Chapter 301: Chapter 122 New Year_1
The light was dim.
The wooden window was slightly ajar, through which the night breeze could be heard outside.
The young man approached her step by step under the faint light.
Lu Tong’s heartbeat raced.
She had long suspected that her identity would eventually be exposed; there was no doubt about that. But she had not expected it to come this quickly.
Fearing discovery by the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, and exposure in the midst of her revenge, she had always stayed in the shadows of the entire affair. Visiting the Ke Chengxing Mansion to claim her dowry, treating Scholar Wu’s mother, and administering acupuncture to the Examiner Official’s wife, she had never dealt with people from the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion directly.
The only time she saw Qi Yutai, even then, he hadn’t clearly seen her face in the night.
In all events, she detached herself without leaving any trace, like an insignificant passerby in a farce, a trivial ant at the door of a grand play, unworthy of anyone’s attention.
Yet, Pei Yunmeng had noticed her.
Furthermore, he had recognized her earlier, before she had acted against Ke Chengxing, before she had begun her first plan of vengeance, at the Baoxiang Tower when he reached out to help her. It was from that moment that their calamitous bond was sealed.
He had stumbled into the game from the beginning.
Pei Yunmeng stopped in front of her.
Lu Tong was enveloped in his shadow. The young man even smiled, flicking the famous scroll between his fingers, and asked, "Why did you write my name?"
Why write his name?
Lu Tong’s gaze fell upon that roster.
The roster carried many names: Ke Family, Liu Family, Fan Family... these had been crossed out.
There were also many additions: Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, Qi Yutai, Hanlin Medical Institute... these were not crossed out.
The habits and trivial anecdotes of those involved, whether useful or not, were meticulously noted on the entire page. And among the densely written names on the roster, the name Pei Yunmeng was conspicuously present.
"Just curious," she heard her own voice say.
"Curious about what?"
"Curious which side Lord Pei would stand on if faced with the situation today."
Pei Yunmeng was slightly taken aback.
Lu Tong looked up, her gaze calmly fixed on him.
When Pei Yunmeng became suspicious of her at the Wan’en Temple, and then repeatedly tested her before the setup at Mount Wangchun, Lu Tong had thought about simply killing him.
However, as he was the Commander of the Imperial Guards, not to mention the difficulty of getting close, dealing with the government officers afterward would have been a hassle.
Later, after she saved Pei Yunshu and her mother, their relationship eased somewhat, and in the eyes of outsiders—like Du Changqing—it seemed that she and Pei Yunmeng got along well, even enough to be called friends.
But Lu Tong had never truly trusted him.
Privileged nobles; she had a natural aversion and disgust for them, call it prejudice or stubbornness, deep down, Lu Tong never believed that the lofty Lord Zhao Ning Princely Heir could understand her determination to seek revenge.
Therefore, she wrote down his name, this person who was neither friend nor foe. Despite being able to share drinks under the moon, should he stand in her way, he would become her next enemy.
This parchment was meant to be burned today, but the arrival of Du Changqing and his entourage was so abrupt she did not have the chance, and so hastily tucked it between the pages of poetry on the desk, not expecting him to find it.
He was always sharp.
The wick had burned too long, the candlelight flickering, under the dim yellow light that sometimes went dark and sometimes bright, Pei Yunmeng watched her, his face wearing a half-smile, "You don’t plan to kill me too, do you?"
His eyes were beautiful. When he looked down, his deep, dark eyes clearly reflected her image.
Lu Tong smiled faintly, moving past Pei Yunmeng to the window, where she took the scissors and trimmed the lamp’s wick.
The light steadied.
She picked up the lamp and lit the partly burned incense in the Incense Burner, then turned to face him.
"That depends on which side you want to stand on," she said.
He raised his brows slightly, "What if I stand on the other side?"
The room suddenly fell silent.
The warm candlelight spread inch by inch, and the woman stood in the shadow of the lamp, silent, her fragile shoulders like ice and snow about to collapse under the winter’s day, dissipating between heaven and earth.
After a long time, she finally spoke, "It’s as expected."
A cold laugh echoed in Lu Tong’s heart.
She should not have hoped.
She should not hold any expectation for any noble, any so-called superior person.
He was the Commander of the Imperial Guards, the Lord Zhao Ning Princely Heir, and of the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, the kind of person whom Fan Zhenglian eagerly sought to please, whom the Ke Family revered like a deity. He and Qi Qing served as officials together, and that day at the Yuxian Tower, Qi Yutai barged in and chatted with Pei Yunmeng, all with undertones of trying to forge a connection.
Perhaps they had already colluded, and in the future, he might even become Grand Preceptor’s high-flying son-in-law. They would be one family.