Late at night, a bright full moon hung high in the sky, casting a layer of soft light and shadow across the ground.
Pei Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed, soothing the violent, surging Qi within his body.
Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching his quarters.
“Who’s there?”
Pei Xuan opened his eyes, casually picked up a sword, and stepped out the door.
Sensing someone behind him, Pei Xuan whipped his sword backward in a fierce, sweeping motion.
However, far from being annoyed, the other person leisurely exchanged a couple of moves with him, not striking back and only blocking.
“Not bad skills,” the person praised.
Realizing the stranger bore no malicious intent, Pei Xuan stopped fighting.
“Who are you?”
The man in white looked at Pei Xuan and smiled contentedly. “As expected of Jingyi’s child; you look just like her.”
Hearing this familiar name, Pei Xuan felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
“You knew my mother?”
Gently rubbing his sleeve, the man in white revealed soft contours under the moonlight. “More than just knew her, Jngyi is my only younger sister. By seniority, you should call me Uncle.”
“Uncle?” Pei Xuan tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, his pupils constricting slightly. “But I’ve never heard my mother mention you.”
Pei Xuan’s memories of his mother were extremely vague; he only remembered her as an exceptionally gentle woman, while the rest seemed locked deep inside his mind, impossible to recall no matter how hard he tried.
The man in white smiled and lightly brushed his own ear with his fingertips.
Pei Xuan seemed to anticipate what he was about to do.
Under Pei Xuan’s gaze, a pair of fluffy, snow-white fox ears quietly emerged from the man’s raven-black hair, gleaming with a delicate luster in the moonlight, the tips of the tails brushed with a faint silver radiance.
“Do you believe me now?” the man in white asked with a smile, twitching his ears.
Startled, Pei Xuan took a few steps back. He could sense that the man’s gentle aura was far softer than the occasionally violent Qi within himself.
“My name is Pei Heng, and I serve as the Minister of War,” Pei Heng said calmly, retracting his fox ears. “Back then, your mother concealed her whereabouts to protect you, and our relatives couldn’t find her no matter how hard they looked. It wasn’t until I saw you casting spells at the banquet yesterday that I confirmed you are Jingyi’s child.”
The imperial court strictly prohibited demons from holding official posts. It seemed he must have used some means in the imperial court to keep anyone from noticing.
Pei Xuan felt his mind was an absolute mess. These matters seemed both familiar and forgotten.
Frowning deeply at his expression, Pei Heng asked, “However… looking at you, it seems you’ve forgotten quite a few things.”
Pei Xuan nodded silently. “Indeed. My memories of my mother seem to have been forcibly carved away, leaving only a few fragmented pieces.”
“I see.” A flash of sorrow crossed Pei Heng’s eyes as he sighed. “It’s fine. Now that Uncle has found you, I will never let you suffer any wrongs again. Besides, for you, not remembering might actually be a blessing.”
“What do you mean?”
Pei Heng’s gentle expression gradually darkened. “Your mother… suffered far too much when she passed away.”
Pei Xuan turned pale. “Who killed her?”
Pei Heng shook his head, a painful expression on his face. “Unclear. The culprit hasn’t been found to this day. When I found Jingyi four years ago, she was covered in blood, and the tendons in her hands and feet had all been severed… and you had already been taken away.”
Pei Xuan could not recall any of these past events at all. He tried hard to conjure up memories of the past, but ultimately to no avail. If only he could remember, would he know who the murderer was?
Looking at Pei Xuan, Pei Heng reached out and patted his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember, Xuan’er. We’ll take it slow.”
Pei Heng looked up at the moonlight. “It’s getting late; I must go. I have already arranged for elite shadow guards to protect you in the surrounding area. You can entrust them with matters if needed, but you must never expose your identity as a demon.”
Pei Xuan nodded.
Shi Yue had just lain down in bed and was about to fall asleep when Shitou walked over on tiptoe and knocked on the door.
“Second Young Master.”
Shi Yue had no choice but to get up again. “Come in. What is it?”
Shitou said, “Second Young Master, you asked me to have people keep an eye on Pei Xuan. He just made a move.”
Shi Yue instantly perked up. “What happened?”
“A man in white came to see Pei Xuan just now. But the watchers were afraid of being discovered, so they stood far away and didn’t hear what was said.”
Shi Yue nodded knowingly. It was probably a family member of Pei Xuan coming to find him.
After all, even a counter-attack requires a guide.
Presumably, this person would act as Pei Xuan’s backing behind the scenes, ultimately helping Pei Xuan rise to the position of Left Chancellor.
“And!” Shitou vividly described the pair of white ears. “Second Young Master, could Pei Xuan be a demon too? Demons are very dangerous; they are both cunning and vicious.”
Shi Yue pondered this. White, fluffy ears.
It seemed this man in white should be a fox demon, which meant Pei Xuan, being his relative, was likely a fox demon as well.
“It’s fine. He is not a demon and will not harm us.”
Shi Yue spoke utter nonsense, even though he himself wasn’t entirely certain whether Pei Xuan might go berserk and harm his “master.”
Soothing him with a few words, Shi Yue said gently, “I am aware. Keep a close watch on Pei Xuan. It’s late, go back and rest.”
Shitou nodded and withdrew.
Today, Shi Yue decided to make a trip to Pingkang Lane.
In the past, he was someone given to flirting and frequenting pleasure quarters. After his rebirth, such a sudden change in disposition would inevitably raise suspicions, so Shi Yue planned to go to Pingkang Lane today to show his face and maintain appearances.
Naturally, Pei Xuan followed along with Shi Yue.
“Young Marquis truly has refined tastes, coming to such a place to carouse.”
The air in Pingkang Lane seemed laced with an alluring fragrance that made one drowsy.
Assuming his dashing and romantic air once more, Shi Yue looked like a completely different person from the one inside the estate.
Using his folding fan to tap Pei Xuan lightly on the shoulder, Shi Yue teased, “What? Do you find romantic quarters too vulgar, wasting all your capabilities?”
Still unaccustomed to his frivolous demeanor and finding it an eyesore, Pei Xuan simply lagged two steps behind.
The procuress of Pingkang Lane greeted them with a delighted face. “Oh! It’s been quite some days since I last saw the Young Marquis! What wind blew you here today?”
Shi Yue smiled warmly. “Mother, the usual private room, please.”
“Right away! We’ve just received a fresh batch of Western dancing girls, all with exquisite figures! They’re just waiting to dance for the Young Marquis!” the procuress said excitedly while leading Shi Yue upstairs.
Although dressed in guard attire, Pei Xuan possessed broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and ink-black eyebrows. The grayish-blue guard uniform gave him a unique, striking flair.
A group of women dressed in colorful gauze skirts giggled like silver bells and surrounded Pei Xuan with playful banter:
“Which family’s young master is this handsome?”
“Even the Young Marquis’s guard is so well-proportioned.”
“Come play with us.”
Looking at Pei Xuan trapped in the sea of colorful skirts, his face as dark and cold as spilled ink, with the tips of his ears flushed an abnormal red, Shi Yue couldn’t help but laugh, though he also feared that if this continued, Pei Xuan might lose his temper and slash them all with his sword.
For their safety, Shi Yue quickly stepped forward, grabbed Pei Xuan’s arm, and pulled him away from the flock of chattering women.
Opening his folding fan to half-hide his smile, leaving only a pair of smiling peach-blossom eyes visible, Shi Yue looked at him. “You spent four years in the beast arena; you must have seen plenty of this. Why are you still so flustered?”
Pei Xuan’s expression remained utterly foul, radiating a stern keep out aura.
Ceasing to tease him, Shi Yue followed the procuress into the private room.
Inside, following the procuress’s orders, the room had been made extremely comfortable, stocked with various fruits and pastries, while incense slowly burned.
Pei Xuan played the role of a guard convincingly enough in public; right then, he resumed his usual detached stance and stood off to the side.
Lying lazily on a soft couch, Shi Yue casually tossed a round grape into his mouth, caught it steadily, and said to Pei Xuan standing nearby, “No one is here. Stop acting. Sit wherever you want.”
Given a choice between sitting and standing, Pei Xuan preferred sitting, so he casually sat down on the couch beside Shi Yue.
“Did you have a good chat last night?” Shi Yue asked abruptly, swirling a wine glass in his hand.
A flash of fierce intent crossed Pei Xuan’s eyes at these words, though he quickly recovered his composure. “The Young Marquis is spying on me?”
“You had a clandestine meeting on my territory. Isn’t it normal that you were seen?”
“Then you should know the consequence of seeing it is becoming a corpse,” Pei Xuan stared at Shi Yue. “Only corpses keep secrets.”
Shi Yue lowered his gaze and smiled. “You don’t need to be so hostile toward me. Living people won’t talk either.”
Pei Xuan stared intently at him, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Shi Yue by the throat, pressing him down onto the soft couch.
Ah, choked again. Shi Yue thought to himself.
In his past life, Pei Xuan had choked him exceptionally hard, letting him feel the air gradually thinning into a sensation of impending death.
In this lifetime, however, there was almost no real strength behind it; it was merely a hand clamped around his throat pinning him onto the bed, leaving his neck slightly uncomfortable.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”
Lying back on the couch, Shi Yue raised his gaze to look at Pei Xuan, who was pressing down on top of him. Although his brows carried hostility, it seemed…
For some reason, an urge to tease him welled up in Shi Yue’s heart.
Giving a faint smile, Shi Yue raised his fingertips to touch Pei Xuan’s hand on his neck, tracing the pattern of his fingers upward until he brushed against Pei Xuan’s forearm, feeling the heat contained beneath the fabric.
“Are you going to commit patricide against your master?” Shi Yue asked, blinking unblinkingly at Pei Xuan.
Feeling that the spots touched by Shi Yue seemed to burn up, Pei Xuan felt a bit embarrassed and instinctively applied a bit more pressure.
“Ugh.”
Taken aback by the sudden force, Shi Yue frowned slightly and let out a muffled groan.
Seeing that this little madman was only choking him without saying anything else, Shi Yue pushed his arm. “Alright, get off me. Do it again and I’ll punish you.”
Pei Xuan pursed his lips and withdrew his hand.
He originally just wanted to scare him.
As Shi Yue tidied his disheveled clothes, he offered a reminder: “Remember not to expose your identity as a demon. Whatever you are plotting, I don’t care, but don’t cause trouble for the Marquis’s estate within this year.”
Shortly after, five or six female dancers in red dresses pushed open the door and entered. All of them had their faces covered in red gauze, revealing only a pair of seductive eyes and slender, fair waists.
In the past, Shi Yue hadn’t been particularly fond of watching song and dance performances either. However, although physically frail, he possessed a sharp mind.
He knew that his father held military power and his elder brother was formidable in battle, which was why acting like a prodigal son allowed him to draw away a portion of the spotlight.
He wanted to let people know that the second son of the Stable Marquis’s estate was good for nothing.
Therefore, he had maintained this persona all along so that if that day ever truly arrived, he could make opponents lower their guard.
While Shi Yue’s gaze rested on the dancers, his thoughts drifted far away.