Chapter 135: "Betrayal
Chapter 135: Chapter 135: "Betrayal
Xie Jinbai felt an explosion in his chest, his heart pounding.
He cupped the face of the woman in his arms, lowering his head until their foreheads touched. "You like me, don’t you?"
Cui Lingyao didn’t speak. She simply reached up to hold his face, tilted her chin, and moved to kiss his lips.
Xie Jinbai remained perfectly still, his eyes lowered, watching her as she kissed him.
Her eyelids were half-closed, her long, thick lashes fluttering gently.
Her skin was fair and delicate, like warm jade.
A faint blush colored her cheeks.
So beautiful.
A soul-snatching kind of beauty.
Xie Jinbai had always been helpless against her advances, completely unable to muster the will to resist.
Just as Cui Lingyao was about to pull away, a large hand clamped down on the back of her neck.
The stoic man began to respond with force.
It was heavy.
A little fierce.
It was too possessive, and Cui Lingyao soon found herself breathless, pushing against him.
Xie Jinbai’s hand had already slipped inside her clothes, caressing the delicate line of her waist.
He suppressed the surge of impulse and let her go.
After a long moment of composing himself, he let out a deep sigh. "What am I to do? This is a bit hard to bear."
His voice was slightly hoarse, like a hook scraping lightly at the bottom of one’s heart.
It made one’s heart itch.
Unfortunately, the young woman beneath him was as dense as wood, showing no reaction at all.
When she finally managed to push him away a little, Cui Lingyao’s lips were already crimson and slightly swollen.
Her dark, clear eyes were glistening with moisture.
She had definitely felt something from that kiss.
He wasn’t the only one who was moved.
Delighted, Xie Jinbai kissed her lips again and asked, "And you?"
Cui Lingyao said nothing.
She lifted her eyelids to glance at him but remained silent.
The mist in her eyes had not yet cleared, and the corners were still tinged with red.
Xie Jinbai smiled at the sight. "Yaoyao," he said with certainty, "you do like me."
Perhaps even a lot.
’...If only I had realized this sooner.’
A tightness seized his chest, and he pulled her into his embrace.
’Thankfully, she’s back.’
’We can start over.’
’This time, we will have a happy ending.’
...
「The next day.」
When Cui Lingyao woke up, the other side of the bed was already cold.
Since the beginning of autumn, the weather had grown colder by the day, and today was especially so.
For her birth mother’s burial, she was dressed in plain, unadorned mourning clothes. She wore no silver hairpins, only a white silk flower tucked in her hair.
The wind was strong, so she put on a plain-colored cloak and followed the funeral procession out of the Pei Family residence.
At the very front was the Pei Family’s eldest grandson, Pei Wenyu.
Old Madam Pei couldn’t bear to see her eldest son’s line end with no one to burn incense for him, so she had arranged for her grandson to be the heir to both branches of the family.
From now on, he was the successor to the main branch.
By custom, he was also considered the son of Pei Shu and Mrs. Shen.
And Pei Shuyao’s elder brother.
But as the true blood relative, Cui Lingyao, the daughter, was ironically less important at Mrs. Shen’s funeral than Pei Wenyu.
She stood behind the procession, near Mrs. Shen’s coffin. Shen Tingyu stayed by her side, only an arm’s length away.
He was also dressed in white mourning clothes, his figure tall and straight, his gaze frequently falling upon her.
There was no sun today. The sky was filled with dark clouds, gloomy and heavy, as if it could rain at any moment.
The sight alone was mournful.
Accompanied by the mournful sounds of pipes and drums, paper money was scattered all along the road.
The common people along the way stopped to watch the grand funeral procession, murmuring amongst themselves.
Many eyes fell upon the two of them.
After walking for a long time, they finally reached the city gates.
The gates, which had been shut for days, were wide open, and people came and went in an endless stream.
The Pei family had made arrangements in advance, so the procession passed through without stopping.
The Pei Family’s ancestral graveyard was in a rather remote location.
After walking for more than two hours, they still hadn’t arrived, and Cui Lingyao’s feet were starting to ache.
Shen Tingyu took her arm, lightly supporting her.
"Just hold on a little longer. We’re almost there once we cross that stone bridge ahead," he said gently. "We can take a sedan chair on the way back."
When escorting one’s mother to her final resting place, no matter how physically weak one was, it was unthinkable to be carried.
Cui Lingyao knew this, of course. She didn’t complain of being tired, but instead raised her eyes to look at the stone bridge in the distance.
The bridge wasn’t particularly long, but it was wide enough for three or four people to walk abreast. The guardrails were simple—just wooden stakes wrapped twice with straw rope. Below was a branch of the Pingzhou moat.
Due to the rain a few days ago, the river water was murky yellow, its current swift and turbulent.
It looked a little dangerous.
Shen Tingyu said, "I had someone inspect it. This bridge was built to be very sturdy. A hundred or so people crossing at once won’t be a problem."
He was meticulous in his work. Forty-nine days had been enough time for him to inspect and eliminate all potential problems along this route.
And indeed, that was the case.
The funeral procession crossed the stone bridge steadily.
By the time they reached the burial ground, it was already noon.
Several clan elders and the masters performing the rites were already waiting there.
As soon as the coffin arrived, the mournful music began. On the altar table, incense, candles, fruits, and other offerings were neatly arranged.
Maids carried the burial objects one by one and placed them inside the tomb.
Finally, the coffin was lowered into the tomb.
Yellow earth was shoveled on, bit by bit.
Just then, a sudden clap of thunder echoed across the sky, and rain began to fall.
Fat drops of water splashed onto Cui Lingyao’s face. Before she could react, something shielded her from above.
Shen Tingyu was holding an oil-paper umbrella over her. "Let’s go back," he said. "Aunt has been laid to rest. The clan elders can handle the remaining details."
The funeral was well and truly over.
...
「At the same time, in a secluded courtyard.」
Inside a makeshift torture chamber.
Xie Jinbai sat on a chair, propping his chin with one hand in a leisurely posture, his gaze fixed on a man in the distance who had already endured a round of brutal torture.
He was a young man, his hands and feet bound to a torture rack. His head hung limply, his clothes soaked in blood.
It was impossible to tell if he was dead or alive.
The acrid smell of burnt flesh hung in the air.
Liu Rong held a red-hot branding iron, about to press it against the man again.
Xie Jinbai raised a hand to stop him.
He rose slowly and walked to the torture rack. Grabbing the man’s hanging head, he said coolly, "I have not treated you poorly."
Of the few subordinates who had followed him since childhood, this was the man he had promoted first.
He had made him, a mere guard from a non-aristocratic family, a Standard Third Rank Commander before the age of thirty.
In command of the Yulin Guards.
He had given him real military power.
Such a debt of gratitude for recognizing his talent was like being given a new life.
He hadn’t expected him to die in his service, but he certainly hadn’t expected betrayal in return.
Before leaving the capital this time, Xie Jinbai had made thorough preparations to purge his inner circle of anyone with dissent.
He had considered that many might betray him, but he had never imagined Liu Yue would be among them.
"Why?"
’He was already Standard Third Rank.’
’For a military general, his career had nearly reached its peak.’
’What could he possibly gain by betraying me for a new master?’
’Who would grant even greater military authority to someone who had once betrayed their lord?’
Xie Jinbai gripped his head, his voice cold and heavy. "Tell me why. For the sake of our past as master and subordinate, I will grant you an intact corpse."
Liu Yue coughed up a mouthful of blood and foam, but kept his lips sealed.
So defiant.
And he was showing this defiance to his former master.
"You treacherous villain! Dying ten thousand times wouldn’t be enough!"
Unable to contain his anger, Liu Rong kicked him in the stomach and snarled, "Did you think you could escape death just by hiding your wife and child? In this entire world, who can protect someone the Prince wants dead?"