Just as Madam Huo had said, the Huo Jingzhao before him had long, thick, black hair still dripping water, carrying a fresh, clean scent of soap. He was indeed freshly washed.
Yet he wasn’t casually exposed; he was properly dressed in a white undershirt.
Standing against the light now, Pei Lianyi only just realized that the seemingly refined Huo Jingzhao was much more robust than ordinary men. His presence made the already cramped room feel even smaller.
Noticing the man’s broad shoulders and narrow waist occupying most of the space, the shame and awkwardness in Pei Lianyi’s heart intensified. He averted his eyes and asked, “Do you often spend nights at the wharf?”
As he spoke, he stepped back half a pace, his face flushing and his voice stammering.
Huo Jingzhao didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped forward. As Pei Lianyi was about to bump into the low table, the man slowly pulled the outer garment from Pei Lianyi’s hidden hands.
“Working night shifts and loading cargo pays a bit more. Master Pei surely knows that.”
Hearing this, Pei Lianyi’s cold face froze momentarily. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he had followed the family elders into business from a young age, living a life of fine clothes and exquisite food, never once worrying about silver.
Now, hearing Huo Jingzhao’s words, a strange, aching, sour feeling suddenly flooded his heart. He subconsciously said:
“If you’re short on silver, you can come to the Pei Manor to find me.”
The words were out, and Pei Lianyi didn’t think there was anything wrong with them. But Huo Jingzhao’s expression subtly shifted.
“Why would I seek you out?” Huo Jingzhao had already donned his black robe and was staring fixedly at him.
Catching the faint trace of anger in the man’s eyes, Pei Lianyi finally realized his misstep. He spoke hoarsely, “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just the Pei Manor… owes you. I want to help, I…”
Speaking, sensing Huo Jingzhao’s eyes roaming over his body, Pei Lianyi secretly scratched the table corner with his fingers.
To think that he, Pei Lianyi, who had dominated Rongchu City for years—seizing wharfs, handling traitors, venturing alone into military camps—had seen all sorts of storms and dignitaries. But before this gentle, refined junior, he couldn’t even figure out how to speak, terrified of wounding the man’s pride.
“I fear you push yourself too hard, harming your health. If you want to earn silver to support your family, the Pei Manor also has openings…”
Just as Pei Lianyi steadied his short breaths and was about to continue with composed cadence, Huo Jingzhao suddenly interrupted him, speaking flatly:
“And what if I said it’s not money I lack… but a person?”
“You…” Hearing this, Pei Lianyi instantly stiffened. So he is still hung up over the marriage after all.
Thinking of the hurt his son’s escape had caused, the guilt in his heart grew even heavier. He lightly bit his lower lip, his fingernails scraping silently against the rough tabletop, as if waiting for the man’s decree.
Unbeknownst to him, this posture—pale-faced, hesitant to speak—was a deep temptation in Huo Jingzhao’s eyes.
“Ziying, I will certainly make him…” After a moment of silence, Pei Lianyi started to make another promise.
Huo Jingzhao finished his sentence, a smile spreading across his face. “Don’t worry. I’m an able-bodied man. A little hardship is nothing.”
His nose and lips were sharp and well-defined, his jaw clean-shaven. When he wasn’t smiling, he possessed the steady air of a refined gentleman. Now, with his smile on full display, he seemed even more dashing and heroic.
He truly is a humble, capable, and good man, Pei Lianyi thought, momentarily entranced, silently congratulating himself on his excellent judgment.
“So, when you finish work at night… where do you sleep?” To dispel the last shred of doubt in his heart, he asked again.
In a place he didn’t notice, a playful smile tugged at the corner of Huo Jingzhao’s mouth. “Master Pei seems quite interested in where I sleep at night… and in whose bed. Are you already managing me on Pei Ziying’s behalf?”
Hearing him bring up his son, Pei Lianyi only then realized how presumptuous his words had been.
Huo Jingzhao was right. Such questions should rightfully be asked by Ziying, the one engaged to the man.
His unannounced visit and rapid-fire interrogation made him seem just like a wife with complaints about her husband’s nights away from home.
Thinking of this, Pei Lianyi’s already thin face burned even hotter. Words laced with humiliation and anger blurted out: “No, it’s what I want to know. It has nothing to do with Ziying.”
Seeing no intention from Huo Jingzhao to answer, he added softly, “If you don’t want to say, then forget it.”
With that, he turned his head aside, letting out a shallow sigh.
His profile held both the angularity of a mature man and the pampered delicacy nurtured in a wealthy household. Even his anger carried a unique flavor of sullen coquettishness.
What a masterful feint—pretending to retreat, forcing him to say what he wanted to hear. Huo Jingzhao let out a nearly imperceptible laugh. Just before Pei Lianyi could turn to leave, he spoke in a low voice:
“I sleep in the Boat Dock.”
“Boat Dock?” This was clearly beyond Pei Lianyi’s experience.
The boats at the wharf were mostly used for fishing, transporting grain, and miscellaneous goods. How could such a dirty, fishy place be fit for sleeping? He couldn’t help but frown with distaste.
Seeing the scorn on his face, Huo Jingzhao’s expression remained utterly unruffled, but his obsidian eyes flickered faintly, as if he’d formulated some conclusion.
“It’s very spacious inside the Boat Dock. Use a dry straw mat as a bed. At night, the waves crash against the hull, and it sways quite intensely. But you can get a good sleep. Because… no matter what happens, no one would know.”
As he spoke, Huo Jingzhao licked his dry lips, his dark pupils locked onto the slender figure before him. “If Master Pei is interested, I could take you to have a look.”
It was the first time Pei Lianyi had heard someone say sleeping on a boat was comfortable. It was novel, and a faint sense of strangeness stirred within him.
However, a person of his status naturally couldn’t be seen boarding a boat with a junior in broad daylight. What a scandal that would be if others saw!
“No need. I… who’s there?!” Pei Lianyi’s polite refusal was cut short. A dark shadow suddenly flashed past the door. He jolted like a startled bird and cried out.
“…” Huo Jingzhao looked towards the sound. Seeing that familiar figure, a chill crept into his dark pupils.
Because of the strange movement outside the door, Pei Lianyi instantly recalled last night’s sinister, evil man. The large hands that had gripped his waist, like cold, thick pincers burrowing into his flesh—his body still ached from it.
“What’s wrong?” Gazing at his sweat-sheened brow, Huo Jingzhao deliberately asked.
“S-someone…! Someone’s outside.” Though Pei Lianyi maintained a composed facade, his clothes were already mostly soaked through.
Huo Jingzhao paused, then reassured him, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll go check.”
“Okay.” Right now, Pei Lianyi trusted him completely and quickly agreed.
“Close your eyes if you’re scared.”
“Mm.” He softly hummed his assent again.
A moment later, Huo Jingzhao returned to the room holding a black tile. He shook it in front of Pei Lianyi. “It was no one. Just a fallen roof tile.”
“…So it was just a tile.” He’d thought it was the Ghost Warrior Mask. Looking at the black square in the man’s hand, Pei Lianyi felt a bit tongue-tied.
“Master Pei has broken out in quite a sweat… Would you like to go wash up?” Huo Jingzhao suddenly leaned closer and said in a deep voice.
Meeting the man’s handsome face so close, Pei Lianyi’s autumn-water pupils trembled.
“Family Head, it’s getting late. It’s time to return to the manor.” Just then, Head Steward Cao’s voice was like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing the uncomfortable heat stirring within Pei Lianyi.
“I should be going,” he regained his composure and said, his tone faint.
Seeing him completely ignore the earlier invitation, a flash of frustration and pent-up anger swept through Huo Jingzhao’s eyes. But quickly, he nodded and said, “Travel safe, Master Pei.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself as well.” Exchanging polite formalities, Pei Lianyi didn’t meet the man’s eyes again as he swiftly left the Huo residence.
Outside the main gate, Cao Xian was ordering the servants to arrange the sedan chair. Seeing Pei Lianyi walk out with flushed cheeks and a dazed expression, he hurried up to him, worry in his voice. “Is the Family Head alright? This Old Servant came because I heard sounds…”
“You did well.” Pei Lianyi stopped, saying this.
“Family Head’s complexion is very poor. Did Young Master Huo act disrespectfully?”
“No, it has nothing to do with him.” Pei Lianyi pursed his lips. After deliberating a moment, he said, “It’s… I saw that black-clothed man from last night again.”
Upon hearing this, Cao Xian was silent for a long while before advising, “The Family Head is perhaps too tired, and weakened from blood loss. Overexertion can breed delusions. It’s better to have a doctor take a look.”
Cao Xian’s words held reason. Thinking of how tormented he was, unable to sleep peacefully, Pei Lianyi wrestled with the decision for a long time before finally acquiescing, “Very well. Find a doctor who is tight-lipped.”
“Yes. And where shall this meeting with the doctor take place?”
Pei Lianyi was the pillar of the Pei Manor, supporting the livelihoods of hundreds, all while hiding secrets no one could know.
To avoid becoming a topic of gossip and causing alarm, he never dared let a doctor set foot in the manor. Minor illnesses and pains were tended to by servants; a few bowls of medicine usually sufficed.
When he truly couldn’t bear it, he had no choice but to disguise his identity and venture out alone to find a doctor.
“Find a boat… one with plenty of people.” Remembering his conversation with Huo Jingzhao just now, Pei Lianyi’s heart softened momentarily. He spoke in a low voice.
“Yes.” Cao Xian helped him into the sedan chair and immediately left to make arrangements.
Listening to the sounds of the Pei Manor’s sedan chair fading into the distance, Huo Jingzhao’s face froze completely into ice.
He first picked up the bowl from the table and took a sip of tea, suppressing the fire in his gut. Only then did he speak, his voice cold and ominous: “Still hiding? Come out.”
As soon as he spoke, a figure jumped down from the eaves into the room.
“Young Sect Master…” Sang Sha knelt in the shadows, not daring to look up.
“Without my order, who gave you permission to act?” Huo Jingzhao pulled out a chair and sat down, asking in a slow, drawn-out manner.
“I…” Sang Sha hesitated, then answered, “Because he said something that made the Young Sect Master unhappy… Aarrghh—!!”
Before Sang Sha could finish, Huo Jingzhao raised his leg and kicked his shin bone.
The man’s legs were strong and muscular. Even seated, the force of his kick was swift and brutal. Hearing the bone crack, Sang Sha’s face instantly went pale.
Yet a single kick clearly wasn’t enough to satisfy the man now consumed by the urge to inflict pain. Huo Jingzhao used Sang Sha’s shin bone as a step to stand up. With his hands behind his back, he looked down at the person beneath his foot, his voice hoarse:
“I have plenty of ways to shut that little mouth of his. What need is there for you to meddle?”
“I… I won’t dare again.” The pain was making Sang Sha slur his words.
He had originally intended to test Huo Jingzhao by frightening Pei Lianyi. He had never imagined the man would get this angry over someone so rigid and old-fashioned.
