Chapter 47 Negotiations Failed, Should He Either Die or Escape?
Under the cool moonlight, two shadows, one tall and one short, were elongated and cast on the cold stone steps in front of Huai Shan Lou. At first glance, they looked as if they were cuddling together.
She didn't leave.
This realization forcefully dispelled the chill that had gripped him. Pei Ji struggled, wanting to stand up immediately.
However, the moment he moved, the deep, bone-revealing wound on his side, slashed open by a sharp blade, was violently pulled, and a wave of intense pain swept over him! His vision went black, and his ears rang.
no……
He clung to his last shred of consciousness, leaning against a pillar, his voice hoarse and low from the excruciating pain and weakness, yet he still tried to remain calm, attempting to soothe Yu Man:
"It's safe here for now. The people down there... can't hold Gu Qiu off for long. He'll be here soon." He needed to catch his breath after every few words. "He'll handle the aftermath cleanly, without leaving any trace."
He paused, then, with his last breath, uttered three words, carrying a promise, even though he was now at his last gasp:
"Don't be afraid."
As soon as he finished speaking, darkness surged in like a tide, obscuring all his senses. His body went limp, and he slid down the doorframe to the ground, completely unconscious.
Almost the instant Pei Ji fell, a gray-blue figure swiftly leaped up the mountain path like a cheetah, landing in front of Huai Shan Tower in a few bounds. It was Gu Qiu, who had broken free from the entanglement. His breathing was slightly disordered, and his clothes were stained with blood, clearly indicating that the battle just now had been extremely fierce.
When he saw the scene before him, even his usually expressionless face constricted in shock—his lord was seriously injured and unconscious, lying in a pool of blood, while Lady Yu stood inside the door, her face pale, her knuckles white from gripping the door frame.
"Lady Yu!" Gu Qiu stepped forward quickly, first scanning the surroundings warily to make sure there were no remaining threats, before squatting down to check on her master's condition.
When Yu Man saw Gu Qiu, her tense nerves relaxed slightly: "He...he just said that the people below couldn't stop you, and you would come to handle...the aftermath..." She subconsciously omitted Pei Ji's last words before he fell unconscious.
Gu Qiu nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Pei Ji's arrangement. He deftly pulled a small jade bottle from his robes, poured out a black pill the size of a longan fruit, emitting a bitter medicinal smell, and placed it under Pei Ji's tongue. Then, he tore open Pei Ji's blood-soaked clothing at the waist, his brow furrowing at the gruesome wound. He quickly applied some wound-healing powder and then used a clean strip of cloth to bandage it.
After doing all this, Gu Qiu helped the unconscious Pei Ji up with steady and powerful movements. He turned to Yu Man: "My lady, please come with me. We should not stay here any longer."
Yu Man took a deep breath, nodded, and followed Gu Qiu's steps. The three of them quickly disappeared into the winding mountain path, leaving behind only a mess of fighting traces and a strong, lingering smell of blood in front of Huai Shan Tower.
The news of their departure reached Tianzang Pavilion almost simultaneously.
Instead of brewing tea as usual, Master Chu held an antique wine pot and poured himself a drink while gazing at the hazy moonlight outside the window.
"What a pity." He looked down the mountain and sighed softly. There was not much regret in his sigh, but rather a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection).
"What a pity? We didn't just kill that brat Pei Ji right here?" A mocking voice broke the silence from outside the pavilion. Xi Queping strolled in, his usual suave smile fading considerably, his eyes now filled with inquiry.
Master Chu did not turn around. He tilted his head back and took another sip of wine before slowly raising his eyes to glance at his quick-witted and most difficult-to-control eldest disciple: "You've come to stand up for him?"
"How could that be?" Xi Queping grinned and stretched out his hand. "This disciple has come to ask for something."
He walked over to Master Chu, sat down on his own, and continued, "You can't just turn a perfectly good game of chess halfway through and suddenly flip the chessboard, saying you're not going to compete in chess but in swordsmanship instead. And what happened? It seems you didn't gain any advantage in the swordsmanship contest either. You can't go back on the bet you agreed on, can you?" His tone was relaxed, but the wit in his words was in no way weak.
"How can you be so sure that I lost?" Master Chu paused in his grip on the wine pot, his sharp eyes fixed on Xi Queping as he asked in return.
"Isn't it obvious?" Xi Queping gestured vaguely in the direction of the descent, his tone certain. "You schemed and plotted, inviting the wolf into the house and forcing her to reveal her hand, all to see if that Lady Yu would be scared away, deliberately trying to break them up, right? But what was the result?" He spread his hands. "Lady Yu witnessed such a hellish scene and learned about her deadly past, yet she didn't budge. Her loyalty is as clear as day! Your scheme has clearly failed."
He truly couldn't understand the old man. He wasn't entirely heartless towards Pei Ji, sometimes even secretly protecting him, so why set up such a dangerous scheme? Not only did he deliberately let the pursuers in, leaving Pei Ji to face them alone, but he also lured Yu Man to witness the murder. What was he after? Just to test that vague, elusive sincerity? The price was far too high. Could it be that he's just old and bored, finding pleasure in tormenting the younger generation?
Master Chu clearly had no intention of answering his question. He remained silent for a moment, then bent down and groped from an inconspicuous corner at his feet a palm-sized object casually wrapped in an old gray cloth. Without even looking at it, he tossed it to Xi Queping.
"Take it and get out."
Xi Queping reacted quickly and caught it. It felt heavy and hard in his hand. He weighed it in his hand, and looking at the unsightly, even somewhat dirty, tattered cloth bundle, his eye twitched involuntarily. This old man, even with such rare items, is still so…unrefined.
"Alright! Then this disciple will not disturb you, Master, as you drink alone under the moon and contemplate the impermanence of life!" Xi Queping stuffed the cloth bag into his bosom, stood up, and made as if to slip away.
"Get back here." Master Chu's cold voice rang out again.
Xi Queping paused, his face instantly changing to a respectful, bowed expression—a change of demeanor so swift as to be astonishing: "Master, is there anything else you require?"
"The wine," Master Chu said succinctly, "repay me."
Xi Queping blinked, looking completely innocent: "What wine? When I came in just now, I only saw you drinking, Master. I didn't touch your wine."
Master Chu, seeing his listless appearance, twitched his gray eyebrows, and the veins on the back of his hand holding the wine pot bulged slightly, clearly showing he was struggling to restrain the urge to strike. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and changed the subject, his tone flat yet precisely hitting Xi Queping's weak spot:
"The Shanyang family sent me a letter the day before yesterday, inquiring about your recent situation and... your return date."
Upon hearing the name "Shanyang," Xi Queping's playful smile instantly froze, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, even straightening his back slightly. He feared nothing and no one, except for that person from the Shanyang family... whom he kept at a respectful distance.
"No! Don't tell her where I am!" Xi Queping hurriedly waved his hand, a fawning smile plastered on his face. "Master, don't worry! Your disciple will definitely, definitely find you a jar of unparalleled wine! I guarantee it will be no worse than the Golden Dew you treasured before!"
Having said that, he dared not linger any longer, fearing that the old man might utter some more chilling news. He practically ran away as fast as he could, disappearing from the attic in a flash, even faster than when he came.
Silence returned to the attic.
Master Chu stood alone, gazing at the deep night outside the window. After a long while, he picked up his wine pot, raised it to the distant mountains, and took a large gulp.
Gu Qiu carried Pei Ji on his back and found a secluded house at the foot of the mountain. The small courtyard looked ordinary, but the house was fully equipped and clean, clearly a pre-arranged hideout. He carefully placed the unconscious Pei Ji on the bed in the inner room.
Then, Gu Qiu skillfully took a spare medicine box from a cabinet in the corner, opened it, and found wound medicine, gauze, a silver knife, and other items inside. He prepared to clean Pei Ji's wound and reapply the medicine.
Seeing this, Yu Man felt it was inappropriate to stay inside, so she silently turned and retreated to the outer room, where she sat down on an old wooden stool against the wall. The night outside was deep, and the light inside flickered. Gazing at the blurry light emanating from the inner room, she couldn't help but raise her hand to rub her temples and let out a long, silent sigh.
What is going on every single day?
Last time, she almost lost her life; this time, it's escalated to witnessing a bloody battle, her fiancé nearly dying, and it even involves some secrets of the previous dynasty and the orphan of a prince... Isn't this plot development a bit too exciting? She just wants to farm and do business peacefully, why is it so difficult?
The system popped up at the opportune moment, its electronic voice carrying a hint of caution: [Host, what do you plan to do next?]
Yu Man responded weakly in his mind: "Fake death and run away? Find a secluded place where no one knows me and start over?"
System: […Are you serious?]
"Just kidding." Yu Man forced a wry smile, "Anyway, his affairs—fighting, killing, vying for power—are definitely not my business, and I can't help much with them anyway. After thinking it over, the most practical thing to do is to focus on running my own little eatery well." Economic freedom is the only true measure of success. No matter how the world changes, having money and property in hand gives you peace of mind. As for Pei Ji… let's just wait and see.
The system found the host's idea quite pragmatic, but still dutifully reminded him: "Although the plot has deviated from its original course, the male lead is surrounded by dangers, and he himself is not entirely reliable. Men can change their minds; if the host truly wants to change his fate and reach the pinnacle of life, he still needs to work harder."
Yu Man: "...Thank you so much for your toxic chicken soup."
The man and the system were chatting casually, while Yu Man kept watch at the door, keeping an eye on the movements outside. Unexpectedly, instead of other pursuers, they encountered an unexpected person.
Xi Queping strolled over, and when he saw her sitting at the door, he didn't seem surprised. He nodded casually to her as a greeting, and then pushed the door open and went into the inner room.
Inside the room, Gu Qiu was hesitating whether to apply more strong medicine to the wound. Xi Queping glanced at it and couldn't stand it anymore. He rolled up his sleeves and said, "Alright, move aside, I'll do it." Although he looked dashing and unrestrained, he seemed like a pro at treating external injuries. However, perhaps because he hadn't personally performed surgery in a long time, he didn't know how to control his strength.
Pei Ji, who was in a deep sleep, was abruptly awakened by this movement. He opened his eyes with a frown, his eyes still showing weakness and confusion from his serious injury, but the moment his consciousness returned, his gaze subconsciously swept around, as if searching for something.
While cleaning the blood and any potential poison around the wound with a small knife, Xi Queping snorted irritably, "Don't bother looking, it didn't run away, it's guarding the door for you outside." As he spoke, he tightened his grip again.
Pei Ji frowned in pain and said in a hoarse voice, "...I'll do it myself."
"Do you think I'd be happy to serve you?" Xi Queping's hands didn't stop, his tone becoming even more aggressive. "Don't you know there's something insidious etched on that blade? You'd better behave if you don't want to die!"
"I took antidote pills beforehand."
Xi Queping paused, looked up at him, and asked with a scrutinizing gaze, "How did you know the old man would be ruthless towards you tonight?"
"I guessed," Pei Ji replied briefly, closing his eyes.
"Ha, when did our Young Master Pei become a fortune teller?" Xi Queping said sarcastically.
Pei Ji opened his eyes again and looked at him calmly: "Since he doesn't want me to go to the border to take over the Gongshan Army, he naturally doesn't want me to go to the capital either. Obstruction is inevitable."
Xi Queping's men slowed their cleaning, their tone filled with incomprehension and admonition: "Since you know perfectly well what's going on, why insist on venturing into that dangerous place? Wouldn't it be better to just stay where you are, get the title of Juren, and live a peaceful life with your wife, Lady Yu, running your food shop? Why do you insist on going to the capital to become that damn prime minister? The Empress Dowager and the Emperor will be there during the palace examination. Do you really think you have multiple lives?"
Pei Ji remained silent for a moment, then spoke again, his voice not loud, but still resolute:
“My mind is made up.” He paused, then clearly uttered five words: “I want to be the prime minister.”
Xi Queping's movements came to a complete halt. He stared at Pei Ji, as if trying to find even the slightest trace of a joke on his face, but in the end, he only saw an unfathomable determination. He seemed to laugh in anger, or perhaps he felt utterly absurd, and suddenly threw the small knife and medicine bottle in his hand into the medicine box next to him, making a crisp sound.
"Fine! You're something else!" he said angrily. "I've saved the old man this time in the provincial examination. But once you get to the capital, whether you live or die is up to you! I don't care anymore!"
Xi Queping stood up, took out the object wrapped in rag from his pocket, and placed it on the low table beside the bed: "Here's the thing you wanted."
After saying that, he didn't look at Pei Ji again, turned around and left.
Pushing open the door to the outer room, Xi Queping immediately saw Yu Man still sitting quietly on the small wooden stool, maintaining the same posture as before, like a dutiful doorman. He stopped in his tracks, looking at this woman who, despite knowing the shocking inside story, could still remain so calm and guard this place, and then he thought of the stubborn brat inside who would run to his death over a joke she made, and his eyes twitched involuntarily.
These two people...
If you find out that the other party is a bloodthirsty monster with a blood feud, why don't you run away as fast as you can?
The other one could have lived a peaceful life in a secluded corner, but for the sake of a remark that perhaps even the other party didn't take seriously, he insisted on venturing into a dangerous and deadly place.
They're a match made in heaven!
He was too lazy to say anything more.
Xi Queping snorted heavily, then disappeared into the thick night.
Yu Man watched his departing figure, then looked back at the tightly closed door of the inner room and sighed softly.
It's quite difficult for the male lead to build a business; they break up at the drop of a hat.
Although it's unclear what the two were saying, it's obvious that their talks broke down.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com