Chapter 39: A Joyous Occasion

Chapter 39: A Joyous Occasion

-

That evening,

the whole family had a lively, happy dinner together.

After dinner, Pei Cang spoke up: "The National Preceptor and Heng'er have both come through their troubles safely. This is truly great luck, and I'm really happy about it. Today is a double blessing indeed!"

Pei Wantang asked, "Father, what do you mean, double blessing?"

"Hahaha, it's good news, of course!"

Pei Yuhuai's heart skipped a beat. Could the Emperor, happy about how things turned out, be trying to cheer him up by arranging a marriage?

Just as he was worrying, Pei Cang took a big gulp of wine and smacked his lips: "A joyous occasion, indeed! Today, when I went to the palace to see the Emperor, I happened to run into Lord Liu."

"And then?"

"The Liu family has a young daughter who's eighteen, a perfect match for my son, hahaha!"

Pei Yuhuai's hand, which was holding his chopsticks, trembled.

Pei Siming, sitting beside him, looked at him curiously: "Brother, what's wrong? Does your hand hurt?"

"N-no, it doesn't hurt."

He watched his father nervously, dreading that he'd say he had to marry the Liu girl to get rid of the bad luck.

Pei Cang's gaze shifted toward him, and he began to speak: "Once this is all settled, we'll pick a good day to bring the Liu girl into the family, betrothed to..."

"Father!"

Pei Yuhuai jumped up from his seat, interrupting him: "Father, I don't want to get married! I'm still young, and I don't even know the Liu girl."

Pei Cang: "???"

"Father, I..."

"This match is for your elder brother. You want to marry her?"

"Huh? For my elder brother?" Pei Yuhuai turned his head in a daze to look at Pei Yingci, who was also staring back at him looking totally confused.

The room suddenly went quiet.

Pei Siming suddenly clapped his hands happily: "Yay! Both elder brothers are getting married! I'll have sisters-in-law to play with me. Awesome!"

"..."

Pei Yuhuai snapped back to reality and gave an awkward smile: "Father, I thought... never mind, never mind. Just trying to keep things fun, that's all."

"Just be quiet."

"Okay, okay! When's the wedding? I want to drink at the feast!"

Pei Yingci was reserved by nature and loved reading. Pei Rongjing always called him a bookworm with no sense of fun.

Pei Yuhuai, on the other hand, was a total playboy who loved eating, drinking, and having fun. He'd drag Pei Rongjing along to have fun, totally different from their serious older brother Pei Yingci.

They always held great respect for their elder brother and didn't dare mess around in front of him.

Even though he was born to a concubine.

Pei Yingci pursed his lips shyly: "I'll do whatever Father decides."

Pei Cang stroked his chin with satisfaction: "Mm, when we host the banquet for the National Preceptor, we'll ask him to pick a good date so you can marry quickly."

With that, he gave a stern look at the other sons.

Useless kids.

Last time, they almost set Pei Rongjing up with someone, but after all that talk, both masters said it wasn't a good time for marriage, and the girl wasn't interested either, so they dropped it.

Pei Yuhuai silently lowered his head to avoid his father's gaze and focused on eating.

Can't see me.

"Yingci, you've met the Liu girl before. You should marry soon, so I can have a grandson sooner."

His wife chided him playfully: "Ci'er hasn't even married yet, and you're already rushing him."

"Hahaha."

Everyone chatted merrily, but Pei Yingci lowered his head with a strange look on his face, a faint blush creeping up to his ears—which Pei Yuhuai noticed.

Tsk, something's fishy there.

After the meal, Pei Yuhuai returned to his own courtyard. When he saw Pei Yi, they talked on and on until midnight.

When it came time to bathe, Pei Yuhuai didn't dare let Pei Yi help him, afraid he might see the marks on his body and expose what had happened.

-

With this trouble over, the marquis's household soon welcomed a joyous event. Guests filled the gates, and among those who came to drink at the wedding feast were, of course, the princesses and Ji Huaiyu.

From a distance, he spotted Ji Huaiyu, and for some reason, he felt uneasy, like something was about to happen...

"Young lord, why are you standing here alone? The princesses have arrived. Aren't you going in?"

Pei Yuhuai frowned and shook his head: "I'll go in a moment. Arrange for a few people to secretly watch Princess Quying and Ji Huaiyu, and also make sure the household is on high alert."

"Huh?"

"Don't ask. Just do as I say."

"Yes."

After giving these orders, Pei Yuhuai finally went to the front hall, joining the boisterous crowd in drinking and playing drinking games, pulling the groom Pei Yingci along to drink with him.

Ji Huaiyu watched from afar, seated among several young men.

Pei Yuhuai pretended not to see him at all, but was secretly watching him. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Ji Huaiyu who made a move, but Princess Quying who stood up first.

She said something to Princess Ruoning and took her somewhere out of sight.

Not good.

That woman is so cunning. She might use this opportunity to do something again. He had to go after them.

Pei Yuhuai followed them quietly, hiding himself well for fear of being discovered.

He lost sight of them.

"???????"

Getting lost in his own house—what a joke.

Pei Yuhuai paced in place, hands on his hips, so mad his cheeks hurt.

Meanwhile, Ji Huaiyu noticed he was gone, quietly slipped out of the banquet, and came after him.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice suddenly coming from behind was seriously scary.

Pei Yuhuai jumped, quickly backing up to put some space between them, eyeing him warily.

"Warning⚠️: Target Pei Yuhuai's affection level has dropped. Current affection is below stage one."

"Why are you out here? This is my house, I can do whatever I want. You don't get to boss me around."

Hearing the notification, Ji Huaiyu's face changed a little.

But when he looked at Pei Yuhuai, there was no blame or anger—his tone was surprisingly soft instead: "Sorry, I scared you. I was just worried something might happen to you again. You've been through a lot these past few days. It's my fault I didn't protect you. I'm sorry."

"???"

Seriously, dude, what's wrong with you?

Pei Yuhuai gave him a look like he was an idiot, rolling his eyes in annoyance: "Whether I go missing or not is none of your business. Bye."

"Wait."

"??"

Looking around and seeing no one nearby, Ji Huaiyu got bolder and grabbed Pei Yuhuai's wrist in one quick move: "Yuhuai, I'll ask you one last time—can we really not get back to how we were?"

"We never had a 'how we were' to begin with."

"I'm serious. Don't be stubborn with me. Just say the word, and I'll divorce the princess right now and take you far away."

He spoke urgently and sincerely, like he was really deeply devoted to him.

If he hadn't personally heard those words he'd said before, and seen firsthand how he'd treated this affection, he would've been fooled again.

Pei Yuhuai shook off his hand and snorted: "Fine then, go get the divorce right now. Like, right now, this instant."

"Yuhuai... I..."

"What, too soon?"