Chapter 127 Glimpse
The wind and snow were raging, and the sky and the earth were suddenly covered in white. The dead trees outside the white marble terrace were covered with frost.
The corridor is dimly lit by candles.
The eunuch led Pei Zhao to a side hall, but did not see Song Lingyi and the palace maids, so he scratched his head in confusion.
"Just now you asked me to come find you, why are you gone?"
"I haven't seen Miss Song all the way here."
Pei Zhao's eyes narrowed, and he had a bad feeling in his heart, "Maybe the palace is too big and we got lost. Let's split up and look for it."
The eunuch nodded in agreement.
Pei Zhao searched along the corridor and finally saw the girl on the corridor of the white marble terrace. The man next to her was clearly the Crown Prince who had left early.
At that time, heavy snow was falling from the sky.
He originally thought it was just a coincidence, but he actually saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally putting the pearl hairpin on his fiancée.
…
New Year's gift?
How come he suddenly becomes a different person? He was never good at sweet talk before.
While Song Lingyi was complaining in her heart, she raised her hand to take off the hairpin, but Xiao Mingyi stopped her by grabbing her wrist.
"Don't like it?" he asked.
"I didn't wear this pearl hairpin when I came out. What should I do if someone asks me about it when I get back?"
Xiao Mingyi smiled and said calmly, "It's just a pearl hairpin, not something valuable."
This pearl hairpin is indeed not valuable, but the gaze of the man in front of her is too direct and passionate. Song Lingyi lowered her eyebrows and was unwilling to look at him.
"I should go back."
Fortunately, Xiao Mingyi did not deliberately keep her. He said "hmm" lightly and pointed out a clear road for her. "Follow this road and you will reach Xuanhe Palace."
Song Lingyi did not hesitate and walked towards Xuanhe Hall.
In a dim corner, Pei Zhao glanced in the direction the girl left. He shifted his gaze slightly and found that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's eyes were always following the girl.
Pei Zhao's eyes dimmed and his expression changed slightly.
As they were all men, he naturally understood the deep meaning of this look, but when did it start?
Lingyi has been in Kyoto for less than a year, and apart from the engagement banquet and the visit to Jueshui County, they seem to have had no other interactions.
No, there is more.
When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first returned to Beijing, he sent people to inquire about the whereabouts of a woman.
When he first met Lingyi on the outskirts of Qingshi Town, she looked flustered and embarrassed, claiming that she was avoiding robbers. He also happened to meet a group of men in black clothes and conical hats, riding their horses at full speed.
"I am from Ruyang. On my way home, I encountered robbers and my family was persecuted. I was lucky enough to escape, but had to abandon my money to save my life. I beg you to be merciful and lend me some money to return home."
The fact that he was from Ruyang was fake, the fact that his family was persecuted was fake, and the fact that he returned home was also fake. If there was one thing that was true, it was that he was avoiding robbers.
At the beginning of the year, the situation was tense. The Second Prince sent secret guards to hunt down His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It was not an easy task to avoid the secret guards' pursuit and lead so many soldiers back to Kyoto silently. The only way was to hide his identity...
Thinking of this, he unconsciously clenched his fists under the sleeves of his light crimson robe.
No wonder after Lingyi went to the side hall to change clothes, a eunuch said Lingyi wanted to see him for something and led him to the side hall. At first, I thought she was in trouble, but now I think it was clearly someone's deliberate act.
Pei Zhao took a deep look at the figure in the black robe, then turned around and took a detour back to Xuanhe Hall.
The hall is bright and the music continues.
It was not until the warm yellow candlelight from the hall fell on her body that the uneasiness and restlessness in Song Lingyi's heart gradually subsided.
Just as she was about to enter the hall, a soft call came from behind her.
"Lingyi."
His voice was cold and low, as if blending into the snowy night.
Song Lingyi suddenly turned around and saw her fiancé walking out from the dark corridor with an unusually gentle look on his face.
"Brother Jianzhi, why are you outside?"
Pei Zhao walked up to the girl and raised his hand to brush away the fallen snow on her hair. His eyes swept over her bun, but he didn't see the hairpin with twisted branches. A hint of gloom flashed across his eyes.
"Just now a eunuch came looking for me, so he came out for a while."
Song Lingyi didn't doubt it, nor did she think too much about it. She smiled and said, "It's so cold, let's go in quickly."
As he finished speaking, Pei Zhao caught a glimpse of the dark-robed figure approaching from the opposite side of the corridor. He raised his hand and grasped Song Lingyi's wrist. The warm candlelight illuminated his face, which held a gentle smile. The interplay of light and dark cast a profound meaning on the smile.
"No hurry, the Crown Prince is coming."
“…”
Song Lingyi's eyelashes trembled, and she turned in the direction he was looking. When she saw the person coming, her heart began to beat like a drum.
What the hell, how could we meet here?
Pei Zhao studiously ignored the panic in the girl's eyes and took her a few steps forward. Song Lingyi's heart tightened. It wasn't that she was afraid Xiao Mingyi would see anything, but her fiancé was so self-disciplined and reserved, never holding her hand in front of outsiders. Why would he be so affectionate today?
The eunuch led the way with a lantern, and the tall, straight figure in a black robe soon arrived before them. The shattered snow blended with the candlelight, making the unparalleled handsome face appear even more profound, cold and white like jade.
Xiao Mingyi glanced at the two people's tightly clasped hands and the hairpin that had disappeared from the girl's head, and his eyebrows raised slightly.
The cold moon is silent.
The two men met eyes from a distance.
Anyone else would have been sent a chill down their spine by the prince's sharp gaze, but Pei Zhao acted as if nothing had happened. He slowly released his fiancée's hand and bowed in a scholarly gesture.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, best wishes." His voice was gentle and his face was as calm as ever.
Song Lingyi lowered her eyes and followed suit in bowing.
Xiao Mingyi curled his lips indifferently: "No need to be so polite."
"It's freezing outside the palace, why isn't Master Pei staying inside?"
"Just now, a eunuch came to look for me, so I took a walk outside. Xuanhe Palace is too big, and I just came back." Pei Zhao looked calm.
Xiao Mingyi's eyes flickered, and knowing that he had something else in mind, he chuckled softly, "That's quite a coincidence."
Song Lingyi's gaze moved between the two of them. She inexplicably felt that the atmosphere was a little weird, and even the air was chilly.
She smiled awkwardly and shook Pei Zhao's hand: "Brother Jianzhi, let's go in quickly."
Pei Zhao said nothing and let his fiancée lead him back to the main hall.
After the two of them returned to their seats and sat down, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had been away for a long time, returned to the high platform and sat down. He sipped from his wine glass, his face becoming increasingly cold, and his gaze never lingered on the seats of the Lu and Pei families for a moment.
Feng Tong took a half step forward, bowed, and whispered, "Your Highness, as you expected, a eunuch just led Master Pei to a side hall. I've inquired and they say it was a palace maid who delivered the message. Do you need me to find the maid who delivered the message?"
While serving in the palace, he dared to accept instructions from outsiders and plot against his master. He deserves to be cut into pieces.
Xiao Mingyi's expression changed slightly and he drank the wine in the glass.
The person behind this move clearly wanted Pei Zhao to give up, and he was also very curious about what choice Pei Zhao would make.
"Handle it more cleanly."
Feng Tong stepped back in response.
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