Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Xing Shuwei walked quickly, and the person behind her kept pace.
Only after some time did Pei Xianjing withdraw his gaze.
“This humble official greets Your Highness. May Your Highness live for a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years.” Commander Shen cupped his fists and respectfully saluted Princess Jin’an.
Pei Xianjing lowered his eyes and followed with a slight bow.
Xing Shuwei entered the women’s banquet and chose a seat in a corner.
She did not raise her head, but she knew a pair of sharp eyes followed her.
“Please rise, my lords.”
Princess Jin’an lowered the round fan in her hand, revealing her lovely hibiscus face to Pei Xianjing.
Her eyes brimmed with smiles as she looked at him.
Lady Pei said warmly, “Jing’er, Her Highness came especially to accompany me today.
“You must thank Her Highness properly on my behalf.”
Pei Xianjing wore his usual gentle expression and spoke evenly. “Today is an important occasion for Uncle Shen’s family. How could we upstage our hosts by thanking Her Highness here?
“If Mother wishes to thank Her Highness, she may visit her residence another day and do so in person.”
He did not specify who should make that visit.
Lady Pei could only smile awkwardly and agree. “Jing’er is as thoughtful as ever. I was the one who spoke rashly.”
“There is no time like the present. Let it be today.” Princess Jin’an took her hand in a show of intimacy.
Lady Pei glanced at Pei Xianjing. He gave no response, so she did not dare agree.
The older this son grew, the stranger his temperament became. Even his respect toward her was increasingly superficial.
She could not fathom Pei Xianjing’s disposition.
Pei Xianjing lifted his chin. His gaze swept across the crowd and landed precisely on Xing Shuwei.
One meeting of their eyes made Xing Shuwei feel as though thorns pressed against her back.
She wondered uneasily: Did he already know everything she had done?
Using the number of female guests as an excuse for not lingering, Pei Xianjing left with Commander Shen for the men’s banquet on the other side.
After several rounds of toasts, Princess Jin’an ate only a few perfunctory bites. When Pei Xianjing did not appear again, she rose and announced her departure.
Naturally, everyone escorted her out with great attentiveness.
Xing Shuwei’s status was too lowly for her to approach the Princess.
The Lotus Garden soon emptied.
Not daring to wander again, Xing Shuwei obediently stood on a narrow path between two artificial hills and waited for Pei Guofei to take her away.
Lady Pei would pay her no heed, while Pei Xuanfei was surely busy cleaning up the mess she had created.
Aside from Pei Guofei, no one else would spare a thought for her in such circumstances.
In the entire Duke’s estate, Pei Guofei was the only person who treated her well without condition and sincerely regarded her as a younger sister.
Tap. A small stone flew from behind and struck the hem of her skirt.
Xing Shuwei turned warily. Zhang Mingan stood at the other end of the path.
He smiled slyly, pointed to the scratch on his face, then pointed at her.
His message could not have been clearer: he intended to make trouble for her.
Xing Shuwei’s brows drew together. She had truly suffered terrible luck today.
She turned and walked away.
It seemed she could no longer wait for Pei Guofei to collect her.
She had not gone far when a tall figure entered her view.
Pei Xianjing stood straight as a pine, an immovable mountain towering before her, his cold gaze fixed in her direction.
Yet Xing Shuwei felt that he was looking behind her instead.
Instinctively, Xing Shuwei feared he might misunderstand.
She quickened her steps, approached him, and called gently, “Eldest Young Master.”
Outside the estate, Pei Xianjing never spoke to her more than necessary.
She also kept firmly to her station and never called him Brother Jing in front of outsiders.
“Come with me,” Pei Xianjing said expressionlessly.
“Yan’er…” she began instinctively.
“I already sent him back to Zhenxi Hall.” With that, Pei Xianjing walked ahead.
Xing Shuwei did not dare say more. She followed him out of the Shen residence through a side gate.
An ordinary carriage, far beneath his status, was already waiting in a narrow alley.
He boarded first.
Chengde said, “Miss Xing, please board.”
Xing Shuwei had no right to refuse. Gathering her skirts, she climbed into the carriage.
Chengde took the reins, and the carriage soon merged into the bustling main street.
Inside, the air seemed frozen solid.
Though it was a sunny spring day, Xing Shuwei felt cold pouring from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet.
Such was the weight of Pei Xianjing’s formidable presence.
He had said nothing, but Xing Shuwei knew he was angry.
Had Lady Pei told him that Xing Shuwei had implicated Princess Jin’an? Was that why he was furious?
Xing Shuwei unconsciously clenched her fist. Her nails pressed against the cut in her palm, sending a sharp stab of pain through her.
“A man like that-do you truly think he is someone you can reach?” Pei Xianjing asked without warning.
Xing Shuwei’s back instantly straightened. “Who?”
The question escaped her instinctively.
She had wanted to approach Shen Yanqi, but she had not even managed to exchange a single word with him.
Zhang Mingan, on the other hand, had clung to her like a burr.
Xing Shuwei therefore had no idea which of the two Pei Xianjing meant.
Despite her confusion, she dared not leave him waiting. Looking at him with earnest sincerity, she explained each word clearly. “Weiwei accidentally lost her way and wandered into a secluded courtyard, where I happened to encounter Lord Zhang and his elder brother.
“Weiwei feared that others might misunderstand. With no other choice, I alerted Lady Shen and Lady Pei.”
Xing Shuwei offered only a fraction of the truth.
She seemed calm, but her heart had already begun pounding uncontrollably in her chest.
The feeling of treading on thin ice and racking her mind for whatever he wanted to hear was utterly miserable.
Every day and every moment, Xing Shuwei felt as though countless invisible mountains pressed upon her, making it difficult even to breathe.
Pei Xianjing’s expression was cold, and his voice colder still. “Even if he is the capital’s most notorious scoundrel,
“you will never have a place as his lawful wife.
“Weiwei, take care that after exhausting every scheme, you do not set yourself on fire and come begging me to extinguish the flames and save your life.”
With that, he seized Xing Shuwei’s wrist.
By force, he pushed up her sleeve.
One by one, he pried open her fingers.
His rough fingertip pressed against the cut. “Do not let filthy things stain you as well.
“You know I dislike it.”
Pop! A dull sound rang out as his thumb flicked the stopper from a wine bottle.
Strong liquor poured over Xing Shuwei’s palm, and piercing pain shot through her.
The bloodstains that had not been cleaned away dissolved beneath the liquor, fading from scarlet to pink.
Pei Xianjing wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her into his embrace.
The wine bottle was wedged between them as she struggled.
“You cannot do this.” Xing Shuwei’s eyes reddened with urgency.
She might have been born to a merchant family, but her mother had taught her to study the books of the sages from childhood.
Propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame had long formed the moral boundaries by which she lived.
Being forced to yield herself to him was already more than she could bear.
Now it was broad daylight, and the carriage did not even have a door. Only a flimsy curtain rose and fell with the wind.
“You can’t.” Xing Shuwei twisted her wrist in his grasp.
Urgency, fury, panic… Like a bird startled by the twang of a bow, every sinew in her body drew taut within his embrace.
“Weiwei, behave yourself. If you refuse to behave, you will not be the only one who suffers.”
The harder she struggled, the more tightly Pei Xianjing held her.