Chapter 29 The Iron-Faced Judge
The guard drew his sword with a swish, but saw his master holding the crazy woman behind him. His black undershirt was torn loose, revealing three fresh scratches on his collarbone.
"Go and invite Princess Yinzhen." Pei Ji's voice was colder than Qiu Shuang's. "If even a word of what happened tonight gets out, I will show no mercy!"
The guard stared at the blood-stained jade fragments on the ground. As he saluted, he caught a glimpse of the woman's bare ankles beneath her stained skirt. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Search the alley immediately!"
Luo Zhaohan struggled to turn her head amidst the fabric, the drug's effects mingling with memories dyeing her vision blood red. She seemed to see Xie Wuqi again as he dropped the secret letter into the brazier, the sneer on his lips illuminated as the flames leaped up.
"Why..." A sob escaped her teeth, and she tore at the cloak that wrapped around her body. Suddenly, amidst the sound of ripping silk, her wrists tightened, and a chill ran up her veins to her heart.
Pei Ji knelt on one knee and held her vital point, while using his other hand to tear off his hairband.
When the long raven-green hair fell on her shoulders, he put two fingers together and pointed at the side of the woman's neck: "I'm sorry."
With a muffled groan, Luo Zhaohan collapsed instantly.
After half a cup of tea.
After the last guard exited the moon-shaped gate, Pei Ji turned and looked at the figure huddled on the ground. A dark outer robe covered most of the girl's body, revealing only her tousled black hair. He knelt on one knee, the moss on the bluestone slab soaking through the hem of his robe. "Miss Luo?"
“Bang!”
Five scorching fingers suddenly gripped his wrist, the force so strong that it seemed to crush bones. Pei Ji's eyebrows moved slightly, and his eyes swept over the hand - the knuckles were covered with a layer of pale yellow calluses, the marks left by years of holding a knife.
His outer robe slipped off, revealing a face covered in mud.
Luo Zhaohan raised her head with difficulty, a blood-red mist covering her eyes. The hot blood splattered on the execution ground in her previous life seemed to still flow down her face. A hoarse roar escaped her throat: "Xie Wuqi...I will make you pay for your blood debt with blood..."
Pei Ji's pupils suddenly shrank. This name reminded him of the secret report sent by the secret guards three days ago - the document announcing the cancellation of the engagement between the eldest son of the Xie family and the Luo family, which should still be held in the Ministry of Rites.
"My name is Pei Ji." He repeated in a low voice, "The princess will be here soon."
Chaos' eyes suddenly became watery.
Luo Zhaohan vaguely saw the blue bricks in front of the Dali Temple gate, worn by kneeling. That year, she had also grasped the hem of someone's official robe. Hot tears mixed with mud and slid down, leaving a shallow mark on Pei Ji's wrist: "Master Pei..."
"Exactly."
The force on her wrist suddenly loosened. The girl collapsed like a cat with its bones pulled out, her outer robe slipping off, revealing dark red finger marks on her neck. Pei Ji stared at the purple pinch marks on his wrist when he suddenly heard the sound of fabric tearing—Luo Zhaohan was still tearing at his collar in his unconscious state, clearly the effects of the drug had not yet worn off.
Suddenly, an argument broke out in the distance: "Let me pass!"
"Your Majesty has an order..."
"I'm her mother!" The woman's tearful cry pierced the night. Pei Ji quickly spread his outer robe over Luo Zhaohan, his dark cloak rustling in the night wind as he stood up. "Let her go."
Qin Wan rushed in, her skirt lifted, her pearl hairpins dangling. Once she saw the figure on the ground, she stumbled and fell to her knees. With trembling fingers, she lifted the corner of her outer robe and then slammed it shut again: "My son..."
"Madam." Pei Ji took a half step to block the view, "The road to the west corner gate has been cleared. It's safe there."
"Thank you, my Lord!" Qin Wan lifted her daughter up and carried her across her body, wrapping her tightly in her outer robe. As she turned, she felt something sticky on her palm. Looking down, she saw blood seeping from Luo Zhaohan's sleeve. Suddenly, her vision went dark—the girl had dug her nails into her palm.
Pei Ji watched them disappear at the end of the corridor.
When he walked out of the path, all the important roads in the mansion were guarded by yamen runners.
Ling Ji was standing guard beside the man's corpse. When he saw him, he immediately stood up straight and said, "Sir!"
Pei Ji waved his hand to signal him not to be polite. He squatted beside the corpse and extended two fingers, carefully feeling along the body's jaw to behind the ear. His hands kept moving, and he said, "Tell me in detail what happened just now."
Ling Ji then squatted down and reported the situation in a low voice. Luo Zhaohan's earlier shout had come just in time; by the time the palace guards had followed the noise, the thief had already been cornered against the courtyard wall.
Seeing that he couldn't escape, the man suddenly exerted force to rush towards the wall. Ling Ji made a prompt decision and threw his long knife - originally he was aiming at the legs and feet to keep him alive, but after stabbing the thigh, the man fell from the top of the wall and threw himself directly at the guard's spear.
Pei Ji stood up after hearing this, his fingers still stained with the residual warmth of the corpse. He had just touched the back of the ear and the side of the neck, and indeed there was no trace of disguise.
"You said that the people from the East City Military Department have been wandering outside the wall for a long time?" Pei Ji lowered his eyes and brushed his sleeves.
"Exactly. When I chased them out to investigate, I ran into them circling at the base of the wall." Ling Ji also stood up, "They said they made a few extra rounds while patrolling the city today."
Pei Ji said nothing upon hearing this, turning and walking towards the side door. The afternoon sun shone on his official uniform with a green bamboo pattern, casting a long, thin shadow on the stone pavement.
A small hall was temporarily cleared out next to the side door of Prince Duan's Mansion.
As Xie Wuqi crossed the threshold, the wall dust on his sleeves fell down. He pinched his palms hard to suppress the gloom between his brows - the opportunity he had been planning for many days was ruined!
In his previous life, on this day, he caught the adulterer who was escaping over the wall at the outer wall of Prince Duan’s Mansion, and that’s how he won the favor of the noble man.
Relying on this relationship, he was transferred from the Bingmasi to the Jingwei Suo, and gradually climbed to the position of general. But now, let alone promotion, he hasn't even seen the shadow of the adulterer!
"Thank you, Deputy Commander. The master is inside."
Ling Ji's voice startled Xie Wuqi so much that he felt a chill on his back.
When he heard Pei Ji wanted to see him, cold sweat instantly soaked his inner clothes. He was already feeling guilty today, having wandered around the palace for too long with his men. Ordinary people might have been fooled by the excuse of patrolling the city, but Pei Ji...
Thinking of this, Xie Wuqi's heart tightened.
In his previous life, when he returned to Beijing to report on his work, Pei Ji was implicated in the Luo family's conspiracy case. All the civil and military officials in the court avoided this hot potato, but Pei Ji, like a possessed person, was determined to overturn the verdict.
In the end, he was locked up in the mansion of Earl Changning to avoid the limelight, which was considered to be a fulfillment of the relationship between the monarch and his subject.
At that time, colleagues all said that Pei Ji was seeking fame and reputation. Xie Wuqi agreed with them, but he knew very well in his heart that every case that this man had handled in the Dali Temple over the years could stand up to scrutiny.
But now that I have been reborn, I want to see this legendary iron-faced judge with my own eyes.
When Xie Wuqi stepped over the threshold, Pei Ji was staring at the bruise on his wrist - it was from Luo Zhaohan who had scratched it unconsciously just now.
"Your humble servant, Xie Wuqi, deputy commander of the East City Military Command, is here to pay his respects to Lord Pei." Xie Wuqi bowed and glimpsed the new scratches on Pei Ji's knuckles out of the corner of his eye - they must have been left when he captured the "thief" just now.
The moment Pei Ji raised his eyes, Xie Wuqi's heart trembled.
Those eyes were clear and seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.
"Deputy Commander Xie, are you aware of the incident at Prince Duan's mansion today?"
"I just heard the sound of swords and spears in the mansion." Xie Wuqi's Adam's apple rolled, and his fingers in his sleeves pinched into his palms, "I didn't know..."
"A thief broke into the mansion." Pei Ji rubbed the bruise on his wrist, his tone as calm as if he was discussing the weather, "He has been executed."
Xie Wuqi's eyelids twitched.
He naturally knew that the so-called "thief" was actually a "mistress" deliberately arranged for the Crown Princess, and by now his body was probably cold. But he looked terrified and said, "I have not been able to patrol the city properly. Please punish me, sir."
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