Chapter 728: A Million Times for You (90)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Pei Yi… just how did you end up like this? Have you gotten tired of toying with those clean virgins? I can’t believe you’ve actually acquired a taste for filthy women like her. Your taste has really gotten from bad to worse!”
“Tian Tian! I didn’t agree to see you to have you insult me,” Pei Yi snapped angrily.
The woman walked toward Pei Yi and stopped when she was about a meter’s length away from him. She raised her chin and questioned, “You’re still infuriated with me, aren’t you? That’s why you’re using such a woman to spite and insult me, right?”
“You’re reading too much into things. That’s not what I meant at all.”
“But it seems like it to me. You’re doing all of this to show me that you’d rather tolerate being with such a woman than forgive me. Didn’t you say that you were extremely intolerant toward filth? Why have you changed your mindset when it comes to her? Have you stopped being a germaphobe? You don’t mind filthy women anymore?”
Exasperated beyond limits, Pei Yi hollered, “Tian Tian, you’re getting way out of hand and unruly. You’re just an outsider. Who are you to interfere with my decisions? Do you really think you have the rights to tell me what to do just because I’ve shown you some kindness? Get off your high horse, you’ve overestimated yourself! Go back if there’s nothing else you’d like to say. I’m very busy.”
Pei Yi was chasing her away.
Tian Tian pouted her lips. Women are not to be trifled with, for the consequences are bound to be dire once they’re provoked.
Tian Tian s.h.i.+fted her gaze onto the bedroom door not too far away while An Xiaoning hurriedly closed it shut.
She remained still by the sofa upon hearing footsteps approaching.
Noticing that Tian Tian was running toward his bedroom, Pei Yi tried to stop her but failed to do so in time.
Tian Tian opened the door and entered the moment she caught sight of An Xiaoning.
Just as she was about to give An Xiaoning a tight slap, An Xiaoning grabbed her wrist tightly, hindering her from moving an inch. “You don’t know me at all and yet you’re trying to hit me. Aren’t you being unreasonable?” An Xiaoning scorned.
Pei Yi heaved a sigh of relief when he reached the door and ordered, “Tian Tian, get out.”
An Xiaoning let go of her. To her astonishment, Tian Tian immediately kicked her in the knee.
An Xiaoning winced in pain but nonetheless rebuked, “What a shrew. Fancy you bullying another woman when you’re a woman yourself.”
Boiling with anger, Tian Tian tried to attack An Xiaoning again, only to be dragged outside by Pei Yi.
An Xiaoning bent forward to rub her aching knee. “Just my luck,” she muttered under her breath.
It was understandable for there to be a bunch of jealous women throwing themselves at Pei Yi, given how handsome he was. She just had to get used to it.
An Xiaoning exited the room slowly, only to see Qin Guo kneeling on the ground with her head hung low. An Xiaoning could sense the deep resentment in her eyes.
An Xiaoning shot Qin Guo a dirty look relentlessly, which completely caught the other woman off guard while she continued to kneel quietly.
Pei Yi could not help but feel amused by her expression.
He did not find her obnoxious and, instead, felt like he could not wrap his head around what An Xiaoning was really like. He felt that she was sometimes as timid as a mouse and, at other times, as brave as a lion.
She was both bold and brazen, yet afraid of death.
An Xiaoning stepped forward slowly to see that he was much less upset than before. “I’m sorry,” she apologized slowly.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I put you in a spot by refusing to resign myself to fate and struggling to stay alive.”
“I’m glad you know. Are you giving up already?”
“No, no, no. I want to keep living, I don’t wish to die. It’s my blessing to have you as my benefactor, Master Pei. I’ll be much more obedient from now on and abide by your instructions.”
I wish I could lash out at you, you unscrupulous scoundrel! she cursed in her head.
If it weren’t because of him, she wouldn’t have had to suffer in silence so as to stay alive.
He was clearly the one who locked her up, yet she still had to thank him for sparing her life…
Her words were like music to Pei Yi’s ears, despite knowing that she did not mean what she said.
He did not answer her and instead looked at Qin Guo, who was kneeling on the ground. “It’s not like you don’t know the rules here. How dare you tell on me to Tian Tian? You’re really brazen, eh? Why? Are you getting sick of living here?” he questioned coldly.
“I wouldn’t dare to. Ancestor, I was wrong! Please spare me this once, I wouldn’t dare do it again!” Qin Guo pleaded anxiously, kowtowing to him.
Pei Yi hissed and said, “Continue kneeling here for two hours, I’m going out to handle some matters.”
“Yes.”
He exited, leaving the two women alone together.
There was three times the number of surveillance cameras in the living room, as compared to his bedroom. Thus, Qin Guo would not have the audacity to do anything atrocious.
She straightened her back and sneered at An Xiaoning, “Don’t think Ancestor will really fall for you. He’ll never fancy a withered flower like you. He’s once said before that he can never tolerate tainted and filthy women.”
An Xiaoning sat on the couch calmly and said, “Everyone’s standards change with time. Change is often unexpected and inevitable. I won’t ask for Master Pei to fall in love with me. All I’m asking is for him to spare my life so long as I’m obedient.”
“I thought you really had a strong backbone. Turns out I was wrong.”
“Yes. I’m afraid of death and I cherish my life too dearly. No one can take my life away except Heaven. I’ll do my best and strive to survive,” said An Xiaoning, who was intentionally trying to spite Qin Guo.
“I’ve never heard someone talk about being afraid of death so candidly!”
“There’s always a first. I am a coward who’s afraid of death.”
“You… you’re really sharp-tongued!” Qin Guo snapped, her stern grimace almost ruining the thick layer of makeup on her face.
“I’m nothing compared to you.”
“…”
——
Madam Xu buried the ashes of Xu Baizhi and her husband.
Xu Yang was charged and imprisoned for encroaching on his position and abusing his authority.
Military Commander Xu only had a while to go before his retirement. However, he received a notice from the higher authority, which informed him that he would be stripped of his position as the Military Commander.
Apart from Xu Cai, the entire Xu family was implicated and suffered grave consequences.
Grief-stricken and devastated because of her family’s downfall, Madam Xu fell severely ill and became bedridden. She could not eat or sleep in peace and did not leave the house for days. She had also grown visibly thinner.
Both Madam Xu and her husband deeply regretted agreeing to go ahead with Xu Baizhi’s plan. If they had turned her down right from the start, Xu Baizhi wouldn’t have died and Xu Yang also wouldn’t have been implicated. Moreover, the Xu family’s reputation would not have been tarnished by the rumors either.
However, it was all too late now. The Xu family had no idea how their long-lost daughter, with whom they had reunited just a while back, had died overseas. The police did not provide any further information either. After all, Xu Baizhi would have been sentenced to death for the major crime she had committed anyway. Thus, there was no point in further investigation.
Madam Xu and Mr. Xu lay in bed with nothing to say to each other.
They soon heard footsteps shuffling and approaching their room. The butler opened the door and reported, “Sir, Madam, the police are here.”
“The police? What’s going on?” they asked frantically as they rushed toward the living room.
“Mr. Xu, Madam Xu, we’ve received an insider report about Mr. Xu abusing his authority to cause harm to others. We’ll now have to bring Mr. Xu back to the police station for further investigation.”
Madam Xu grabbed her husband’s arm and defended him vehemently, “My husband didn’t abuse his power and authority, don’t take him away.”