Pei Yuan's carriage was parked in front of the Prince Chen's Mansion.
Ever since the last Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, she has never been able to set foot in the gate of Prince Chen's Mansion again, let alone meet Gu Xueting in person.
Although Gu Xueting treated her coldly in the past, he would at least give her some face and not let her be turned away. But now...what happened? She couldn't help but feel flustered.
If she could no longer step into Prince Chen's Palace, rumors would soon spread in the imperial capital that Prince Chen disliked her.
This time, she must step into Prince Chen's Mansion no matter what!
Inside the carriage, Pei Yuan tightly grasped a jade pendant hanging around her waist.
It was a piece of crystal clear blood jade, shaped like a strange flower.
If someone from the upper realm saw it, they would definitely recognize that it was the Imperial Flower that grew in the Demon Realm.
Legend has it that this flower was transformed from the corpse of the daughter of the God Emperor. It is extremely beautiful and enchanting, and has a seductive effect. People with weak wills can be easily bewitched and swallowed up without leaving anything behind.
Gradually, the reputation of the Emperor's Daughter Flower as an extremely evil flower spread, and people in the world were afraid of it.
Pei Yuan scratched the lines on the jade pendant with her fingernails, thinking she would be turned away again, but the maid came back and told her, "Miss, the prince has agreed to let you in."
Pei Yuan let out a long sigh, got off the carriage gracefully with the best attitude, and walked into the mansion.
The servant brought her all the way to the pavilion.
When she saw Gu Xueting, Pei Yuan couldn't help but keep her eyes on him, but she always kept her identity in mind and didn't forget to salute the two people in the pavilion.
When she stood up, Su Chaiyu spoke: "Miss Pei, this jade pendant is quite unique. I seem to have seen it somewhere before. I wonder if Miss Pei can take it off and show it to me?"
His eyes fell on the blood jade worn on Pei Yuan's waist.
Pei Yuan's heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously wanted to refuse. She had never taken off the jade pendant since she got it, and never allowed anyone else to touch it. But if she refused, it would seem a bit abrupt. After all, Su Chaiyu just asked to take a look.
She looked at Gu Xueting, but saw that his eyes were on a little bird and he didn't pay any attention to her at all.
He had no choice but to take off the jade pendant and hand it over: "Please be careful, Mr. Su, this is my mother's legacy."
"Really?" Su Chaiyu's tone was light and a little playful.
Pei Yuan felt uncomfortable under his gaze, as if all her secrets were seen through by him.
After Su Chaiyu looked at it, he did not return the jade pendant to her, but put it into Xiaoman's small basket, "Xiaoman, this is your master's jade pendant. Now it's back, you have to take good care of it for your master, don't let bad guys steal it again."
Xiaoman called out twice, as if in response, and used her little paws to actually pull the jade pendant under her body and hide it.
At that moment, Pei Yuan felt a great panic and his face changed color: "Master Su, what do you mean? That jade pendant is clearly mine!"
Su Chaiyu said with a "tsk" sound: "Yours? You took someone else's things for yourself. After a long time, do you really think you are the owner of this thing?"
Pei Yuan's eyes went dark. "You, what are you talking about? I don't understand. Brother Xue Ting, please ask him to return the jade pendant to me."
If the small basket had not been right next to Gu Xueting, she would have lost control and would have grabbed it directly.
Gu Xueting finally gave her a look, but that look was like ten thousand years of ice, freezing her soul to tremble.
"I have found the real owner of the jade pendant. The person four years ago was her, not you. Pei Qi, if you tell me the truth, I can let you continue to be the daughter of the Pei family. Otherwise -
"Miss Pei Qi went to Kaiyuan Temple to burn incense, but she met bandits on the way and died. What do you think of this ending?"
These words were like a bolt from the blue, causing Pei Yuan's head to buzz and his face to turn pale.
He knew! He knew! And Gu Xueting's words made her feel like she was falling into an ice cellar.
He arranged her death so casually!
In the past, she thought he was cold and unapproachable, but now she knows how cold-blooded and cruel he is. He is really merciless when he says he wants her life! Even if she is an imposter, does everything she has done in the past four years mean nothing to him? Didn't it leave even the slightest trace in his heart? Pei Yuan looked at his face unwillingly, but she only saw indifference! She lowered her eyes, pinched her palm tightly, and bit the soft flesh of the inner wall of her mouth with her teeth, so as not to vent her hatred recklessly under impulse.
She tried her best to calm down and pondered over what the two had just said.
Obviously, Gu Xueting already knew that the person from four years ago was not her. How did he know? He clearly did not remember the situation at that time, and later the black-robed man cleaned up all the traces, even throwing the body of the bitch Shen Yizhi into the river.
It should not have been disclosed, so what went wrong? And how much did he know?
Pei Yuan was going crazy, but at this moment Gu Xueting and Su Chaiyu were eyeing her covetously. She knew that if she didn't reveal something, she would only end up with a tragic death!
Well, he wanted to know what happened four years ago, right? She told him!
"Four years ago, I went to Beijing to live with my relatives. I happened to be on the same ship with Miss Shen. We hit it off right away and got along very well."
Su Chaiyu sneered, obviously sneering at her words.
Pei Yuan ignored her and said, "On the way, the ship stopped in Lincheng for a day to resupply supplies. Miss Shen and I felt stuffy in the ship, so we planned to go into the city for a walk. There were too many people on the street, and we were later separated. But we agreed to meet at the dock. In the evening, she still hadn't returned. I was very worried, so I went to look for her separately with the maid.
"I ended up getting lost and ended up in a forest. I saw the prince lying there. I went to check on him, but he suddenly woke up with bloodshot eyes. I was so scared that I turned and ran. When I got back, I realized the jade pendant I was wearing was gone. I wanted to go back and look for it, but the boat had already sailed."
Pei Yuan was extremely nervous. She looked up at Gu Xueting and saw that his hands on the table were clenched into fists. It was obvious that he was not calm.
"That day, Miss Shen fell ill and had a high fever. I went to see her and heard her talking nonsense. At that time, I asked her maid to take good care of her. But the next day, I heard that she had jumped into the water to commit suicide. Her maid blamed herself for not taking good care of her and jumped into the water as well."
Gu Xueting suddenly asked: "What is her maid's name?"
"Qingluan." Pei Yuan answered without any hesitation.
Gu Xueting said: "Continue."