Chapter 59:
Her voice was very soft, but in the empty and silent night, it rang in Pei Yuqing’s ears no differently than a thunderous boom.
He listened with his heart nearly jumping out of his chest, his emotions, dead silent for many years, fluctuating with her words.
Which family’s young lady is as unruly as her.
But…
Neither of them spoke, and at the extremely quiet lakeside, Xie Wanning noticed his breath gradually growing heavier.
After a long while, she frowned, worriedly saying: “You’re not having a heart condition flare-up, are you?”
“……Yes,” Pei Yuqing was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and said: “I have a heart condition, Wanwan, don’t always tease me.”
Xie Wanning’s brows furrowed even deeper as she reached out to touch his chest.
Sure enough, it was beating very fast.
Even a normal person would find it hard to bear such a fast heartbeat, let alone his heart burdened with so much pressure.
Xie Wanning felt somewhat regretful: “Sorry, sorry, I’ll definitely be careful from now on and not stir your emotions.”
Pei Yuqing: “……”
He grasped her shoulders, and in the position of her hand on his chest, pulled her into his arms, as if completely compromising, letting out a deep sigh.
She really was a silly young lady; if his heart weren’t moved by her, how could it possibly be sitting here right now.
What gentle courtesy, upright character—he had never been such a person; how could he possibly be so considerate to everyone.
Xie Wanning had always been very bold in front of him; from their first meeting to every time after, it was always her taking the initiative to tease him, extremely eager and reckless, generous and proactive, but now that he had actually made a move, she felt a bit embarrassed.
Her hand stiffly grasped his lapel, her ear pressed to his chest, listening to his powerful heartbeat, which seemed no slower than her own, and she inexplicably felt joyful.
She nestled in his arms and softly said: “Your heartbeat is so fast.”
“Mm,” Pei Yuqing lowered his eyes, his voice slightly hoarse: “It’s not your fault; it’s my own problem.”
The hand on his lapel tightened, and Xie Wanning pursed her lips without speaking.
Pei Yuqing grasped her wrist and softly asked: “Will you return to the capital with me tomorrow?”
Since they had decided on marriage, and it would be simple, a hurried marriage, both of them needed to explain the situation to the elders at home.
They had only arrived today, and tomorrow they would return to the capital.
Xie Wanning was fine with it, but her little cousin had come with great enthusiasm to stay with her at the farmhouse; how could she just leave her…
“Reluctant to leave here?” Seeing her silent, Pei Yuqing smiled slightly: “Then we’ll go tomorrow morning and come back in the afternoon.”
“Good!” Xie Wanning looked up at his jaw, hesitating: “The wedding is too hurried; will your father and mother be unhappy? And… and I and…”
“Neither will,” Pei Yuqing lowered his eyes to look at the young lady in his arms, softly saying: “Don’t overthink it; they can’t wait for me to bring my wife home tomorrow.”
“As for your previous engagement, that’s even more insignificant; my father and mother are not rigid traditionalists and won’t care about that; as long as I agree, they won’t object.”
Xie Wanning felt a slight warmth in her heart.
He was so good like this, afraid she would feel pressure, coaxing her with utmost patience.
Besides her parents and elder brother, no one else had ever been this good to her.
Even her father wasn’t this patient and considerate toward her.
She was truly moved; her hand unconsciously touched the side of his face she had just kissed.
His face was truly clean as jade, with an excellent feel…
She softly said: “Do you know why I want to marry as soon as possible?”
Pei Yuqing was silent for a moment, then said: “……Because of Lu Ziyan.”
“Yes, because of Lu Ziyan.” Even knowing that with his intelligence he must have guessed it, Xie Wanning still decided to be frank about her thoughts.
She said: “That time at Qu Cheng Marquis’s Estate, in order to cleanly break off the engagement with him, I had the idea of marrying you, thinking that with your identity, even if the matter reached the Golden Hall, His Majesty wouldn’t side with him.”
“Later, he agreed to break off the engagement, the engagement was smoothly dissolved, and I originally had no intention of remarrying.”
Pei Yuqing listened quietly, his expression not changing much; he had known from the start that she wanted to marry him not out of affection for him, but to avoid another man.
But only when he heard this last sentence did he slightly frown, his mind instinctively turning, wondering what change had occurred to make her once again consider marrying him.
Was it the time she was abducted by Lu Ziyan to the rockery?
Or…
Xie Wanning said: “On the night before Lu Ziyan left the capital, he came to my room.”
Pei Yuqing’s body stiffened, and he subconsciously said: “What did you say?”
“Over these years of engagement, he had come to my courtyard and knew where my boudoir was; that night I was sleeping groggily, and when I woke up sensing something wrong, I saw a dark shadow standing bedside.”
Thinking of that night, Xie Wanning felt lingering fear, sniffed, and said: “It was Lu Ziyan; he broke into my boudoir at night, just standing bedside watching me.”
Pei Yuqing held his breath for a moment, then reached out to grasp her shoulders, pushed her back a bit, looked into her eyes, and gently stroked: “Crying?”
Xie Wanning: “……”
She thought he would ask what Lu Ziyan had said or done, but unexpectedly, the first thing he asked was…
“Don’t be afraid,” Seeing her silent, Pei Yuqing lowered his head to kiss her hair, carefully coaxing: “It’s all in the past; he’s no longer in the capital, and no one will come scare you again.”
Xie Wanning said: “Don’t you want to know what he came for?”
At the Duke’s Estate full of guests, in broad daylight, that madman dared to abduct her behind the rockery to kiss her; breaking into her boudoir at night…
Pei Yuqing’s lips trembled slightly as he reached to hold the back of her head, pulling her back into his arms: “It’s my fault; I didn’t think to arrange protection for you in advance.”
He hadn’t anticipated Lu Ziyan’s arrogance.
Given Lu Ziyan’s knowledge of Xuanping Marquis’s Estate, and with him leaving the capital the next day, it was indeed highly possible for him to sneak into her boudoir overnight.
But he hadn’t arranged Secret Guards to protect her in advance.
How frightened she must have been, waking up midway through sleep to find a man standing bedside.
And the man who had committed an indecent act against her in broad daylight.
He was already blaming himself to the point of heartache, but Xie Wanning wasn’t so unreasonable.
She said: “This has nothing to do with you.”
How could she blame him; she blamed Lu Ziyan for bullying too much, blamed Xuanping Marquis’s Estate’s Household Guards for inadequate protection, even blamed herself for misjudging people, but never him.
Both noble young masters from prominent families, yet why were their temperaments so vastly different.
Pei Yuqing gently grasped her hand and softly asked: “What did he come for?”
Xie Wanning keenly sensed something off about him, paused, then irritably said: “Not what you think; he wasn’t that deranged.”
Hearing this, Pei Yuqing felt a slight relief in his heart, but soon tasted the protective tone toward that man in her words, and his tone immediately cooled: “Is that so?”
Robbing for tickets~~~ It’s the end of the month; dear ones with monthly tickets, hand them over~~~
