TL: Hua
Chapter 22: Assassination under the rainy world
Pei Xiting didn’t know what song the Crown Prince was playing, but he could hear some meanings of rain hitting the mountain stream and wind sweeping the grass and trees. With a steady wrist, the object of his painting wasn’t the verdant mountains but a person sitting in the pavilion.
The black robe and wooden hairpin, without any extravagant decorations, made the Crown Prince look even more cold and graceful. This was a beautiful body carved out of ice and jade. Pei Xiting’s eyes were not honest. He looked at the Crown Prince’s hands, cold and slender, with even bones and flesh. Such a pair of cold, jade-like hands, whether he was playing zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, or holding a whip or a knife, was very pleasing to the eye. At this time, he was playing the zither calmly, but it seemed to pluck at Pei Xiting’s heartstrings, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, ups and downs, fluctuating and restless— A good zither song can capture the soul, and it’s indeed true.
Yu Shaoyun’s fiery eyes not only noticed that Pei Xiting couldn’t stop staring at His Highness’s hand, but he also looked like he wanted to eat His Highness’s hand alive like an obsessive person.
Just as he was about to step forward to protect the noble hand of His Highness, Yu Shaoyun was suddenly grabbed by the arm by Eunuch Lai beside him, and the two moved sideways like crabs.
After standing still, Eunuch Lai quietly waved to Yu Shaoyun. When the other party slightly inclined his head over, he whispered in his ear, “If you disturb His Highness’s pleasure, you will be kicked out.”
The mellow and elegant sound of zither and the continuous sound of rain could cover their mutterings, so Yu Shaoyun also whispered: “Don’t you think Third Pei’s eyes are too fiery?”
“I think so,” said Eunuch Lai.
Eunuch Lai was sent by the Crown Prince to serve the little prince, so he shouldn’t be here today. But because the little prince found out from Yu Shaoyun that the painter “Wenjuan” was Pei Xiting, and today this person was going to paint for His Highness, he specially sent Eunuch Lai to take a look at this Third Pei.
“But who cares?” Eunuch Lai closed his eyes and said calmly, “His Highness hasn’t said anything yet.”
That’s right; if His Highness didn’t like Third Pei’s gaze, those pairs of beautiful but bold eyes would have been dug out long ago. Yu Shaoyun couldn’t help but turn his head and take another glance. Pei Xiting had already retracted that terrifying look and lowered his head to paint seriously.
During this period, the Crown Prince played the song three times in a row and stood up as if tired, pacing to the edge of the pavilion. Both of them stepped back and lowered their heads, afraid to peek again.
Eunuch Lai came over with a cup of tea. “Your Highness, please moisten your throat.”
The Crown Prince took a sip. The tea was mellow with a slight bitterness rolled up at the root of his tongue. The rain grew longer, and he suddenly reached out with his hand holding the teacup, catching a glass of rain hitting the green pond.
As the gray sky deepened and turned into a jar of ultramarine ink pouring back, the Crown Prince heard Pei Xiting’s voice.
“Your Highness.”
Perhaps because of fatigue or the fact he hadn’t spoken for a while, his voice was a little hoarse. The Crown Prince turned around to see himself in the painting—the pavilion exuded grace, the rain draped the green mountain like a veil, the tea smoke spiraled gently, and the hibiscus blossoms remained closed. Every place was elegant and full of life but unable to suppress the dark-colored person in the middle.
The brush and ink will prove the painter’s preference.
Pei Xiting was tired of sitting, so he stood up and stretched, stepped back two steps, and leaned against the pavilion pillar with his arms folded. He looked at the Crown Prince and said in a soft and affectionate tone, “If I were to choose, I would either paint the most eye-catching or the one that could capture my heart. Today, the most eye-catching and captivating object is the person in the painting. This is the rainy world I see today.”
The Crown Prince looked at the painting, then looked up at Pei Xiting without saying a word.
When their eyes met, Pei Xiting smiled faintly. The Crown Prince was calm as usual, but only he himself could detect those vague emotions.
Pei Xiting is a painter with his own insight, which is his valuable quality. However, Pei Xiting is still a bold and cunning fox, with a mouth that occasionally seems tactless, bold, and straightforward. Perhaps what Pei Xiting said just now was just a pure expression of a painter without any surplus intentions. The Crown Prince thought so, but what he saw was Pei Xiting’s smiling eyes, which happened to be a pair of charming and alluring eyes.
He couldn’t distinguish whether the artist’s tone of liking and the pen tip preference presented to him were pure or not.
The pavilion quieted down until several sharp arrows tore through the rain curtain, like sharp nets hitting everyone in the pavilion!
Pei Xiting’s face changed, and he stood up straight. At the same time, a big hand grabbed his arm. In the chaos, he was dragged and staggered like a puppet. After hearing a few swooshes, the sharp arrow was cut by the blade and fell to the ground. He also stopped his passive dodging steps in a daze and looked up to face the calm profile of the Crown Prince.
Pei Xiting turned his head to look ahead. A dozen assassins in white rushed towards the pavilion. Yu Shaoyun blocked the Crown Prince with his sword. With a twist of his wrist, the cold blade flew out and cut off the head of the assassin rushing at the forefront.
The bones and flesh were cut cleanly, and the head flew out, followed by spurting blood. Pei Xiting’s eyes widened, and his whole body froze.
Yu Shaoyun quickly jumped out of the pavilion to catch the handle of the blade that was about to land and stabbed the chest of the assassin behind him with his backhand. The white clothes burst into blood, and the assassin fell to the ground.
Such scenes may look cool on the screen, but seeing it with your own eyes and experiencing it in person is quite different. Pei Xiting’s lips trembled. Suddenly the belt around his waist loosened, and then his eyes darkened as he was covered by his own belt.
“Scared?” The Crown Prince’s voice was somewhat vague, muffled by the intensity of the rain. Pei Xiting said hoarsely, “It’s the first time I saw a head fly off the neck…”
“Well, your body is stiff.” The crown prince glanced at Pei Xiting’s taut jaw and pursed lips, then remembered Pei Xiting’s beaming smile and hot gaze previously. The evil thoughts in his heart were like a caged beast that had been resting all the time, rarely stretching out an inch of sharp claws. He said, “If you follow me, such scenes are not uncommon; perhaps there are even more bloody ones. Do you regret it?”
Pei Xiting, still without sight, said, “Your Highness, please cover my eyes next time as well… No—” Taking advantage of the situation, he kept pushing the limit and made another request with a tilted head. “Can you handle this a little quieter next time? Otherwise, I’ll have a nightmare.”
The Crown Prince had never heard such an innocent request: “How can it be quiet when killing people?”
The neck was broken, the body was pierced, blood splattered, and the head hit the ground… One after another, Pei Xiting didn’t want to listen but had to listen to these noises. He guessed that there might be more assassins than just a dozen killed.
The sound of the blade piercing the flesh was particularly harsh. Pei Xiting’s ears were buzzing and a little painful. Some images surged uncontrollably in his mind. He wanted to cover his ears, but he was worried that he would be abandoned by the Crown Prince if he couldn’t hear or see. Discomfort surged up, and his feet fluttered. Finally, he grabbed the only hand beside him, regardless of any possible consequences, like a proud and unrighteous person, almost commanding, “Can you help me cover my ears?”
Eunuch Lai, standing in front of the Crown Prince, raised his eyelids in disbelief.
The Crown Prince was also stunned. Pei Xiting suddenly grabbed his hand and put it on his cold ears. Then he moved two steps closer in front of him to make it easier for him to cover his ears. In the chaos, the soft hair on the top of his head even rubbed against his nose, with a scent of tulip oil. The Crown Prince felt a little itchy and couldn’t help but turn his head, speechless for a moment. He tried to draw back his hand, but Pei Xiting held it so tightly that those hands grew cooler and the tips of his fingers turned white.
“…” It seems he was scared silly.
As more and more people gathered, even though Yu Shaoyun was unstoppable, he was trapped under the blade light and couldn’t extricate himself for a moment.
Seeing this, the Crown Prince said concisely, “Meet at the manor.”
Before Eunuch Lai could speak up, he saw His Highness grasp Pei Xiting’s wrist, then turn around and leave the pavilion. Soon the two of them disappeared under the rain.
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