crisis
Mei Sheng lowered his head, smoothing out the wrinkles on the clothes in front of the bed. Hearing this, he showed no surprise, but simply followed up by asking, "Which day has Your Excellency chosen?"
She naturally wouldn't question why she was called Wan'er. Earlier at the manor, Mei Sheng's false identity as a girl from the Zhou family had been exposed, which she was quite pleased to see.
Inside the square room, at the scholar's desk, Pei Jue, wearing cloud-piercing boots, pulled out a purple-tipped brush with one hand, pondered for a moment, and casually replied, "It should be in three days. Take good care of yourself these next few days, and Han Zhou will come to pick you up then."
The purple brush fell into Pei Jue's hands, and the characters appeared on the rattan paper, showing a strong and powerful style, while the strokes and turns revealed a magnificent momentum.
Mei Sheng nodded silently. Seeing that his mind was already absorbed in the letter, she swallowed back the words she was about to ask.
The room fell silent immediately. Pei Jue did not call her, so Mei Sheng quietly went to the antique shelf, picked out a few travelogues based on their titles, and carefully examined them.
Looking at it like that, I completely forgot the time, and didn't even realize when I fell asleep.
These past few days have been filled with numerous affairs. As he was traveling south, troubles kept piling up, whether it was the power struggles among the princes in Yanjing or urgent reports from the garrisoned areas. Pei Jue had no choice but to focus on handling these matters and had no time to attend to anything else.
Pei Jue wrote with great focus, showing no signs of sleepiness. After putting down the sky-blue brush with purple bristles, he rubbed his temples with one hand and asked softly, "Wan'er?"
There was no response from inside the room. Pei Jue stood up in confusion and looked through the gauze curtain to see that the person seemed to be lying on the table, fast asleep.
An indescribable emotion welled up in his heart. "I've been suffering here for several long nights, and you're doing this instead of serving me tea and grinding ink. You're just shirking your duties."
The inner room was filled with a fragrance, the calming incense that the servant had recently replaced to stabilize the mind.
As he approached and lifted the gauze curtain, he saw the woman's profile. She clutched the travelogue tightly in her hand, and with each soft breath, a fragrance lingered around Pei Juesheng, as if it would never dissipate.
Pei Jue lifted his sleeves, reached out and touched the table. Seeing how cold it was, he sighed inwardly and helplessly picked up the woman gently, intending to place her on the soft couch.
But the moment the body entered his arms, Pei Jue's hands froze. He thought to himself that the woman's body was so soft and boneless, just like a cat in his arms, with no weight at all.
Perhaps sensing the source of warmth, her fair face moved closer to Pei Jue, gently rubbing against him, and her hands quietly embraced the hot stone.
When Pei Jue was first embraced by this woman, he had some wild thoughts in his heart, so he lingered and stood there in front of the bed.
"Warm and fragrant, with a beautiful woman adding fragrance to the scene, this is what it must be like," Pei Jue thought to himself.
But with that one movement, the travelogue in Mei Sheng's hand suddenly fell to the ground. The sound was small, but enough to wake the sleeping woman.
Seeing Mei Sheng's eyelashes tremble slightly, Pei Jue knew he couldn't let her know what he had just done, so he placed her on the bed and said in a reproachful tone, "Why didn't you cover yourself with the blankets properly and just fell asleep like that? Did you think you'd get cold?"
Mei Sheng slightly opened her eyes, dappled sunlight filtering through her eyelashes, clearly not fully awake yet. Annoyed by the incessant chatter, she blurted out, "Mind your own business?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Sheng felt a sudden chill in her heart, opened her eyes, and thought to herself that she was doomed.
The man nearby remained silent, his gaze leisurely as he slowly poured her a cup of hot tea, handed it to her, and said with a laugh, "What, you think I can't control you?"
Pei Jue was still immersed in the moment when the two had just embraced, so he wasn't angry. To him, the woman's outburst and questioning were just unintentional flirting.
He found it novel and didn't take her words seriously.
He pressed down on the woman who was about to get off the bed with one hand. Seeing that her face was slightly pale, he offered her some comfort, which was rare for him: "I'm not blaming you, what are you afraid of?"
After finishing her tea, the woman on the couch looked calm, though she still seemed somewhat dazed.
Pei Jue pondered for a while, thinking that she was worried about going south. Suddenly, he realized that it was a mistake not to give her the proper ceremony of taking a concubine when they were going south at this time.
The usually cold and ruthless man felt guilty and said gently, "When we return to Wu County, I will definitely make it up to you with a proper and respectful ceremony. Don't worry about it."
Pei Jue knew he had good intentions, but he didn't want to say much to her. He believed that actions speak louder than words, and Pei Jue always adhered to this principle.
Mei Sheng nodded and obediently listened to his instructions, but in her heart she was thinking about something else. Her mind wandered occasionally, and she did not hear Pei Jue's words completely.
It wasn't until she came to her senses that she blinked and obediently complied.
After Pei Jue left, Mei Sheng folded his bedding and placed it on the step before going out and returning to her own room. She was extremely tired after staying up late to do things these past few days.
But she still had to stay up a little longer tonight; the trip south was urgent, and her own affairs were also pressing.
The next day, Mei Sheng passed through the half-moon gate, walked along the waterside pavilion corridor to the end, and only spoke to the maid in front of her after passing through an unfamiliar garden.
"What does the old lady want with me?" Mei Sheng woke up early today and had just retrieved some food from the kitchen. Halfway there, a maidservant she didn't recognize jumped out and hurriedly summoned her, saying that the old lady had something to ask her.
The maid leading the way frowned, her words revealing impatience: "Miss, just follow me. Do you think I'd trick you?"
The maid slightly raised her face, and Mei Sheng realized that this person was indeed someone who had served the old lady. The inner quarters of the Pei family were always large, and Pei Jue's courtyard was far away. This time, she had walked out of Mei Sheng's familiar route, which was why she asked this question.
After passing several small courtyards and walking through a narrow passageway, the maid suddenly felt unwell. She left behind a few words to wait there, and in the blink of an eye, her figure turned left and right and disappeared.
Even the naive Mei Sheng could sense a hint of conspiracy. She quickly hid the food box in her hand, shook her sore wrists, grabbed the hem of her skirt, and hid behind a corner of the eaves.
Sure enough, just as she regained her footing, a plump figure appeared at the entrance of the passageway. It was none other than the eldest master of the Pei family, who had made improper advances towards her as soon as he entered the Pei residence.
Where did they go?!
The middle-aged Master Pei, with a round face, beady eyes, and half-gray hair, glared at people with his small eyes and questioned them. He had no dignity whatsoever, only an oily and effeminate aura that made people want to stay away.
Through the gaps in the leaves, Mei Sheng suddenly had an incongruous thought: This master really doesn't resemble Pei Jue at all. Could they not be father and son?
The thought had barely surfaced when Mei Sheng forcefully suppressed it. What did it have to do with her? Both of them were known for their unreasonable demands.
The maid appeared from behind Master Pei, looked around, and seeing no one, looked bewildered. She hurriedly knelt down and said, "Master, the person was just here. They must have hidden."
The maid was certain, so Master Pei casually waved his hand, and the two servants behind him obeyed his orders and searched specifically in the deep grass.
They were servants of this household, and everyone in the mansion knew them.
Mei Sheng peered through the crack and saw that the gray-clad servant was about to search the area. Mei Sheng made a quick decision, realizing that now might be the perfect opportunity to escape.
"oops."
Mei Sheng fell to the ground, attracting the attention of several people nearby, especially the maid, who looked anxious and shouted angrily, "She's there!"
Parting the grass, the lord was suddenly struck by the beauty. His face lit up with desire as he leered at the delicate woman lying on the ground, his gaze particularly fixed on her beautiful face, as radiant as a banana leaf after the rain.
Even though the woman was dressed simply, her beauty was still undeniable. No wonder his good son kept it hidden and never showed it off.
"Qingrou, why are you hiding like this?" The master straightened his back, and the two servants surrounded Mei Sheng, their hands on the short sticks at their waists. Seeing that the situation was stable, they wanted to patiently tease her.
Being addressed so intimately by a man in his fifties made her feel nauseous, so she clenched her teeth and forced the nauseating feeling down.
She wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes filled with panic and fear, tears welling up in her eyes: "Sir, I must have gone the wrong way, I'll go back now."
“My beauty, where have you gone wrong? This is the right path. If you submit to me, I will give you a concubine. It’s better than being my son’s nameless maid, isn’t it?” He reached out his fat hand and pulled Mei Sheng’s sleeve to touch her fair and delicate hand.
Mei Sheng lowered her eyes and snatched the sleeve. She saw the two servants retreat to a distance and stand guard with their backs to them. She turned to look at the lotus pond nearby, made up her mind, and then turned back to cry out, feeling aggrieved: "Master told me yesterday to prepare in three days, and that he would take me south."
After saying this, Mei Sheng took a small step back, her face dazzling the master's lust. At this moment, he really wanted her to be his concubine. What did it matter if her identity was unknown? With such a face, why did he care about that damned identity?
As for what she said, the master scoffed, not believing it. His son hadn't been seen for many days, and even if he came back, why would he do anything to him for a maid?
"Master is in a good mood today. If you still have any shame, come with me to that room to relieve yourself." If you are unwilling, Master Pei smiled and eagerly unbuckled the gold belt buckle at his waist with his greasy hands.
They actually wanted to do such frivolous and pleasure-seeking things on the spot, disregarding etiquette and shame.
Mei Sheng felt his heels touch the muddy ground, and he stopped retreating. He suddenly raised his head, straightened his back, and the fear in his eyes had disappeared. He spoke with a firm and resolute voice: "Even if I die, I will never have any disloyalty to you, sir."
After saying this, the woman resolutely jumped into the lotus pond. With a splash, ripples spread across the water, and she disappeared without a trace.
The lotus pond is a flowing waterway that crisscrosses the mansion, with several branch paths, one of which leads outside the mansion.
The lord slammed the gold belt in his hand to the ground. For a moment, he was stunned by the woman's spirit of preferring death to dishonor. The lotus flowers in the pond were still swaying. Under the bright sun, how could one tell whether the lotus flowers or the woman were more beautiful?
In a daze, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted urgently, "Quick, save them!"
In an instant, the two servants plunged into the river, but their search yielded nothing. Master Pei, filled with regret, left the place.
In the middle of the night, outside the mansion, a carriage stopped. Before Han Zhou could even jump off, Tang Yun came running up crying, her clothes slightly disheveled. Her words were horrifying, making even the usually composed Han Zhou dizzy: "What do you mean the young lady is missing? Tell me in detail."
After Tang Yun quickly recounted what had happened, Han Zhou paused, his brows furrowing slightly: "Could you ask the old women and servants in each gate whether the young lady has left?"
"They all say they've never seen it before, what should we do!" Tang Yun was so anxious that she could barely speak.
She questioned everyone in the Pei household, and they all said they hadn't seen her. That's true; even if she was a servant brought from the south by the master, in the eyes of the Pei family's master, she was nothing more than a lowly servant.
Even if someone knows, they might not necessarily tell her.
If she stayed by the girl's side, if...
For some reason, Tang Yun's muddled mind suddenly cleared, and she blurted out, "Could it be the old lady?" Today, the kitchen staff asked her to go and make some novel southern pastries for the old lady, which was strange, as the old lady had never been seen to like them before.
After saying that, Han Zhou paused slightly, a troubled look on his face: "Even so, with the master not here, how dare we servants ask openly? We can only wait for the master to return. For now, we should search for him privately."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yun had no choice but to give up.
Han Zhou quickly sent the important military documents from the study to the old man. After some deliberation, he added a few words and had the messenger deliver them to the old man's ears.
I just hope the girl is safe and sound.
Ping'er went to do that thing for Master Pei today, and couldn't sleep well at night. Whenever she did fall asleep, she dreamed of a woman in green with disheveled hair, her face pale and looking miserable, as if she wanted to take her life.
"It wasn't me who hurt you, it wasn't me..." It was another nightmare. She was so frightened that she broke out in a cold sweat. She woke up suddenly, which also woke up the maid in the same room. She complained a few times before falling back asleep.
Ping'er held the cold teacup, feeling uneasy. She had a feeling that the night would be unsettling, so she decided not to sleep and try to get through it. She thought that once she got through it, there would be no evil spirits left in the daytime.
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