"Pin'er?"

Ignoring the redness on his hands from the scalding tea, Pei Jingzhou stared blankly at Shen Mingzhuang.

"Excuse me." Shen Mingzhuang stood up and walked down the pavilion, his actions only making matters worse.

As expected, his wrist was grabbed, and Pei Jingzhou's eyes reddened, disbelief filling his gaze as he stared intently at her face, his voice trembling slightly: "Since you're not dead, why didn't you come to find me? Do you know what I've been doing these past few days..."

Pei Jingzhou stopped abruptly, looking down at the tear stains on Shen Mingzhuang's cheeks, his heart aching, and with trembling hands he took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"Don't cry, Pin'er."

He clenched his fists in distress, glanced at the servant, and saw the same look in the servant's eyes. Only then did he dare to confirm that he was not hallucinating.

"Young master, please have some self-respect."

Shen Mingzhuang took a step back, putting some distance between herself and Pei Jingzhou, before explaining, "I am not some kind of Daiyu. I am the Ninth Sister of the Shen family, who has been left in Jiangzhou since childhood. I have only been back in the capital for a little over a month. Today, while looking for flowers and enjoying the scenery, I accidentally forgot the way back, so I stopped here to rest."

Before she could finish speaking, a voice came from outside the artificial hill, "You were born from my womb, after all. Who would dare to bully you? You are currently engaged, and even your seventh sister has suitors asking about you. But your marriage with your brother is giving your mother a headache! Don't try to take the lead in these matters yourself."

"She's only relying on Princess Jiayuan's favor today, but Princess Jiayuan's favor is only because of a piece of clothing. What's there for her to be so smug about? That concubine Liu's daughter dares to act arrogantly in front of me. Our family is completely messed up, with the legitimate and illegitimate children reversed!"

Standing on the pavilion, Shen Mingzhuang easily took in the surrounding scenery. The people speaking were Lin Shi and Shen Mingshu, who wanted to use the artificial hill as a cover to have a private conversation.

The mother and daughter were clearly unaware that someone had overheard their conversation.

Since they were all from the Shen family, it wouldn't be good for others to hear such things. Shen Mingzhuang glanced at Pei Jingzhou with some embarrassment, and seeing that he was standing upright and looked like he hadn't heard anything, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Mingzhuang thought she would take a stroll in front of her and then pretend nothing had happened before returning to the front. But as soon as she turned around, she saw several Pei family matrons leading Granny Jiang as they walked and looked around, seemingly looking for something.

It was obvious that Granny Jiang had come here either to see Shen Ming'e or to see her.

If she went downstairs now, she would definitely be caught red-handed. If Madam Lin found out that the eldest son of the Pei family was alone with a woman in the double-eaved pavilion, she would probably use the reputation of the Shen family girls as an excuse to force her to become a nun, or hastily marry her off.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Shen Mingzhuang felt a little flustered. Looking at the approaching group of people, he looked up at Pei Jingzhou.

"Don't panic."

Pei Jingzhou had already returned to normal. His tone was gentle and casual, yet he exuded a confident and assured air, which reassured Shen Mingzhuang, and she immediately calmed down.

The servant went down and called Manhuan to the pavilion as well, while he himself stayed below.

Man Huan also heard the voices over there and was about to send a message to her young mistress so that they could find a place to hide. She knew what the consequences would be if she were discovered.

Seeing that Shen Mingzhuang was still drinking tea, beads of sweat dripped down Manhuan's forehead. She whispered to Shen Mingzhuang, "Miss, this...this...shouldn't we find a place to hide?"

"Don't worry, they won't come up."

Pei Jingzhou sat there with a gentle and refined demeanor, a faint smile playing on his lips.