Favoring a Hidden Mistress? Engagement Broken-Chapter 44

She refused decisively. Pei Yuqing did not say anything further, but ordered a servant to bring a chair over, and said, "Don’t squat for too long, be careful your legs might go numb."

Xie Wanqing sat down compliantly, tilted her head to look at him, and asked curiously, "Where did you come from?"

"I’ve been here all along," he pointed to the depths of the greenhouse, "it’s just that you hadn’t noticed."

Xie Wanqing: "..."

When she came, she suspected that Pei Yuxuan might have given her this direction for a reason, and it turned out she was right.

Amused, she said, "Did you ask Sister Xuan to specially lead me here?"

Beside her, the peonies were in full bloom, their beauty radiant and stunning, yet such a view paled in comparison for Pei Yuqing with her slight smile as she tilted her head towards him. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The gaze upon her face stirred slightly. Xie Wanqing sensed something was amiss, paused briefly, and just as she was about to speak, she heard the man before her say, "No."

He lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze, and said softly, "I’ve just been coming here more often these days."

Xie Wanqing understood.

She recalled how he had clearly rejected her marriage proposal before, showing no intention of marrying her, so it didn’t make sense for him to ask his sister to bring her here to meet him.

Thinking of this, Xie Wanqing asked again, "At today’s flower viewing banquet, aren’t you going to make an appearance?"

Both of them understood what she meant by making an appearance.

Even the attendant nearby knew.

Pei Yuqing paused upon hearing this, glanced at her, and said nothing.

After a long silence, he said, "I’ve heard you like roses from the Western Regions, there are some here. Would you like to see them?"

Xie Wanqing’s eyebrows lifted slightly. She thought about it, stood up, and said, "Let’s take a look then."

The flower field was quite expansive, and the Western Regions roses were planted further inside. Pei Yuqing led the way, and Xie Wanqing followed behind him. The path was narrow, so the servants did not accompany them.

Soon, they reached a cluster of flowers.

The deep blue thorny flowers were blooming vividly, dreamlike and enchanting, endlessly beautiful.

Xie Wanqing was full of amazement, "So beautiful."

"I’ll give you one," Pei Yuqing reached out intending to pluck a flower, but Xie Wanqing hurriedly stopped him.

"It’s blooming so well, why pick it?" she said, giving him a glare, "I didn’t expect you to be someone who ruins flowers casually."

"..." Pei Yuqing looked at her speechlessly for a moment, withdrew his hand, and said, "If that’s the case, I’ll have a few plants moved to your courtyard to be planted."

This person was always thinking of giving her things. Amused, Xie Wanqing refused, "Never mind."

Pei Yuqing lowered his eyes, "You don’t like them?"

"Of course I like them," Xie Wanqing shook her head, "But they look so delicate, it would be a pity if I ended up killing them."

"They are not that fragile; you can create a greenhouse in your courtyard to grow them," Pei Yuqing suggested, "Don’t worry about the trouble, I’ll arrange everything for you. You just need to enjoy the flowers."

Xie Wanqing fell silent again.

His enthusiasm was such that he seemed afraid others wouldn’t know his intentions.

Or maybe, after she saw through his feelings, he decided not to hide them anymore.

But...

She thought for a moment, then said softly, "I have a question I want to ask you."

At this moment, there were no servants attending to them, yet Xie Wanqing still spoke in a very low voice.

"That day at the Marquis Qu Mansion, you refused me, but with each meeting since, you’ve become increasingly kind to me... Have you regretted it?"

... Have you regretted it.

Pei Yuqing was momentarily stunned and remained silent for quite a while.

Xie Wanqing looked up at him, "Or do you perhaps have some unspeakable difficulties?"

Pei Yuqing pursed his lips, met her gaze, and said faintly, "What do you mean by that?"

"..." Annoyed by the question, Xie Wanqing bluntly said, "I mean, if you have no intention of marrying, isn’t it somewhat inappropriate to be so kind to a young lady?"

As soon as she spoke, she felt a bit regretful.

Why did it sound like she was pressing for marriage?

She had worked hard to decline the marriage proposal; she had no intention of marrying again.

It was all this person’s indecisiveness that made her want to glare at him in frustration. As soon as she raised her eyes, she met his clear and deep gaze.

"Wanwan..." he moved his lips as if to say something, but was suddenly interrupted by the indistinct chatter coming from beyond the glazed window.

– It seemed more guests had arrived.

"I’ve seen the flowers, so I’ll take my leave now." Not wanting to be caught alone with him, Xie Wanqing turned to leave and find Erqing.

Yet to her surprise, this group of people moved quickly. She had barely stepped out of the flower cluster when she ran into them.

At a glance, she saw a familiar face—it was the daughter of the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Cao Yingying, whom she had just met earlier. She was accompanied by several others, both men and women, who were guests at today’s banquet.

Xie Wanqing hadn’t had the chance to scrutinize them when she heard her voice.

Seeing her emerge, Cao Yingying’s eyes lit up, and she said coquettishly, "I just said I saw Little Sister Wan walking this way earlier, and look, here she is, right?"

Xie Wanqing: "..."

She walked a few steps over and asked, "Did you come here specifically to find me?"

"Not really," Cao Yingying shook her head, "We heard that the Duke Mansion’s glass flower fields are quite beautiful, so we came together to take a look."

Xie Wanqing acknowledged with a nod, not meaning to say much more, and was just about to take her leave with Erqing when a man holding a folding fan to the side asked with a laugh, "Miss Xie, what were you looking at all alone in here?"

Perhaps out of concern for causing rumors, Pei Yuqing had remained inside.

The man questioning her was someone Xie Wanqing knew; he was the nephew of Madam Lu from her family, Lu Ziyuan’s cousin, Chen Ran.

Seeing him, Xie Wanqing instinctively looked around the area.

As she lifted her eyes, she saw Lu Ziyuan standing in the crowd, gazing at her intently.

The smile on her lips vanished immediately, as she replied calmly, "In a greenhouse, besides looking at flowers, what else could I be looking at?"

"I’m curious as to what kind of flowers would interest Miss Xie so much that she’d come alone without even a maid," Chen Ran casually waved his folding fan and chuckled, walking towards the direction from which she had come.

It seemed as if he were trying to catch her in the act; Xie Wanqing, who had been somewhat nervous, suddenly laughed.

"Who says I was alone?" she replied with a smile, "Of course, when admiring flowers, one should have company to enjoy them to the fullest."

Just as she finished speaking, a tall figure like jade stepped out from inside, looking as elegant and noble as a fine orchid.

The bustling chatter ceased entirely, and silence fell all around.

Cao Yingying was the first to react, curtsying and saying, "Greetings to Heir Pei."

With her acknowledgment of Pei Yuqing’s identity, the others finally realized who he was and quickly paid their respects as well.

Xie Wanqing raised her eyebrows slightly, somewhat surprised.

Pei Yuqing seldom attended banquets, and though she had grown up in the Capital City and had a wide social circle, it was only not long ago that she had the opportunity to meet him.

Unexpectedly, Cao Yingying, who had been stationed in Liuzhou with her father and had been back in the Capital for less than a year, recognized him.

Thinking it over, it made sense. Cao Yingying was friends with Pei Yuxuan and frequently visited the Duke Mansion, so it was only natural for her to have met him.

With this thought, she diverted her gaze elsewhere.