Chapter 53 She was forbidden to see him. She had never seen Pei Xu like this before, as if…
Qingzhou gripped the wine pot tightly, his face feigning just the right amount of anxiety. He bowed deeply to Meng Lingyao and the palace maid, "Oh dear, Miss Meng, are you well? This sister is here too. I was just having a problem!" He turned to the palace maid, his tone familiar and earnest, "Sister, I just heard that you sent 'Ice Soul Brew'? What a coincidence! My master is feeling a little unwell and is looking for some light, icy wine to soothe him. This wine seems perfect; I wonder if you could do us the favor of letting our master have it?"
Meng Lingyao's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately seized the opportunity to say, "Lord Pei is unwell? That is of course important. Let Lord Pei have this wine; it is a kind gesture from a noble person and it is perfect for cooling off in the summer."
The palace maid's expression changed slightly, and she said urgently, "No... this was specially given to Miss Meng by Consort Wen..."
Qingzhou's respectful expression vanished instantly, replaced by a sharp gaze. "Sister, you are mistaken. A gift from a noble person is a great favor. However, since it has been given to Miss Meng, it belongs to Miss Meng. Miss Meng, out of consideration for my master, voluntarily gave it away; this is a matter of friendship between masters. How dare you, a mere servant, interfere with your master's wishes? Does a noble person's gift allow you, a mere servant, to dictate what is to them?" He spoke slowly, but each word was clear and imposing.
The palace maid was speechless, her face turning pale and then red. She watched as Qingzhou steadily lifted the jade pot and bowed again to Meng Lingyao, saying, "Thank you, Miss Meng! I will take it to you right away."
Qingzhou, carrying the jade pot, strode quickly towards the men's section. Pei Xu sat diagonally opposite Meng Lingyao, his position neither too close nor too far. Qingzhou whispered in her ear, and Pei Xu slightly raised his gaze, briefly meeting Meng Lingyao's eyes before calmly looking away. He personally picked up the jade pot, poured a cup of clear wine, and, under the watchful eyes of everyone, especially the tense gaze of the palace maid who had not yet left, calmly raised the cup and drank it all in one gulp. His movements were fluid and graceful, his expression unchanged.
The palace maid's lips moved, but she dared not utter another word and hurriedly withdrew.
The banquet was halfway through, and the singing and dancing were getting more and more elaborate. Pei Xu's area was unusually quiet. At first, Qing Zhou thought that the master was just resting with his eyes closed, but she gradually realized that something was wrong—the master's hand resting on the table had slightly white knuckles, as if he was trying his best to endure something, and fine beads of sweat were seeping from his forehead. His breathing was also much slower than usual.
Qingzhou's heart tightened. She quietly approached and, under the guise of pouring wine, whispered, "My lord?" Pei Xu didn't open his eyes, only shook his head very slightly, his brows furrowed, and his Adam's apple bobbed. A few breaths later, he stood up. Qingzhou was about to follow when she heard him say, "Don't follow."
Qingzhou hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Yes."
A full half-cup of tea time had passed, and Pei Xu still hadn't returned. He was extremely anxious and, disregarding everything else, left his seat to search for him.
Unable to find her anywhere, Qingzhou gritted his teeth and seized the opportunity when Meng Lingyao left her seat to change her clothes. He quickly followed her and, in a secluded spot, succinctly informed Meng Lingyao of Pei Xu's unsteady breathing and his attempts to suppress his discomfort after drinking the wine, as well as the whispered conversation he had overheard between Lin Yunshu's maid and the maid who had just delivered the wine, emphasizing the importance of making sure Miss Meng drank it.
Meng Lingyao's heart sank. Sure enough, there was something wrong with the wine!
"Miss Meng, I've searched everywhere but haven't found the master," Qingzhou said anxiously. "There are many distinguished guests today, and the Princess is not here. I don't know the master's situation and dare not speak out..."
"Go search separately," Meng Lingyao decisively ordered. "Whether you find it or not, meet back in the corridor outside the banquet hall in half an hour. If the situation is urgent, shout loudly immediately."
The group agreed and dispersed.
Meng Lingyao gripped the cold object in her sleeve. The hard pattern on the top of the short dagger given to her by her maternal grandfather pressed against her palm, giving her a slight sense of confidence and making her feel less afraid as she walked through the secluded back garden of the villa.
The servants were mostly busy with the banquet in the front yard, and the vast garden was almost deserted. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting only sparse patches of light across the garden. The cicadas' desperate chirping only amplified the stillness of the deep back garden.
She walked alone forward, her feet treading on a smooth, polished cobblestone path that wound its way through a vast array of artificial mountains. These extraordinary stones, transported with tremendous effort from thousands of miles away, cast deep shadows in the afternoon foliage. Meng Lingyao stared at the stone caves, secretly thinking to herself, "They're good places to hide."
When they reached an arched stone cave, Meng Lingyao suddenly stopped in her tracks.
It wasn't the wind.
A suppressed gasp, extremely faint, yet pierced her eardrums. The sound was intermittent, like a caged beast escaping from the depths of a stone cave.
The dagger slid silently from her sleeve, the cold metal pressed against her fingertips. She held her breath, turning sideways towards the cave entrance, her body taut like a fully drawn bow, vigilantly sensing every movement within. It was pitch black inside, bottomless, with only the intermittent breathing growing clearer.
Just as she was concentrating on discerning the truth, a hand as hot as a branding iron suddenly emerged from the hole, grabbing her wrist with an irresistible and ruthless force and pulling it hard.
Before Meng Lingyao could even cry out, she was dragged in by a tremendous force. In a dizzying moment, her back slammed heavily against a burning hot body. Almost instinctively, the dagger in her hand shot out, eliciting a short, muffled groan in the darkness.
She stabbed him!
However, the pain did not make the other person back down; instead, the arms that were binding her tightened even more, like red-hot iron hoops, almost strangling her. She was forced to press herself against a hot, violently heaving chest, and through the thin spring dress, the astonishing heat almost set her on fire.
The dagger remained in her palm; she didn't thrust it again. She caught a familiar scent, and that muffled groan…
"Pei Xu?" she asked tentatively.
There was no answer from the person behind her. As Meng Lingyao struggled, a deep, hoarse voice, carrying a hot breath, rang in her ear.
"Slender and graceful..."
The sound, like feathers, brushed against her sensitive earlobe, sending a shiver down her spine.
The voice was so familiar, yet terrifyingly unfamiliar. Its usual clear, cold tone, like the clinking of jade stones, now sounded as if it had been brutally rubbed by sandpaper.
It is Pei Xu.
Meng Lingyao froze instantly, as if the blood in her body rushed to her head at that call, only to freeze in the next instant. How could he be like this… She quickly realized it was that glass of wine! Although she hadn’t experienced it firsthand, she had read many stories and naturally understood what was going on—he had been drugged.
She was furious that he would resort to such despicable means! The drug was meant for her, yet he had taken the blame for her.
“Pei Xu,” Meng Lingyao forced herself to calm down, “Listen to me, you’ve been drugged. It was that drink from earlier. Let me go, and I’ll go find someone to help you, to find the imperial physician.”
Her response was an even tighter embrace and a series of increasingly lower and more tender calls, hot lips brushing against her earlobe, "Yaoyao... Yaoyao..." The voice held an almost desperate yearning, like a dying person in the desert seeing a mirage, knowing it's an illusion, yet willingly succumbing to it.
Meng Lingyao felt as if every breath he exhaled carried sparks, burning half of her cheek. His soft calls were like hooks, piercing her ears, entangling her heart, and injecting a strange, tingling sensation into her entire body. She could even clearly feel an astonishing change in a certain part of his body, hard and burning against her, completely different from his usual cold and aloof demeanor.
"Pei Xu." Meng Lingyao composed herself and coaxed softly, "Let go. If you don't let go, how can I help you?"
The arm that was tightly holding her seemed to pause slightly at the sound of "Yaoyao," and its strength loosened a little.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Meng Lingyao twisted her body violently, and finally, she was face to face with him in the darkness.
Deep within the cave, only a few narrow cracks in the stone overhead stingily let in a few rays of sunlight. Her eyes had already adjusted to the intense darkness, and she could see the person before her clearly.
Pei Shaoqing, whose clothes were usually impeccably neat, now looked disheveled. A few strands of his once-perfectly styled hair were now loose, clinging damply to his forehead, and a blush spread from his cheeks down to the depths of his neck. His robe was open, revealing a patch of jade-like skin. Beneath his two straight and graceful collarbones was the outline of his firm chest, which heaved violently with his rapid breathing.
What startled Meng Lingyao the most were his eyes. Those eyes, usually as deep as an ancient well, were now rippling with countless waves, as if something was eager to burst forth from the depths.
Before she could recover from the scene before her, Pei Xu lunged forward with lightning speed, his burning hand instantly enveloping her wrist that held the dagger. Before she could react, he guided her hand, forcing the dagger, still stained with his blood, into his own forearm.
The dull thud of a sharp blade piercing flesh was so clear it sent chills down one's spine.
Meng Lingyao's heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an invisible hand, suddenly stopping its beating before pounding wildly again. She could even feel the brief resistance when the dagger pierced her, followed by a surge of warm liquid that soaked her cuffs, leaving them sticky and damp.
The intense pain seemed to briefly restore some of Pei Xu's clarity. He whispered, "Let's go..."
However, his body seemed to have its own will; instead of pulling away due to the pain, it pressed even closer, trapping her once more between itself and the cold stone wall. This time, however, the confinement was no longer the brute force that nearly broke her bones, but a gentle, almost pleading, reliance. With just a little effort, Meng Lingyao could break free.
Moreover, he had already demonstrated what to do if one cannot break free.
His head slumped limply against the crook of her neck, his burning forehead pressed against her cool skin, his breath scorching her neck, his intense body heat penetrating through layers of clothing, almost melting her.
Meng Lingyao stood frozen in place, unable to move.
On one hand, reason was screaming at her: she should leave immediately. This was the best time to escape. If they were discovered by outsiders in this state... the consequences would be unimaginable.
However, another, more turbulent and unfamiliar emotion stirred up a monstrous wave in the depths of her heart, instantly overwhelming the dam of reason.
He suffered this calamity because of her.
She had never seen Pei Xu like this before, like a god who had fallen from his pedestal, tainted by the most intense human desires, so fragile it was heartbreaking, yet... breathtakingly beautiful.
This terrifying and embarrassing situation even gave her a ridiculous thought—that no one else should have seen it.
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Author's Note: How can you get a wife if you're not ruthless? [droopy-eared rabbit head]
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