After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 20

He could barely stay standing.

Xie Yunqing was forced to lean more heavily against the door. The wood panels trembled unnaturally, followed by another soft gasp from outside. Were those two attendants still there? Or had the sounds he’d heard been a total hallucination?

His thoughts were in a state of absolute chaos. His gaze, having nowhere to go, settled on Pei Yanzhi’s chest. It was broad—so broad that it blocked almost all the light from Xie Yunqing’s view. In the dimness, his cheeks grew even hotter, and his consciousness felt increasingly hazy.

Suddenly, in this moment, he felt a desperate urge to know what kind of expression was on Pei Yanzhi’s face. With eyelashes fluttering, Xie Yunqing lifted his gaze—and met Pei Yanzhi’s slightly downward-looking eyes.

Xie Yunqing froze. He suddenly remembered when he was small, going up the mountains to gather firewood. When he was truly exhausted, he would lie under a tree to rest. The mountain scenery was beautiful, the sky blue and the breeze pleasant; sometimes he would fall asleep and wake up in a rush to head back down, one of the few moments of leisure in his life.

Once, however, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw the sky grow dark as heavy black clouds pressed down from the horizon. Initially, Xie Yunqing felt an instinctive fear, yet he thought the clouds were far away—if he ran fast enough, he wouldn’t be caught. But in the next instant, the clouds were directly overhead, closing in until they enveloped him completely. When the light was entirely blotted out…

No, it wasn’t clouds. It was Pei Yanzhi’s eyes.

Pei Yanzhi was leaning down, moving closer to him. The distance between them grew shorter and shorter, until their breaths began to intermingle Xie Yunqing inexplicably closed his eyes.

A creak sounded.

It was Pei Yanzhi leaning down, reaching behind him to push the door open. In the moment the door swung wide, the man used his palm to lightly support Xie Yunqing’s waist, helping him stand steady.

“Be careful.”

Pei Yanzhi’s voice brushed past his earlobe. Deep and magnetic, it sent a wave of prickling heat through him. Xie Yunqing snapped his eyes open. Those eyes, black as storm clouds, were once again far, far away.

Only… Xie Yunqing instinctively took two steps back, moving out of the reach of that palm. Once he was steady, he found himself wondering wildly: How can Pei Yanzhi look so cold, yet be so hot wherever he touches?

Pei Yanzhi withdrew his hand and stepped out of the wing. The light outside was much brighter. Xie Yunqing snapped out of it and hurriedly followed. Outside the room, the two attendants suddenly reappeared. Pei Yanzhi seemed to sweep a glance over Xie Yunqing before ordering the pair to escort him back to the Academy camp.

Xie Yunqing looked at Pei Yanzhi blankly—he felt as though he shouldn’t just leave like this. Pei Yanzhi seemed to possess the ability to read hearts; he asked, “Is there something you wish to say?”

But the words to explain his offense or plead for forgiveness still wouldn’t come. Xie Yunqing stammered for a long time. Finally, for some reason, he plucked up the courage to ask if Pei Yanzhi could return to the Pei residence during the next break to accompany Old Madame Pei for a meal.

The moment the words left his mouth, he was filled with regret. How did he dare say such a thing? What right did he have to interfere in the Chancellor’s family affairs? Yet, at the same time, the image of the Old Madame’s lonely expression surfaced in his mind, along with Pei Xuan’s worry that she had spent a decade fearing Pei Yanzhi had never let go of their parents’ death.

He suddenly thought back to his earlier question: Does Pei Yanzhi also have a wound in his heart that will never heal?

Xie Yunqing stood by the door, head slightly bowed. Looking as if he had done something wrong, he nervously rubbed his own wrist. The moon tonight was full, outshining all the lanterns in the courtyard. The moonlight fell on him, coating his cold, delicate face in a thin layer of glaze, beautiful beyond description. His eyes, thanks to the faint lingering effects of the wine, were bright and glassy throughout the night.

Pei Yanzhi held his hands behind his back, his fingertips twitching slightly. He was silent for a long time. Then, he gave a nod. “I will.”

Pei Yanzhi stood in place, watching as Xie Yunqing, having received his answer, followed the attendants out of the gallery and into the courtyard with a flustered gait. The night wind blew, and the shadows of the trees swayed. Xie Yunqing suddenly stopped and turned back, bathed in the dappled light and shadow.

The moon tonight was beautiful. Yet Pei Yanzhi did not lift his head; he only kept his eyes slightly lowered watching the “moon” right before him.

Even after the attendants had delivered him back to the camp, Xie Yunqing’s cheeks and waist still felt hot. But he had no time to dwell on it. The moment he entered the tent, Pei Xuan rushed over and threw an arm around his shoulder, wailing, “Yunqing, Yunqing, you’re finally back!”

“I woke up and it was already dark, and Cui Ji said you weren’t back yet. I was so scared thinking you were lost in the mountains that I was about to rush out to find you, but then Cui Ji said my brother had sent word that you went with him to see Jingxue.”

Pei Xuan’s loud clamoring perfectly embodied the word “boisterous.” Cui Ji, standing nearby, had already covered his ears in anticipation. Xie Yunqing, less prepared, had his ears ringing for a while before he processed what was being said.

“You also know… Jingxue?” Xie Yunqing couldn’t help asking.

“Eh?” Pei Xuan hadn’t expected that to be the first question. “Yeah, Jingxue is my brother’s warhorse. It’s been with him since he first went to Yuzhou.”

A warhorse… Xie Yunqing recalled Jingxue’s appearance before the end. His eyes felt stinging. “Was its injury sustained on the battlefield?”

Pei Xuan nodded, his tone dropping. “Yes. It happened while it was protecting my brother.”

“Protecting… the Chancellor?” Xie Yunqing’s heart tightened.

“I don’t know the full details because my brother never talks about his affairs. I heard it from his lieutenant,” Pei Xuan sighed. “Apparently it was during a battle with the Northern Hu. The battle was going well, and the enemy was being repelled. But unexpectedly, the Hu had already realized they couldn’t win against my brother, so they secretly entered a village, took several women and children hostage, and fled into the mountains right in front of him.”

“At the time, everyone was advising my brother not to pursue, especially since the enemy was baiting him into an ambush. But my brother said the purpose of war is to protect the people; how could he watch them fall into enemy hands and do nothing? So he took a team of elites and pursued them into the mountains.”

“As expected, there was an ambush. It was a bloodbath. Although my brother fought like a god, it was difficult to rescue the hostages quickly. At the final moment, the enemy general tried to take my brother down with him. Jingxue seemed to sense the villain’s intent; at the edge of a cliff, it suddenly threw my brother off its back and charged at the general, knocking him over the edge. It… fell over the cliff as well. By some miracle it was caught by a tree, but it was severely injured and could never return to the battlefield.”

Xie Yunqing felt a sudden ache in his heart, thinking of the blood spraying from Jingxue’s mouth.

“After that, my brother kept it here. Whenever he’s in the capital, he comes to see it. Today must have been their last meeting. My brother wasn’t originally coming to this hunt, but since he showed up, I guessed Jingxue’s time had come. It’s been nearly ten years… it was about that time.”

Xie Yunqing didn’t have the heart to answer. He looked down at his hands it was the last meeting for the horse and the man, yet Jingxue had paid so much attention to him. He felt touched, but mostly guilty. If he hadn’t gone, perhaps they could have had a proper farewell.

“But Jingxue must have been very happy today,” Pei Xuan said suddenly.

Xie Yunqing looked up, confused.

“Because—” Pei Xuan leaned in with a grin, staring at him. “That horse is too human. Normally it acts like a total flirt; it loves…” He poked Xie Yunqing’s cheek. “…beauties like you!”

Xie Yunqing’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Hey! Don’t think I’m talking nonsense!” Pei Xuan puffed out his cheeks. “I went to see it before, wanting to play. But after one look at me, that horse just swished its tail and walked into its stall and wouldn’t come out! Even when I put my face right up to it, it wouldn’t look at me!” Pei Xuan tugged at Xie Yunqing’s sleeve. “Am I that ugly?!”

Before Xie Yunqing could answer, Cui Ji let out a snort of laughter. “A man should have self-awareness.”

The next morning, after the opening ceremony, Pei Xuan and Cui Ji headed into the mountains to hunt. There were few people left in the camp. Xie Yunqing stayed in a corner, preparing to organize the maps he’d drawn. But the moment he spread the paper out, he froze, remembering the scene with Ruan Ci and Yu Chen.

During the ceremony, he had looked for them but saw nothing. He searched the crowd afterward but also found no trace of them. He couldn’t understand why they had been in the forest yesterday, or… whether Ruan Ci had been there willingly.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice someone approaching.

“Are you… Xie Yunqing?”

A somewhat youthful voice came from above. Xie Yunqing snapped his head up. He saw a young lad of about twelve or thirteen dressed in dark green silk. Xie Yunqing instinctively stood up. The boy’s gaze traveled up Xie Yunqing’s face. He tilted his head back and blinked, looking friendly. “You are Xie Yunqing, right?”

Unsure of the boy’s status, Xie Yunqing didn’t know whether to bow, but he also didn’t dare ask. He simply nodded. “Yes, I am Xie Yunqing.”

“Great, I finally found you!” The boy smiled and tugged at his sleeve. “I am the Chancellor’s… nephew.”

Before Xie Yunqing could process this, the boy added: “Can you… take me to see my uncle?”

Xie Yunqing was bewildered. Why would the Chancellor’s nephew need him to lead the way? The boy pouted. “My uncle usually doesn’t want to see me. But I heard he took you to see Jingxue yesterday, so I knew you must be the person who can make him willing to see me.”

Xie Yunqing was completely lost. He had no idea what this boy was talking about. Just as he was caught in this dilemma, Pei Xuan returned. Seeing Pei Xuan, the boy suddenly bolted out of the camp, leaving Xie Yunqing to look at his friend in confusion.

“Why did he come looking for you?” Pei Xuan frowned. “He…”

“Let’s talk in the tent,” Cui Ji interrupted, having also returned.

Once inside, Pei Xuan burst out as if he couldn’t hold it in: “That child is the Twenty-third Prince. His mother is a daughter of a side branch of our Pei clan. He is indeed related to me and my brother, which is why they’re always trying to get my brother to help them…”

“Ahem,” Cui Ji interrupted again.

Pei Xuan stopped abruptly. “My brother’s men told me he came looking for you, so we rushed back. I think they’re just desperate, actually coming to you for help!”

Though he knew the boy’s identity now, Xie Yunqing still didn’t understand why a Prince would seek him out. But from Cui Ji’s reaction, he sensed it was something he shouldn’t ask about.

Pei Xuan, losing interest in the hunt, suggested they return to the Academy early. They set off in a carriage, the atmosphere quiet. Upon arriving at the Academy gates, Pei Xuan was the first to step out.

“Why is there a little beggar at the gate?” Pei Xuan’s voice was filled with surprise.

Xie Yunqing looked out. It wasn’t a beggar, just a child whose clothes and face were dirty and hair messy. Then, Xie Yunqing froze. The “beggar” looked their way, and in the next second, ran toward Xie Yunqing, wailing: “Brother, Brother”

It was his younger brother, Xie Min.

Guards blocked the boy, but Xie Yunqing rushed over. “He is my brother.”

Xie Min threw himself into Xie Yunqing’s arms, crying. “Brother, I finally found you! They all bullied me and wouldn’t let me in!”

Xie Yunqing knelt and wiped the dirt from the ten-year-old’s face, his voice trembling. “Min, why are you here? How did you end up like this?”

Xie Min’s sobs wouldn’t stop. “Brother Father is in trouble!”