She didn’t know why Pei Jin wanted her to meet Bei Dou but she silently assessed Bei Dou.
Bei Dou looked about twenty years old, tall, wore black clothes, quiet, cold and distant. Yan Shi Ning felt like Bei Dou wasn’t someone easy to be close to. She was surprised Pei Jin was able to befriend someone like Bei Dou.
‘Do you wear perfume?’ Bei Dou asked coldly.
‘No,’ Yan Shi Ning said.
‘Then what’s the perfume scent on your body?’ Bei Dou asked.
Yan Shi Ning shook her head, she honestly didn’t wear perfume.
‘Recently have you been burning incense sticks?’ Bei Dou asked.
‘Yes, at the Yan Manor,’ Yan Shi Ning said.
‘For how long?’ Bei Dou asked.
‘Almost one month,’ Yan Shi Ning said.
‘Where did you get the incense sticks?’ Bei Dou asked.
‘My little sister gave them to me,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘She said it was a gift from the palace. She showed me two kinds of incense sticks. One had a strong scent and the other had a faint scent. I chose the faint scene. Is there something wrong with them?’
‘Nothing,’ Bei Dou said. ‘You don’t suit the scent.’
Bei Dou tossed Yan Shi Ning one of the bottles he was carrying and he walked calmly into the chamber.
Yan Shi Ning felt Bei Dou was a strange young man who asked strange questions then abruptly became silent again. She looked at Pei Jin and her confused eyes asked him what had happened.
Pei Jin was upset with Bei Dou. He asked Bei Dou to subtly ask Yan Shi Ning about the incense sticks, he didn’t expect Bei Dou would ask directly.
Pei Jin escorted a confused Yan Shi Ning to their chamber and quickly returned to Bei Dou’s chamber.
‘I asked you to be subtle but you asked my wife directly,’ Pei Jin said. ‘What if my wife suspects something?’
‘I don’t have a habit of being subtle,’ Bei Dou said.
Pei Jin rubbed his temples. ‘When I gave you the incense sticks you told me I couldn’t sleep with my wife on our wedding night. Why?’
On the morning of Pei Jin and Yan Shi Ning’s wedding day, he woke a sleeping Bei Dou up and gave him the incense sticks to examine. In the past he had confided in Bei Dou about the missing incense sticks, but Bei Dou couldn’t identify the poison without examining the incense sticks. So when the incense sticks reappeared in Yan Shi Ning’s chamber the first person he wanted to show was Bei Dou.
Bei Dou only sniffed the incense sticks and gave Pei Jin a vague advice, ‘these incense sticks are poison. You can’t sleep with your wife on your wedding night.’
Pei Jin continued to rub his temples while Bei Dou explained about the poison.
‘Seven poisons were used to make these incense sticks,’ Bei Dou said. ‘One of the seven poisons is called Fu Gui. Fu Gui is naturally found in Western Ning. Fu Gui fruits are rare and not easy to pluck. After it’s grown for ten years its flowers will bloom. Then ten years later it’ll bear fruit. Fu Gui fruits smell similar to jasmine. It’s hard for those who aren’t physicians to distinguish between Fu Gui fruits and jasmine. If a person sniffs the scent of Fu Gui fruits then they’ll feel relaxed. But if they sniff it continuously for months and years then their body will be poisoned. The poison will linger in their blood and they won’t escape death. But the poison only affects women, especially pregnant women. Women who are affected die within a year, pregnant women will die within three months.’
Pei Jin’s whole body turned cold. The symptoms Bei Dou explained to him was exactly what had happened to his adoptive mother, Consort Chen. Before she was pregnant she was healthy but three months after she was pregnant she was weak and lost weight. What Jin curse? Someone killed Consort Chen.
Bei Dou noticed Pei Jin’s clenched hands, but he didn’t offer any comforting words and continued to explain the other symptoms. ‘A woman who is poisoned by Fu Gui can’t sleep with a man. The effect of the poison will double each time she sleeps with a man. If she becomes pregnant then both she and the unborn child can’t escape death.’
‘Then what should I do?’ Pei Jin asked.
‘Lucky she didn’t sniff the poison for a long period,’ Bei Dou said. ‘Her body will slowly release the poison. Combined with the cure, she’ll recover faster, less than half a month.’
‘Where is the cure?’ Pei Jin asked.
‘I gave it to your wife,’ Bei Dou said.
‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘When I brought my wife back to our chamber, she didn’t like the stench of the herbs in the bottle you gave her. Luckily I explained to her that you wouldn’t give someone something for no reason otherwise she would have thrown it away.’
‘It’s not a problem even if she throws it away,’ Bei Dou said. ‘The cure is easy to make.’
‘Then must I endure not sleeping with my wife for half a month?’ Pei Jin asked. ‘Do you have a solution?’
Pei Jin felt tormented to death sleeping in the same bed as his wife without eating her.
‘Yes,’ Bei Dou said.
‘What’s the solution?’ Pei Jin asked
‘Castration,’ Bei Dou said.
***
End of Chapter Nine (Part 1)
Chapter Nine (Part 2 of 2)
Pei Jin’s throat constricted.
‘Do you need to investigate this?’ Bei Dou asked.
‘Yes, someone killed Consort Chen because they didn’t want her child to be born,’ Pei Jin said. ‘Behind her is Huang Guo and her other relatives. They feared for her life after she adopted me, especially when she was pregnant. The person used the Fu Gui poison to kill Consort Chen, her unborn child and to leave me unprotected. Destroying the roots by using one arrow to kill three birds is indeed a brilliant scheme.’
‘The empress has always been a cruel schemer,’ Bei Dou said.
‘But I don’t know why they would poison Shi Ning,’ Pei Jin said.
Initially Pei Jin thought Princess Kang Hua hated Yan Shi Ning and wanted to kill Yan Shi Ning. But Yan Shi Ning said that she received the incense sticks less than a month ago. If Princess Kang Hua truly wanted to kill Yan Shi Ning then Princess Kang Hua would have begun to poison Yan Shi Ning the moment she arrived at the Yan Manor instead of waiting for two years.
‘This scheme also uses one arrow to kill two birds,’ Bei Dou said. ‘The empress doesn’t want you to have children and Princess Kang Hua wants to kill your wife. If your wife dies in the Yan Manor, people would be suspicious. But if she dies in your manor, no one would suspect them.’
Pei Jin’s father had three adult sons including himself. Apart from seventh prince’s daughter who was two years old, his other adult brothers didn’t have children. The court officials were concerned about future successions. If one of his father’s sons gave his father the first grandson then it would affect which prince the court officials would support.
‘I have never been involved in their battles for the throne yet they won’t let me be,’ Pei Jin said.
‘Then why don’t you battle?’ Bei Dou asked. ‘You suit the throne more than them.’
‘Bei Dou, you don’t need to keep persuading me to change my plan,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I know you want to avenge your family. When there is the right opportunity I’ll help you avenge your family. But now isn’t the right opportunity, you need to be patient and not do anything reckless. Also, I want to remind you that I only want to be a carefree prince.’
Pei Jin strode out of Bei Dou’s chamber. Bei Dou glanced at Pei Jin’s back and he felt a little disappointed.
Bei Dou remembered his promise to Pei Jin five years ago.
‘I can save you but you need to promise me not to recklessly avenge your family,’ Pei Jin said.
Bei Dou promised Pei Jin to stay alive. He followed Pei Jin for five years and for five years he tried to persuade Pei Jin to fight for the throne. But Pei Jin’s reply was always the same, ‘I have no desire to be emperor.’
While Bei Dou was wondering if Pei Jin truly had no desire to be emperor, Pei Jin was looking for Yan Shi Ning.
Half way to his and Yan Shi Ning’s chamber, he saw her hiding behind a fake rock mountain and waving a fan. He didn’t know who she was spying on.
Earlier Yan Shi Ning had changed into a comfortable dress then she took a stroll around the gardens. But she didn’t expect to accidently see Su Yue pulled a young maid between twelve and thirteen years old to a fake rock mountain.
‘Little vixen, I’ll let you grow a new face,’ Su Yue threatened.
Yan Shi Ning loved to watch lively performances. In the two years she lived at the Yan Manor she almost died of the Yan Manor’s dullness. Of course she wouldn’t let go of a lively performance and secretly followed Su Yue and the young maid.
Yan Shi Ning eavesdropped on Su Yue and the young maid and understood what happened between them. In the morning the young maid followed Pei Jin’s order and cooked chicken soup. Then in the afternoon Su Yue sneaked into the kitchen and ate a portion of the chicken soup. The young maid returned to the kitchen and caught Su Yue eating the chicken soup and scolded Su Yue that Pei Jin said the chicken soup was for Yan Shi Ning. Su Yue waited for no witnesses to bully the young maid for daring to scold Su Yue.
Su Yue cursed and hit the young maid. ‘The moment you saw ninth prince’s wife enter the manor, you want to gain his wife’s favour. You’re wasting your energy. She’s only a poor unloved little girl inside the prime minister’s manor. Ninth prince only married her because he was forced. What does it matter if I eat chicken soup? Do you think ninth prince would hit or curse me? Open your eyes wide or I’ll force you to see properly!’
Su Yue slapped the young maid’s cheek. Su Yue’s fingernails were long and sharp. Yan Shi Ning couldn’t see clearly if Su Yue accidently or purposely scratched the young maid’s cheek, but a little blood dripped down the young maid’s cheek. The young maid cried out in pain and tears flowed down her cheeks.
Su Yue wasn’t satisfied enough and kicked the young maid’s body until the young maid fell on the ground.
Su Yue left the young maid crying on the ground. After a while the young maid struggled to get off the ground and left the fake rock mountain.
Yan Shi Ning slipped and was surprised she fell back into Pei Jin’s chest instead of the ground.
‘Big brother, what are you doing here?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.
‘I came to see the lively performance too,’ Pei Jin said. ‘I thought you would ask for justice on behalf of the young maid.’
Pei Jin thought Yan Shi Ning would jump into the fight and slap both of Su Yue’s cheeks to avenge the young maid.
‘I remember someone said Su Yue has a special background,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘If I reprimand her then it would cause trouble for someone.’
Pei Jin was initially surprised Yan Shi Ning held back in consideration of him. But he realised the Yan Shi Ning he knew would think of a way to discreetly deal with Su Yue.
***
End of Chapter Nine (Part 2 of 2)
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