Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Zhang Mingan did not stop her. He arranged for a young maid to escort her out of the estate.
After circling out of the Peony Garden, Xing Shuwei grew more uneasy the more she thought. Clutching her stomach, she feigned pain. “Miss, I fear I have eaten something that disagrees with me. I will need about half an hour.”
The young maid said uneasily, “If I am delayed that long, my masters may think I was shirking my duties and punish me.”
Xing Shuwei leaned weakly against an ornamental rock. “Then I truly would not dare trouble you to wait.
“I know the way out. Someone of my status would never dare wander around the Marquis’s estate.
“You may rest assured. I will leave on my own afterward.”
The young maid considered for a moment. “Very well. There are guards throughout the estate. If Miss Xing loses her way, you may ask them at any time.”
After the young maid left, Xing Shuwei circled back to the Peony Garden.
Passing through the archway, she crept into a secluded courtyard.
The moment she pressed close to the crack in the door, she heard tender murmurs from within.
Who could it be but Pei Guofei?
Xing Shuwei glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, she picked up a stone and quietly slipped inside.
Pei Guofei and Zheng Yan were lost in passion and did not notice anyone enter.
Xing Shuwei was swift and decisive.
She darted lightly behind Zheng Yan, raised the stone, and struck the back of her neck.
“Ah!” Zheng Yan cried out.
Xing Shuwei’s heart raced. She was already prepared to strike her again.
After all, she had held back just now, afraid of seriously injuring Zheng Yan.
Fortunately, Zheng Yan’s eyes closed and she fainted.
“Why are you still standing there? Get up quickly.” Xing Shuwei urged Pei Guofei, who was holding Zheng Yan.
Rouge stained his lips, and a lip print of the same color marked his neck.
Although he had not removed his clothes, they were no longer neat.
As for Zheng Yan, the sash at her waist had already been untied, and her clothes had been pulled halfway off, exposing one smooth shoulder.
“But Miss Zheng…” Pei Guofei was worried about Zheng Yan.
“The Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate will never allow word of her disgrace to spread.
“How could you be so foolish?
“If you caused such a terrible scandal in their estate and they refused to forgive you, what would you do?”
There was much to say, but this was neither the time nor the place.
Xing Shuwei could not determine whether Zhang Mingan had deliberately arranged this or Zheng Yan had acted on a momentary impulse.
But either way, their most urgent task was to slip secretly out of the Marquis’s estate.
“If I leave like this, how will Miss Zheng explain what happened?
“You know that she, too, lives under another family’s roof. No matter how well the Marquis’s household treats her, this is not her own home,” Pei Guofei said, unwilling to leave just like that.
This was a critical juncture in Pei Xianjing’s investigation of the Qizhou border defense case.
Pei Guofei’s father, Pei Congyuan, served in the Ministry of Justice and was responsible for leading the trials of the officials implicated in the case.
If the Zhang clan was involved, Pei Guofei’s moment of foolishness now would place the Pei family at a disadvantage.
Once one perverted the law for personal gain, there would always be a second time.
Xing Shuwei wanted to escape Pei Xianjing, but she had never thought of pushing him into an abyss.
Hardening her heart, she said, “I will stay here with Miss Zheng. You slip away first.
“Once you leave, find the Eldest Young Master. The two of you must come back for me as quickly as possible.”
Pei Guofei hesitated. “But…”
Xing Shuwei grew anxious. “Are you leaving or not?”
If he delayed any longer, she could no longer worry about so much. She would have to leave first and find Pei Xianjing herself.
Pei Guofei sighed. Perhaps he, too, realized the seriousness of the situation. After straightening his clothes, he slipped away without a sound.
Xing Shuwei kept the stone clutched in her arms. Whether Zheng Yan woke or someone else entered, she would have something with which to defend herself.
Pei Guofei made it out of the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate without obstruction.
Just as he was about to climb into the carriage on trembling legs, he caught sight of Pei Xianjing galloping toward him.
“Eldest Brother!” Pei Guofei’s eyes lit up as though he had seen his savior.
“Why are you here?” Pei Xianjing’s expression was severe. “Did I not tell you to have less contact with the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate?”
Pei Guofei grabbed his sleeve and, without pausing to explain, said urgently, “Eldest Brother, Weiwei is still inside the estate…”
Before he could finish, Pei Xianjing flung off his hand and hurried through the estate gates.
The young gatekeeper alerted the steward, who rushed over to welcome him. “This servant did not know Lord Pei would honor us with his presence and failed to welcome you properly.”
“Where is Zhang Mingan?” Pei Xianjing could not conceal the urgency in his voice.
“The noble heir is not at home. He left only a short while ago.
“If Lord Pei has urgent business with him, this servant will send someone to invite him back at once,” the steward replied.
The young gatekeeper beside him trembled, keeping his head lowered and saying nothing.
Pei Xianjing’s eyes, heavy with murderous cold, swept toward the young man. “Miss Xing of my Pei family came here as a guest. Where is she?”
The gatekeeper faltered, glancing at the steward and then stealing a look at Pei Xianjing, but did not dare say a word.
“Eldest Young Master.” Just as Pei Xianjing was about to erupt, he heard Xing Shuwei’s voice.
He looked toward the sound and saw her running toward him with hurried steps and an agitated expression.
“Weiwei should have left with the Fourth Young Master, but my stomach began hurting on the way and delayed me for a little while.
“We can leave now. Otherwise, the Fourth Young Master may grow impatient and come back inside to look for me,” Xing Shuwei said.
Pei Xianjing had come to the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate on official business, but when he saw her forcibly suppressing her panic and agitation, he decided to set his work aside for now.
“Let’s go.” His voice was icy.
Xing Shuwei followed behind him. Only after passing through the gates of the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate did she breathe a sigh of relief.
As she had suspected, Zhang Mingan had arranged what happened between Zheng Yan and Pei Guofei.
After Pei Guofei left, Zhang Mingan had personally gone to the secluded courtyard.
When he opened the door and found Xing Shuwei there with the fully dressed but unconscious Zheng Yan, he had said, “As long as it is someone within the Pei household, it makes no difference who.”
He had also said, “Weiwei, you chose this yourself. When you help someone else, you must be prepared to bear the consequences meant for them.”
He had intended to force himself upon her.
Xing Shuwei had smashed his head open with the stone before fleeing in haste.
Fortunately, Pei Xianjing had arrived in time. Otherwise, she feared she would never have made it out of the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate.
“Get in.” Pei Xianjing stood beside the carriage and raised one arm for her to hold as she climbed aboard.
Xing Shuwei nodded but, avoiding any appearance of impropriety, climbed into the carriage by herself.
An inexplicable rage surged in Pei Xianjing’s heart.
“Eldest Brother.” Oblivious to the mood, Pei Guofei approached. “Weiwei is all right, isn’t she? Why does it look as though there is blood on her sleeve?”
Pei Xianjing shot him a warning look. “I will settle accounts with you when we return.”
Pei Guofei was worried about Xing Shuwei, but he was even more worried about Zheng Yan.
He tried to say more. “Eldest Brother, Zheng-”
Pei Xianjing seized his shoulder and threw him into the other carriage.
Then he snatched up the horsewhip and lashed the horse across its rump.
The coachman hauled desperately at the reins, but the horse still dragged the carriage away at breakneck speed.
Back at the Marquis of Qingyuan’s estate, the household physician was bandaging the wound on Zhang Mingan’s forehead.
Xing Shuwei had opened a gash above his left eyebrow.
Always meticulous, she had even taken the stone she used to strike him when she left.
“Noble heir, what a pity for a face as handsome as Pan An’s. I fear this will leave a scar,” the household physician said carefully.
Zhang Mingan did not care. “It is only a shell. Nothing important.
“No matter who asks, say that I fell and injured myself. Is that clear?”