The Powerful Minister I Forcefully Married Won't Warm Up; After Rebirth, I Give Up the Chase - Chapter 33

Qin Lang saw Gu Ci from a distance and raised his hand to greet him. “Qingye!”

Only then, a beat later, did he notice Nian Xi beside Gu Ci.

Thinking of the person next to him, he immediately regretted his greeting.

And hearing Gu Ci speak with such affectionate laughter about “telling his new wife,” he already began to sympathize with Pei Jian.

What kind of psychological fortitude must one possess, as Gu Ci’s good friend, to listen to him show off his affection in various ways from time to time?

But since they had already met, there was no reason to avoid them.

Qin Lang smiled and asked Gu Ci, “Where are you planning to go?”

Gu Ci was as bright and unrestrained as ever. “A new troupe has arrived at the Wasi (entertainment venue). They say their shadow puppet show is excellent. We’re just heading there to watch the performance. Shizhang, want to come with us?”

Qin Lang turned his head to look at the person next to him, feeling inexplicably nervous.

Pei Jian said coldly, “No need.”

Qin Lang immediately breathed a sigh of relief. If Pei Jian hadn’t been there, he would have definitely teased Gu Ci—asking since when Young Master Gu had developed a fondness for theater when he used to be the most impatient with such things.

But the imposing figure beside him was too volatile. He dared not even exchange pleasantries and urged them, “I heard this shadow puppet show is extremely popular in the capital recently, and tickets are hard to get. You two should hurry along. I have serious business to consult Shizhang about.”

Since it was serious business, Gu Ci didn’t press the matter. He nodded and left hand-in-hand with Nian Xi.

And from start to finish, Nian Xi never spared a glance in Pei Jian’s direction.

Qin Lang truly had serious business to consult Pei Jian about today.

His father was the Vice Minister of Personnel, and he wanted Qin Lang to join the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi (bachelor of the Hanlin Academy) to build experience so he would have a better starting point and rank after the court examination three years later.

Qin Lang felt his academic skills were lacking. Passing the Jinshi exam was already a great stroke of luck, and he genuinely did not want to enter the Hanlin Academy again.

Although the saying went, ‘No Jinshi enters the Hanlin, no Hanlin enters the Cabinet,’ he was self-aware. If anyone had the potential to become a Prime Minister, it was Pei Jian, absolutely not him.

“My father is determined for me to become a Shujishi. Shizhang, what do you think?”

Pei Jian had been independent since childhood, and his plans for the future were exceptionally clear and far-reaching. Since his time at the Imperial Academy, Qin Lang had seen that Pei Jian was destined for great things. Hence, his question today.

Pei Jian’s face was stern. He tilted his head back, drank a cup of wine, and asserted, “The Ministry of Revenue (Hubu) is more suitable for you.”

In the previous life, Qin Lang had become a Shujishi, toiled in the Hanlin Academy for eight years, and only after transferring to the Ministry of Revenue did he show his capabilities.

“I knew I had to ask you about this!” Qin Lang’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and said, “The Ministry of Revenue… the Ministry of Revenue! Yes, I must go to the Ministry of Revenue! Even if I start from the lowest rank of Yuanwailang (Assistant Director)!”

Qin Lang felt suddenly enlightened. The problem that had troubled him for a long time was instantly solved, and he was ecstatic. Meanwhile, Pei Jian poured and drank his own wine, having already consumed several cups.

By the time Qin Lang came back to his senses, a pot of Dongting Spring wine was already empty. Seeing Pei Jian reach for a second pot, Qin Lang quickly stopped him. “Drink slowly. Be careful not to get drunk.”

Pei Jian glanced at him, snatched the wine pot, and poured another cup. “It’s none of your concern.”

His person was cold, and his voice was cold, like the clang of bronze, full of a chilling sharpness.

Qin Lang sighed in his heart. He recalled the scene he had witnessed a few days ago at Pei Jian’s residence—

The weather that day was bad, with heavy wind and rain, and the temperature was unusually cold.

Pei Jian was only wearing a thin, moon-white, straight-collared long robe (zhiling changpao). He leaned against a bamboo couch beneath the veranda. Three or five candles burned in the room, casting a dim light.

He was facing the courtyard, holding a pot of wine, tilting his neck slightly to drink directly from the spout.

A strong wind rushed in from the west window, causing the edges of his robe and his wide sleeves to whip wildly. Hearing the movement, he turned his face. His eyes were as dark as ink. He seemed to be drunk. He ignored the wine pot when it lightly clattered to the ground.

It was as if solitary loneliness was his normal state.

The crimson wine fell to the corner of his lips, running down his face like a streak of blood, looking decadent and forlorn.

It was like the contradictory complexity about him—some deeper needs were sealed beneath that cold exterior, repressing emotion, masked as abstinence.

Seeing him like this again today, Qin Lang couldn’t help but advise, “Gu Ci and… her, they are truly good together.”

Pei Jian paid no attention, still pouring and drinking his own wine with a stern expression.

Qin Lang had no choice but to say, “There are many girls who like you and want to marry you.”

He wanted to add, “There are plenty of fish in the sea, cherish the person in front of you,” but he was interrupted by the look Pei Jian gave him.

“They are going to get married.” Qin Lang was helpless, so he had to use strong medicine. “There’s no need for this. You should go out and look around—”

“They won’t.”

Pei Jian’s eyes were deep. He interrupted Qin Lang. “They won’t get married.”

Qin Lang was startled. “Given how Gu Ci was just now, he can’t wait to marry her and treasures her like anything. Besides—”

Pei Jian interrupted again. “Even married couples can get divorced.”

Qin Lang: !

Pei Shizhang, something is wrong with you!

Qin Lang clutched his heart, disbelieving. “Pei Shizhang, what do you mean?”

Pei Jian did not feel immoral in the slightest, stating indifferently, “What do you think?”

Qin Lang was stuck for words. Truly worthy of being a man who achieves great things—even something as immoral as stealing his good brother’s woman could be said with such self-righteous confidence and shamelessness.

How could the friendship between men be so fragile?

“I think you will definitely meet a better girl, one you like more, in the future,” Qin Lang tried to guide Pei Jian back onto the path of morality.

“There won won’t be another one.”

Pei Jian finished speaking, drank the last drop of wine, stood up, and left. “I’m leaving first.”

Qin Lang was worried.

He feared Pei Jian would disregard his dignity and follow them to the Wasi. He was about to get up to follow.

Pei Jian waved his hand, reading his mind. He said coldly, “I’m going back to my residence.”

Qin Lang: “…Oh.”

Pei Jian would certainly not be so foolish as to follow them to the Wasi; that would only make Nian Xi despise him more.

In this young body, his anger and irritability were difficult to control. He was not the strategic, thirty-something-year-old self he once was.

That was why he had done those reckless things.

Pei Jian reminded himself that he didn’t need to do anything. He just needed to wait quietly.

Wait for them to separate.

This was an inevitable outcome.

Nian Xi and Gu Ci had only known each other for a few months. How deep could their affection be?

It was fundamentally fragile, unable to withstand the test of storms.

Pei Jian believed that Nian Xi would not abandon her parents and family.

But reason sometimes failed to control his thoughts. He couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing right now. What had they been doing in their past life?

The more he recalled, the more anxious he became.

There was a beast in his heart, constantly trying to break free from its cage and reclaim the Nian Xi that belonged to him.

So, sometimes, he needed the external force of alcohol to calm himself down.

Anyway, no one was looking after him, and no one would miss him now.