Chapter 6 Warnings About the Family
Pei Zhao's old nursemaid told me that the current Madam Pei was not his birth mother.
His real mother had died from difficult labor when she gave birth to him.
"The current madam appears to have a good temper, but she is very good at tormenting people. She does not hit or scold, yet she is harsher than those who do."
"Young Master Zhao has never been close to her."
The nursemaid was speaking of my Stepmother.
"Back then, because my Stepmother could not bear to leave Young Master Zhao, she delayed her own marriage until she was over twenty."
"Even after she married, she took him with her."
"But for some reason, less than a year after they reached Chang'an, Young Master Zhao insisted on returning alone."
"Stepmother sent him many letters, but he refused to go back."
So that was how it happened.
I felt deeply guilty and kept my head down without speaking.
The nursemaid saw my sadness and asked, "Did Young Master Zhao lose his temper with you today?"
"You need not be sad. Although the young master has a bad temper, his heart is soft despite his sharp tongue. He is easy to coax."
"Besides, you're so pretty. How could he stay angry with you overnight?"
Even if he was not angry with me, I was angry with myself.
Pei Zhao had done nothing wrong. The moment he arrived in Chang'an, I targeted him.
At that time he was like me, living under someone else's roof, keeping his head down for fear of being disliked.
No.
It was not the same.
He had only been twelve that year.
He had still been a child.