Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 106: “Who Were You Thinking About Just Now?”

　　The flapping of wings broke the quiet as Ah Qi took a letter from the pigeon and handed it over to Pei Ji.

　　Pei Ji lowered his eyes and took it. A slight frown appeared on his face.

　　The letter was from Lin Qingyan, saying they were almost at the location and would meet him at the agreed spot.

　　It was already the third day since An Jiu arrived at Qiansha Pavilion.

　　Pei Ji couldn’t shake the confusion. He had watched An Jiu write that letter with his own eyes, handed it to Fei Chen himself, and had been keeping a close eye on Fei Chen ever since. He was certain the monk had delivered the letter to the others.

　　So why didn’t they believe it?

　　Lin Qingyan’s letter even claimed with confidence that An Jiu had to be forced into it, that she clearly had someone she loved, and that Xian Wuming must have done something to pressure her.

　　Pei Ji couldn’t understand it.

　　When Fei Chen saw An Jiu with him, his first reaction was doubt, like he was absolutely sure An Jiu wouldn’t be into him.　　

　　Same with Lin Qingyan.

　　Could it be that they all knew who An Jiu actually liked?

　　Aside from that, Pei Ji couldn’t think of any other explanation that made sense.

　　After going over it again and again, he figured—if it wasn’t Fei Chen, then it had to be the Ming Wang’s son, Ming Yi.

　　An Jiu had first met Ming Yi at Jinshe Villa, and they seemed to hit it off instantly. They even walked around the lantern festival together. Maybe things already started back then.

　　After An Jiu returned to the capital, Ming Yi took his father's place in the marriage, and the two started spending more time together. With that whole stepmother and stepson dynamic, it wasn’t hard to imagine that feelings might have developed between them.

　　Looking back now, all those rumors about the Minister An's daughter and the heir of Ming Wang floating around the capital probably weren’t baseless. Otherwise, how would they have spread so widely that everyone knew about them?

　　The letter in Pei Ji’s hand was unconsciously crumpled into pieces. His lips pressed into a tight line, his expression cold and unreadable.

　　Even though the group’s reaction to the letter was a bit unexpected, Pei Ji actually found himself looking forward to their arrival.

　　Since they didn’t believe it, they could just see it for themselves.

　　If they witnessed her love for him with their own eyes, what could they possibly say?

　　And even if they still didn’t believe it, so what? An Jiu was already deeply in love with him and couldn’t leave him now. Even if they tried to take her away, she wouldn’t go.

　　But most importantly, he wanted to be sure too—who exactly was the man she loved?

　　Pei Ji never forgot that in their previous life, An Jiu had been in love with He Ziqing.

　　This time around, things between them seemed normal, like they were just regular friends. He Ziqing clearly liked Lin Qingyan now, but there was still the chance that An Jiu might be secretly harboring feelings for him.

　　Either way, Pei Ji wasn’t about to overlook a single possibility.

　　“Keep watching them. Report to me if anything changes.”

　　He slowly let go of the shredded paper in his palm, letting the pieces scatter in the wind as he gave the order calmly.

　　“Yes, Young Master.”

　　—

　　Summer afternoons were unbearably hot, and with An Jiu’s delicate constitution, she couldn’t handle either the cold or the heat. So she had someone move a lounge chair under the shade of a tree in the courtyard to cool off.

　　She was currently living in a small courtyard right next to the tallest tower at the center of Qiansha Pavilion. Two maids were assigned to take care of her daily needs.

　　An Jiu had tried striking up conversations with them, but they were like wooden posts—quiet, unresponsive, and completely uninterested in chatting. They just silently stuck to their duties without saying a word.

　　Life quickly became unbearably dull.

　　Pei Ji didn’t visit her often, and An Jiu had a vague feeling he was avoiding her.

　　As for why, she figured it was probably because he was afraid he’d lose control.

　　He clearly had no resistance to her affection. Whenever she acted sweet or a little clingy, he would immediately cave, giving in to all her willful and spoiled demands without a fight.

　　Honestly, An Jiu was starting to feel like he was even more love-crazed than she was, even though she was only pretending.

　　He had never loved anyone before, always cold and unfeeling, so now that he had truly fallen for someone, it made sense he’d be more intense than most.

　　What was that saying again? Some people don’t fall in love easily, but once they do, it’s like the whole world collapses around them.

　　An Jiu was pretty sure Pei Ji was exactly that kind of person.

　　“System, what’s Pei Ji’s affection level right now?” With nothing better to do, she turned to chatting with the system.

　　【Target: Pei Ji. Current affection level: 85.】

　　An Jiu: “…”

　　Seriously? He was that hard to win over?

　　She already knew the further it went, the harder it’d get to raise his affection, so she’d mentally prepared herself.

　　But these past few days, she’d been confessing to him nonstop, throwing herself at him every chance she got, showering him with hugs, kisses, and cute little acts of affection. And he still hadn’t budged even a single point?

　　Was his heart made of stone or what?!

　　An Jiu was absolutely devastated. All her passion wasn’t just for show, okay!

　　If he wasn’t going to fall for the usual tricks, then he couldn’t blame her for pulling out the big guns.

　　“Hong Yu, I want to embroider a sachet for Fei Yi. Can you bring me the needlework basket?” An Jiu said, half-reclining on the lounge chair as she spoke to the maid fanning her.

　　The maid lowered the fan, gave a small bow, and silently went inside. A moment later, she returned with a basket full of sewing supplies.　　

　　The original An Jiu had never been good at needlework, and her family had never forced her to learn. She was a pampered young lady from a prestigious household—why would she ever need to make her own sachets? That kind of work was always handled by someone else.

　　So An Jiu wasn’t exactly skilled either. She could manage basic mending, but when it came to embroidery, her work was about as good as scrap fabric.

　　She picked out a vibrant red piece of silk from the basket and cut it into shape with scissors. Two pieces stitched together made a simple little sachet. The embroidered design on the outside came from another fabric; she just cut out a mandarin duck motif and sewed it on top.

　　If you ignored the uneven stitching inside, the sachet actually looked quite delicate and lovely on the outside.

　　Once she was done sewing, An Jiu started slowly making the tassel.

　　At some point, the afternoon sun had started slanting west. The setting sun cast a deep red glow across the sky, painting half the heavens in fiery colors.

　　After attaching the tassel to the sachet, An Jiu rubbed her sore neck and looked up—only to spot a man standing quietly at the entrance of the courtyard, watching her with dark, unreadable eyes. She had no idea how long he had been there.

　　An Jiu froze for a second, then quickly jumped to her feet and ran over.

　　Her bright eyes sparkled, reflecting the vivid red clouds in the sky, like two burning flames.

　　She dashed toward him without hesitation, barefoot and eager, having forgotten to put on her shoes. Her soft pink skirt fluttered behind her like a dream.

　　The whole scene felt like a dream itself—so beautiful it didn’t seem real.

　　Until she crashed into his chest, that petite girl hugging him tightly and tilting her little face up with a sweet smile. Only then did Pei Ji finally feel like this moment was real.

　　He lowered his gaze to her, voice softening without him even realizing. “What were you doing just now?”

　　This man didn’t dare visit her himself, yet he had still stationed two maids to keep an eye on her. An Jiu was certain that even how much water she drank each day was being reported back to him. And even so, whenever he came by, he’d still ask her what she had been up to, just to hear her personally recount every little mundane detail of her day.

　　From that alone, it was pretty clear he was starved for love. Psychologically speaking, people who grow up without love tend to crave the warmth of a family.

　　Thinking about Pei Ji’s background, maybe he had never truly experienced what it felt like to be loved.

　　To An Jiu, he felt like a frog living in an icy wasteland—longing for warmth, yet afraid that getting too close would end up boiling him alive. He was drawn to it, but also kept trying to pull away.

　　With those thoughts swirling in her mind, An Jiu kept a calm smile on her face. “I'm making you a sachet.”

　　She picked up the little red pouch and held it out in front of him, looking up with a bright smile. “Can I put it on for you?”

　　Pei Ji’s gaze lingered on the sachet, and his mind wandered to another one.

　　That pouch had also been given to him by her, personally placed in his hand.

　　Yet only a few days after giving it to him, she had left without hesitation, walking away without a word of explanation.

　　And now, here he was, receiving another pouch from her.

　　His dark eyes flickered with emotion, and he stayed silent for a long time.

　　An Jiu started to feel uneasy. She bit her lip and slowly pulled the sachet back, hiding it behind her. Her head drooped as she murmured, “I… I didn’t do a good job on this one. I’ll give you a better one next time.”

　　“It’s not bad.” A low voice answered softly near her ear. She looked up in surprise and saw the man smiling gently, his gaze just as warm as always. “Put it on me.”

　　Her eyes lit up immediately. “Okay!”

　　Her fair, delicate fingers quickly went to work, fastening the pouch to his waist. Coincidentally, he was wearing a pale moon-white robe that day. The deep red of the sachet against the soft white fabric stood out beautifully.

　　An Jiu admired the sight with a satisfied gaze. But as she stared, her expression slowly shifted.

　　Her once bright and lively eyes became vacant, losing their focus. For a moment, it was as if she had lost all awareness, standing there blankly like an empty shell with no soul.

　　Pei Ji’s attention had been on the girl the entire time, so he immediately noticed something was wrong.

　　His heart sank. A wave of cold spread from his chest, and in an instant, all the warmth he’d felt earlier was swallowed up by a bone-deep chill.

　　Almost without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, gritting his teeth. “What were you just thinking about?”

　　“Huh?” The girl snapped out of it, blinking up at him with confusion as she met his angry, anxious gaze. “What’s wrong, Fei Yi? Did I do something to upset you?”　　

　　“No. I asked you—just now, who were you thinking about?” His voice was urgent and heavy, with barely restrained frustration and a flicker of anger in his furrowed brows.

　　Faced with his interrogation, the girl pouted unhappily, her tone full of grievance. “I wasn’t thinking about anyone. I was thinking about you. That’s all. And... you’re hurting me.”

　　As soon as she said it, he instinctively loosened his grip.

　　Seeing the glimmer of tears welling up in her eyes and the pitiful expression on her face, Pei Ji had no choice but to force himself to swallow all the irritation boiling inside him.

　　She didn’t know anything right now. What was the point of getting mad?

　　There was nothing he could do.

　　He could only watch her quietly miss someone she once loved.

　　He could only stew in his jealousy, rage, and dark, bitter thoughts—wanting to tear someone apart.

　　And yet, he couldn’t let her know any of it.

 

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