After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 19

Passing through the forest, lights appeared faintly in the distance. Xie Yunqing shifted his gaze from Pei Yanzhi toward the light, catching the silhouette of a manor. As they drew closer, two people dressed as attendants came out to meet them.

Both were momentarily stunned upon seeing Xie Yunqing. However, they quickly recovered their composure, stepping forward to bow to Pei Yanzhi and then giving a slight bow to Xie Yunqing. They then walked silently ahead of the two, seemingly leading the way.

The further they went, the brighter the lights became. Upon entering the courtyard, the space opened up the area within the walls was quite sparse, with only a few tall trees and a long thatched shed visible at a glance.

Under one of those trees stood two people and a white horse. Xie Yunqing stopped, somewhat afraid to approach, for the white horse was exceptionally tall. It stood between the two people like a giant beast.

“Don’t be afraid.” Pei Yanzhi stopped as well, though he didn’t look at Xie Yunqing, but at the white horse. “It… likes you very much.”

As if hearing Pei Yanzhi’s words, the white horse actually began to walk toward Xie Yunqing. It moved excessively slowly, and at one point, its two front hooves nearly buckled, making it look like a wobbling mountain. After a long while, it finally stood before them, its head dipping slightly as if observing Xie Yunqing closely.

Sensing the horse’s gentleness, much of the fear in Xie Yunqing’s heart dissipated. He instinctively lifted his head to look back. It was a purely snow-white horse. Under the lights, there wasn’t a single stray color; from its neck to its body, it looked as if it were sculpted from snow, white to the point of being translucent.

To Xie Yunqing’s surprise, while the horse was tall and carried a natural majesty, its eyes were incredibly… gentle. They were a rare clear blue, like the surface of a mountain lake, quietly reflecting Xie Yunqing’s silhouette.

Moved, Xie Yunqing took a step toward it. The white horse lowered its head and very, very lightly nuzzled the top of Xie Yunqing’s head. It was remarkably spirited; realizing Xie Yunqing felt no fear or disgust, it gently licked his cheek.

A moist, warm sensation remained on Xie Yunqing’s skin. He was stunned for a moment, then cautiously lifted a hand and touched the horse’s face. The texture beneath his hand was wonderful and difficult for him to describe. It felt like… like the finest silk he had touched while dressing his younger brother, yet it carried warmth and was even softer.

The horse’s breath puffed rhythmically against Xie Yunqing’s palm. He grew increasingly relaxed, even gathering the courage to ask Pei Yanzhi for the horse’s name.

But suddenly without any warning the white horse collapsed to the ground at Xie Yunqing’s feet, gasping for breath. After a few moments, blood actually sprayed from its nose and mouth.

The warmth beneath his hand vanished. The two people under the tree immediately rushed over, kneeling beside the horse to check its nose and neck, and then… they looked toward Pei Yanzhi and shook their heads.

After a moment of dazed helplessness, Xie Yunqing also looked toward Pei Yanzhi. The man was too tall and stood with his back to the light. Xie Yunqing couldn’t see his expression, only his movement he waved his hand at the two people. They rose and retreated.

Then, Pei Yanzhi knelt before the horse. He refused the silk handkerchief offered by a servant and used his own sleeve to slowly wipe away the blood that continued to surge from the horse’s mouth and nose.

“…Why is it like this?” Xie Yunqing heard his own voice trembling.

“It suffered too severe an injury in the past.” Pei Yanzhi’s voice also paused rareley. “It is time for it to go.”

Xie Yunqing couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Just a moment ago… it had been so gently expressing its kindness to him. The horse’s head moved slightly, as if trying to lift its neck, but more blood sprayed out.

“Come and touch it,” Pei Yanzhi’s movements paused. “It wants to see you.”

Xie Yunqing gave a violent shudder. But soon, he also knelt down and tremblingly extended his hand, placing it on the same spot he had touched before. It was still soft, but the warmth was slipping away bit by bit. It felt as though a mist had risen; Xie Yunqing’s vision grew increasingly blurred. Finally, he could see nothing at all.

The warmth beneath his hand turned completely cold.

The surroundings fell into an abrupt silence. After a long while, Pei Yanzhi stood up. A servant helped Xie Yunqing up as well. Xie Yunqing did not lift his head, but he could feel Pei Yanzhi watching him.

“I shouldn’t have brought you,” Pei Yanzhi said.

Xie Yunqing was startled. He slowly lifted his head to look at Pei Yanzhi, wanting to ask why. But seeing the slight frown on the man’s brow, he found his answer—Pei Yanzhi was worried about him.

It was a strange answer, and one that made little sense. So, very quickly, Xie Yunqing dismissed the idea in his heart. Perhaps his display of sentimentality had simply annoyed the man. Xie Yunqing lowered his head again and opened his mouth. After hesitating for a long time, risking further annoyance, he asked: “Could you… could you tell me its name?”

“Jingxue (Startling Snow),” Pei Yanzhi answered quickly. “Its name is Jingxue.”

His voice was unexpectedly gentle, perhaps due to memories of the horse. Strangely, this gentle tone felt familiar to Xie Yunqing. It was as if… he had heard it somewhere before. But Xie Yunqing didn’t dare think further; he merely pursed his lips and gave a soft “Mm.”

Pei Yanzhi watched him intently for a moment. Then, he ordered the other two to bury Jingxue while he walked toward the depths of the manor. The attendants followed closely behind. Xie Yunqing dazed for a moment, then followed as well.

They soon arrived at a wing. Pei Yanzhi pushed the door open and entered, but the two attendants stopped outside. The door was not closed. After hesitating at the threshold, Xie Yunqing followed him inside.

His thoughts were currently so jumbled that he didn’t notice the attendants had made a slight movement to block him when he stepped in. After a moment, however, they silently pulled the door shut. The sound was neither loud nor soft, but it was enough to jolt Xie Yunqing from his daze.

He snapped back to reality. He found the room somewhat sparse, unlike the rooms in the Pei residence which were filled with various furnishings. As far as the eye could see, besides a bed, there were only two racks—one holding a copper basin and the other some clean clothes. Consequently, there was nothing to obstruct the view within the room.

And Pei Yanzhi stood just a few steps away, watching him calmly. Xie Yunqing had initially thought the room was sparse, but similar in size to those at the Pei estate. In this moment, however, he suddenly felt it was far too small, even cramped perhaps because Pei Yanzhi was too tall, and his noble aura was at odds with the simplicity here.

“Why did you come in?” he heard the man ask.

Because he had only just come to his senses, his reaction was a bit slow. Xie Yunqing thought for a moment and answered honestly: “I didn’t know where else to go.”

Pei Yanzhi asked no further and paid him no more mind. He turned toward the washstand. Since the man had turned his back and couldn’t see him, Xie Yunqing watched him unconsciously. He watched Pei Yanzhi wash his hands in the basin, watched him dry them with a cloth, and watched him touch the clothes on the other rack.

Then, he watched Pei Yanzhi lift his hands, untie his belt, and remove his blood-stained outer robe.

His mind went blank with a jolt. By the time he realized Pei Yanzhi had come to the room to change clothes, it was too late the man had already removed his inner garment. The candlelight was dim, yet it clearly reflected the muscular lines and shadows of Pei Yanzhi’s back and waist.

Furthermore, a drop of water was rolling down from the man’s neck. At this moment, Xie Yunqing was so panicked that he simply couldn’t look away. He could only continue to watch that water droplet roll slowly along the muscles, bit by bit, until it vanished into the shadow of his waist.

By the time he was clear-headed enough to regain control of his body and look down fixedly, Pei Yanzhi had already put on clean clothes. If there were a crack in the floor right now, no matter how small, Xie Yunqing would have dived into it without hesitation.

After a few moments of frantic thought, he heard Pei Yanzhi’s footsteps approaching him. Fearing the man was coming to scold him, he instinctively took a step back for every step the man took. Finally, with a thump, he hit the door.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but in that moment, Xie Yunqing thought he heard a gasp and the sound of hurrying footsteps from the two attendants outside. Sensing something was wrong, Xie Yunqing lifted his head to find Pei Yanzhi standing right in front of him.

The distance between them was very, very close. So close that the man’s breath once again brushed his forehead. It was also so close that from any angle, it looked as if Pei Yanzhi were embracing him again—Xie Yunqing suddenly realized why the attendants had gasped and fled.

Memories of the pavilion came rushing back. Whether out of fear or some other emotion, Xie Yunqing felt his whole body go numb, and his breathing became rapid.

“What are you thinking?” Pei Yanzhi’s expression was still calm.

He wanted to explain that he hadn’t meant to follow him in, nor had he meant to stare. Or perhaps that earlier that evening, he hadn’t meant to mistake the man for his father, let alone plead for a hug.

But the voice died in his throat once more for Pei Yanzhi lifted a hand and reached toward his face. With a single touch, he withdrew his hand, the movement natural and devoid of any flirtatious intent. Then, he showed Xie Yunqing his blackened fingertip. He said nothing.

Xie Yunqing immediately remembered: while packing his drawings at dusk, he had accidentally smeared charcoal onto his face. He should have thanked Pei Yanzhi for wiping the smudge away. Yet, for some reason, the patch of skin where the man had touched him suddenly turned so hot that it made his whole body go weak.

Consequently, he was even less able to speak a single word.