Huang Zuoshi, standing to one side, silently covered his face with his sleeve.
The gatekeeper waved his hand and said, "Get going once you've finished talking. Don't stand in front of the gate and ruin people's mood."
With that, he slammed the gate shut right in front of Pei Zhaolin's face.
A vein on Pei Zhaolin's temple twitched slightly.
He heard Huang Zuoshi's cautious inquiry in his ear, "… My lord, are you alright?"
Pei Zhaolin felt that he was far from alright at the moment.
Inside the gate, the gatekeeper heaved a sigh of relief and patted his chest in fear.
Zhu Er, who had been hiding to one side and heard everything, smilingly took out a silver ingot as a reward.
"Uncle Zhang, from now on, whenever Lord Pei comes, just shut the gate and send him away like you did today!"
The gatekeeper's eyes widened at the sight of the silver ingot. He quickly took it and replied, "Yes, I understand!"
Zhu Er peeked through the crack in the gate at Pei Zhaolin's departing back and snorted triumphantly.
This could be considered a small punishment and humiliation for him for bullying their young lady!
Zhu Er happily walked towards the back courtyard, but was stunned to hear an earth - shattering piece of bad news.
"Go and pack up. Young Master Yan will set off with us for Yingchou Gorge tomorrow," Cui Jintang said calmly.
"Ah?" Zhu Er was completely bewildered.
He turned his head and saw Yan Liangwen, who was over - elated, laughing heartily with his fan in hand.
A Xun, who was being annoyed by the noise, desperately covered her ears and ran out of the house.
… In such a short time, what kind of agreement had Yan Liangwen reached with the young lady?
This Yan Liangwen was a playboy. In fact, he was even worse than Lord Pei!
---
It started to rain on the way back to the Pei Mansion.
The air was stuffy after the rain, which only added to the annoyance.
When Pei Zhaolin returned to the Pei Mansion, the lanterns hanging under the eaves were half - soaked by the rain.
Fa Cai was attracted by the flower shadows on the lanterns. It stretched out its paw to hook them, and then shook its paw repeatedly after its fur got wet by the rain.
Pei Zhaolin walked through the corridor with his hands behind his back. Hearing the sound, Fa Cai stopped licking its fur, raised its head, and meowed softly at him.
Pei Zhaolin stroked its head.
The rain kept falling outside the corridor. After listening to it for a long time, it seemed extremely peaceful.
Suddenly, there was a very soft sound from behind—
It was like a cat treading on tiles, soft and fragmented.
Pei Zhaolin didn't even lift his eyelids. Holding the cat with one hand, he just tapped his toe, and the sword at his waist instantly unsheathed three inches.
The next moment, a black shadow pounced down from the beam. When the swords clashed, there was a humming sound.
Pei Zhaolin spun around, stepped aside, and twisted his waist. The sword scabbard flew out of his hand with great force towards the black - clothed man's chest.
The black - clothed man folded his body in mid - air and retreated again and again with his long sword.
Suddenly, the black - clothed man's back hit the red pillar. In a panic, he dodged, and the long sword scratched across one side of his shoulder.
The long sword stabbed into the red pillar, instantly shattering a piece of the wood.
The black - clothed man was terrified. When he turned his head, Pei Zhaolin was like a ghost. He grabbed the man's neck. With a slight force, he could break the black - clothed man's neck.
"Tell me, who sent you?" Pei Zhaolin's voice was colder than the rain.
After a moment of stunned silence, the black - clothed man suddenly let out a low laugh and reached up to pull off his mask—
Under the mask was a steady face with a majestic look in his eyes. It was the current emperor.
The emperor pinched the sword tip with two fingers and didn't care about the cut on his shoulder. "If I hadn't spoken out, were you really going to assassinate the emperor?"
Pei Zhaolin's pupils shrank suddenly, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
Fa Cai in his arms also jumped down and squatted beside Pei Zhaolin's feet.
"I wouldn't dare, Your Majesty," Pei Zhaolin said hoarsely. "I thought there was a thief breaking in just now. In the moment of urgency, I accidentally hurt Your Majesty."
The emperor coughed twice, reached up to touch his neck, and smiled calmly. "It's all right. I just wanted to test your martial arts tonight. I won't blame you for offending your superior."
After saying that, the emperor glanced at Fa Cai, and a flash of disgust quickly passed through his eyes. "Do you know that in recent days, robbers have raided seven families on the pipeline. Each family was a tragic case of blood flowing like a river. But no one reported it to the authorities. There's something strange about this. I want you to investigate secretly."
Pei Zhaolin lowered his eyes and replied neither over - deferentially nor over - assertively. "The Censorate has always been in charge of investigating cases of unfairness among officials. The matter of robbers robbing houses should be fully investigated by local government officials. Your Majesty, I have no reason to investigate."
The emperor looked at him. "I was very satisfied with Lord Pei's investigation of the case where Concubine Rong colluded with court officials in embezzlement a few days ago."
"I think you've been in the position of the Censorate for a long time. It's time for you to be promoted."
After saying that, the emperor reached out and patted Pei Zhaolin's shoulder, but accidentally pulled the wound on his shoulder. His expression showed a moment of discomfort due to the pain.
Pei Zhaolin remained unmoved. He was just about to decline. "Your Majesty, I still think this matter is inappropriate—"
"I'm tired today," the emperor interrupted him. "Lord Pei, you don't need to follow me. I came here in black tonight and don't want to attract attention."
"… I obey your order," Pei Zhaolin said.
The emperor was satisfied.
Before leaving, the emperor seemed to suddenly remember something. "These seven families seem to be all in Wenling. Lord Pei, you can set off tomorrow. Don't delay."
Pei Zhaolin bowed. "Yes."
The emperor in black disappeared into the night rain in a short while.
Pei Zhaolin stood there, lost in thought.
It wasn't until Fa Cai gently rubbed against his boots that Pei Zhaolin came back to his senses.
He bent down and picked up Fa Cai again.
--- Maybe it was just Pei Zhaolin's illusion, but he always felt that the emperor didn't come to the Pei Mansion just because of the robbers tonight.
The Censorate always had the most accurate information.
Even Pei Zhaolin only knew about a robbery that happened in the capital on the street today.
But the emperor said that in Wenling, a place under the jurisdiction of the local government, there were seven extremely tragic cases committed by robbers?
But for the moment, Pei Zhaolin couldn't think of any other reason.
Pei Zhaolin sighed.
"Since I can't see Miss Cui for the time being, I might as well go to Wenling first."
Fa Cai purred comfortably as he stroked its chin. It squinted its eyes and meowed softly.
Luo Xiang, who had been hiding in the dark, leaned tightly against a red pillar like someone who had survived a disaster and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
It wasn't until Pei Zhaolin left that Luo Xiang showed up.
---
"If anyone asks during our trip to Yingchou Gorge, just say that you and I are siblings and we're going there specifically to look for good jade materials," Cui Jintang said.
Yan Liangwen frowned. "Why siblings? It should clearly be brother and sister!"
"If you hadn't insisted on following, do you think I would need to think about such things as siblings?" Cui Jintang replied calmly with a cold face.
"…" Yan Liangwen fell silent.
The next second, someone knocked on the carriage from outside.
Cui Jintang immediately put on a smiling face, lifted the curtain, and called sweetly, "A Xun."
Yan Liangwen stared at her in astonishment, his mouth wide open and his lips twitching. Then he was glared at by Cui Jintang.
He turned his head away discontentedly and murmured in a low voice, "I've helped you so much, but I never hear you talk to me nicely."