Chapter 9: Escorting Her Home

The wind whistled as it rushed toward Xie Yun. Her sweat-slicked palm tightened around a silver hairpin, and just as she was about to strike, a blade sliced ferociously through the crowd, piercing Zhao Yuanliang’s chest with lethal intent.

As a muffled groan escaped his lips, the hand pinning her began to loosen. Xie Yun seized the moment to leap from the carriage. Once she had put some distance between them, the silver hairpin slipped from her exhausted fingers and fell to the ground with a faint "ting."

In the midst of the chaos, the sound was barely audible, yet she noticed Pei Shijin glance over, his phoenix eyes deep and unreadable. A moment later, his refined frame shifted as he stepped toward her.

Xie Yun relaxed for only a fleeting second before her nerves tightened again, watching him warily.

Pei Shijin approached, bent down to pick up the silver hairpin, and raised an eyebrow. "You had already planned for this before leaving the carriage?"

From the moment Zhao Yuanliang seized her, it had been clear that Xie Yun could not possibly have managed to retrieve the hairpin then. The only explanation was that she had sensed the danger before even lifting the carriage curtain, preparing for the worst in advance. She was certainly sharper than she had been two years ago.

Xie Yun nodded, reached out to take the hairpin back, and tucked it into her sleeve. After a pause, she said, "Thank you, Lord Pei, for your intervention today."

Pei Shijin looked surprised. Glancing at his subordinates clearing the scene, he lowered his head and said nonchalantly, "This trouble today was caused by the Grand Court of Justice in the first place; why thank me?"

Their eyes met. Xie Yun was the first to look away, a smile blooming on her face. "Was it not you, Lord Pei, who saved my life two years ago?"

She was referring to the past events Baozhu had just recounted to her. Pei Shijin’s surprise deepened as he scrutinized her. "They actually told you about that?"

Under his gaze, he truly began to notice something unusual. The woman before him had hair as dark as ink reaching her waist; beneath her arched, mountain-like brows, her almond-shaped eyes were both clear and deep, harboring a hidden luster. A breeze lifted her lake-colored skirt, making her appear as graceful and poised as a pink lotus in bloom, yet with a subtle, alluring radiance.

Her face was the same, and her figure had matured significantly, yet she felt entirely different from the girl of two years ago.

Pei Shijin suppressed the strange feeling in his heart. His roaming gaze caught a nail-sized scar on the back of her neck, and he flinched slightly. Two years later, that scar was still there.

Had it not been for his casual intervention back then, would this flower-like woman have withered away in that forgotten valley? Xie Huaishu had been right all those years ago—he had indeed acted with a measure of selfishness.

Noticing the heat in the gaze lingering upon her, Xie Yun cleared her throat. "I am no longer the young lady of the Prime Minister’s residence, so such matters are naturally easier to inquire about than before."

"I had always intended to thank you in person, Lord Pei. Who would have thought I would encounter you here? It seems even the heavens could not bear to see me remain ignorant of my true savior."

Xie Yun stepped back and offered a formal bow. "Though I have severed ties with the Prime Minister’s residence, should there be anything I can assist you with in the future, Lord Pei, do not hesitate to send word."

She had once been a prominent figure in Yanjing, and she was well-versed in the polite exchanges of the elite. However, she now lacked both a prestigious family and a noble status. In contrast, the humble scholar who had saved her two years ago had risen to become a sought-after new official. She assumed there was little she could possibly do for him.

As she thought this, a slow, resonant voice replied:

"Very well. I shall keep those words in mind, Miss Xie."

Xie Yun: "..."

For a moment, silence passed between them. A fair-skinned official carrying a sword walked over and bowed to Pei Shijin. "My Lord, everything has been cleared."

Pei Shijin acknowledged him with a hum and sheathed the wiped-clean blade. Xie Yun’s sharp eyes caught the sight of several bodhi-seed prayer beads embedded in the scabbard, which struck her as deeply peculiar. Was this a gesture of restraint for such a malevolent weapon? It seemed rather like a flimsy cover-up.

Xie Yun pushed these thoughts aside and turned back to her carriage, only to freeze. The common carriage had been rattled to the point of falling apart during the struggle, and the driver had vanished. Was she expected to walk all the way back to Huaiqing Lane?

Pei Shijin followed her gaze and noted the wreckage of the carriage. After a moment of contemplation, he instructed his men, "Miss Xie’s carriage was ruined because of us. A-Ling, you and A-Yan take Miss Xie to buy some clean clothes in the market, then see her safely home."

Xie Yun was stunned, instinctively looking down at herself. She had been so close to Zhao Yuanliang that she was inevitably splattered with blood; she was indeed in no state to be seen. But why was Pei Shijin being so kind as to have her escorted all the way to Huaiqing Lane?