Chapter 464 It seems like they're burying their heads in the sand.

Brother Pei Ji really did rush back so that she could celebrate his birthday with him!

Pei Ji looked at the undisguised joy in her eyes, his lips curved almost imperceptibly, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cool wood grain of the bucket's rim, his voice tinged with a faint warmth: "Yes, you guessed right."

Sheng Sheng's eyes instantly lit up like they were filled with starlight. She took two steps forward, her skirt brushing against the lush grass at her feet, rustling softly. "I knew it! I've already prepared the birthday gift. Brother Pei Ji, you'll definitely like it."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Sheng Sheng chuckled, looked at the now-grown pear tree, and asked, "This pear tree has grown so big! When will it bear pears?"

"Wait another year, and it will bloom next spring, bear green pears in early summer, and be fully ripe, sweet, crisp and juicy by early autumn."

"It'll be around this time next year, won't it?" Sheng Sheng clasped her hands together, tilting her head back expectantly. "I'm already looking forward to it!"

"Okay, I'll make you some aromatherapy later."

Pei Ji still remembered the promise he had made to her.

Sheng Sheng also remembered: "Okay."

The two exchanged a smile, and then, as if to make up for the past two years of neglect they had given the pear tree, they picked up a water ladle and watered the tree with another small ladle of water.

Although it's completely useless.

Sheng Sheng suddenly scratched his head: "It's like burying your head in the sand."

Sheng Sheng's words seemed abrupt and unrelated, but Pei Ji understood her meaning and comforted her, saying, "It's okay. As long as you're there when it's planted and bears fruit, it's already a perfect ending."

He chuckled sheepishly.

The two of them stood around a pear tree, talking and talking. Stone, unable to bear the loneliness any longer, started urging Yan Hu to go play in the bamboo forest.

Only then did Sheng Sheng belatedly realize that A Fu and Xiao Jiu Zhu were not there, so she asked, "Brother Pei Ji, are you the only one here?"

“Well, I was bedridden before, and the food at Jingyue Pavilion was also bland. Now that I’m recovering from my illness, Afu should naturally go to the Imperial Household Department to get some more flavorful food,” Pei Ji said with a smile.

Previously, Pei Ji was not present and claimed to be ill, staying at Jingyue Pavilion and not coming out. In order to make the performance more convincing, Afu even specially asked the Imperial Household Department not to send any more meat, as his young master was too ill to eat.

Now that Pei Ji has just recovered from a serious illness, it is indeed reasonable for him to eat some good food to nourish his body.

Sheng Sheng suddenly laughed and gave him a thumbs up: "You guys are really smart."

Pei Ji accepted all her praise without question.

"What about Uncle Xiao?"

She asked again and again.

This time, Pei Ji didn't answer immediately. He hesitated, then touched his nose and replied, "He's probably back in Song on business."

"What's up?"

The voices were filled with doubt. Pei Ji had already returned; what else could have happened?

Could it be that Xiao Jiuzhu was still worried and went to clean up the mess again?

But judging from Pei Ji's hesitant expression, it didn't seem that simple.

Could it be...

"Oh~ Uncle Xiao must have gone back to find Bai Meiren!" Sheng Sheng finally found some clues. "After Uncle Xiao finished his work with you, he brought you back safely. Now he can finally go back and report to Brother Pei Ji's mother, right?"

Pei Ji smiled helplessly: "Probably."

The story of Xiao Jiuzhu and Bai Meiren is both beautiful and regrettable. The two missed each other for so many years, and now they have finally reunited. Xiao Jiuzhu does not want to miss any opportunity to make up for the past and create a future that belongs to them.

That's probably why Xiao Jiuzhu put even more effort into assisting Pei Ji in achieving his great cause, because in this way, he could have a more legitimate future with Bai Meiren.

Pei Ji had no feelings for his biological father, the now powerless and dying old emperor of the Song Dynasty, while Xiao Jiuzhu and Bai Meiren clearly had feelings for each other, so he was happy for the two to live happily together.

His mother raised him with great difficulty, and it would be wonderful if he could find his own happiness.

When she repeatedly exposed his lie, Pei Ji simply admitted it and asked her to keep it a secret.

"My mother seems unwilling to have too much involvement with Uncle Xiao, and Uncle Xiao has never mentioned a word to me about it. Uncle Xiao thinks I don't know that although they have feelings for each other, my mother is still the emperor's concubine, and it's not so easy for her to break free from the constraints of the deep palace. With her title, every step is a shackle, and if she is not careful, not only her, but Uncle Xiao will also be implicated."

He said softly, "His all-out help to me is surely because he hopes that I can stabilize the court as soon as possible, so that I can give my mother a proper home in the future, and that they will no longer have to live in such fear and worry."

I declare my understanding: "Okay, I declare my understanding!"

"Hmm." Pei Ji chuckled softly.

Before long, Afu returned to Jingyue Pavilion carrying all sorts of ingredients. He was surprised to see Shengsheng and the others who had arrived earlier, and then greeted them happily.

"Your Highness, you're finally back! A day apart feels like three autumns. It feels like you've been gone for a whole year!"

Zijuan laughed as she listened to his exaggerated statement, "How come you still like to talk nonsense after all this time? Only you dare to exaggerate like this. If other people heard us, they would think we had gone thousands of miles away and would never come back."

"Indeed, Miss Zijuan, you don't know, during the first Mid-Autumn Festival after you left, oh my goodness, our young master was such a—"

As Afu was speaking eloquently, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck, and he swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Turning his head, he saw the young master he had mentioned standing under the eaves with a smile on his face, his hands casually behind his back, but there was no warmth in his eyes. When his gaze fell on him, it was a half-smile, full of oppressive force.

Afu: "!"

"Oh dear, what I was saying was that since Her Highness the Princess isn't in the palace, our young master has suddenly developed a craving for kumquats!"

Afu, quick-witted as ever, scrambled to salvage the situation, patting the food box, "Young master, look, I specially brought some of your favorite candied kumquats and fresh bamboo shoots from the Imperial Household Department. I've been thinking of you!"

Afu didn't care whether his words made sense or not; he just said whatever came to mind.

Pei Ji glanced at him indifferently, too lazy to pay him any more attention, and led the still somewhat confused Sheng Sheng into the house.

"Didn't you say you were preparing a birthday gift for me?"

Sheng Sheng immediately shifted her attention, "Hey, that's right! Zijuan, Zhuifeng, quickly bring the things in!"

A group of people entered the house in a flurry, and Afu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He muttered to himself, "That Mid-Autumn Festival after the Second Princess left, the young master wrote poems all night under the moon, fifty-two in total. Such a feat, why can't I tell you? How many people can write fifty-two poems in one go!"