Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"Next life?"

Pei Jing seemed to have heard a delightful joke.

"Don't even think about it! Yu Qizhi, in this life and the next, you will always be mine."

Yu Qizhi looked at him with a calm expression. Her red lips moved slightly, but perhaps due to her voice being too hoarse, her words were very soft. However, Pei Jing could read her lips.

She said he was delusional.

Pei Jing laughed in anger.

His gaze fell on Yu Qizhi, who was firmly held beneath him.

"How do you plan to kill me now? By making me die of anger?" he said with a mocking smile.

He had already tolerated her to the utmost extent, time and again. Why couldn't Yu Qizhi understand?

"I never realized before that the second lady of the Yu family is so bold."

Pei Jing released his hand from the wound on his neck and lifted Yu Qizhi up.

He tightly clasped her waist, his hand slipping into her inner robe and moving upward along her body.

Feeling Pei Jing's increasingly rough actions, Yu Qizhi turned her face away in humiliation, then heard Pei Jing's cold, gritted teeth beside her ear.

"You don't want to bear my child, but you want to bear Feng Qingling's, right?"

"When I touch you, do you imagine it's Feng Qingling touching you?"

"Stop it..." She struggled to evade Pei Jing, frowning and speaking softly.

Pei Jing, however, gave her no room for refusal.

"When we were intimate in the past, didn't you always treat me as if I were him? Now, why can't you bear a child for me?" He spoke coldly, mocking her.

Yu Qizhi's body stiffened for a moment.

"Shut up!"

Yu Qizhi tried to push the person in front of her away, but she couldn't budge him at all. "Shut up!"

Pei Jing frowned coldly.

He refrained from grabbing her hands due to her palm injury, but Yu Qizhi continued to struggle, trying to escape from Pei Jing.

A sharp sound echoed in the room, and both of them froze for a moment.

Feeling the pain on his face, Pei Jing instinctively raised his hand to cover the cheek where he had been slapped.

"You hit me?" Pei Jing found it hard to believe, his tone turning icy.

Looking at Yu Qizhi, his eyes turned cold.

From childhood, he had been punished by his mother Meng Shi with family rules, made to kneel in the ancestral hall by the old Marquis, and faced open attacks from colleagues, but no one had ever slapped him directly.

The pain on his face was nothing compared to the humiliation of having his dignity trampled upon.

"Pei Jing," after slapping Pei Jing, Yu Qizhi's palm also stung fiercely. At this moment, she calmed down, "When I was in the Marquis Mansion, I was already drinking contraceptive soup."

"After every time we did that, I would drink it."

"You're right; I don't want to bear your child, not at all." Yu Qizhi looked at him calmly: "Just thinking about it makes me feel sick."

"There must be many women who want to bear a child for Commander Pei," staying by Pei Jing's side for so long, she, who was usually kind-tempered, had learned his harshness. Even Yu Qizhi herself laughed:

"If Commander Pei had married someone else, your child might already be calling you father."

Her words fell, and the room fell silent.

Yu Qizhi watched the handsome man in front of her as his chest heaved violently twice. His long, slender fingers clenched tightly, veins bulging on his hand.

After returning his vicious words, Yu Qizhi closed her eyes, feeling a sudden sense of relief.

Proud and high above, Crown Prince Pei, let her go, Yu Qizhi thought. She couldn't bear living a life of constant humiliation anymore.

As for Feng Qingling... Brother Ling should understand her, right?

She really couldn't take it anymore.

"Trying to provoke me, right?"

After a long while, Pei Jing stared at her and suddenly laughed in anger.

He knew Yu Qizhi was telling the truth.

Apart from treating him as a substitute, Yu Qizhi rarely lied about other things.

"Do you know what the consequences are for attempting to assassinate an official?"

Pei Jing asked her coldly with a sneer.

"Setting fire to the Marquis Mansion, fleeing with your lover—after all that, have I ever mistreated you? I've been taking care of you, and yet you still put on this act of chastity for whom?"

"Yu Qizhi," Pei Jing lifted her chin, his teeth gritted in anger:

"Do you think I've been too lenient with you?"

The once beautiful face before him now seemed utterly repulsive.

All he wanted was a child with her. Just with Yu Qizhi.

Pei Jing thought that if Yu Qizhi bore his child, would she finally focus her attention on him, on their child?

Their child, whether a girl or a boy, resembling him or Yu Qizhi, it didn't matter.

He wanted Yu Qizhi's body to carry his blood, making them truly blood-related.

But she called him disgusting, saying she didn't want his child at all.

"According to the laws of Great Yong, do you know what happens to those who betray their husbands and flee with their lovers?"

Pei Jing casually grabbed a handkerchief to press against his bleeding wound. He looked into Yu Qizhi's eyes and spoke slowly, his tone chilling:

"Two choices, pick one."

"Send you to the Bureau of Music to entertain different men every night."

Pei Jing's thumb brushed over her delicate red lips, "Or... Yu Qizhi has already perished in the fire at the Marquis Mansion, and from now on, there is no such person named Yu Qizhi in Chang'an."

"You have no travel permit, no identity document. You can only stay by my side, doing whatever I say. If I tell you to spread your legs, you can only..."

Feeling her body trembling, Pei Jing stopped speaking, his lips curling coldly.

If she just apologized to him, he...

Pei Jing suppressed his anger and waited patiently for a moment, but Yu Qizhi did not bow her head in apology.

Very stubborn. She was doing well.

"Can't decide, huh." Pei Jing's eyes narrowed as he pulled Yu Qizhi up from the bed, "I'll take you to see how women in the Bureau of Music entertain men."

Huashan was summoned to help Yu Qizhi dress.

Huashan had been standing outside, listening to the sounds inside change from embarrassing noises to heated arguments.

Seeing Pei Jing's dark expression, Huashan dared not say anything, quickly helping Yu Qizhi change her clothes and style her hair.

Yu Qizhi's skin was naturally fair, so she needed no powder, just a touch of lip rouge.

Pei Jing kept his word, forcefully leading Yu Qizhi onto the carriage.

As the carriage started, the cool summer breeze blew across her face. Only then did Yu Qizhi realize that it was already summer outside. Leaving this house that had trapped her for over a month, it was in such an absurd manner.

Chang'an fell into night, and the revelry in the quarters had just begun.

The atmosphere in the carriage was tense. After some time, the carriage stopped. Pei Jing held her down, putting a light veil over her face before getting out.

At the entrance of Zuiyun Tower, the Deputy Minister of Revenue saw the Marquis Mansion's carriage from afar.

Initially, he thought he might be mistaken, as Pei Jing was known for being aloof and avoiding women. In the past, Pei Jing always declined such invitations.

Tonight, he had set up a banquet at Zuiyun Tower to celebrate a colleague's promotion and had sent an invitation to Pei Jing, never expecting him to come.

The Deputy Minister felt elated, knowing that Pei Jing was a capable minister favored by the emperor, and his presence would be a great honor.

As he approached, he saw Pei Jing carrying a woman out of the carriage.

The Deputy Minister wondered if the usually reputation-conscious Crown Prince Pei had taken up keeping a mistress like others.

Despite his thoughts, he greeted Pei Jing, leading them upstairs to a private room.

Pei Jing nodded, maintaining a composed demeanor while exchanging pleasantries.

To others, the woman beside Pei Jing kept her head down, tightly holding his hand as they walked up the stairs, as if afraid of losing him.

Yu Qizhi's hand was gripped painfully by Pei Jing.

Everyone sat down, and when they noticed the woman with Pei Jing, they were initially surprised but soon dismissed it, given that they all had courtesans from Zuiyun Tower with them.

With Pei Jing already accompanied, those who had planned to offer him women for the night had to abandon their intentions.

People glanced at Yu Qizhi, though her face was partially hidden by the veil, she still felt uncomfortable. Her hand was held tightly by Pei Jing, and in this unfamiliar and frightening environment, he was the only person she knew.

She instinctively tried to hide behind Pei Jing.

Sensing her movement, Pei Jing subtly smiled.

Someone soon asked about the faint wound on Pei Jing's neck. Pei Jing caressed Yu Qizhi's palm, glanced at her, and said it was an accident during martial arts practice.

Others listened, believing or not, but praised Pei Jing for his dedication to training soldiers for the emperor.

Pei Jing remained unperturbed, smoothly shifting the conversation. He praised the newly promoted official, and everyone echoed his words, making the man feel elated.

Yu Qizhi listened numbly, but someone brought the topic back to her.

"Why is this courtesan with Commander Pei so untrained? Not even a word, hasn't she learned to serve?"

The man speaking had a courtesan from Zuiyun Tower pouring wine for him and gently urging him to drink more, her demeanor soft and humble.

Yu Qizhi came back to her senses, looking at the drunken face of the man staring at her.

Yu Qizhi turned her head and frowned.

Pei Jing noticed Yu Qizhi's displeasure.

In the face of others teasing Yu Qizhi, Pei Jing did not get angry. Instead, he seated her on his lap, letting her lean against his chest.

"She is mute," said Pei Jing.

Everyone was taken aback.

"Is that so?" Pei Jing looked at her coldly and asked.

Yu Qizhi froze in Pei Jing's arms, neither speaking nor nodding, looking like a wooden beauty.

Others could somewhat tell that Pei Jing and the beautiful courtesan beside him were playing a game of seduction.

Seeing Pei Jing's indulgent attitude towards her, everyone tried to smooth things over and cooperated:

"A mute is good; it saves a lot of trouble."

When Yu Qizhi did not pour wine for Pei Jing, someone else called for a lady nearby to pour wine for Pei Jing and offer a toast.

Pei Jing glanced at the clear liquid in the cup and claimed he had fresh wounds and could not drink, asking Yu Qizhi to drink in his stead.

The person saw that Pei Jing's neck wound was almost healed and knew he was making an excuse.

Most people at today's banquet held similar ranks, but compared to them, as the Commander of North Yard, directly subordinate to the Emperor, Pei Jing's actual position was higher.

For Pei Jing to say this was already giving them face, so the person offering the toast had no reason to be unhappy.

Pei Jing lifted the cup with his long fingers, bringing it close to Yu Qizhi's lips, forcing her to drink the entire cup of wine.

Yu Qizhi was not good at drinking, and after consuming the wine, she felt as if a small flame was burning from her abdomen up to her chest, making her body weak and her mind hazy as she leaned against the man behind her.

The wine at Drunken Cloud Pavilion had little effect on men, even enhancing their moods, but for women...

Those at the banquet watched Yu Qizhi's reactions with intent or casual glances.

Yu Qizhi's face beneath her veil was flushed red, and she leaned softly against Pei Jing. Her straight nose bridge kept the light veil slightly apart from her cheeks, creating an alluring mystery that made people want to see the beauty hidden beneath.

Pei Jing's hand rested on her waist, and Yu Qizhi subconsciously rubbed against his knee.

Someone noticed the water stain on Pei Jing's trousers and joked, "The little beauty can't wait anymore."

Yu Qizhi, her mind clouded, understood what was happening. Hearing the laughter around her, she felt a deep sadness but couldn't help pressing closer to Pei Jing.

Feeling the hot tears on the person in his arms, Pei Jing frowned.

Until Yu Qizhi began sobbing, Pei Jing kicked back his chair, bid farewell to everyone, and carried her onto the carriage.