Consort of a Thousand Faces

Seeing that the pedestrians had cleared out in short order, the imperial guard took control of the horse carriage and guided it towards the teahouse.

 

The manager of the teahouse and its waiters respectfully stood to one side with their heads bowed, not daring to look up. They found it difficult to breathe as they heard the steady and powerful footsteps getting closer.

 

Pei Qianhao slowly walked into the teahouse. There are three floors. Judging from the decorations, the third floor is the fanciest.

 

The manager followed in, his voice trembling as he spoke. “Prince Hao, what… would you like to eat... and what would you like to drink?”

 

Pei Qianhao’s gaze circled around before he finally sat down on a seat at the leftmost corner of the first floor.

 

His action had made the manager’s heart rapidly sink. “Prince Hao… This servant will take you to a private room on the third floor.” 

 

The manager was petrified by Pei Qianhao’s aura, and didn’t know how to address himself in front of the latter. This subordinate? This lowly one? After thinking it over, he decided to use the words ‘this servant.’

 

Pei Qianhao’s slender fingers knocked on the table softly. “You aren’t this prince’s subordinate, so why are you calling yourself a servant?”

 

The manager’s heart trembled and knelt down. “This one deserves to die; Prince Hao, please quell your anger.” He really didn’t know how to address himself now. I can’t call myself a servant, so what do I call myself? This lowly one?

 

Su Xi-er saw that the manager was in distress and interjected, “Bring all the good food and drinks from this teahouse over.”

 

Hearing this, the manager respectfully replied with an affirmative. He immediately moved to complete his orders, as if he had just been pardoned for a major crime.

 

He had only taken three steps when he heard a calm and deep voice from behind. “Bring a pot of first-class wine.”

 

The manager turned and nodded before hastily returning to his previous task.

 

Su Xi-er looked at Pei Qianhao. “You already drank a lot of wine in the imperial palace, yet you still want more from out here?”

 

Pei Qianhao’s fingers continued to knock on the table as a devilish expression appeared in his eyes. “This time, you will drink with this prince.”

 

“This servant doesn’t know how to drink wine.” I do know how to drink, but I don’t want to.

 

“If you don’t try, how would you know?” Pei Qianhao moved his gaze to inspect the decor within the teahouse.

 

“Did you see this teahouse when you sneaked out for a stroll?”

 

Su Xi-er answered truthfully, “I did.”

 

At this moment, a waiter with his head lowered brought a pot of first-class wine to the table. Although this was only a teahouse, some guests would request wine, so it was only natural for them to have some prepared.

 

“Prince Hao, please enjoy.” The waiter put the pot wine down on the table, a huge burden lifting from his shoulders.

 

Being so close to Prince Hao, his whole body felt suppressed by nervousness and fear. He would start trembling if he stayed there too long.

 

Pei Qianhao took two teacups and filled them with wine.  He then picked up a cup and passed it to Su Xi-er. “Drink.” His voice was piercingly cold.

 

“This servant doesn’t know how to drink.”

 

The waiter noticed something familiar about the voice, but he didn’t dare to look up with Prince Hao here. With a lowered head, he saw the familiar coarse clothes on her.

 

This woman… The waiter became suspicious. Suddenly, he thought of the murder case.

 

In an instant, the waiter raised his head in horror and looked at Su Xi-er directly. “You…”

 

Su Xi-er recognised him. He’s the waiter who had been carrying a tray of food to the Wei daughters’ private room.

 

“You… you are…” The waiter didn’t dare to believe his eyes and stuttered.

 

Suddenly, a loud sound came from outside the teahouse. When the manager went to check, he found that they were a group of bailiff runners.

 

“By the orders of the County Magistrate, everyone in the teahouse must be brought back to the County Government Office for questioning.”

 

The manager was in a dilemma. There are important guests here at the teahouse, and imperial guards outside. Are these bailiff runners blind? Can’t they see that there are influential personages here?

 

“This…”

 

The lead bailiff runner was impatient. “If you interfere with the case, be careful of losing your head.”

 

The manager trembled. Just when the bailiff runners were going to rush in, they were blocked by a glistening silvery sword.