Adorning Flowers by Night - Chapter 40

Chapter 40

When Pei Yu and Zhu Weirui arrived at the front courtyard for dinner, they found Lu Ruzhuo and Zhu Wuhua fighting for some unknown reason.

Pei Yu: "..."

Ever since their reunion, their conversations had been filled with tension. Pei Yu had a premonition that they would come to blows sooner or later. Now, her premonition had come true.

They weren't using weapons or competing with internal energy; they were simply comparing martial forms.

Pei Yu and Zhu Weirui sat in the courtyard, trying to learn from their techniques. After a while, they just stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Zhu Weirui's eyes bulged. "Sister Pei, can you see their movements clearly?"

Pei Yu furrowed her brow. "Mm... I can't."

Zhu Weirui laughed. "It doesn't look like they'll be done anytime soon. Why don't we eat first? I'm hungry."

"Let's wait," Pei Yu said. "It's dinnertime. My Senior Sister would never let herself go hungry."

"Oh, right. Neither would my mother."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two of them stopped.

"Mother."

"Senior Sister."

The two younger women went forward, each taking one of their elders by the arm.

The two fighters were still not finished, their words sharp and unforgiving.

Zhu Wuhua said, "You wilted little cabbage, who would ever fall for you?!"

Lu Ruzhuo was so angry that a faint pink blush appeared on her jade-white cheeks. She retorted, "You're so hot-tempered, all body and no brain! Being with you would shorten a person's life by ten years!"

Zhu Wuhua flew into a rage, pointing at her. "You..."

Zhu Weirui quickly intercepted her mother's hand and tried to smooth things over. "Time to eat, time to eat! The food's getting cold, Mother. They made your favorite vegetarian crab roe today."

Pei Yu also hurried to embrace Lu Ruzhuo. Only after Zhu Weirui had led her mother inside did she slowly release her hands from around Lu Ruzhuo's waist.

The cause of the fight was that Zhu Wuhua had come to tell Lu Ruzhuo she had misspoken to Pei Yu, which might lead to the misunderstanding that they shared a past romance.

Lu Ruzhuo was already frustrated with Pei Yu for being so slow to understand her feelings. This was like lighting a firecracker; she lost her temper and said a few harsh words.

Zhu Wuhua had an even worse temper. She had been angry with Lu Ruzhuo for a while with no outlet for her frustration. Seeing Lu Ruzhuo willing to fight with her over a crush, she immediately resorted to blows at the first disagreement.

They were bound to fight sooner or later; better to get it over with.

Back when they were young girls, they were spirited and proud, both favored children of heaven. They often fought, sometimes sparring, sometimes arguing. But back then, there was someone who acted as a mediator between them, coaxing one and making the other laugh, always patient and gentle.

Lu Ruzhuo lowered her eyes.

That person was gone. Fighting wasn't fun anymore.

Lu Ruzhuo walked into the dining hall. Zhu Wuhua was sitting in her seat, her expression dazed, her gaze tinged with sorrow.

She must have been thinking of the same person.

Pei Yu and Zhu Weirui sensed the atmosphere was off and didn't dare to speak again.

The dinner was finished in silence.

The summer night was long and hot.

Pei Yu wanted to personally make a bowl of cooling soup for Lu Ruzhuo, so she went to ask the cook for instructions. The recipe wasn't difficult and didn't require a fire. Under the cook's guidance, Pei Yu quickly prepared it and placed it in an ice box.

She was stopped by Zhu Weirui at the entrance to the main courtyard.

Pei Yu: "?"

Zhu Weirui held out a hand. "My mother and Aunt Lu are drinking inside. They said not to disturb them."

Pei Yu gathered her brows. "Not even me?"

"Neither of us," Zhu Weirui said.

Pei Yu sat down next to Zhu Weirui on the threshold. The night breeze was no longer as scorching as it had been during the day, and the fragrance of flowers drifted into her nose.

Zhu Weirui noticed the food container beside her and asked, "Huh? What's this?"

Pei Yu's expression didn't change. "It's empty. I was just about to take it to the kitchen."

"Oh." Zhu Weirui didn't suspect anything. She hugged her knees and watched the shadows of the trees in the night.

If only I'd known, I would have invited Sister Zhuge over. Sister Pei is as beautiful as a celestial fairy, but she doesn't talk much. Not like Sister Zhuge, who can always chat with me for ages. It feels like we could talk for a whole day and night and still not run out of things to say.

Just as Zhu Weirui was lost in thought, Pei Yu suddenly spoke. "Sister Zhu, has your mother ever mentioned me to you?"

"She has," the young woman replied without hesitation.

Just as I thought.

Sect Leader Zhu has long resided in Hundred Flowers Valley. How would she know my name if Lu Ruzhuo hadn't told her? And why would Lu Ruzhuo mention me to her?

Pei Yu suppressed a small flutter of joy and asked, "What did she say?" If not for her reserved nature, Pei Yu would have asked more directly: What did she say I am to Lu Ruzhuo?

Zhu Weirui thought for a moment. "She didn't say much else, just that if there was anything I could do to help you, I must. And if I really couldn't help, I should send her a message, and she would come personally."

"So you gave me the Hundred Flowers Pill because of your mother's instructions?" A flash of insight struck Pei Yu.

"Yes."

Pei Yu had another worry resolved, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl up slightly.

Since she had started the conversation, Zhu Weirui also opened up.

"Last winter, I met you at Fengling Ferry, Sister Pei. Do you remember?"

"I remember."

"Do you know what I was doing there?"

"What?"

"I had just come back from visiting Aunt Lu in the capital, haha."

"What..." Pei Yu was so shocked she almost stood up.

It turned out that Zhu Wuhua and Lu Ruzhuo hadn't seen each other in years and could no longer bear the longing and worry. It so happened that Zhu Weirui had come of age and, according to custom, was allowed to travel far from home. Zhu Wuhua devised a plan, telling her daughter she had an aunt in the capital and asking her to visit on her behalf. This way, she wouldn't be breaking her promise. Lu Ruzhuo also wanted to meet the daughter of her one and only close friend, so the two readily agreed.

Pei Yu had left the capital at the beginning of the year. Zhu Weirui arrived in the middle of the year and left at the end, so they had just missed each other. Coincidentally, both had been held up at Fengling Ferry.

No wonder she and Lu Ruzhuo were so familiar with each other, not like they were meeting for the first time. They had met long ago.

Zhu Weirui had no playmates in the valley; her best friends were her parents. Her father, being a man, meant she was closer to her mother. When she returned home, she poured out everything she had seen and heard on her journey: the capital was so prosperous, with so much to eat and drink; Aunt Lu was so beautiful and treated her so well; and at Fengling Ferry, she had met an older sister who, although she hadn't seen her face, was probably very pretty, hehe.

Zhu Wuhua sat by the window with a faint smile, listening to her daughter chatter away like a little sparrow, gesturing animatedly.

"She's a Jinyiwei, just like Aunt Lu. She said her name was Pei Yu."

Zhu Wuhua leaped to her feet.

"What did you say? What's her name?!"

"She called herself Pei Yu." Zhu Weirui looked at her mother's suddenly agitated face. "What's wrong, Mother? Is she a family enemy?" I've never heard of any feud between the Hundred Flowers Valley and the Jinyiwei.

Zhu Wuhua paced back and forth in the room, firing off questions like a string of firecrackers.

"How old is she, roughly? What does she look like? Did she say anything else to you?"

"Her age? She can't be more than twenty. And Mother, didn't I tell you? I didn't see her face. She said about seven or eight sentences to me. Four were 'mm,' three were 'oh,' and the last one was 'Farewell, we'll meet again.'"

"..."

Later, Zhu Wuhua instructed her, "The next time you meet her, treat her as your own sister. No, treat her as... never mind. If there's anything you can do to help, you must. If you can't, send me a message by carrier pigeon."

Zhu Weirui agreed, only half-understanding.

Less than a year later, she ran into Pei Yu and Lu Ruzhuo again in Chuzhou. This time, Lu Ruzhuo was using a new face, so Zhu Weirui didn't recognize her at first. It was only when Pei Yu was sparring with Zhuge Jue that she found the demeanor of Pei Yu's "Senior Sister" very familiar, and gradually connected her to the Lu Ruzhuo from the capital.

Pei Yu wanted to take this opportunity to clear up more of her doubts. "Why didn't your father come to Chuzhou with you?"

Zhu Weirui couldn't help but laugh. "My father is a scholar. What would he do here? Swords have no eyes. He'd faint at the sight of blood."

Pei Yu laughed as well.

"Then how did your esteemed father and mother get together?"

"My father was originally a Jinshi (the title for successful candidates in the imperial palace examination). He must have offended someone, because he was ambushed on the way to his post. He accidentally fell into the water and was rescued by people from our valley. He stayed and became the valley's teacher. Because he was handsome, my mother saw him one day while inspecting the village, fell in love at first sight, and abducted... no, invited him to the main fortress."

"And then?"

"And then there was me."

Zhu Weirui couldn't say much more to an outsider about her parents' private affairs, but from her expression, it was clear many interesting things had happened.

Pei Yu, who loved reading storybooks, felt a pang of regret at seeing a story come to life without being able to learn the details. But on second thought, Lu Ruzhuo was in a perfect position to ask about it. She could just ask her later.

"Your parents must have a very good relationship."

"They're like glue. Did you see that pile of chests in the courtyard? You can tell my father packed them. He's afraid my mother will get cold or hot, hungry or thirsty while she's away. He sends a carrier pigeon every single day."

Pei Yu felt a little envious.

She knew she wasn't just envious of their relationship.

Zhu Weirui was straightforward and blurted out, "Sister Pei, what about your parents?"

A silence fell beside her.

Zhu Weirui bit her lip hard, turned her head, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Sister Pei. I didn't mean to."

Pei Yu forced a smile. "It's all right."

Zhu Weirui fidgeted with the corner of her clothes, not knowing what to do.

"Sister Pei, if you don't mind, we could become sworn sisters. Then my parents would be your parents..."

Pei Yu was startled.

Wouldn't my aunt then become her aunt? How could that work? Absolutely not!

If she and Lu Ruzhuo were to get together, how would they even calculate their seniority?

"No, no." Pei Yu waved her hands repeatedly. "Thank you for your kind offer, Sister Zhu."

Zhu Weirui seemed to realize her hesitation and had a flash of inspiration. "Why don't you become sworn sisters with Sister Zhuge? That way, you'd have parents, and your seniority with Aunt Lu wouldn't get messy."

Who goes around adopting parents everywhere?

Pei Yu was amused by her.

"I don't need parents. Having my aunt is enough."

Zhu Weirui mumbled under her breath.

But if you two fall for each other, you won't have an aunt anymore, will you?

Pei Yu clearly heard her. In the moonlight that flowed like snow, she asked softly, "Do you really think Lu Ruzhuo likes me?"

Zhu Weirui nodded.

Then she recalled some details she hadn't paid attention to before.

"That's right. When I was at the villa in the capital, I saw Aunt Lu carving a wooden figure. It was the figure of a woman. I asked her about it at the time, but she didn't answer me."

Zhu Weirui turned and looked at Pei Yu's face.

"Sister Pei, now that I've seen you, I finally know. That person was you."

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