Chapter 24, Part 24: Pei Duo cornered her in the closet… a wicked laugh.

When the person she had been worried about for three days suddenly appeared in front of her, it took Jiang Ninghui a while to react.

She covered her mouth, her already dry eyes welling up with tears again, and her choked voice escaped through her fingers, broken and intermittent: "Young Master Pei, I thought... I thought you were being held accountable by the authorities—"

Before she could finish speaking, Pei Duo quickly reached out and covered the backs of her hands, silencing her before she could finish.

A tall, imposing young man peered in, his pale blue shadow completely covering Jiang Ninghui.

He deftly closed the door with one hand, while his other strong fingers gripped her wrist, pulling Jiang Ninghui's hand, which was covering her mouth, in front of him. The young man's fingers contained immense power, and Jiang Ninghui could feel that power even through the thick sleeves of her clothes.

She asked, puzzled, "Young Master Pei—"

Pei Duo nudged her with his toes, and at the right moment raised his other hand to cover Jiang Ninghui's icy face.

The young man's hands were so large that they almost covered most of her face.

As he approached her, his tall figure inexplicably gave Jiang Ninghui an extremely strong sense of oppression. Before she could realize her discomfort, the young man lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Sister-in-law, let's talk in my room. Be careful, the walls may have ears."

Jiang Ninghui tensed up in fright and whispered, "Okay."

The young man lowered his eyes and glanced at the woman who was so close to him. Her petite and slender body was stiff, her eyelashes were wet with tears, and her lower eyelids were in his palm. Her red eyes were like those of a startled rabbit in the mountains, looking around in a panic. The slightest movement could frighten her.

As she spoke, her warm breath sprayed onto his palm.

A strange, tingling sensation crept into my heart.

So good.

My obedient sister-in-law.

I really want to lie to her again, to tease her a little more.

It turned out that his sister-in-law was crying so pitifully because she was worried about him.

The two were very close, only an arm's length apart. The young man glanced at Jiang Ninghui's red ear tips, his deep eyes becoming even more unfathomable. He leaned closer, his hot breath brushing against Jiang Ninghui's ear tips, and then noticed the woman's body tremble slightly.

He gave a wicked laugh, but his clear, gentle voice was completely different from his wicked demeanor.

"Sister-in-law, have any unfamiliar faces visited our home in the past few days?"

Jiang Ninghui whispered, "No."

Looking at the bright red ear tips, the young man suppressed the urge to bite them and straightened up, saying, "Sister-in-law, come with me, let's go inside and talk things over."

Jiang Ninghui was preoccupied with the sudden return of Young Master Pei and was eager to know what had happened to him in the past few days.

Pei Duo pushed open the door and entered the room, glancing at the golden-red coal burning inside.

The room was also very warm.

He asked, "Has your sister-in-law been helping me burn charcoal to warm the house these past few days?"

Jiang Ninghui followed him into the house and nodded slightly: "Mm."

She thought every day that Young Master Pei would come back, that he would definitely come back. She burned charcoal every day without fail, but he never came.

Jiang Ninghui asked impatiently, "Young Master Pei, where have you been these past three days?"

Pei Duo placed the book bag on the table, turned to look at Jiang Ninghui who was eager to know the answer, and instead asked, "Sister-in-law, could you tell me where you were planning to go just now?"

Jiang Ninghui bit her lip, and her eyes reddened again.

After a moment, she lowered her head and told Pei Duo everything she had planned.

Upon hearing her mention paying someone to write a divorce agreement, the young man's stern eyebrows twitched slightly, his dark eyes fixed intently on the person enveloped by the light streaming in from outside the door.

She was wearing thick, loose clothes, her head bowed, with only a section of her beautiful, fair neck and a pair of intertwined, pale fingers showing.

This weak woman, who couldn't even kill a chicken, was able to do such a resolute thing to save him. If she were to go to jail, she would be a lamb that suddenly broke into a pack of wolves. Even if she was tortured to death in jail, she wouldn't make a ripple in the Longchang government office.

If he had returned even one day later, she would have been in jail.

But if he had returned two hours later, perhaps, given Zhao Zhixue's cowardly nature and fear of being implicated, he would have signed the divorce papers.

The young man lowered his eyes, concealing the regret in them.

If he had known this would happen, he would have returned later.

Thus, the sister-in-law had completely severed ties with that good-for-nothing.

But now, it seems that a divorce is no longer possible.

Pei Duo called her, "Sister-in-law."

Jiang Ninghui looked up, waiting for him to continue.

The young man gazed into the woman's bright, almond-shaped eyes and asked, "Sister-in-law, have you ever considered that once you're in prison, you might never get out again, and you'll likely suffer unimaginable torment? Don't you regret it?"

Jiang Ninghui surprisingly asked Pei Duo, "Young Master Pei, did you ever regret rescuing me from Liang Wentao back then?"

Pei Duo: "Never."

Jiang Ninghui also said, "Therefore, I have no regrets."

An indescribable sensation, like a feather brushing against his heart, made the young man frown uncomfortably.

The feeling was even stronger than when I last saw Jiang Ninghui crying.

She was truly obedient and honest.

Although timid and cowardly by nature, he is exceptionally tenacious in certain matters.

Jiang Ninghui: "Young Master Pei, during your three days as the Prefect of Longchang, did the Prefect give you any trouble? These past few days, the streets have been filled with news of Liang Wentao and his gang being murdered. Today, they said the real culprit has been caught. Do you know who it is?"

Pei Duo raised his hand and pushed open the window, looking at the courtyard: "When I came back, I also heard about this matter, so I inquired about it at the government office. That person had a grudge against Liang Wentao and had been secretly following him for several days. The day we came out of the cellar, that person secretly sneaked in and drugged Liang Wentao and the others, and then set them on fire."

Jiang Ninghui never expected the truth to be like this.

No wonder Young Master Pei was able to return unharmed.

Thankfully, Young Master Pei returned in time.

After three days of anxious anticipation and sleepless nights, Jiang Ninghui suddenly relaxed upon learning the truth. She couldn't control herself and covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably.

A soft, sobbing sound escaped from between her fingers, drawing the young man's gaze back to her from the window.

This time, she was crying for him.

Upon closer listening, the sister-in-law's crying was quite melodious.

But he preferred her smile.

The young man lifted his eyelids and glanced coldly at the closed courtyard gate outside the window. His bent knuckles tapped rhythmically on the edge of the table. After the tenth tap, he quickly stepped forward, picked up Jiang Ninghui around the waist, and carried her to the wardrobe and put her inside.

Only one door of the wardrobe was open, and the tall, imposing young man blocked the wardrobe, completely trapping the petite Jiang Ninghui inside, leaving her unable to move forward or backward.

Jiang Ninghui stopped crying and huddled on the cramped second shelf of the wardrobe, her almond-shaped eyes, wet and misty from crying, staring blankly at Young Master Pei, who was blocking the way in front of the wardrobe.

He stood with his back to the light, his sharply defined face hidden in the shadows, his eyebrows and eyes covered in dark shadows, making it impossible to see his expression.

"Young Master Pei, you...you..."

Shh, don't make a sound.

Pei Duo covered her nose and lips, then leaned in and pressed himself against her.

Jiang Ninghui stared wide-eyed in horror, her thin back pressed tightly against the wardrobe panel. Pei Gongzi's clothes were on both sides of her waist and legs, the scent of cedar incense was very strong, penetrating through her thick cotton clothes and carefully exploring along her skin, inch by inch.

The young man's tall figure loomed over them, making the wardrobe feel cramped and small.

Her bent knees pressed against the young man's lean waist and abdomen. Even through his clothes, she could feel the taut muscles on his waist and abdomen, burning her like a furnace.

Jiang Ninghui wants to withdraw.

But it can't be refunded.

She didn't know why Young Master Pei would suddenly act this way.

Even now, she still feels that Young Master Pei is not a petty person who would casually belittle others.

He must have had his reasons for doing this.

Sure enough, a warm sensation came from her ear, accompanied by the young man's clear and deep voice: "Sister-in-law, Brother Zhao is back. Please stay here with me for a while. It's not good for Brother Zhao to see you crying like this, it would be bad for both of us."

Just as Young Master Pei finished speaking, the young master's voice came from outside: "Oh, Brother Pei, you're back."

Jiang Ninghui trembled. Now, without Pei Duo covering her mouth, she raised both hands and covered her mouth tightly, afraid that her husband would hear even the slightest sound.

But she forgot that Young Master Pei's hand was on her face.

With this action, she forcefully pressed Pei Duo's hand against her face.

The woman's warm breath and the lingering tears on her cheeks clung to his palms, like a feather gently brushing against them, causing an indescribable itch. The young man lowered his eyelids, looking at her pitiful, wet almond-shaped eyes, her eyelashes still glistening with clear water droplets.

She blinked, looking at him with a mixture of fear and pleading.

He saw the pleading in her eyes.

Her sister-in-law wanted his help, but she mustn't let her good husband find out that she was hiding in another man's closet.

Jiang Ninghui did indeed think that way.

Before this incident, she never imagined that one day she would hide in another man's closet, concealing herself in his arms to avoid being seen by her husband. This terrifying and thrilling feeling made Jiang Ninghui's hair stand on end, her scalp tingle, and her head spin.

From childhood to adulthood, she has never done anything out of line.

This is the first time so far.

Pei Gongzi's deliberately lowered voice came to my ears again.

The young man's tone carried a nasty edge that only he could understand, and he kindly offered his advice.

"Sister-in-law, it seems you've forgotten something very important."

"The divorce papers you gave Brother Zhao are still on the table in your room. If Brother Zhao goes back to his room, he will probably see them."

Jiang Ninghui's breath hitched, and her heart nearly leaped out of her throat!

Pei Duo felt the woman's rapid breathing with his palm and listened to her violently beating heart with his ears.

The footsteps outside grew closer and closer, and Jiang Ninghui's heart tightened more and more. She heard her husband push open the door to Pei Gongzi's room, heard her husband's footsteps step into the room, and heard her husband's voice very close to her, so close that it seemed as if only Pei Gongzi was between her and her husband.

"Brother Pei, when did you return? Have you been at the prefect's residence for the past three days?"

Pei Duo did not turn around; his hand remained on Jiang Ninghui's nose and lips.

Jiang Ninghui gripped his hands tightly with both of hers.

Such close skin contact...

He was really afraid that his sister-in-law would faint from nervousness.

Jiang Ninghui, completely obscured by the young man's tall figure, curled up and gently shook her head, her bright eyes filled with misty tears.

She prayed.

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded with him through her captivating eyes: "Young Master Pei, please help me, please help me..."

Those were truly a pair of extremely beautiful eyes.

Like the passionate eyes in the portrait, they seemed to come alive before his eyes.

A note from the author:

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There's a red envelope in this chapter!

My darlings, this book will be available for purchase at midnight tonight! There will be a new chapter at midnight tonight, and two more chapters tomorrow!