Chapter 37
"What is this?"
Cui Pei touched his nose guiltily, "The betrothal gift list sent by the Qi family."
Veins throbbed on his forehead. Pei Lingjun took a deep breath and looked at him, asking, "Is this the clue you were talking about?"
"Oh dear!" Cui Pei quickly explained, "I've searched the whole place and there's nothing there, so I just grabbed the list of betrothal gifts for Miss Wen."
"Then you can take your time looking around," Cui Pei said, noticing his boss's dark expression. Realizing something was wrong, he grabbed his night clothes and prepared to leave. "I'll go outside and keep watch for you!"
After saying that, he turned his head and left without looking back.
Who I marry is none of your business.
The woman's suddenly cold expression and tone in the ancestral hall seemed to be right before his eyes. Pei Lingjun rubbed his temples, casually placed the betrothal gift list on the table, and felt a sour taste in his mouth.
He just couldn't understand it. What was so great about Qi Chengxuan that she liked him so much?
However, at this moment, no one could answer his question.
Before a solitary lamp, Pei Lingjun leaned against a round wooden chair, his hands resting on the armrests, his legs naturally relaxed, his gaze fixed on the list of betrothal gifts spread out in front of him.
The flickering candlelight illuminated his profile, highlighting his sharply defined features and giving him a cold and distant air when he was expressionless.
For example, right now.
——
In the capital city of Ji, thousands of miles away, in a luxurious palace piled high with gold and jade, a woman with her back to the palace entrance was kneeling on the lap of an old woman.
"Mother-in-law...please let me go."
The pretty woman raised her head, revealing a pair of almond-shaped eyes, her red lips pouting in dissatisfaction, her face full of loneliness.
The elderly woman, adorned with gold and silver ornaments, affectionately patted her head. Her calm voice, tinged with a hint of authority, rang out: "What's the rush? How long has that fellow been away from the capital?"
The girl blushed shyly and stammered, "They say a day apart feels like three autumns, but how many autumns have passed since I last saw Brother Jun?"
The old woman chuckled and teased, "People say that a day apart feels like three autumns, which refers to a wife missing her husband. How can you, an unmarried young girl, say such things? Your mind is always on that Pei boy. Aren't you ashamed?"
The girl looked up, her eyes full of dissatisfaction: "Brother Jun is the husband I've chosen, the good man I've chosen. Mother, you're not allowed to say such things about him."
The old woman was none other than the Empress Dowager of Dasheng, and the girl in front of her was the daughter of her only biological daughter, the Grand Princess—Princess Jiang Xianyi of Sui'an.
A precious jewel cherished by everyone in the palace, and a member of the royal family whom everyone outside the palace fears and dares not offend.
After a long stalemate, the Empress Dowager finally gave in to the girl's insistence and nodded.
"I agree, but you need to ask your cousin to provide you with more manpower. Don't stay outside for too long, and come back as soon as possible."
Jiang Xianyi's eyes lit up, and she nodded hurriedly, as if afraid that her mother-in-law would change her mind again.
After the young woman left the palace, the old nanny waiting in the bedchamber finally dared to speak, "Your Majesty, what is this...?"
The Empress Dowager sighed deeply, seemingly troubled. "Consort Xian has grown up and has her own ideas. Over the years, with so many noble young men around her, she has chosen that man's son. It's truly a cycle of cause and effect, a destiny ordained by heaven..."
The old nanny didn't understand the Empress Dowager's veiled words and tentatively asked, "Could it be that she really went with the princess?"
The Empress Dowager pondered for a long time, "When the Pei family had their troubles, that boy was still young, and he was willing to get close to the female lead, which is not a bad thing for us."
"If..." The Empress Dowager's brows relaxed slightly, and she continued, "If he can be of use to us, then letting him marry Xianyi would be fulfilling her infatuation with that boy."
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