Chapter 649: Chapter 222 Palace_2
Yan Xu was harsh, frequently forcing the two of them to practice martial arts by sparring with each other, which often ended with them bruised and swollen, unable to cease fighting.
When they were younger, they could hardly bear the hardship. Yan Xu would only let them out of their cell once the lamp oil had fully burned out. Back then, they would curse the abundance of oil, making the long night unbearable. Years later, upon reflection, they would sigh at how little oil there had been, regretting the wasted years.
After each sparring session, Yan Xu would make them both drink a pot of Hanxiang Liquor. The liquor was harsh and foul-smelling but had a remarkable effect on healing wounds; both of them would grimace as they finished it.
It has been a while since they last drank it.
After a while, Xiao Zhufeng mocked, "Do you still remember the first time we fought? You were beaten to the ground, utterly embarrassed."
Pei Yunmeng sneered, "You remembered wrong. During the selection for Marshal, you almost got killed by me."
The two fell into another silence.
Xiao Zhufeng was an orphan.
He grew up in the Ciyou Bureau, and at the age of five, was taken away by Yan Xu to become his apprentice.
Before Pei Yunmeng arrived, Yan Xu valued him the most. After Pei Yunmeng’s arrival, the situation changed.
In their youth, the desire to win was always intense. Xiao Zhufeng despised Pei Yunmeng, yet Yan Xu had to choose one of them to be a planted agent within the Palace Front Office.
There were many competitions between them, animosity and rivalry brewing both openly and in secret. Until one day, during a mission they both were assigned, they inadvertently attracted attention. Xiao Zhufeng was ambushed, and even though Pei Yunmeng had escaped, he turned back at the last moment and helped him to flee together.
They both were seriously injured that time, and afterwards, Yan Xu severely rebuked Pei Yunmeng but specifically picked him to enter the Palace Marshal’s Mansion.
Later, Pei Yunmeng became the Commander, and he became the Deputy Commander.
The wall torches cast a dim light inside the room.
Xiao Zhufeng asked, "Has Lord Zhao Ning been looking for you?"
"He has."
"Asking you to save the Pei Family?"
"Obviously."
Xiao Zhufeng didn’t beat around the bush, "Shameless."
Pei Yunmeng sighed.
"You’re an orphan with no father, and I have a father who’s worse than an orphan. It’s hard to say who’s more unlucky."
Before the words fell, voices came from the cell: "Still in the mood for idle chat, I think those caught in the crossfire because of you two are the most unlucky."
Both turned their heads as Yan Xu descended the stone steps.
Clad in black, his robe gleamed with the embroidery of a hawk, his bracers, long saber, and light armor all gleaming for battle, the scar by his eye frightful under the lamplight.
"Are you both ready?"
They responded.
"Your sister and Treasure Bead, I’ve already arranged for someone to hide them well, so you have no worries for your rear." Yan Xu’s gaze swept past Pei Yunmeng, paused, and said, "Since you’ve been abandoned, you have nothing to hold on to. Cheer up. Be more decisive like your beloved."
Pei Yunmeng had no response.
Lu Tong had already left, indeed quite decisively.
Before she went to Su Nan, while she was confined in the Palace Marshal’s Mansion under watch, he received a letter at night delivered by Yin Zheng. It was penned by Lu Tong herself.
The letter instructed Pei Yunmeng to protect everyone at the Renxin Medical Hall after her death. It appealed to their past friendship, emotional and persuasive, every word filled with earnest concern.
Probably even the long-lived Qi Qing on his deathbed couldn’t have left a more thorough and decisive will.
It was also because of that letter that he finally resolved not to stop Lu Tong from going to Su Nan.
From the letter, he glimpsed Lu Tong’s determination to die. A person hellbent on death staying in Shengjing with Qi Qing was a recipe for disaster.
Yan Xu glanced at him, noticing the daze in his eyes, his own eyes narrowing slightly, as if in disdain, "You really do like her."
Pei Yunmeng’s lips twitched slightly.
He had encountered many women.
Those gentle and graceful like his mother, those kind-hearted and open like his sister. He had received many sincere hearts and a lot of admiration, yet never expected to fall for such a person in the end.
A woman who could frame him in broad daylight, who maintained a calm and composed facade while holding poison in her palm, ready to die with her enemy at any moment.
A woman who didn’t like him very much.
An inescapable crush, undeniable feelings...
Just like the precarious piece of wood at the very top of his study’s wooden pagoda—a light touch—
And boom, a loud crash, defenses utterly shattered.
"What to do?" He smiled languidly, "All three of us disciples have been unlucky in love and abandoned. Perhaps it’s the feng shui of this place that never lets things go our way."
Xiao Zhufeng: "..."
Yan Xu didn’t want to deal with him, "Take your saber and get out of here quickly."
They stood up, took their sabers, and walked out. Just as they reached the door, Yan Xu called to them again.
"You two," he said after a long silence, "be careful."
"Nag."
They left the secret room, Pei Yunmeng in the lead. Xiao Zhufeng said, "I want to ask you something."