The Powerful Minister I Forcefully Married Won't Warm Up; After Rebirth, I Give Up the Chase - Chapter 26

Nian Xi didn’t believe Pei Jian could possibly speak about that matter openly.

She would deny it to the death anyway.

Pei Jian, as expected, fell silent. But his outstretched hand maintained the posture of offering the item.

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Although Gu Ci was a military man, his thoughts were more sensitive and tender than most. Seeing his sweetheart dismiss his good brother without hesitation, deep down, he felt a shameful, secret joy.

Nian Xi’s obvious favoritism made Gu Ci completely forget the unpleasantness of a moment ago.

He took the paper box from Pei Jian’s hand, glanced at it, and laughed. “Shizhang, is this the Abalone Droplets with Butter from Su Ji in the East City? She loves this flavor the most. If I ever anger her, this is guaranteed to appease her.”

Perhaps due to a primitive sense of crisis, even Gu Ci himself didn’t realize he was acting more intimately than usual, eager to demonstrate the depth of their affection to others.

“By the way, Shizhang, what are you thanking Nian-er for?”

“Nothing.”

Pei Jian’s expression was calm, but a storm raged inside. The hand behind his back clenched and unclenched. It took a long time for him to suppress that surge of aggression before he spoke placidly.

He naturally saw that Gu Ci was showing off. This boring and childish trick, however, managed to deeply agitate him.

“Let’s go,” Nian Xi said to Gu Ci, not wanting to linger in the awkward atmosphere.

However, before she could get into the carriage and leave, two more carriages drove into the end of the alley. Judging by their imperial insignia, they belonged to the Royal family.

The carriages stopped at the Wen Residence gate.

The curtain was lifted, and an acquaintance stepped down—Fu Ling, Princess Wenshuo’s chief palace maid.

Seeing Nian Xi, she bowed. “Yesterday on the Condensing Jade Pond, Her Highness’s pleasure boat suddenly caught fire and the entire hull was burned down. Thanks to Miss Wen’s foresight, Her Highness managed to escape disaster. After the Dragon Boat Festival, Her Highness invites you to the palace for a chat and to perform another divination.”

The second carriage was filled with gifts of various sizes sent by Princess Wenshuo for Nian Xi.

Nian Xi hadn’t expected her accidental lie to actually save the Princess’s life. But one lie required countless others to cover it up. Thinking about having to enter the palace later, Nian Xi suddenly felt a headache coming on.

After Princess Wenshuo’s maid and guards left, Wen Qingheng asked, “Nian-er, what is going on? When did you learn divination?”

To be able to save a Princess’s life with it was simply incredible.

Nian Xi felt Pei Jian’s gaze fall upon her again.

She became even calmer, her eyes full of innocent clarity. “Yesterday, when I went with Mother to the Cheng’en Duke’s Residence to offer birthday congratulations, Princess Wenshuo took an immediate liking to me and invited me to boat on the lake. I didn’t want to go, and fearing I couldn’t refuse, I made up the Five Elements Water being inauspicious. Who could have imagined it actually turned out to be true?”

Gu Ci didn’t doubt her at all. He leaned closer to Nian Xi’s ear and whispered, “It was right for you not to go. That Princess is a bit… unusual.”

Nian Xi immediately used this to change the subject. “I rarely hear you speaking ill of people. Quickly confess, have you and the Princess known each other for a long time?”

She questioned him with a serious face, yet a smile hid in her eyes, and her voice was as gentle as ever.

“Naughtiness.”

Gu Ci knew she was teasing him again. He gently tapped her forehead with a curved finger. “With you here, how would I dare?”

The two of them joked with each other, their intimacy visible to all.

Wen Qingheng couldn’t stand it. Feeling both hurt and offended, he waved his hand and said, “Go, hurry and go!”

Nian Xi giggled, boarded the carriage, and indeed left.

After the carriage turned out of the alley and was out of sight, Wen Qingheng prepared to go back but saw Pei Jian still standing motionless, as if he had lost his soul. He quickly asked, “Shizhang, what’s wrong?”

Pei Jian slowly turned to look at him, his dark eyes filled with an emotion Wen Qingheng couldn’t decipher. “You mentioned your sister’s fermented beverage stall earlier. Where is it?”

Wen Qingheng was bewildered. “Number thirty-four, Yunshan Street. Why do you ask about that?”

Pei Jian only answered with his turning back and walking away.

“Why is he being so strange?” Wen Qingheng wondered as he returned to the residence.

Pei Jian walked straight to Yunshan Street and saw the fermented beverage stall Wen Qingheng mentioned. It was a small stall, set up in a corner specially cleared out by a cloth shop, and it was currently surrounded by people.

There were many young women, leading children or accompanied by their husbands, buying two cups of the drink and leaving satisfied.

Pei Jian didn’t know what he was looking for.

But he was desperate for an answer, an answer vital to him.

Yet, when his turn came, Pei Jian felt a moment of confusion. Faced with the dazzling menu of drinks, he didn’t know which one belonged to his past.

The assistant strongly recommended a rose-lychee thirst quencher, claiming it was the best-seller.

Pei Jian bought a cup and tasted it, but his doubts only grew stronger.

Were these fragrant drink recipes something the fifteen-year-old Nian Xi knew already, or were they something she developed during the long years of their marriage?

Pei Jian remembered that Nian Xi had wanted to open a perfumed beverage shop back then, but he had flatly refused her.

He admitted he hadn’t paid enough attention to his wife.

But there was one thing Pei Jian was absolutely certain of: the death of Princess Wenshuo in the previous life.

He understood Nian Xi, and he wasn’t as easy to deceive as Gu Ci.

Nian Xi was not someone who spoke carelessly, unless…

Unless she already knew the outcome, which was why she deliberately warned the Princess to stay away!

Pei Jian’s heart violently trembled.

They, too, once had good times.

Right after they got married, she always liked to tell him everything that happened in her day after he returned from court. She was so bright and vivid, making him feel relaxed and happy. Nian Xi had said, “This is home.”

Later, his official rank grew higher and higher. He began to feel impatient when listening to Nian Xi talk about trivial household matters.

He thought he had concealed it well, but somehow, Nian Xi stopped chatting with him. Eventually, they barely exchanged any words.

When did it start?

He couldn’t recall at all.

He only knew he had ruined the only home he had.

The sweet thirst quencher now tasted utterly bitter as he drank it.

Since his rebirth, he had been like a fully drawn bow. Although there were no major state affairs waiting for his decision, he was unaccustomed to indulging himself or wasting a single moment, only wishing he could reach his former peak as soon as possible.

But this entire day, he had been lost and distraught, wandering near the Wen Residence until he personally watched Gu Ci send Nian Xi back.

After waiting for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he once again approached the corner gate.

Before leaving last time, he had told himself internally that he would never appear here again. Unexpectedly, a month later, here he was again.

Old Woman Wang was still guarding the gate.

This time, she refused to open the door.

“The Young Miss said that if the Young Master comes again, I am to inform the Master and Madam. The Young Miss will not see you. Please turn back, Young Master.”

Pei Jian hadn’t expected Nian Xi to refuse to see him.

“I have something important to tell her.”

Old Woman Wang looked at the young man before her. His appearance and demeanor were in no way inferior to Young Master Gu’s, yet he stood stubbornly by the gate, looking desolate and lonely. Her heart softened.

She sighed and advised, “Young Master, our Miss already has a sweetheart. There are many young ladies in the capital. You will surely meet others you like even more…”

Pei Jian looked weary and faintly amused. He lowered his eyes, his voice barely audible. “I will never meet her again.”

Leaning against the outer wall, he gazed at the crescent moon in the sky, letting out a very faint laugh.

If he calmed down and thought through everything properly, he could easily figure out the connection. The details he had ignored resurfaced one by one. His memory was excellent, and her expressions and state during every meeting were vivid in his mind.

Shouldn’t he have realized it long ago?

He was too naive, too arrogant, assuming the miracle of rebirth only happened to him.

The missed encounter at the Chongming Tower, her first meeting with Gu Ci by the winding stream—there had never been a deviation. It was entirely deliberate on her part.

And all his hesitation, regret, and yearning were like a joke.

Nian Xi was still his Nian Xi.

She hadn’t changed.