Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 38: “I Suspect Pei Ji Has A Crush On Me!”

　　Ming Yi took the initiative to greet him, “Doctor Pei.” 

　　An Jiu, however, only glanced at the young man in white in the corridor with the corner of her eye before coldly snorting, ignoring him as she brushed past. 

　　Ming Yi felt a little embarrassed. He stood there and smiled sheepishly at Pei Ji, then quickly ran after An Jiu. 

　　Pei Ji responded with a smile, and lowered his eyes calmly, as if he didn't care about it. 

　　The beautiful and well-matched couple gradually walked away, and he could still hear their conversation faintly from behind. 

　　“An Jiu, why didn't you talk to Doctor Pei?”

　　“What do I have to talk to him about?”

　　“Didn't you come together?” 

　　“I didn't come with him! I came with Brother He. I'm not familiar with him, don't mention him in front of me!” The girl couldn't help but raise her voice. 

　　“Okay, okay, I won't mention him. I won't say a word, don't be angry.”

　　“……”

　　Their voices faded into the distance, eventually disappearing. 

　　Pei Ji's lips unconsciously formed a straight line. 

　　The girl's fleeting face flashed before his eyes. She must have just finished exercising; her flawless, fair face was tinged with a light blush, like a blooming peach blossom. 

　　It made him unconsciously recall her sleeping in his arms that morning. 

　　But she wasn't as docile as she was in her sleep. This time, the glance she gave him was cold and dismissive, as if he were some disgusting thing. 

　　He shouldn't care. Her attitude towards ‘Pei Ji’ wouldn't affect his plans. 

　　Besides, wasn't he trying to create distance between them? 

　　He had achieved his goal; he should be happy. 

　　Even so, remembering the girl's disgusted look, his heart felt like it had been lightly cut by a small knife, a slight pain throbbing in his chest. 

　　Pei Ji frowned slightly, raising his hand to press against his chest. 

　　Had the poison spread so quickly? 

　　Most of the potent poison he'd been afflicted with had originally been concentrated in his legs. However, with the recovery of his meridians and his resumption of martial arts training, the poison was rapidly spreading throughout his body.

　　In his past life, it was this poison that drove him mad in a short time. 

　　Pei Ji had known for a long time that the poison he carried was one of the deadliest in the world, virtually incurable. 

　　If left untreated, continuing to live as an invalid as he had before, he would die at most by the age of thirty. 

　　If he forced himself to practice martial arts, he would die within a year or two from increasingly frequent poison attacks. 

　　In short, the better his martial arts, the smoother his meridians and blood flow, the faster he would die. 

　　This was his inescapable fate. 

　　But this time, he would live a long and healthy life. 

　　“Young master, why are you out again?” A voice called from behind—it was Ah Qi. 

　　Pei Ji's expression was calm. “I came out for some air.” 

　　“You've been ‘getting some air’ several times already,” Ah Qi muttered, taking hold of the wheelchair's handles and slowly pushing it towards the room. He continued earnestly, “Young master, you only… last night. You need to rest properly these next few days, take care of your body, and be careful not to catch a cold.”

　　Pausing, Ah Qi seemed to suddenly remember something and gossiped, “By the way, young master, I just saw An Jiu with that pretty boy who lives next door to her. Young master, that pretty boy really is the son of the Wang Ming, isn't he?” 

　　Ah Qi didn't have a good impression of Ming Yi. It wasn't prejudice, exactly, but he'd always disliked the pampered sons and daughters of wealthy families. 

　　He had originally been a young servant boy for a rich family's young master. That young master, at a very young age, was already cruel-hearted, making the five-year-old Ah Qi crawl on the ground like a dog, drink his urine, and even, out of curiosity, forcing Ah Qi to eat insects and centipedes. 

　　Children are often innocent yet cruel, especially when surrounded by people who indulge them. He simply didn't understand the meaning of moderation. 

　　Ah Qi was, to put it plainly, more of a plaything to the young master than a servant. 

　　During those years, when he was just beginning to understand things, all the memories of torment were deeply imprinted in his mind and remained unforgettable to this day. 

　　Later, that family was robbed. The robbers stole the family's money, killed the father and son, and kidnapped the women of the household.

　　The entire mansion was a scene of carnage, with corpses everywhere and screams filling the air. 

　　That year, Ah Qi was only seven years old. He watched helplessly as the young master was held up by the robbers. The young master, who was usually so arrogant and haughty, trembled with fear, his body shaking, tears and snot streaming down his face. 

　　Terror-stricken, he pointed at Ah Qi and said to the robbers, “It's him! I'm not the young master; he is! If you're going to catch someone, catch him!” 

　　The robbers sneered, “You little brat, do you think we're blind?” 

　　The boy who was being pointed at was thin and gaunt, with red welts across his face and body. He was dressed in extremely plain clothes; he looked nothing like a young master. 

　　The robbers swiftly and decisively killed the young master, right in front of Ah Qi. With a single stroke of the knife, a head rolled to the ground, spilling blood all over the floor.

　　The young master's head rolled to Ah Qi's feet. Ah Qi froze, too terrified to move, his small body stiff as a post. 

　　A robber with a large beard and a weather-beaten face glanced at Ah Qi, his gaze indifferent, as if he were looking at a stray cat on the roadside. 

　　He didn't kill him, didn't even say a word, just swaggered away. 

　　Ah Qi never forgot that day. When there wasn't a single living soul left in the vast mansion, he stood before the young master's head, his shoes sticky with blood, and only one feeling remained in his heart: 

　　Relief. 

　　Later, he wandered the streets, eventually ending up in the Medicine King Valley, where he was taken in by his young master. 

　　Ah Qi always felt that he and his young master were a divinely matched master and servant. 

　　His young master wasn't a good person, and neither was he; he was a bad seed, just as the former young master had called him back then: a born lowlife, a rat in the gutter. 

　　“That kid being around...will it affect our plans?” Ah Qi whispered. 

　　Ah Qi had been away from Jinshe Villa for the past two days, carrying out the orders given by his young master. 

　　His young master had said he wanted to steal that divine skill manual, so he had to make the necessary preparations.

　　As for how to steal it—why steal it when they could get it legitimately?—Ah Qi didn't ask, simply doing as he was told. 

　　Ahead, Pei Ji's gentle voice, calm and even, carried on the breeze: “Don't worry about him. He won't be a problem.”

　　Ah Qi asked, “How come I've never heard of Wang Ming having a son like that before?” 

　　Pei Ji replied, “Wang Ming resides mostly in his fiefdom. Ming Yi is his youngest son, sent to the capital as a hostage. He's not well-known.” 

　　Ah Qi's eyes twinkled. “In other words, this kid isn't very important at home, right?” 

　　Pei Ji slightly tilted his head. “While he's not particularly valued, he has Xuan Yi Wei Guards protecting him. Don't act rashly.” 

　　Ah Qi disappointedly pouted, then said casually, “Young Master's overthinking things. I wouldn't do anything like that.” 

　　He had originally planned to cause a little trouble, to teach that kid a lesson, but Pei Ji's words had extinguished that thought. 

　　Ah Qi noticed that Pei Ji had gone out several times that morning to look around, clearly waiting for someone. 

　　Although Pei Ji stubbornly refused to admit it, Ah Qi considered himself sharp-eyed and knew he wasn't mistaken. 

　　That was Pei Ji's one flaw: he kept everything bottled up inside.

　　Previously, Ah Qi had noticed that Pei Ji was unusually tolerant and accommodating towards An Jiu, his attitude vastly different and even more considerate than he was towards Miss Qingyan—otherwise, how could he have misunderstood their relationship? 

　　Since An Jiu was the person his young master liked, Ming Yi's continued pursuit of her was simply audacious. 

　　Unfortunately, that kid had Xuan Yi Wei Guards around him, making it difficult to act. 

　　Ah Qi shook his head helplessly, feeling quite regretful. 

　　Time flew by, and soon night fell, the lights of evening began to shine. 

　　An Jiu didn't come out for either lunch or dinner; she had the villa's servants deliver the meals to her room. She wasn't seen all day, her avoidance blatant and obvious. 

　　Pei Ji couldn't understand why she was avoiding him like the plague. 

　　If it was because he had hurt her, he had applied medicine to her wounds at the time. That alone shouldn't have caused such a drastic change in her attitude. 

　　Could it be that she actually remembered what happened last night? Was she pretending not to remember? 

　　At this possibility, Pei Ji's gaze suddenly sharpened. 

　　If she dared to deceive him… 

　　A sharp, sudden sound.

　　A faint sound of flapping wings came from outside the window. Pei Ji subconsciously looked over, his eyes shifting slightly. 

　　She hadn't sent him any messages on the journey from Pinglan City to the Jinshe Villa; ‘Fei Yi’ hadn't received a single letter in days. 

　　Alone in the room, Pei Ji didn't bother to hide his actions. He walked over and opened the window. 

　　A familiar owl messenger perched on the window frame, its feathers strangely ruffled, staring at him unblinkingly. 

　　Ignoring the owl, Pei Ji reached out and emptied the bamboo tube, revealing a letter. 

　　The paper contained a single line: [Fei Yi, are you near me?] 

　　He fell silent, surprised by the brevity of the message. 

　　Owl messengers were rare; each one required significant manpower and resources to train. They were typically used to transmit only the most crucial information within the Qiānshā Pavilion. 

　　Yet An Jiu used them for…nonsense. 

　　While in Pinglan City, she had spent every night sending him frivolous messages. Now, in Jinshe Villa, surrounded by martial artists, further communication risked exposure. 

　　With this in mind, Pei Ji picked up his pen and replied. 

　　[I am here. There are too many eyes and ears here; don't send messages unless it's important.] 

　　After sending the letter, the owl quickly returned. 

　　[Ah, okay, but I have something very important to tell you!] 

　　His grip on the letter tightened, his knuckles whitening.

　　So, she really did remember… 

　　Things she wouldn't say to Pei Ji, she couldn't hide from her beloved ‘Fei Yi.’ 

　　The young man in white had a gloomy look in his eyes and slowly wrote on the paper: [What important matter?] 

　　Before sending the message, Pei Ji was already considering how to deal with her. And if she hadn't forgotten, why pretend she did? 

　　Did she have another plan? 

　　Two sharp taps. The returning owl pecked at the wooden window, pulling Pei Ji back to the present. 

　　He slowly unfolded the letter; the thin paper felt unexpectedly heavy. 

　　[Do you know I have someone named Pei Ji around me? The one with the decent medical skills, the cripple? I've discovered a big secret!] 

　　Pei Ji's pupils constricted. He closed his eyes, and then wrote again. 

　　[What secret?] 

　　He wrote the words with such force, they almost tore through the paper.　　 

　　If he wasn't certain she didn't know his identity, Pei Ji would suspect she was deliberately teasing him, leaving him hanging. 

　　After a long wait, he saw the owl slowly flying back with a reply. Pei Ji quickly took out the letter.

　　Pei Ji noticed that every time he sent a message, the reply was always delayed. He couldn't understand it. She wasn't writing poetry that required careful wording; why the delay? 

　　His patience exhausted, he opened the letter decisively. A line of ink immediately pierced his eyes like a sharp sword.　　 

　　[I suspect Pei Ji has a crush on me!]

 

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Author's Note: I'm totally stringing you along, Pei Pei~

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