Jiang Fei followed the direction he pointed.
In the pavilion sat a man in a leisurely posture, his slender fingers holding a teacup. Sunlight filtered through the eaves, casting him in a glow that made him appear as exquisite as a fine brushwork painting.
“So that’s Pei Jing,” Jiang Fei murmured.
“Prince Zhaoning Pei Jing,” Pei Jing leaned closer, his playful voice whispering in her ear. “A merciless killer who shows no regard for kinship. What, is Xiao Cui interested in him?”
Jiang Fei couldn’t be bothered to correct how he addressed her, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the opposite shore.
The books described Pei Jing as walking the line between righteousness and wickedness—a jade-faced madman. Meaning he appeared proper on the surface, with no hint of being a lunatic.
Jiang Fei found the description remarkably accurate; the man looked utterly upright.
She instinctively remarked, “Just like the books described.”
“What books?” Pei Jing didn’t catch her words.
As soon as he spoke, the man in the pavilion seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to look in their direction.
Those ink-black eyes, across the shimmering lake, locked directly with Jiang Fei’s gaze, then slightly furrowed.
Jiang Fei froze, feeling like prey spotted by a venomous snake. She instinctively ducked behind the flower bushes.
“Scared?” Pei Jing looked at her with an amused smile.
Her heart raced, but she stubbornly retorted, “I just think he looks like someone not to be trifled with.”
Once she imagined him as a lunatic, even his normal movements and gaze became unnerving, as if he might behead someone from miles away the next second.
Jiang Fei even felt that the gaze “Pei Jing” cast from across the lake carried the sharpness of blades.
Pei Jing chuckled softly. “Since you know he’s trouble, stay away from him in the future. Best not to speak to him at all. That man… enjoys killing with a smile.”
Jiang Fei nodded, but inwardly shook her head frantically.
Avoiding him wasn’t an option—she still needed to ensure her grave would be overgrown with three-foot-tall grass three years from now.
When she peered out from the bushes again, “Pei Jing” was no longer in the pavilion, and the area behind her had fallen silent.
Turning around, she found no one there. She hadn’t even noticed when he had slipped away.
Only then did Jiang Fei feel the heat. Under such blazing sun, wrapped in a cloak, she counted herself lucky not to have suffered heatstroke.
This “Wei Mingzhen” clearly had a mischievous streak—draping her in a cloak on such a hot day, as if afraid she wouldn’t overheat.
She quickly removed the cloak and tossed it onto a nearby rock, fanning herself with her hand. Suddenly, footsteps sounded not far away.
Thinking it was “Wei Mingzhen” returning, Jiang Fei leaned out to speak but nearly bit her tongue when she saw who it was.
Strolling along the cobblestone path was an elegant nobleman—none other than the “Pei Jing” she had been shown earlier.
Her legs weakened. She had an innate fear of lunatics and instinctively gripped the rock, retreating further behind the bushes.
She intended to provoke Pei Jing, but not now. She hadn’t even married into the Wei Family yet, nor begun to torment the female lead. She couldn’t afford to die at Pei Jing’s hands at this stage.
The footsteps drew nearer until they stopped right beside the flower bushes.
Jiang Fei focused intently, thinking if he didn’t call out to her, all would be well. If the lunatic did, she’d argue that the Old Madam of the Marquis’s estate birthday banquet was no place for bloodshed.
But in the original story, Pei Jing was a madman who dared to kill even at palace banquets. What significance did a mere marquis’s estate birthday celebration hold to him?
Just then, a gentle voice sounded from beside the flower bushes. “What are you hiding there for? Come out.”
Jiang Fei dared not disobey. She slowly emerged from behind the flowers, shoulders slumped and hands hanging limply at her sides as she stood in place.
Wei Mingzhen couldn’t help but laugh at her appearance. “Are you afraid of me?”
Was it that obvious?
Jiang Fei looked up and saw the smile on his face.
That smile was like spring in March, warm and comforting. Jiang Fei immediately recalled what “Wei Mingzhen” had said to her earlier.
He had said that Pei Jing liked to kill people while smiling, and she remembered the author’s various descriptions of Pei Jing in the book.
There were instances where he directly chopped off someone’s hand, or had people whipped to death… In short, those who died by his hand met all sorts of bizarre ends.
Jiang Fei couldn’t help but shiver. She had been too far away earlier to see what he really looked like, so she glanced up again, only to meet his gaze directly.
She quickly lowered her head and said, “No.”
She was clearly terrified, yet she stubbornly insisted otherwise.
Wei Mingzhen recalled the rumors he had heard about Jiang Rufei and unconsciously frowned. “If you’re not afraid of me, then you must have a guilty conscience.”
Jiang Fei felt as though he had seen right through her. She was indeed guilty—just moments ago, she had been telling someone that he was a lunatic.
“Did I hit the mark?” Watching her expression, Wei Mingzhen’s frown deepened. “If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it in the first place. You know best what you’ve done.”
“I…” Jiang Fei stubbornly retorted, “What have I done?”
Wei Mingzhen gritted his teeth in anger. He had long heard from the maids that his future wife was not living a proper life and had been secretly meeting with Zhao Xingbang, the son of the prime minister.
His mother had asked him to meet her by the lake, but he had no intention of going. He never expected that in such a short time, she would grow so close to Pei Jing, even laughing and chatting with him.
What he needed was a wife who followed the rules, not a solid green hat.
At this thought, Wei Mingzhen’s gaze turned cold. “Stop making excuses!”
Jiang Fei’s legs were already trembling.
She thought to herself, this lunatic really is insane! Just a glance from across the shore, and he came straight over, looking as though he wanted to kill her.
She suddenly remembered a passage in the book describing Pei Jing: the more someone feared death, the more they begged for mercy, the more excited he became, and the more joy he took in killing—truly a pervert.
So, to survive, she had to do the opposite.
At that moment, Jiang Fei felt as though she had seen a glimmer of hope.
She abruptly straightened her back, mustered her courage, and said, “What’s it to you?”
From the slight contraction of his pupils, she could see his utter shock. She put on a fearless front, though her hands hidden in her sleeves were trembling uncontrollably.
“What did you say?” Wei Mingzhen couldn’t believe his ears.
He had only heard that Jiang Rufei was all looks and no substance, but he never expected her to swear right in front of him. How on earth did the Jiang family raise such a young lady?
“I said, my business has nothing to do with you. What I think of you in my heart is none of your concern. If I don’t say it out loud, you can pretend you don’t know. If you didn’t see it, just act as if you’re blind. Is that clear enough? Huh?”
Jiang Fei spoke rapidly in one breath and even added a “Huh?” to boost her own courage.
Wei Mingzhen was so shocked he took two steps back.
Did this mean that in the future, no matter whether she cheated or not, as long as she didn’t do it right in front of him, he should pretend not to know?
So brazen and shameless!
He raised his hand and pointed at Jiang Rufei, “You…”
“What do you mean ‘you’?” Jiang Rufei lifted her chin and said, “Don’t I have a name? I’m Jiang…”
She thought for a moment—she absolutely couldn’t reveal her real name. What if Pei Jing remembered it later and came to settle scores with her?
“I’m Jianghu passerby. See you if fate allows.”
With that, Jiang Fei turned and ran, afraid that Pei Jing would snap out of it and grab her to stop her from leaving.
After running some distance, Jiang Fei suddenly remembered the cloak that “Wei Mingzhen” had given her earlier—she’d forgotten to take it. It looked quite expensive, and she couldn’t afford to lose it.
She sneaked back and hid behind a tree, spotting “Pei Jing” still sitting on the rock, with her cloak placed right beside him.
But she couldn’t just run over now and say, “Hey, lunatic, where’s my cloak?”