Pei Qianhao suddenly decided to stand up from his chair and draw closer to her step by step. “Su Xi-er, you are still concealing it in front of this prince? The one who knocked out the imperial guards and snuck into the Laundry Service Bureau last night was none other than you. You know best in your heart why the Laundry Service Bureau became like this.”
Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him, “Prince Hao, this servant doesn’t understand a single word you said.”
“Don’t understand? Why don’t you gather some itchy grass, take off your clothes, and roll on it?”
Once again, Su Xi-er felt that he was a pervert. Who would be able to say something like this in front of a woman?
“Why did you do that? Did the palace maids in the Laundry Service Bureau provoke you? Give this prince a reason.”
Resolution emerged in Su Xi-er’s eyes. “It wasn’t this servant.”
“The imperial guards were all struck on the same spot on their necks. This prince had also encountered it previously.” Pei Qianhao’s voice was laced with banter. He wasn’t taking any actions against her now because he lacked evidence.
“This servant doesn’t understand what you’re implying. Prince Hao, please don’t make things difficult for this servant.” She took a step back, pulling apart the distance between them.
Little did she know that Pei Qianhao would take a step forward and grasp her hand. “The red dots will soon appear on your hands, thereby proving that you weren’t telling the truth to Imperial Physician Zhao. Why did you lie? Wasn’t it because you have a guilty conscience?”
His grip was too strong for her to struggle free of.
“Prince Hao, every word this servant spoke was true. Do you want to know why red spots didn’t appear on this servant?”
Pei Qianhao raised his eyebrow. “Tell me.”
“Please put down this servant’s hand first. Your grip is too tight and it’s hurting this servant.”
“Speak the truth. Otherwise, there will be pain waiting for you.” There was an overtone in his words. Nevertheless, he let go of her hand.
“Prince Hao, you gave this servant a bottle of medicinal powder, saying that it has the effect of making the body fragrant. Like you said, every woman cares about their body; this servant is no different.” She intentionally paused and looked at his expression.
As expected, he isn’t as solemn as he was just now. His expression has eased slightly.
Hence, she continued, “This servant went to pull weeds after applying the medicinal powder and didn’t get any red spots. Perhaps it was the effect of the powder. Today however, this servant didn’t apply any of it before touching the culm.”
Pei Qianhao continued listening to her attentively and smiled. “What a cunning woman. Even if this prince didn’t appear, you would still have thought of a way to escape, am I right??”
“This servant is just stating the facts as they are.” Su Xi-er was originally following a plan, but she didn’t expect that Pei Qianhao would suddenly appear.
If Imperial Physician Zhao had ended up imprisoning her without Pei Qianhao around, she would still have a reason prepared even if red spots did appear on her hands. That would be revealing that the prince himself was the one who had presented the medicinal powder to her. With that, no matter how what suspicions Imperial Physician Zhao had, he wouldn’t look into the matter any further.
From a certain perspective, it could be said that she was making use of Pei Qianhao.
He had been used by someone with no apparent reason. Even if she hadn’t started to make use of him yet, just that point alone already made Pei Qianhao displeased.
“Since you made use of this prince, shouldn’t you do something to repay me?” He raised his hand and caressed her face.
This time, she didn’t dodge him but allowed him to touch her face.
Letting him touch my face can be considered as repayment, right?
“You are still not clear about this prince’s maxim in handling matters? You made use of this prince. It won’t end as simply as letting me touch your face.” He then hooked her waist with his other hand and took her into his arms.
His hand slowly wandered upwards, making Su Xi-er very uncomfortable. Other than the face, he still wants to touch…my body?
No way!
Su Xi-er immediately raised her hands to refuse him, but was firmly pressed to the wall before she could do anything else.
His breath sprinkled on her neck. “Do you know the delight in hunting? The more you struggle, the more you can elicit the interest of the hunter.”
The hidden implication in his words was clear. “If you move again, don’t blame this prince for not being polite.”
Su Xi-er stopped struggling. She felt very uncomfortable that she was incapable of resistance when oppressed by a man.
After all, she was repulsed by men. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she detested them!
However, he was still not getting up, and the warmth from her neck caused her to knit her eyebrows.
“Prince Hao, this servant is uncomfortable.”
Pei Qianhao raised his head from her neck and caught sight of her radiant gaze, something he had never seen before with other women.
But there was irritation on her visage. Irritation towards him.
It was rare for him to come across a woman who loathed him. Pei Qianhao raised his eyebrow, moving his hand away from her waist and placing it on her lips.
“This mouth of yours can speak pretty well. How should I punish it?”
His lips fell again before she could speak; this time however, they fell softly on her lips.
As he opened his eyes to look at her, he found that her eyes were also open.
In a split second, he deepened the kiss and oppressed her until she was unable to breathe.
Finally, he let go of her.
Su Xi-er looked at him. I wasn’t able to ward him off every time. Only by having kissed many women can he reach such a proficient level, right?
However, she didn’t know that she was the first woman he had ever kissed. She was also the first woman he still wanted to kiss after kissing her once.
The reason was very simple. He was very interested in her eyes that openly displayed her hostility towards him. And yet, she could only quietly endure, despite being indignant.
After the kiss, the two didn’t say anything. Red spots had already appeared on Su Xi-er’s arms.
Pei Qianhao chuckled and grabbed her arm after seeing them. Taking out a white porcelain bottle from his sleeve, he took the chance to apply it for her.
“The red spots will disappear in a short while. Since you dealt with the Laundry Service Bureau’s palace maids in such a manner, this prince presumes that you want to enter the Laundry Service Bureau. From today onwards, you don’t need to work in the Palace Side Quarters. You will report directly to the Laundry Service Bureau to wash clothes.”
Pei Qianhao didn’t know Su Xi-er’s real reason for her actions, and assumed that she wanted to enter the Laundry Service Bureau.
Su Xi-er didn’t explain. So be it, there is nothing I can do if he is dead set on believing that I am responsible for knocking out him and the imperial guards.
However, she wanted to know what he would do if he had ample evidence.
After helping her to apply the medicinal powder, Pei Qianhao turned to leave.
Su Xi-er immediately called out to him, “Prince Hao, if you find the woman who ambushed you, what would you do?”
He chuckled. “Of course I would punish her severely and kill her. Don’t you know this prince’s thoughts?” He then walked out.
Su Xi-er remained standing at the same spot, bemused.
Was what he said true or false? Can a man’s words be trusted?
Almost immediately, Su Xi-er shook her head. I can’t believe a single sentence. In this lifetime, I will only believe in myself.
However, she didn’t know that if it had been the Pei Qianhao of the past, he would kill those who provoked him as long as he had the slightest evidence.
As for what he told Su Xi-er, it was true, but the prerequisite was that he cared enough to search for said evidence.
The current Pei Qianhao wasn’t looking for the evidence; or if he had found it, he wasn’t telling anyone.
After Pei Qianhao walked out of the room, he saw Wu Ling waiting for him at the Imperial Physician Institute’s gate.
When he arrived, Wu Ling immediately bowed to him. “Prince Hao, you are invited to attend Nanzhao’s state banquet.”
