ATSBTBMACP 8

Chapter 8

“Your Highness is indeed a man of your word,” Song Beiyao poured himself a cup of hot tea. “However, I don’t have any wine here today. Would it be alright to use tea instead?”

He gently tapped the side of his cup twice, producing two crisp sounds, his eyes full of expectation.

Pei Ji looked down at the tea in his cup, neither agreeing nor refusing.

“Your Highness, are you still suspecting me of being an assassin who would poison the cup?” Song Beiyao’s expression was slightly hurt. He took a small ladle and scooped some tea from Pei Ji’s cup.

Pei Ji’s gaze followed the ladle to Song Beiyao’s lips. As the tea entered his mouth, Song Beiyao naturally licked his lips and said, “Good tea.”

Pei Ji’s gaze swept across the young man’s lips. He picked up his teacup and said coldly, “Fourth Prince, whether or not we drink wedding wine, my words will not change. We will never be a true couple.”

Song Beiyao’s eyes dimmed, a flicker of disappointment passing quickly. He quickly forced a smile and picked up his teacup. “Your Highness is willing to drink this cup with me; I am already satisfied and dare not ask for more.”

Saying this, he extended his arm towards Pei Ji. “In Zhao, wedding wine must be drunk together; Your Highness will grant me this small wish, won’t you?”

Pei Ji silently extended his arm, intertwining it with Song Beiyao’s, and they drank the tea together.

The scene was bizarre. One in black, one in white, one perfunctory, one with ulterior motives; neither felt the awkwardness or strangeness of the gesture.

When extending and retracting their arms, Song Beiyao lightly touched Pei Ji’s hand. The number in the bottom left corner jumped up by 2 points.

After setting down their cups, Pei Ji made a move to leave, but Song Beiyao called out to him, “Husband.”

Pei Ji’s body stiffened, showing displeasure. “What did you call this King?”

“In our Zhao, after drinking wedding wine, a couple is officially married, to be together forever, happily ever after,” Song Beiyao’s cheeks flushed slightly, his gaze shyly lowered as if he wanted to look but dared not look at Pei Ji. “I am now my husband’s person. If my husband wants to… to consummate the marriage, I…”

A shattering sound interrupted. Pei Ji had crushed his teacup with one hand and slapped the table, suddenly standing up, his voice cold and sharp. “Shameless!” He strode out of the room.

Only after he had left did Song Beiyao raise his head, looking at the broken glass on the table, his brow slightly raised.

Anger—a good thing. He knew Pei Ji had martial arts skills, but he hadn’t expected them to be so high-level.

At that moment, Ling Feng once again rushed into the room, saying urgently, “You know what happened just now? Pei Ji’s top guard tried to test my martial arts skills!”

He glanced at the broken pieces and bloodstains on the table and jumped up. “Whoa! Who did this? It couldn’t be you!”

“It was Pei Ji,” Song Beiyao looked at him. “How would you compare his internal strength to yours?”

Ling Feng curled his lip, picking up a teacup, about to exert force, then suddenly realized what he was doing. He quickly put down the cup and covered his hands. “I don’t know how it compares to mine. Pei Ji hasn’t entered the martial arts world; his name isn’t on the ranking list, but it seems his martial arts skills are much stronger than I imagined.”

Saying this, he looked at Song Beiyao earnestly. “Did you provoke him again? I advise you to be more careful; we only need to complete the mission. You don’t have martial arts skills now. Don’t deliberately provoke him; otherwise, you won’t know how you’ll die.”

Careful?

A slight smile curved Song Beiyao’s lips. He sipped his tea, his tone languid. “Don’t worry, I won’t provoke him.”

…

Pei Ji left the separate courtyard, and the guard, Qu Lan, immediately followed. “Your Highness, it’s done. The servant knows some basic self-defense but isn’t particularly quick in his reactions.”

“I understand.”

He walked through the night to the study, where Zhang Bo was waiting outside.

“Your Highness.” Seeing the Crown Prince, Zhang Bo respectfully greeted him. He glanced at the Crown Prince’s bloody hand and was shocked. “Your Highness’s hand, what happened?!” He quickly ordered a servant to summon a physician.

“No need,” he entered the study. “What is it that keeps you waiting outside so late?”

Zhang Bo followed him into the study. “Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. I wanted to ask Your Highness if you’ll be holding a banquet as usual this year.”

“No,” Pei Ji took medicine, alcohol, and gauze from a wooden cabinet. After removing the broken glass from his hand, he directly opened the bottle of clear white alcohol and poured it over the wound.

The alcohol mixed with blood flowed down, and Zhang Bo’s heart ached. How painful that must be! And yet, the Prince didn’t even frown.

After applying the alcohol and wiping it, he applied medicine and bandaged it. Pei Ji looked up at him. “Anything else?”

Zhang Bo wiped the sweat from his nose. “Today, the Marquis of Nan’an’s manor sent a note saying that the young Marquis will be coming to the manor tomorrow, supposedly to stay for a few days to celebrate the Prince’s birthday.”

The Prince’s birthday was in early January. The young Marquis would always come to the manor to cause trouble. But this time is different. The Prince has a wife. What if the young Marquis harbors resentment and does something outrageous?

Zhang Bo was anxious but couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Pei Ji didn’t seem to care, saying casually, “Let him come. Tell the kitchen to prepare more dishes tomorrow night.”

Zhang Bo couldn’t help but ask, “Should we invite the person from the separate courtyard to dinner? If the favored consort is alone in the courtyard tomorrow night, it would be…”

“Zhang Bo,” Pei Ji interrupted coldly. “Don’t mention that person in front of this King again. Pretend he doesn’t exist.”

“Your Highness, why?” Zhang Bo was surprised. “Could Your Highness’s wound have been inflicted by the favored consort?”

Pei Ji coldly snorted. “He wouldn’t be able to hurt this King.”

Zhang Bo said, “Then…”

Pei Ji sat down at the table, opening a file and not answering. “Just do as I ordered. Leave.”

Zhang Bo didn’t dare ask further, his heart filled with worry, and he left the study.

—

The next day, Song Beiyao woke up early and woke Ling Feng, who was sleeping like an octopus.

The number in the bottom left corner dropped again to -197. The favorability points fluctuated and wouldn’t increase. Early in the morning, the system greeted Song Beiyao: “Did you gain any favor today? Did you get close to Pei Ji? You haven’t gained favor and haven’t gotten close to him. What are you trying to do?”

Song Beiyao was leisurely eating breakfast and replied to the system, “Don’t rush; it can’t be rushed. How many times do I have to explain this? This is just the warm-up stage; the game hasn’t officially started yet.”

“It hasn’t officially started yet! When will it officially begin?! Don’t you want to return to the original world?!?” The system was becoming increasingly frantic.

“I do,” Song Beiyao’s tone was flat.

Of course, he did.

There were people he needed to take care of there, things he hadn’t finished, and he dreamed of returning immediately. But intense desire could cloud judgment. If he couldn’t be calm and patient, he might die in the dungeon.

He wanted to go back quickly, but to be fast, he had to be slow first.

His tongue lightly grazed his canine tooth. Song Beiyao put down his chopsticks and walked into the courtyard.

He was facing a man far more dangerous than wolves or tigers. In a game of wits with such a person, he needed to be both cautious and bold.

He had to win.

It wasn’t snowing today, but the weather was much colder than in the previous days.

Ling Feng put on his clothes and stepped out of the house. Seeing the faint dawn, he said angrily, “Why did you call me up so early?!”

“We’re leaving the manor today.”

“Leaving the manor?” Ling Feng was shocked. Questions popped up one after another. “What are we doing out today? How are you going to get out? Are we coming back?”

Song Beiyao answered one by one: “To buy things. You carry me out, and we’ll return.”

“What things do you need to buy? I can buy them; it’s early morning,” Ling Feng didn’t understand. “What if you’re discovered leaving the manor?!”

Song Beiyao smiled; he wanted to be discovered.

After yesterday’s incident, Pei Ji would inevitably ignore him for a while. He had to create trouble, preventing any chance of the waters freezing over.

“I need to choose the items myself, and the earlier the better,” Song Beiyao put his arm around Ling Feng’s shoulder, smiling brightly. “Our great Ling Xia, please carry me out!”

Ling Feng: …

…

In the afternoon, a carriage slowly stopped outside the Prince’s Manor. The carriage door opened, and a figure in azure leaped down. A folding fan snapped open in his hand; he fanned himself twice and said to his attendant, “Don’t follow me.”

He turned and walked towards Zhang Bo, who was waiting outside. “Zhang Bo!!”

As Xiao Yun approached, the strong sweet scent on his person also wafted over. Zhang Bo subconsciously took a step back. “Greetings, Young Marquis.”

The Marquis of Nan’an’s son was a frequent visitor to the manor, seen once a year. But now, the young Marquis is seventeen, of age to marry and have children, and in two years he’ll be eligible to enter the civil service. Why is he still…

“Where’s Ji-gege?”

Hearing the young Marquis’s coquettish voice, Zhang Bo shuddered and took another step back. “His Highness is currently in the study. Please follow this old servant…”

Before he finished speaking, the young Marquis darted past him into the manor, shouting, “Ji-gege! Ji-gege!” He ran towards the study.

Zhang Bo’s forehead was sweating profusely. “Quickly! Stop him!”

In the study, Pei Ji had just finished discussing state affairs with Peng Yu and was resting when he heard shouting outside.

“Ji-gege! Ji-gege!”

The door was thrown open, and the azure figure rushed in, wanting to throw himself onto Pei Ji.

Two guards reacted quickly and restrained him.

“Let go! Let me go!” Xiao Yun struggled, his face full of grievance. “Ji-gege, look at them grabbing me! Won’t you stop them?!”

Pei Ji rubbed his temples, beckoning, “Take him out first.”

“Ji-gege, how can you do this! Wuu, it’s not fair! You don’t love me anymore!…”

After the door closed and the wailing faded, Pei Ji’s expression softened.

Inside, Peng Yu laughed. “Your Highness is quite fortunate.”

Pei Ji said solemnly, “Why do you say that?”

Peng Yu said, “I see that the Marquis of Nan’an’s son has exquisite features and appears to be interested in Your Highness. I also heard that the newly arrived favored consort is stunningly beautiful, a rare beauty in the Nine Continents. That’s why I had this thought.”

Pei Ji was unconcerned. “It’s merely a pretty face. There are plenty of beautiful faces.”

Peng Yu pondered. “It seems Your Highness isn’t satisfied with the favored consort. I’m curious, what kind of woman—or man—could catch Your Highness’s eye?”

Hearing this, Pei Ji paused slightly. For some reason, he recalled the drenched and dishevelled young man in the dim dungeon, his eyes shining astonishingly bright as he spoke his last words. It was a look of longing for life, yet like poisonous poppies, alluring and deadly.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

Peng Yu’s voice pulled Pei Ji back. He pressed his temples, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. “Continue.”

…

Xiao Yun was thrown out of the study, stamping his feet in anger. Zhang Bo also followed him outside the study but didn’t approach him, just standing far away, hoping this young master would calm down soon.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Yun’s sharp eyes caught sight of Zhang Bo, and he immediately rushed towards him. “Zhang Bo, tell me, is it because of that newcomer that Ji-gege doesn’t love me anymore!”

Zhang Bo was startled and quickly reacted, knowing who he was referring to, but he pretended not to understand. “This old servant doesn’t understand what the Young Marquis means.”

“That newly arrived favored consort, the prince from Zhao, where is he! Take me to see him!!” Xiao Yun was flushed with anger, as if he was going to fight someone.

Zhang Bo calmly said, “Young Marquis, the favored consort is unwell; he’s bedridden with an illness. If the Young Marquis goes to see him and catches the illness, that won’t be good.”

“I’m not afraid,” Xiao Yun was still relentless. “I’ll just look at him from outside the door. I want to see what this Zhao Fourth Prince looks like!”

Zhang Bo was about to dissuade him. Xiao Yun started walking forward. “Forget it, if you won’t take me, I’ll find him myself; I’ll search every courtyard!”

Oh, the ancestor! How could the Prince’s Manor allow such chaos!

Zhang Bo quickly followed. “This old servant will take the Young Marquis there. Please don’t be anxious, Young Marquis.”

Along the way, Xiao Yun’s mouth didn’t stop. “I heard that person is incredibly beautiful. Heh, I’ve heard people praise me with that word countless times. No matter how handsome he is, can he be more handsome than me?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” You are not even as good as a single strand of his hair.

Xiao Yun continued, “Even if he is a prince of Zhao, he’s just an unfavored fourth prince, his mother supposedly of low birth. I am the Marquis of Nan’an’s son, personally appointed by the late Emperor. My father holds great power, and my mother is Princess Shaoyang. My status is far more noble than his!”

“Yes, yes, yes.” If it weren’t for the sake of the Marquis of Nan’an, would you even be allowed into the Prince’s Manor?

Xiao Yun went on, “Ji-gege has always treated me well since childhood. The position of Crown Princess is surely reserved for me. Now that I’ve reached the age of marriage, I will propose to my father to marry into the Prince’s Manor upon returning home!”

“Yes… ah?”

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