His highness's Allure - Chap 91
Only under the dim moonlight could Shen Shijiu see the person in front of him clearly.
“L-Lord Pei…
He still looked completely terrified as he tightly clutched one of Pei Zheng’s sleeves, and carefully peeked behind him.
“I-is it just you… is there something else behind you…”
“What are you talking about?”
Pei Zheng was confused, and also turned his head to look.
The space behind them was completely empty, save for the soft moonlight spilled over the ground.
Shen Shijiu wore an earnest expression, and he whispered, “Shifu says you have to be more careful when you go out at night, and when you meet a person you don’t know, you absolutely cannot talk to them, because…”
Shen Shijiu’s eyes flared, and bared his teeth at Pei Zheng, “They might not even be a person at all… Grr1…”
Pei Zheng looked at Shen Shijiu, who was trying to scare him. His face was completely expressionless, though his brows crinkled slightly, “Quit joking around.”
Shen Shijiu said indignantly, “It’s true! Shifu wouldn’t lie to me! Why don’t you believe it?!”
That pair of eyes looked very sincere and innocent, so it should’ve been a piece of cake to get people to believe what he was saying.
But Pei Zheng took a step closer and suddenly lifted his hand.
Shen Shijiu subconsciously dodged backward.
That long, slender finger only tapped Shen Shijiu’s little head.
“Do you have some issues up here?”
Upon hearing these words, Shen Shijiu’s expression changed. He pursed his lips, refusing to speak, before averting his gaze.
Upon seeing his reaction, Pei Zheng came to his own conclusion.
“Looks like you do.”
“I don’t…” Shen Shijiu muttered sulkily, “I’m very smart… Smarter than a lot of people… Hmph… you’re all big dum-“
These were clearly thoughts that were secretly hidden in the back of his mind, but his mouth simply blurted them aloud, his cheeks puffed with anger.
Pei Zheng stared at the side of his face, and was lost in thought for a moment. Many scenes flashed through his memory in a steady stream; he froze in place, unable to break free.
“Lord Pei, Lord Pei… If you’re going to ignore me, I’ll be going back to bed now.”
Shen Shijiu called for him many times but still didn’t receive an answer, so he simply bowed, turned around, and was about to head back, when his arm was suddenly grabbed from behind.
“Lord Pei, I’m very sleepy. Whatever you have to say to me, can you make it quick?”
Shen Shijiu opened his mouth wide in a yawn. His eyes were watery, and shone brightly in the darkness.
Pei Zheng tugged him along without speaking, and began to walk in the opposite direction.
Shen Shijiu was dragged away in a daze. The hand that was pulling his arm slowly slid downward, and those cool fingers wrapped around his slender wrist, gripping it tightly.
Shen Shijiu’s head was foggy; did Pei Zheng have some orders for him? He was both sleepy and hungry, and his stomach growled twice.
He was so startled that his sleepiness was immediately washed away, and he pressed his other hand over his sunken belly. Upon seeing that Pei Zheng didn’t show any reaction to the sound, he was secretly thankful.
Thank goodness His Lordship didn’t hear it, that would have been too embarrassing.
Pei Zheng pulled Shen Shijiu all the way out of the gate of the Prime Minister’s Manor, and they arrived at the main street of the Imperial City.
Although it was already nighttime, there were still many vendors and customers doing business; it was a lively, bustling city that never slept.
Shen Shijiu had entered the palace, and was then transferred to the Prime Minister’s Manor, so it had been a long time since he had gone to the street, seen so many people, and smelled such clean air.
The wind blew, cooling the air slightly, but Shen Shijiu was so happy that his eyes curved into crescents.
“My Lord, have we come out to play?”
His tone was full of joy and excitement as he looked at Pei Zheng and blinked.
“Turn your head.”
Pei Zheng’s voice was cold and thin.
Shen Shijiu was confused, but he obediently turned his head away and stopped looking at Pei Zheng.
“Is this… fine…”
“Mm.” Pei Zheng took a breath.
He didn’t know what was going on with himself either. He had originally planned to go drinking by himself tonight. But after a chance encounter with this little apprentice, Pei Zheng ended up bringing him along.
“Don’t look at me anymore.”
Shen Shijiu felt aggrieved; did he really make His Lordship angry? But he had only ever seen His Lordship a handful of times in all, and he had even treated His Lordship’s injuries; how could he become so hostile all of a sudden?
“Got it…”
Pei Zheng had long since let go of Shen Shijiu’s wrist, and walked forward alone.
Shen Shijiu was still standing there dumbly, not knowing if he should follow or not.
Pei Zheng walked a few steps further away and realized that there was no little figure following him. He turned and saw Shen Shijiu standing there stupidly, looking at him. As soon as their eyes met, Shen Shijiu hurriedly turned his head away in a panic.
“Aren’t you going to come over?’
Shen Shijiu “oh’d”, and only then did he run over with small, stumbling steps.
Pei Zheng continued to walk along the busy street. He was tall and had long legs; one of his steps was equal to two of Shen Shijiu’s, so the smaller man had no choice but to alternate between walking and running and try his best to keep up behind him.
After walking for a while, Pei Zheng stopped in front of a lively pavilion2.
Shen Shijiu also stopped, stood behind Pei Zheng, and looked up.
This pavilion was beautifully decorated, and the inside was brightly lit. From time to time, the scent of incense laced with the sound of laughter would drift out, which captured people’s fascination.
The door to the pavilion was open, and many people were wandering in and out.
Shen Shijiu sighed inwardly; this place was still so busy at such a late hour; his shifu should learn a thing or two. How could other people’s businesses be doing so well, while his shifu‘s clinic already looked like it had been closed down?
Pei Zheng walked inside, and Shen Shijiu quickly followed.
The moment they walked inside, a pretty youth dressed in a silky pink robe appeared out of nowhere, flaunting his beauty and approaching Pei Zheng. Yet he couldn’t even get close before he was forced to retreat by a cold glance from Pei Zheng.
At this time, another man in pink came over. He was a little surprised when he saw Pei Zheng by the door, and quickly plastered a courteous smile over his face.
In the past, he and the rest of his pavilion had been ordered to disappear from the Imperial City; the officers and soldiers that were sent to drive them away had stayed by the door for a long while, to make sure they complied.
But just as he was about to pack up his belongings and leave, those officers and soldiers all withdrew, saying that something had happened to their superior, His Lordship, and that they wouldn’t be managing the city’s affairs anymore.
So not long after, the pavilion reopened its doors for business.
“Lord Pei, how did you find the time to come here today? Are you by yourself?”
Shen Shijiu poked his head out from behind Pei Zheng at this moment, peeking out to size up the pink-clad man.
That man laughed, “Oh, so there’s another little master, then should I arrange a private room for Young Master Pei?”
“No need.” Pei Zheng swept his gaze over the crowded hall, saw an empty seat, and simply walked over.
Shen Shijiu stuck to him like a shadow; he had never been to this kind of establishment before so he was a little scared to be in an unfamiliar environment by himself. After all, in the past, he had always been living with his shifu in the mountains, so it could be said that he didn’t have much experience with the real world.
Pei Zheng sat down in a seat in the corner. Shen Shijiu stood behind him, at the side, and was very quiet the entire time.
A waiter dexterously served him a jar of wine. Pei Zheng poured a cup for himself, and tilted his head up to drink it.
On the stage in the center of the hall someone was performing a dance, and many people in the audience were cheering and applauding. Shen Shijiu was curious, and couldn’t help but crane his neck to look, but he was blocked by the crowd, and couldn’t see anything.
Upon seeing that Pei Zheng was still downing cups of wine one after another, and wasn’t paying him any attention, Shen Shijiu quietly shifted to the side, and stood up on his tiptoes to watch.
Drat, he still wasn’t tall enough, he couldn’t see the show at all.
He shifted over a little more, then a little more…
He continued to shuffle until he could finally see the stage in the center, as well as the beautiful dancers twirling on top of it.
Shen Shijiu also cheered and applauded with the rest of the crowd, looking to be in extremely high spirits.
After watching the dance, Shen Shijiu still wasn’t satisfied, and wanted to see more. When he turned around to tell Pei Zheng, he was immediately dumbfounded by what he saw. The person sitting in front of him was not Pei Zheng, but instead a rather obese man.
Shen Shijiu wanted to go around him so he could return to where he was standing before, but because it was so crowded, he bumped right into the sitting man.
That fat man cast him an angry glance.
“What are you doing?! Watch where you’re going!”
“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t see you, it’s very crowded here…”
“Now you’re trying to make excuses?! Your apology isn’t sincere at all, I think you probably did it on purpose!”
Shen Shijiu waved his hands while shaking his head, “I really didn’t, I’m just in a hurry, I’m looking for my Young Master…”
The fat man was unwilling to let him go, “Who’s your Young Master? Tell him to come out and personally apologize to me! Teaching his servant to be so unruly, he must also be some worthless nobody.”
“Wrong!” Shen Shijiu raised his voice slightly, “You’re wrong, I already apologized to you, you can’t talk about my Young Master like that.”
The people around them all heard the commotion and began to glance over, one after another.
“Heh, you still dare to argue with me?!” The fat man said, “Why don’t you ask around; I think the number of people in the Imperial City that dare to talk to me like you can be counted on one hand. Come on, why don’t you speak a little louder for me?!”
The people around them also echoed:
“This little servant probably won’t be able to bear the consequences of his actions!”
“He’s really got guts, he even dared to mess with that fat lord3. He must work for an official’s family, with money and power, so he can afford to be so arrogant4.”
“Little brat, you should just hurry up and kowtow to that fat lord, and beg him to be generous and spare you.”
“Kowtow, go on and kowtow!”
People heckled and booed one after another, and Shen Shijiu stood in the middle of the crowd, feeling that countless pairs of eyes were staring at him, waiting for him to kneel and kowtow in front of them.
But although he was a bit slow, he did know what preserving dignity and face meant. Not everyone could just kneel willy-nilly. Though he was the one at fault in this matter, he had hardly done anything that would require him to kneel.
“I’ll, I’ll apologize to you again. I’m sorry. But I can’t kneel down to you.” Shen Shijiu bit his lip; he only had himself to rely on amidst this sea of noise.
Upon seeing his stubborn attitude, the fat man felt that he had lost face and was extremely angry. He stepped forward and grabbed Shen Shijiu by the collar, lifting his entire body until only the tips of his toes were touching the ground.
“You’re just a lowly servant, where did you get your guts from? Your Young Master still hasn’t come out to save you, did we already scare him off? Hahaha!”
Shen Shijiu’s fists clenched; he was absolutely terrified. With great effort, he turned his head to look at the place where Pei Zheng was sitting.
The crowd followed his eyes, but that table was empty.
Pei Zheng wasn’t there. Did he really just leave him behind?
Shen Shijiu’s eyes became wet in an instant, and the last shred of hope in his heart disappeared. Now, he was on his own; there were so many people egging him on, what could he do?
The fat man also didn’t want to bother with any more pointless conversation. The little body he was lifting was very light, and the boy didn’t seem to have much meat on him.
Though he wasn’t very attractive, that pair of tender eyes seemed somewhat alluring.
The fat man’s fist hoisted him up, and Shen Shijiu’s feet were lifted off the ground. He could only tightly grip the fleshy hand clutching at his chest in order to maintain his balance.
The fat man suddenly stretched his leg out and kicked Shen Shijiu’s calf, before he let go, and Shen Shijiu dropped back to the ground.
His calf was numb from the kick, and was now limp and sore, so he wouldn’t be able to stand on it for long. If his leg even touched the ground, he would definitely fall onto his knees.
The crowd also cheered; it was like they were enjoying a good show.
Shen Shijiu tightly shut his eyes, and tried his best to straighten his calf. But the moment his foot touched the ground, there was a sharp pain, and Shen Shijiu’s body crumpled uncontrollably, and he was about to fall onto his knees.
At this moment, a black shadow quickly flashed through the crowd next to him. No one clearly saw what had happened; Shen Shijiu’s body was now being firmly held, having been caught right before he landed on his knees.
Shen Shijiu still couldn’t stand properly, so the hand on his waist supported most of his weight. His small hands tightly clutched the lapels of the person in front of him.
Pei Zheng held him close, walked to a nearby chair, and sat him down.
“Hey, who the hell are you?!”
That fat lord was enraged as he pointed at Pei Zheng’s back and walked over, “I’ll tell you this, don’t meddle in other people’s business!”
Before he could finish speaking, Pei Zheng turned slightly, raised his hand to grab the fat man’s fingers, before snapping them with force.
“Crack”, the crisp sound of bones breaking hung in the air. Everyone around them was shocked, and stuck their heads out to see just who had been bold enough to do such a thing.
But Pei Zheng’s face had been hidden in the shadows this entire time, and his back was facing the crowd, so most people could only make out an unclear side profile. They could all tell that he was extremely handsome and had an extraordinary disposition, and was by no means just an average person.
The pink-clad man had only just hurried back. A moment ago, when he had heard Young Master Pei say that his servant was missing, he had been scared half to death.
The last time one of Young Master Pei’s people were lost on his premises, he went through a lot of trouble to finally calm him down. His pavilion had been just moments away from being demolished, so this time, he hurriedly sent a few people to search in the rooms next to the back garden.
Who would have expected that something had happened in the hall as well?
He sincerely hoped that Young Master Pei would stop coming to his establishment; his wretched life couldn’t handle being frightened like this anymore.
The pink-clad man hurried over to check on the situation in the hall, before shooing the crowd out and ordering someone to take the fat lord away.
“I’m not leaving! Ah! Gentler!” The fat man glared at the person who was supporting him; he was obviously sweating from the pain, but he was still trying to save face.
“Let me tell you, since you dared to lay a hand on me today, you should consider the seriousness of what you’ve done! Tomorrow, I will have my father kill your entire family!”
The fat lord strained his throat and yelled.
The pink-clad man paled with fright, and hurriedly glanced over at Pei Zheng.
Unexpectedly, Pei Zheng was holding his servant’s calf, and checking to see if he was injured; one could spot a hint of gentleness on the side of his face. Upon hearing the fat man’s words, the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile.
No one clearly saw what happened next.
They only saw a black shadow flash in front of their eyes, before the fat lord howled and fell to his knees. His head was repeatedly smashed into the ground with a loud bang each time, forcing him to kowtow several times.
Pei Zheng squatted beside the fat man, clutching a fistful of his hair. His voice was extremely cold.
“Kill my entire family? All right, then you should remember…”
Pei Zheng leaned into his ear, and annunciated every word, “…that my surname is Pei.”
The fat man’s eyes suddenly bulged; he wasn’t an idiot, how could he not know just how many people in the entire Imperial City were surnamed Pei?
His head was still on the ground, and his trembling body fell limp.
Pei Zheng darted back into that dark corner again, and lifted Shen Shijiu, who was obediently sitting and waiting for him, before promptly vanishing from everyone’s sight.
After they left the pavilion, Pei Zheng immediately let go of him, and Shen Shijiu, who was still holding onto Pei Zheng’s body, fell and barely managed to stand on the tips of his toes.
Shen Shijiu raised his eyes to look at Pei Zheng, his gaze full of ignorance, before remembering that he was forbidden from looking at him, so he averted his eyes.
My lord…” He knew that he had caused trouble, so his voice was gentle and soft, as if he was admitting his mistake.
“Let go.”
Only then did Shen Shijiu notice that his hands were still hooked around Pei Zheng’s neck; no wonder he was standing so steadily on his tiptoes.
He immediately unwrapped his arms and took two steps back; the numbness in his calves had, for the most part, subsided.
“My Lord, I-I was wrong…”
Pei Zheng folded his arms wordlessly, and stared at him coldly.
Shen Shijiu carefully snuck a glance at him, then quickly lowered his head again, silently playing with his fingers.
“I shouldn’t have left your side, I shouldn’t have been absorbed in watching those pretty dancers, I shouldn’t have caused you trouble… I know I was wrong…”
Pei Zheng still didn’t speak. He looked at the bowed head of the person in front of him. In truth, his heart was surging with a complicated feeling. Thinking back on what he had just done, he didn’t know what had come over him to make him do such a thing.
This stupid, silly little apprentice always reminded him of the past, so Pei Zheng couldn’t control his actions when he was around.
Every time he saw him, another figure would always appear in his vision. Then, those two shadows would gradually overlap, which only muddled his mind even further.
“My shifu is a very, very good person, and I remember everything she’s taught me. She says that there’s gold under a man’s knees5, and that I need to believe in myself6, so that’s why I didn’t kneel for that fatty.”
“You miss your shifu?” Pei Zheng asked, out of the blue.
Shen Shijiu froze, before he nodded lightly, “I do…”
“Let’s go-“
Pei Zheng walked forward a few steps, “to see your shifu.”
Upon hearing these words, Shen Shijiu raised his head and looked at his back. There was joy written all over his little face, “Really? That’s great! We’re off to see shifu!”
This time, Shen Shijiu led the way, and walked in the direction of the clinic. But he had a talent for getting lost, so in the end, he had to rely on asking many people for directions in order to find it. The door of the clinic was tightly closed. Shen Shijiu ran over excitedly, knocked a few times, and whispered, as if he was delivering a secret message, “Shifu, shifu, this disciple is back,” But the inside of the clinic was quiet, and no one responded.
Shen Shijiu shouted a few more times, but no one came to open the door.
It seemed that there was no one there at all.
“Impossible, shifu said she’d wait for me to come back to the clinic, where did shifu go…”
Shen Shijiu looked very disappointed, and his eyes gradually turned red; it appeared as though he was about to start crying any second now.
At this moment, his stomach growled, which was incredibly deafening against the silence.
Shen Shijiu was terribly sad and also a bit embarrassed. His ears reddened slightly, and he clutched his little belly; his pearly tears were about to fall.
“Hungry?” Pei Zheng laughed lightly.
Shen Shijiu nodded, his expression aggrieved, “I took a nap in the afternoon, so I didn’t eat in the evening…”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Ah?” Shen Shijiu was a bit surprised.
Pei Zheng’s raised his brows. He didn’t ask again, before simply turning and walking away.
Shen Shijiu wiped his tears and hurried to catch up with him, “I want… I want to eat noodles!”
Unexpectedly, Pei Zheng actually deigned to sit down at a noodle restaurant. Based on his dress and temperament, he really did not belong there at all.
Pei Zheng looked at Shen Shijiu who was sitting in front of him, happily slurping noodles, and thought that he might have lost his mind and gone mad.
Naturally, Shen Shijiu couldn’t pick up on what Pei Zheng was thinking. He ate three bowls of noodles in a row before he was finally sated. His belly was round and bulging, and he burped.
“I’m full.”
Pei Zheng tossed him a silver ingot, and Shen Shijiu happily went up to pay the bill. In the end, the owner of the noodle restaurant dug out all the money from the register in order to give him the correct change.
The two walked out of the noodle shop – Shen Shijiu had eaten a bit too much, and was too stuffed to walk quickly, so he couldn’t keep up with Pei Zheng’s pace.
He bent over at the side of the road, took a few breaths, and was about to press forward without pause so he could catch up. But he ended up spotting a little beggar huddled in a nearby corner.
That little beggar appeared to be asleep, but at the same time, a state of extreme nervousness. His clothes were torn and ragged, and there were many open wounds on his knee; it appeared that he had fallen and scraped them.
Shen Shijiu quietly walked over, and examined the little beggar’s still bleeding wounds, his movements extremely gentle.
This was no good, he would have to stop the bleeding immediately; it would be troublesome if the injuries got infected.
Shen Shijiu quickly groped through his sleeve, felt around, and finally grabbed a packet of medicinal powder.
Shen Huan had once told him that when he went out, he always had to bring some medicine for emergencies, so he had always obediently complied.
He opened the packet and carefully sprinkled the white medicinal powder onto the wounds. The pain caused the little beggar to slowly open his eyes. His face was dirty, and his gaze was evasive; he was too scared to look directly at Shen Shijiu.
“Don’t be scared, I’m not a bad guy. I’m going to wrap your wounds up, okay?
Shen Shijiu said in a soft voice. His eyes were curved, and he looked very gentle.
The little beggar finally nodded.
Shen Shijiu fumbled with his robes, but he didn’t have any bandages or strips of cloth he could use to bandage the wound.
Suddenly, a snow-white handkerchief appeared in front of him, carrying a faint sandalwood fragrance.
Shen Shijiu looked up, and Pei Zheng tossed the handkerchief into his arms, before walking away.
He caught the handkerchief, unfolded it, and carefully bandaged the little beggar’s injured leg. The bleeding had stopped, so it probably wouldn’t get infected.
Shen Shijiu dusted his hands and stood up, before he turned to leave.
He felt a light tug on his pants leg, and the little beggar’s voice was as soft as a mosquito buzzing, “Thank you, gege.”
Shen Shijiu smiled, “No need to thank me.”
Then, he walked back toward Pei Zheng, looking back anxiously with every step.
He hadn’t even gotten close to Pei Zheng before Shen Shijiu was suddenly grabbed by the arm and flung into the wall beside him.
Then, Pei Zheng stared at Shen Shijiu, his gaze gloomy; it was as if he wanted to see straight through his eyes and into his heart.
Shen Shijiu tried to avoid his gaze, but Pei Zheng squeezed his chin and forcibly twisted it back.
“Why did you save him? He has no relation to you whatsoever. Even if he died, it wouldn’t have anything to do with you, right?”
Notes
Ahhh, apologies for not uploading yesterday, I didn’t die, I just temporarily died!
A little announcement: unfortunately, since exam season is here, I, uh, need to study, so I will need two days for these LONG, THICC chapters, sorry for the inconvenience, I hope you can understand ;-; I’ll try to go back to daily uploads after exams are over >-<
Thanks for reading~
1.What he really said was “a wu”, so I guess… ‘rawr’ would be more appropriate?
2. Ok I know not every building is a pavilion but it’s 阁楼 (gé lóu), which is ‘attic’ or ‘loft’, or the little building attached to the top of another building (?), but 阁 means ‘pavilion’ and 楼 sometimes means ‘pavilion’, and we’re talking about the pink man again, so we’re going to keep it this way~
3.胖爷 (pàng yé): ‘Fat lord’, it might be a nickname though, like ‘Lord Fatty’
4.横着走 (héng zhe zǒu): to walk sideways, so think of an arrogant swagger
5.男儿膝下有黄金 (nán ér xī xià yǒu huáng jīn): ‘there’s gold under a man’s knees’, it means that… a man kneeling is a precious thing, so he can’t just be kneeling whenever
6. 不蒸包子争口气 (bù zhēng bāo zi zhēng kǒu qì): This is actaully part of some longer idiom about flour and buns and shit, which is ‘卖了麦子买蒸笼，不蒸馒头争口气’ (you can sell the wheat and buy a steamer basket, but you’re only steaming air, not buns (?)). I don’t really understand it myself, but the important part is the bun part, which is used to describe someone that believes in themselves.
