Favoring a Hidden Mistress? Engagement Broken-Chapter 34

Pei Yuqing saw her hesitating and unable to speak, and smiled faintly.

Though this girl likes to tease with words, she’s still just a child in reality.

He raised his hand to refill her cup, saying, "Don’t overthink, and don’t feel burdened. I just don’t want you to be deceived, nothing more."

They sat by the window, half-opened, with the afternoon sun shining brightly outside. Though the early summer breeze wasn’t too hot, Xie Wanqing felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart.

She thought of those dreams.

So, the news in her dreams about Lu Ziyuan keeping a mistress was intentionally told to her by him.

He didn’t want her to be kept in the dark and marry Lu Ziyuan unknowingly.

Yet after knowing the truth, she still insisted on marrying.

Wasn’t that a way of letting down his good intentions?

Xie Wanqing felt uncomfortable, raised her eyes to him, and asked: "Have you and I met before?"

Pei Yuqing replied: "We have."

Curious, Xie Wanqing asked: "When was it?"

He had a striking presence; she couldn’t remember having met him at all.

As if guessing what she was thinking, Pei Yuqing slightly curved the corners of his lips, gently saying: "You’ll think of it gradually."

No matter how she pressed him, he wouldn’t say more.

Xie Wanqing thought for a long time but couldn’t find any clue, so she simply set it aside and returned to the topic.

She snorted: "I want to see what face Lu Ziyuan has left to not break off the engagement now."

Not yet married, his mistress is already expecting his child. It seems he doesn’t regard the Yue Family at all.

Listening to this, Pei Yuqing laughed, saying: "I thought you’d be upset when you heard this news."

"I’ll never be upset for him again," Xie Wanqing said. "Now, I just want to break off the engagement, stay far away from him, and avoid any more entanglement."

Hearing her say this, Pei Yuqing did not show the happiness he imagined.

No one knew what kind of grievances this girl had suffered to become so disheartened.

His smile faded slightly, calmly saying: "It will happen; as long as you don’t want to marry, the engagement won’t succeed."

From the first meeting, Xie Wanqing thought of him as a gentle and reserved nobleman; now seeing his smile receding, she vaguely saw a hint of dignity, and couldn’t help but be a bit surprised.

She made a sound, waited until he looked over, and asked: "How come you know so much about Lu Ziyuan’s affairs?"

Pei Yuqing lowered his lashes: "I naturally have my ways."

Xie Wanqing raised her eyebrows slightly and replied, "Oh."

Thinking of their first meeting, even the Lu Family’s ladies only knew about Lu Ziyuan’s return once someone entered through the door, yet he, from the teahouse, knew about Lu Ziyuan’s return to the Capital that day.

She couldn’t help but tease: "You are so focused on my matters, huh?"

Pei Yuqing raised his eyes to look at her, his gaze rippling gently. Slowly, he said: "Wanwan, I just want you to be well."

His eyes were light, warm, and bright, without any aggression, seemingly showing a good temper.

But Xie Wanqing’s heart pounded wildly at his gaze, and her face, usually not thin-skinned, instantly blushed.

She was foolishly caught sight of and blushing.

She pressed her lips together and looked at him; the two exchanged glances for several beats. At the moment he looked away, she spoke: "Does your health really..."

Pei Yuqing softly replied yes, raised his hand to pour out her cooled tea, once again refilling her cup, and quietly said: "I have a heart condition, have had it since childhood, and cannot have too much emotional turmoil."

Since childhood, he avoided haste and anger, cultivated himself, and thus developed such an upright and proper demeanor.

Xie Wanqing blinked, wanting to ask if the rumor of not living past thirty was true, but found she couldn’t open her mouth.

She picked up her teacup, sipped it, sorting through complicated feelings.

If asked whether she liked him, it didn’t seem so.

The last time she asked if he would marry her, it was to escape by marrying away from Lu Ziyuan, and he was the best candidate for the task.

This time, with Liu Manrou’s pregnancy news circulating, if Lu Ziyuan could thus promptly break off the engagement, she wouldn’t want to marry anyone.

Neither him nor anybody else; she didn’t want to marry.

Despite this, she didn’t want someone as nice as him to not live past thirty.

In those dreams, she was in that small courtyard, where this man didn’t appear from start to finish, and she didn’t know if he was alive two years later.

Thinking this way made Xie Wanqing inexplicably sad, and she put down her teacup, her expression serious: "I want you to be well too. Can you promise me that?"

"Don’t believe those rumors," Pei Yuqing chuckled, nodded, and said: "I’m twenty-seven now, do I look like I only have three years to live?"

Xie Wanqing sighed in relief and laughed along, her gaze fixed on him: "That’s good then."

She smiled so openly, purely happy for him, without any mixed feelings.

Pei Yuqing gazed at her in a daze, his heart growing tender and sour.

Let it be this way; this is the best state between them, he told himself.

Xie Wanqing had no clue about his confusion and bitterness; she rested her cheek in one hand, smiling: "Since you aren’t willing to tell me when we met before, how about you promise me something if I remember it myself later?"

"Sure, as long as it’s something I can do, I will," Pei Yuqing answered readily, then asked: "What do you want me to do?"

Xie Wanqing waved her hand: "I can’t think of anything now. I’ll bring it up when the time comes."

With that, she stood up and walked to the windowsill, lazily looking down across the street where Lin’s pastry shop in plain view lays.

Unknown to her, perhaps this person stood at this very spot, watching her many times.

Thinking this way, Xie Wanqing felt a mixed array of emotions.

An eleven-year-older man admired her, secretly marking her presence.

This would typically be something of strong repulsion and resistance, yet she felt none of that.

...She must like him a little too.

After all, he truly was a very good person.

The room suddenly quitted down.

That little girl who disturbed the heart stood by the window, sides turned, her fingers clutching the window ledge thin and bare, with no adornments or polish, pale and clean like jade under the sunlight.

Pei Yuqing’s gaze fell upon her, boldly.

Xie Wanqing struggled to ignore that fiery gaze, feeling awkward, began examining the private room she was in.

This should be his personal elegant room; the setup inside didn’t look like a guest-hosting tea room but rather a kind of living quarters.

She observed absent-mindedly, her view lingering on the zither in the corner, asking: "Do you play the zither?"

"Would you play a tune for me?"

Pei Yuqing looked at her and gently nodded.

He washed his hands, rose, and sat before the zither stand without asking what she wanted to hear, plucking the strings directly.

The crisp sound of the zither, a breeze of spring, spilled forth as his fingers moved along its chords.

Like him, gentle and upright, easy to draw close to one’s heart.

Already well-versed in music, Xie Wanqing listened, gradually becoming entranced.