Chapter 193: Chapter 91: Trust_1
Lu Tong lowered his head, no longer paying attention to the noise outside, focusing only on the task at hand.
At the doorway, Meng Xiyang looked toward the person standing in front of the couch, her complexion barely concealing her shock.
How could Pei Yunmeng have suddenly appeared here?
The Emperor had bestowed a feast at Minglin Garden today, and Pei Yunmeng went to the palace with Prince Wen. The banquet wouldn’t end until the evening. Even if Pei Yunmeng’s men had secretly sent a message, it would take time for Pei Yunmeng to receive the news and hurry over. What about Prince Wen? Why wasn’t he here?
As though realizing something, Meng Xiyang’s beautiful face twisted slightly in fear.
Pei Yunmeng was here for her sister. Without Prince Wen present, who in the Wangfu could possibly protect her now?
Meng Xiyang couldn’t help but take a step back.
She was afraid of Pei Yunmeng.
Princess Consort Pei Yunshu seemed aloof and high-minded, but in reality, she was weak and easily bullied. The inevitable result of her benign nature was that she was routinely dismissed and deceived by everyone in the mansion. But Pei Yunshu’s full-blooded younger brother was entirely different in temperament.
This man was strikingly handsome and had a witty and amiable disposition. At a young age, he enjoyed the Emperor’s special favor and had a father who was Lord Zhao Ning. Unlike the wayward youths from other noble families, he bore no trace of arrogance. He was always polite even to servant girls, greeting them with a smile. Every time he visited the Wangfu, he left the young maids hearts fluttering, and even Meng Xiyang had to admit that if Pei Yunmeng deliberately tried to seduce her, she might not be able to resist.
But she dared not.
Meng Xiyang still remembered her father, the Minor Palace Supervisor, standing before her with a stern face, instructing her not to compete with Pei Yunshu. He spoke of Pei Yunmeng’s sinister cruelty, how those who opposed him at court always met with unexplained misfortune, and how when this Princely Heir of Lord Zhao Ning killed, the blood that flowed from the bodies was enough to stain an entire rivulet red.
He had said, "You’ve always been competitive. It was fine when the Commandery Prince protected you, but now Pei Yunmeng has returned to the capital. He’s a madman, do not offend him, otherwise, he’d dare to touch anyone!"
Meng Xiyang sneered at this. Her father had always been timid and cowardly. No matter how arrogant Pei Yunmeng was, he would still have to respect propriety.
Yet, in her heart, she felt that her father hadn’t exaggerated.
Because not just her, even Prince Wen always had an underlying wariness in his eyes when facing Pei Yunmeng.
A man whom even Prince Wen feared—now that he had come with a host of Imperial Guards to seek retribution, how could she emerge unscathed?
Intermittent moans from Pei Yunshu came from the room. Meng Xiyang snapped back to reality, her gaze sweeping over the body of the guard lying in a pool of blood inside the room. Her eyelids twitched involuntarily, and her heart filled with increasing terror.
Lu Han was Prince Wen’s most trusted guard. He killed him without a moment’s hesitation...
A thought suddenly struck her: Pei Yunmeng would never let her go!
Meng Xiyang looked up fearfully.
The Imperial Guards had the doorway completely surrounded. In front of the pale cloud-patterned curtains, the young man stood there. His dark red embroidered attire was shockingly bright against the blood on the ground, and the cold gleam of his long sword at his waist cast a chilling, murderous look across his handsome face.
Gone was his usual brightness and affability. His expression was blank as he stared at Meng Xiyang, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dead person.
Meng Xiyang felt a shiver run down her spine from his gaze. She took a step back, nearly tripping over her skirt hem, and almost begged for mercy as she argued, "Marshal Pei, these people colluded to assassinate the Princess Consort..."
Pei Yunmeng let out a short, abrupt laugh.
When he laughed, his features grew even more strikingly handsome, his dark eyes brimming with mockery.
Meng Xiyang felt flustered by his laughter and heard him scoff, "They are my people. Are you suggesting that I, the Princely Heir, would attempt to assassinate the Princess Consort in broad daylight?"
She paused for a moment, then suddenly, it dawned on her.
No wonder these people were so loyal to Pei Yunshu, no wonder she couldn’t sway these two maids no matter what she did—because they were Pei Yunmeng’s people placed by his side!
But the Prince’s Mansion strictly scrutinized all new servants through the Prince’s men to prevent the infiltration of those with ulterior motives.
How dare he, and how could he so openly plant his people in the Prince’s Mansion?
Wasn’t he afraid of arousing the Emperor’s suspicions?
Meng Xiyang was filled with incomprehensible horror, but Pei Yunmeng seemed to have grown tired of talking to her and coldly ordered with a wave of his hand, "Drag them away."
The Wangfu guards were no match for those robust Imperial Guards. In an instant, they had arrested all the guards and servants inside and out.
As the Imperial Guards dragged Meng Xiyang away, she struggled desperately, "Let me go!"
Ever since she entered the gates of the Prince’s Mansion, she had always been showered with affection by Prince Wen. Though merely a Consort, she had a status much greater than that of Pei Yunshu, the Princess Consort. Now, to be dragged away like a common prisoner by Pei Yunmeng’s men before all the mansion’s household—it was an enormous disgrace. How could she command respect in the future, and what would the Wangfu’s servants think of her now!