The incense burner crashed onto the carpet, creating a mottled dark stain. The vibrant woven carpet was suddenly marked with a strange layer of color, which against the sound of rain outside the window, appeared particularly jarring.

Lu Tong looked at the young man before her, her heart gradually sinking.

Why was Pei Yunying at Yuxian Tower?

Today was Qi Yutai’s birthday, and he had invited many friends. His fair-weather friends were of no low status—by qualification, most of them should be staying on this floor.

And Pei Yunying happened to be here. Could it be that he and Qi Yutai…

The young man’s gaze swept over the overturned incense burner on the floor. After a long while, he looked up at her again.

Lu Tong quietly clenched her hands.

She had witnessed this person’s scheming and suspicious nature. How could she explain the current situation? Moreover, if he had secret dealings with the Qi family, revenge would only become more difficult.

“Why are you only coming up now?” he asked.

Lu Tong was stunned.

Pei Yunying casually placed the silver blade on the table, sat down at the desk, and beckoned to her: “Close the door.”

Lu Tong suddenly understood—Pei Yunying hadn’t recognized her!

Indeed, Yin Zheng’s disguise skills were exceptional. When she passed by a bronze mirror downstairs today, she had glanced at herself—rouge and powder applied like some demon or ghost, with gauze covering her face. Pei Yunying must have mistaken her for a dancing girl from Yuxian Tower. Perhaps he had originally called for someone to come upstairs, and she had mistakenly taken someone else’s place.

“What are you standing there for?” he asked again.

Lu Tong lowered her head and walked to the door to close it.

Continuing to hesitate would only arouse suspicion—she could only go along with the mistake for now.

With the door closed, the sound of rain outside became somewhat quieter. The gold-painted pearl lamp on the small table displayed brilliant peonies. Pei Yunying sat at the table, and against the backdrop of glittering pearls and jade, the indifference in his eyes showed a rare touch of authenticity.

Seeing Lu Tong looking over, that indifference quickly faded, becoming bright again. Pei Yunying curved his lips and casually asked: “Can’t speak the official language?”

Lu Tong nodded.

The new group of dancing girls at Yuxian Tower came from foreign tribes—some could speak the capital dialect, others couldn’t. Those who could speak the capital dialect were always more popular here, while those who couldn’t speak the official language were somewhat neglected. However, for the romantic drunkards in the tower, it was all just temporary novelty.

Lu Tong chose to pose as a dancing girl because the face veil could conceal her appearance, making it convenient for her actions. She hadn’t expected to encounter an acquaintance here, but precisely because of this, as someone who couldn’t speak and whose face was hidden, she could safely “perform” in front of Pei Yunying.

He looked at Lu Tong and smiled again, tapping the cups on the table: “Won’t you pour wine?”

Lu Tong paused, then had no choice but to walk over.

She stopped beside Pei Yunying, trying to appear gentle and endearing as she picked up the wine pot to pour for him.

Clear wine liquid fell into the jade cup with a pleasant tinkling sound. When Lu Tong bent over, her cloud-like silk drape brushed past the young man’s face. His brows moved slightly, and he avoided it slightly, as if deliberately maintaining distance from her.

After pouring the wine, Lu Tong straightened up and stood obediently beside Pei Yunying. Perhaps because of the face veil, or perhaps because the sweet fragrance in the room was too intoxicating, the wine’s aroma was very faint—she could barely smell any wine scent.

Pei Yunying picked up the cup, lowered his head to take a sip, and looked toward the sunken wood qin on the table.

Lu Tong followed his gaze, her heart sinking.

Sure enough, the next moment, she heard this person’s smiling voice: “Can you play the qin?”

Lu Tong: “…”

Her family in Changwu County originally had only one old qin, bought for Lu Rou to practice. She couldn’t endure the hardship of qin practice, and being built like a dumpling in childhood, she never liked such refined arts as qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. When it was first bought, her father had hoped she could practice too. To avoid qin practice, Lu Tong deliberately played it in a chaotic mess. Sure enough, within a few days, neighbors from the entire street came to persuade her mother to give up—why make the little girl suffer this hardship when everyone couldn’t sleep well at night?

And so it was abandoned.

Now that Pei Yunying asked if she could play the qin, Lu Tong suddenly felt some regret. If she had known this day would come, she shouldn’t have been lazy back then—gritting her teeth and learning the qin would be better than the current predicament.

After a moment of silence, Lu Tong gently shook her head.

He smiled, seeming quite troubled, and only spoke after thinking for a moment.

“I heard that Cuicui, the new dancing girl at Yuxian Tower, has skirts like flying swallows and sleeves like swirling snow—one dance could earn a hundred bright pearls. I haven’t seen it yet.” He propped his head on his hand, looking at her with an indifferent smile. “Then dance for me.”

Lu Tong: “…”

Having just escaped the qin-playing ordeal, this person now suggested dancing. If she could dance, her hands and feet wouldn’t have been so clumsy as a child. Speaking of it, perhaps even Lu Qian could dance better than her. Regarding dancing, Lu Tong’s memory remained at before age five, following Lu Rou around—when Lu Rou danced, she would vigorously wave a fan beside her to make the wind blow Lu Rou’s hair, making the dance more moving.

More than ten years had passed in a flash, and presumably her dancing skills hadn’t improved at all. Not dancing would be fine, but she feared that dancing would immediately expose her.

Pei Yunying waited for her leisurely.

Lu Tong suddenly felt that perhaps this person and she were incompatible by fate—born to be her nemesis.

But faced with Pei Yunying’s interested gaze, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

A dancing girl might not know how to play the qin, but she certainly couldn’t not know how to dance. The flaw was too obvious, especially since Pei Yunying was already a clever person.

Lu Tong had no choice but to walk forward a few steps, slowly moving to the gold-woven coral carpet in the room. For a moment, she almost wanted to give up completely—never mind how to deal with Qi Yutai later, why not just use a handful of poison powder to kill this troublemaker in front of her first?

Just as she stiffly raised her arms, another voice came from behind: “Never mind.”

Pei Yunying said: “Incense ash is scattered all over the floor—inconvenient for dancing. Come massage my shoulders instead.”

Lu Tong felt relieved but secretly gritted her teeth.

This person repeatedly—clearly deliberately toying with her, or was this just the amusement of these wealthy young masters? She had heard Yin Zheng mention that they would have others do things they could do themselves, wanting things they could obtain through a layer of gauze. Men and women in passionate love most enjoyed such behavior, euphemistically calling it “romance.”

Lu Tong didn’t understand romance, nor did she understand the pleasures between men and women. If not for the inappropriate circumstances, she would have murderous intent toward Pei Yunying.

But when under someone’s roof, one must bow one’s head. Lu Tong walked behind Pei Yunying, took a deep breath, and placed her hands on his shoulders.

Pei Yunying had his back to her, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but his posture appeared extremely relaxed.

Indeed, he was tormenting others, so of course he was relaxed.

Lu Tong suppressed the impulse to end this person with one stroke and began gently massaging him.

The medical hall had also seen patients with sore shoulders and legs come for consultation, and Lu Tong had massaged them too. Her massage pressure was neither light nor heavy, satisfying most people most of the time. At this moment, wild wind and torrential rain poured endlessly outside the window, but the warm chamber was as warm as spring. Downstairs were silver candles and beauties, nightly drinking, with performers’ songs faintly transmitted—actually creating a somewhat beautiful atmosphere.

Lu Tong half-lowered her eyes.

Pei Yunying had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, looking extremely handsome in official robes. He seemed contradictory—the Palace Guard’s official robe style was sharp and tailored, yet had gorgeous embroidery at the collar and wrist guards, just like the feeling he gave people.

Seemingly approachable and amiable, but actually like cold jade and snow, harboring coldness.

This room showed no trace of Qi Yutai—he wasn’t here. For her to find Qi Yutai, she first had to escape from Pei Yunying’s side. The medicines she carried would either take lives or weren’t suitable for use on him. He had drunk wine but wasn’t drunk… she needed to think of other methods.

Or directly knock him unconscious? The only handy thing in this room was an incense burner, now scattered on the floor. Her needles would work, but that would require drawing blood. Moreover, Pei Yunying might have guards nearby—once something happened, escaping would be difficult.

She came today to find Qi Yutai and didn’t want to create additional complications.

While pondering in her heart, a voice suddenly came by her ear: “Why are you absent-minded?”

Before she could react, in the next moment, Lu Tong’s hand was grasped by someone. In a whirl of dizziness, she felt her body being pulled forward, suddenly falling against Pei Yunying.

Their eyes met.

The silver candle on the table flickered twice, and the shadows on the wall also flickered twice. The human shadows gradually fixed on the wall like a dim old dream.

Lu Tong’s heart stirred slightly.

Ever since learning she wanted to infiltrate Yuxian Tower, Yin Zheng had constantly told her about these romantic affairs. Scholar and courtesan, prince and singing girl, famous courtesan and literati, top scholar and qin player—chaotic and extravagant nonsense, all just matters between men and women.

Those back-and-forth tugging, chasing, and flirting between men and women ultimately just ended up rolling together on the bed. She always found it somewhat unreal when listening, but now with Pei Yunying so close, Lu Tong suddenly had a real sense of it.

She looked at the person before her.

Pei Yunying was born handsome, with strong bone structure and heroic brows and eyes. At first glance, he appeared both handsome and noble, but the dimples at the corners of his mouth added a touch of youthful brightness, making him appear without the reserved air of those wealthy young masters, instead adding some refreshing quality.

But no matter how refreshing, in this world of silk and pleasure, he was just an ordinary man.

He would also visit flower houses, seek girls, and get handsy with dancing girls.

Lu Tong didn’t know what he wanted to do—after all, once a person truly became debauched, they could do anything.

Pei Yunying stared at her and suddenly smiled.

He said: “Miss Hongman of Yuxian Tower has elegant beauty surpassing all Wu courtesans, but I think among thousands of flowers and willows, none compare to you.”

He held Lu Tong’s arm with one hand, pulling her close, his bright eyes reflecting her image: “We’ve been acquainted for so long, why have we met so late? Why don’t you let me see your face—”

After speaking, he raised his hand as if to remove Lu Tong’s face veil.

Lu Tong was startled and quickly retreated. Though he seemed forceful, he actually used no strength. Lu Tong immediately broke free from his grasp, stepping back several steps. Her pearl hairpins and silver ornaments jingled from this movement.

The tassels of her gauze veil lightly brushed past his hand like a deep blue dancing shadow, flowing away from his fingertips.

Lu Tong came to her senses and instantly understood something, suddenly looking at the person in the room.

Outside the window, heavy rain poured down with dense wind sounds.

Inside the room, lamps dimmed and incense warmed, vermillion fire illuminating people.

The young man sat in his chair, silver clouds clustered on his black robes, his smile showing shallow warmth in the lamplight, as if somewhat amused.

“Xiangxiang has a clear and beautiful singing voice, Cuicui has graceful and lingering dance moves, Qingqing’s smile is worth a thousand gold.”

He looked toward Lu Tong, slightly raising his brows.

“Tongtong, what can you do?”

Tong Tong, who was hopeless at both singing and dancing: I can take out little boys one knife at a time [Kill You.jpg]