Right at that moment, the group of dancing girls swaying to the rhythm suddenly lunged toward Shi Yue. One or two of them had produced daggers from goodness knows where.
Shi Yue was startled. The techniques he had recently practiced alongside Shi Yuan kicked in; he rolled away swiftly, avoiding one of the strikes.
Shitou and several other attendants stationed outside the private room heard the commotion, pushed the door open instantly, and cried out in utter panic: “Assassins! Protect the Second Young Master!”
Before long, the once warm and cozy private room descended into absolute chaos. The sounds of clashing bodies and combat rang out, and amidst the flashes of blades and swords, the floor quickly became stained with bright splatters of red.
As Shi Yue flustriedly dodged the dancing girls’ attacks, he cast a subtle, sideways glance at Pei Xuan.
That little madman was actually standing in the corner with his hands behind his back, watching as if it were a sideshow that had nothing to do with him at all.
“Psychopath,” Shi Yue couldn’t help cursing internally.
As his personal attendant, he was just standing over there watching the show?
Another short sword lunged toward him. Instinctively, Shi Yue tried to parry it with his folding fan, but the fan was instantly sliced into two useless pieces of paper.
Damn it, I should have used an iron fan in the future, Shi Yue muttered bitterly to himself.
Just then, a flash of sword light swept across his back.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shitou caught sight of it and shouted in terror, “Second Young Master!”
Shi Yue managed to dodge in time, but his shoulder was still pierced by the sword.
A searing wave of pain struck him abruptly, and his face instantly turned pale. Staring at the person still standing coldly to the side, he gasped, “Pei Xuan.”
Seeing that Shi Yue was injured and that the remaining guards had all sustained wounds, Pei Xuan sneered coldly, “A bunch of trash.”
Before his words faded, he moved with lightning speed, striking without even drawing his sword from its scabbard, showing zero chivalry or mercy as he dealt with the assassin dancers.
His movements were too fast for the eye to follow, his figure weaving through the fray like a phantom. Shi Yue finally had a chance to catch his breath and step to the side.
Within moments, all the dancing girls collapsed to the ground, leaving only the female lead dancer who had led them moments before.
Realizing the situation was hopeless, the woman gritted her teeth and prepared to leap out the window to escape. Pei Xuan pursued her like a shadow, grabbing her by the throat.
Terror flashed across the woman’s face as her skin gradually flushed bright red.
A bloodthirsty red glow flashed in Pei Xuan’s eyes. “Who sent you?”
The woman pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to speak.
“Since you won’t talk, then go die.”
As Pei Xuan applied a trace of pressure with his fingertips, a despairing whimper immediately escaped the woman’s throat. Within a mere breath, he loosened his grip, and the assassin slumped limply to the floor, breathing her last.
Leaning against the screen, Shi Yue watched blood continuously seep from his shoulder wound. With a face as white as paper, he felt his vision grow increasingly blurry.
His lips moved as if trying to say something, but no sound came out. Feeling lightheaded, he fell backward.
The expected impact of hitting the floor never arrived; instead, he tumbled into an embrace.
Reaching out, Pei Xuan steadily caught him. Seeing that he had fainted and was completely unconscious, and glancing at the wounded attendants around him, Pei Xuan had no choice but to scoop him up horizontally into his arms.
“Such a nuisance.”
Though he muttered those words, he cradled the young man securely against his chest.
Shi Yue’s head rested against Pei Xuan’s shoulder, his breathing as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, his complexion startlingly pale.
Shitou had also sustained injuries. Had it not been for that, he would never have allowed Pei Xuan to touch the Second Young Master.
Given how dangerous it had been moments before, he had been closest to the young master, yet as an attendant, he had stood by with folded arms, watching helplessly as the young master fell into danger.
Shi Wenjing and Shi Yuan were immediately informed that Shi Yue had encountered assassins and sustained injuries. The moment Shi Yue’s carriage arrived outside the estate, a physician rushed forward to meet them.
Shi Wenjing ordered people to carry Shi Yue into the room.
Turning his gaze to the young guard standing off to the side, his expression turned less than favorable.
It was one thing for Shi Yue to take in a personal guard of his own accord, but an attendant’s primary duty was to protect his master. He had already received reports that this fellow had stood idly by without intervening.
Pei Xuan wore a calm expression, showing no sign of remorse or awareness of any wrongdoing.
“Someone come,” Shi Wenjing commanded.
“This subordinate is here.”
“Tie him up and drag him down. Disobedient guards must be punished.”
“Yes.”
Several footmen stepped forward and bound Pei Xuan with ropes. He offered no resistance, looking remarkably compliant.
Gazing at the pale face of the person lying on the couch, Shi Yuan asked the physician, “Doctor, how is my younger brother?”
As the physician finished binding Shi Yue’s wound, he replied, “There is no major danger. The wound is not very deep, and he will recover fully after a few days of rest.”
Only then did Shi Wenjing and Shi Yuan breathe a sigh of relief.
“Then when will my brother wake up?”
“The fainting was caused by excessive blood loss. Prescribe some medicine to nourish his Qi and blood, and he will wake up soon.”
Shi Yuan nodded and offered a slight bow. “Troublesome for you, Doctor. Please this way, I’ll accompany you to fetch the medicine.”
Packing up his medical kit, the physician followed Shi Yuan out of the room.
Shi Yue felt as though he had slept for an exceedingly long time. Slowly opening his eyes, he squinted against the glaring daylight.
“Second Young Master! You’re finally awake!” Shitou had remained inside the room keeping watch. Seeing Shi Yue wake up, he sprang up joyfully. “I’ll go tell the Marquis!”
“Hold on,” Shi Yue called out, his voice extremely hoarse. “Wait a moment. How many days have I been lying here?”
Shitou hurriedly poured a cup of warm water, carefully propped Shi Yue up, and handed the cup to him. “Not long, just a day and a night. The physician said you lost too much blood and need to rest properly.”
Taking the cup, Shi Yue tilted his head back and drank. The warm water slid down his throat, feeling wonderful.
He looked down at the wound on his shoulder. It was wrapped in white gauze, with only a tiny trace of blood seeping through, indicating it truly wasn’t very serious.
“Was I not poisoned?”
Shitou blinked in confusion. “Poisoned? No, Young Master, you were only wounded.”
That was strange.
Shi Yue frowned. He clearly remembered seeing that wherever the short sword had grazed him in the private room, the blood had turned a dark, purplish-black—the unmistakable hue of poisoning.
So why did the physician say there was no poison?
Suddenly, a memory flashed through Shi Yue’s mind: when he had drifted into unconsciousness, Pei Xuan had caught him, and a cool, subtle breath had seemed to seep into his body through their point of contact.
At the time, he thought it was just an illusion, but looking back now, Pei Xuan must have used demon arts to force the poison out of his system.
Still… the fellow couldn’t even be bothered to lift a finger when assassins attacked, only stepping in as a last resort to save his own skin; why on earth would he act so benevolently and use his arts to drive out the poison?
Shi Yue knitted his brows in deep thought.
A little madman was indeed a little madman, completely unpredictable.
Just as he was pondering this, a flurry of noisy footsteps echoed from outside the door.
“What’s going on out there?”
Shitou stammered nervously, “It’s… it’s the Marquis. He’s about to administer a whipping punishment to Guard Pei, saying that a guard must act like a guard, and it’s time to set an example for the other attendants.”
In his heart, Shitou desperately wanted to applaud the Marquis’s decision. After all, Pei Xuan hadn’t protected the Second Young Master properly, even if he intervened at the end, the Second Young Master had still gotten hurt.
Yet the Second Young Master seemed to care deeply about this guard.
Shi Yue was jolted awake.
A whipping punishment?
Without waiting to put his shoes on properly, Shi Yue scrambled off the bed, hastily slipped his feet into them, threw a outer robe over his shoulders, and rushed outside.
Although Pei Xuan hadn’t lifted a finger at the very beginning, he had turned the tide in the end, not to mention having purged the poison for him.
If Pei Xuan were punished and ended up harboring resentment because of it, all of his previous efforts would go down the drain.
“Ah? Second Young Master! You’re still injured, please slow down!” Shitou cried out in panic.
Standing on the corridor with a complexion as dark as iron, Shi Wenjing looked down at Pei Xuan, who was kneeling in the middle of the courtyard, flanked by an attendant holding a long military disciplinary whip.
Just as Shi Wenjing swept his right hand downward, the attendant nodded and raised his arm to strike.
Pei Xuan knelt on the ground with a blank expression, pressing his lips tightly together without uttering a single sound, as if the person about to be whipped wasn’t him at all.
Shi Yue watched with his own eyes as the whip descended onto Pei Xuan’s back, instantly ripping a wide tear in his clothing and causing fresh, vivid blood to seep through.
Pei Xuan remained kneeling rigidly upright, his spine unbending by even an inch, his brows only slightly furrowing.
Seeing that the whip was about to strike a second time, Shi Yue cast all shame and propriety to the winds and shouted out from afar:
“Stop!”
Everyone froze in their tracks, turning their heads in unison to stare at Shi Yue.
The pain Pei Xuan had expected never arrived. He looked up in surprise at the suddenly appearing Shi Yue.
Shi Wenjing hadn’t expected him to rush out like this either. Taking in his thin attire and the blood faintly staining the gauze at his shoulder, he furrowed his brows deeply. “Yue’er, why did you get out of bed? Hurry back and lie down.”
“Father, you can’t punish him.” Panting heavily, Shi Yue ran over to Pei Xuan’s side, exchanged a glance with him, and stepped forward to block him. “Pei Xuan didn’t fail to protect his master; he did protect me.”
Shi Wenjing’s face grew even gloomier. “Nonsense! What kind of propriety is this, running out without dressing properly? Besides, all the other guards witnessed it—he failed in his duty, leading to your injury.”
“But he stepped in at the end!”
Shi Yue stood resolutely in front of Pei Xuan. From Pei Xuan’s angle, he could only see Shi Yue’s slender, fragile shoulders and not his face, yet he could feel the absolute firmness in his voice.
“The situation was extremely critical, and my injury was unavoidable. It was Pei Xuan who single-handedly cleaned up those assassins so that we could be saved. If not for Pei Xuan, my injuries might have been far worse.”
Shi Yue omitted any mention of the poison, as that involved Pei Xuan’s identity as a demon.
Watching Shi Yue shield Pei Xuan like a mother hen guarding a chick, Shi Wenjing’s frown deepened.
The guard had decent looks and good martial arts skills, but nothing else particularly stood out, why was his son protecting him so fiercely?
Shi Yue continued, “Father, look, I’m doing just fine. Let’s not punish him… I don’t have martial arts skills, so I’ll still depend on him to protect me in the future.”
Seeing that Shi Wenjing didn’t immediately refute him, Shi Yue pressed on: “Besides, I bought him. If anyone is to be punished, it should be me for failing to discipline him properly.”
Pleading with a mix of coquettishness and reason, Shi Wenjing, who had doted on his youngest son since childhood, glanced at Shi Yue’s pale face and could only let out a sigh, waving his hand.
“Fine, fine. Since you are pleading for him so earnestly, I’ll let him off this time.”
With a sharp, warning glare directed at Pei Xuan, Shi Wenjing added, “If there is a next time, I will certainly not spare you easily.”
Smiling happily, Shi Yue turned his head and put on a mock expression of anger. “Hurry up and thank my dad for sparing you.”
Under Shi Yue’s fierce, threatening gaze, Pei Xuan managed a bow. “Thank you, Marquis.”
Shi Yue hurriedly pulled him away from the scene of trouble.
“Hiss.”
Perhaps due to the overly abrupt movement, the wound tore open anew, and the blood soaking through the gauze spread further. Shi Yue couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath of pain.
“I never imagined the Young Marquis would be in such a rush to save me,” Pei Xuan remarked with an inscrutable glint in his eyes.
“I wouldn’t care about you at all if it weren’t for the fact that you cleared the poison for me!” Shi Yue glared at him through gritted teeth. “I just hate owing people favors!”