Chapter 33 Chapter 33 If I had known your identity earlier...
The candlelight flickers, and the mandarin duck embroidered quilt flutters in the red waves.
Xie Zhi, with a cruelty never before seen, forced Nie Xiangyi's eyes to well up with tears, which were then gently kissed away by Xie Zhi. She groaned softly in frustration, but, mindful of the crowded tent, she could only bite her lip and sob.
After sinking into despair, Nie Xiangyi had lost all consciousness in a daze. All she knew was to beg for mercy in a soft, tearful voice, calling out to Xie Zhi, "Brother Heng."
Such a voice is sweet and moving, like an addictive poison, which makes one want to urge her to call out a few more times.
Xie Zhi's movements became increasingly out of control. The usually cool and aloof man now had a seductive desire in the corners of his eyes, like a ferocious beast that refused to let go of its prey, and he almost bit Nie Xiangyi to pieces and devoured her.
Until the candle burned out, the candle wax melted into a sticky pool, and the brocade couch was a mess.
Xie Zhi looked at Nie Xiangyi, who was half asleep and half awake. Her body was covered with marks, and even her slender and round legs were marked with the bright red fingerprints left by him.
His throat tightened and he drank a cup of iced tea. Then he held Nie Xiangyi and cleaned up bit by bit.
The next morning, Ling Zhu's low voice reported from outside the tent, "Your Highness? The Emperor has gone to the hunting grounds."
When the emperor went hunting, the princes and court officials had to accompany him.
The soft body in his arms was like an exhausted kitten. It whimpered when disturbed by the sound, but did not open its eyes. It just rubbed its head against his arms.
Xie Zhi's face revealed a subtle, uncontrollable annoyance. A vein on his forehead twitched, and he took a deep breath before getting up and changing.
"Your Majesty... Your Highness..."
When he left the tent, Ling Zhu looked at him with a somewhat evasive look, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and stammered.
Perhaps because he was a bit grumpy after waking up in the morning, Xie Zhi frowned and scolded him, "Why are you so hesitant?"
Ling Zhu silently took out a bronze mirror from his bosom and handed it to him.
I saw several ambiguous marks faintly revealed on the back of her neck, which were slender and red, and I couldn't help but have some wild thoughts.
These were probably the marks left by her fingertips when she was begging for mercy.
Xie Zhi pursed his lips and silently pulled his collar higher.
It was already noon when Nie Xiangyi woke up. She felt as if her entire body had been shattered by Xie Zhi's impact, and she couldn't get up. A small table had already been prepared by the bed, and she ate lunch there.
"Where is His Highness?"
Han Xu replied, "I went hunting with the Emperor early this morning at the hunting grounds and told Madam to get some rest."
Nie Xiangyi pounded the bed with a pout, "I said I'd go hunting with them today!"
The day after the first hunt, the women were allowed to go hunting or feeding the hawks on their own. But after finally getting out to play, she couldn't even get out of bed.
After sleeping for most of the day, Nie Xiangyi finally felt better. He changed his clothes and left the tent.
Today she couldn't bear the bumpy ride of the horse, and with nothing to do, she could only squat in the grass and catch crickets.
"Ma'am, please stop lying in the grass! What if someone sees us?"
Hanxu saw that she was still as lively and cheerful as she was when she was little, with a naive and funny attitude. She was afraid that someone would see her and laugh at her, which would be embarrassing.
"What are you afraid of?" Nie Xiangyi's dark pupils were round and bright. He stared intently at a cricket in the grass, ready to strike. "Let me catch two crickets and have a fight with cousin Lingyu for fun!"
As she chased the cricket, she suddenly pounced into the grass, and her pair of white hands wrapped around a bunch of green grass, holding the cricket in her hands.
"Got it!"
Her eyes lit up, and before she could put the cricket away, the light in front of her was suddenly blocked, revealing a pair of black leather official boots with cloud patterns.
"Sister Ah Si."
Being seen like this, it was really embarrassing. Nie Xiangyi was startled, and with a flick of his hand, the cricket fell into the grass and disappeared.
She wanted to chase him, but because Pei Jue was there, she hurriedly stood up and hurriedly patted the grass debris on her body, "Little Master Pei..."
As if she was afraid of being discovered doing such a childish thing, she smiled dryly, "I... my earring fell into the grass..."
Pei Jue chuckled and didn't expose her. "Then I'll help Sister Si look for it?"
"Why……"
Before Nie Xiangyi could refuse, he leaned over and ran his slender fingertips across the green grass, "Found it."
His smile was filled with bright satisfaction. "Sister Ah Si, extend your hand."
Nie Xiangyi opened her palms to him blankly.
A bright green cricket fell into her palm.
She felt a little embarrassed after being exposed, but was still pleasantly surprised. She quickly caught the cricket with both hands and said, "Thank you, Master Pei!"
Hearing her call, Pei Jue sighed softly, seemingly imperceptibly, but his expression was as gentle and smiling as usual, "Sister, have you forgotten? When we were little, I often helped you catch them."
Nie Xiangyi nodded hurriedly and asked again, "Why haven't you gone hunting with the Emperor?"
"The Emperor has finished hunting and is now sharing the spoils with the adults." He looked at Nie Xiangyi, his gentle features tinged with disappointment. "Sister Ah Si, why aren't you calling me Brother Ziying like you used to?"
Nie Xiangyi was startled, feeling that this name was rather awkward now. He couldn't help but smile awkwardly, "We're all grown up now. We can't just act like we were kids..."
"Yeah..." Pei Jue only smiled gently, "If it weren't for the little mole on the tip of your nose, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Upon hearing this, Nie Xiangyi couldn't help but touch the tip of his nose in surprise.
But as soon as she let go, the cricket almost ran away again.
Pei Jue looked at the flustered figure and said, "It's inconvenient for you to hold it like this. I'll make a cage for you as usual."
As he said this, he actually sat down on the ground, without any airs of a young master from a wealthy family.
Nie Xiangyi couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that, sister A-si?"
Only then did Nie Xiangyi realize that she seemed to have been disciplined by the rules of the capital for a long time. Seeing him so free and easy, she was actually a little surprised.
"If His Highness were here, he would definitely scold you for sitting so improperly." She lowered her voice, imitating Xie Zhi's tone, "How disgraceful!"
Hearing Xie Zhi's name, Pei Jue smiled helplessly, "It seems you have been restrained for too long."
Those eyes, as lustrous as black jade, looked at Nie Xiangyi, "Hasn't it always been like this when we were young?"
"That was a long time ago."
Nie Xiangyi grumbled and sat down at a distance from him. He watched as he removed the grass roots, his fingertips nimbly moving as a delicate grass basket took shape in his hands.
She couldn't help but marvel at it. "After all this time, you still remember how to weave this cricket cage!"
I remember when we were little, we often caught crickets and played with them. Ziying's brother would always weave a cricket cage out of leaves or grass roots to house his "victorious general."
Pei Jue said "hmm" gently, "I made it up every year, but you stopped coming later."
His tone made Nie Xiangyi feel lost. "After my mother passed away, I followed my maternal grandfather to live in Shanzhou."
"I'm sorry." Pei Jue didn't want to talk about her sad story. With a frown on her face, she handed the straw basket to Nie Xiangyi and said, "It's done."
Nie Xiangyi hurriedly put the crickets into the straw cage, "Thank you, Master Pei!"
The smile on Pei Jue's lips dimmed for a moment, and he murmured to himself, "I wish I had known your identity earlier."
"It's not too late to know now." Nie Xiangyi didn't understand the meaning of his words and just responded casually.
"Really?" Pei Jue looked at her with a smile, his eyes squinting.
Xie Zhi was a little absent-minded during the whole day of hunting. When he returned to the tent, he heard that Nie Xiangyi had gone out to play.
When I found Nie Xiangyi on the grassland, I saw her sitting on the ground with Pei Jue, talking and laughing, looking very happy.
Xie Zhi's expression instantly turned cold.
He pulled his collar and walked forward in two or three steps.
When Nie Xiangyi saw him, he stood up hurriedly like a bad student caught by the teacher, "Your Highness..."
As he said this, he hid the cricket cage behind him, as if he was trying to cover up his mistake.
"It's so embarrassing to sit like this without any manners."
His scolding made Nie Xiangyi suddenly burst into laughter, and she winked at Pei Jue secretly, as if to say, "Look, I told you so!"
She looked so cute without any pretense, which made Pei Jue purse his lips and smile softly.
In Xie Zhi's eyes, these actions seemed like the two of them had some unspoken secret, and they were exchanging glances.
He wanted to restrain himself and return to the right path, as he felt that he had never been in such a state of turmoil as today.
Xie Zhi clenched his fingertips and glanced at her coldly, "A-Si seems to be in good spirits today."
She was busy last night until almost dawn, but she still had the leisure to chat and laugh with others.
The implication in the words instantly reminded Nie Xiangyi of last night's troubles. She blushed and stammered, "I was bored... I just came out for a walk..."
Xie Zhi raised his eyes and looked at Pei Jue coldly, "It seems that the Shen Ce Division is free from official business, which gives Master Pei some time to chat with my wife."
As long as one person is not afraid of something, there will always be people who want to take advantage of it.
Pei Jue immediately noticed the marks on the back of his neck, the conspicuous red marks that were deliberately exposed at the edge of his collar.
He lowered his eyes slightly, his smile fading a little. "I stole a moment from my busy schedule and happened to run into Sister A-si. We reminisced about our childhood and chatted a little longer."
Xie Zhi clenched his fingers tighter in his sleeves.
"Master Pei comes from an aristocratic family, and he has repeatedly overstepped his bounds. Does he still need my reminder?"
His eyes were dark, like the sea on the verge of a storm. "If it happens again, I'm afraid I'll punish you, sir."
"Your Highness is right." Pei Jue was not flustered by his warning. He just smiled gently, bowed and said goodbye before leaving.
"Your Highness!"
Seeing Xie Zhiyi walk away in a huff, Nie Xiangyi couldn't help but hurriedly chase after him, "Your Highness, are you really going to punish Master Pei? He didn't mean to overstep his bounds! He's just used to being called that."
Xie Zhi's eyes grew darker, and the aura surrounding him almost froze people.
Seeing that he didn't say a word and just walked forward on his own, Nie Xiangyi, who was already exhausted, tripped and bumped into Xie Zhi's back.
"Ugh..." She rubbed her head in pain.
Xie Zhi then stopped and turned to look at her.
"Drop that thing you have in your hand."
Nie Xiangyi held the cricket cage, pouting reluctantly, "But I..."
Xie Zhi's dark eyes stared at her tightly, like a snake coiling around her, making it hard to breathe. Nie Xiangyi was speechless.
She turned her head away, looking very aggrieved. She reluctantly threw the cricket cage out, and it rolled several times on the grass.
Xie Zhi's expression finally eased a lot.
After returning to the tent, Xie Zhi went to wash up. Nie Xiangyi poked his head out to take a furtive look and called out in a low voice, "Han Xu!"
She blinked her eyes like a kitten that had done something bad, "Did you find it?"
Hanxu nodded and handed the cricket cage to her.
Only then did Nie Xiangyi shake his head proudly.
I finally caught this cricket, and I haven't even played with it yet! How could I just throw it away like that?
Before she could hide the cricket cage, Xie Zhi's footsteps suddenly approached.
He looked at her panicking and hiding appearance with a half-smile.
"Ah Si, you are really naughty."
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The author has something to say: It’s so hard to guess what Meibao will do if she’s not well behaved [狗头]
(Several episodes where Xiao Xie breaks down his defense
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