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Was it Pei Shang who saved her?
Pei Shang returned to his residence at the Tangdi Courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw Xie Zhuoguang sitting there in his inner robe, lost in thought, clearly preoccupied with something.
Pei Shang, anxious to find fish feed for Yu Mingyao, had no time to attend to his close friend. He merely glanced at him and said roughly,
“If your clothes are wet, just wear mine. We’re about the same size anyway. You like blue, and I have something similar, though a bit flashy. Hurry and get dressed — it’s almost time for the banquet.”
“I still need to get fish feed for Sister Yao. Li Qing is unreliable; he hasn’t gathered everything yet.”
Pei Shang muttered while rummaging through boxes and chests.
Xie Zhuoguang looked up, seeing his friend speaking words of annoyance but radiating a glow of joy and excitement.
He didn’t know why, but seeing this scene made his chest feel stifled.
The two had been close friends since childhood. He shouldn’t be feeling like this—
this creeping jealousy.
Forcing a smile, he tried to change the topic. “How did you know—”
Before he could finish, Pei Shang spoke without even lifting his head:
“If you ask me, you should just leave a few sets of clothes here permanently. Every time you come, the maids act like they’re missing limbs — a cripple could do better. They either spill something on your clothes or come up with some other trick to catch the eye.”
“With our friendship, one set of clothes is no big deal.”
He paused, and again, thoughts of Yu Mingyao surfaced.
“Sister Yao is still the best.”
He chuckled, and the more he spoke, the more restless and impatient he felt inside — a burning urgency.
It was the first time Sister Yao had asked him to do something for her; he couldn’t embarrass himself!
He shouted toward the outside,
“Li Qing, hurry up and get more people here!”
Then, thinking the servants were still too slow and unreliable, he shook his head and dashed out like a whirlwind, as quickly as he had arrived.
Xie Zhuoguang sat still, watching him disappear into the distance.
As the noisy, irritating voices faded, silence returned around him.
Lowering his gaze, he stared at the cup of tea a maid had brought earlier. The tea had long gone cold, and he had no desire to drink it. His thoughts drifted far away, chasing after Pei Shang.
Today was the Old Madam Pei’s birthday — the only proper occasion he had to meet her face to face.
Ever since escorting her back, though he appeared calm on the surface, his heart had been increasingly tormented each day.
In the study hall, he would feel as if tearful eyes full of grievance were staring at him from behind.
Sitting upright at his desk, even when studying, the image of her leaning over the desk would flash through his mind.
A beauty in tears — heart-wrenching and pitiful.
Yet that seemingly delicate woman had grabbed his collar with fierce passion, forcing him to lower his head.
Her lips had been hot and soft, boldly and eagerly sucking on his.
Whenever Xie Zhuoguang unintentionally recalled that scene, the helplessness and blankness of that moment resurfaced vividly.
She appeared harmless but was an enchantress who could captivate a man’s soul and make it tremble.
A woman like that… keeping a distance was probably for the best.
Xie Zhuoguang calmly picked up the cold tea and drank it in one gulp.
Just moments ago, Pei Shang’s cheerful figure leaving had floated before his eyes again.
How far had she and Pei Shang progressed? To make Pei Shang so distracted, as if his soul had flown away to her?
Would she treat Pei Shang the same way she had treated him?
Xie Zhuoguang’s mind once again replayed that kiss.
He couldn’t let his thoughts wander any further.
His face cold, a chill seeped into his bones.
“Master Shizi, Young Master Pei just instructed me to help you choose an outfit. Would you like to take a look?”
The maid who had earlier spilled water on him approached shyly.
Xie Zhuoguang lowered his gaze and curtly replied,
“No need.”
He had stayed at Pei Shang’s residence many times and was familiar with the place.
Once the maid retreated, he stood before Pei Shang’s wardrobe. A wave of colorful, ornate garments greeted him.
His eyes immediately locked onto the blue robe Pei Shang had just mentioned.
Pei Shang disliked this color and never wore it, so the maid in charge of the wardrobe had stashed it at the very bottom.
If one didn’t look carefully, it would be hard to spot.
Xie Zhuoguang’s long, slender fingers brushed over the blue robe for a long time. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he shifted to a scarlet cloud-patterned robe next to it.
It was a scarlet robe.
His expression showed no change, still cold as ever.
After pulling it out, his gaze lingered on the cloud pattern for a long while before he finally picked it up and changed into it.
Wearing clothes that didn’t suit him felt like draping on someone else’s skin — it made him feel like insects were crawling all over him, unbearably uncomfortable.
The moment Xie Zhuoguang donned the scarlet robe, it felt as though iron chains bound his limbs, squeezing the breath from him.
But some things, once you step over that line, are like making a deal with the devil — there’s no turning back.
Just as he stepped out, Cheng Qing saw his outfit and gaped in shock.
“Master Shizi, shall I…”
He wanted to call someone from the Xie family to bring another set of clothes. Everyone in the capital knew that his master loved blue and detested red.
He never wore scarlet.
Xie Zhuoguang’s gaze was as cold and thin as autumn mist.
“It’s fine,” he squeezed out.
After those words, he paused again mid-step. Two or three breaths later, his cool, jade-like voice rose again.
“You… stay back. I’m going to clear my head.”
Thus, Cheng Qing followed distantly, ten or so zhang behind.
The sun was shining, a beautifully warm day.
The Pei residence was festively decorated for the Old Madam’s birthday.
As a noble guest come to offer birthday wishes, Xie Zhuoguang — weighed down by unspeakable secrets — could only walk toward the quiet paths.
Along the way, he encountered few maids or servants.
By rights, he should have gone to the banquet, or at least to Rongjing Hall.
As he walked, Pei Shang’s words echoed over and over in his mind like a wheel turning endlessly:
“I’m going to get fish feed for Sister Yao.”
The thought left him restless and irritable.
Frustration rose from deep within, and in the end, he turned and made his way toward the pond.
There was no other place in the Pei residence to feed fish.
Cheng Qing followed him the entire way.
Ever since seeing his master wear Pei Shang’s scarlet robe, he’d sensed something was wrong.
Though his master always wore a cold expression, it had never been like today — this air of self-abandonment was nearly thick enough to manifest into dark mist.
Was this… related to Miss Yu again?
He sighed deeply and furrowed his brows, trailing after him.
Aside from their footsteps, there was no other sound. It was so quiet that Xie Zhuoguang could hear the despicable thoughts in his own heart.
His face was cold as he walked slower and slower, but in the end, he still reached the waterside pavilion.
His heart began to beat wildly again.
Suppressing this immoral hope with all his might, he slowly lifted his gaze.
Huh? Where was she?
A jolt shot through him. Then he heard splashing — Yu Mingyao’s floundering echoed in his ears.
With a few swift steps forward, he saw a figure struggling and sinking in the center of the pond.
Without a second thought, Xie Zhuoguang leapt in, swimming toward her.
The water was ice-cold and piercing. As he neared her sinking figure, his heart clenched tightly.
He both hoped it was her… and hoped it wasn’t.
Though the surface of the pond looked warm in late spring, it was barely warmer than winter, biting to the bone.
After falling in, suffocation and weightlessness wrapped tightly around Yu Mingyao. Time seemed to stretch infinitely, and every moment felt excruciating.
She couldn’t breathe; her whole body hurt, panic and fear intertwined.
She was just waiting for the beast below to drag her to the bottom.
She didn’t know how long had passed when, just as her consciousness faded completely, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her hard!
Was it… Pei Shang?
Was he here, just like in her previous life, to save her again?
Yu Mingyao recalled the scarlet robe that had covered her in her past life, and a faint, bittersweet smile tugged at her lips.
She forced her eyelids open. In the last instant before losing consciousness, she caught sight of that scarlet figure.
“You’re here… that’s good.”
Her eyelids closed, and she sank into endless darkness.
“Why hasn’t my sister woken yet? If I had known, that day I would have—”
“Sob… sob… Miss, it’s all my fault.”
…
Her eyelids felt heavy as lead, and around her, sobbing and voices of guilt intertwined.
Yu Mingyao’s head throbbed painfully. Growing impatient, she suddenly opened her eyes, seeing Madam Shi Luo sitting by her bed, face full of guilt.
Behind her stood Yan Yue and Yu Jinnian.
“Miss is awake!”
Yan Yue, who had been soothing Madam Shi Luo, lit up at once and pushed her twice with joy.
“It’s been three days. My poor child… if you hadn’t woken, your grandmother would have…”
Madam Shi Luo’s eyes grew moist again as she spoke.
Since arriving in the capital, there hadn’t been a single peaceful day. Her Mingyao had suffered so much.
Seeing Yu Jinnian also looking sorrowful in the back, Yu Mingyao felt both comforted and amused.
“It was just a little fall into the water; why is everyone like this? As if I wasn’t coming back.”
“Pfft, pfft, pfft—”
Before she could finish, Madam Shi Luo spat several times toward the air.
“Don’t speak nonsense, don’t speak nonsense.”
After glaring fiercely at Yu Mingyao, she finally let it go.
“Jinnian, tell your bold sister exactly what happened. She should never be careless again, knowing full well she can’t swim and still walking by the waterside.”
Yu Jinnian straightened and recounted everything as it had happened.
“I had just walked to the pond when I saw you soaked through, draped in a man’s outer robe. I panicked, but thankfully had the presence of mind to take off my own coat and cover you up so no one would see.”
“Otherwise,” Yu Jinnian snorted coldly, “who knows what kind of scoundrel would cling to you.”
The scarlet cloud-patterned robe on Yu Mingyao had been so ornate and distinctive that even Yu Jinnian recognized the implications. Let alone Madam Shi Luo, sharp as ever.
Madam Shi Luo had been so shocked upon seeing that robe she nearly fainted. Thankfully, after interrogating Yu Jinnian carefully, she confirmed no one else had seen it.
“You don’t know,” Yu Jinnian said dramatically,
“the banquet was about to start. I didn’t know what to do, but just as I lifted you, I ran into Pei Shang. He saw you fainted, panicked, and immediately called for a physician.”
“At the Pei residence, his words carried weight. Thanks to that, your fall into the water was covered up, and the doctor arrived.”
“You didn’t see — when he saw how pale you were, that little pretty boy almost cried.”
“What happened after that?”
Following his words, Yu Mingyao pictured Pei Shang’s reddened eyes.
He must have blamed himself terribly upon seeing her like that.
“After that, I informed Grandmother. Following her instructions, we didn’t let that brat come visit these past few days.”