After the rain cleared and the gloomy clouds dispersed, a ray of light spilled across the horizon.
In the puddles along the roadside reflected Jiang Qingning’s drenched figure, as well as the purple-robed man holding an umbrella beside her.
[What the heck, why did the Main Villain suddenly change his mind!!]
[Ahhh, this scene of the Female Supporting Character collapsed on the ground while the Main Villain holds an umbrella—the sexual tension is off the charts. I ship it, I love shipping it!]
[Why is the Female Supporting Character still frozen? Hurry up and agree, before the Main Villain changes his mind.]
[Hey, wait a second—can the Female Supporting Character and the Main Villain really have a good ending together?]
[Who knows, but it’s still better than being sent to Commandant Chen’s residence.]
“Master Pei, I’m willing to go with you…”
Jiang Qingning lifted her head. Though she didn’t know why Pei Ji had changed his mind, prompted by those Golden Characters, she hurriedly grabbed at the hem of Pei Ji’s robe and agreed, as if clutching at the last lifeline of her life.
Pei Ji looked down at her from above, those narrow phoenix eyes shimmering with a faint, eerie light.
He was not a soft-hearted good man, but that Commandant Chen on East Street—at over sixty years of age—was old enough to be Jiang Qingning’s great-grandfather.
The thought of Jiang Qingning, who had been tearful and tender beneath him just today, becoming that old toad’s possession…
A flicker of displeasure passed through Pei Ji’s heart.
He raised his palm, his thumb and forefinger clamping around Jiang Qingning’s chin, forcing her to lift her gaze.
Jiang Qingning dared not resist, so she straightened her back and obediently complied.
Those apricot eyes had finally stopped shedding tears, instead looking up at the man before her with a hint of bewilderment.
From Jiang Qingning’s perspective, Pei Ji in his purple robes was so tall, so imposing, so untouchable.
She swallowed nervously, a trace of timidity appearing on her face.
In Pei Ji’s eyes, Jiang Qingning looked like a naive little rabbit unaware of her own danger—but she was obedient and well-behaved enough.
[Holy crap, does anyone else feel like that gesture has a hint of possessiveness to it?]
[I bet the Main Villain isn’t acting on lust, is he?]
[The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she’s genuinely beautiful, and she’s so easy to pamper.]
[The Female Supporting Character looks so obedient like that—I can see something dangerous brewing in the Main Villain’s eyes.]
“What are you standing there gaping for? Do you expect This Venerable One to personally help you up?”
Pei Ji withdrew his hand, his cold voice laced with a hint of disdain.
Jiang Qingning hurriedly lifted her skirt to rise, but the pain in her left foot made her gasp, and her body uncontrollably pitched forward.
Unexpectedly, a scorching palm caught her at the waist, steadying her. Jiang Qingning looked up in panic.
Pei Ji let out a cold laugh. “It’s not even dark yet, and you’re already this eager to throw yourself into my arms?”
“I—I wasn’t…”
Flustered by his words, she reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
How could Pei Ji say such a thing about her? She was a girl from a respectable family!
She explained in a small voice, “Master Pei, I twisted my foot when I jumped from the carriage… I can’t walk anymore…”
She carefully pinched the front of Pei Ji’s robe, a hint of pleading in her eyes.
The few steps she’d just taken had been agonizing. If she had to hobble along behind Pei Ji all the way back, wouldn’t she die of pain on the road?
Jiang Qingning furrowed her brows slightly, her gaze drifting toward the sedan chair behind Pei Ji.
The implication was obvious without a word.
【Hahaha, I’m dying laughing—so the female supporting character is the type to climb all over someone the moment they show her kindness?】
【Forgot about that—the female supporting character’s setting is that she’s a spoiled little thing, raised to be soft-bodied, delicate, and timid.】
【I actually kind of like this. I just don’t know why the author had the female supporting character written off so early.】
【Well, now she’s got even better chemistry with the cold and heartless main villain, doesn’t she?】
The one who had just been begging was now daring to get cocky and overstep her bounds. Pei Ji was practically amused into laughter by Jiang Qingning’s audacity.
But then he remembered that three years ago, when he had supervised Jiang Qingning’s studies, he already knew she was a useless fool who couldn’t endure even the slightest hardship.
Ask her to copy texts for one shichen, and she’d whine pitifully about her hands aching and being unable to lift the brush; before the ruler even landed on her palm, her eyes would already be red.
Jiang Qingning had always relied on her pretty face—pout her little lips, and even the old masters of the past would turn a blind eye to her faults. Only Pei Ji treated her with extreme harshness.
But now, the cold-faced, iron-hearted Tutor Pei, upon seeing the red mark of a slap still printed on Jiang Qingning’s delicate face, took pity and shoved the umbrella into her hands.
“Hold it.”
He put on a fierce expression, yet bent down and steadily scooped her up into his arms.
“Tutor Pei…”
Jiang Qingning let out a startled cry, but her hands had already sensibly wrapped around the man’s neck.
The two of them huddled under a single oil-paper umbrella. He held her up high, and her nose tip lightly brushed against Pei Ji’s chin without her even noticing. Instead, she lifted a pair of apricot eyes, still looking at him with a hint of fear.
Pei Ji’s body stiffened. Before he could say anything, footsteps suddenly sounded from ahead.
Jiang Qingning quickly looked over. Within the view beneath the umbrella, she saw the clothing of the two carriage drivers who had come to catch her.
Why are they still here?
Her little face fell, and the hand holding the umbrella couldn’t stop trembling.
“If you don’t want to be found, hurry up and hide yourself better,” Pei Ji said in a low voice. He was still nursing anger in his heart and didn’t want to be ordered around by Jiang Qingning like this, so he deliberately scared her with a threat.
“If they find you, This Venerable One won’t take what belongs to another.”
Jiang Qingning’s heart skipped a beat. A flicker of panic passed through her eyes before she quickly lowered the umbrella.
Terrified, she nestled into Pei Ji’s embrace and whispered pleadingly, “Tutor Pei, you can’t abandon me…”
Pei Ji shot her a smug glance, watching her huddle in his arms like a little quail, completely dependent on him.
He suppressed the curve at the corner of his mouth and gave a faint “Mm.”
【Is it just me, or does the main villain seem pleased again?】
【Hiss, the two of them hiding under one umbrella is getting a bit intimate, isn’t it?】
【What’s there to be afraid of—they’ve already done things even more intimate than this.】
The two carriage drivers’ figures were still visible beneath the umbrella. Jiang Qingning didn’t dare raise her head, and she was too nervous to even look at the floating golden characters, silently praying that they absolutely wouldn’t come closer.
Half of Pei Ji’s body was also hidden under the umbrella.
He held Jiang Qingning, but unlike her, he wasn’t nervous at all. He simply turned and walked toward the direction of the sedan chair.
Even if the men came forward and recognized Jiang Qingning, could they really snatch her from his arms?
“How strange—where on earth could the young lady have hidden? Look, isn’t that person holding someone in his arms? Should we go check it out?”
The two carriage drivers had searched all around and couldn’t even find a single woman—how embarrassing.
“You’ve lost your mind! Didn’t you see the color of that person’s robes? That’s a big shot we couldn’t afford to offend in eight lifetimes! Come on, come on, let’s go look somewhere else. It’s not like she can sprout wings and fly away!”
Pei Ji’s hearing was indeed sharp—he had long known the two coachmen had left.
But seeing how terrified the woman in his arms was, he deliberately slowed his pace even more, murmuring like a demon’s whisper: “Better hide a little more carefully—they’re about to catch up.”
[Damn, this main villain is really wicked.]
[He’s so bad, and I love it!!]
[If the female supporting character had just opened her eyes, she wouldn’t have been fooled.]
Whimper, whimper…
Jiang Qingning wished she could bury her entire head in Pei Ji’s robes, and even fooled herself by closing her eyes, completely missing the golden characters’ warning.
Seeing this, Pei Ji could finally no longer suppress the smile at the corner of his lips…