He didn’t know what his next step should be. He couldn’t call for a doctor. He didn’t dare to light a lamp. He knew deep down this sort of scandal absolutely could not be discovered. So he could only endure it alone until daybreak.
Humiliation, fear, and a strange sensation he had never experienced before made Pei Lianyi furious enough to want to scream and curse. But lying prone beside the bed, all that awaited him was the shame and pain of applying medicine, and his own moans.
Just as Pei Lianyi was at a loss for how to speak, another familiar, gentle voice came from outside the door. “Why is Young Master Pei here?”
“Huo Jingzhao!” Seeing the man appear, Pei Ziying’s tone brightened. “I was just telling Father about you! Saying your family has hunting skills! I don’t usually like going to the mountains and getting dirty, but if it’s with you, then…”
“Ah.” Huo Jingzhao suddenly took over his words. “My family’s humble skills are hardly worthy of Master Pei and the Little Young Master’s eyes.”
“Father isn’t well, so he probably won’t go. It’ll just be the two of us.” Pei Ziying tugged at the man’s clothes and looked up at him.
Pei Lianyi heard the man outside the door chuckle before agreeing. “That works too. Then I’ll go prepare.”
“Alright.” The footsteps gradually faded away. Then Pei Ziying spoke towards the door again. “Is Father asleep? Why is there no response…”
Seeing the room remain silent, he muttered to himself, “Huo Jingzhao might seem a bit dull, but he’s got some skill. I think… I… I’ll just take that as Father agreeing!”
Halfway through his shy words, he strode away with brisk steps.
Pei Lianyi opened his eyes. He stared at the Ferule on the table without moving an inch. A feeling of wanting to weep, without tears, brewed in his heart.
Ziying and Huo Jingzhao associating was what he wanted, and what Huo Jingzhao wanted. This was good.
His lips moved slightly. He stared blankly for a moment. Then, disregarding the sharp, intense soreness in his body, he kicked the door open with one foot and strode quickly to the table. He raised his hand and flung the Ferule outward.
“Someone, take this thing and throw it away! The farther, the better!”
The Ferule flew over the threshold and landed on the rug outside the door.
“Such a beautiful, precious Ferule. What a pity to throw it away.” The person who had just said he was going hunting suddenly appeared, standing outside the door looking at him.
“How did you come? Ah—!” The violent movement from just now pulled at the burning pain. Pei Lianyi braced himself against the table and cried out.
“Where does Master Pei feel unwell?” Huo Jingzhao frowned. He wanted to step inside but then stopped.
“May I come in?” He asked politely.
Pei Lianyi only then remembered that the man before him had never been inside his bedroom.
Because of status. Because of seniority. Because of… Ziying.
His expression fluctuated for a moment. He nodded.
“Aren’t you with Ziying… ugh.” As the man stepped over the threshold, Pei Lianyi was shocked to realize the words escaping his mouth carried a sourness he himself couldn’t imagine.
“What’s wrong with Master Pei?” Huo Jingzhao pressed again.
Pei Lianyi pressed his lips together tightly and said nothing. Was he supposed to tell him that he had been spanked on the buttocks with a Ferule by a madman younger than himself, spanked until his buttocks were red and swollen, and that he had thrown his head back and screamed…
He wished he could just run headfirst into a wall and die!
“Since Master Pei doesn’t like it, how about giving it to me?” Huo Jingzhao weighed the Ferule in his hand, beseeching him.
Hearing him ask for something, Pei Lianyi was immensely surprised. Even when Pei Ziying ran away from the wedding, Huo Jingzhao had never asked for any compensation or valuables. Now, out of the blue, he was asking for a thing.
But why did it have to be this specific ruler? He grit his teeth, wanting to fob him off with something else. But Huo Jingzhao suddenly said, “It’s cracked here.”
“What?” Pei Lianyi was startled.
Huo Jingzhao came up and took his hand, guiding him to touch the cracked white jade on it. His voice was low. “See? There are cracks, right?”
The memory of last night surged into his mind through their joined hands. Pei Lianyi stiffened all over.
The man had flogged too fiercely. Pei Lianyi couldn’t withstand it and could only twist his body. Even the jade inlay had been cracked by the gold and silver ornaments at his waist. Remembering this, a sickly flush spread across his face. He managed a “Yes” and tried to pull his hand back.
Huo Jingzhao suddenly pressed his forehead against the Ferule and said hoarsely, “Even if it’s cracked, I still want it. Give it to me, please?”
“Why?” Looking closely at his thick eyelashes, Pei Lianyi felt a wave of heart palpitations.
“It carries Master Pei’s scent.” Huo Jingzhao showed him his white teeth.
“…” Pei Lianyi averted his gaze, almost trembling.
“I’m joking.” At that moment, Huo Jingzhao sighed. His face was full of plainness and earnestness. “Back when I was at the academy, seeing the teaching master holding a Ferule, I always felt it was very sacred. An image that couldn’t be profaned. I used to wonder what it would feel like to hold a Ferule.”
“I never expected Master Pei’s room would also have one. And it’s so beautiful.”
Pei Lianyi was so mortified by his words that he wished the ground would swallow him.
Thinking of what the Ghost-Faced Man had done to him, he closed his eyes and clutched the white satin fabric at his lower back, his expression pained.
His hand, placed between his waist and hip, made Huo Jingzhao’s eyes change.
“If you want it, take it.” Pei Lianyi turned his back to him and ordered, “I need to recuperate these next few days. I’ll leave the Flower Room to you to tend.”
“You can’t just take something and still be idle.”
Huo Jingzhao smiled brightly. “Many thanks for Master Pei’s reward.”
“Go on.”
“…Yes.”
Once Huo Jingzhao had bowed and withdrawn, Pei Lianyi let out a shallow breath.
Early the next morning, the man, who had packed his things to go hunting, hadn’t even mounted his horse before he was called over by Cao Xian.
“Has Young Master Huo forgotten something?” The Old Steward asked with his eyes raised.
“Something? What thing?” Huo Jingzhao stroked the horse’s hair as he thought. “Swept the courtyard. Scrubbed the bathtub. Watered the flowers.”
“Just watering isn’t enough.” Cao Xian chuckled lowly, then raised his voice. “The Family Head said his flowers are like precious treasures. In the morning, you must wipe off the dew to avoid dampness. When the midday sun comes, you have to move them every hour so they don’t get scorched. In the afternoon, you still have to remove insects. So, Young Master Huo, it seems you’ll be staying in the manor all day.”
Listening to him, before Huo Jingzhao could react, Pei Ziying flicked his horsewhip and said angrily, “Father is so mean…!”
“I finally get a chance to go out and play, and he gives Jingzhao this kind of hard labor!”
Huo Jingzhao let go of the reins, hiding the probing look deep in his dark eyes. He shook his head at Pei Ziying. “Looks like it’ll have to be next time.”
“I’ll go to the Flower Room right now and keep watch.”
“Hey—! Huo Jingzhao! How can you be so obedient?! You only listen to Father…” Seeing the man leave him behind, Pei Ziying stamped his foot, both angry and humiliated.
Although Huo Jingzhao’s obedience to Pei Lianyi was somewhat excessive, in his view, it was nothing more than the man trying to curry favor with his father to enter the Pei family sooner.
After fuming for a bit, Pei Ziying didn’t dwell on it and returned with Cao Xian.
“Reporting to the Family Head, Young Master Huo said absolutely nothing and went directly to the Flower Room to work.”
In the afternoon, inside the bedroom, Cao Xian reported to the person resting with his eyes closed.
“And what about Ziying?” Pei Lianyi was lying on his side on the soft couch. Beside him was a small, lavender-purple incense burner. The faint, elegant scent of Sandalwood swirled, enshrouding his mature, beautiful waistline.
“The Little Young Master lost his temper at Young Master Huo on the spot.” Cao Xian clicked his tongue and said truthfully, “He also blamed you for assigning Young Master Huo hard labor.”
Pei Lianyi opened his eyes. His expression darkened. He said coolly, “Jingzhao hasn’t formally entered the household yet. The two of them being together without a clear status, if outsiders saw, what would become of propriety? I am doing this for his own good…”
Hearing him speak so many words in a single breath, Cao Xian found it very strange.
Pei Lianyi had a tough character. No matter where he was, his word was law. Whatever he did, where was the need to explain so much to anyone?
Speaking so continuously like today was a first. It seemed he was truly anxious for his son.
Cao Xian offered some comfort. “Family Head, please don’t worry. Young Master Huo will find a way to coax the Little Young Master and make him happy.”
He thought saying this would make Pei Lianyi feel a bit better. But the person on the soft couch just clutched his chest in dejection.
Just then, the panicked cry of a maid suddenly erupted from outside. “Steward Cao! So… Something terrible!”
“What’s all the fuss about?! What if you disturb the Master?!” Cao Xian was about to shoo her away but was nearly stunned into fainting by her words.
“Young Master Huo has gone wild! He’s… he’s in the Crystal Room eating the flowers!”
“What did you say—?!” Hearing this, Pei Lianyi, ignoring the throbbing soreness in his buttocks, didn’t even have time to put on his boots properly. He stumbled and lurched as he dashed towards the Flower Room.
“Family Head! Family Head, hey, be careful!” Seeing him losing control, his face darkening, Cao Xian hurried after him.
“All of you, don’t follow…!” Pei Lianyi turned his head and barked at the crowd, then stepped into the Crystal Room alone.
When he walked in, several pots of flowers had already been gnawed more than half. The man the maid described as “going wild” was standing amidst the sea of flowers, intently watching a small bloom.
Gazing at Huo Jingzhao’s handsome profile, Pei Lianyi’s heart was full of grievance. Heartbroken, he touched the soft, ruined petals and asked, “Are you so dissatisfied that I wouldn’t let you and Ziying go hunting?”
