Pei Xiaoyuan retreated to the porch outside the banquet hall and stood there waiting for her. When she came in front of him, he smiled faintly and nodded to her.
There was a lantern burning under the porch, the light was dim, but it was enough for people to see clearly. Before coming here, he must have just walked a long distance at night in the rain.
Her eyes swept over his entire body, his dripping hair, his damp clothes, and the pair of heavy-looking boots on his feet that were obviously filled with water.
He must have sensed the surprise in her eyes. He followed her gaze and quickly glanced down at himself, who looked extremely embarrassed. He seemed to be about to explain something when he heard a series of footsteps coming from the banquet hall. Yuwen Zhi chased out.
He held the crabapple flower that she had pinned behind his ear with his teeth, and held it in the corner of his mouth. With a slightly unsteady step, he walked behind her, then stopped and looked Pei Xiaoyuan up and down. Then he loosened his teeth and put the flower on his waist instead, and then he greeted her: "Pei Sicheng? Why are you like this? I almost can't recognize you! Come on! I'm having a banquet in the hall. If you don't mind, why don't you come in and have a drink?"
His tone sounded extremely enthusiastic, and his manner was no different from that of the host. As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Pei Xiaoyuan to speak, he called the maid loudly and led the guest inside to change clothes, first changing out of the clothes that were wet by the rain.
Several pretty maids came over in a hurry, cooing and surrounding Pei Xiaoyuan to take him to change clothes. Pei Xiaoyuan took a step back and declined. Yuwen Zhi did not force him and said with concern: "Si Cheng is a busy man, unlike me, who has nothing to do all day and can only play cockfighting and riding horses as entertainment. How come you have time to come out of the city tonight? Is there something?"
Pei Xiaoyuan looked at her.
"Please move away." Xuyu spoke at this time.
Yuwen Zhi looked displeased and did not move.
Xuyu turned to him and frowned.
He immediately smiled, and said in a tone that was somewhat coquettish and somewhat pleading: "Go if you want to, I'll listen to you!" After saying that, he really left, but did not leave completely. He stood far away, leaning against a pillar under the eaves nearby.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Xuyu then asked Pei Xiaoyuan.
Pei Xiaoyuan paused, and when he met her eyes that looked as bright as stars in the night, he said, "It's nothing important, but... today I went to visit the family of my father's old subordinates, and they said that someone had visited them yesterday in my mother's name."
"Zhang Shun said that you asked him these questions."
Xuyu was stunned.
Ever since Qingtou had heard about the anniversary of Madam Cui's death, she had been thinking about it. Even if everything else was ignored, even if it was just to commemorate Madam Cui and General Shenhu, she felt that she should do something.
Ci'en Temple didn't need her, and she thought of the people behind the group of Shenhu Army soldiers who died with Pei's father. Even Pei's father himself has not been completely vindicated until now, let alone his subordinates.
She recalled an incident that happened when Chengping and Yuwenzhi had a fight behind Shenshu Palace when she first entered the palace.
I remember he had told her that if she had any problems, she could go to the palace eunuch named Zhang Shun. Apparently, the other party was an old friend of the Pei family, so she went to ask about him, and sure enough, she found out the answer.