Chapter 89 Chapter 89 "Girls like me have always...
Xie Zhiyan hummed, lowered his eyes, and felt mixed emotions.
Sheng Puzhu felt cold and leaned into his arms. The candlelight crackled and a small lamp flower burst out.
She actually didn't want to talk about the past, but these things she had buried deep in her blood and bones had become swollen and festering and could rot at any time. No matter how well they were hidden, there would be a day when they would be cut open and covered in blood.
Instead of doing that, it would be better for her to cut it out with her own hands.
"My relationship with him is not like what the Pei family said. When we were little in Luoyang, I just regarded him as my brother."
"Brother?" Xie Zhiyan's grip on her waist stiffened slightly, his eyes gleaming with sinister intent as he blurted out, "You and he are not related by blood, so how can we be brother and sister?"
As for Xie Zhiyan, Sheng Puzhu felt that he seemed gentle and considerate to her, and behaved well in front of the elders, but in fact, he never showed his emotions. Beneath his gentle and elegant appearance, he had a bottom line that she absolutely dared not challenge.
Those eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, when he was suppressing his emotions, even if they happened to look at each other, were like an abyss that could drown her at any time.
Sheng Puzhu sighed softly, looked into his dark eyes filled with jealousy and confusion, and softened her voice: "Although you have investigated me, there are some past events that you would not have known if you had not deliberately investigated the Pei family."
"You talk, I'm listening." Xie Zhiyan's voice was very calm.
"Hmm." Sheng Puzhu took a deep breath, as if weighing her words. Her long eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyelids. "My mother married into the Marquis of Mingde's mansion, but it was actually a divorce and remarriage. She had a son with her ex-husband, and they raised him in Luoyang."
Xie Zhiyan's pupils suddenly condensed. He controlled his emotions well, and even the shock was only for a moment: "Is she marrying Pei?"
He had previously sent someone to Luoyang to investigate all her past, and indeed had never heard of this matter.
"Yes." Sheng Puzhu held his hand and replied softly, "So I have always been a half-brother, a few years older than my biological brother."
"Back when my mother divorced, the Pei family attempted to appropriate her dowry. This was extremely embarrassing. To save face, the Pei family claimed for several years that Madam Pei San was in poor health and needed to rest."
Seeing Xie Zhiyan remained silent, Sheng Puzhu paused, "Because the child is young, the Pei family has taken advantage of her. She had no choice but to give in on this matter."
"But later, my father insisted on marrying my mother. Seeing the power of the Marquis Mingde Mansion, the Pei family was happy to go along with it and announced to the public that Madam Pei San had passed away."
"Aye loved my mother and treated her very well. He knew she missed her family back in Luoyang, so he allowed her to take me to stay with my grandparents in Luoyang for a while every year."
Sheng Puzhu's voice became a little hazy, as if she was immersed in a memory from the past: "I was young then. Due to the secretive relationship between the Pei and Chen families, I didn't know about my mother's past with the Pei family. So, regarding my half-brother Pei Ce, I followed the niece of Madam Pei's family and called him 'cousin'. As for Pei Xuzhi..."
Xie Zhiyan's gaze suddenly became sharp, and he seemed to be particularly repulsed by these three words.
Sheng Puzhu felt guilty when he looked at her, but she still said calmly: "He is the youngest son of the eldest branch of the Pei family. It just so happens that Mrs. Pei's surname is Chen, the same as my mother's. I thought she was so kind to me because she was related to my mother, so when I was young, I was naturally closer to Pei Xuzhi."
"Every year when I went back to Luoyang to escape the summer heat, the Pei family would have someone take me to stay with them. I was still young and didn't have the proper social status, and with Nanny Du accompanying me, my mother thought it was a good thing for me to be close to my brother, so she naturally didn't object."
Xie Zhiyan's eyes became complicated and difficult to read. Sheng Puju said a lot, and her voice became even hoarse after crying.
The tent suddenly fell silent, but she knew that his mood was definitely not as calm as he appeared.
"During those years in the Pei family, were there any unhappy times?" After a long time, Xie Zhiyan slowly asked.
Sheng Puzhu was stared at by his scorching gaze, but she actually managed to curl her lips and smile.
She shook her head honestly: "To be honest, I haven't. Every year when I go to Luoyang, the Pei family members always treat me with great enthusiasm."
"If it weren't for Aye's accident in Dengzhou, they would have been so kind to me and could have acted out their true feelings for the rest of their lives."
There are countless laws in the world, but none can compare to the true love of young people.
Xie Zhiyan couldn't imagine that if it hadn't happened later, she wouldn't have even waited for him to propose, and she would have gotten married to Pei Xuzhi long ago.
What cousins!
Intellectually, he knew that he shouldn't be angry about this matter, but the jealousy burning in his heart was not extinguished by this explanation. Instead, it was like a spark that was suddenly doused with hot oil, and the crackling flames almost burned away his composure.
A breath was stuck in my chest.
Whenever he thought about the long time before he knew her, all her vivid past had nothing to do with him, Xie Zhiyan.
There is a man who has no blood relationship with her, but he occupies the position of "brother" with a high-sounding manner. He has never seen the ignorant and lively little Pearl.
This cognitive emotion, filled with anger and jealousy, was stuck in his throat, like an invisible silk thread that was slowly tightening. The pain was so severe that he could hardly control the expression on his face.
He knew that he shouldn't do that, and he also knew that for Sheng Puzhu, the relationship with Pei Xuzhi had probably always been that of brother and sister, but he just couldn't bear it.
"So my dear is jealous."
"Is it right?"
Sheng Puzhu didn't get an answer to her question, so she asked it again.
It seemed that this was a very important answer to her, and she was very stubborn about getting it.
Xie Zhiyan looked into her eyes, lowered his head, pressed his lips against hers, and kissed her for a long time: "Yes, I admit, I am jealous."
"Because of Pei Xuzhi?"
"No." Xie Zhiyan denied without any emotion, "It's not just him. I'm also angry with myself for not being able to see you earlier."
Sheng Puzhu was stunned, her soft body nestled against his chest. For the first time, she trusted him so completely. "It's actually not that bad. After I turned thirteen, I never set foot in Luoyang. The elders at home treat me well, even quite partial. Even if my sisters complain a little on the surface, in reality, they don't allow anyone to say a single bad word about me outside."
Xie Zhiyan didn't say anything else. His body was tense and his arms were trembling slightly, but he conveyed more clearly than any words the surging heartache in his heart that had nowhere to vent.
He was very strong, and his arms wrapped around her waist, making it swell, as if he wanted to melt her and completely erase all traces of her.
Sheng Puzhu didn't know if this could be considered love, but at least, for the first time since they got married, she treated him as a very important "family member".
It seemed that it was almost dawn outside. The sky was pale as a fish belly, and a hazy light fell into the house through the window.
"So it was very hard when you were thirteen, right?" Xie Zhiyan's voice was hoarse. Just thinking about it, thirteen was a time when the world turned upside down for her, and she was separated from her closest relatives. It was not something that ordinary people could easily endure.
"In fact, it's been so long now that I can hardly remember how I managed to get through it."
Sheng Puzhu stared absentmindedly at his well-defined features, not knowing whether to convince herself or to comfort him: "It's not that hard. A girl like me can never endure hardship."
All the times aligned perfectly. Xie Zhiyan embraced her, his strength involuntarily slowing down, his chin resting on the soft whorl of hair. "My father-in-law was working in Dengzhou and passed away during a flood. You were exactly thirteen that year?"
Sheng Puzhu nodded. Through the thin shirt on her cheek, she could feel the strong heartbeat from his chest, which gave her more courage.
"Um."
Her voice was muffled, with a barely perceptible sob: "That year, my mother diagnosed me with pregnancy, so I went to my grandparents' home in Luoyang alone."
"My grandfather set out from Luoyang, leading his team out to sea for the last time, intending to open up new trade routes. However, he encountered a tsunami, a once-in-a-century event. By the time the news reached us, Dengzhou was already a vast ocean. The seawater had flooded back, breaching the dikes and triggering massive landslides."
Sheng Puju's hands are very beautiful, her fingertips are like lotus flowers in midsummer, with a pink and moist color.
Yet, at this moment, her fingers were tightly clutching Xie Zhiyan's collar, as if she could absorb a trace of warmth: "Aye was serving as the transport envoy of Dengzhou at the time. He tried to evacuate the last batch of victims before the second landslide, but he ultimately failed to escape."
Xie Zhiyan listened silently. He had read the files and knew about the flood. There was endless debate about it in the court at that time.
"I was in Luoyang at the time." Sheng Puzhu's eyelashes trembled violently. "I had already packed my bags, waiting for my grandfather to return from his voyage and for the Shen family's business to move to Chang'an. But I didn't expect to receive the tragic news about my father and grandfather."
"My grandfather was buried at sea, and a few days later, my grandmother was devastated and fell seriously ill. Less than half a month later, she followed suit." Sheng Puzhu closed her eyes, her body shivering. She felt cold, as if she were immersed in water, and every word she uttered was filled with confusion and despair. "The Shen family business had no male descendants to support it. With my grandfather and grandmother gone, those eager relatives naturally rushed in and divided up the family business."
Xie Zhiyan's heart sank little by little. He couldn't imagine how isolated and helpless a young girl who had suddenly lost the protection of all her loved ones and was away from home before she even reached marriage age, thousands of miles away in Luoyang, would be facing those ferocious relatives.
Not only that, Sheng Puzhu's next words made Xie Zhiyan's eyes suddenly turn cold.
"The Shen family has changed, and the Pei family is naturally no longer the Pei family of the past."
Sheng Puzhu scoffed, "Without my father's authority, they imprisoned me in the backyard of the Pei residence, claiming to be caring for an orphan. In reality, they were trying to force me to agree to a marriage with Pei Xuzhi so they could legitimately swallow up the Shen family's remaining assets."
"And they know that Pei Xuzhi and I have been close since childhood. Besides money, their bigger goal is of course to marry into the Sheng family."
"The Luoyang Pei family has a very high opinion of themselves. Their descendants do not engage in production, and they have long since depleted their resources and are on the verge of decline."
"House arrest?" Xie Zhiyan's voice suddenly dropped, and the palm of his hand holding her tightened.
"Yeah." Sheng Puzhu closed her eyes. "They locked me up and didn't allow anyone to see me except the maid who brought me food. They said it was for my safety. I'm just waiting for the elders of the Sheng family to come and take me home."
"It's a pity that I was still too young at that time. If I had been an adult, they would probably have used a more vicious method."
Xie Zhiyan's breathing became heavy, and there seemed to be a mad emotion in his eyes, and his eyes were red: "Then how did you escape?"
"It's my brother." Sheng Puzhu mentioned Pei Ce, and there was finally a hint of warmth in his voice. "He was studying far away at the academy at the time. It was Pei Xuzhi who sent him the news of my accident."
The name Pei Xuzhi appeared again, unexpectedly in such a situation. Xie Zhiyan's eyes flashed slightly.
"Brother sneaked into Pei's residence at night and rescued me secretly."
"I followed him all the way from Luoyang until we entered Dengzhou half a month later."
The thrilling memories of that escape weren't all suffering. Sheng Puzhu breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm a good rider. The journey from Luoyang to Dengzhou is nearly a thousand miles. I was scared at first, but gradually I got used to it. Eating and sleeping on horseback became commonplace."
At this moment, the inner room fell into a long silence.
The jealousy in Xie Zhiyan's heart had long been replaced by a heavier and more complex emotion: overwhelming anger, heartache for her past pain, and disgust for Pei's shameless behavior.
He lowered his head, his hot lips filled with endless pity and fear.
"From now on, no one will be able to bully you anymore."
"From now on, I'll take care of everything."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
