As soon as Xiao Mingyue’s “corpse” was thrown out of the manor, Feng Buji began to feel uneasy.
“My Lord, what is wrong?” Hua Heng asked with concern.
“I do not know. This Prince simply feels a tightness in his chest.” Feng Buji furrowed his brows. What was that sudden sharp pain in his heart just now?
“Should I send for the imperial physician?”
“No need.” Feng Buji raised his hand, signaling her not to call anyone. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he asked, “How is Xiao Mingyue? This Prince only intended a light punishment so she would refrain from being so extreme. Do not tell me they actually gave her a hundred lashes.”
Upon hearing this, Hua Heng froze slightly, her fingers unconsciously clenching into a tight grip.
“Is Your Lordship worried about Sister Mingyue? She is your fiancée, after all. The servants would not be so lacking in discretion.”
Feng Buji turned to look at Hua Heng. Catching sight of the wound on her face, an inexplicable pang of heartache surged within him.
He gently touched her face, wanting to check the shallow wound, but she rubbed against his palm like a clingy kitten.
Feng Buji’s heart melted completely. “How is it that you have grown so sensible after returning?”
Feng Buji felt that something was off, yet he could not put his finger on it. In certain ways, Hua Heng resembled Xiao Mingyue, but as to which specific traits they shared, his mind was somewhat muddled.
“Hua Heng has always been like this, My Lord. Hua Heng becomes whatever Your Lordship prefers.”
She would become whatever he preferred? But he did not like someone who catered to his tastes in such a manner. He liked… He liked…
“Sigh, forget it.”
The Mass Grave—
Unclaimed, nameless corpses were all piled up here. Once a certain number accumulated, they would be burned all at once.
Seeing as the second day had already passed, Xiao Mingyue was still looking forward to her resurrection tomorrow, only for an unexpected visitor to arrive.
The newcomer wore a crimson-purple official robe. Looking no more than twenty-four or twenty-five years old, he possessed handsome features and an extraordinary aura.
Although Xiao Mingyue was still trapped within her “corpse,” with the system’s assistance, she could still observe him in her spirit form.
She felt this person looked somewhat familiar. It was only when he drew closer that Xiao Mingyue suddenly realized: wasn’t this Pei Yanli, that poor scholar?
Ah, she remembered now. The day before Feng Buji returned, he had already been granted a noble title and an official position. Now he was the high-and-mighty Prime Minister Pei—the only powerful court official capable of standing toe-to-toe with Feng Buji.
Xiao Mingyue used to love wielding swords and spears, but Feng Buji told her that made her seem like a tomboy whom no one would ever love, so she gradually drew back her claws and teeth. After he left for the military expedition, she stayed deep inside her boudoir for three years waiting for him, becoming completely out of touch with the outside world.
Speaking of Pei Yanli, it was precisely because of Feng Buji’s influence—and her own arrogant nature—that she had joined Feng Buji in bullying him in earlier years.
Pei Yanli came from humble beginnings. Relying on his vast knowledge, he had climbed all the way to his current position as a minister of supreme power, a truly dramatic rise. She wondered if he still remembered that she had once thrown stones at him.
Xiao Mingyue was still pondering how to enter the palace after her resurrection, considering she still had to win over Xie Changsu. However, her father and all the other servants of the Xiao household were currently in prison, making her an escaped fugitive of the imperial court.
In the next second, however, Pei Yanli walked right up to her.
Looking at the handsome face enlarged in front of her, Xiao Mingyue could not help but hold her breath.
Time seemed to stand still. Pei Yanli leaned so close that she could even see every single pore on his fine, fair skin.
In the man’s dark eyes were emotions she could not decipher. His thick, long eyelashes trembled slightly before a single tear fell.
Why was he crying? Was he terrified because she looked too horrifying covered in blood?
No, for him to have climbed to his current position, he must have been well-accustomed to scenes like this; how could he be frightened? Besides, why would he come to this mass grave in the first place?
She watched as the man extended his slender fingers to check for breath at her nose. Upon discovering she was truly dead, tears instantly streamed down his face like a torrent.
Because Xiao Mingyue was lying flat and Pei Yanli happened to be crying directly over her face, looking at him from this perspective was genuinely awkward.
The system suddenly chimed in:
[Did this handsome guy’s eyes just start peeing?]
Xiao Mingyue: “…”
And then, inexplicably, Xiao Mingyue was carried back to Prime Minister Pei’s manor.
Meanwhile, on Feng Buji’s side, he originally intended to visit Xiao Mingyue to ask if she realized her mistake, only for the guards in the dungeon to report:
“Replying to Your Lordship, Miss Mingyue was beaten to death by us.”
Feng Buji: …
Following that, all the guards stationed there received a “decapitation special for the whole family.”
Stepping out of the dungeon, Feng Buji looked up at the sky, tears suddenly trickling down his face.
Wei Lin looked at him somewhat speechlessly, as if silently saying: What a fake!
“Go to the mass grave and retrieve her body. If you cannot find it, there is no need to return and report,” Feng Buji said indifferently.
Wei Lin took his orders and led over a dozen men out the door.
A gust of wind blew past. Turning his gaze, Feng Buji caught sight of a swing set, surrounded by a lush bed of herbaceous peonies in full, vibrant bloom—a pleasant scenery.
In a daze, he seemed to see Xiao Mingyue sitting on the swing, laughing brightly and exuberantly at him.
Feng Buji could not resist taking a few steps forward, but the figure in front of him suddenly vanished. Only then did Feng Buji remember that the person he originally loved was Xiao Mingyue.
Recalling every little moment he had shared with Xiao Mingyue, as well as the promises he had made to her, his heart throbbed with excruciating pain. Why had he seemed so bewitched recently? Just why on earth was that?