TL: Hua
A face with the same features but different temperament, a body with the same foundation but thinner—what is going on?
He couldn’t figure this out. Never mind then.
Pei Xiting rubbed his wrist that was hurt by Shangguan Jie’s grip and put aside this really f*cking mysterious phenomenon for the time being. While rubbing, he couldn’t help but turn around and kick the idiot again.
The said idiot passed out like a dead pig without any reaction.
Pei Xiting walked to the washbasin rack at the door, threw the hanging towel into the basin, wet it, and wrung it out. While holding it against his face to reduce swelling, he recalled the following plot (clean version)——
“Pei Xiting” dragged his wounded body back to the mansion and ran into the Madam of the house, Wang-shi[mfn]氏 (shi) A title placed after a married woman’s maiden name.[/mfn]. This woman was always strict. Seeing Pei Xiting’s disheveled and disgraced appearance, she sternly scolded him and ordered him to kneel and copy books. It wasn’t until noon the next day that Pei Xiting was discovered unconscious in the ancestral hall by servants, suffering from a high fever.
*
Pei Xiting chose a low-key blue gauze robe from the wardrobe.
Fumeng Tower was the most expensive inn in Yejing. There was a lobby on the first floor, a front hall for guests, a restaurant in the back hall, private rooms on the second floor for merchants, and the third and fourth floors for receiving distinguished guests. In the building, customers are provided with food, drink, and accommodation, and there are even spare clothes in the wardrobes of the private rooms.
Although most guests disdained to wear spare clothes, and they’d rather send their servant to buy a new one, for Pei Xiting at the moment, Fumeng Tower’s thoughtfulness deserved a five-star rating.
Speaking of giving good reviews, Pei Xiting remembered that his mobile phone, tablet, digital board, game console, motorcycle, and sports car… just died with him miserably.
As if he had experienced a heartbreak, Pei Xiting changed his clothes listlessly. He couldn’t find a scarf or something similar in the closet, so he could only tear off a piece of dark purple bed curtain with great disgust and use it to cover the pinch mark on his neck. The color combination was so ugly that he didn’t dare to look in the mirror and left without looking back.
Fumeng Tower was visited by many dignitaries and officials’ children. In order to avoid running into acquaintances and people from the Shangguan family, Pei Xiting planned to leave through the back door. He walked down the stairs in the back corridor, entered the backyard, and walked along the bluestone path. When he was about to turn the corner, he happened to hear someone whispering, “The sect leader said that we must get Po Yinlin; otherwise… who!”
Pei Xiting’s eyes blurred, and a blade was pressed against his chest, forcing him to stop, “…”
Two people flashed out from the moon cave gate[mfn]
[/mfn]. One was a thin and tall one-eyed man with a leather eye patch on his left eye; the other was a short and stout man holding a blade with a soaring braid on his head. The side had been shaved off, and his round head was clearly visible.
The two stared at Pei Xiting gloomily, and the one-eyed man said, “You dare to eavesdrop on us? You’re tired of living!”
The original work is a p*rnographic novel centering around the three gongs and one shou, most of which are from “Pei Xiting’s” perspective. It was nothing more than the bed, the floor, the wall, the window, the bathhouse, the yard, the carriage, and the grove… These two never appeared in the three gongs’ perspective either, so Pei Xiting couldn’t find any useful information.
He glanced at the two of them and said, “Is this your home?”
The two were stunned. The one-eyed dragon subconsciously said, “Of course not! Do I look rich?”
“If it’s not, why do you say a passerby eavesdropped when you can’t find a nook or cranny to discuss?” Pei Xiting said calmly, “Are you kidding me?”
“You!” The one-eyed man choked and found that he was unable to refute, so he had to get angry. “You little white face, do you want to die–”
Pei Xiting lowered his eyes to examine the blade on his chest. It was so big that if he really stabbed his neck with a blade, there would be no chance of treatment… but it’s not impossible. So he said, “Maybe meeting you is my salvation.”
“…”The two looked at each other. Did they run into a fool?!
The braided man asked sinisterly, “How much did you hear?”
“Otherwise, who?” Pei Xiting said.
He looked calm, and his tone was indifferent with a bit of blatant impatience, which made him sound like he wasn’t lying at all.
The two looked at each other again and said in unison, “Really?”
Pei Xiting tepidly glanced at these two slowpokes as if he wasn’t the one being threatened with a blade. “Believe it or not.”
The one-eyed man said, “Hey! Watch your attitude!”
Pei Xiting said, “Rather than interrogating me, you should reflect on yourselves.”
The two: “?”
“Those who learn martial arts should be alert and sharp. I don’t blame you for not hearing other people’s breathing a hundred steps away, but you should at least be able to detect someone approaching within ten steps. How can you let passers-by hear your conversation? Unless, of course, you are deliberately letting me hear.” Pei Xiting said.
For a moment, both of them were silent.
The one-eyed man suddenly burst into laughter, “Little pretty boy, I’ve never met someone who can flatter himself like you!”
“Oh,” Pei Xiting shrugged, “You are just too inexperienced, a three-legged cat[mfn]An idiom meaning unskilled or having superficial knowledge of something.[/mfn].”
The one-eyed man’s face changed suddenly, furiously saying, “You! You dare to say I’m a three-legged cat? Do you know who I am?”
Pei Xiting asked politely, “Who are you?”
“I am—woooooo!”
The braided man jumped up in time to cover the eyepatch guy’s mouth. The force was so great that he almost broke his companion’s head. He stared at Pei Xiting, his eyes narrowed slightly. “Your excellency, are you an expert?”
“Can’t you tell?” Pei Xiting said, “Sure enough, you’re a three-legged cat.”
The one-eyed man was furious: “Woo woo woo!”
“Stop yelling!” The braided man slapped the one-eyed man on the mouth, staring at Pei Xiting with his big eyes, “I can see that you’re a pretty boy without martial arts, but why are you not afraid of us at all? Are you pretending to be indifferent or are you resigned to fate?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that my mother is calling me home for dinner. Goodbye.” Pei Xiting reached out to push away the blade on his shoulder. The “kui[mfn]One-legged monster similar to a dragon in Chinese mythology.[/mfn]” pattern handle was cold and hard, causing him to furrow his brow and “hiss” “in pain. He glanced at the braided man unhappily, rubbed his fingers, and walked away.
The two turned sideways, simultaneously staring at the tall and slender figure as he walked away, disappearing in the light and shadow.
For a moment, the two were in great confusion.
“… No,” the one-eyed man said, “Why is he so arrogant? Big brother, do we look kind?!”
The braided man jumped down, sheathed his blade, and said, “How the hell should I know! He looks so handsome. Is he actually a wealthy son who has abundant worldly experience?”
The one-eyed man scratched his head, “Don’t we know every wealthy son from Yejing? Have we seen this pretty boy?”
“… Never mind, let’s go find the thing first.” The braided man pushed the one-eyed man, and one after another, they went up the building in swift motions.
No one noticed that behind the eaves not far away, a black-spotted, white-feathered eagle mask flashed by.
The treetops swayed a few times. Bai Tang landed in front of the pavilion in the adjacent courtyard. He pushed the mask to the side of his face and asked softly, “Your Highness, they have appeared. Should we kill them?”
Apricot blossoms were shrouded in front of the pavilion like a light cloud. There was a person sitting in the pavilion, and only his side profile was vaguely revealed. The dark blue cuffs swayed slightly. The cold white fingertips moved, and the black jade stones collided, making a gentle sound. The crown prince said in a cold tone, “No blood will be seen today.”
Bai Tang adhered to the principle that “whatever Your Highness does is reasonable” and asked in a serious tone, “Why?”
The breeze wasn’t dry, but slow and gentle, and just happened to roll up a petal of apricot blossoms to gracefully land on the white jade chessboard. Seeing this, the crown prince said in all apparent seriousness, “It said so.”
Bai Tang didn’t think that His Highness was tricking people and said with admiration, “When did Your Highness learn to communicate with flowers and plants?”
“Just now.” The prince said, “Go.”
Bai Tang respectfully saluted and stepped back. But he suddenly paused and said, “By the way, Your Highness, Young Marquis Shangguan didn’t come here to rest, but to meet Pei Xiting, the third son of the Guanglu Temple’s official. When the masked man left the private room earlier, I saw Third Pei behind the window. When he left, he also ran into the two thieves. His reaction was calm and composed, which was completely different from the gentle and even weak Third Pei in the rumors. There was no obvious sign of fighting in the private room. The masked man came and left freely. I wonder if it was related to Third Pei.”
The crown prince’s mind was on the chess game, “Third Pei?”
This was an unexpected existence. Shangguan Jie is tyrannical and haughty. He wouldn’t take someone like Third Pei seriously, let alone meet him in private.
“I also found Third Pei with disheveled hair and an untidy collar. He seemed to change his clothes after coming down.” Bai Tang shook his head. “I don’t know what he was doing with the young Marquis Shangguan earlier.”
The prince stroked the chess piece and said, “Go check this Third Pei.”
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