Yan Liangwen rolled his eyes neatly.
They were all men. What was the point of pretending?
An elder of the Cui Clan stepped forward, sizing up Cui Jintang with her face half - covered. A puzzled look crossed his face. "This young lady looks very familiar. Right, you said just now that the young lady also has the surname Cui?"
Cui Jintang gave a start.
She coughed lightly.
Zhu Er behind her quickly stepped forward and explained, "Our young lady has had a sore throat these days and can hardly speak."
The elder of the Cui Clan let out an "eh".
He pointed at Zhu Er, who was also wearing half a mask, and said in surprise, "I also find you very familiar!"
Zhu Er: "..."
Zhu Er twitched the corners of his mouth. Having run out of ideas, he explained with a bitter smile, "Maybe I have an ordinary face. Haha."
The elder of the Cui Clan hissed but still didn't give up. "But..."
Cui Jintang quickly coughed twice in a low voice.
Sure enough, it caught Pei Zhaolin's attention.
His brows remained furrowed. "Fu Li said you're still ill. Go inside quickly."
With that, regardless of the elder of the Cui Clan, who was still trying to figure out why they looked so familiar, Pei Zhaolin helped her and walked into the academy.
Zhu Er behind them immediately followed.
As he walked, he tried to avoid the scrutinizing eyes of the elder of the Cui Clan.
Yan Liangwen, who had been ignored the whole time: "..."
Was he someone with such low presence?
Unable to vent his anger, he felt even angrier when he saw the two disorderly teams.
"Look where you're going! Get out of here quickly!"
The funeral procession angrily packed up their things and blew their suonas as they walked out.
If it weren't for their young lady, they would have started scolding long ago.
-
To show that Cui Jintang was haunted by nightmares and thus suffering from nervous breakdown,
Cui Sheng specially prepared a simple and elegant gauze dress for her.
There was only a silver hairpin in her hair. Her face was covered with a veil, revealing only a pair of lively eyes.
Yan Liangwen somehow rushed over and suspiciously sized her up from head to toe. "I remember the dress you wore before getting on the carriage was different."
Cui Jintang's eyelids twitched wildly.
She grabbed Yan Liangwen's lapel and pinned him against the wall. Her face was still angry. "I'm very angry with you right now. You'd better shut up from now on!"
Yan Liangwen silently closed his mouth.
Pei Zhaolin, who had just gone out for a while, came back and saw this scene.
Just seeing the two of them standing so close made Pei Zhaolin feel extremely uncomfortable.
He had an urge to rush over and throw Yan Liangwen out.
However, his reason told him that he didn't seem to have a proper identity to interfere.
Nevertheless, his eyes still involuntarily drifted towards the two of them.
Pei Zhaolin walked over and sat down.
The elder of the Cui Clan joked, "It seems that Young Master Yan and Miss Cui have a good relationship?"
Pei Zhaolin frowned and said in a deep voice, "It concerns the young lady's reputation. Elder, don't talk nonsense!"
The elder of the Cui Clan stroked his beard and laughed twice.
Pei Zhaolin felt a surge of inexplicable annoyance and jealousy, which made him more uncomfortable than ever before.
Just as Pei Zhaolin was consumed by jealousy and his mind was in turmoil, Fu Li, in a sorry state, gasped as he rushed in from outside. His face was full of anxiety.
"Sir! The Jiang couple were let go by that Cui Sheng!"
Fortunately, he knew a little about picking locks, so he was able to escape successfully.
Pei Zhaolin's expression turned cold, and a chill emanated from his body. "When did this happen?"
"About half an hour ago!"
Pei Zhaolin's face darkened, and the air around him suddenly turned cold, like the calm before a storm.
"Block all the exits of the city. We mustn't let the two of them leave!"
Looking in a hurry, he even took a large group of black - armored soldiers with him when he left.
Cui Jintang just casually asked, "What happened?"
Fu Li quickly replied, "A couple ran away secretly. Sir is going to arrest them."
"Oh, it's none of our business."
Yan Liangwen responded and said half - heartedly as he pulled Cui Jintang, "I heard the Qinghe Wine here is good. How about..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the person in front of him suddenly rolled her eyes and went limp.
Everyone around rushed to support her in a hurry.
Amidst the messy hands, Cui Jintang accurately grabbed Zhu Er's hand.
"I'm dizzy. Help me go back and rest quickly!"
Zhu Er looked serious and pushed aside the overly enthusiastic crowd.
The elder of the Cui Clan had just started to say, "Cui Da, show the two honored guests the way..."
When he looked up again, he found that Cui Jintang had already dragged Zhu Er and was striding towards the backyard.
Suspicion grew in the elder's eyes.
-
Cui Jintang quickly returned to the wing - room arranged by Cui Sheng and hurriedly changed back into a woman's outfit.
She quickly pulled out the hairpin, let her hair down, and then re - coiled it into a woman's bun.
She then dusted some ash on her face to make herself look listless.
Without waiting to hear Cui Sheng's apology, she casually broke into Pei Zhaolin's Xiyuan.
Just as she ran into Pei Zhaolin, Cui Jintang immediately protected the food in her hands and stared at Pei Zhaolin warily.
Pei Zhaolin looked at the couple with their arms full of food and frowned tightly.
He said coldly, "Mrs. Jiang, don't tell me that the two of you went through so much trouble to escape just for this bit of food?"
Cui Jintang shrank her neck timidly and weakly retorted, "Food is the paramount necessity of the people. Why is it impossible?"
Pei Zhaolin was obviously angered into laughter.
He strode forward, grabbed Cui Jintang's slender neck, and pinned her against the wall. His voice was cold and full of killing intent.
"I've warned you."
He slowly increased his strength and watched as Cui Jintang's face turned red. "If you run away again, I'll lock you up in prison."
Cui Jintang instinctively beat at his hand. Her breathing had become extremely difficult.
She hoarsely roared, "I... I didn't run away!"
Zhu Er threw the food in his hand and struck at Pei Zhaolin with his hand like a blade.
A hint of cruelty flashed across Pei Zhaolin's face.
He dodged to the side with Cui Jintang in his arms, then kicked back at the injured part of Zhu Er.
With another heavy push, just as Cui Jintang was about to suffocate, he suddenly let go and threw her out violently.
Cui Jintang collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud, completely drained of strength.
Pei Zhaolin looked down at the two of them from above. His voice was cold. "I don't care how the two of you escaped, but if there's a next time, I won't spare your lives."
In Pei Zhaolin's view, the appearance of this woman was too coincidental, and she even knew about the pigeons of the Censorate. So she must be someone sent by a certain powerful official in the capital to monitor his trip.
Previously, he didn't know the identity of the person behind this woman, so it was okay to just leave her alone for a while.
But no one could be sure whether this woman had contacted the capital when she disappeared just now.
Cui Jintang covered her neck and coughed violently with her head down.
It felt as if her lungs were on fire.
"Lock them up in prison and give them severe punishment."
Cui Jintang hurriedly looked up. Her voice was weak with anxiety. "You can't lock me up!"