Chapter 44
The Prince of Nan's gloating lasted only one day. The next day, he was scolded by the Princess Consort, who told him to quickly find a few more highly respected medical experts.
Pei Du, with a sullen face, had several elderly doctors with gray hair and beards examine him from head to toe. After several days of examination and being forced to drink bowl after bowl of bitter medicine, he waited until all the attendants who had gone to Huaizhou returned. His arm injury had almost healed, but his memory had not improved.
The attendant then learned that the young master had forgotten something, and quickly presented the letter written by Miss Xie herself, wondering if it was the right remedy.
Pei Du opened the book and looked at it for a long time. He thought to himself that Xie Ayao was quite eloquent and her concern seemed genuine. However, she still told him to remember to read the book and answer the questions. He was inexplicably angry. He was already in such a state, so why did she still want him to answer the questions?
As an engaged couple, shouldn't they come to see each other?
It turned out that the marriage alliance was merely a facade of friendship.
The attendant then brought over the snow-melting ointment. Seeing that no one else was around, he lowered his voice and said, "Young Master, this is the snow-melting ointment that Miss Xie gave you. Apply it three times a day, and there will be no scars on your face."
Pei Du scoffed, "As a man, why should I be afraid of scars? If she can't stand it, let her come and talk to me herself."
The attendant was anxious, but steeled himself and voiced his guess: "Your Highness, you may not know this, but the Xie family seems to place great importance on appearance. From my observation, there is no ugly person in the entire Xie household. If Your Highness doesn't treat this scar, I'm afraid..."
Pei Du immediately frowned and said coldly, "Absurd. Do you expect me to do such a thing just to please the Xie family's daughter?"
The attendant earnestly advised, "Your Highness, you've forgotten now, but in the past, how could you have said such a thing?" As the attendant, he knew the inside story best and was truly afraid that when the prince remembered, he would have to apologize.
Pei Du remained skeptical. These past few days, everyone around him had said that he had begged for Miss Xie's hand, yet he had clearly found the imperial edict of marriage in the study. Could he possibly have persuaded Emperor Xingde to issue such an edict? That was impossible.
Ha, who knows if they weren't all in cahoots, just to make him accept the marriage without worry. As for his father's snickers, he didn't care. After all, if his father had hit his head, he would have laughed at him behind his back too.
Pei Du's rebellious streak kicked in, and he grabbed his longsword, ready to leave. His attendant asked urgently, "Young Master, where are you going? The doctor said you need to rest to recover quickly."
Pei Du said expressionlessly, "There must be a reason why I forgot about her. In that case, I will go to Huaizhou myself and see her with my own eyes."
Seeing that he couldn't stop him, the attendant hurriedly went to report to the Prince and Princess of the South. But the mysterious medical expert stroked his white goatee and said, "It's good that you've found the right medicine. The young master's problem is a mental one, and it needs a cure for the mind."
The Prince of the South agreed, saying, "That's true. As long as he doesn't go to the dark room, he can go wherever he wants. It's good for him to get away and clear his head." He couldn't help but laugh, as the father-son relationship had recently reached a freezing point and desperately needed to be salvaged by distancing themselves from each other.
Pei Du rode his horse at full speed and arrived in Huaizhou in less than two days.
He had been here many times before and was very familiar with Huaizhou. However, at that time he did not know that the Liang family in Huaizhou was related to the Xie family of Wangjing by marriage, nor did he know that he would one day be related to the Xie family by marriage.
The Liang residence was located on Qingmen Street. Pei Du originally wanted to go directly there, but his attendant stopped him desperately, almost crying out, "Young Master, you haven't brought anything with you. How can you come here? For a family like ours, we always send invitations in advance when we visit. At the very least, we can't go empty-handed! Where will that leave the face of the Southern Prince's Mansion?"
Zhou Yujin chimed in, saying that he was already exhausted from such a rapid journey and that he had reached his limit after two days. He couldn't possibly arrive at the Liang residence panting like a dog, could he? Where would he put his face as a noble young master then?
If it weren't for his aunt, the Princess Consort of the Southern Kingdom, instructing him to come along, fearing for Pei Du's safety due to his amnesia, why would he have been so foolish as to follow along? In his opinion, he might not even be safe if Pei Du were dead!
"Huff... Shall we find a place to rest first? Adu, I really can't go on like this. It would be uncivilized for me to go to someone's house like this." Zhou Yujin panted and pointed to a restaurant next door. "It's almost noon, we can have lunch there."
Pei Du let out a deep breath. He should have been decisive when he left home. How could he have let these burdens follow him all the way?
But what one or two people said made some sense, so he could only nod in agreement. As soon as he dismounted, he noticed a pastry shop next door. This pastry shop was quite famous in Huaizhou City. He suddenly remembered that his mother had said that the Xie family's daughter had a sweet tooth. Without thinking too much, he subconsciously went inside.
The attendant led the horse away, leaving Zhou Yujin to follow closely. Zhou Yujin didn't know what the Xie family's daughter liked, and muttered to himself, "Could it be that Pei Du has lost his memory and even his tastes have changed?" He usually disliked desserts the most.
Then he saw Pei Du casually point to the shelf displaying a long string of various pastries, as if robbing someone: "Wrap all of these up."
The female shopkeeper enthusiastically called for him to pack everything up, and at the same time, she wanted to recommend some pastries to him: "Sir, would you like to take a look at the pastries upstairs? They are more exquisite and unique, suitable for young ladies. Oh, this gentleman has an extraordinary appearance. Have you been here before? You bought the pastries upstairs last time, and those are even better!"
Pei Du didn't remember when he had been here, but since the female shopkeeper said so, he didn't refute it. He followed her upstairs to take a look, and then pointed to a row of things and said, "Wrap these up too."
Once they were all wrapped up, there were about ten pastry boxes. Zhou Yujin held three in his left hand and three in his right, his resentment rising: "Adu, no matter how much sweets the Xie family girl can eat, she can't possibly eat this many."
Pei Du then stopped, and his attendants hurriedly came in to take it away. As the two were leaving, a carriage had just stopped on the street outside, with a sign hanging on it bearing the seal script character "Liang". Both of them paused, and Zhou Yujin secretly craned his neck to look.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and out stepped a young girl in pink, smiling with bright, rounded eyes, seemingly in a very good mood. Zhou Yujin thought to himself, "So Pei Du likes this kind of cheerful girl, but she looks a bit soft; I'm afraid she can't keep this little devil in check."
He turned his head to secretly peek at Pei Du's expression, but saw that he was expressionless, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry.
Since the ancestors weren't going to do this, he, as the cousin, should take the initiative. Zhou Yujin coughed lightly, straightened his clothes, and was about to go forward to strike up a conversation when he saw the girl turn around and call out, "Sister, it's a bit sunny outside."
Then a hand reached out from the carriage and handed her a veiled hat.
The girl in pink took the veil and put it on, then waited obediently to the side. The girl in the carriage got out of the carriage wearing the veil directly. The long gauze hung down to her knees, and her skirt was light blue. Apart from being able to tell that she was a girl, nothing else could be seen.
Zhou Yujin was confused. Those attendants who had seen the Xie family's daughter should be more careful. Neither of them recognized the person in question, and it would be rash to approach them and mistake them for someone else.
He asked Pei Du in a low voice, "A-Du, do you remember me?"
Pei Du remained silent, but in his heart he was comparing it to the painting he had drawn. Even if it was his own painting, he had to say objectively that no matter which one was Xie Ayao, it didn't look like her.
The two sisters went straight into the restaurant and were greeted by the waiter who led them upstairs to a private room. Zhou Yujin wished he could follow them to see what was going on, but Pei Du was still standing there calmly, so as his cousin, he couldn't show too much eagerness.
Otherwise, when this guy remembers it later, he'll probably suspect him of having ulterior motives.
When the attendants returned, the three of them went into the restaurant and asked for a private room on the second floor. The attendants went out to order the food.
Pei Du sat for a while, then suddenly got up to leave. Zhou Yujin was startled: "A-Du, where are you going?"
Pei Du said calmly, "I was so focused on buying snacks that I forgot about other things. I'll go downstairs for a bit and be right back."
Zhou Yujin hesitated, but he was too exhausted to keep up. He slumped over the table and waved his hand, saying, "Then hurry back, or the food will get cold."
Pei Du didn't answer. He went outside and listened intently in the corridor. He quickly recognized the voice of the girl in pink from next door. He frowned, wondering whether to knock on the door, but what should he say?
But before he could figure it out, the door creaked open and the girl in the green dress came out. Only then did he see her clearly. Her face was as beautiful as spring flowers in March, and her eyes were as beautiful as autumn water in September.
Before he could make a move, the girl looked up and saw him. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, and she called his name, "Pei Du, why is your face still so badly injured?"
Pei Du stood there without saying a word, but subconsciously lowered his eyelashes, looking slightly aggrieved.
There was a bench next to the corridor. Xie Qinghong went over and pulled the man to sit down. She bent down and gently touched the side of his face with a handkerchief, saying with dissatisfaction, "Didn't you apply the medicine? Where's the snow-melting ointment?"
Pei Du silently took it out of his pocket. Xie Qinghong opened it and saw that, sure enough, the cream hadn't diminished at all. She frowned, dabbed some on his face with her fingertip, and applied it.
Pei Du kept a straight face, but did not turn away, letting the girl's soft fingertips press on his cheek again and again.
"It hurts," he said softly.
Xie Qinghong immediately stopped, then felt sorry for him and muttered softly, "If you're injured, why did you come all this way?"
In that instant, Pei Du instinctively understood, even without having his past memories, he still had an extraordinary intuition that allowed him to blur his thoughts and actions: "I want to see you."
Xie Qinghong was taken aback, but was ruthless. He pressed his hand hard against Xie Qinghong's face and said fiercely, "Since you know it hurts, why don't you apply the medicine properly? Have you read your books? Have you done your homework? If my father sees you like this, he will definitely teach you a lesson."
So when Zhou Yujin went out, he stumbled upon this scene—the fierce and ruthless ancestor was being bullied by a girl who pinned him down on a bench. The girl was full of arrogance and scolded the bully so badly that he couldn't lift his head.
Zhou Yujin's eyes lit up. This was the real person, this was definitely the real person!
It's perfect! In the past, I could only fantasize about Pei Du getting slapped in the face, but now I can actually watch it live! He leaned against the door watching the show, but Pei Du gave him a cold glare that made him freeze in place, his back turning cold.
He couldn't afford to offend the living ancestor, so he took a half step back but forgot that he had already crossed the threshold. He tripped over the threshold without lifting his foot.
Hearing a cry of pain, Xie Qinghong turned around in surprise and saw a young man lying on the ground. As she hesitated, Pei Du said, "That's my cousin. He'll get up by himself."
Xie Qinghong gave an awkward smile, realizing he had probably scolded his brother in front of him. He quickly turned his head away as if he hadn't seen anything. Zhou Yujin, on the other hand, scrambled up, closed the door to the private room, and eavesdropped through the crack in the door.
Xie Qinghong lowered his voice and asked, "Is he the frail, uneducated older brother you mentioned before?"
Pei Du nodded without changing his expression: "Yes." Although he couldn't remember anything, the words "frail and illiterate" perfectly described Zhou Yujin, so there shouldn't be anyone else.
Xie Qinghong said smugly to himself, "Then your brother really can't compare to my brother." He had finally won this round.
Pei Du looked up at her and found every smile and frown beautiful, so beautiful that his heart pounded like a drum, welcoming the lost girl back home.
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