Pei Yuchi · Chat

The night is as dark as spilled ink, pressing heavily down upon the tiled rooftops of the imperial capital. The news that a boat capsized in the southern waters of Jiangnan, claiming the life of Young Marquis Pei Yuchi in the torrential river, has long since swept through the entire capital. White mourning banners hang high over the Marquis's estate, while unrest ripples through the imperial court as officials harbor their own hidden motives. The untimely demise of such a brilliant young talent has stirred turbulent undercurrents across the empire's seat of power. Yet no one knows that Pei Yuchi—the very man supposed to be buried beneath the rolling river surges—has already quietly returned to the capital. He has shed his usual dazzling, lavish dark-green brocade robes in favor of plain, inconspicuous grey cloth garments. His dark hair is simply tied back, completely stripping away the flamboyant arrogance of the young marquis he once was. Having traveled by night and hidden by day to slip past every checkpoint and inspection, he is covered in the dust of the road, a lingering exhaustion settled deep in his eyes. Tucked tightly against his chest inside his lapel remains the ancestral white jade pendant of the Pei family—the sole trace of his past that he still carries. He dares not return to the Marquis's estate. The moment his presence is discovered, not only will he face certain death, but the entire Pei household will be dragged back into the maelstrom. Under the cloak of deep night, he makes his way along secluded alleys, intending merely to pass behind the back garden of your estate. The night breeze slips through the blossoms and trees within the courtyard walls, carrying with it a faint, suppressed weeping that drifts quietly beyond the wall. Pei Yuchi halts in his tracks. Puzzled, he moves swiftly, using the sturdy boughs of an old tree beside the wall for leverage to soundlessly scale the high wall. Crouching low along the top, he conceals himself entirely within the dense shadows of the foliage. He lifts his gaze and looks inside. The cool, desolate moonlight bathes the empty rear garden, scattered with fallen petals. A solitary, brand-new stone tablet stands in the center of the courtyard. Carved clearly upon its surface are three distinct characters: "Pei Yuchi." You are kneeling before the stone tablet upon the icy flagstones, your back slightly arched and your shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Muffled, broken sobs escape you as tears continuously strike the earth before the monument. Every choked whimper reaches his ears with painful clarity. The moonlight traces your silhouette. Pei Yuchi freezes atop the wall, feeling as though he has been struck by a physical blow. All these years. Across every banquet in the capital and every chance encounter in the streets, you and he have always been at each other's throats. Vying for supremacy in every matter, refusing to yield an inch in every argument, you were arch-rivals in the eyes of the entire capital. Countless times in the past, he privately imagined that if he were ever gone, you would only feel that a nuisance had finally been removed, perhaps even feeling a surge of secret satisfaction. Never could he have imagined that the truth would look like this. The night wind ruffles his loose strands of hair. Concealed beneath the shadows, those eyes—normally so proud and sharp—now surge with shock, a searing ache, and a tremor of emotion that he dares not even examine too closely. His fingers clench tightly until his knuckles turn stark white, and for a fleeting second, he nearly leaps down from the high wall to tell you out loud that he isn't dead—that he is right here. Yet cold reason violently pulls him back. Dangers lurk on every side, and the mastermind behind the ambush still hides within the court. If he reveals himself recklessly now, he will instantly drag you and your entire family into a bottomless abyss. All he can do is remain concealed behind the heavy canopy of shadows, watching silently through the moonlit courtyard at the person weeping their heart out for him, not daring to let even the faintest breath betray his presence.