The person in the dream affectionately called "her" cousin, with a light, trailing tone, as if a young man was teasing her with some malicious little joke.
In the original text, only Pei Guanzhu, despite loathing this form of address, would self-destructively call the original body "cousin" every time.
It seemed that the person standing by the well in the dream was not her, but the original body.
Did she dream of the original body's fate because she had sealed that well?
Xia Jian's System had only come online a few times when she first transmigrated into the book to assign her tasks. After that, no matter how much she tried to contact it, it never responded.
Drawing from her memory of the original book, she recalled that the scene of red light flooding the sky in her dream felt familiar. The conclusion of the Pei Fu case in the first volume of the text was depicted exactly like that scene.
The sky bathed in red light, sparks flying up into the dark night sky, and the panicked servants of Pei Fu, scrambling for their lives, crowded like dumplings in front of the tightly shut main gate, desperately throwing their bodies against it.
But she clearly remembered that before this scene, the protagonist team had already uncovered the truth, and the fire was set by the guilty old woman.
So what about the original body's words?
Xia Jian couldn't wait until Madam Chen went mad and revealed the truth as the original body had said. Presumably, if she had waited until then, even if the well had been sealed, Pei Guanzhu would have found another way to take her life.
"It was just a dream," Liu Ruoteng's voice pulled her thoughts back.
Only then did Xia Jian notice that she wasn't wearing her mask today.
This was proof that the two protagonists had accepted the Bounty Order. Only after confirming their acceptance would they remove their masks in accordance with their sect's rules.
"Yes, but I'm feeling much better now. What brings Sister Liu to see me today?"
She knew full well that the female lead hadn't come to exchange pleasantries. Sure enough, as soon as she said this, Liu Ruoteng habitually furrowed her brows.
"It's like this," Liu Ruoteng hesitated for a moment before saying, "My senior brother and I confirmed our acceptance of this Bounty Order yesterday. Just as Miss Xia said, Madam Chen indeed didn't tell us anything, only asking us to take turns guarding outside her room at night."
"But this also means we haven't gained the employer's trust. Although my senior brother and I don't believe in ghosts or spirits," Liu Ruoteng looked at her, "without knowing the real truth, we can't fully protect the employer from enemies lurking in the shadows."
Xia Jian nodded. She understood what the female lead meant. The protagonist team was always thorough in their service; if this were modern times, they'd have a 100% satisfaction rate. In the original book, when Madam Chen hanged herself in her room after the mission failed, it haunted the two protagonists for over a month. When Pei Guanzhu said he wanted to go to Nanshan Temple, the two protagonists, seeing a chance to make amends, immediately offered to escort the murderer to Dongzhou without charging a single coin.
"So, if Miss Xia has any new findings, please let us know as soon as possible. We will also pay a corresponding reward to thank you."
"Oh, there's no need for a reward. You can rest assured," Xia Jian was genuinely moved.
This fox fur cloak had taken seven days to sew, and it was finally finished.
She had worked tirelessly, speeding up the process to complete it alone. The cloak was made from high-quality snow-white fabric. When she had chosen the cloth, there was also black available. Xia Jian knew that Pei Guanzhu seemed to dislike white, but she still chose this white fabric.
For no particular reason.
Because later on, when Pei Guanzhu turned dark and became a murderous demon, he often wore black clothes, truly black from the inside out, all the way to the core.
Nowadays, Pei Guanzhu hasn’t yet evolved into a murderous demon, and he puts on a gentle and polite demeanor in every gesture. Xia Jian thought this was just fine. After all, sometimes, looking at his face, she would forget that this person was actually a psychopath. If he wore all black, Xia Jian felt she would probably remember.
Picking out a wooden box from the side room, Xia Jian folded the fox fur robe neatly and placed it inside, then called Shaoyao into the room.
"The fox fur robe is mended. Go deliver it to Young Master Pei."
Shaoyao’s expression was hesitant, but she still took the wooden box.
Just a few steps out the door, Shaoyao turned back and walked in again.
"Miss Cousin," she said with a troubled expression, "it’s not that I’m deliberately slacking off. You can ask me to do anything, but delivering things… could you please go yourself?"
"Why?"
"Because the eldest young master doesn’t pay much attention to us," Shaoyao explained. "He also never allows young maidservants to enter his courtyard. If we go in, we’ll be chased out."
Xia Jian raised an eyebrow.
How strange. A murderous demon disliking young and pretty maidservants—this was the first time she’d heard of such a thing.
"No matter, then I’ll go deliver it myself."
After several days of lingering rain, the weather gradually became less cold.
This fox fur robe was too thick, and it couldn’t really be worn now, but Xia Jian inexplicably wanted to finish it quickly.
A beautiful piece of clothing makes one eager to enter the season for wearing it. Xia Jian was like that. Once, in spring, her grandmother had sewn her a winter coat, and she spent the entire year looking forward to winter because of it.
Although this was clearly impossible for a murderous demon, at the very least, Xia Jian hoped to make a slight impression on him, proving she was harmless.
She couldn’t follow the original path of obediently waiting in her room to get married. From that dream, it was clear that Pei Guanzhu didn’t want to marry her and probably resented her identity for a long time. Every word Xia Jian said yesterday came from the heart—she didn’t want to marry him, only wanted to be Pei Guanzhu’s guard, watching over him and protecting him from death.
She believed she was clever, diligent, and skilled in many things. She wanted to ensure that when Pei Guanzhu eventually tried to kill her, he wouldn’t just grab an axe and come at her. At the very least, he would feel it was a pity to kill her.
To achieve this goal, it wasn’t about becoming exceptionally outstanding or powerful. After all, Pei Guanzhu killed people as a hobby, and no matter how wealthy or talented you were, it wouldn’t matter to him.
So Xia Jian’s goodness had to be something he would remember in his heart.
This wasn’t her first time visiting Pei Guanzhu’s courtyard. She could remember the route after going anywhere once. Rows of rooms connected along the winding corridor, and Xia Jian headed straight forward.
A bitter, strange smell mixed into the air. Xia Jian frowned and sniffed. The further she walked, the stronger the smell became.
"Is that… medicine?"
The bitter scent was as if it had been brought right to her lips. Xia Jian stopped in front of a small door and peeked inside. There, the simple servant who had led her and the blacksmith the other day was sitting in front of a medicine pot, fanning the flames.
"Hey," Xia Jian didn’t know his name, "you’re brewing medicine?"
Laixi looked like a big-headed doll. He lifted his head, his small knife-carved eyes staring at her for a moment before nodding.
"Thank you for showing me the way last time," Xia Jian said, squatting down beside Laixi with the wooden box in her arms. "What's your name?"
"Laixi." Laixi curled up like a shy child.
Xia Jian tilted her head and asked softly, "Laixi, have you always worked for Young Master Pei?"
"Mm," Laixi nodded. "Since coming to the estate, I've been with the eldest young master."
"What do you do every day?"
"Every day," Laixi counted on his fingers, "I boil medicine and fetch meals."
"That's it?"
"Mm," Laixi thought seriously. "Nothing else."
Xia Jian had always assumed that Pei Guanzhu only kept one simple-minded servant because, despite his simplicity, Laixi had some special skill. But that wasn't the case.
Pei Guanzhu had never mistreated the simple-minded servant under his care. Instead, he let him idle around with nothing to do. Why?
Xia Jian, who had originally hoped to learn something from Laixi, was now confused.
"How long have you been here?"
"Mm… four, four years."
"You've been boiling medicine for four years?"
Laixi shook his head vigorously. "No."
"Last year, I started boiling medicine. Before that, I only fetched meals."
Xia Jian was utterly bewildered.
"I know!" Xia Jian's eyes lit up. "Are you perhaps a relative of Young Master Pei?"
Laixi gave her a strange look. "No relatives. I was brought in by my master."
Right, even the original host was a distant relative of the Pei family—Pei Guanzhu's cousin—and that hadn't stopped him from killing her without mercy!
Xia Jian forced a bitter smile and continued, "So it was your master."
"Mm," Laixi nodded. "But my master is gone now."
"Huh?" Xia Jian blinked. "Gone?"
"Mm, gone. A few years ago, many people were driven away, and my master was among them."
Only after he said this did Xia Jian belatedly realize some information she had overlooked earlier.
"You mean, a few years ago, the estate drove away many people, and your master was one of them?"
"Mm." Laixi nodded.
Strange.
Xia Jian couldn't quite figure it out.
Public Account: Secret Peach Base
The Pei estate had always been exceptionally generous to its servants. She had never heard of the Pei family driving away many servants, nor was it ever mentioned in the original novel.
She opened her mouth to ask more, but suddenly felt something was off. The gaze fixed on her from behind felt almost tangible. Xia Jian's pupils contracted, and she whipped her head around.
There stood Pei Guanzhu by the door, his pale face wearing its usual expression as he tilted his head and smiled at her.
Xia Jian met his pitch-black, bottomless eyes, feeling as though he might affectionately call her "cousin" at any moment. A wave of discomfort washed over her, and she instinctively leaned back.
"I heard a woman's voice from afar," he said, his wooden clogs tapping against the bluestone floor. Pei Guanzhu was dressed today, as always, in a snow-white inner robe, draped with an intricately patterned dark blue outer gown. As he stepped over the threshold, the hem of his robe trailed behind, dragging down one sleeve, which he loosely held in place, giving him an air of youthful elegance.
He crouched down, meeting Xia Jian at eye level, and suddenly raised his icy hand to grab her cheek.
Xia Jian: !!
"Young… Young Master Pei…"
With her face in his grip, Xia Jian's voice trembled.
"Always asking this and that, annoyingly persistent,"
He bent down, his face drawing close, so near that Xia Jian could clearly see each distinct eyelash, the pure black of his pupils. "So, it's still you, Miss Xia."