Chapter 14: Chapter Fourteen

Qingwu climbed into the carriage in high spirits, eager to enjoy some time alone with Pei Muci.

As the carriage passed a jewelry shop, a constant stream of conversation poured from within, like countless noisy bees and butterflies flapping and buzzing straight into their ears.

Pei Muci lifted the curtain and tapped lightly on the carriage frame. “Uncle Cheng, stop for a moment.”

Qingwu slapped at his sleeve like a seal clapping its flippers, trying to stop him, but to no avail. She hurriedly protested, “I didn’t mean for you to compensate me with this.”

She pouted gloomily, a trace of subtle disdain showing in her eyes.

For someone as brilliant as he was, had he truly failed to understand her meaning—or was he deliberately pretending to be a fool?

Pei Muci got down first and stubbornly reached out to help her. “This isn’t compensation. I want to give it to Your Highness.”

“Then it’s settled. The compensation is to be counted separately.” Qingwu’s dark eyes seemed dusted with starlight, glittering brightly.

Pei Muci looked at her and smiled softly. “All right.”

Having received the answer she wanted, she was instantly satisfied. She placed her hand on his forearm and hopped down from the carriage with delight, only to see a sign across the street made from inferior pearls: the Red Jade Pavilion.

“This place is rather large.”

Qingwu had heard of the shop. It was one of the capital’s famous jewelry stores, occupying an entire three-story building filled with dazzling hair ornaments and finery. It catered not only to women; many men who enjoyed poetry and calligraphy also came here to browse. The higher one went, the better the quality—and naturally, the more formidable the prices.

Knowing Snow and Spring Condensation gazed at the mixed crowd of merchants and customers inside, pretending to be ordinary young ladies from respectable families shopping for jewelry. They entered first to investigate the situation.

They took a cursory look around. The shop carried wares made from every imaginable material, and the shopkeeper was warm and hospitable enough. Whenever a young lady took a fancy to an item, he would immediately summon a maid to help her dress and try it on. Before long, the girls would emerge from the shop, clutching their beloved head ornaments with radiant smiles.

After a general tour, the two found very little worth their attention. Their eyes had been spoiled by the treasures in the Princess’s residence; how could they possibly appreciate these roughly crafted folk wares?

The topmost pearl set into the princess’s crown alone was worth more than enough to buy everything in the entire building.

Both girls caught a hint of disappointment in the other’s eyes.

Young Master Pei certainly had a fine appearance, but he was rather poor. He could not even afford to give the princess a decent piece of jewelry…

As the two stepped over the threshold, they happened to come face-to-face with Qingwu. Their bearing changed at once, and they lowered their eyes, quietly following behind the princess.

“Only the two of you? Where is Containing Moon?” Qingwu asked.

Knowing Snow glanced left and right but saw no sign of her. “She is probably hiding somewhere nearby.”

Containing Moon had never been one of the maids who attended closely to the princess’s dressing and daily needs. Her foremost duties were to guard against unfamiliar surroundings and protect the princess’s safety. The other two maids were accustomed to this and did not think to look for her.

Qingwu gave a faint hum, yet began carefully turning the matter over in her mind.

It seemed that ever since the girl had been sent from the palace to help carry the chest into the hall—and especially since she had seen the little eunuch who served at the emperor’s side—her expression had been strange.

Though she was a shadow guard, she was not a heartless, emotionless wooden doll. Qingwu would have to find an opportunity to question her properly.

“This young lady wears her hair high. A hairpin with dangling ornaments would suit the curve of her coiffure.”

The voice drew everyone’s attention, and they naturally turned to look at the several hair ornaments the shop assistant was pushing toward them in a wooden box.

The designs were attractive, but the materials were truly inferior.

Qingwu was dissatisfied. Then she remembered something else and regained her interest. “Do you have any plain hairpins?”

The shop assistant gave an enlightened little smile and immediately brought over a wooden tray bearing several carved hairpins. “Miss, are you buying one for this young master—”

The moment the words left her mouth, she faltered. She remained frozen with the tray half extended, as though someone had seized her by the throat. For several seconds, she could not move.

Perhaps realizing that she had lost her composure, the shop assistant quickly lowered her eyes. Without looking at anyone, she pushed the tray forward for them to examine. “These styles would all suit you very well.”

The girl recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to escape Qingwu’s notice.

“What is it?” Qingwu sensed something unusual and seized the opportunity to press her.

“That new girl is utterly blind, though her tongue knows how to flatter. She simply cannot recognize someone of importance.” The shopkeeper waved the assistant away, then personally led them toward the corner. “All of you look like true connoisseurs. Shall I invite you to the third floor?”

In the corner stood something resembling an upright wooden chest, large enough to hold only two or three people. The shopkeeper entered and seized the operating rope. Pei Muci had intended to let Qingwu go in first, but seeing her giving instructions to Spring Condensation and the others, he entered ahead of her and extended his hand.

“Your Highness…” Spring Condensation stared at the crude-looking hoist, hesitating to speak.

Pei Muci enclosed Qingwu’s delicate hand in his own. Bracing one finger beneath her wrist, he lifted her effortlessly inside.

Qingwu could not keep hold of his hand, so she instead took two of his fingers, rubbing her fingertips over his neatly trimmed nails. Then she waved the two maids away. “It’s fine. Wait for me outside.”

“Stand steady, both of you!”

The lift was extremely cramped. When the shopkeeper pulled the rope, the box first sank downward.

Qingwu’s heart dropped with it. The temperature around her seemed to fall several degrees, and gooseflesh rose over her body as though she had tumbled into an underground cellar.

Several seconds later, the rope tightened with a series of creaking groans, and the hoist finally began to rise slowly.

“There’s another floor below us?” Qingwu swayed, and Pei Muci’s arm was pulled in front of her, making it seem as though he were embracing her from behind.

“Young lady, your powers of observation are remarkable.” The shopkeeper could not help clicking his tongue, a vague sense of unease rising in his heart. “Most of the goods in the Red Jade Pavilion must be stored away from the light, so we excavated another level underground and use it as a storeroom.”

Afraid that Qingwu might not believe him, yet worried that saying too much would only make matters worse, he cast several hesitant glances at her.

Pei Muci’s gaze shifted. He swept the shopkeeper with a cold look. His eyes were like an autumn wind steeped in bone-chilling frost, sweeping dead leaves across the ground with desolate severity.

The shopkeeper wound the rope another turn around his palm, concealing his faintly trembling fingers.

In the briefest instant, a thin sheen of sweat appeared over his entire body.

Qingwu casually folded the outer rim of her ear over and pressed it lightly several times with her fingertips.

Perhaps it was a ringing in her ears, but she thought she had heard something.

Pei Muci lowered his head to look at her. His eyes rippled once, then settled back into calm stillness. “What is it?”

“The swaying is rather severe. My ears feel a little uncomfortable.”

The moment she finished speaking, a narrow gap appeared in the ill-fitting wooden door, revealing the true scene of the third floor.

Behind a man-high stone statue stood a series of small, independently partitioned rooms. From outside, there was no particularly luxurious decoration to speak of, and even the carpets on the floor were patterned with circular rings resembling the grain of ancient tree trunks.

As Qingwu passed several rooms near the front, she saw signs hanging at their entrances that read, “Occupied.” Yet not the slightest sound of conversation could be heard from within.

The shopkeeper explained, “The guests who come to the third floor are either wealthy or powerful. We could hardly allow private conversations to be overheard by others.”

Qingwu had not expected the place to appear so plain while being so meticulously planned. No wonder it had managed to secure a place for itself in the prosperous capital.

As they spoke, the shopkeeper pushed open a door. The furnishings inside were simple; even the low couch for resting was woven from cool bamboo.

He tapped twice on a smaller door within the room. “We have guests.”

Only then did Qingwu realize that this was a concealed chamber nested inside another chamber. She could not help looking around, searching for hidden mechanisms.

“Please wait, Your Highness.”

Pei Muci pushed open the door. Inside, a young woman knelt waiting. A thick red veil covered the lower half of her face, but it could not conceal the seductive charm spilling from the corners of her eyes.

Dim candlelight flickered across the mottled tabletop, like a haunted house deliberately arranged to create an eerie atmosphere. There was something indescribably strange about it.

Qingwu was just about to take a closer look when Pei Muci had already closed the door. His slightly lean, broad shoulders and thin back blocked the view in the already shadowed corner.

With practiced ease, Pei Muci took two folded sheets of fine white paper from inside his robe.

“What an intricate design, young master.” The maid had never seen anything like it and could not help voicing her admiration.

At first glance, it was a dangling phoenix hairpin roughly six inches long, the phoenix clasping a golden pearl in its beak. Though the pendants were complicated, they were not impossible to decipher. The most painstaking feature appeared on the second sheet: the hairpin could be divided into two, concealing in its center a sharp dagger with a cylindrical blade.

But how could a hollow phoenix withstand the force required to thrust the dagger outward?

The maid was utterly absorbed. She took out several tools and began measuring the exact dimensions.

“Can you make it?” Pei Muci asked.

“Of course. It will simply take some time. Do you need it urgently?” The maid brought over a frame-sized object, coated it with a layer of special ink using a wide brush, and transferred the design Pei Muci had drawn onto the paper.

“Within the next few days.” He pondered for a moment. “As quickly as possible.”

The maid folded the fine paper along its creases and returned it to Pei Muci. “Come and collect it in three days.”

“Leave it there. I’ll come when I have the time.”

Once they had finished discussing the official business, the maid did not know what else to say. She placed both hands before her lower abdomen, and the atmosphere grew as strangely silent as a winter evening when the ice was beginning to thaw.

“Young master…” She gripped the hem of her clothing and tugged it down, a dense chill spreading across her back.

Pei Muci turned his head slightly but did not answer. His long, slender fingers rested on the lid of a square landscape-patterned teacup, gently brushing the tea leaves away from its rim. His expression held no emotion.

“Keep it brief.”