Chapter 172 A Fleeting Dream

Madam Pei pointed at him with trembling fingers and said, "You...you actually think so much about me?"

"I am your mother, I raised you with great difficulty, and now you question your mother like this because of a woman?"

“I made it clear from the moment I entered that she did not want to stay. It was the dead of winter, and your army was short of food and clothing. Are the lives of 100,000 soldiers less important than a woman?”

"What's more, she's using the child in her womb as leverage. If I don't let her go, she has no intention of keeping the child."

“At that time, you were fighting against Ding Wei’s rebel army. How could your mother possibly let such a trivial matter disturb your mind?”

"How do you expect your mother to choose?"

At this point, Madam Pei couldn't help but burst into tears: "Now, you can only blame me for letting her go."

Pei Yanzhi was blinded by rage: "She used this to blackmail you, and you just let it go? She's just a child, how can she be compared to her—"

"I have my own plans for everything in the army. Even without her, do you think I can't take over the world?"

"Eldest son!" Madam Pei exclaimed, standing up in shock. "This is the only bloodline of the Pei family! How could you say such a thing..."

He sneered, "When have I ever cared about an heir? If he weren't born from her womb, how important do you think offspring are to me? If my son really valued the continuation of the family line so much, would this household still be without children?"

After saying that, the exhaustion from working all night surged up. He leaned on the edge of the table, not wanting to say another word, and waved his hand weakly.

Wu Yang, standing outside the gate, said in a deep voice, "Send the child to Wenxin Pavilion. After that, have nothing to do with Fushou Garden."

After speaking, he straightened up and walked outside, ignoring Madam Pei's bewildered expression behind him.

"Brother, what do you mean by this? Are you saying I'm never going to see my grandson again?"

Pei Yanzhi paused slightly, but did not turn around. He turned his head to her and said, "Mother, you should think about it carefully."

After leaving Fushouyuan, he saw the wet nurse holding the child and waiting by his side. He walked over and his expression softened instantly. He saw that the child was quiet and no longer crying as before.

Seeing that there were still milk stains on his lips, he ordered, "Move all the utensils to the West Garden of Wenxin Pavilion and Fushou Garden... You don't need to come here again."

The wet nurse glanced at Fushouyuan discreetly and quickly agreed in a low voice.

Back at Wenxin Pavilion, Pei Yanzhi pushed open the door to the West Garden bedroom. It had been more than two months since anyone had lived there, and even though he had sent someone to clean it before his return, the atmosphere inside was different.

It was no longer the delicate fragrance she had worn before, nor the sweet scent from the incense burner; what was burning now was his usual sandalwood incense.

He took off his armor and walked into the room. The furnishings were the same as before she left, only that person was missing.

She is truly heartless, abandoning even her child. It turns out that everything was just a scheme to deceive him, manipulate him, and then find a suitable opportunity to escape.

Nothing is more poisonous than a woman's heart; all the past was just my own illusion. Now, seeing those objects of past affection only feels extremely jarring.

The anger he had been suppressing on the way suddenly erupted. He drew his long sword and cleaved open the screen, dressing table, wardrobe, and chests that she usually used in the room.

Wu Yang stood guard at the door, listening to the cracking sounds coming from inside, feeling uneasy.

After an unknown amount of time, and after a long period of venting, Pei Yanzhi lay down on the carpet, the long sword in his hand kicked aside, his chest heaving violently.

Dressed in a black robe, he lay quietly amidst the chaos, his eyes fixed on the sky. After a long while, a tear slowly slid down his cheek.

He murmured, "You woman, you have such a cruel heart. Why have you treated me like this? Have I never done anything for you that you would want to stay?"

He turned his head to look at the broken wood scattered on the ground, smiled bitterly, let the tears slide down his face silently, and closed his eyes in a daze.

As the sun dipped low, its afterglow slanted through the gauze curtains, and in the hazy light, he seemed to hear someone calling him, "My lord? My lord?"

Pei Yanzhi opened his eyes, and the beautiful woman he hadn't seen for a year appeared before him, still looking as she had before giving birth, her hair slightly damp.

Just looking down at her like this, her chest seemed to have become much fuller.

Her tone was slightly spoiled: "Didn't the Marquis say he would cut my hair for me? How come he fell asleep by himself!"

Pei Yanzhi sat up abruptly in a panic, grabbed her tightly, and said urgently, "Where have you been? I dreamt that you disappeared!"

Ji Shu gasped for breath and said reproachfully, "I'm right here, are you trying to strangle me?"

Pei Yanzhi hurriedly let go of her, carefully checked her body, and only apologized repeatedly after finding that she was alright.

Ji Shu's brows were full of tender affection, and her eyes were even more shimmering when she looked at him. She tossed him the handkerchief in her hand and said, "Hurry up and dry me off."

"Look at the mess you've made of this room! We can't sleep here tonight..."

Pei Yanzhi followed her gaze and saw that the bedroom he had destroyed that afternoon was now a mess, and it would indeed take a day or two to clean it up.

He took the handkerchief from her and gently wiped her hair.

He said in a muffled voice, "I didn't see you when I came back, so I thought you had left and would never come back."

Ji Shu asked softly, "So you came back and threw a tantrum without even asking what happened?"

Pei Yanzhi nodded awkwardly, dried his hair, leaned down and buried his face in her neck, taking a deep breath of her scent.

"As long as you don't leave me, you can punish me however you want, okay?"

Ji Shu turned around and chuckled as she tapped his chest, saying coquettishly, "You're a father now, how can you still act like you can't live without me? How will the children look at you in the future? Where is your dignity as a father?"

Pei Yanzhi held her hand and said softly, "He's still young, how could he know these things?"

Ji Shu leaned against him and smiled, then said, "But I'm not from here, how can I stay with you for a lifetime?"

She then got up from his arms, and before he could even react, she had already reached the door.

Pei Yanzhi was horrified and tried to get up to pull her away, but he couldn't move his body at all and could only watch helplessly as she turned and left.

"Shu'er? Shu'er—!"

He suddenly opened his eyes, looked around, and saw that it was still the messy bedroom. He raised his hand to his forehead and realized that it was just a dream.

But the dream was too real, so real that it felt as if she had really come back.

He called out to Wu Yang.

"Investigate thoroughly, find out exactly where she went, no matter how small the matter. Even if she is at the ends of the earth, I will find her and bring her back."

Wu Yang carefully examined his lord's face and saw that his lord's face was gloomy and the veins on his neck were bulging, indicating that he was suppressing his emotions to the extreme.

I was secretly shocked, not knowing how things had turned out this way in such a short time, and quickly responded.

It was only at this moment that Pei Yanzhi suddenly realized that there had been many things that were not right a long time ago.

Her feigned flattery and secret reselling of Qiu Yi Nong all demonstrate that she never intended to stay in Yanzhou for long.