Chapter 13: Live and Die
The word "Pei Xingju" successfully caused a sensation in the cloth shop. The noble ladies who had been laughing at the joke and the embroiderers who had looked down on Zhuang Wan all changed color.
The owner of the cloth shop even came out to greet them personally.
However, Pei Xingju still did not enter the cloth shop. He just told the shopkeeper to "greet them well" and then got on the carriage to wait.
Zhuang Wan was warmly welcomed to the second floor by the shopkeeper and taken to a private room. There were all kinds of ready-made clothes, and she didn't need to choose one by one as the embroiderers would bring them to her.
She was determined to make Pei Xingju spend a lot of money, so almost anything sent by the embroiderers, as long as it was not too bad, would be accepted by her.
She picked out clothes, shawls, jackets, embroidered shoes, and jewelry.
In the end, they picked up two full boxes and sent them to Pei Mansion by Tobu Manor's carriage.
When Guard Lu paid the bill, he was secretly dumbfounded and hesitated whether to report the price to Pei Xingju.
When he walked out of the door, he saw Zhuang Wan standing gracefully in front of the carriage in a long purple dress decorated with mother-of-pearl patterns, while his master Pei Xingju was unusually absent-minded.
Guard Lu immediately realized that there was no need to report this matter.
His master is satisfied.
Here, Pei Xingju realized that he had lost his composure and looked away with a slight annoyance.
"Get in the car," he said.
Zhuang Wan saw his face was gentle one moment, then his tone was bad the next. She wondered if he was upset because she spent too much money.
She curled her lips inwardly.
The book says that Pei Xingju was a wealthy man who owned thousands of acres of land and more than a hundred manors in the south of the Yangtze River, yet he was haggling over such a small amount of money with her.
What a stingy man!
But Zhuang Wan ignored him. She was in a very good mood because she had bought a beautiful dress. She immediately lifted the hem of her skirt and got into the carriage carefully.
This time, riding with Pei Xingju again, my mood was completely different.
After the sensational rumors at the cloth shop just now, she had already become the apple of Pei Xingju's eye. Since she was already the apple of his eye, why did she still pretend to be a dog?
No licking!
"Yuzhi?" Zhuang Wan turned around and asked with a smile, "Shall we go to the Nanshan Villa for the banquet now?"
"Yeah." Pei Xingju's eyes fell on the book without raising his head.
"How long will it take?"
"How long will what take?"
“Oh, how long will it take to arrive?”
"Half an hour."
"Um."
Zhuang Wan responded softly, then yawned modestly, covering her mouth with her sleeve.
Soon, she leaned against the wall of the car, closed her eyes and dozed off.
Not long after, Pei Xingju opened his eyes and his gaze fell on her lightly.
The woman in front of me is very bold and smart, as can be seen from her actions in the cloth shop just now.
Over the past half month, his people have been investigating one after another, and even the Xuanzhao Pavilion was alarmed, but the news about her remained the same as at the beginning.
The eldest daughter of the Zhuang family, she is timid and cowardly and rarely goes out. However, her temperament has changed drastically after she experienced death once.
Died once...
After a moment, Pei Xingju's gaze shifted to Zhuang Wan's neck.
It was clearly April, yet she had chosen a high-necked dress. The pale purple mother-of-pearl silk, light as snow, perfectly complemented her complexion, making her look refined yet understated.
At this moment, she was leaning against the car window, and through the slightly opened collar of her clothes, she could vaguely see some dark blue marks inside.
That was the mark of her hanging.
Pei Xingju was still thinking to himself when Zhuang Wan suddenly opened her eyes.
Their eyes met, and he was stunned.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Yuzhi?" Zhuang Wan asked cunningly, "Do you think I look good dressed today?"
“…”
"If you want to see it, just go ahead. Why be so sneaky? I dressed up like this today just for you to see."
“…”
After a moment of silence, Pei Xingju asked, "Were you like this when you were in your boudoir?"
"Um?"
“Bold words.”
"Of course not." Zhuang Wan did not hide it: "I am no longer Zhuang Wan now."
Pei Xingju's eyes suddenly tightened and he stared at her.
Zhuang Wan smiled sweetly. "The old Zhuang Wan is dead. Now I am the reborn Zhuang Wan. I will never be that weak and pathetic creature again. From now on, I will strive to live bravely."
After he finished speaking, the alertness in Pei Xingju's eyes gradually faded away.
"Why do you want to die?" he asked.
"I didn't want to die either," Zhuang Wan sighed. "But you had amnesia at the time and said you didn't remember me. You even avoided me like a beast. And my family was in trouble, and the maids said I was going to be sent to the Jiaofangsi as a pawnshop..."
She looked like she was about to cry: "You know what kind of place it is. If I go there with my looks, I might as well die."
This explanation is reasonable. Women value their reputation, and going to the Jiaofangsi to be humiliated is worse than dying.
"But you change your temper so quickly, don't you?"
How could Zhuang Wan not know that he was testing her?
From the moment she entered Pei's house, she had decided that her personality would remain the same. If she wanted to deceive Pei Xingju, she had to be realistic first. If she relied solely on acting, she would be exposed within three days.
As for the reasons, they are already there.
"Yuzhi, you probably don't know that after dying once, people are no longer afraid of anything." Zhuang Wan pretended to smile bitterly, "I've come to terms with it. Since God won't let me die, I'll just live well. Even though I was a rich lady before, my life wasn't satisfying. From now on, I have to live differently to be worthy of God's will."
"Life is short, live your life to the fullest before dying."
Pei Xingju looked at her calmly, not sure whether he believed her or not. After a moment, he stopped talking and continued reading.
Zhuang Wan also yawned and continued to doze off.
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