Cui Sheng's face paled dramatically. He said firmly, "You didn't see anything just now!"
Fu Li showed a look of disgust. "Do you think I'm blind?"
The two of them stared at each other wordlessly for a while.
Fu Li's expression turned solemn. He threw the tray in his hand and turned around, running as fast as he could towards the Western Garden.
While running, he didn't forget to shout at the top of his voice, "Come quickly! The Jiang couple has run away!"
Cui Sheng stumbled and almost fell.
He bent down to pick up the tray and threw it hard at the back of Fu Li's head.
"Thud!"
Fu Li rolled his eyes and fainted.
Cui Sheng was out of breath from running. He leaned on his waist and glared at the students who were watching the commotion.
"What are you all looking at? Go back and do your morning reading!"
—
There was a constant stream of people in front of the Cui's Academy today.
Pei Zhaolin was dressed in a black brocade robe. His figure was tall and straight. His eyebrows were like distant mountains, and his nose was straight, outlining a handsome profile. His thin lips were tightly pursed. Today, he had tied up his long black hair, and a few strands of loose hair fell on his forehead, adding a touch of unruliness to him.
Standing in front of the vermilion-painted gate, the wide sleeves of his robe were lifted by the hot wind.
Behind him, an elder of the Cui family stood on one side, stroking his beard.
The elder thought that Lord Pei seemed to have dressed up deliberately today.
But after looking at him from all angles, he felt that he looked quite normal.
Normally, the son of a deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue wouldn't be worthy of the elder's personal reception.
But he heard that Lord Pei had been standing at the academy gate since early this morning.
"My lord, Miss Cui's carriage is already outside the street—"
Before the Black Armored Soldier could finish his sentence, a shrill sound of suona pierced the sky.
A dozen coffin bearers in mourning clothes carried a black lacquered coffin and walked quickly towards them. The leading drummer, with a painted face, played the tune of "The Bridge of Helplessness" in a shrill and ear-piercing way.
At the same time, a cloud of dust rose on the official road opposite, and a convoy of carriages was slowly approaching.
Riding in the front was that particularly annoying Yan Liangwen.
"Stop the carriage!" Yan Liangwen waved his hand.
Frowning, he stared at the funeral procession blocking the way.
"What bad luck! Hurry up and make way for this young master!"
Suddenly, something unexpected happened.
One of the hemp ropes on the coffin broke, and the coffin tilted and hit the bluestone on the side of the road, making a dull "thud" sound.
The maids standing in front of the sedan chair were so frightened that they immediately let go of the glass lanterns in their hands.
The flying fragments cut the cheek of another maid, and the blood slid down her cheek.
The pain made her scream and dodge. The horse was startled and reared up on its two front hooves.
The Black Armored Soldiers hurriedly drew their swords, looking around but not knowing who to stop.
In the chaos, a white figure flashed by.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Cui Jintang sneaked up to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and crawled in!
Zhu Er quickly reached out to hold her boots and threw her in.
Then he turned around, took out the big knife from his waist, and showed a ferocious look.
Waving the knife, he roared, "Let's see who dares to take a step forward!"
"Clink."
A very soft sound of metal colliding made all the noise stop for a moment.
The plain-colored umbrella made an arc in the sun. As the umbrella ribs turned, the clouds on the umbrella seemed to be flowing.
Three willow-leaf darts were thrown out from under the umbrella and accurately nailed into the coffin. The handles of the darts were still trembling.
The funeral person who was about to fight with Yan Liangwen with a crossbar in his hand watched the willow-leaf dart fly past his tiger's mouth and then be firmly nailed into the coffin.
Looking at the blood beads oozing from his tiger's mouth, the crossbar in his hand fell to the ground with a "clang".
Pei Zhaolin walked forward slowly with the umbrella in his hand. The hem of his brocade robe swept over the bloodstains but remained spotless.
The umbrella always hung down, covering half of his face, only showing his cold and angular jaw.
"Pa."
He turned the umbrella and hit the wrist of another troublemaker.
When the troublemaker bent down in pain, Pei Zhaolin had already turned to the next target.
All the people on both sides who were about to fight with things in their hands were knocked down by Pei Zhaolin with the umbrella.
The street returned to silence.
A strange silence.
Everyone watched him slowly walk to the carriage with the umbrella in his hand.
The plain-colored umbrella was slowly lifted.
Beside the green-curtained carriage on the street corner, the curtain of the carriage moved slightly.
Pei Zhaolin unconsciously rubbed his fingertips around the umbrella handle.
"I'm sorry to have scared Miss Cui."
His voice was hoarser than usual, with a hint of bewitching.
When the curtain of the carriage was lifted, a strand of hair flew up and brushed against Pei Zhaolin's cuff.
He silently took a half step to the side, slightly raising the umbrella to block the sunlight leaking from the eaves for her.
Cui Jintang covered her face and poked her head out of the carriage.
She showed a smile to Pei Zhaolin.
Her voice was gentle. "Thank you, Lord Pei."
When she was about to get out of the carriage, Pei Zhaolin quickly reached out his right hand to help her.
Cui Jintang's eyes flickered slightly.
She looked at the funeral people kneeling on the ground in pain in the mess, and then at the man under the umbrella with a cold profile, but who always looked away and blushed when looking at her.
When Pei Zhaolin met Cui Jintang's gaze, he lowered his head slightly. The black iron ring on his finger knocked on the umbrella handle, making a clear "click".
He froze.
Then, his ears turned even redder.
He looked at Cui Jintang with a look of regret.
"I... I didn't mean to."
He carefully reached out his hand, as if afraid of breaking a fragile treasure. As soon as his fingertips touched Cui Jintang's sleeve, he immediately retracted it as if he had been burned.
Then he pursed his lips in annoyance.
Cui Jintang raised her eyebrows.
She nodded slightly, took Pei Zhaolin's hand, and slowly got out of the carriage.
Then, Pei Zhaolin tensed up.
His arm was as stiff as if it had been frozen, and he even held his breath, for fear that he would accidentally let Cui Jintang step on her skirt or bump into something.
It wasn't until Cui Jintang stepped firmly on the ground that he seemed to suddenly come to his senses and let out a long breath.
Everyone on the scene unconsciously focused their attention on them.
Pei Zhaolin held the umbrella and gently put his arm around her waist to help her step down steadily.
Sensing the scrutinizing gazes of others, he slightly raised his head and swept his eyes across the people huddled on the side of the street—
"Had enough of watching?"
A cold glance scared everyone to immediately lower their heads and pretend they saw nothing.
But as soon as he turned around and faced Cui Jintang, his expression immediately softened. He even unconsciously reached out his hand, wanting to help her tidy up the hair on her temples that had been messed up by the wind.
—But he stopped in mid-air. Finally, he just coughed lightly and turned his face away to cover up his embarrassment.
On the side, Yan Liangwen, who had witnessed everything, was speechless.
Yan Liangwen was a bit frustrated. Sitting high on his horse, he pointed at Pei Zhaolin. "Lord Pei, you're being a bit too much of a show-off and too discriminatory, aren't you?!"
Cui Jintang under the umbrella nodded in agreement.
When she was Jiang Wu, how could she have gotten such kind words and good attitudes from Pei Zhaolin!
Pei Zhaolin frowned. He impatiently glanced at Yan Liangwen and coldly scolded, "I don't understand what Young Master Yan is talking about."