“Take them all into custody.” The young man’s face carried a half-smile. “Huang Youcai, how did you find these people?”
Under the dim, flickering firelight, Pei Di’s features appeared even clearer.
He wore a dark black robe, a gold-threaded leather belt fastened at his waist, from which hung a waist token engraved with a flying eagle.
That was the symbol of the Eagle Guard.
So it really was him.
Xue Yao clenched his fists in secret. ‘Pei the traitor!’
That figure stood in the corridor, and under the glow of the firelight, for a fleeting moment, it seemed to pull Xue Yao back to that Eagle Guard dungeon where he had been imprisoned for three long years.
Standing there high above in the passage, looking down at him, flaunting as he spoke of how more than four hundred lives of the Defender Duke’s Residence, along with the hundred-thousand-strong Xue Family Army, had all died by his hand.
And he himself had no room to resist, only able to be like a stray dog, locked away by that traitor Pei in a small, pitch-black dungeon.
They had suffered every humiliation, just like the people here.
Only, that place had been even lower, even darker, with more instruments of torture.
Bloodshot veins surged instantly into his eyes.
He suddenly lowered his gaze, clenching his teeth tightly, forcing the surging hatred back down into his chest.
Huang Youcai bent at the waist, following respectfully at Pei Di’s side as he reported, “After this subordinate received Your Excellency’s orders, I immediately began searching the entire city, rounding up all those who had once followed that traitor into battle. Among them is one named Liu Hu, from Liu Family Village in the mountains. A few years ago, when the barbarians invaded, he followed the Xue family’s heir…”
He suddenly stopped, realizing his slip of the tongue, and hastily corrected himself. “He followed that traitor Xue to drive off the barbarians, and knows quite a lot about the Xue Family Army. In the case of that traitor Xue’s rebellion three years ago, he also revealed quite a bit of inside information.”
“This subordinate applied a few methods to him, and that Liu Hu disclosed the appearances of several traitors, and even said he had seen remnants of the Xue family in Xiaomao Mountain.”
“Now, some of the traitors have already been imprisoned in the depths of the dungeon. We only await Your Excellency to personally interrogate them.”
Pei Di let out a light laugh, yet no emotion could be discerned in his voice. “Magistrate Huang is indeed highly efficient in handling matters.” With a flick of his sleeve, his gaze slowly swept across the gloomy dungeon around them, his tone calm. “Then let us go and take a look.”
Their steps appeared unhurried, yet their pace did not slow in the slightest.
Xue Yao lifted his eyelids slightly, his gaze following those figures closely until they disappeared at the end of the corridor.
He took a deep breath. The rotten, murky stench rushed into his nose, yet instead calmed him down.
Now that Pei Di had appeared in the dungeon, it confirmed his earlier speculation. The Xue Family Army indeed had quite a number of activities in Shouzhou.
As for whether they had truly been captured… it might be true, or there was also a strong possibility it was an empty city ruse, but—
He glanced at Lu Dantao beside him. She had puffed out her cheeks, burying her entire face into her own arm, only revealing two fluffy, slightly messy hair buns.
The corner of Xue Yao’s lips twitched almost imperceptibly. But now that he had this shield in his hands, he would naturally not remain as passive as he had been before.
Lu Dantao buried her head against Xue Yao’s shoulder, her nose pressed tightly against his clothes, trying her best to ignore the faintly nauseating stench of decay around them.
But sometimes, the more a person deliberately blocks out one sense, the more another sense becomes unusually sharp.
Right now, she felt as if something behind her was poking at her back.
But behind her was a wall.
There was no one there either, only the corpse that had just recently stopped breathing.
Lu Dantao was a firm materialist, yet she was also the kind of Chinese person who was extremely double-standard when it came to ghosts.
She did not believe ghosts existed, nor was she afraid of them. But if it was a corpse that had just stopped breathing suddenly reanimating and pawing at her back, then that was a different matter altogether.
She held her breath. Hearing the footsteps growing more distant, she lifted her eyes and quickly glanced outside the cell. The two figures in the corridor were gradually moving away.
She extended her fingertip and lightly poked Xue Yao’s arm, leaning closer as she whispered, “They’re gone. We should hurry and leave too.”
She almost pressed up against his ear, her face full of distress. “That dead person behind me… seems to be pawing at me.”
The young girl’s warm breath brushed past Xue Yao’s neck, raising a fine layer of goosebumps.
The sensation of her arm pressing tightly against his returned in an instant.
He looked behind Lu Dantao. That corpse had merely collapsed after death due to its slackened body, its fingers just happening to rest behind her back.
His gaze swept over the small mole at the center of her brow. The suppressed gloom from earlier suddenly surged up again. He chose not to tell Lu Dantao the truth, letting out a cold scoff as he mercilessly pulled his arm away.
Caught off guard, Lu Dantao failed to hold on. Her whole body was dragged by the recoil, and she nearly toppled onto the corpse. At the instant when her back was about to press against that deathly pale face, she hastily braced her hand against the ground, awkwardly scooting forward an inch, barely managing to preserve her dignity.
Lu Dantao: !
She lowered her head to look at her palm. Although there were no wounds on it, the faint redness on her skin was a symbol of her embarrassment.
She was truly angry now. This bastard!
Did he think that just because she did not get angry, he could treat her like a fool?
She stood up in fury, turning her head to argue with him, only to see that Xue Yao had already slipped out of the cell first. He turned back and asked coldly, “Are you coming?”
Lu Dantao glanced at the gloomy interior of the cell, then looked at the dim corridor, and decided to suppress her anger for now. “I’m coming.”
“But,” she stood at the entrance of the cell and blocked him for a moment, “we need to set some ground rules first.” Xue Yao raised an eyebrow.
Lu Dantao had thought it through clearly. This male lead was nothing like the gentle, good-tempered Long Aotian described in those analysis posts. If she had not demonstrated her extremely superb lockpicking skills, he probably would not even have brought her out of the dungeon.
This was her advantage, her core competitiveness.
So she had to make use of this point to negotiate.
She looked straight into Xue Yao’s eyes. “If you want me to continue helping you pick locks, then you have to promise that next time you won’t push me toward a corpse again, and you must ensure my safety and well-being.”
She was quite immersed in her role.
‘Unfortunately, there won’t be a next time.’
‘Once I’ve obtained information about the old subordinates and escaped safely, I’ll end her with a single strike.’
A faint trace of mockery curved at the corner of Xue Yao’s lips as he readily agreed, “Alright.”
Lu Dantao climbed out of the cell. “Then which way are we going?”
Xue Yao did not answer, instead walking straight in the opposite direction from where Pei Di and the others had left.
Lu Dantao hurriedly followed.
Although the corridor branched in a different direction, the environment was just as dim, and the smell just as foul. As she walked, Lu Dantao glanced at the cells on both sides. Inside, figures lay scattered in disarray, their state of life or death unknown.
No, it was hard to tell if they could even be considered human anymore.
She suddenly stopped, staring at a severed leg protruding from between the iron bars ahead. The wound on it seemed to have already rotted, and there were small white things wriggling on it.
She sucked in a sharp breath, suppressing the fear in her heart. Lifting her gaze, she searched for Xue Yao, who had unknowingly quickened his pace and was already ahead. Gathering her skirt, she jogged to catch up.
One in front and one behind, the two of them moved quickly through the dark corridor.
Just as Lu Dantao felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, near a fork in the corridor, Xue Yao suddenly stopped, pressing himself against the corner of the wall.
Unable to brake in time, Lu Dantao caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye of several figures walking toward them from the side passage. She quickly dodged, pressing close to Xue Yao as she hid in the shadows of the corner.
Xue Yao lowered his gaze, his eyes falling on the hem of her skirt that had traced a perfect semicircle in the air due to her sudden movement. Then his gaze slowly lifted, stopping on her slightly flushed face, faintly panting from the short run.
A trace of surprise flickered through his eyes. ‘Trying this hard… for Pei Di? Is it really worth it?’
Lu Dantao was equally surprised.
She raised her eyes to look at Xue Yao. ‘What’s with this male lead? How is he so familiar with this place? Has he been here before?’
Their gazes met briefly in midair, then almost simultaneously shifted away. After silently letting out a cold snort, the two of them finally turned their attention to the few people approaching from the side passage.
*
In the corridor on the other side.
Huang Youcai walked slightly ahead, leading the way, while secretly lifting his eyelids to size up the man beside him.
This Commander Pei was just around twenty years of age. Five years ago, he had only been an inconspicuous illegitimate son in a marquis residence. But after saving the Emperor from the jaws of a tiger during a hunting expedition five years ago, he won deep imperial favor and rose rapidly through the ranks from then on.
Three years ago, he further relied on solving the Defender Duke’s treason case to leap directly into the position of Commander of the Eagle Guard.
Since then, his power had overshadowed both court and countryside. Now, it could be said that he stood below only one man and above tens of thousands.
Huang Youcai was born into a merchant family. He lacked nothing in terms of wealth and had spent money to purchase an official position, yet he had never managed to find a way to transfer to the capital. That was until over a month ago, when he learned that Pei Di would be coming to Shouzhou. If he could win this man’s favor, why would he have to worry about not leaving this bitter, remote border city?
From the day he learned of Pei Di’s arrival in Shouzhou, he had thrown himself into preparations with all his might. Who would have expected that this Commander Pei would seem to vanish into thin air, never showing himself in the city? It was only last night, when his steward reported that Lord Pei and a beautiful woman with a mole between her brows had appeared at Miaoshou Apothecary, that he finally received news.
But when he hurried over to the apothecary today, all he found were corpses scattered across the ground, while Pei Di and the other person were nowhere to be seen.
He had been so frightened on the spot that his legs nearly gave out, terrified that his collusion with that group of mountain bandits would be exposed.
It was not until this evening, when Pei Di appeared at the gates of his residence with his men, that he finally let out a sigh of relief.
He stole another glance at Pei Di. Seeing that the torture chamber was just ahead, and that this might be his only chance to curry favor, he hesitated for a moment, then recalled the news from the capital that Pei Di was extremely devoted to his fiancée, granting her whatever she wished.
He cleared his throat and cautiously spoke, “This subordinate has yet to congratulate Your Excellency on your promotion. Upon learning that Your Excellency had come to Shouzhou, I have already prepared everything that might be needed. I wonder if Madam has any particular requirements. This subordinate can have people attend to them immediately.”
The moment these words were spoken, Pei Di suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Under the bright glow of the torchlight illuminating his face, Lu Dantao finally saw his appearance clearly.
With jade-like features and red lips, although he wore a black brocade robe, his temperament was cool and refined, giving off the feeling of an aloof flower atop a high peak.
It was a kind of beauty completely different from that of the male lead.
Yet the affected air about him was strikingly similar.
Huang Youcai waited a long time without receiving a reply. Unable to resist, he lifted his eyes to sneak a glance, only to crash straight into a pair of eyes as deep and cold as a frozen pool.
His heart trembled, and he instinctively bent his waist even lower, cold sweat instantly seeping out across his back. “Your Excellency?”
After a long moment, Pei Di’s voice finally sounded, its emotion indiscernible.
“Madam?”
His voice sounded pleasant too.
Lu Dantao found her thoughts drifting.
“And where did you hear about this ‘Madam’?”
Huang Youcai hesitated before answering, “This subordinate… this subordinate inquired about it from colleagues.”
Pei Di was very young, with a face that appeared gentle and compassionate. He looked refined and harmless, every movement carrying the bearing of a noble young master from the capital.
Yet Huang Youcai did not dare show even the slightest disrespect. Even though he was far away in the northwest, he was well aware of the bloody methods the Eagle Guard had used when purging the Defender Duke’s Residence back then.
In officialdom, the greatest taboo was judging a person by their appearance.
After hesitating for a moment, he still chose to tell the truth, albeit a more tactful version of it.
“I see,” Pei Di responded calmly.
Even the way he spoke was similar.
Lu Dantao raised her brows, stealing a glance at Xue Yao.
He had the back of his head resting against the wall, his chin slightly lifted, eyelids half-lowered. The sharp bridge of his nose was outlined in delicate lines within the shadows.
If he were placed in a short-video livestream, he could probably even sell the persona of a handsome, bodhisattva-like man.
But in Lu Dantao’s eyes, his entire body seemed to be screaming, “I’m very cool, don’t come near.”
She shot him a sidelong glance, the more she looked at Xue Yao’s arrogant demeanor, the more displeased she felt.
Thinking back to how he had just shaken her off, nearly sending her crashing onto that corpse,
she grew even more annoyed. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, until she could hardly hold it in any longer.
She leaned closer, quietly pointing with her fingertip in Pei Di’s direction, lowering her voice. “Hey, that man…”
Xue Yao turned his head at the sound.
Lu Dantao caught a trace of confusion in his gaze, and the corners of her lips curled up. “He looks a lot like you.”
She deliberately paused for a moment before leisurely adding, “That arrogant, sky-high attitude of his is especially similar to yours.”
From what she had seen back in the cell, the male lead clearly disliked that young man.
As for the reason, Lu Dantao neither knew nor cared to know.
After all, men were, by nature, creatures with extremely strong jealousy.
She had seen too many cases of people falling out in jealousy over a pair of shoes, a keyboard, or even a girl’s smile.
If someone were told they resembled a person they disliked, they would probably feel disgusted for days. Just imagining Xue Yao like that made her feel delighted.
And Xue Yao’s reaction was exactly to her liking. His cold, dead-fish eyes were no longer so lifeless. There seemed to be three parts shock and seven parts confusion. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, “That man? You don’t recognize him?”
Lu Dantao found his question utterly baffling. But men were like that, always asking inexplicable questions.
Considering she would still need to rely on him in the future, Lu Dantao looked at him, her tone frank and sincere. “I only know you, my dear ally.”
Xue Yao stared at her, enunciating each word clearly, speaking slowly and seriously:
“He is Pei Di.”
“Your former fiancé, the one you swore to chop into minced meat. And you… don’t recognize him?”