irrational

The young lady showed little expression after hearing this, her haughty posture turning cold as she said, "You actually have the nerve to come back; at least you have some conscience." She then admired her fingers, her words laced with sarcasm: "Indeed, compared to dogs, you lowly people are far more obedient. Dogs serve their masters wholeheartedly, but humans—they betray their masters, even more…tsk tsk tsk." She delivered a sarcastic remark.

"..." Zhi Qiu fell silent, somewhat puzzled as to why she would say such a thing.

After listening to the story, Peng Feizhe, who was hiding on one side of the archway, was stunned for a moment before falling into deep thought. He glanced down at the token in his hand, hesitating whether to step forward and help.

Miss and Zhi Qiu locked eyes. Zhi Qiu really wanted to say something, but she was afraid that Peng Feizhe would hear her, so she could only continue to communicate with her eyes.

After understanding the general meaning of the person before her, she frowned and said with great displeasure, "Guards! Drag this lowly servant away..."

"Wait!" A familiar voice rang out from the left archway, and everyone looked over.

She looked over and felt that his appearance was a bit late.

Does it have to be a hero saving a damsel in distress? If the hero hadn't put the damsel in trouble first, would there have been any need to save her?

All eyes fell on the tall, muscular man. Although he was dressed in the robes of the Tranquil Heart Academy, he exuded an extraordinary air. He emanated an aristocratic aura, and his handsome face held a touch of arrogance.

The young lady stared at the newcomer for a long time, her eyes almost glazed over. She couldn't forget this face, the face she had prayed to see every day in the paintings—it was Peng Feizhe, the famous general of Kyoto. Once, when she went to Kyoto to report on the young lady's situation to the Pang family head, she happened to meet Major General Peng, who was returning to the capital in triumph.

Young and impetuous, unrestrained and unconventional—these two idioms perfectly describe this young man. He achieved great success, and the Emperor, particularly fond of the young man's passion and literary talent, bestowed upon him the rank of Major General.

Why didn't the Emperor bestow a courtesy name upon them? He simply granted them a position. In the Tao Jin Kingdom, men reached adulthood at eighteen, and their elders would bestow a courtesy name upon them. Only after the courtesy name was given would the Emperor bestow a name for the official position. Women, on the other hand, were given a courtesy name upon reaching the age of fifteen.

When she learned that her master was his fiancée, she felt both excited and sad. Why? Why was fate so unfair? She was excited because she could see the person she loved every day, but sad because she could not touch him.

She didn't know what had gotten into her master the year before last, that he wanted her to get close to Peng Feizhe, to get close to him and then slander her master, saying things like that. She was unwilling and couldn't do it, so she knelt down and begged her to think twice before acting.

Seeing that she was so unwilling, Pang Zhichun gave up the idea, but was unwilling to let go of such a good opportunity.

She then pulled Zhi Qiu inside for a private talk.

She said to Zhi Qiu, "You don't have to go, as long as you pretend to be me and I pretend to be you. You approach him in your name, and you stay in the courtyard pretending to be me. How about that?"

Zhi Qiu dared not agree rashly and quickly shook her head in rejection, "Miss! This is not possible! You can just talk to the Emperor yourself, why bother racking your brains to get close to him?"

"What are you afraid of? Don't you like that guy?" She immediately became unhappy when she saw Zhi Qiu's repeated rejections.

Zhi Qiu blushed, "But... I like it too..."

Pang Zhichun laughed at her reaction and teased, "If it works out, how about I let him marry you?"

"Ah?!" She covered her mouth in surprise and looked at Pang Zhichun, thinking she was joking: "Miss, please don't joke. I am of lowly status, and I am not a good match for him... How could he possibly marry me?"

"Hmm..." She pondered for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Why don't I ask my father to adopt you as his goddaughter? Anyway, we're going to have a marriage alliance with that guy, so it doesn't matter who marries whom."

Zhi Qiu still couldn't believe her ears. Her brows furrowed, and she awkwardly tried to deny it: "But this isn't..."

She interrupted, "This is an order! Do you think he'll kill me if I dress up as you?" She cupped Zhi Qiu's small face, looked her over carefully, and suddenly laughed happily, "Anyway, you and I look pretty much the same. If you dress up, you'll still look like me. You know who I like from childhood to adulthood, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Good to know." She released Zhi Qiu's face. "I think you and that guy are a good match, so I'll reluctantly tie the knot for you two."

Zhi Qiu tried to refuse in every way, but couldn't go against her master's wishes, so she had no choice but to agree. But wasn't this a good thing? She could do what she wanted, and I could do what I wanted; even if our statuses didn't match, there were ways to make it work.

As her beloved drew closer, she became so infatuated that she forgot everything else.

"..." The "Zhi Qiu" was speechless upon seeing her reaction.

She turned to look at Peng Feizhe, "You've finally arrived."

"Um."

When Peng Feizhe's cold gaze met the young lady's, she realized what to say.

When her gaze fell upon Zhi Qiu's eyes, Zhi Qiu gestured for her to look to the side, which she did. There, in the hand of a male servant, was a hemp rope whip. She seemed to understand something.

Whipping your own master... isn't that a bad idea?

Zhi Qiu suddenly coughed. Startled, she immediately snatched the whip from the male servant. Her eyes flashed fiercely at Peng Feizhe, and she straightened her back to meet his gaze: "Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. I'm just an idler who's here to watch things unfold." He crossed his arms, looking completely indifferent.

"?" Zhi Qiu turned to look at him, asking a question mark.

"Mind your own business!" she scoffed unhappily.

Peng Feizhe glanced warily at the whip in her hand, feeling uneasy.

She quickly pulled the man behind her and said protectively, "Miss, he is my friend... I apologize for his rudeness."

She sneered, seemingly disapproving of her behavior with a contemptuous smile: "Friend? You've got some nerve, Zhi Qiu."

He was cold and dismissive towards her, saying, "I've heard of Pang Xiao before..."

Snap—

The sound of a whip lashing flesh interrupted his words, and he froze in shock.

"Ah!!!" A scream rang out.

Blood gushed from Zhi Qiu's right cheek. She clutched the bleeding spot in pain, but before she could react, she was slapped. Her face burned with pain; she didn't understand why she'd been slapped.

If you're going to hit someone, then hit them. Why hit them in the face? Why not hit somewhere else?

He rushed forward to examine her face, a surge of anger rising within him: "How dare you!"

Seeing his haste, the young lady seemed truly enraged. Pointing at the two, she ordered the surrounding men, "Guards! Seize this lowly maid and this man!"

"Yes." The male servant was about to step forward to subdue the two, but unexpectedly Peng Feizhe took out the gold medal from his waist and shouted angrily, which echoed throughout the courtyard.

"I'll show you who dares to touch me, Peng Feizhe! I'll make them wish they were dead!"

Everyone was taken aback when they heard this name.

"Major General Peng?"

Everyone took a few steps back in fright upon seeing the token, fearing they would get into trouble. The young lady stared at him in surprise, her eyes widening. Then she calmed down and looked at Zhi Qiu, who was covering her face, with disdain.

She gritted her teeth, her brows furrowed in anger, and said sarcastically, "I never expected that there would be a mistress in the manor."

"Shut up, Pang Zhichun!" He suppressed his anger and called out her name.

Upon hearing the name "Pang Zhichun," Zhi Qiuxin felt a sudden unease. Why did they have to pronounce her real name out of the blue? It made her feel inexplicably uneasy, as if she had done something wrong.

The young lady frowned angrily, looked up at him with a wronged expression, and asked, "General, you are my fiancé, why are you speaking up for an outsider?"

"Miss Pang speaks so harshly, why can't I say the same? Indeed, just as your maid said, you are so irrational." He changed "cruel" and "unpredictable" to more palatable terms like "irrational."

The two started arguing, and Zhi Qiu stood aside with the servants, not daring to step in and try to reconcile them.

The young lady's eyes welled with tears, but he felt no pity whatsoever. "I never expected Miss Pang to be this kind of person. It seems His Majesty's bestowal of this marriage truly is a cursed fate. I..."

Seeing that he hadn't stopped talking, Zhi Qiu quickly interrupted him by crying out in pain. She said weakly with a sob in her voice, "General! It hurts so much... I really..." Then she pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, looking like she was in pain, and then gave a prelude to almost collapsing to the ground.

Seeing this, Peng Feizhe quickly stepped forward to help her up. When he saw her fall directly into his arms, he frowned and looked her over.

He wondered, "The whip didn't hit my head, did it? It shouldn't have made me faint."

"It hurts..." She grabbed his arm, her eyes brimming with tears, her pitiful appearance touching him.

He felt a pang of heartache, sighed helplessly, and simply picked her up in his arms.

"General! She's one of my people!" she hurriedly called out to the two men who were about to leave.

He stopped, turned around and looked at her with disdain, saying domineeringly, "Miss Pang, name your price, I want this person."

"..." She didn't want to talk anymore. Was it really necessary to offer a price to poach him? If she saw this situation, she would have just told him to get lost.

She gritted her teeth and protested, "She's mine, she's been with me since childhood! I won't sell her!"

He didn't care at all and joked, "Heh, whether you sell or not isn't up to you. Doesn't your Pang family have to listen to the Pang family head?"

"..." To be honest, this was not up to my father to decide.

Miss Pang began to get angry, "Zhi Qiu! If you still have me as your master in your heart, then..."

A contemptuous smile curled at the corner of his lips as he answered for her: "She no longer has you as her master in her heart."

"???" She stared wide-eyed at Peng Feizhe, who was holding her in his arms, her expression saying, "What stupid thing are you doing? What trouble have you gotten me into now?"

After saying that, he smiled when he saw Zhi Qiu's appearance. "Miss Pang, there's no need to see me off. I know the way to leave on my own."

After leaving, the young lady returned to her room, filled with anger and resentment. Once inside, she trembled uncomfortably. She didn't know why he was so kind to Pang Zhichun. And why she had suddenly gone mad and whipped her master's face. She was now filled with panic.