Chapter 499: Chapter 179 Threat_2
"It’s beyond the ’thirty lash punishment’ under ’Xing Tong.’
As the words were spoken, you could hear a pin drop around the room.
The guards at the door, hearing the commotion inside, looked at Lu Tong with incredulous eyes, seemingly unable to believe that at this critical moment, Lu Tong still dared to respond so defiantly.
Pei Yunmeng also narrowed her eyes slightly.
Yan Xu stared at her intently, his eyes revealing his inner turmoil.
"If I had just cited that, that would be called a ’threat.’
Lu Tong’s tone was even.
"However," she shifted tone, "the Privy Council’s official residence is very close to the Imperial City, and surely the emperor is aware of its secret rooms. As for the injuries on the victim, given the time that has passed, it seems they were present before his arrival here."
She looked at the person before her across the desk, a faint smile on her face.
"All the accusations naturally have nothing to do with you now."
...
After leaving Yan Xu’s official residence, Pei Yunmeng was rather silent on the way.
It was unclear whether he was intimidated by Lu Tong’s mention of ’Xing Tong’, or whether Yan Xu was in a rush to interrogate the sick patient in the dark room, who could only remain conscious for less than an hour—but surprisingly, the Vice Envoy did not make things difficult for the two of them. He exchanged a few sharp words with Pei Yunmeng and then let them leave.
The path was unobstructed, and the Youyi Gate became more and more distant behind them until they reached the veranda, where Pei Yunmeng then stopped.
Lu Tong looked at him.
He sized up Lu Tong: "How are you?"
"I’m fine." Lu Tong replied: "I just went to treat someone in the secret room. He asked me to sit down for tea. Before I could drink, you had smashed the cup."
Thinking back to how he had slammed the cup on the table in front of Yan Xu, Lu Tong inwardly sighed.
That was really impulsive.
Pei Yunmeng watched her but said nothing.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Tong said, "Actually, there was no poison in that cup of tea."
Perhaps Pei Yunmeng was nervous, thinking that something had been added to the tea.
He interrupted her: "And if there had been?"
Lu Tong was silent for a while, not expecting him to be persistent on this issue. Then she continued: "Even if it were poisoned, it wouldn’t matter. Haven’t I told you before, I am immune to all poisons."
He was silent for a moment.
"If you find yourself approached by suspicious people in the future, have someone go to the Palace Front Office to find me first. If I’m not there, it’s the same to look for Deputy Envoy Xiao."
Lu Tong was taken aback, suddenly feeling an unusual emotion.
Pei Yunmeng’s words were subtle, his backing her up repeatedly and with apparent seriousness. He couldn’t have been swayed by idle gossip to take it too seriously, nor could it be that he had changed his attitude just because he recalled the lifesaving encounter in the temple ruins of Su Nan.
Was a debt of gratitude indeed so valuable to him?
Moreover, if you look closely, it probably shouldn’t count as saving a life at all.
Seeing that she remained silent, Pei Yunmeng asked, "Did you hear me?"
Lu Tong pursed her lips and changed the subject: "Are you very wary of that Minister Yan?"
Although Pei Yunmeng had been acting recklessly in Yan Xu’s study, as if he might have lashed out and chopped up Yan Xu’s desk the next moment, he had not been so earnestly meticulous after the event. It seemed that he hadn’t taken it this seriously even when facing Prince Wen or dealing with the Qi family.
Anyone capable of being Pei Yunmeng’s adversary was no ordinary person.
"Yes, I’m very wary of him," he answered irritably and then, recalling something, glanced at Lu Tong: "But you certainly have a lot of nerve."
"What are you referring to?"
"Using ’Xing Tong’ to threaten Yan Xu, it seems only you would dare to do such a thing in Shengjing."
A smile played on his face: "Do you know what kind of person he is? Aren’t you afraid he’ll be mortified and seek vengeance?"
Lu Tong replied calmly: "The Marshal knows that I am very familiar with the ’Liang Dynasty Laws’. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to use them at this time?"
"Moreover," Lu Tong looked him straight in the eye, "I am in this trouble because of the Marshal. It was also for your sake that I made a threat. How can the Marshal stand here and make light of it now?"
"Speak for me?"
Pei Yunmeng’s eyes lit up, and he laughed as he looked at her, "So it seems, I’m accumulating more and more debt of gratitude, I’m beginning to feel quite ashamed."
"I see Marshal Pei is quite at ease, though."
He pondered, "At this rate, I won’t end up having to offer myself in return, will I?"
"Is Marshal repaying a kindness or seeking revenge?"
Pei Yunmeng snorted and was about to say something else when his gaze drifted past Lu Tong.
Lu Tong turned around and, at the far end of the corridor, Qingfeng approached.
"I’ve asked Qingfeng to take you back first," Pei Yunmeng’s eyes returned to Lu Tong as he said, "to avoid prying eyes and prevent us from being spotted by others."
Lu Tong frowned slightly, his words made them sound like a pair of secret lovers meeting illicitly.
She asked, "What about you?"
"I still have some matters to deal with," he signaled to Qingfeng and added, "I’ll come find you later."
...
After saying goodbye to Pei Yunmeng, Lu Tong returned to the Medical Officer Institute.
It was already afternoon when she got back, and Cui Min had gone to the Palace for his duties. Lin Danqing was startled by the blood on the hem of Lu Tong’s skirt and worried that something had happened to her. Lu Tong explained that it was from treating an injured subordinate of the Privy Council Envoy; Lin Danqing repeatedly confirmed that she was alright before she could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Why would Envoy Cui assign you such a task?" She sat on the bed, shaking her head as she watched Lu Tong change out of the medical officer’s robe stained with blood, "The whole Palace is rife with rumors about Pei Yunmeng’s relationship with you. Minister Yan has always been at odds with Pei Yunmeng. It’s more likely than not that he has ill-intentions by seeking you out. The next time he comes, just feign illness and don’t go, to avoid further trouble."
Upon hearing this, Lu Tong’s heart stirred, and she placed her dirty clothes in the basin, "Is there really such a big feud between Minister Yan and Marshal Pei? Even if it was because of... that, it was decades ago, why bear such a grudge?"
The affair between Minister Yan and the late Lady Zhao Ning was something many noble families in Shengjing had heard a little about. But after all, it was a matter of the previous generation. Moreover, Lady Zhao Ning had passed away many years ago, and it was unlikely that Minister Yan would hold a grudge for so long.
Lin Danqing pursed her lips, "Don’t underestimate a man’s jealousy and pettiness. Minister Yan is already over forty and still hasn’t taken a wife. People say he’s keeping his chastity for the late Lady Zhao Ning."
"Unrequited love over many years, and the one he loves is dead - that easily leads to a distorted mentality, it’s quite common. This kind of thing is all too common in storybooks," she said.
Lu Tong found it hard to comprehend.
She asked, "Besides that, do they have any other grievances?"
Lin Danqing thought for a moment and analyzed seriously to Lu Tong, "We’ve just started from the emotional aspect, with Yan Xu disliking Pei Yunmeng. Let’s analyze from other angles as well, the result is the same."
Seeing Lu Tong still bewildered, Lin Danqing sat cross-legged on the bed and explained in detail, "The Privy Council and the Palace Front Office, one controls the right to deploy troops, the other commands the troops. The Privy Council has authority but no soldiers, and the Palace Front Office has soldiers but no authority. They check and balance each other – when two tigers share one mountain, they naturally become envious. It’s common for them to trip each other up."
"So," Lin Danqing concluded decisively, "Pei Yunmeng and Yan Xu, whether in public or private, by emotion or by reason, are naturally destined, unique adversaries."
Lu Tong: "Adversaries?"
Lin Danqing confirmed: "Adversaries."
...
The secret chamber was tranquil.
Bodies covered with white cloth had all been carried out, and the blood trails dragged on the ground had been wiped clean, spotless. The flickering torchlight cast dim shadows on the walls, leaving no trace of the bloody scene from before.
Only a faint sweet scent of blood lingered in the air, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
A man in a black robe with silver bat embroidery glistened finely as he stood with his back to the door. On the wall he faced, old bloodstains slowly seeped out of the stone seams, so deep-set that they had congealed into dark brown lines which from a distance resembled intricate palm lines of a human hand.
He stared at it intently, the long scar near his eye corner sinister in the shadows.
Footsteps echoed up the stone stairs, as someone approached from behind.
The person walked up behind the man in black and stood silently without speaking. The man turned around and threw a punch.
The force of the punch made the motionless flames flicker.
On the wall, the copper brackets holding the torches depicted an eagle piercing through the clouds with bloodied talons and beak, lifelike and vivid in the firelight.
Yan Xu looked down upon the person before him from his elevated position.
The young man raised his hand, wiping off the blood at his mouth, and instead of anger, a smile broke out on his face.
"Teacher," he said.