The Powerful Minister I Forcefully Married Won't Warm Up; After Rebirth, I Give Up the Chase - Chapter 57

Wen Qingheng escorted the two men back the way they came.

Throughout the journey, all three maintained silence.

Almost the instant the side gate closed, Gu Ci and Pei Jian began fighting fiercely.

This time, without the limitations of the space and outsiders, neither side needed to pretend. They fought with pent-up energy, their punches vicious, aiming for lethal blows.

Granny Wang watched through the crack in the door, trembling with fear.

Seeing that the fight would surely end with one of them dead, she could bear it no longer. She dashed to the Young Miss’s courtyard in the back residence and reported the situation.

Earlier, when Nianxi sent Xing Yue to the front courtyard, it was Granny Wang who informed her that the Master had taken Gu and Pei to the study.

Nianxi knew Pei Jian’s nature—he was adept at insight and manipulation—and that nineteen-year-old Gu Ci was no match for him. Her father would undoubtedly be firmly controlled by him.

That’s why she had sent the maid to relay the message.

Yet, she hadn’t expected the two men to start fighting in the middle of the night.

She originally intended to ignore it, but now that she knew they were fighting, she couldn’t sit still.

The early autumn wind was already cool.

Nianxi put on a cloak and quietly went to the side gate with Ying Guo.

The surroundings were completely silent; there was no sound anymore.

Nianxi hesitated for a moment and signaled Granny Wang to open the door.

Outside, it was pitch black, and no one was there.

“Close the door,” Nianxi instructed Granny Wang. She was about to turn back when a deep, familiar voice came from the corner of the wall: “Nianxi.”

Someone was calling her softly.

Immediately after, Pei Jian stood up from the corner and walked closer. He casually wiped the blood from the corner of his lip with his thumb and smiled lazily, his pitch-black eyes seeming to burn with a dark fire: “You finally agreed to see me.”

Nianxi turned to Granny Wang and her daughter: “You two go down first. I’ll call you when it’s time to come out.”

Ying Guo, because of Granny Wang, knew more of the inside story than the two head maids, Xing Yue and Lan Zhi. Hearing this, she put down the lantern and entered the gatehouse with Granny Wang.

Pei Jian waited nearby, feeling a touch of happiness as he listened to her softly instructing the servants. The last time he saw her was more than two months ago.

He had never realized before that her voice was so pleasant. When she spoke, the end of her words unconsciously stretched out, revealing a gentle, soft sweetness. He couldn’t help but curve his lips upward, accidentally pulling at the bleeding wound, and silently inhaled a cool breath.

Just now, Gu Ci had hit him solidly with many punches.

He had also counterattacked fiercely. However, this time he aimed specifically at Gu Ci’s body, leaving few marks on Gu Ci’s face.

The fight eventually exhausted both sides, releasing the suppressed anger in their hearts, with neither gaining the upper hand.

Gu Ci leaned against the wall for a while. Pei Jian thought he would say something or utter some harsh words. But he said nothing, just turned and walked away.

Gu Ci was also his best friend.

In the previous life, Gu Ci was eternally stationed at the Northern Frontier, forbidden to return to the capital. At that time, Pei Jian rose rapidly, wielding great power, surrounded by many people. They were his allies, subordinates, trusted confidants… but none were his friends.

Pei Jian didn’t want to make friends anymore.

His only friend was far in the north, guarding the peace of Great Jing.

Nianxi never knew about Gu Ci. Because in the years that followed, Pei Jian never mentioned him to anyone, instead treasuring the person and their past deep in his heart.

Nianxi chose to ignore Pei Jian’s bruised and swollen face, saying calmly, “The matter of the Duke Zhenguo uncovering the Northern Liang cavalry—was that done by you in secret?”

“Very surprised?”

Pei Jian chuckled, mocking: “Did you think I was just sitting, hoping to see when Gu Ci would be forced back to the Northern Frontier?”

Nianxi listened to his sarcastic tone. After a moment of silence, she said, “Thank you.”

Dead silence.

Pei Jian stared at Nianxi, utterly devoid of any smile. The lantern light shone on his sharply defined face, making his features appear even more deep-set.

“What right do you have to thank me on his behalf?”

His gaze was dark, like being in the deepest part of the night. He squeezed the words out, almost gritting his teeth: “I never did this for you, or for your thanks.”

“I know,” Nianxi said.

Another silence followed. In truth, there was no longer any intersection between the two of them. In fact, apart from Gu Ci, they had no other topics to discuss.

But Pei Jian would not want to hear that name from Nianxi’s mouth.

“It’s late. You should go back. Don’t come looking for me again.”

Nianxi turned to leave, without any lingering attachment.

Pei Jian could not describe the taste in his heart at that moment.

In the past, when he came here late after leaving the yamen, secretly seeing her, Nianxi was always reluctant to let him go. They would hold hands, stand under the osmanthus tree, and even without saying anything, it was a warm, cherished moment.

The fatigue of the day would be slowly dissolved in that quiet solitude.

“Are you really going to marry him?” Pei Jian asked.

He never speculated on the stage of Nianxi’s relationship with Gu Ci.

Initially, it was because he was too confident. He even thought that Nianxi’s closeness to Gu Ci was her way of arguing with him. So, he rightfully demanded that Nianxi leave Gu Ci.

Later, he didn’t dare to think about it. He and Nianxi had once been deeply affectionate. He dared not entertain the thought of her and another man. Even when he occasionally saw couples engaging in intimate gestures, he would instinctively look away.

Not to look, not to think.

To bury one’s head in the sand, just so the heart doesn’t hurt.

Facing Nianxi, he was timid, far from the calm and composed demeanor he showed Gu Ci. He was terribly afraid that Nianxi would actually marry Gu Ci.

Nianxi turned around and said calmly, “What does it matter to you whether I marry him or not? Pei Jian, I once loved you and married you. Does that mean I can’t fall for anyone else in this lifetime? Am I some kind of object? Or have I been marked with your brand? Or are you going to tell me that the high and mighty Chancellor Pei suddenly regrets it and is uncontrollably in love with me?”

She paused, her tone level: “Pei Jian, stop this drama. I don’t have another thirteen years to be entangled with you. What is lost is lost. Regret and remorse are useless.”

“Besides, what you regret is merely the loss itself, and your sadness is the same—it’s not because of me.”

Pei Jian’s past behavior was too awful, and his words were too empty. He struggled to prove himself, yet he persisted in asking: “Will you marry him?”

Nianxi chuckled softly: “Is it because it’s Gu Ci that you’re reacting so strongly? If I liked Wang Wu or Zhao Liu today, you might be able to accept it.”

No, of course not.

Pei Jian found it hard to accept her liking someone else at first, but now, he was learning to accept it.

He was the one who made the mistake first, forgetting to love her.

She could be angry with him, and even temporarily be with another man; it didn’t matter.

As long as he was the one in the end.

“Nianxi, don’t marry so quickly. Please give me some time,” Pei Jian’s breathing grew heavy. He suppressed his emotions, crushing all his self-respect, and pleaded: “You can like anyone. Being with anyone is fine. I only beg you, give me a chance to like you.”

“I won’t be impulsive again, and I won’t let anyone find out, including Gu Ci. Nianxi, I just want to treat you well,” his words were rapid, as if afraid of being interrupted. “If you still won’t forgive me, or don’t like me, I won’t trouble you again.”

Nianxi couldn’t help but be astonished, disbelief in her voice: “You want to be my secret lover?”

Pei Jian had always been a man of great pride.

When Pei Jian’s second uncle usurped the Duke of Zheng’s title from the main branch, and later when Pei Jian rose to power, Pei Zhengsong wanted to ease relations and offered the title back. Pei Jian gave him no face, suppressing the entire second branch so that they had nothing but the empty framework of the title and no chance of advancement.

Yet, now he was willing to stoop to such an action.

Pei Jian looked at Nianxi’s almond eyes, widened in surprise, and softened his tone: “Yes, please allow me to be your secret lover.”