Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 394

Chapter 394: Origin

Going out to buy clothes wasn’t difficult. Just take your family’s measurements to Shuiyun Studio and pick out a few patterns. It didn’t take long.

When An Zhi and Huiping emerged from Shuiyun Studio, seeing it was still early, they went to Chunfeng Tower for some snacks.

As they sat down, they heard a commotion in the private room next door.

An Zhi didn’t care what was happening next door. She instructed Fusheng, “Watch the door and don’t let anyone in.”

Fusheng nodded, but just as she finished speaking, someone rushed in, startling Binglu and the others so much that they immediately stood in front of their masters.

The intruder was none other than the disheveled Shi Shi.

Shi Shi’s collar was torn, her hands clutching the shirt tightly against her chest, and her hair was half loose.

“Cousin, help me!” Shi Shi cried.

An Zhi recovered from her shock, but just as she could see Shi Shi’s full body, Fusheng was arguing with someone outside. She knew it was He Liang by the sound of his voice.

Shi Shi also heard He Liang’s voice and turned back in panic, just as An Zhi saw it.

When An Zhi heard He Liang questioning Fusheng’s identity, she left the private room. Seeing Fusheng lying on the ground, she looked at He Liang with a sullen expression. “Young Master He, what are you doing?”

He Liang had no idea Fusheng was An Zhi’s servant. His legs trembled uncontrollably at An Zhi’s question, and he instinctively glanced behind An Zhi, like a thief.

Although An Zhi didn’t understand the details of what had happened, she could guess a little. Even if she disliked Shi Shi, everyone outside knew she was staying at the Pei family’s house, so she couldn’t let onlookers know that Shi Shi was in the private room and could be assaulted.

He Liang wanted to go into the private room to look for someone, but An Zhi was there. His thoughts shifted, and he steeled himself, saying, “A maid stole something from me and apparently ran into your private room, so I wanted to check. I didn’t expect Madam of Pei to be there. I’m so sorry.”

“I see.” An Zhi leaned aside, making way for He Liang. “Since the item is missing, Young Master He, please go in and take a look. However, my sister-in-law and other female relatives are inside. If you can’t find anyone, I’ll go to your house to question them.”

Hearing this, He Liang dared not move. His family was already incredibly humble. If he offended An Zhi and Princess Huiping again, his entire family would be doomed.

Thinking of Shi Shi’s escape, even though she’d only come from next door, someone would surely have seen her on the way. If he insisted that he had taken Shi Shi’s body, Madam of Shi wouldn’t dare risk not marrying her daughter to him.

“Since Madam of Pei says it’s not true, then it’s definitely not true.” He Liang tactfully avoided going in. Turning to help Fusheng, he discovered that Fusheng had already stood up and bowed in apology.

A young official apologizing to a servant told those proud scholars that he was going to stab He Liang in the back.

An Zhi, seeing He Liang’s resilience, set aside the matter of pushing Fusheng aside for now. At the moment, dealing with Shi Shi’s matter was more important.

After He Liang left, An Zhi had Fusheng quietly follow him while she went back inside to have Shi Shi change into a maid’s clothes and took her back to the Pei Mansion.

On the way back, An Zhi glanced at Shi Shi briefly, not wanting to say anything more. “You don’t need to tell me anything. Just tell your mother and uncle when you get back.”

Even now, An Zhi still remembered the old master’s words telling her to stay out of the Shi family’s affairs. Which was a good thing; it saved her a lot of trouble.

She had originally planned to stay at her parents’ home for a few more days, but with Shi Shi’s incident midway through, she couldn’t stay any longer. So, on her way back, An Zhi asked Binglu to accompany her sister-in-law to the An Mansion to pack up.

After returning to the Pei Mansion, An Zhi led her people straight to the old master’s courtyard. When they arrived, the aunt had just arrived.

Pei Qingyan, perplexed by her daughter, dressed as a maid, approached her and whispered, “What’s wrong?” Her daughter burst into tears.

An Zhi answered Shi Shi’s questions about what she had seen and heard at Chunfeng Tower. “That’s all I know. I stopped He Liang and sent Fusheng to follow him. As for the details of what happened, let my father and aunt ask my cousin. I won’t stay here any longer.”

After saying this, An Zhi bowed and left the room without looking back.

After An Zhi left, Pei Qingyan saw her daughter still crying and anxiously asked, “Why are you crying? What happened? Tell me now?”

Pei Huaijin sat at the head table. Seeing Shi Shi sobbing, his head ached. He frowned and said harshly, “If you have something to say, tell me. If you want to cry, go back to your room and cry.”

Shi Shi choked back her tears at her uncle’s scolding. She looked at her mother with a wronged look, hesitating about what to say.

Pei Qingyan knew her daughter had gone out today to keep an appointment with Young Master Wang. She had heard that Young Master Wang loved her very much, and she had assumed that the two little ones would get along well. She had never expected her daughter to come back crying. “Just tell me what’s going on,” Pei Qingyan asked. “If you don’t, how can we get justice for you?”

Shi Shi bit her lower lip hard, and after a long pause, she said, “I was having snacks at Chunfeng Tower today, and He… He Liang suddenly came in and hugged me…” At this, Shi Shi began to cry again.

Pei Qingyan was stunned. Regardless of her brother’s presence, she asked directly, “Didn’t you have an appointment with Young Master Wang? Weren’t you with Young Master Wang? Why did He Liang come in?”

“I…” With her uncle around, Shi Shi couldn’t bring herself to say that she was going to see Young Master Wang, and she covered her face and burst into tears.

But even if Shi Shi didn’t say it, Pei Huaijin understood.

He glanced at his sister, speechless with anger.

Pei Qingyan also understood what her daughter was hesitant to say. As someone who had experienced this, she naturally understood. She asked blankly, “So…did he succeed in the end?”

“No, after I realized it wasn’t Young Master Wang, I ran away like crazy and met my cousin’s wife, who brought me back,” Shi Shi said.

Pei Qingyan slumped weakly into the chair behind her. Even if it hadn’t worked out, her daughter’s body had been touched and embraced by He Liang, a disgrace to her reputation.

Who could have imagined that their original plan for a secret affair with Young Master Wang would be taken advantage of by He Liang, who suddenly appeared and took advantage of them?

Pei Huaijin was furious for a moment before calming down. Noticing a contradiction, he asked Shi Shi, “Since you were meeting Young Master Wang and bringing your maid with you, where were your maids and the Wang family servants? Wasn’t anyone stopping He Liang from entering the private room?”

“Maids?” Shi Shi suddenly realized upon hearing her uncle’s question. When He Liang arrived at the private room, no one was there. Young Master Wang had said he was going to the bathroom, but someone should have been waiting at the door.

Pei Huaijin saw his niece’s stunned expression and knew she and her sister had been tricked by the Wang family.

“You two idiots!” Pei Huaijin exclaimed angrily.

By this point, Pei Qingyan and Shi Shi had also come to their senses. Before their relationship, the Wang family had been playing with them, never considering letting Shi Shi enter the Wang family. Now that they didn’t want to play games anymore, they brought in He Liang, who had always wanted to marry Shi Shi, to take advantage of Shi Shi’s innocence. She had no choice but to suffer this loss in silence.

Shi Shi collapsed to the ground helplessly. She prided herself on her intelligence, always scheming against others, but she’d ended up being schemed against by the very people she’d been scheming against.

After many twists and turns, she’d come to the capital to break off the engagement, only to have her innocence ruined by He Liang’s hands. This was even worse than before the breakup.

“Mother, you have to help me,” Shi Shi said, her eyes widening. “The He family will definitely use this as a threat to force me to marry him. Then everyone in the family will look down on me, and my whole life will be ruined!”

Initially, the He family had begged Shi Shi not to break off the engagement, promising she could act as arrogantly as she pleased if she married him. But now, they held a powerful handle over Shi Shi. If she married him, they would definitely use it as a threat.

Seeing her mother remain silent, Shi Shi turned to her uncle and pleaded, “Uncle, please help me! I want to marry to Dingnan. I will marry to Dingnan honestly and never make trouble again.”

“It’s too late!” Pei Huaijin turned his gaze away, not looking at his niece. He and the Prince of Dingnan were old friends; marriage wasn’t enmity. He couldn’t let the Prince of Dingnan suffer this loss. “You want to marry to Dingnan now, but they don’t want you anymore. You and your mother are so determined, I can’t help you. You’ll have to fend for yourself. But I advise you not to make the He family afraid to act rashly. Think about Shi Xun’s future.”

Having said that, Pei Huaijin also left. He was truly exhausted. He had previously put so much effort into helping with the planning, even telling An Zhi not to interfere in the Shi family’s affairs. Now he regretted it. He should have let An Zhi keep an eye on the Shi family; otherwise, such a disaster wouldn’t have happened.

In fact, An Zhi knew that Shi Shi often went out to see Young Master Wang because she had spies, but the old master had told her not to interfere, and Shi Shi’s situation didn’t concern her much, so she had never told him.

After returning to her own courtyard, An Zhi let out a long sigh, ordered a cup of strong tea, drank most of it, and then sighed to Binglu, “What kind of effort reaps what fruit? Father has put so much thought into them, mother and daughter, and in the end, it’s all in vain. We’re worse than when we started.”

Binglu thought about the cousin’s affairs, and her emotions were mixed. As a woman herself, she understood how important reputation was to a woman, but the cousin’s current situation was her own fault. “Madam, what do you think will become of her this time?” An Zhi thought for a moment and said, “Next spring, my cousin from the Shi family will take the imperial examination. In my aunt’s eyes, sons are definitely more important than daughters. For my cousin’s future, Shi Shi has to swallow a fly this time, even if she doesn’t want to.”

“Then all their previous troubles were for nothing?” Binglu sighed. “If that’s the case, won’t the cousin jump off the building?”

“She won’t jump. Someone who can scheme against everyone for their own benefit won’t commit suicide.” An Zhi didn’t feel sorry for Shi Shi.

In fact, it was just as An Zhi imagined. Shi Shi went home and cried all night. The next day, when the He family came to propose marriage, Shi Shi didn’t make a fuss and honestly agreed to the He family’s proposal.

An Zhi wanted to be an outsider, but she was the daughter-in-law of the Pei family after all. With Shi Shi engaged to the He family again, she had to help arrange people for her aunt. The dowry her aunt had prepared in Lingnan had to be shipped to the capital.

As for Shi Shi’s marriage, they publicly stated that the engagement hadn’t been called off, and that it was a misunderstanding. They were steadfastly keeping their mouths shut, and no matter how much others speculated, the true reason remained unknown, except to the Wang family.

However, Pei Huaijin sent the Wang family a gift and had someone report Young Master Wang, instantly removing him from his position at the Prefectural Office as a warning to the Wang family to be less arrogant.

At the same time, Pei Huaijin suggested that the wedding not be delayed and that it be set for the sixteenth of next month, which still left about a twenty-day window, to avoid further complications.

During this period, An Zhi rarely visited the aunt or the Shi family. She was responsible for sending people to deliver gifts and money. As long as money could be used to resolve the issue, she would not intervene, to avoid further entanglement with the Shi family mother and daughter.

On the second day of December, the men Pei Que had sent to Dingnan returned, claiming to have uncovered details about Housheng’s family.

The year the Peis took Housheng away, his hometown had indeed been struck by famine. Housheng had an older brother and an older sister. Their family had sold his sister at the very beginning. While his brother and Housheng had fled the famine, ultimately dying along the way. The only person who might still be alive would be Housheng’s sister.

However, many years had passed, making it difficult to find the human traffickers. Fortunately, Shuo Feng and the others had experience and met someone who had seen Housheng’s sister. Because of her particularly charming eyes, they remembered her clearly. It was said that she had been transported north by human traffickers.

An Zhi was helping Pei Que grind ink when she heard the news.

Shuo Feng stood in the hall, his gaze fixed on the floor tiles. “I’ve already sent people north to search. As long as the person is still alive, we’ll find her before the New Year!”

Pei Que hummed, lowered his black-rabbit-hair brush, and looked up at Shuo Feng. “How’s the Ministry of Public Works?”

“Nothing unusual,” Shuo Feng replied. “In my opinion, the person who figured out how to use you to bring poison back to harm Madam must be very thoughtful, so they must have noticed something.”

An Zhi couldn’t help but interject, “If they had noticed, they would have definitely moved Housheng’s sister.”

Pei Que nodded. “We can’t wait until the New Year. We only have five days. Any longer, and I’m afraid we won’t even find a bone.”

“I understand,” Shuo Feng said.

“Alright, get back to work.” Pei Que waved to Shuo Feng. After Shuo Feng left, he saw An Zhi still grinding and reached out to shake her hand. “Thank you for your hard work, Madam. This is all I need.”

An Zhi uttered a sigh, then turned her gaze toward the door. She said calmly, “I received a letter from my aunt yesterday. She said that Eldest Brother and his wife have been communicating closely with Pei Yu lately. I guess they haven’t given up on getting Pei Yu back.”

“I’ve also had someone keep an eye on Pei Yu. We won’t let him come back easily.” Pei Que picked up the black-rabbit-hair brush again and wrote a “yes” on the secret letter on the table. “From the beginning, my eldest brother has been unwilling to accept this. In his eyes, I’ve taken his position as head of the Pei family.”

The more unwilling he was, the more he endured. All these years later, if Pei Yu hadn’t been forced to leave for the northwest, the Pei family’s main branch’s influence wouldn’t have been exposed so quickly.