Volume 1, Chapter 25: I Shall Surely Keep Your Words in Mind

A folding fan struck through the air, hitting the forearm of the man who had just lunged forward. Under the force of the impact, the man stumbled several times to the right; had it not been for someone beside him reaching out to steady him, he would have surely crashed into the doorpost.

The fan completed a half-turn in the air before landing steadily in the hand of a man with hair like silver.

"What do you mean by 'slow down'? This is the business of our Marquis's Mansion—what right do you have to interfere?" Lady Li, terrified that something might go wrong, lashed out at the newcomer. She threatened viciously, "Get out of here at once, or don't blame me for being unkind!"

*Pfft—*

Xie Shu burst into laughter. This Lady Li truly was ignorant. Having lived in the capital for so many years, she didn't even recognize the head of the Pei family, the current head of the Imperial Academy, and tutor to the Imperial Princes.

It seemed her time as the Marchioness of Cheng'en had been entirely wasted.

Stung by Xie Shu’s laughter, Lady Li’s face turned pale. How dare this little wench mock her!

Pei Xuanqing stretched out his long arm, gave his wrist a light flick, and the fan spun back into his palm. The movement was crisp and elegant, causing the young women watching from the sidelines to stare in a daze.

"Marchioness, the business of your mansion is, naturally, of no concern to me. But this man?" Pei Xuanqing flicked his fan open, took a few steps forward, and leaned over to inspect the man known as Wang Mazi.

"Mas-mas-master..." Upon seeing the newcomer, Wang Mazi’s face turned leaden, his lips drained of color. His eyes widened in absolute terror, as if the man before him were some demon or monster come to claim his soul!

"Tsk—"

A pungent smell of urine wafted through the air. Pei Xuanqing opened his fan wide, wrinkled his nose in disgust, and shielded his face. In this life, he loathed nothing more than those who betrayed their masters.

"Wang Chu, you’ve certainly made me search for you," Pei Xuanqing said coldly.

At these words, Wang Mazi seemed to lose his mind. Ignoring the injury on his leg, he clawed at the ground with both hands, scrambling backward while screaming at Lady Li, "My Lady, you must save me! I’ve done so many dirty jobs for you—you have to save me!"

A sudden realization rippled through the crowd: "Oh, so there’s still something being kept under wraps!"

Lady Li panicked, her mind racing. Was this Wang Mazi mad, to be blurting out everything? And that man—who was he?

"You—who exactly are you, daring to cause trouble at the gates of our Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion!" Lady Li tried to compose herself, forcing a facade of strength as she aggressively interrogated Pei Xuanqing.

Pei Xuanqing, like Xie Shu, let out a laugh; this Marchioness was truly as dim-witted as a pig. He narrowed his eyes—the students at the Imperial Academy knew this was Pei Xuanqing’s look of utter contempt for stupidity.

"I am the head of the Imperial Academy, Pei Xuanqing."

When the last three words drifted lazily from his thin lips, Lady Li’s entire frame swayed, and she collapsed against Nanny Liu.

Behind her, Nanny Liu struggled to support the Marchioness. Seeing that Lady Li was on the verge of fainting, she shouted to the nearby maids, "Quick, quick! The Marchioness has fainted, send for a physician!"

Lady Li made a show of trying to rise, but Nanny Liu pressed her back down, signaling with her eyes for her to stop making a fool of herself.

Pei Xuanqing.

Lady Li had heard Ning Rongsheng speak that name often. Though he was merely a head of the Imperial Academy, the Pei family had been the leaders of the civil officials for two generations—the ministers of the hundred officials! If Pei Xuanqing hadn't been too lazy to play the political game, he would have reached the pinnacle of power long ago.

Today, he was the tutor to the Imperial Princes; it was unlikely that anyone in the Great Yan Dynasty would be able to shake the Pei family's position for the next hundred years.

As for Ning Rongsheng, he had yet to enter the imperial court; he was merely occupying a seat at the Imperial Academy.

*Forget it, I shall just pretend to faint.*

Lady Li felt she had no choice. She threw her head back, and, supported by two maids, was carried off into the inner courtyard of the East Residence.

"A truly convenient time to faint," Xie Shu watched as Lady Li was hauled away. She didn't bother to stop them, only curling her lips in a smirk, her eyes filled with the satisfaction of success.

Pretending to faint was a trick she had mastered in her previous life. But this outcome suited her perfectly.

"Take him away, don't let him soil my master’s eyes!" someone shouted from behind, and several Pei family attendants rushed over to drag Wang Mazi away.

"I wonder, how did the Princess Consort discover this man's identity?" Pei Xuanqing raised an eyebrow and smiled. His long, narrow peach-blossom eyes narrowed into slits, the slightly upturned corners resembling a fox hunting in the night—full of sinister schemes that were rather chilling.

In her previous life, after Xie Shu had requested to be cast out and returned to the Zhilan Courtyard, Lady Li had wanted to root out the problem, so she sent this Wang Mazi to set fire to the courtyard in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Wen Ying had discovered him, subdued him, and handed him over to the authorities. Later, Xie Shu heard that Pei Xuanqing had taken the man away that very night.

Though she didn't know what crime Wang Mazi had committed, for Pei Xuanqing to take such an interest, it had to be significant.

Today, she had specifically presented this "great gift" to Pei Xuanqing, hoping that the Pei family would remember this favor when the time was right.

Facing the fox-like man, Xie Shu showed no fear. She looked at Pei Xuanqing with calm composure and spoke cryptically: "I am a devout Buddhist. The Buddha spoke to me in a dream and told me."

The Pei family had also studied the scriptures and doctrines; to them, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism were merely tools to control the masses.

"It seems, then, that the Princess Consort is under the protection of the Buddha," Pei Xuanqing maintained a smile as fixed as a fox mask. He had merely been curious how this woman knew the secrets of his family. But after hearing Xie Shu's words, he became even more curious about what other nonsense could spill from her lips.

"You are too kind, Master Pei, you flatter me," Xie Shu replied with an air of unearned confidence. She really had been reborn—it must have been the Buddha’s protection, or perhaps the heavens themselves!

"For today's events, consider me in your debt." Pei Xuanqing was a fox, but he never easily owed favors. He believed, to some extent, in karma.

Upon hearing this, the smile on Xie Shu’s face deepened. She bowed, "I will be sure to keep that in mind."

In the sedan chair on the way back to the mansion, the accompanying attendant, Pei Jiuan, asked his master, "Why did you have the leisure to watch this spectacle today, Master? Did you know about it in advance?"

Thinking of the drama that had occurred in the capital over the past few days—each event was more spectacular than the power struggles of the great families over the last three to five years!

As for why he had come?

Naturally, he had come to watch the show.

The Emperor's wrath was a force to be reckoned with. Pei Xuanqing wanted to see if the Xie family, trapped like beasts, could turn the tables using such a sharp-tongued, unruly woman. If there was a turning point, having the Xie family as an ally wouldn't be a bad thing.

As the saying goes, when the rabbit dies, the fox mourns.

Under the heavens, who knew where the next rabbit might fall?

With everyone gone, the spectacle at the gates of the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion came to an end.

Green Willow frowned, placed her hands on her hips, and glared aggressively at the guards who had tried to block the door earlier. She shouted, "Well? Your master has already fled—do you guard dogs still intend to bite?"