Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 017

Chapter 17: Mengzhou

Pei Yu took An Rong all the way south to a county town called Mengzhou. He used the little money he had left to rent a small courtyard and planned to settle down there.

“Ah’Yu, why is it so small here?” After a few days of bumpy ride, An Rong’s face had become smaller and she looked very tired.

Pei Yu found her that night and promised her that he would let her live a good life in the future as long as she was willing to go with him. At that time, An Rong thought that as long as she gave birth to the child and her relationship with Pei Yu stabilized, the Pei family would come to take them back sooner or later. After all, Pei Yu was the only child of the eldest branch of the Pei family.

But looking at the house in front of her, which was small and old, only one-fifth the size of the one she lived in in the capital, she suddenly felt that she could not hold on any longer.

“This place is a little small, but I have already inquired about it. There is a private school nearby where I can be a teacher. You don’t have to worry about your future life. When I have money, I will do some business and I will definitely live a good life.” Pei Yu was full of enthusiasm and full of infinite yearning for his future life.

He was even a little grateful to An Zhi now. When he became rich, he would definitely bring his whole family to find An Zhi and let An Zhi see how happy they were.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds and had only two rooms. The tables and chairs inside were covered in dust, and it seemed that no one had lived there for a long time.

Fortunately, there was a well in the courtyard, and Pei Yu drew a few buckets of water. After these days of traveling, Pei Yu’s hands had blisters, but for the sake of the future, he didn’t feel tired. After he went in, he wiped the tables and chairs. “I’ll take care of this. It’s getting dark now. Go to the kitchen and get something to eat.”

“You want me to do it myself?” An Rong looked at Pei Yu in disbelief and said coquettishly, “Can’t you go out and buy something? I’ve been sitting in the carriage for half a day and I’m almost dead tired.”

Pei Yu saw An Rong’s face turn slightly pale, and he felt guilty, especially since An Rong was pregnant. They didn’t have much money left, and they were struggling to buy groceries and rice in a month. “Then you sit down and rest, I’ll go to the kitchen.”

An Rong saw Pei Yu walking out, frowned and kicked the stool in front of her, but hurt her toe.

After a while, An Rong heard a sudden bang from the kitchen. Thinking she shouldn’t be too squeamish, she walked out. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw the pot overturned on the floor. Pei Yu’s hands were as black as charcoal, and there was a large black spot on his cheek.

They were both raised in pampering and had never done any heavy work at home, but now they had to make fire, cook and clean by themselves here.

Pei Yu saw An Rong crying and quickly stood up and hugged An Rong, “It’s my fault that I couldn’t let you enjoy your happiness.”

An Rong also hugged Pei Yu and said, “Don’t say that. I’m very happy to be with you.”

At this moment, the courtyard door creaked and a rough female voice asked if anyone was there.

An Rong and Pei Yu walked out together and saw a fat woman. Pei Yu looked at her warily and asked, “Auntie, what’s going on?”

“My husband’s surname is Wang, you can just call me Sister Wang. I live next door to you, so I’m your neighbor. When I heard the noise from you, I thought you were new residents, so I sent you some green rice dumplings. We make them at home, so don’t mind.” Sister Wang was holding a banana leaf with a few green snacks on it.

When Pei Yu heard that it was a neighbor who came to deliver something, he smiled, thanked her, and took it.

Madam Wang saw the black dust on Pei Yu’s hands and asked, “Young man, why are your hands and face so dark? I see you look fair and clean, you don’t look like children from a poor family. Did you elope here?”

Pei Yu’s expression froze for a moment after these words were spoken, but he quickly regained his smile. “Sister Wang, you’re joking. We did have a good time before, but our business collapsed, and then we encountered a drought, so we moved all the way south to here. If we really eloped, we would have to hide in the deep mountains and forests.”

“That’s right.” Madam Wang glanced at the kitchen. “Then you guys go get busy. If you need any help, come find me. They say a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. You don’t have to be polite to me.”

After saying that, Wang’s wife left the yard. When she returned home, she found two men in black sitting in the room. “Brothers, I did everything you said. They can’t even light a fire. They can’t make a living.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a man in black took out a silver ingot and she said, “Thank you, big brother. You can stay here for the next few days without worry. If you have any instructions, just tell me.”

~

It was two days later when An Zhi received the news that Pei Yu and An Rong had settled in Mengzhou. That day also happened to be her aunt’s birthday.

Before leaving, An Zhi was choosing a headpiece. “Pearl tassels will do. Gold is too dazzling and not suitable for today. Tell the people they send to be careful because Pei Que’s men are there too. Just hint at An Rong appropriately, but don’t overdo it.”

Binglu still didn’t understand why Pei Que had looked for An Zhi that night. “Young lady, you’re too cautious. I heard that Fourth Master Pei is still looking for Young Master Pei. He shouldn’t have any news about Young Master Pei.”

An Zhi couldn’t bring herself to bring back Pei Que’s words from the previous day, but since he knew she was planning to have Pei Yu elope, he’d definitely have someone follow her. But he didn’t try to stop her, presumably tacitly approving of her plan. Even so, she couldn’t go too far, lest she give Pei Que any leverage.

“Okay, let’s go out. Today is my aunt’s birthday. I’m a member of the An family, so I can’t go too late.” An Zhi looked in the mirror. The girl in the mirror had beautiful eyebrows and eyes. The simple dress could not hide her beauty. Instead, it made her look more elegant. An Zhi was very satisfied with this dress.

Now that Pei Yu was expelled from the Pei family, everyone in the capital knew about it, but no one from the An family knew why Pei Yu was expelled. This was also something that An Zhi could not let others know. But after she arrived at Weiyuan Marquis Mansion, Lin Shuyao deliberately mentioned An Rong.

“Sister An Zhi, I heard that Uncle An adopted a daughter a few days ago. She is a rare beauty with a stunning appearance. Why didn’t you bring her here today?” Lin Shuyao was sitting among a group of noble ladies. When she saw An Zhi, she didn’t greet her but directly threw a troublesome question to An Zhi.

An Chengye secretly entered An Rong into the family tree. An Zhi originally thought no one knew about it, but she never expected Lin Shuyao to bring it up in public. “What are you talking about, Sister Lin? I’m the only daughter of my father, and I didn’t even know I had a younger sister. How did you know?”

“I heard someone say that a few days ago. Since we are good friends, I took note of it.” Lin Shuyao looked at An Zhi with a forced smile. She didn’t believe that An Zhi could get away with it.

Ever since Pei Yu was expelled from the Pei family, Lin Shuyao had people search all over the capital for him, but there were no news of Pei Yu. She felt that Pei Yu must have eloped with An Rong, but she had no evidence, so she decided to try to trick An Zhi into telling her.

An Zhi calmly sat down. A maid came up to make tea. She saw Lin Shuyao pursed her lips and smiled, “I really didn’t know what Sister Lin was talking about. But Sister Lin is so concerned about my family’s affairs. Could it be because of the recent major event in my family?”

Madam An was a daughter who married out, so it was not appropriate for her to show her off to her brother for a second marriage in a public manner. Therefore, not many people knew that An Chengye was planning to remarry.

When the other girls nearby heard An Zhi say it was a big deal, they all became interested. After all, they had heard one big gossip after another about the An family in the past few days. The An family was now their biggest topic of conversation after dinner, so someone asked An Zhi what the big deal was.

Remarrying was not a shameful thing, although it would be a bit embarrassing for the host family to make it known, but An Zhi was different. She would not feel embarrassed at all, but could use it to challenge Lin Shuyao.

Face was no longer a particularly important thing to An Zhi. What really mattered was living a comfortable life.

Her gaze rested on Lin Shuyao’s face, and An Zhi smiled calmly. “Recently, my father is planning to remarry. This is a well-known fact in the matchmaking circle in the capital. Sister Lin and I have been good friends for many years, and I never guessed that Sister Lin had such intentions. If you had told me earlier, I would definitely be willing to help you and my father get together.”