Chapter 42 Entanglement
The firelight reflected on the lake surface flickered, and the black shadow that I had just caught a glimpse of became clearer and clearer - the shadow floating on the waves was clearly a scattered golden skirt!
"Not good!" Luo Zhaohan stomped his feet to shake off the sparks in his hair, and his toes touched the puddles on the bluestone slabs.
As the skirt embroidered with lotus flowers swept through the reeds, it startled the crows roosting at night, and their shrill "cawing" sounds pierced the night sky.
The veil was thrown heavily on the shore, and Luo Zhaohan jumped into the cold lake water.
The cold November wind swept across the water, stirring up tiny pieces of ice that stung her and made her shiver.
A black figure was floating in the distance, drifting with the current. Luo Zhaohan gritted his teeth and paddled forward.
The empty and cramping pain in her stomach distracted her - if she had known she had to go into the water to save someone, she should have eaten two more pancakes at noon!
The splash startled the servants around, and screams erupted on the shore: "Someone fell into the water! Help!"
The cold lake water poured into his ears, and Luo Zhaohan suddenly remembered that spring day in his previous life.
Liu Yueli was also struggling in the water. When she tried to swim over, the other party grabbed her neck tightly, choking her so much that her vision went black.
At that time, she thought it was just an instinct for survival, but she didn't realize until she was dying that Liu Yueli had wanted to kill her since then.
"I can't be stupid again this time." Luo Zhaohan wiped the water droplets from his face and went behind the black shadow.
Through the wet cotton clothes, she felt the jade belt around the other person's waist - she was the wife of an official!
"Don't be afraid, I'll take you up." Luo Zhaohan hugged the woman from under her arms, her legs sore from kicking. Strangely, the other party didn't struggle at all, leaning limply in her arms.
This abnormality made Luo Zhaohan feel nervous. He didn't care about his frozen fingers and swam desperately towards the shore.
A huge crowd has gathered on the shore.
Old Chu stumbled over on crutches, followed by the breathless Chu Qirui: "Uncle, be careful!"
"It's Miss Luo!" Chu Qirui suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the lake.
Luo Zhaohan, with his black hair stuck to his pale face, was dragging someone towards the shore, choking on his saliva with every stroke.
Before he finished speaking, the edge of a black robe brushed past them.
Pei Ji ripped open his cloak as he ran, revealing the darkly patterned arrow sleeves underneath. His deep voice echoed through the cold wind: "Prepare the ginger soup!"
Luo Zhaohan was about to push the person to the shore when he suddenly felt a tightness on his wrist.
Pei Ji half-knelt on the bluestone slab, his forearm muscles tensed as he forcibly pulled the two men up. The temperature of his palms was alarmingly hot, and Luo Zhaohan only then realized that he was shaking violently.
"Help..." Her teeth chattered as she was about to move forward wrapped in the cloak thrown by Pei Ji. When she saw the woman's face clearly, a half-scream burst out of her throat - it was really the wife of the Earl of Changning!
Pei Ji was already kneeling on one knee beside his mother.
Luo Zhaohan saw him untie the woman's belt, put his thumb on her chin and gently lift it up. His movements were so skillful that he didn't seem like an ordinary official's son.
What was even more surprising was that he actually leaned over to listen carefully, and then placed his palms together on the woman's chest.
"Master Pei!" Luo Zhaohan was about to remind him that this was against etiquette when he saw the wife of the Earl of Changning suddenly choke and spit out a large amount of saliva, her purple lips gradually turning red. She was so shocked that she forgot about the cold, and her almond-shaped eyes were wide as she stared at Pei Ji's actions - this method of saving someone was simply unheard of!
Just then.
The chill of early spring blew crushed snow onto the glazed tiles. Earl Changning stumbled through the crowd, his brocade robe stained with mud. "Quick! Quickly drain the water from Madam's abdomen!"
Pei Ji placed his fingers together against his mother's chest and shouted without raising his head, "Disperse!" He raised his eyes to look at his tearful father and said, "Breathe."
Lord Changning knelt on the bluestone slab, trembling. When he pinched his wife's nose, his fingertips almost broke her pale skin.
The sound of breathing mixed with the gasps around her. Luo Zhaohan clenched her sleeves and took a half step back - she had never seen such an unorthodox way of saving people even in "Qianjin Fang".
"Stop!" Pei Ji shouted, pressing his palm hard against the woman's chest. The old doctor watching almost tore his white beard off: "This... This is simply..."
"It's done!" Mr. Chu suddenly clapped his hands and laughed.
Everyone stared intently. Lady Changning's eyelids trembled, and blood-tinged fluid suddenly choked out of her throat. Pei Ji maintained the pressure until his mother curled up and coughed violently, then he unbuttoned his bleeding knuckles without leaving a trace.
Luo Zhaohan looked at his soaked moon-white brocade robe, and suddenly remembered the way Pei Ji rode his horse to stop the startled carriage on Zhuque Street three days ago.
He was like this at that time too. After saving the person, he quietly retreated to the shadows, as if the praise from all over the city could not compare to the melting snow on the eaves to attract his attention.
"Miss Luo, please stay!" Old Chu grabbed her soaked sleeve and said, "At least change into clean clothes..."
"No need." Luo Zhaohan wrapped his outer robe tightly and retreated to the corridor. When Pei Ji was breathing for her mother just now, she clearly saw the jade pendant from Prince Duan's Mansion hanging around his waist.
The misunderstanding that night was still fresh in her mind, and she didn't want to have anything to do with this new powerful official.
Old Chu stamped his feet anxiously: "Will you at least wait for Pei Ji to take you back home?"
"He did me a great favor the day before yesterday, and today I'm repaying him." Luo Zhaohan took off the jade pendant and placed it on the stone railing. "We owe each other nothing. Farewell."
When the black cloak brushed past the plum branches, Pei Ji was leaning over to support his father.
He caught a glimpse of the disappearing corner of the clothes and suddenly pressed the medicine bottle into the doctor's hand: "Trouble you."
"Hey! Master Pei!" The imperial physician froze, holding the golden medicine. The bronze bells on the eaves jingled, and Pei Ji had already passed through the moon-shaped door and was in pursuit.
Luo Zhaohan had just stepped out of the Chuihua Gate when he suddenly felt a tightness on his wrist.
Pei Ji's palm was still stained with the blood foam coughed up by his mother, but his strength was as light as holding a feather: "Young lady, please stay."
"Master Pei, what are you doing?" She shook his hand off and stepped back, her lower back pressed against the cold stone lion. The awe-inspiring aura he had displayed when he had just saved someone was still fresh in her mind, but now his eyes were etched with an unwavering dark darkness.
"Medicine." Pei Ji handed over the celadon bottle, the dark lines on his sleeves stained with water. "Cold Pond Water Poison, take for three days straight." Luo Zhaohan, stunned, touched the back of his neck and, sure enough, felt a dense red rash. No wonder his fingertips had gone numb during the acupuncture; the cold poison had invaded his meridians.
She raised her eyes to ask, but saw Pei Ji slowly wiping his hands with a handkerchief - the white handkerchief was embroidered with the magnolia that she had lost half a month ago!
"You!" Her ears suddenly burned red, and she was about to explode when she heard Chang Ningbo's wailing from inside the wall: "Aji! Your mother has fainted again!"
Pei Ji's expression suddenly changed, and as he turned around, he didn't forget to put the medicine bottle into her palm. Luo Zhaohan looked at his running back, and suddenly saw the handkerchief fluttering and falling in the snow.
…
As dusk fell, Luo Zhaohan stepped out of the vermilion lacquered gate of the Changning Marquis' Mansion. The lanterns on the eaves were spinning in the north wind.
She squinted her eyes and looked at the empty street - the Royal Guards who had surrounded the place so tightly just now now had not even a trace of armor left.
"Miss, please be careful with your step." The maid helped her onto the stone steps, but suddenly fell silent before she finished speaking.
In the dark corner of the street, there were more than a dozen shadowy figures gathered. They were the relatives of the Bo family who had fled earlier.
Seeing that the fire was out, he peeked in again and tried to sneak into the mansion.
Luo Zhaohan chuckled coldly. She remembered vividly how these people had taken advantage of Pei Ji's misfortune in his past life.
Now, he even stopped pretending and became like a hyena that smelled blood.
"Go home." She pulled her half-wet cloak tightly around her body, leaving a trail of water stains on the bluestone road.
The carriage was parked quietly at the corner, but the driver was nowhere to be seen. Luo Zhaohan's heart skipped a beat: "Chunxi?"
The girl who would normally have jumped up to greet me was silent.
A corner of the car curtain was blown up by the night wind, revealing the dark outline inside.
Luo Zhaohan clasped the silver hairpin in his sleeve with his fingertips, and the soles of his boots made a soft sound as they rolled over gravel: "Chun Xi!"
With a "click", the car curtain was suddenly lifted.
Xie Wuqi leaned against the wall and smiled at her, his jade crown gleaming coldly in the shadows: "Zhao Zhao is quite angry."
Luo Zhaohan's pupils suddenly shrank.
She clearly saw Chunxi slumped in the corner, her chest rising and falling slightly with each breath. As soon as her heart settled back down, anger surged in her: "Young Master Xie, do you think you're a thief now?"
"That's hurtful." Xie Wuqi slowly jumped off the cart, his brocade boots rolling over the puddles around her feet. "I'm just..." He suddenly paused, his eyes flickering to the hem of her soaked skirt. "What is Zhao Zhao up to? A honey trap?"
Luo Zhaohan took a half step back, his cloak swung out in a sharp arc: "Get out of the way."
Xie Wuqi, however, pressed forward, his nose almost brushing against her damp hair. "The Crown Princess should have been disgraced in Prince Duan's mansion today, and the Changning Marquis's mansion should have been ablaze with blood—" He grabbed her wrist fiercely, "Why did their fates have to change?"
A sharp pain came from his wrist bone, and Luo Zhaohan clenched his teeth.
In her past life, these hands had gently drawn her eyebrows, but now they were like iron pliers, trying to crush her. She suddenly raised her knee and drove it into his abdomen, taking advantage of the pain as he let go and quickly retreated three steps.
"Young Master Xie, is he having a seizure?" She hid her trembling hands in her sleeves. "The Crown Princess's health is a blessing to all people. The Changning Marquis's escape from disaster is a blessing from heaven for the loyal and righteous—"
"God bless the loyal and virtuous!" Xie Wuqi laughed, clapping his hands, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Last month, you should have claimed illness and left Prince Duan's mansion. Today, the wife of the Earl of Changning should have committed suicide by jumping into the lake. Zhaozhao, do you think I'm a fool?"
The cold wind blew burnt ashes onto his face, and Luo Zhaohan suddenly smelled a hint of blood.
Only then did she notice that there were fresh scratches on the knuckles of Xie Wuqi's right hand, and dark stains on the hem of his brocade robe - yes, in his previous life, he was supposed to have a private meeting with Liu Yueli in the other courtyard today, but now he appeared here.
"Xie Wuqi." She suddenly smiled, "There's apricot blossom powder on your cuffs."
The person opposite him suddenly changed his expression.
Luo Zhaohan took advantage of his distraction and stabbed his throat with a silver hairpin like a venomous snake. Xie Wuqi dodged it by tilting his head, the tip of the hairpin scraping against his earlobe, leaving a bloody streak.
The moment they passed each other, she lowered her voice to say something as cold as ice: "Mr. Xie, please stop pestering me!"
"Answer me first, why did you come to the Changning Marquis' Mansion?" Xie Wuqi took a step closer and refused to give in.
The snow on the plum branches fell down, and Luo Zhaohan took a half step back while adjusting his cloak.
Xie Wuqi's python-patterned cuffs brushed across the crabapple blossoms beside her temples, bringing with them a scent of agarwood.
"Mr. Xie, in what capacity do you ask this?" When she raised her eyes, the cold light of the icicles on the eaves was reflected in her eyes.
Xie Wuqi crushed the plum petals with his fingertips, and the cinnabar juice dyed his fingertips red: "That day at Xiangguo Temple, didn't you say that you would consider marrying me together with Yueli..."
"I'll tell my parents when I get home." Luo Zhaohan suddenly chuckled, the pearl hairpins in his hair swaying in the wind, casting shattered shadows. "Master Xie, do you think I'll be like Miss Liu, willing to share two women's company?"
Xie Wuqi's face suddenly darkened, and he knocked his black jade ring on the stone railing: "Yue Li is kind and virtuous, she won't bother with you."
"What a gentle and virtuous woman." Luo Zhaohan brushed the fallen plum blossoms away from his shoulders. "If that's the case, why not just bring her home in a sedan chair carried by eight people? Why use me as a scapegoat and act out this drama of unwavering love?"
"You!" Xie Wuqi grabbed her wrist, but felt a cold jade bracelet - this was clearly a modified version of the mandarin duck buckle hanging around Pei Ji's waist on the day of the flower-viewing banquet at Prince Duan's Mansion!
Luo Zhaohan took the opportunity to pull her hand away, leaving a bloody mark on the snow with her coral ring. "My father has already found a good match for me. If Master Xie continues to pester me..." She deliberately stroked the jade bracelet, "Master Pei is no pushover."
"Pei Ji?" Xie Wuqi's pupils suddenly shrank, and he suddenly remembered the figure standing by the water at the flower viewing banquet.
At that time, Luo Zhaohan accidentally knocked over the teacup, and Pei Ji actually used the sleeve of his official robe to catch the scalding tea.
A chill ran down her spine, and Xie Wuqi suddenly grabbed her shoulders: "You actually like Pei Ji! He's just a..."
"What is it?" Luo Zhaohan broke free from the shackles, the silver fox fur on the collar of her fox fur coat trembling. "Is it the Dali Temple Minister who was promoted to the third rank at the age of twenty? Or is it the loyal minister who was awarded a dragon robe by the emperor for his meritorious service in saving the emperor?" She took a step closer with every word she spoke, and forced Xie Wuqi to the foot of the plum tree.
The accumulated snow fell on Xie Wuqi's shoulders. He stared at the faint red mark on Luo Zhaohan's neck - it was clearly a man's fingerprint!
Jealousy mixed with memories of his past life surged up in his chest, and he suddenly sneered, "No wonder Pei Ji from Xiangguo Temple was there that day! No wonder you suddenly showed up at the Changning Marquis' Mansion today!"
"Thank you, Master, be careful with your words." Luo Zhaohan interrupted him and stroked the red mark with her fingertips. "Lord Pei took pity on my frail body and gave me the Tianshan Snow Lotus for my recuperation." She deliberately pronounced the word "pity" ambiguously, and looked at Xie Wuqi with satisfaction as the veins on his forehead bulged.
Luo Zhaohan took the opportunity to retreat, but heard Xie Wuqi lower his voice: "Do you think Pei Ji would marry a broken woman?"
The plum branch snapped, and Luo Zhaohan threw the broken branch at Xie Wuqi's face. "A broken flower?" She suddenly ripped open her collar, revealing a hideous scar on her collarbone. "The arrow wound you inflicted hasn't healed yet, and yet Young Master Xie is so eager to throw mud at me?"
Xie Wuqi froze in place.
The scene of Luo Zhaohan blocking an arrow for him half a year ago suddenly emerged in his mind. At that time, she was covered in blood and fell into his arms, but she still smiled and said, "It's okay."
"Anyway, people like Pei Ji..."
Before Xie Wuqi finished speaking, the sound of boots crushing dead branches suddenly rang out in the dark alley.
Pei Ji walked in the night, the corner of his dark robe lifted by the wind, revealing the black gold soft sword hidden at his waist.
There were scattered spots of light on his shoulders. They were the glass lamps on the eaves of the Changning Marquis' Mansion swaying in the wind.
"I'd like to ask Deputy Envoy Xie for advice." He stopped five steps away, his eyes sweeping over Luo Zhaohan's damp hair. "In your eyes, what kind of person am I?"
Luo Zhaohan's fingertips suddenly pinched into her palm. She had no idea when this man had followed her, and she had no idea how much of her conversation with Xie Wuqi he had overheard.
"Master Pei, you've arrived just in time!" Xie Wuqi suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Luo Zhaohan's outer robe. "You are such a gentleman, but do you know that giving or receiving things privately is damaging someone's reputation?"
Pei Ji suddenly raised his hand and untied the jade belt around his waist.
The moment her dark robe unfurled, Luo Zhaohan subconsciously closed her eyes, only to hear the rustling of fabric close to her ears. When she opened her eyes again, the cloak, carrying her body temperature, had already wrapped around her body, and the scent of pine mixed with the aroma of herbs wafted towards her face.
"Miss Luo." Pei Ji carefully arranged the yellow yarn of the veil hat, and paused his fingertips at the tie. "The corner of this veil hat was burned by the fire. I will send a new one to your house tomorrow."
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