The Powerful Minister I Forcefully Married Won't Warm Up; After Rebirth, I Give Up the Chase - Chapter 47

Gu Ci returned with a body full of injuries.

His lip was bruised and broken, and his cheekbone was badly swollen. If he returned to the mansion, his mother would certainly worry.

His duty room was at the Northern City Garrison Command, and he occasionally spent the night there when on duty.

Gu Ci went back there alone, throwing himself onto the bed, face down, smothering himself in the mattress.

When fighting Pei Jian, his chest was filled with the single emotion of fury, and he had only one goal: to beat the despicable scoundrel who coveted Nianxi to death.

He doesn’t deserve to be my friend.

Now, lying alone in the simple quarters, beyond the anger, there was a feeling of dejection and sadness.

In just over two months, he would reach the age of majority. Pei Jian was the same age as him, and their birthdays were close.

They had once been the best of companions.

Since childhood, Gu Ci had always felt a natural sense of superiority around Pei Jian.

This was because he had family who cared for him immensely. His mother and sisters went without saying. Although his father and brothers were often away from the capital, they constantly wrote to him, and whenever they found good items, they regularly sent them back. Every winter, the furs and greatcoats he wore for warmth were hunted by his father and brothers themselves.

On his birthday, he would receive a roomful of gifts.

But Pei Jian had none.

His parents passed away early, his grandparents showed him no favor, and his second uncle’s family did everything they could to suppress him. His maternal family was also unreliable.

He was almost entirely unloved.

Their circumstances offered a natural contrast.

Thus, he was always the most generous toward Pei Jian.

No matter what it was, if Pei Jian showed even a hint of liking it, he would give it to him without hesitation.

Everyone praised him for being a loving friend.

Only Gu Ci knew it wasn’t just because they were good friends. There was also a hidden sense of inferiority, one he couldn’t confess to anyone, and one he was even unwilling to admit to himself.

Pei Jian was a person so excellent he was dazzling.

His scholarly achievements were top-tier, and he never neglected martial arts, practicing diligently every day. Gu Ci couldn’t surpass Pei Jian in his studies, and in martial arts, he could only manage a draw. It wasn’t until Pei Jian specialized in literary pursuits, and Gu Ci spent his days at the military training grounds, that they began to shine in their respective fields.

If Pei Jian’s parents had been alive, and if his childhood hadn’t been so lonely and miserable, Pei Jian wouldn’t have the aloof temperament he had now. He would have been a presence that crushed all the other young men in the capital.

Gu Ci had to admit that while demonstrating friendship and generosity, he had also exhibited a sense of superiority.

Pei Jian may or may not have known this. After the age of ten, he stopped accepting anything from Gu Ci, even his mother’s kind gifts.

Pei Jian had always been a very proud person.

It was Gu Ci who was more reliant on Pei Jian. And those little careful thoughts from childhood, with the growth of age, had transformed into genuine friendship.

Gu Ci couldn’t understand why, with so many women in the world, Pei Jian had specifically fallen for his Nianxi.

He could give up anything else in the world to Pei Jian, but not Nianxi.

The thought of Nianxi slowly immersed and soothed Gu Ci’s cold heart with warmth.

Nianxi loved him, and only him.

That was enough.

He flipped over and sat up, finding the medicine box to treat his wounds. He had an appointment with Nianxi tomorrow and couldn’t go see her with a face full of injuries. He didn’t want her to know anything about tonight’s events.

He would protect Nianxi at all times from now on, absolutely preventing Pei Jian from bothering her again.

After applying the medicine, Gu Ci brightened the candle and took out the broken Mohelo doll.

He had promised Nianxi he would fix it.

Gu Ci closely examined the breakage. It was actually quite difficult to repair. The fracture was riddled with cracks, the paint was peeling, and quite a bit of the clay from the broken arm had fallen off. He pieced it together bit by bit, working until well past midnight.

This was better, though. Focusing wholeheartedly on repairing “Gu Xiaoliu” helped calm his mind and made him less sad.

Pei Jian returned to the home he shared with Nianxi, his expression terrifyingly cold. However, even more frightening than his expression were the injuries on his face.

The steward brought the medicine, and Pei Jian took it with a grim face.

The steward hesitantly asked, “Langjun (Young Master), should I ask a maidservant to help you apply the medicine for the wounds on your face?”

Pei Jian turned around and said without looking back, “No need.”

Nianxi had once said, “Your body is mine. I won’t allow other women to touch you.”

They were deeply in love at the time. After their intimacy, Nianxi would sweetly snuggle into his arms, her fingers tracing the lines of his chest and abdominal muscles. He would gasp heavily from the stirring, catching her mischievous hand.

Nianxi flipped over, hovering above him, her apricot eyes seductive. Pointing a finger at his chest, she said, “Only I can see and touch your body.”

The candlelight in the room was dim. Unable to hold back her shyness, her face was prettily flushed, her loosely draped robe exposing a large area of smooth, milky skin.

Pei Jian, satisfied, teased her. “Not even a maidservant?”

Nianxi grew slightly anxious, ignoring her loosely falling collar. “Of course not! Husband and wife share one heart. I belong only to you, and you should belong only to me!”

They were newly married then, and Pei Jian understood the meaning of her words: she disliked the idea of him taking concubines.

Pei Jian found the idea amusing. It was common for men to have three wives and four concubines. When they were older and their passion settled into calm, with many children around, she might even take the initiative to give him two concubines to look after his daily needs.

When he told her this, Nianxi was utterly annoyed. “I would never do that! I only love you.”

Pei Jian finally heard the sweet words he desired. Satisfied, he flipped over and pressed her beneath him. After some wrestling and entanglement, he finally left her with eyes glazed over and her earlier annoyance forgotten amidst her delicate gasps.

But Pei Jian always remembered.

Later, when he held high office and women threw themselves at him, he always recalled that moment, Nianxi’s expectant eyes and genuine love.

Even when they drifted further apart.

He refused to let her be heartbroken.

Compared to matters of love between a man and a woman, men could find satisfaction in many other things.

He restrained himself.

Pei Jian wiped the wound near his eye in the bronze mirror, forcing a mocking smile that tugged at his lip. The pain spread all the way to his heart.

There is no true empathy in this world, unless you are experiencing it yourself.

He was still keeping his promise, yet the woman who had promised to love only him had forgotten her vow and now had other men.

After applying the medicine, he lay alone on the bed, closing his eyes, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

In a trance, he had a hazy, confused dream. In a familiar yet strange inner chamber, a woman lay on the couch.

The woman was completely alone, curled up.

He slowly walked closer…

Pain contorted her face, leaving her pale and helpless, her apricot eyes filled with misery. Dark blood was spilling from the corner of her lips.

He suddenly woke up from the dream, his eyes still closed, but his heart was pounding rapidly, like a war drum.

He lay quietly for a moment, recalling the scene from the dream.

That evening, in the drizzling rain, she sat alone in the theater box and told him she wanted a divorce.

He had been utterly cruel, not offering a single word of comfort. He left her alone and turned away.

How had he managed to do that then?

Did he truly not see, or not care about, the heartache and disappointment in her eyes?

How much must she have hated him when she died in suffering?

Pei Jian’s heart felt severely blocked, suffocated.

He suddenly wanted to see her, to see her immediately, and ask her.

Pei Jian’s eyelid twitched slightly. He abruptly opened his eyes, jumped out of bed, hastily put on his clothes, and headed out the door.