Chapter 18 She has it so hard!
Zhuang Wan endured for two days, thought about it, asked Lixia about Pei Xingju's situation, and specially made a walnut cake to meet him.
She had to try out Pei Xingju's current attitude to know what to do next.
When Zhuang Wan arrived, Pei Xingju was busy attending to chores. Although he was currently at home, claiming illness, the Emperor still had many private requests for his services. After all, he held the vast Ministry of Justice in his hands, so it was impossible for him to truly be idle.
She stood hesitantly at the door for a while until Pei Xingju finished processing a document.
He said aloud: "Since you are here, why don't you come in?"
Zhuang Wan smiled awkwardly, "Yuzhi, I was afraid of disturbing you, so I wanted to wait."
She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt that when she saw Pei Xingju again today, his attitude towards her was a little strange. He used to act with her, but now he didn't even act anymore and treated her with indifference and distance.
She thought to herself that this was not good. Perhaps it was really what happened at Nanshan Villa that day that made him angry.
Zhuang Wan sorted out her thoughts and walked forward gracefully.
"Are you tired, Yuzhi? I made walnut cake with lots of honey."
Pei Xingju raised his eyes and looked at her quietly.
Zhuang Wan was nervous: "What, what happened?"
"What's the matter?" he asked calmly.
"No, nothing." Zhuang Wan wasn't sure what he was thinking. After thinking it over, she said honestly, "It's true that there is something."
"explain."
"Um...were you angry when I had a conflict with other noble ladies at Nanshan Villa last time?"
Pei Xing remained silent.
"I didn't really want to, but they were so aggressive. Not only did they say I wasn't worthy of sitting at the same table with them, they even went so far as to humiliate my father."
As she said this, Zhuang Wan lowered her eyes, looking aggrieved.
"But you've ignored me for days, Yuzhi, are you angry?"
Pei Xingju was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Come here."
“?” Zhuang Wan was bewildered.
"come over."
She moved over and saw Pei Xingju standing up.
He was tall, and when the two of them stood together, Zhuang Wan was only about the same height as his shoulders.
Because of the height difference, she couldn't see the expression on his face. From the corner of her eye, she saw him raise his hand and slowly move it closer to her head.
He seemed to hesitate when he was about to touch her, but finally his palm fell on her head.
Zhuang Wan had a simple bun today, with half of her long hair draped over her shoulders, and her soft hair was gently pressed down by him.
This action made Zhuang Wan shudder.
What is he doing?
But gradually, the big hand stopped at the back of her neck and did not move.
Pei Xingju's dark eyes fell calmly and coldly on the woman in front of him, and his fingers gently clenched.
The neck in his palm was so slender that he could break it with just a light pinch.
This woman knew too many of his secrets. Her survival would ultimately be a threat to him. Perhaps they had once truly been in love, but so what? He didn't remember it now, and even if he did, it would be in the future.
He will never regret staying here.
Zhuang Wan was so nervous that her heart was beating in her throat. She noticed his fingers tightening little by little, and she couldn't help crying.
People are always particularly sensitive when they are on the verge of life and death.
Pei Xingju felt cold all over, and was filled with strong murderous intent at the moment. How could she not know?
He wanted to kill her, and she couldn't resist at all. She even felt a little desperate. All her efforts had been in vain. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape death in the end.
Pei Xingju's fingers touched her thin spinous process bone, and with a little more force, he could hear a cracking sound.
The evil thoughts in his heart at this moment rose up like thick smoke, covering his eyes, and he only saw the pleasure of death.
He curled his lips and smiled, but stopped halfway through.
Something warm landed on his chest, soaking his thin clothes.
Pei Xingju was stunned and looked down, only to see the shoulders of the person in front of him trembling slightly.
She cried.
Inexplicably, the strong evil thoughts in his heart dissipated, and he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Why are you crying?" he asked softly.
Zhuang Wan clearly felt the change in him at this moment, and also felt the hand on the back of his neck slowly loosen.
The thought of surviving the catastrophe was more difficult for her to control than waiting for death. She burst into tears.
Pei Xingju didn't know how to coax a woman, nor did he have the patience to listen to a woman cry.
After waiting in this dull manner for a while, I finally heard Zhuang Wan sobbing, "Wuwuwu... I thought you were mad at me because you hadn't seen me these past few days, but I didn't expect it was just my imagination."
"Yuzhi," Zhuang Wan's heart hardened as she buried her face in his arms. "You treat me so well!"
“…”
Pei Xingju's whole body was stiff.
.
After returning to Muxiangyuan, Zhuang Wan quickly went into the house and closed the door. She leaned against the door, still unable to hide her heartbeat.
Seeing her panicked face and sweat on her forehead, Qiu Tan asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Miss? Didn't you go to see Master Pei?"
Zhuang Wan was afraid, but she couldn't explain it to Qiu Tan.
Pei Xingju's gentle, jade-like appearance was quite deceptive. She had forgotten that in the book, Pei Xingju was the male protagonist, with a wild and reckless temper and a ruthless killing spree. To put it bluntly, he could be a modest gentleman and then turn into a madman in the next moment.
Zhuang Wan escaped today, but who knows whether he will want to kill her again in the future.
fall!
Why is it so difficult to live?
He couldn't stay any longer, so he had to flee as soon as possible for the sake of his life. As for how to escape, Zhuang Wan had come up with a rough plan on the way back.
First, you need money, and second, you need to wait for the opportunity.
Travel money... Travel money...
Naturally, he couldn't borrow from Guard Lu. Not only could he not pay it back, but it was also ostentatious. After pondering for a moment, Zhuang Wan asked, "Qiutan, where are the clothes I bought from Jinxiu Pavilion last time?"
"They are all in the cupboard. Do you want to wear them now, miss?"
"No." She waved: "Come here and listen to me..."
Zhuang Wan gave detailed instructions, and Qiu Tan was very confused after listening to them.
"Those clothes are made of excellent material and are all fashionable in the capital. Why would you pawn them, young lady?"
"Silly boy, your lady has no other choice. I'm penniless and it's hard to do anything. I can't ask Master Pei for it, right? Otherwise, how will he look at me?"
Qiu Tan thought about it and agreed. Then he asked, "What if we pawn all of it? What will the young lady wear? After all, it was Master Pei who bought it for her. Wouldn't that be a waste of his kindness?"
OK, OK! As you say!
"Then just do it halfway. By the way, do this quietly and don't let anyone know."
Qiu Tan smiled and said, "Don't worry, young lady. I will take care of it. I just said that some of these ready-made clothes are not the right size, so I took them to be altered. Anyway, it's been a long time, who would care about this?"
Zhuang Wan secretly praised Qiu Tan, the maid, for not being that stupid after all.
Now that the money is settled, the next step is to wait for the opportunity.
After several days, the Buddha's Birthday Festival finally arrived at the end of April.
.
Buddha Bathing Day is originally a Buddhist festival, but with the prosperity and development of Buddhism over the past hundred years, it has gradually been integrated into the lives of dignitaries, and women in the capital have even become accustomed to fasting and chanting Buddha's name.
The leader was Empress Dowager Liang, who had lived in the deep palace for a long time.
Empress Dowager Liang loved to worship Buddha. She built several magnificent Buddhist temples in the palace alone, and donated countless amounts of incense money to major temples in and outside the capital every year.
The Buddha's Bathing Festival was even more grand. The Empress Dowager intended to personally visit Guangji Temple to pay her respects, and common people followed suit. Thus, the Buddha's Bathing Festival gradually became a grand festival for the Emperor. Even before the festival began, the major temples had already set up rooms for the wives of officials to rest and were sewing various sachets and talismans for pilgrims to choose from.
Even the little nuns in the nunnery were busy. They held a copper basin filled with water and a Buddha statue in the water, and went from house to house, beating gongs and chanting scriptures to collect incense money.
The Empress Dowager's travel was a major event. Every year, the Jingzhao Yin was short of manpower to maintain order in the capital, so he had to borrow people from the Ministry of Justice. Later, the Emperor simply let Pei Xingju and the imperial guards escort the Empress Dowager together.
This is a customary practice. This year, although Pei Xingju claimed to be sick at home, he was still summoned by the emperor.
"That's enough. It's time to go to court." said the emperor.
Pei Xingju decided to quit while he was ahead, and put on his official robes and went to the Ministry of Justice that day.
When Zhuang Wan heard Qiu Tan talk about the excitement of the Buddha's Bathing Festival, an idea suddenly occurred to her. She thought to herself, isn't this a great opportunity given to her by God?
So after dinner, he went to see Pei Xingju again.
But Pei Xingju was busy, and she stood outside the study and waited for a long time but he didn't finish.
Guard Lu stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, Miss Zhuang, what's your urgent matter? Please tell me first, and I'll pass it on for you."
"It's like this..." Zhuang Wan said, "I've been staying at home these days feeling depressed. Tomorrow is Buddha's Birthday, and I'm thinking..."
"Miss Zhuang wants you to go out with me?"
Before Zhuang Wan could finish, Guard Lu said, "I'm afraid that won't work. Your Excellency has to escort the Queen Mother on a trip tomorrow."
Zhuang Wan blinked: "What if I go alone?"
Guard Lu was a simple and warm-hearted guard. He said he would convey this message to Pei Xingju later.
Not knowing whether the message was passed on or not, Zhuang Wan returned to Muxiang Courtyard and waited all night but did not get any answer from Pei Xingju. She thought to herself that she would go and ask again early the next morning.
However, unexpectedly, when he got up the next day, he heard that Guard Lu was waiting outside the courtyard.
"Miss Zhuang..." he said, "My Lord has ordered me to accompany Miss Zhuang out."
Zhuang Wan was stunned.
Pei Xingju wanted to kill her just two days ago, how could he be so easy to talk to?
But no matter what, she was able to go out, and Pei Xingju was not there. It was really God helping her.
Immediately, Zhuang Wan quickly packed up her things, then took the purse Qiu Tan made for her and went out.
.
The carriage had difficulty moving after leaving the alley. The reason was simple: the streets were busy today, and Pei Xingju's house was located in the downtown area in the east of the city, and the main street was not far away.
The streets were bustling with people, some carrying loads on their shoulders, some setting up stalls, and some following the monks and nuns in groups to watch the fun, blocking the streets completely.
Guard Lu said that the carriage couldn't go forward, so Zhuang Wan simply got off.
"Miss Zhuang, where would you like to go?"
"Just wandering around."
Zhuang Wan walked in front. Her slender and flexible figure made her move effortlessly against the crowd. However, when she turned around, she saw that Guard Lu was also following effortlessly.
In addition to Guard Lu, there were a few other people, and those people followed behind him not too far away.
Zhuang Wan looked around as she walked, seemingly curious about everything. She would stop by a roadside stall, then squeeze into the crowd to watch acrobatics.
After walking and stopping for a long time, we arrived at a candied fruit shop.
Guard Lu recognized this candied fruit shop. When Zhuang Wan came back from Nanshan Villa, he had lent him one or two taels of silver to buy candied fruits.
Zhuang Wan said, "I'll go in and take a look."
Guard Lu subconsciously wanted to ask her if she wanted to borrow more money, but Zhuang Wan had already turned around and walked in, so he waited at the door with the others.
The streets were bustling with people, and there were only a few scattered customers in the shops.
Zhuang Wan took her time to pick out a bag of preserved fruits, then turned to glance at the guards standing at the door. Their attention was attracted by a few women from the Western Regions who were passing by and singing.
She walked quickly to the counter and said, "Boss, check out."
Then he whispered, "What I asked you to do last time..."
The shopkeeper looked up and saw that it was her. He immediately recognized her and said, "Okay, okay! It's already been done! I thought you didn't want her anymore since she hasn't come for so many days."
"Yes!" Zhuang Wan handed over a banknote swiftly. "Here's fifty taels. No need for change."
The shopkeeper nodded, skillfully folded a piece of paper and sealed it inside the preserved fruit, then handed it to her.
This is a road permit.
As long as one has the money, it's not difficult to buy a travel permit from the government. The last time Zhuang Wan came to buy preserved fruit, she saw someone secretly trading travel permits. On a whim, she ordered one herself, and she never expected it would come in handy now.
As for the maid Qiu Tan.
She had considered that the fewer people she had with her when escaping, the better. Taking Qiu Tan with her would be inconvenient. Qiu Tan was just a maid, and she knew nothing about her affairs. Pei Xingju would not embarrass a maid like her.
Soon, she went out happily with her things.
It was almost noon, and Guard Lu asked her where else she wanted to go.
"Let's go to the restaurant," Zhuang Wan said, "and have lunch first."
The group walked along the street towards the restaurant.
The restaurant was crowded, and they waited for a while before a table of guests left. The waiter quickly cleared the table and invited everyone to sit down, but Guard Lu didn't dare sit with Zhuang Wan. Naturally, he stood aside and waited for another table to open up.
At that moment, several monks came into the restaurant, carrying a copper basin of Buddha statue filled with holy water, and went from table to table to ask questions of the guests.
"Donor, would you like to bathe the Buddha?"
If someone is bathing the Buddha, they will pick up the wooden spoon in the basin, scoop a ladle of holy water and pour it on the Buddha statue. This is called "bathing the Buddha." Then, the monk will also scoop a ladle of holy water into a bowl and hand it to the person for him to drink.
There was a saying among people at that time that drinking the water from the Buddha Bathing Festival could ward off evil and avoid disasters. Therefore, on the Buddha Bathing Festival, anyone with a little spare money would not be stingy.
After drinking the holy water, the man took out a few copper coins from his purse and handed them to the monk. The monk said "Amitabha" and bowed before moving on to the next person.
Zhuang Wan sat and watched for a while, finding it very interesting. But soon, the monks came to her table.
"Lady donor, would you like to bathe the Buddha?"
Guard Lu stepped forward to stop them, but Zhuang Wan suddenly had an idea and said, "Yes."
She lifted the long handle to scoop water. Guard Lu pursed his lips and stepped back.
Zhuang Wan followed the example of others, first scooping a ladle of holy water and pouring it on the Buddha statue, then taking the holy water handed to her by the monk and drinking it.
To be honest, she was a little afraid to drink.
First, I didn't know what the holy water was made of, but it had a rich aroma and a deep, dark color. Second, the bowl the monk handed me had been used by countless donors and wasn't sterilized. But at this point, it was too late to refuse, so I took the bowl and drank it all with my eyes closed.
Finally, she savored the drink for a moment. Actually...it wasn't that bad, it had a sweet taste.
After drinking the holy water, she rummaged through her sleeves and picked out the smallest piece of silver. Although it was the smallest piece of silver, compared to other donors, Zhuang Wan seemed very generous.
The monk took it, a smile appeared on his face, and he recited a short passage of scriptures for her before leaving.
Zhuang Wan sat back at the table with satisfaction, but saw Guard Lu looking at her suspiciously.
"Oh...my maid still has some private money." Zhuang Wan explained.
She looked calm and composed, without any sense of being unkind of a master taking the servant's private money.
Guard Lu smiled.
Not long after, the waiter cleared out a table for Guard Lu and his companions, which was located in the lobby, one table away from Zhuang Wan's.
However, by the time their dishes arrived, Zhuang Wan had already finished. Just as Guard Lu was about to start eating, he saw Zhuang Wan clutching her stomach, looking distressed.
He asked, "What happened to Miss Zhuang?"
Zhuang Wan said, "I don't know if it's the holy water or the unclean food, but my stomach is upset. Oh no... I have to go to the toilet!"
“…”
Guard Lu said, "I'll take Miss Zhuang with me."
"No, no, you guys eat, I'll be back soon." After she finished speaking, she covered her stomach and ran to the backyard.
Guard Lu thought about it and felt uneasy, so he sent two people to follow and wait not too far away.
Zhuang Wan ran into the toilet, covered her nose and waited for a while, then went out.
Seeing two young guards waiting not far away, she smiled kindly and said, "Thank you for interrupting your meal."
The two guards were stunned for a moment, their faces gradually turning red.
After dinner, Zhuang Wan said she wanted to go to see a play.
Every year during the Buddha's Birthday Festival, numerous opera troupes flocked to the capital. Some performed in theaters, while others paid the government a small fee to rent a space and set up a stage. For ordinary people, attending the theaters would cost more, but attending the opera outdoors was cheaper: they could simply bring a stool from their home, give the gatekeeper a few copper coins, and listen all day.
Zhuang Wan had no stool, and it was impossible for her to ask Guard Lu to run back to Pei's house to get one, so she went to the theater, spent two taels of silver to buy a pot of tea, and leisurely ate melon seeds.
Eating sunflower seeds makes you thirsty, and when you're thirsty, you naturally want to drink tea. After listening to a play, Zhuang Wan ate two plates of sunflower seeds and drank two pots of tea.
During this period, I went to the toilet three times.
At first, Guard Lu sent someone to keep an eye on her, but later, when he saw her come back by herself, he didn't worry about it anymore.
After the opera, it was already late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set.
Zhuang Wan looked at the sky and asked Guard Lu, "Is Yuzhi still at Guangji Temple?"
"She must still be there," Guard Lu said. "After the Queen Mother pays respects to the Buddha, she will have a vegetarian meal before returning to the palace, probably after the evening hour."
"Oh, which direction is Guangji Temple?"
"East."
"Then let's go to the East City Gate."
"What is Miss Zhuang doing at the East City Gate?"
Zhuang Wan feigned shyness. "I miss Yuzhi. I'm going to wait for him at the East City Gate. I bet Yuzhi misses me too. If he sees me at the East City Gate on his way back, he'll be very happy. What do you think, Guard Lu?"
"...Maybe."
Soon, Zhuang Wan got on the carriage and the group headed towards the east city gate.
Waiting for Pei Xingju was impossible; she simply wanted to escape through the East City Gate. The capital was so vast, and even if she could find the gate, Guard Lu would be able to catch her quickly if he noticed she was missing.
Furthermore, if they discovered she was missing, Guard Lu would likely not have expected her to leave the city under their noses and would have sent people to search for her within the city. This would have made it easier for her to escape.
After getting on the carriage, she quickly packed her purse and the dried meat and pancakes she had bought today. These were all her dry food for the journey, and she couldn't miss any of them.
After about three-quarters of an hour's journey, they finally reached the East City Gate. After getting off the carriage, Zhuang Wan secretly thanked herself for coming by horse-drawn carriage; otherwise, she would have been exhausted from walking all the way here.
She repeated the same trick and soon after getting off the car, she held her stomach with a look of pain on her face.
"Miss Zhuang, your stomach hurts again?"
Zhuang Wan pretended to be strong and waved her hands: "It's okay, I can bear it. I still have to wait for Yuzhi."
But after a moment: "No, I can't bear it anymore. I'll go find a convenient place first. If Yuzhi comes, send someone to tell me quickly."
After saying that, she looked up.
Guard Lu pointed to a teahouse not far away and said, "Miss Zhuang, over there."
"Thank you." Zhuang Wan hurried away.
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