After the Second Playthrough, the CP-Less Female Lead Kneels and Begs Me for Forgiveness [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 22

“Xiaoxi, are you hungry?” A somewhat fawning voice rang in her ear. Shao Xibei slowly shook her head.

She looked at the middle-aged man in his early forties before her and offered a faint smile. “Master Pei, please leave for now. I am a bit weary.”

Seeing that smile, the obsession in Pei Qing’s eyes became even more evident. He didn’t feel at all like he was being driven away. He repeatedly agreed: “Right, right, right. You rest first, Xiaoxi. If you wake up and want anything to eat, just tell the servants.”

“Mhm.”

The middle-aged man walked out, looking back every three steps. He felt that just by speaking with Xiaoxi, his spirit was refreshed; that heavy feeling of his body being crushed seemed to vanish whenever he was near her.

The bedroom door closed, leaving not a single sliver of light to peek through. Shao Xibei slowly lay down on the bed. She didn’t know who she was or where she came from. The name “Shao Xibei” was the only thing in her mind; everything else was a complete blank.

When she first opened her eyes, she had seen Pei Qing and was subsequently brought back to the Pei Estate.

She didn’t know what she used to do for a living. Her body was very weak, and she would cough up blood from time to time. Just lying there for a moment made her feel drowsy.

She had been at the Pei Estate for nearly a month. Even without stepping foot outside her door, she knew what people said about her.

A vixen who seduced Master Pei. She didn’t know what that greasy middle-aged man had told others, but everyone seemed to think she was his concubine—including everyone in the Pei family.

Wait… “greasy middle-aged man”? Was that a slang term from her hometown?

Her eyelids grew heavier. Shao Xibei let out a shallow yawn and prepared to sleep for a while. Since she had arrived, Pei Qing was the only person who ever entered this room.

“Pei Qing!!! How did you promise me back then?!”

“That you would only marry me in this life! That you would only dote on me in this lifetime!”

A woman’s sharp screams were particularly piercing. Pei Qing sat on the soft couch with his eyes half-squinted, showing no intention of acknowledging her.

The woman seemed enraged by his indifference. She slammed her teacup onto the floor and stormed out with bloodshot eyes.

Pei Qing glanced at his second daughter, Pei Xi, who was still standing there. He said apathetically, “What are you still doing here? Go comfort your mother.”

Pei Xi lowered her head, nodded woodenly, and followed after Madam Pei.

Pei Qing sighed heavily. Not a single one of them gave him peace. His thoughts drifted back to Shao Xibei, and that obsessed look returned to his eyes.

Xiaoxi, his Xiaoxi… it felt so suffocating and miserable whenever he wasn’t by her side.

If Pei Qing could have looked into a mirror at that moment, he would have seen that his complexion had turned a dull, ashen gray.

In a place where Pei Qing could not see, Madam Pei’s demeanor changed completely the moment she returned to her room. The shrew-like tantrums vanished.

As if knowing someone was following her, she sat upright in her chair and looked expressionlessly at the person entering.

Pei Xi kept her head down, locked the door as she usually did, and knelt before Madam Pei.

Madam Pei picked up a cup of tea and took a light sip. “Pei Xi, did you succeed in putting the poison in the food?”

“I am sorry, Mother.”

Clatter! The teacup was slammed onto the table. Madam Pei stood up and kicked the kneeling Pei Xi to the ground.

Pei Xi seemed accustomed to this; she offered no resistance.

“You useless waste! It’s been nearly a month and you can’t even handle such a small thing. If Pei Ming were here, it would have been finished long ago.”

Pei Xi clutched her stomach and curled up on the floor. She was so thin that her spine was clearly visible through her clothes. Her messy hair obscured her eyes, making it impossible to see her emotions. Only her low, hoarse voice could be heard: “Mother is right to scold me. I will think of another way next time.”

Pei Xi’s submissive words seemed to soothe Madam Pei’s temper slightly. Her expression softened a bit.

“Get up, Xi’er. Don’t blame your mother for being heartless. That dead thing Pei Qing won’t live much longer. If we want the family fortune to stay in our hands, there can be no complications, do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

Madam Pei sat back down, supporting herself on the chair. She reached out to rub her temples. “That wench he just brought in must die.” Pei Qing cared too much about that vixen; it was as if his soul had been snatched away. She feared that the vast Pei estate would eventually end up in the vixen’s hands.

She cast a sidelong glance at Pei Xi, who was standing but still hunched over. “Fine, get out.”

“Yes, Mother.” Pei Xi bowed and exited quietly. At the moment the door closed, Pei Xi heard Madam Pei’s final words: “Pei Xi really is useless. Fortunately, Ming’er is coming back soon. When the time comes, I’ll just send Pei Xi off to the Wang family.”

The door shut completely.

Pei Xi went to the side courtyard again. The main gate of the courtyard was tightly shut, and the walls were built very high. Six fierce-looking mercenaries stood guard at the entrance.

It was like a cage.

Seeing her approach, the mercenaries clasped their hands in a respectful greeting. “Second Miss.”

Though they looked down on this eccentric and reclusive second daughter of the Pei family in their hearts, they still maintained the necessary etiquette. After the greeting, they ignored her and continued their duty of guarding the small gate.

Pei Xi stood there for a moment before turning to leave. The guards couldn’t understand her intentions, but since she had been coming here to stand for a while every day lately, they didn’t pay it much mind.

Night fell.

Shao Xibei woke from her dream. She rubbed her eyes and caught the scent of food.

After these few days, she had grown accustomed to it; whenever she slept, Pei Qing would always time things perfectly, placing a meal on the table right as she was about to wake up.

However, she felt no gratitude. After all, Pei Qing’s intentions toward her were far from pure. He had the lustful heart but lacked the courage to act on it. Staying with him made her feel physically revolted, but without her memories, she was currently at a loss for what else to do.

Shao Xibei got out of bed and stretched, feeling her bones let out a series of crisp, audible cracks.

She had only just sat down and taken a few bites of food when she heard a knock at the door. Was it Pei Qing?

But Pei Qing never entered this courtyard at night.

Shao Xibei didn’t intend to answer, yet the knocking persisted. While a sense of vigilance rose within her, she also felt a strange, intuitive certainty that there was no need to be afraid.

She stood up, draped a coat over her shoulders, and opened the door. The sky was pitch black, but the moonlight was exceptionally bright, illuminating the courtyard enough for her to see everything clearly—including the person standing before her.

Thin, frail, and dusted with patches of dirt, the visitor looked like she hadn’t reached adulthood yet. She was a full head shorter than Shao Xibei, with a body that was still slight and undeveloped.

“Little girl, who sent you here?”

Looking at the young girl standing there with a lowered head, Shao Xibei let out a faint smile. Her long, slightly wavy black hair cascaded over her shoulders; her skin and lips were a sickly, pale white, making the red mole beneath her left eye look strikingly vivid against her complexion.

Standing in the brilliant white moonlight with only the faint glow of an oil lamp behind her, she looked as if she were radiating light herself.

Pei Xi glanced up briefly before quickly lowering her head again.

She… looked like a gorgeous ghost capable of stealing one’s soul.

A night breeze swept through, fluttering Shao Xibei’s thin outer garment. Feeling the chill, Shao Xibei felt a tickle in her throat and couldn’t help but cover her mouth as she coughed several times.

Pei Xi looked up stealthily and stared blankly as she saw a trace of crimson seeping through the woman’s fingers.

Her voice carried a unique, low rasp: “You’re bleeding.”

Shao Xibei moved her hand away and looked at the red smear on her palm. “It’s an old ailment. Anyway, little girl, what are you doing here?”

Pei Xi gripped the food box in her hand tightly and whispered, “…Auntie, my father told me to bring you something to eat.”

Auntie.

“You are Pei Qing’s child?” Shao Xibei asked.

Pei Xi slowly nodded her head.

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