TL: Hua
Chapter 32.1: The reason
Pei Jintang’s sudden appearance caught Shangguan Jie completely off guard, giving him quite a fright.
Looking at that unpleasant face, Shangguan Jie’s mind was momentarily in chaos, and he subconsciously explained, “I didn’t…”
Pei Xiting buried his face in Pei Jintang’s shoulder, appearing ashamed to be seen. He whimpered weakly. His messy strands of hair were brushed aside as he turned his head, revealing a red mark, silently proving the fact that he had been humiliated.
Pei Jintang patted Pei Xiting’s back to appease him, then looked up straight at Shangguan Jie and said in a low voice, “Young Marquis, although the Pei family is not prominent, we are still a decent and upright family, not to be humiliated and trampled upon by anyone!”
Shangguan Jie felt the power of the word “injustice” for the first time and said, “I didn’t even touch him!”
“I saw you grabbing Xiting’s neck and shoving him to the ground with my own eyes. You call that not touching him? Young Marquis, do you dare to do it but not admit it?” Pei Jintang stared at Shangguan Jie with disappointment and anger, his handsome eyes slightly red. “I thought Young Marquis was righteous and understanding. I respected you as an elder brother and friend from the bottom of my heart… But I was wrong. You think that because you have noble status, you can bully people at will, without any remorse!”
It was the first time Shangguan Jie had seen Pei Jintang angry, and he was stunned, not daring to argue anymore. He stepped forward and said, “Jintang—”
Pei Jintang hugged the suddenly trembling Pei Xiting, who tried to hide behind him, and shouted sharply, “Don’t come over!”
He looked at the red mark and suddenly remembered something, exclaiming in surprise, “No wonder, no wonder Xiting always wore a scarf for the past few days. When I asked him, he would evade the question, saying it was for sun protection…”
Pei Xiting suddenly stiffened, as if he had been exposed. Pei Jintang immediately confirmed his suspicion, feeling a mix of disbelief and fear when he guessed what Shangguan Jie had done to Pei Xiting before. He felt a surge of anger burning through him.
“Swish!”
Pei Jintang released Pei Xiting, drew the saber from his waist, and roared, “Beast!”
Shangguan Jie was startled. “Jintang—”
Pei Xiting leaned weakly against the courtyard door, squinting as he enjoyed Shangguan Jie’s disheveled appearance as he dodged and weaved, a hint of mockery appearing at the corner of his lips.
White moonlight? Ha! Let’s see if you can ever have this white moonlight.
Shangguan Jie dodged the blade, his peripheral vision catching Pei Xiting’s face. It was tear-streaked, cold, and beautiful, kneaded into a knife, and pulled open his flesh from a high vantage point.
Shangguan Jie was stunned, then grunted as Pei Jintang slammed the hilt of his blade into his chest, staggering back two steps as he came back to his senses. He pointed a finger at Pei Xiting. “Look how smugly he’s smiling!”
Pei Jintang turned his head. Pei Xiting was tightly clutching his collar, his beautiful eyes lowered lifelessly, silent tears streaming down his pale face.
His anger surged three more levels. Pei Jintang gripped the hilt of his blade and roared even louder, “Beast!”
Shangguan Jie: “…”
Yuan Fang, peeking from behind the corner, caught a glimpse of the soft, weak, pitiful, and silently weeping Pei Xiting and couldn’t help but silently give him a thumbs-up.
He had thought today would involve a fight with Shangguan Jie, but he hadn’t expected Pei Xiting to have his own way of dealing with it, and such a… sly one at that.
The sound of carriage wheels approached from afar. Yuan Fang watched the drama for a while longer before slipping away.
At the same time, a carriage drove in from the other side and stopped far away, clearly not daring to approach.
The coachman looked at the “road conditions” blankly, about to report to his master, when the carriage door was pushed open. Zhao Yi said in confusion, “Have we arrived? Ah, Hanzhang and Young Marquis are fighting… Xiting?”
Before the coachman could fetch the footstool, Zhao Yi had already bent down, jumped out of the carriage, and run over.
“Xiting!” Zhao Yi grabbed the thin shoulder, looking at the tearful and miserable Pei Xiting in surprise and suspicion. “Wh-what happened to you?”
Pei Xiting shook his head painfully, refusing to speak. Zhao Yi didn’t dare to force him but glanced at Pei Jintang, who was chasing after Shangguan Jie, and a suspicion formed in his mind: Young Marquis must have bullied Xiting, so Hanzhang stood up for his brother, angrily drawing his sword!
Thinking of this, Zhao Yi also lifted his robes and approached the edge of the fray, saying in a deep voice, “Young Marquis, if Xiting has inadvertently offended you, I will apologize to the Changning Marquis Mansion on his behalf. Xiting is known throughout Yejing for his gentle nature and would never do anything bad intentionally. Please, Young Marquis, for my sake, do not make things difficult for him!”
Zhao Yi had always been kind, but he was not without a temper. He considered the Pei brothers his friends, and how could he not be angry when his friends were being bullied?
One after another, they were all being completely fooled by Pei Xiting. Shangguan Jie wished he could rush forward and tear off Pei Xiting’s hypocritical mask. Distracted, he received another kick. Unwilling to truly fight Pei Jintang and facing more blows if he continued to dodge, he had no choice but to block Pei Jintang with a punch, turn, and use the wall to leap outside, fleeing.
Pei Jintang sheathed his blade with a cold snort, turned, and strode back to Pei Xiting’s side, gripping his arm. “Don’t be afraid, Second Brother is here.”
Pei Xiting looked at Pei Jintang, paused, and then said, “Thank you, Second Brother, for helping me out of this predicament, and thank you, Sifan, for standing up for me.”
Pei Jintang waved his hand, frowning. “Between brothers, there’s no need for such words.”
Zhao Yi said, “As friends, we should help each other. Why are you being courteous? But Xiting, what exactly happened? If you’re in trouble, you must tell us, and we’ll find a solution together.”
“Young Marquis has a fondness for male companions. He said… he said…” Pei Xiting glanced at Pei Jintang, hesitating as if unable to speak clearly. “My second brother and I look somewhat alike, so he was willing to humble himself and touch me; otherwise, he wouldn’t even spare me a glance.”
The information in these words was too shocking. Zhao Yi stiffly turned his head to look at Pei Jintang, only to see his lips slightly parted. Suddenly, he took three heavy steps backward, each one sounding like “thump—thump—thump.” Pei Jintang looked horrified. “Me…?”
He thought it was because Xiting was so beautiful that it attracted the malicious covetousness of the prodigal son, but he had never imagined this reason!
But on second thought, Young Marquis Shangguan had indeed been exceptionally polite to him, never putting on airs or insisting on formalities. Every time they met, he would greet him with a smile and often invite him out for horse riding… In the past, Pei Jintang had thought it was because he and Young Marquis had hit it off immediately and become friends that the Young Marquis treated him differently. Now, hearing what Xiting said, he felt that Young Marquis’s gaze towards him seemed, indeed, a bit strange.
“Ah!” Pei Jintang suddenly clutched his head and cried out.
Zhao Yi was startled and quickly said, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you two.”
“I’m not afraid. I’m… I’m… I don’t know how to explain this!” Pei Jintang rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. “I just have goosebumps all over! I treated him as a friend, and he thought of me as a male companion? It’s fine if he had that kind of thought, but he even dared to lay a hand on Xiting…”
He suddenly grabbed Pei Xiting’s arm, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault you suffered for no reason. I…”
“It has nothing to do with you, Second Brother,” Pei Xiting shook his head. “The reason I told you the truth isn’t to make you feel guilty towards me. It’s because I think someone as arrogant as Young Marquis Shangguan, even if he’s being kind and accommodating to you today, might turn ruthless if he doesn’t get what he wants in the future. He’s domineering, and his methods aren’t honorable. You’re oblivious and aren’t prepared. If you were to be harmed, that would be terrible.”
“That’s right.” Zhao Yi sighed, patting Pei Jintang’s shoulder to comfort him. “Hanzhang, the truth can make you feel sick in the stomach, but at least you have a plan in mind, and in the future, you can also remember to be more on guard.”
Pei Jintang’s lips moved, but he only let out a long sigh. “I understand, I just… never mind, I won’t say it. Anyway, I’m not afraid, but I’m worried about you living here alone.”
He grabbed Pei Xiting’s wrist. “Come home and live with me!”
Zhao Yi felt that it wasn’t right. “This place and Pei Mansion are one east and one west. Do you want Xiting to get up in the middle of the night to go to the government office every everyday?”
“I forgot about that,” Pei Jintang said gloomily. “Then what do we do? We happened to run into him today, but what if we don’t come next time? I’m really worried about him living here alone.”
“I’m not alone. I have a friend living with me, but he’s not here right now. This friend knows martial arts and can protect me. And,” Pei Xiting pointed to the road on the left, “did you see that courtyard ahead? That’s Lord You’s residence.”
Pei Jintang wasn’t convinced. “But there was no one there just now! If we hadn’t come to find you, who knows what would have happened today!”
Pei Xiting knew Yuan Fang was definitely hiding in the shadows. He had made eye contact with Yuan Fang, who was sitting at a stall eating steamed buns, on his way back from work. If Shangguan Jie had really tried to do something by force, Yuan Fang would naturally have intervened.
But it wasn’t easy to explain this in detail. He thought for a moment and then fabricated a story. “Don’t worry, I just came back too early today. Tomorrow, I’ll come back with Lord You. He is very considerate towards me and even helped me teach Wang Yelai a lesson today.”
Pei Jintang’s attention was indeed diverted. “So it was because of you? What happened with Wang Yelai?”
“He wanted to kidnap me, but Lord You caught him red-handed. Lord You warned him and even personally wrote a letter to Wang Yelai’s father. The Wang family is probably preparing a ‘bamboo whip stir-fry’ dish for him right now,” Pei Xiting said.
“That’s another beast!” Pei Jintang became angry just thinking about it. “What did we ever do to offend him that he keeps bothering us again and again?!”
Pei Xiting sighed. “I heard Wang Yelai and Young Marquis Shangguan have always been good friends…”
Pei Jintang raised his hand to pinch his philtrum, tilted his head back, and rolled his eyes. Zhao Yi quickly patted his back to soothe him.
After a while, Pei Jintang recovered, gripped the hilt of the blade at his waist, and said coldly, “Next time, if I see that surname Wang, I’ll beat him so badly that his whole family won’t recognize him! Official Wang having a son like that is truly his bad karma!”
Pei Xiting quite agreed. “That’s right. Why did you both come?”
“Thanks to the Longhe Guard, I took the opportunity to slip out. I went out for a walk earlier to clear my head, and I guessed you’d be off duty soon, so I came over to see you,” Pei Jintang said, looking at Zhao Yi. “Sifan, what about you?”
“I took my mother to the Empress’s palace earlier, and thinking Xiting was on Lan Yin Street, I came over to find him for a simple meal,” Zhao Yi said.
Pei Xiting said, “Coincidentally, Second Brother has also arrived.”
Pei Jintang said, “Let’s go!”
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