Chapter 134 Robe
"Coincidence?" Luo Zhaohan sneered through his teeth, "Pei Ji, I think this is clearly retribution!"
She stared into Pei Ji's eyes, her words icy and sharp, "Even God can't stand your cowardly attitude of watching from the sidelines! My father saved your Pei family's life in vain, and this poisonous arrow today is his repayment!"
"Luo, Zhao, Han!" Pei Ji's Adam's apple rolled, and every word was bloody.
"Your father saved my Pei family? Yes! My Pei family owes your father a life, but on the battlefield, swords and guns are blind. It was his own choice for him to rush forward to block the knife! He is not a saint, and he is not my Pei Ji's father! I was just a half-grown child back then! What can I do?"
He became more and more excited as he spoke, his fingers trembling as he pointed at Luo Zhaohan and himself, as if he wanted to dig out his tormented heart and show it to her: "Yes! I was a coward today! I was afraid! I was afraid of death! I was afraid of those blue poisonous arrows that you could tell were lethal at a glance! I was afraid of dying like your father, with no clear explanation! Is there anything wrong with that? I shouldn't have lived! I should have blocked that fatal knife for my foolish father and reunited you and your daughter, right? Is that what you really think?"
The last sentence was roared out, like the roar of a trapped beast on the verge of death, shaking the roof as if it were shaking.
Luo Zhaohan took a step back because of his shouting, and his back hit the antique display cabinet, causing the porcelain vases on the cabinet to make another noise.
She looked at the expression on Pei Ji's face, and her heart felt like it was being tightly grasped by an invisible hand, making her feel sore, painful and stuffy.
At this moment, the anger, resentment, and unwillingness that were suppressed in my heart seemed to be at a loss.
Yes, back then, when Dad rushed out to block the arrow, who could have forced him? That was his own choice.
Just then!
"puff--!"
"Miss? Miss, what's wrong with you? Someone come quickly! My lady is vomiting!"
There was an extremely sudden muffled sound, followed by the maid Tinglan's terrified scream.
The sound was sharp and piercing, clearly coming from the lobby downstairs!
Pei Ji was like a chicken with its neck strangled, and all his angry roars stopped abruptly.
Luo Zhaohan also shuddered all over, subconsciously pricked up his ears, and his heart suddenly rose - Mu Mingshu and Xu Lanxi were downstairs!
"Mingshu?" Tinglan's voice was filled with tears. "Miss, please don't scare me! Someone, help me!"
The lobby downstairs instantly exploded into chaos!
"It's Miss Yang from Yunshan Pavilion!" a diner shouted in panic.
"Oh my God! She's vomiting blood! Her face has changed color!"
"Isn't he poisoned?!"
"plague?"
"Damn your ancestors! That Miss Xu's face turned pale!"
Panic spread like a plague throughout the first floor of the restaurant in an instant!
Luo Zhaohan's expression changed completely!
Mu Mingshu? She had a long history with her father, General Luo. When he was alive, he often praised the generosity of the imperial merchant Yang Qingxiao in secretly supporting the border troops! She was fine just now...
Poisoning? Wei Wenqin? Gu Lingjia? Or...is it directed at that evil spirit upstairs again?
The thought flashed through his mind like lightning. Luo Zhaohan had no time to think about it because his body reacted instinctively.
She turned around suddenly, no longer looking at Pei Ji's pale face, kicked away the overturned stool that was blocking her way, and reached out to pull at her waist.
The Luo family is a military family. Even though Luo Zhaohan's family has fallen on hard times, he always carries a dagger for self-defense.
When she touched the cold handle of the knife, she felt like she had found her backbone!
At this moment, the door of Linbo Pavilion next door was kicked open from the inside with a "bang".
The entire heavy wooden door spun and hit the opposite wall, shattering into pieces!
Amid the flying debris, the tall figure of Guangling King Ling Zhaohong was like a completely enraged beast.
A foot-long tear suddenly appeared on the front of his dark brocade robe, revealing the dark, cold soft armor lining underneath! A dent was clearly visible on the chest of the soft armor, and half a broken arrow fragment was embedded next to it!
That hint of dark blue contrasted with the violent murderous intent surging in his eyes at this moment.
In his hand, he held a Mo Dao that he had snatched from some guard. The blade was thick and shone with a cold light. The bright blade was still dripping with sticky blood, which flowed down the cold tip of the blade and hit the floor drop by drop.
The sound of dripping blood clearly penetrated everyone's ears in the dead silence.
Behind him, two bodies in black clothes and masks lay on the ground, their throats slit and blood flowing like a river.
There were also two men in black who were seriously injured and screaming in pain. They were trampled to the ground by the guards and could not move.
The small private room was in a mess, with the tables, chairs and screens all reduced to broken wood.
Ling Zhaoyang huddled in the corner, tightly protected by two burly guards. His little face was pale, and he was so frightened that he even forgot to cry. He just bit his lips tightly and shivered.
"Where are the people?!" Ling Zhaohong's voice was cold and hoarse like the friction of iron filings, like a cold wind blowing from hell.
The murderous eyes, which were almost condensed into substance, suddenly swept towards the guard leader who was grimacing in pain with a half-broken arrow stuck in his shoulder at the door.
The commander shuddered under the prince's gaze. Enduring the excruciating pain, he pointed out the window and hoarsely shouted, "Your Highness! The thief who launched the attack slid down the rope outside the window into the backyard and into the crowd. We just chased him to the corner gate... There were too many people... It was blocked... He slipped in... and disappeared!"
"Waste!" Ling Zhaohong's eyes were filled with anger. The blood-drenched Mo Dao in his hand suddenly rose up, the tip of the blade pointing directly at the guard leader's eyebrows!
The commander was so frightened that he closed his eyes, his legs went weak and he was about to kneel down!
"Get out of here!" Ling Zhaohong shouted, but instead of chopping down, he kicked the commander away!
"Investigate! Seal the front and back doors immediately! Don't let a single mouse out! Investigate all suspicious individuals! Even if it means skinning and tearing out tendons, I will dig out the bastard who launched the sneak attack for me!"
Before he finished speaking, Tinglan's crying scream came from downstairs again: "Miss! Miss, wake up! Miss Xu has fainted too!"
"Poison? They were poisoned?!" Gu Lingjia's voice rang out in the crowd downstairs, terrified and sharp. "Who was it! Who poisoned them? That cup of tea just now! Sister Wei... Sister Wei was the first to touch the pot of tea..."
There was another even greater chaos and uproar downstairs!
"Ling Zhaoyang!" Prince Guangling's roar was like thunder!
"Brother...Brother!" Ling Zhaoyang, who was hiding in the corner, trembled with fear.
"You stay here! If you dare to take a step without my order, my legs will be broken!" Ling Zhaohong stepped out of the broken door of Linbo Pavilion, like a tiger coming down the mountain!
However, in that instant——
"stop!"
An equally sharp shout suddenly blocked his way.
Luo Zhaohan!
She held the dagger horizontally, like a taut string, blocking the entrance to the corridor that was cut by the sword energy.
Although the dagger was short, the tip of the blade was pointing straight at Ling Zhaohong! Behind her was the door of Tingsong Pavilion. There was no fear in her eyes, only cold scrutiny and vigilance.
"Prince Guangling!" Luo Zhaohan's voice trembled with nervousness, but he spoke each word with great emphasis. "No one can leave until the matter is clarified!"
Her eyes were like those of a vigilant lone wolf, fixed on Ling Zhaohong's still bleeding knife and the dark blue on his chest. "The two girls downstairs are poisoned and dying! Where did the poison come from? The assassin in the dark has not been brought to justice! Your Highness was assassinated right before they were poisoned. Is it a coincidence or..."
Luo Zhaohan didn't finish his words.
It’s not that she didn’t want to say it, but the furious god of death in front of her, with his suddenly shrunken pupils, the bottomless thick darkness suddenly exploded!
"On the verge of...death?" Ling Zhaohong murmured, his hoarse voice as light as falling feathers, but filled with chilling emotion.
The next moment——
No signs! No warning!
Ling Zhaohong moved!
The figure was so fast that it left a blurry afterimage on the spot, and the bloody Mo Dao in his hand screamed as it tore through the air.
He did not rush towards Luo Zhaohan, but like a flaming meteor, wrapped in endless storms and bloody murderous aura, smashed down towards the lobby downstairs!
Target--
Directly lock down the center of chaos and noise.
That was the place where he had just confirmed that Mu Mingshu's voice had disappeared!
The desperate and crazy aura that burst out from his whole body frightened Luo Zhaohan, who was about to question him again, so much so that his heart suddenly shook, as if he was hit hard by an invisible air wave in the chest.
The rest of her words were abruptly blocked out! She even subconsciously dodged to the side!
“Get out of the way!!”
“Your Majesty!!”
The guards downstairs cried out in despair, the diners screamed in fear, the dishes shattered, the tables and chairs were swept away by brute force...
All the sounds mixed together like a symphony from hell.
…
Xie Wuqi's legs seemed to be stuck in an ice hole, trembling constantly and almost unable to stand.
He stared at Pei Ji, who was standing a few steps away, as if he had seen a ghost.
Pei Ji's face was so pale that he looked lifeless, but the corners of his mouth were still being pulled upwards.
That wasn't a smile at all. His eyes were eerily still, like an ancient pond covered in a thick layer of ice, yet beneath it was clear something scalding hot was stirring furiously.
Xie Wuqi was nailed to the ground by that look, and the hairs on his neck stood up all the way to his tailbone.
A chill ran up my spine, and the back of my neck felt cold.
His head was buzzing. All the arrogance and domineering attitude he had in the past, as well as the courage he gained from relying on his father's golden signboard of "General Wuwei", were now like punctured pig bladders, deflated without a drop left.
He wanted to roar again to boost his courage, but his throat seemed to be clamped tightly by a pair of rusty iron pliers, and he couldn't squeeze out a sound.
"Thank you, young marquis," Pei Ji finally spoke again. His voice was slower and lower than before, and each word seemed to be ground on a piece of ice that had been frozen for a thousand years, cold and astringent. "Did you drink in Jinxiu Tower last night?"
Xie Wuqi shuddered, as if he had been scalded.
Jinxiu Tower? Last night? His muddled mind struggled to process.
Yes, I did go there and drank quite a bit. The courtesan’s hands were as soft as if they had no bones.
But what does this have to do with the evil spirit before him? "Yes... so what?" He stubbornly retorted, his voice as soft as boiled noodles. "Who among the young men in the capital doesn't go to a restaurant? Lord Pei controls everything, so does he even have to control my drinking?"
The dead look on Pei Ji's face didn't change at all, as if what Xie Wuqi had said was just a small fart.
"What did your long-time servant named Shuangxi buy at the grocery store in the back alley of Jinxiu Building at the first quarter of last night?" He didn't even raise his eyes to look at Xie Wuqi.
Xie Wuqi's heart suddenly sank, like a stone falling into a bottomless well, without even a sound.
Shuangxi? He recalled vaguely, he was too drunk last night, when did Shuangxi leave the table?
I think... I bought something there? That grimy grocery store in the back alley?
Pei Ji didn't need Xie Wuqi's answer at all: "It's a seven-foot piece of blue cloth. It's the best 'Jiangning Blue', the material is thick and the color is very resistant to staining."
Dirt-resistant. These two words were like two needles, piercing Xie Wuqi's brain.
His brand new moon-white cloud brocade robe.
"My robe is stained with Huadiao!" Xie Wuqi almost screamed, his eyes wide open, as if trying to grasp the only reasonable excuse, "That waiter is so clumsy! He spilled a jar of good wine all over me!"
Pei Ji's gaze finally fell on Xie Wuqi's face. His eyes were as cold as a knife.
"Where is your robe?" These three words were as sharp as three small daggers, and were very aggressive.
Xie Wuqi seemed to be pinned down by these three words, his neck stiff.
Where did he go? Last night's chaotic scene swirled in his mind: he'd yelled at Shuangxi in the back alley to get some cloth to cover the mess, so he could frantically hide the stains on his body and return home. And what happened after he got home? It seemed like Shuangxi had quietly slipped away, clutching something...
His throat was so dry that he couldn't utter a complete word.
The stiff curve at the corner of Pei Ji's mouth seemed to widen a little, making his face even more sinister.
He slowly reached his hand into the wide sleeves of his gray official uniform, which was neither new nor old.
Xie Wuqi's eyes followed the hand intently, his breathing suddenly stopped, and the air around him seemed to be grasped by an invisible big hand.
That bony hand slowly drew something out from the depths of his sleeve pocket.
Xie Wuqi's pupils suddenly shrank into a dot.
It was a small bag that women often used to store small items at home.
The surface was made of fine goose yellow Hangzhou satin, and a small flower bud was crookedly embroidered on it with fine gold thread. The stitches were sparse and tender, and it was obviously a toy for women to practice.
The brightly colored, crooked flower bud was like a red-hot iron, suddenly burning a corner deep in Xie Wuqi's memory.
His eyelids twitched.
Pei Ji held the soft, goose-yellow brocade bag in his hand, his eyes filled with disgust as if he were looking at a piece of rotten food.
Holding the short piece of corn, his fingers did not make any unnecessary movements, he just held it in the air, letting the brocade bag sway gently in the chilly early spring breeze.
puff.
A very slight sound.
A shiny object fell out of the slightly opened bag and landed on the ground.
The thing spun around a few times and finally stopped.
It's an earring.
Xie Wuqi's vision suddenly went dark, and a gasping sound came from his throat, like a dying fish.
The earring was very small, only as big as the tip of her little finger. A thin piece of bean green jade was carved into a delicate five-petal flower.
The jade wasn't top quality, but it was quite watery. The most striking thing was the tiny brass inlay in the center of the flower, polished to a high shine and reflecting a cold light.
Xie Wuqi recognized it! Even better than he recognized his own fingers!
Those eyes, filled with fear and despair, stared at him intently; that face, covered with snot and tears, twisted and screaming in fear beneath him...
The unbearable fragments of memories from that night burned fiercely into my mind like red-hot iron slag.
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