Chapter 16 Weaknesses and Achilles' Heel Pei Lang patiently stroked Lin Zhi's...

The soft body in his arms was a little hot. Pei Lang frowned slightly as he stared at the hand that was wrapped around her. He wanted to put her down on the futon next to him, but Lin Zhi grabbed his sleeve tightly.

"...Mother, Mother, don't go...Azhi, be a good girl..."

Hearing what she was muttering, Pei Lang's face darkened. He tried to pull the hem of her clothes but failed. He took a deep breath and sat down on the futon, letting the troublesome woman lean against his lap.

Xingyun had already woken Lanxin up and forced her to kneel before Pei Lang.

"What about the other two?"

Xingyun replied respectfully, but then saw the young lady obediently lying on the young master's lap, behaving in an inappropriate and improper manner.

He quickly lowered his head to hide the surprise in his eyes, "Young master, rest assured, he has been knocked unconscious and dragged aside. I will guard the door and will not let anyone in to disturb you."

The ancestral hall was dimly lit, and the rows of memorial tablets made her even more apprehensive at night. Lan Xin got up from the ground and looked up, but all she saw was Pei Lang patiently stroking Lin Zhi's long hair under the ever-burning lamp.

He stroked her gently and patiently, his eyes and face filled with a tenderness and warmth she had never seen before, and his large hand covering Lin Zhi's body was full of possessiveness and control.

Lan Xin slowly clenched the hem of her skirt at her side, the taste of blood seemingly lingering in her mouth. "Young Master..."

Her eyes were somewhat red, but she still tried her best to keep her voice low: "This servant was brought into the manor by the late Madam. At that time, this servant also promised Madam that she would take good care of the young master. Why does the young master treat Lanxin like this because of a little orphan girl?"

"What she can do, I can do too. You know me inside and out, you know my heart..."

Lan Xin stared at Pei Lang's superior profile in the dim light with a somewhat infatuated look, and couldn't help but feel her legs go weak and she knelt down, crawling over step by step.

“I know you are saddened by the passing of your wife, and I am saddened as well. I wish to stay with you, my lord.”

Just as Lan Xin reached out and touched Pei Lang's clothes, she was kicked away half a zhang away. After the dull pain in her shoulder subsided, she closed her eyes and gasped for breath.

Pei Lang's gaze was harder and colder than the floor tiles of the ancestral hall. He lowered his eyes and stared at the person lying on the ground: "What she can do, you can do too?"

"Lan Xin, for the sake of my mother, I will spare your life. I have no need for a disloyal servant."

"Your intention is to ruin my reputation along with Lin Zhi? Otherwise, how could Father have coincidentally stepped into Lanxue Pavilion back then? You brought him here, didn't you?"

Lan Xin paused in her soft cry of pain, and when she opened her eyes again, they were filled with resentment: "Why? Why, young master!"

"I was once a daughter of a good family, but my family fell into ruin and I was bought by you to serve as your servant. I have served you for ten years! Why is it that this Lin Zhi has won your favor? She is that person's niece!"

"Have you forgotten how Madam left us?"

The air around Pei Lang seemed to freeze, and the shadows cast by the windows of the ancestral hall flickered. Lan Xin also realized that she had said the wrong thing, and her face turned pale.

Pei Lang's left hand, which was hanging by his side, twitched slightly, and a cold glint seemed to flash beneath the wide sleeves of his black brocade robe...

"Hmm...cough cough!" Lin Zhi, who was lying on his lap, frowned and coughed incessantly. She was so cold that she huddled up in a ball, and her cheeks were flushed with a sickly red. She arched her body towards Pei Lang's abdomen, timidly drawing warmth from the only source of heat beside her.

But it was precisely this slight movement that made Pei Lang suppress his overwhelming killing intent, and he wrapped his arms around her as if to hold her in his embrace for warmth.

This scene deeply hurt Lan Xin. She gritted her teeth and trembled all over. She never expected that Pei Lang would forget the hatred for killing his mother for such a woman!

"Pei Lang! You!"

Lan Xin's voice was shrill and piercing, as if she was about to scream. Pei Lang frowned when he heard it and, without thinking, reached out his long, slender hand to cover Lin Zhi's ears.

The woman, who had been filled with extreme grief and indignation, suddenly collapsed, her reddened eyes wide with disbelief as she felt the intense pain within her body and the bright red blood gushing from her mouth and nostrils.

"you......"

Pei Lang easily picked up Lin Zhi and stood up, walking up to Lan Xin and looking down at her. His voice was still gentle: "This poison was originally meant for someone else, so you're really climbing the social ladder."

"Fine, after all, we were master and servant. I'll let you leave with a whole corpse."

Lanxin whimpered with resentment, but the blood in her mouth and nose choked her so much that she couldn't utter a word.

"......cousin?"

Lin Zhi, who was burning up from the high fever, struggled to open her eyes. She found it difficult to even open her eyes because they were dry, but she seemed to see Pei Lang standing in front of her.

She managed to hook one arm around Pei Lang's neck, relying on his strong and muscular arm to keep from falling. After a while, she realized that this was not her hallucination.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a fleeting glimpse of Lan Xin's miserable state on the ground. Pei Lang frowned slightly, pressed her against his chest with one hand behind her head, and whispered soothingly, "Close your eyes, don't look."

But Lin Zhi always had excellent eyesight, and even though Pei Lang moved quickly, she could still see clearly.

Lan Xin died, and her death was tragic.

The red was incredibly glaring, but Lin Zhi was already fast asleep when Pei Lang took her back to her residence, listening to the steady heartbeat coming from his chest.

In the dead of night, Xingyun hurriedly reported: "Young master, the ancestral hall has been prepared. At dawn, I will go to find a burial site for Lanxin."

But in the candlelight, Pei Lang's handsome face was half-hidden and half-lit, and his magnetic voice was noble and leisurely: "No need, just throw him into the mass grave to feed the wolves."

Xingyun's body stiffened slightly: "Didn't you say you'd leave her with a complete corpse?"

Pei Lang sat with an air of superiority, his eyes slightly closed, and said casually, "A useless chess piece still wants a whole corpse?"

"She almost ruined everything today, so her current fate is already too good for her."

Although Xingyun was alarmed, he did not show it at all and cautiously said, "But if you act like this today, Madam Lin will definitely mention it to Master tomorrow. Why do you have to do this?"

"If Lanxin cannot be kept, I will take matters into my own hands."

But Pei Lang raised his strong, thin fingers and slowly traced them across his sharp jaw as he looked at him: "Do you know why the Crown Prince summoned me to the Eastern Palace?"

"His Majesty has been seriously ill for many years, and the Crown Prince, who is in charge of the state, has long been unable to restrain himself."

"Now that Pei Mingli is guarding the border, the Pei family has one scholar and one warrior. Do you really think the Crown Prince trusts me completely?"

“The Crown Prince will not let this go unless he actively exposes his weaknesses.”

Pei Lang stared at the pale blue embroidered handkerchief on the table, now clean of bloodstains. He reached out and gently rubbed it, leaving a deep mark on the fragile, thin fabric.

"Mother... Chuntao!"

When Lin Zhi woke up from the nightmare, her undergarment was soaked with sweat. Xia Ying, who was dozing beside her, was also awakened by the noise and quickly went to stand guard by the bedside. "Miss, you're awake!"

"Thank God, the heat has finally subsided."

Looking at Xia Ying's haggard, swollen face, Lin Zhi asked with a hoarse voice, "Where's Chun Tao?"

Xia Ying sobbed twice: "Sister Chun Tao is still unconscious. The beating left her legs bloody and mangled, but don't worry, Miss, the doctor has already given her medicine, and I just changed her clothes."

Lin Zhi felt a pang of sadness, and her eyes welled up with tears as she reached out and covered Xia Ying's hand. Only then did the little girl breathe a sigh of relief and burst into loud sobs.

After seeing Chuntao, Lin Zhi cried again. The person she had been with every day had been beaten into such a miserable state. No matter how grateful she was to her aunt, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

She sat listlessly by the window, gazing blankly at a corner of the sky outside. Suddenly, something occurred to her: "Xia Ying, how come there's a doctor in the manor delivering medicine to me? Who arranged for him?"

Xia Ying frowned: "It seems that the person who brought the doctor here looks like Xingyun, who serves the eldest young master."

Xingyun was tall and strong, which made him different from the ordinary servants in the mansion, so it was common for him to be recognized.

Although Lin Zhi had been ill the night before, she still remembered Lan Xin's tragic death and Pei Lang's protection. She lowered her head and tugged at the embroidery on her dress, her heart trembling.

Before, she wouldn't have been sure of Pei Lang's feelings, but after last night, she had a vague idea of ​​what was going on. Pei Lang's actions had indeed made her feel the taste of being favored.

But she and Pei Lang were worlds apart, so why should she make herself suffer?

Just as Lin Zhi's slender fingers were frantically fiddling with the hem of her clothes, she heard someone say that Aunt Yu Shu was requesting an audience.

Upon hearing that Yu Shu had arrived, Lin Zhi couldn't help but shiver, assuming that her aunt had sent someone to interrogate her. However, to her surprise, Yu Shu knelt down with a thud as soon as she entered the door.

"Please, Miss, come with me and speak on behalf of the Madam!"

Lin Zhi hurried along the way before she finally understood what was going on.

Today, my uncle returned from court, only to be told by a servant that Lanxin's body had been pulled from the flower pond. Last night, only my aunt saw Lanxin, and Pei Lang demanded an explanation from her.

"The lady is the mistress of the house. Even if she is offended by a maid, she would not treat a servant so cruelly."

"Miss, you are Madam's own flesh and blood, you absolutely cannot stand by and watch the eldest young master slander Madam like this!"

Just before entering the room, Yu Shu cautiously grabbed Lin Zhi's wrist and said softly, "Miss, what happened last night was all instigated by Lan Xin. Madam was also deceived."

"You'd better watch your words now."

Lin Zhi glanced at her probing expression, but showed no reaction. She simply pulled her wrist back without saying a word.

"My lord, I have absolutely no knowledge of Lan Xin's matter!"

Lin Shaowan, sitting in the main seat, was so angry that her hands were trembling. She glared at Pei Lang and said, "I don't know why the eldest young master doesn't keep a close eye on his own people. When something happens, he comes to me instead!"

Pei's father also had a worried look on his face. It would have been fine if it were any other servant, but it was Lanxin, who had been brought into the mansion by the late Madam.

Pei Lang sat upright, his face full of regret as he looked at the body covered by a white sheet: "Mother, Lan Xin disappeared after seeing you last night. I only learned about this today."

Lin Zhi was hesitant about whether she should go in, but she felt Pei Lang's intense gaze fall on her.

"I heard that my cousin was punished by my mother last night. Does she know what happened?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Zhi felt a prickling sensation on her back; the Pei family was all waiting for her to speak.

A note from the author:

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