Chapter 3
Wenji said, "Your mother was afraid you wouldn't wake up, so she went to Guangfu Temple to add incense and make a wish. Now that you're awake, you have to go and fulfill your vow."
“That’s true,” Wen Shu said with a dry laugh. However, since she knew the place where she had met Pei Lingjun in her previous life, she would simply avoid him. She couldn’t repeat the mistakes of her previous life no matter what.
“Then I’ll go with my mother tomorrow.”
——
June is scorching hot, and even before the Great Heat arrives, people walking on the street are already drenched in sweat.
Zhou Yun deliberately waited until the sun was almost setting before taking Wen Shu out.
Upon arriving at their destination, the maidservant stepped aside to lift the curtain. As the sun set and the heat gradually dissipated, the mother and daughter still had flushed cheeks from the heat when they climbed to Guangfu Temple on the mountaintop.
Wen Shu followed closely behind Zhou Yun, not daring to take an extra step or look around, hoping to avoid the karma from her past life.
Zhou Yun is a Buddhist, and she always has a bowl of vegetarian food whenever she comes to Guangfu Temple, and today was no exception.
Wen Shu dined with Zhou Yun, but the young monk who was serving the food was not very steady and spilled the vegetarian food all over Wen Shu. The young monk bowed and apologized repeatedly, and Wen Shu had no choice but to go to a side room to change her clothes.
Hanxiang delivered the clothes over and then stood guard outside the side room.
The scenery on the mountaintop was magnificent, with dazzling lights and colorful clouds painting half the sky red.
Wen Shu changed out of her soiled coat and was just fastening her belt when something cold suddenly pressed against her neck, and her heart sank.
"Don't move."
His voice carried a chilling coldness that cut to the bone, yet it was strangely familiar. It was him.
A familiar, cold fragrance wafted from behind her, the stench of blood mingling with her own. Wen Shu gritted her teeth, cold sweat beading on her skin. She forced herself to calm down. "W-what do you want to do?"
"I am injured, and there are people chasing me outside. I would like to ask you to take me out."
Just by listening to the voice, one cannot tell how serious the person behind is injured, but Wen Shu remembers that in her previous life, when she took the initiative to rescue Pei Lingjun in the mountains, his injuries were severe.
But why, even though she avoided the place where she met him in her previous life, could she still not escape this calamity?
Wen Shu remained stiff and didn't turn her head. "Young master is joking. How could a weak woman like me take you out? Besides, you also said that someone is chasing you outside."
The dagger advanced two inches, touching the delicate flesh of the neck, seemingly ready to sever at any moment.
"Finding a servant and getting a carriage shouldn't be difficult for you."
Wen Shu gritted her teeth. Pei Lingjun was determined to cling to her like this. She refused to believe that she couldn't escape the karma from her past life.
"Young Master..." Wen Shu feigned weakness, lowering her posture and pleading pitifully, "As long as you don't hurt me, I... I'll find someone to escort you down the mountain..."
The dagger pressed against his neck loosened slightly, and the man threatened in a low voice, "That's how it's done. If you don't obey, I'll take your life sooner or later. Do you understand?"
The man's voice was extremely cold. Ordinary daughters of officials would never joke about their lives upon hearing such a threat, and would have no choice but to agree.
Wen Shu nodded, her body trembling.
The man behind her patted her on the back with a dagger. "Let's go."
Having received the order, Wen Shu slowly walked towards the door, never daring to look back once.
As she reached the doorway, Wen Shu lunged forward, shouting, "Help!"
A wooden door was violently flung open, and Wen Shu staggered forward, nearly collapsing to her knees on the stone bricks.
Hanxiang quickly helped her to her feet, also terrified. "Miss, what happened?!"
No one came out of the house. Wen Shu turned her head and saw that the door was wide open and a light gauze curtain was hanging from the roof beam. The window behind the gauze curtain had been opened at some point.
That person probably fled for their life.
Wen Shu wasn't worried about Pei Lingjun's earlier threat; he wouldn't go so far as to make trouble for a girl he'd never met before.
"It's nothing. A huge rat just scurried out of the house and gave me a big fright."
Hanxiang breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "It's good that you're alright. Auntie has probably finished her vegetarian meal. It's getting late, let's go back to the manor."
Wen Shu nodded.
After descending the mountain, Zhou Yun and Wen Shu each boarded their respective carriages.
As darkness fell, a lantern bearing the words "Wenfu" hung in one corner of the carriage, its faint light filtering in.
As soon as Wen Shu sat down, she keenly sensed that something was wrong. There was a faint smell of blood and that strangely familiar cold fragrance in the carriage.
She shuddered, and cold sweat instantly streamed down her back.
Immediately afterwards, a mocking voice rang out, filled with obvious dissatisfaction, "I only asked the young lady for a small favor, why did she have to lie to me?"
Wen Shu subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice and saw the man who was speaking wearing a dark blue-green outfit, leaning against the carriage wall, playing with a small dagger in his hand.
It glittered with silver light.
A threat in capital letters.
Wen Shu felt a chill run down her spine. She frowned and asked in a low voice, "How did you find me?"
Pei Lingjun took out a warm white jade pendant from his pocket and threw it on the low table in front of her. "Madam Wen left in a hurry and left the jade pendant behind."
Wen Shu took a deep breath, realizing she had miscalculated.
"What you're asking of is rather unreasonable, young master. If what you say is true, there must be people checking people at the city gate..."
He pushed the dagger forward, the blade brushing against her face. His expression was cold and indifferent, his patience exhausted. The arrogant facade faded layer by layer from his eyes, replaced by a chilling killing intent.
"To help or not to help?"
There was no choice.
Wen Shu closed her eyes, and after a long while, she finally gave in and said, "I will try my best."
Pei Lingjun sheathed his dagger with satisfaction, leaning against the carriage wall to relieve some of his tension. Blood seeped from the roughly bandaged wound on his arm, dripping onto the velvety white animal skin carpet, standing out starkly.
The wheels rolled on the uneven road surface, causing some bumps.
Wen Shu lit sandalwood incense, and its rich fragrance wafted all the way, barely suppressing the stench of blood inside the carriage.
There were some commonly used medicines in the car, but Wen Shu remained silent, not intending to use them on Pei Lingjun.
She hadn't forgotten the poisoned wine from her past life that pierced her intestines and caused such excruciating pain.
Moreover, he has threatened her time and time again. Does he really think she has the heart of a bodhisattva, that she would still lend a helping hand even if she hates him so much?
Even if Pei Lingjun died in the carriage right now, Wen Shu would only feel relieved.
Who told him to be so blind as to choose her carriage?
Just then, the carriage screeched to a halt. A gruff voice came from outside, "Routine check. Make everyone in the carriage get out."
Hanxiang glanced at the suddenly larger crowd at the city gate and said without changing her expression, "Are you blind? Can't you see that this is the prefect's carriage?"
The city guards stepped forward with lanterns and indeed saw the words "Wen Mansion." After a moment's hesitation, they insisted, "There's an order from above that all carriages, regardless of whose, must be inspected! After all, harboring criminals is a capital offense!"
During the struggle, the city patrolmen noticed something was wrong, and seven or eight of them surrounded the carriage, their hands on their swords.
One of them, on high alert, called out in a low voice, "Get out of the car!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
