Chapter 89
Chapter 89
“Pfft!”
Pei Xianjing could hold it back no longer. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Eldest Young Master!” Chengde cried, hurrying to support him.
But Pei Xianjing was wounded in several places, and Chengde was afraid of jostling his injuries.
Pei Xianjing sank to one knee on the bluestone road.
Bracing one hand against the ground, he struggled to steady himself, drawing long, labored breaths.
Yet no matter how hard he fought to compose himself, he could not suppress the anguish churning in his heart.
That anguish eclipsed the pain from his wounds.
The instant Chengde’s hand touched his back, something wet and sticky coated his palm-it was blood!
“Eldest Young Master, I’ll take you back to the residence first.” Chengde did not dare delay. He helped Pei Xianjing into the carriage and raced back to the Xu Residence.
The moment they passed through the gate, Chengde shouted, “Uncle Xu, Aunt Lan, come quickly! Save the Eldest Young Master!”
Xu Liangcai and his wife rushed out at the sound, only to find that Pei Xianjing had already lost consciousness.
“Heavens.” Wang Julan stared in horror. “Why is His Lordship spitting blood now? Surely Miss Xing didn’t upset him this badly?”
Almost everyone close to Pei Xianjing knew he valued Xing Shuwei more than his own life.
Chengde blamed her. “This is all your fault, Aunt Lan. Didn’t I tell you Miss Xing doesn’t have any romantic feelings for the Eldest Young Master?”
Xu Liangcai joined in. “If you don’t understand, then don’t talk nonsense. Look what you’ve done now-you made him spit blood.”
Wang Julan: “…”
How had the blame landed on her again?
No.
She had to bring Miss Xing to His Lordship and let them explain themselves face-to-face.
She refused to believe she had misunderstood Miss Xing.
Wang Julan turned and left the residence. Neither Xu Liangcai nor Chengde noticed.
Wang Julan had patience in abundance. She waited until Zhang Mingan had left, then quietly slipped into the cottage.
Once she lit the sedative incense, both Qiutong and Xing Shuwei fell into a deep sleep.
She strode openly into the bedchamber, rolled Xing Shuwei up in the quilt, hoisted her over one shoulder, and carried her back to the Xu Residence.
When she appeared in Pei Xianjing’s bedchamber, Xu Liangcai and Chengde were both dumbfounded.
They watched, mouths hanging open, as she laid Xing Shuwei on Pei Xianjing’s bed.
Xu Liangcai glanced at Pei Xianjing, who had just fallen asleep after taking his medicine, then lowered his voice. “Woman, what possessed you to do something this mad?”
Chengde also whispered, “Aunt Lan, this will only make things worse. When Miss Xing wakes up, she’ll misunderstand the Eldest Young Master again.”
“What is there to misunderstand? Didn’t she climb into His Lordship’s bed herself?” Wang Julan asked with utter conviction.
Xu Liangcai: “…”
Chengde: “???”
Wang Julan paid no attention to their astonished expressions. With a wave of her hand, she said, “I’m not taking her back.”
There was nothing Xu Liangcai or Chengde could do.
Xing Shuwei was the person Pei Xianjing treasured above all else. Could two grown men like them take Wang Julan’s place and carry her back to Xujiakou Alley in the middle of the night?
If Pei Xianjing ever learned of it, he would tear them both apart.
The three left the bedchamber in unspoken agreement and closed the door behind them.
Yet none of them dared leave. They stood guard outside the door instead.
The next day, with the sun already high in the late morning sky, Pei Xianjing was the first to wake.
The moment he opened his eyes, the face he had seen countless times in his dreams filled his vision.
Pei Xianjing shot upright, dragging aside the half of the brocade quilt that had covered her.
Xing Shuwei wore only a thin inner robe.
Through the gray fabric, he could faintly make out the bellyband beneath it.
Its color was no longer as bright as those she had worn before. It was made of coarse gray cloth without even a trace of embroidery.
His heart ached for her, yet at the same time, he felt that Xing Shuwei had brought this hardship upon herself.
Had she stayed at the Duke’s estate, why would she have fallen so far that she did not even own a decent bellyband?
He sat there in silence, simply watching Xing Shuwei.
By noon, the sun had been beating down for hours.
It had rained the night before, and now the room was as hot as a steamer.
Xing Shuwei kicked her slender legs twice and flung off the entire quilt.
She was thinner than before.
Much thinner.
Unable to stop himself, Pei Xianjing laid his palm over her waist.
It was so slender he could encircle it with one hand.
Only when he saw his own bare arm did Pei Xianjing realize that he was naked from the waist up.
His first thought was that when Xing Shuwei woke and saw him this way, she might misunderstand and think he intended to take her by force again.
Though he did indeed harbor that intention.
He looked around for his clothes, wanting to pull something on.
The moment he moved, Xing Shuwei woke as well.
Xing Shuwei opened her eyes and saw him.
After the first shock, she hurriedly closed them again. Only after taking a long moment to recover did she reopen them-
There was no mistake. It was Pei Xianjing!
“You…” Xing Shuwei snatched the quilt over herself.
She was shocked and mortified.
But all the anger and accusations poised to erupt died unspoken when she saw the wounds across his chest and arms.
She recognized them as arrow wounds.
The arrows used by Great Ji’s forces had specially designed heads that tore away a piece of flesh when extracted.
Several of Pei Xianjing’s wounds had turned black. The arrows must have been poisoned.
Xing Shuwei had learned a great deal from the physicians in the wounded soldiers’ camp. One glance told her that every one of Pei Xianjing’s injuries lay near a vital point.
When their eyes met, she saw a rare flicker of panic in his.
His face was deathly pale. After more than two months apart, he had grown so thin as to be almost unrecognizable, making his already chiseled features appear even sharper.
And the hair at his temples had actually turned white!
“You…” Xing Shuwei parted her lips, but every word lodged in her throat.
When she saw Pei Xianjing again, she had never imagined he would have become like this.
Pei Xianjing tugged up a corner of the quilt, trying to cover himself.
His gaze remained fixed on Xing Shuwei’s face. He did not notice that his abrupt movement had torn his wounds open.
The instant Xing Shuwei frowned, he stopped moving.
He let out a long breath. He knew Aunt Lan must have abducted Xing Shuwei during the night.
Pei Xianjing had no intention of explaining. He had planned to do the same thing himself.
“Do you still want to run now?” Pei Xianjing asked.
“Were you outside my home last night?” Xing Shuwei asked in return.
Pei Xianjing did not deny it. “Unfortunately, I happened to see you and Zhang Mingan acting like a pair of devoted lovers.
“Since you would soon be leaving this place, I decided not to interrupt your meeting.”
The pity Xing Shuwei had felt at the sight of his injuries vanished completely with those words.
They told her beyond doubt that he had come, and that he meant to capture her and take her back to the capital.
Xing Shuwei felt as if something had lodged in her chest.
She never should have gambled. The moment she learned Pei Xianjing had come to the northwest, she should have packed her things and left.
“Pei Xianjing.” Calm and composed, she said with ruthless resolve, “I will not go with you.”
Pei Xianjing did not become angry.
Because he had discovered that as long as she was at his side, everything was well.
He said calmly, “You cannot escape. Today, you will not even get through that door.”
The certainty in his eyes and voice conveyed the same message.
Whenever he wished, she would be nothing more than a possession in his grasp.