Chapter 294: The Lord of Hell's Retaliation

Returning to her boudoir, she opened the letter, and Pei Chuyun's smile froze on her face, turning grave.

Possession...

Possession alone would be bad enough, but a mother possessing her daughter...

Pei Chuyun pressed her lips tightly, staring blankly at the letter, her gaze drifting who-knows-where.

After a long while, she suddenly smiled again, her eyes filled with tenderness: "So I truly can receive a bit of genuine sincerity from someone."

She carefully placed the letter into her ring, stretched lazily, and strolled out the door.

As if the massive hidden danger warned of in the letter did not exist.

Walking on the street, everyone instinctively made way to the sides; not only men, but even women had a hint of frenzied light in their eyes.

In these few months, Pei Chuyun had become too famous in the capital.

She had already published her own poetry collection, with a strange name: "Collection of Xing Lu".

Previously, when browsing a contemporary poetry collection with Lu Xingzhou, Lu Xingzhou had commented that while these modern poems were passable, they were not truly good; Pei Chuyun agreed. At the time, she had felt regret, thinking her own poetry was clearly superior to theirs, yet she had not been able to publish a collection.

Now that the collection was out, combined with the status of the eldest daughter of Prime Minister Pei and her talent truly surpassing others by a margin, her reputation as a "talented lady" truly shook the capital, and then spread throughout the world.

The manuscripts she had clutched daily like a little white flower while at the Imperial Academy finally revealed their deserved value.

Pei Chuyun hadn't even dared to ask Lu Xingzhou to polish those manuscripts; she felt she was unworthy of the title "talented lady," that the true great talent was Lu Xingzhou, whose few poems utterly obliterated all others. If Lu Xingzhou were to critique and polish them, it would feel like cheating.

Heaven knows that if Lu Xingzhou really polished them, he wouldn't be able to produce anything either.

And Pei Chuyun's fame for talent was not limited to the poetry collection.

Not long ago, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the Imperial Academy held a banquet with hundreds of officials in attendance, and the students provided some entertainment. As a result, Pei Chuyun's single guqin performance shocked the entire audience; all attendees said it had reached the level of a grand master.

This made things even more extraordinary; skilled in both guqin and poetry, so beautiful, with cultivation running far ahead of the pack, even crushing the number one new talent... she was truly perfect, truly racing toward the status of a goddess, unstoppable.

Pei Qingyan and his father Pei Yu were so happy their mouths wouldn't close; not only did they not try to stop it, they secretly bought some water army.

Pei Chuyun thus became the most popular goddess in the capital; even peddlers and porters knew her name. Countless men were haunted by her dreams, which was one thing, but countless women also viewed her as an idol, chasing her fame with frenzied fervor.

The discordant voices within the Pei family vanished completely; the He clan all recognized the status of this legitimate daughter.

In fact, by now she had achieved what Pei Chuyun herself had sought when she first opened her heart to Lu Xingzhou; back then, wasn't it because her sect status was awkward, her hobbies could not be displayed, and she had talent but could not make a name for herself? In the end, even seeking kinship was for these reasons; a small scheme was manipulated by a stinky man, and finally her body was tricked away.

But now that her wishes were fulfilled, looking back, Pei Chuyun found she was not as happy as she had expected.

Although Pei Chuyun believed she was not motivated by vanity, but only for her own life's value, she did not deny having a bit of vanity, which was not shameful. Achieving fame and success, adored by the masses, should be the most soaring moment; what was there to be unsatisfied with?

Perhaps because the way her family looked at her increasingly carried the meaning of having obtained a valuable marriage tool; they tried not to let her feel this in their words, but it was still hard to hide.

Her master was the same... in fact, this situation was step-by-step created by her master.

Family and master did not care so much about her achievements or the realization of her life's value; they cared more about what she could bring them.

Even the person who said "you have a father" could not escape this vulgarity; the Pei family was ultimately a political creature.

So who else was there?

In this world, the only person who could unconditionally support her in realizing her value, devise ways to push her forward, yet had absolutely no purpose for himself, was Lu Xingzhou.

Although perhaps he was also just for her body, or for the thrill of playing with the contrast... that little bit of ambition. But he absolutely did not intend to use her success as some kind of bargaining chip; he was fundamentally different from others.

Just like now; he had already obtained what he wanted, yet he still cared about her safety, urgently sending a letter to warn her.

As for the matter of the warning... it seemed Pei Chuyun herself was not entirely unaware.

That was unimportant.

What was important was that he was not by her side.

Thus, this bustling capital teeming with crowds became lonely.

Pei Chuyun unconsciously walked toward a roadside book stall, her hand gently stroking the poetry collection, as if a handsome man stood beside her, his brows and eyes gentle: "Do you like this?"

Turning her head to look, the figure was illusory; in the end, no one was there.