Pei Shen laughed even louder.
After laughing, he explained, "Noble Consort Jia mentioned to the Emperor that my parents' tombs should be renovated and that they should be posthumously honored."
So, it turns out they wanted to win over Pei Shen.
"Good news," Nanxing said expressionlessly.
Pei Shen looked at her with his bright black eyes. "Little Birdie, my head hurts, rub it for me."
Nanxing reached out and covered his forehead, gently stroking down to his eyes, nose, and mouth...
Pei Shen gritted his teeth. "Are you afraid I'll die with my eyes open in disbelief?"
Nanxing withdrew his hand. "Want more? No."
Pei Shen: "... Since I remained unmoved and didn't fall for her charms, is there any reward?"
For example?
"Let's do it one more time."
Nanxing sneered, "I didn't refuse you no matter how much you wanted, so why are you putting on this act?"
Is this person interesting?
Pei Shen: "..."
Does this person have any sense of romance?
Was the person he fell in love with straight?
"What exactly did you come here for today?" Nanxing asked impatiently.
Pei Shen's smile turned cold. He sat up and looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Kong Xiyou, does she have feelings for you?"
Nanxing was slightly taken aback.
She knew that Xiyou truly liked her.
Others didn't understand why, but she could roughly understand.
Beneath the Xiyou's docile exterior lies a rebellious heart.
His preferences also had to be different from others.
But he didn't realize that he was just an ordinary person.
Nanxing was surprised to learn that Pei Shen already knew about this.
She almost didn't even realize it.
With unfathomable cunning and unfathomable methods, Pei Shen lives up to his name.
You knew that too, didn't you?
Nanxing said, "None of your business!"
Pei Shen: "..."
"Our relationship was just a fleeting affair, and we won't interfere with each other," Nanxing said. "I haven't asked about your wives and concubines, have I?"
"I don't," Pei Shen blurted out, "I have no other woman besides you."
He wasn't one to explain himself.
Throughout their relationship, he was mostly silent.
She left, and he let her go; she returned, and he waited for her with open arms.
But now, after much painful reflection, Pei Shen realizes that such a sense of relief was foolish and naive.
What does pride matter in love?
His biggest regret is that he refused to explain himself because of his ridiculous pride, wasting so many years of his life.
So after a brief moment of surprise at himself for saying it, he felt a sense of satisfaction and peace.
He finally said it.
Even after she left for several years, he still couldn't fall in love with anyone else.
That's your own business.
Nanxing's unromantic words were like a bucket of ice water poured over him.
"Then explain to me, you and Kong Xiyou..." he said ominously.
He's jealous, and he's completely open about it.
Nanxing silently lifted the curtain, and a blast of cold air rushed in.
Dusk was falling outside, the full moon hung high in the sky, and the Milky Way shone brightly.
She stretched out her arm and pointed towards the sky. "To him, I am just a star in the sky..."
Pei Shen's expression immediately turned ugly.
What was she trying to say?
May I be like a star and you like the moon, shining brightly together every night?
No, he won't agree!
Overwhelmed by jealousy, Pei Shen, lost in thought, suddenly heard Nanxing say—
It's the same whether I'm there or not.
The Milky Way is dazzling, but one star is missing. Who knows?
Pei Shen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
You are my Mingyue.
Through sunshine and rain, waxing and waning, it's all you.
"I'm not well-educated, but I've heard a line of poetry..."
"What?"
Pei Shen's mind was filled with images of "the Milky Way stretching far and wide, yet secretly crossed," and "a single meeting in the golden autumn breeze and jade dew surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world"...
I offered my heart to the Mingyue, but the Mingyue shone on the gutter.
Pei Shen remained calm, a half-smile playing on his lips, and said, "Then I'll fill in the ditch and stand on it."
Crush all your rivals underfoot!
"Pei Shen, you used to be a good person."
At least it doesn't look so childish.
He used to be a high-class beauty, but now he's fallen... like a Shar Pei...
The two bickered as they arrived at the Great Xiangguo Temple.
Xiyou was holding Linlin's hand, waiting in front of the temple.
Pei Shen alighted from the carriage and extended his hand to Nanxing: "Get down."
Nanxing remained motionless.
She's a wanted criminal, and even at night, people move around here; she's not that arrogant.
"Come down, I'll introduce you to someone."
Nanxing still didn't move.
until--
"Senior brother?" Xiyou's surprised and delighted voice rang out.
Then Nanxing heard Pei Shen say "hmm," and she felt terrible.
Are these two fellow disciples?
Then she seemed to understand why Pei Shen knew Xiyou liked her.
I suppose it was Xiyou who told him on her own initiative.
I wonder what Pei Shen was feeling at that time.
Why did Nanxing feel a secret sense of satisfaction thinking about Pei Shen's frustration?
"Senior brother, who did you bring with you?"
"Your sister-in-law, Nanxing, come down."
He called her by her current name.
Nanxing didn't move, but quietly called for Linlin to get in the car.
Xiyou was completely stunned.
His senior brother, who had deliberately done this, patted him on the shoulder after criticizing him, and then left!
The Xiyou was disheveled in the wind.
With Linlin in the car, Pei Shen wouldn't go too far.
He introduced himself to Linlin: "Speaking of which, I'm also your senior."
Linlin remarked, "The generational hierarchy is so confusing."
Pei Shen and his father were cousins... Now the two of them have become fellow disciples.
It turns out that the son of the Great Confucian Scholar Kong had once educated Pei Shen, which is why they had this connection.
Linlin: "Greetings, Senior Brother."
Pei Shen then asked Linlin what books she was reading and whether she was studying literature, etc.
Linlin answered each question, her attitude humble yet distant.
Clearly, Linlin knew Pei Shen's identity and stance.
Nanxing asked Linlin, "Have you been eating well at the temple these past few days?"
Linlin: "It's enough to fill you up."
"Without meat, it's hard to get enough to eat when you're growing."
Linlin said coldly, "Senior Brother Xiyou will take me to secretly catch fish and grill them for dinner."
However, he did miss his mother's cooking.
"I'll have to go thank him later."
Pei Shen sneered inwardly, "I won't let you thank me."
Because Pei Shen was an outsider, Nanxing didn't say much.
The carriage rolled across the road, leaving a trail of sounds in the quiet night, as it drew ever closer to the Prince's Palace.
"Parking!"
The carriage suddenly stopped, and Pei Shen reached out to block Nanxing and protect him.
Nanxing didn't even flinch; was she still using the image of a weakling to protect herself?
It turned out to be the Golden Scale Guard again.
The driver introduced himself, but the Golden Scale Guard insisted on searching the car.
Pei Shen lifted a corner of the curtain with his slender hand, his voice as clear as shattered jade. "What? When did the Marquis Champion become a target of investigation? Why haven't I received an imperial edict?"
Nanxing was hidden in a dark corner of the carriage.
From her angle, she could clearly see Pei Shen's sculpted profile, the coldness in the corner of his lips, and his perfect jawline...
That face, indeed, has been so alluring from beginning to end.