Chapter 122 Guessed Wrong

"A weak and vulnerable girl?" Xie Wuqi's voice suddenly rose, like an ice-hardened blade. Every word carried a biting chill as he fiercely slashed at Pei Ji, "Pei Ji! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you question my fiancée, Xie Wuqi?"

He stood up with a "whoosh" and his movements were so fast that they caused a gust of wind to rise.

The tall body was like an iron tower rising from the ground, instantly enveloping Pei Ji with a suffocating sense of oppression.

He grabbed the gleaming goose-feather knife on the table.

“Clang!”

The harsh sound of metal rubbing against each other exploded.

Xie Wuqi suddenly pulled the blade out of the dark scabbard. The blade light, with a sharp whistle that tore through the air, instantly illuminated Xie Wuqi's frosty face.

The murderous blade, carrying a strong smell of blood, pointed straight at Pei Ji's nose.

"Pei!" Xie Wuqi's roar was like thunder, shaking the window paper of the private room, full of threats. "Li'er's affairs are none of your business! If you dare to say another word, I will let you see today whether this dowry knife can open your official robe and whether it can dry up your bloody body!"

The tip of the knife almost pierced Pei Ji's eyebrows.

Pei Ji had experienced danger before. When investigating cases in the Dali Temple, swordplay and saber-rattling were common.

But this was the first time that he had a knife pointed at his nose by a madman who was like a killer on the battlefield, and felt the murderous intent that could be chopped down at any time!

The air froze.

Pei Ji stared at the tip of the knife that was so close to him and at Xie Wuqi's red eyes.

He knew that this madman really dared!

For Liu Yueli, Xie Wuqi would definitely dare to chop him, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, with a knife in this teahouse.

He forced himself to remain calm, each word coming out like ice chips squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Xie Wuqi, you'd better kill me with one strike today. Otherwise, this blade and your fiancée will be taken care of. I, Pei Ji, will investigate!"

…

When Liu Yueli's plain veil hat was knocked to the ground by Pei Ji, the chattering sounds in the entire garden seemed to be suddenly cut off by an invisible big hand.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Liu Yueli's face.

To be precise, it was nailed to the scar on her right cheek.

The scar, like an ugly centipede, lay there hideously, tearing from the brow bone to the jaw, almost going through half of her face.

The originally beautiful outline was abruptly cut by this scar.

Liu Yueli shuddered violently as if she was scalded by boiling water. Her shoulders instantly tightened and her head drooped quickly, with a few strands of messy hair covering her forehead in a messy manner.

Pei Ji was not hit hard, but they were both walking fast at the corner of the corridor, so they were caught off guard.

He subconsciously reached out to steady her shaking body, his fingertips almost touching her slightly cool sleeves.

But in this split second, she lowered her head even lower, and with a voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz, she penetrated into his ears:

"Master Pei, is this scar worth a thousand gold?"

The sound was as light as a feather brushing across the tip of my heart, yet it carried something sharp that pierced straight through.

Pei Ji's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

There was no sign of emotion on his usually stern face, but his bottomless eyes suddenly narrowed.

Worth a fortune?

The dead silence lasted only a moment before being replaced by a louder buzz of discussion.

Countless sticky gazes swept over Liu Yueli, some were filled with shock, some with contempt, and more with gloating.

"My God! Her face..."

"Hiss... How scary! No wonder he wears a veil every day!"

"This concubine daughter of the Liu family is already unlucky enough, and now she's disfigured, tsk tsk..."

"I've run into the Dali Temple's Shaoqing. Now we're in for a good show. The Dali Temple's Shaoqing hates this kind of thing the most..."

Whispers were like fine poisonous needles, piercing from all directions.

The maid named Xiaohe beside Liu Yueli had a pale face with fear. She hurriedly picked up the veil on the ground and tried to put it on the young lady's head by shaking it like a sieve.

Her voice was filled with tears: "Miss... put on your veil quickly..."

Liu Yueli seemed to be nailed to the spot, allowing Xiaohe to fiddle with her in a panic.

Her body was trembling slightly, and her head remained lowered, as if she had been overwhelmed by the gazes and discussions.

Only Pei Ji, who was closest to her, could see her fists clenched tightly at her sides, and her thin wrists exposed outside her sleeves, which were tense and tense.

Pei Ji slowly withdrew his hand that was frozen in mid-air, put it behind his back, and unconsciously twisted the cold cloud-patterned brocade on his cuffs with his fingertips.

"The Junior Official of the Dali Temple..." A man who looked like a manager wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and squeezed forward in fear, his waist bent so hard that he almost collapsed. "This servant deserves death! I failed to control my servants and offended Lord Pei! Lord Pei, please be magnanimous and don't..."

Pei Ji didn't even raise his eyelids.

His gaze only stayed on Liu Yueli for an extremely brief moment, so cold that there was no warmth at all.

Then, he opened his thin lips slightly and uttered a word:

"Walk."

The voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of oppression, like a piece of ice thrown into boiling water.

The surrounding discussions became strangely quiet again.

The two guards behind him with long swords on their waists immediately stepped forward and separated the crowd.

Pei Ji flicked his sleeves, without even looking at Liu Yueli, and strode straight past her, bringing with him a gust of cool wind.

The wind blew across Liu Yueli's cheek, ruffling her scattered hair.

She still kept her head down, motionless, like a frozen statue.

She didn't raise her eyes until the dark figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Under the long eyelashes, a very faint light quickly flashed across the eyes that were just filled with panic.

Like a star that suddenly passes through the dark night, it brings a bit of fatigue, but also hides a sense of relief.

Xiao He finally put the veil back on her tremblingly, and the heavy gauze curtain fell, blocking out all sight from the outside world again.

"Miss..." Xiao He's voice was shaking, tears welling up in her eyes, "Let's go back quickly..."

Liu Yueli took a last look at the direction where Pei Ji disappeared through the gauze curtain and took a deep breath, which seemed a little unstable.

She stretched out her hand, and gently patted the back of Xiao He's hand that was supporting her arm through her sleeve, and said in a low voice:

"Well, help me back."

…

The study room of the Shaoqing Mansion of the Dali Temple is as deep as a bottomless cold pond.

Behind the rosewood desk, Pei Ji leaned back in a wide chair, holding a few thin sheets of paper in his hands.

The flame on the candlestick danced, illuminating his angular profile in a half-light and half-dark way, making his coldness and hardness seem even more oppressive.

The ink on the paper clearly read: "The third daughter of the Liu family, her biological mother died young. Her father, Liu Wenbai, is a deputy minister of the Ministry of Works. Her legal mother, Zhang... is neglected and in a difficult situation... The scar on her right cheek is said to have been caused by a sharp object, such as a flower stand, which accidentally hit her two months ago...

"Oh."

A short sneer escaped from Pei Ji's throat, and it was particularly clear in the quiet study.

He casually threw the papers on the desk, making a slight "click" sound.

"Accident?" He bent his slender fingers and tapped his knuckles twice on the smooth, cold rosewood tabletop, making a soft, audible sound, each one tinged with chilling emotion. "Such a deep conspiracy."

Did he accidentally injure his face two months ago? And today, by coincidence, he knocked his veil off at the corner of a busy corridor?

And why did he choose to do it in front of everyone at the Liu Mansion banquet? That scar, that panicked expression...

Every detail fits together so perfectly that it's shocking.

A bastard girl, abandoned by her family and with nowhere else to go, wanted to cling to his powerful figure, using this shocking scar as a gamble? Using this ruthless act of self-destruction to attract his attention?

This is a bit too much thought!

There was even more frost in Pei Ji's eyes.

What he hated most was being schemed against, especially this kind of deliberate scheme.

The candlelight on the desk flickered softly.

He looked up at the dark night outside the window. The thick and impenetrable darkness was like a huge net.

A hint of sarcasm appeared on the corners of his tightly pursed lips.

Want to cling to him? Want to use that scar to make it worth a fortune?

Then he would go and see for himself what tricks this Miss Liu San was playing.

Look at this drama she is performing, how can she continue?

Once the thought came to his mind, Pei Ji no longer hesitated.

He stood up suddenly, his dark figure elongated in the candlelight, like a hawk blending into the night.

Without disturbing anyone, he pushed open the long window on the side of the study. His figure flashed, and he blended silently into the night like a wisp of smoke, rushing towards the direction of Liu Mansion.

The west wing of the Liu Mansion is as remote as a forgotten corner.

The night was dark, and only a dim light came from the small room at the end.

Pei Ji's figure was like a ghost, silently landing outside the back window of the wing.

The window frames were covered with ordinary white tissue paper, and some places were even damaged.

He held his breath and concentrated, lightly tapping the window paper with his fingertips, silently poking a hole the size of a grain of rice.

The dim, flickering candlelight shone through the hole.

The scene inside the house came clearly into Pei Ji's eyes.

In the simple room, there was only a table, a chair and a bed, and the furnishings were shabby.

Liu Yueli sat with her back to the window in front of an old wooden dressing table that was polished to a shine.

She was only wearing a thin plain midriff-baring, and her long hair fell down like a waterfall, covering most of her shoulders and back.

There was only a small oil lamp on the dressing table, providing dim light.

The bronze mirror was blurry, reflecting her vague silhouette.

She was looking at the blurry bronze mirror with her head slightly tilted. Pei Ji's gaze suddenly froze.

I saw that she was holding a wet old cloth in her left hand, and carefully dipped her right hand into a rough white porcelain bowl filled with black ointment, and was applying it little by little to the hideous scar on her right cheek.

The movements were very light and slow, and it seemed that every touch required great patience.

Under the dim light, the scar appeared even more distorted. Even more glaring was that fresh dark red blood could be seen faintly from the place where the old towel had wiped it, staining a corner of the towel red and making the black ointment even darker in color.

There was a faint smell of blood in the air, as if even through the window paper, one could smell it.

Pei Ji frowned.

This medicine, this environment, this blood-stained towel... formed a certain contrast with the hint she made during the day.

At this moment, Liu Yueli, who had been concentrating on applying medicine with her back to the window, suddenly stopped.

She didn't turn around, her eyes still fixed on the blurry bronze mirror, but the corners of her lips curved upwards slightly:

"It's windy outside the window. Master Pei, you've been standing there for so long. Why don't you come in and sit down? Or does Master Pei also think that I deliberately let you knock off that veil during the day?"

It was as if it had already known that he was outside the window, as if this scene of blood and medicine was performed specially for him.

Pei Ji's pupils suddenly shrank.

She actually knew he was coming! Was it a coincidence, or had she anticipated it?

After his whereabouts were exposed, Pei Ji simply stopped hiding.

He pushed open the simple wooden window, flipped over and walked in with nimble movements, landing lightly in the house with almost no sound.

The flame of the oil lamp was startled by the wind he created and shook violently a few times.

He stopped and stared straight at Liu Yueli who was standing in front of the dressing table.

"Isn't it?" Pei Ji said in a cold voice, his eyes fixed on her hand holding the blood-stained towel and the scar on her face. "You acted the self-torture trick well. The smell of the medicine and the blood stains were very realistic."

He took a step forward, his towering figure almost completely shrouding her in shadow. "To attract my attention and curry favor with the powerful, you're willing to go to great lengths. Is this scar really 'worth it'?"

Liu Yueli finally turned around slowly.

The flickering candlelight reflected her face, half in the light and half in Pei Ji's tall shadow.

The scar looked particularly glaring under the interweaving of light and shadow, like a wound that would never heal.

Hearing Pei Ji's cold and straightforward questioning, she was not panicked, but laughed softly.

"Of course not,"

Then, under Pei Ji's cold gaze, she held onto the edge of the dressing table and slowly stood up.

The thin undershirt made her figure look even more slender and delicate, as if she could be blown down by a gust of wind.

Instead of retreating, she took a step forward towards Pei Ji.

The distance between the two of them was instantly shortened, so close that Pei Ji could clearly smell the bitter smell of medicine and the faint smell of blood on her body.

She raised her face, and the scar was almost touching Pei Ji's cold jawline.

The candlelight danced in her eyes, reflecting a little flame.

She tiptoed slightly and moved closer:

"Knocked off the veil? Master Pei, you guessed wrong."

"I bumped into you... on purpose."

These words, like a stone, stirred up silent ripples in Pei Ji's heart.

Bumped into him on purpose?

Pei Ji's eyebrows twitched, and a hint of surprise flashed across his deep eyes. He lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the face so close to him.

It's not about knocking off the veil and exposing the scar to gain sympathy, but the target is directly targeting him as a person?

"Oh?" Pei Ji's voice was still low, and no emotion could be heard, but the aggressive aura around him was invisibly restrained a little.

"Bumping into me? Miss Liu San, your courage is even more surprising than the scar on your face. Tell me, what was your purpose in bumping into me?"

His gaze swept across the bare, shabby room, across the bowl of pungent, low-quality ointment on the dressing table, and finally landed on her blood-stained old towel. His tone was a touch playful, "You're not expecting me to pity you, are you?"

"Pathetic?" Liu Yueli sneered briefly as if she had heard some extremely ridiculous joke.

She took a small step back, widening the distance between them, but her back remained straight, like a thin bamboo struggling in the cold wind but refusing to break.