Consort of a Thousand Faces

Pei Qianhao walked out of Flowers Arrive Inn, his eyes dark and shining with a hint of danger. All his thoughts were currently focused on Su Xi-er. If it weren’t for her, why would I have thought that the woman in the room was her? If it weren’t for her… Anyways, it’s her fault.

 

If she doesn’t obediently return by herself, wait and see how I’ll punish her.

 

The night fell slowly, and the sky gradually darkened along with the expression on Pei Qianhao’s face when Su Xi-er had still yet to appear. Is it because I didn’t punish her harshly that she is now getting too arrogant?

 

He was soon pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of several women chattering nearby.

 

“Widow Liu received a good beating today. She deserved it for stealing Née Li’s husband.”

 

Then again, if the young woman hadn’t intervened, Née Li would have been cruelly beaten.”

 

When the topic turned to the young woman, the group became excited. “That young woman was so beautiful; even at my age, I’ve never seen someone so pretty. There has never been such a beautiful woman in all the nearby counties.”

 

Their words were enough to make Pei Qianhao stare at them without speaking. At the same time, feeling a pair of eyes staring at them, the women slowly began to feel something was wrong.

 

They stopped their conversation to look around, but were shocked when they saw Pei Qianhao. This… This man is so handsome! But why is the aura around him so scary!

 

At this moment, Pei Qianhao said, “The young woman that you are talking about, where did she go after she fixed Widow Liu?”

 

The women were frightened by his stance. One of them shivered and replied, “She went to Née Li’s home, which is in a village of Moon County.

 

Pei Qianhao nodded and asked, “What is the status of Widow Liu in Moon County?” An ordinary widow wouldn’t be so arrogant as to swagger around on the street without any backing.

 

The women looked at each other blankly. Although they didn’t know why the man was asking, his domineering nature made it impossible to not answer. “Widow Liu is an influential person in Moon County who manages a rice-selling business. She was previously married, but her husband passed away not long after the marriage. Her brother is a constable with some status at the County Government Office.”

 

Pei Qianhao nodded and soon realised why Su Xi-er hadn’t returned. She had caught the widow bullying Née Li and decided to step in.

 

Suddenly, the imperial guard rounded the corner, his nervous expression relaxing when he finally found Pei Qianhao.

 

He immediately walked up and bowed to talk, but Pei Qianhao waved his hand to signal him to be quiet.

 

After Pei Qianhao took a few steps away, the imperial guard finally opened his mouth. “Prince Hao, that woman is too arrogant. She wouldn’t listen since this subordinate couldn’t reveal your identity, so I resorted to using a bit of physical force to knock her out. After that, the manager of the inn took her back to her room to rest. Do you think we should leave Moon County now?”

 

Pei Qianhao looked at him coldly. “Leave? How can this Prince leave if Su Xi-er isn’t back yet?” He said this in such a matter-of-fact manner, that he didn’t even realise that this sentence was quite strange.

 

When the imperial guard heard this, he was stunned. This… Something isn’t right here! Prince Hao waiting for a maidservant? 

 

The imperial guard couldn’t understand the reasoning, and just stood there like a tree. It was completely inappropriate for an imperial guard from the Prince Hao Residence.

 

Luckily, the guard noticed and corrected his mistake before Pei Qianhao could chide him. However, this was only because his master’s intimidating coldness had woken him up!

 

The imperial guard immediately asked for forgiveness. “Prince Hao, please forgive me. But where is Su Xi-er? If she doesn’t appear by herself…”