Just one step away from happiness
On the eve of his departure for Jiangnan, Wen Zhibai keenly sensed that something was wrong with Pei Qinzhou.
In the past, upon learning of her impending journey, he would have made all the necessary arrangements immediately and insisted on accompanying her. But this time, whenever she passed by the study, she would only see him hunched over his desk, writing furiously, as if he were overwhelmed with some unresolved matter. Even when she knocked on the door, he would often be a beat late in responding.
“Pei Qinzhou,” she tapped the table with her finger, gesturing for him to look up, “I’m leaving for Jiangnan tomorrow. Aren’t you coming with me this time…?”
His gaze wandered somewhat, not looking directly into her eyes, but instead resting on her lips, as if trying to confirm something through the shape of her lips.
"Go? Where are you going?" he asked, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible confusion.
"Jiangnan," Wen Zhibai's suspicions deepened, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
He smiled, a relieved look on his face. "No, I'm probably just a little tired from reading."
"Then you should rest well at home. Take advantage of the Crown Prince's confinement to get some rest as well." She suppressed her doubts, turned around to leave, and said, "I'll go get you a bowl of hot soup."
"Don't go." He suddenly grabbed her wrist, the strength carrying a hint of barely perceptible dependence. "I'll go with you tomorrow. Now, stay with me."
His tone was somewhere between a command and a plea, which made Wen Zhibai swallow all his questions for the time being and nod.
——
The Lingxi Pavilion branch in Jiangnan is doing booming business, thanks to Su Mu's previous promotion, and the new dresses are in short supply.
That day, Wen Zhibai was checking accounts and construction schedules with the newly appointed Manager Wang in the warehouse when a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.
"What's going on outside?" Wen Zhibai frowned.
"I'll go take a look." Manager Wang hurriedly went out, but a moment later, he was kicked back and stumbled and fell at Wen Zhibai's feet.
"Manager Wang!" Wen Zhibai quickly went to help him up.
A slick, grating voice immediately followed: "Who's the boss here?"
Before you see him, you hear his voice.
Manager Wang quickly said to Wen Zhibai, "They are notorious local thugs. They probably saw that our business is good and have come to ask for money! You should leave through the back door!"
"Where are we going?" Before the words were finished, a fat man with a face full of scars led a group of thugs in, his eyes lewdly fixed on Wen Zhibai.
Wen Zhibai shielded Manager Wang behind him, showing no fear: "Brother, we are complete strangers. Why are you attacking my men and causing trouble at my Lingxi Pavilion?"
"Oh, there's a little sister here!" The fat man sized Wen Zhibai up and down, then turned to his thugs behind him and said mockingly, "Little sister, do you know that opening a shop here without showing respect is practically breaking the rules?"
"Rules? I was unaware that such rules existed in the Great Xia Dynasty!"
"I'm telling you, if you come to my territory to do business and don't pay up, I'll smash this lousy shop to pieces!" The fat man rolled up his sleeves, ready to let the group of thugs attack.
Shopkeeper Wang was so frightened that he repeatedly bowed and begged, "Heroes, my sister was being unreasonable. Please be merciful, please be merciful!"
"It's too late to beg for mercy now! If I don't smash up this Lingxi Pavilion today and take this girl back to apologize to my older brother, I'm not a Qian!"
"Manager Wang, there's no need to beg him!" Wen Zhibai stepped forward, facing the fat man directly, his demeanor imposing: "Your surname is Qian."
"Yes! My family is the Baiyun Qian clan!"
really.
Are you sure you want to cause me trouble?
"So what if it is?" the fat man said arrogantly.
“Very well.” She nodded nonchalantly. “You’ll regret messing with me.”
After saying that, she took a step back, and Pei Qinzhou, who had just bought milk pastries for Wen Zhibai, slowly walked in and stood between her and the fat man.
Pei Qinzhou fed her a warm piece of pastry.
“Pei Lang,” Wen Zhibai bit his hand, abandoning her usual demeanor and feigning a coquettish voice, “Pei Lang, it was this fat man and his group of people who came up to me aggressively, saying that I didn’t know the rules, that they were going to smash up my shop, and that they wanted to take me and them back to see their boss!”
"Hmm." Pei Qinzhou responded lightly, a indulgent smile flashing in his eyes, and continued watching Wen Zhibai's performance.
"If you hadn't come, they probably would have eaten me up long ago! Pei Lang, I'm so scared..." Wen Zhibai winked at him.
"Yes, don't be afraid."
"Who...who are you?" The fat man, intimidated by Pei Qinzhou's imposing manner, roared, his voice trembling with fear. He recalled his elder brother saying that the owner of Lingxi Pavilion was related to a high-ranking official surnamed Pei who served the Crown Prince. But just now, Manager Wang had clearly said that Wen Zhibai was his sister.
Wen Zhibai tacitly took Pei Qinzhou's sword from the cabinet and tossed it to him.
“Pei Qinzhou,” she said, raising her chin slightly, “beat him!”
"Yes, ma'am."
"Pei Qinzhou? Which Pei Qinzhou?!" The fat man's face changed in horror. Before he could react, he was kicked away. His thugs were also thrown out of the shop like sandbags, piling up in a heap.
Wen Zhibai walked over and squatted down beside him: "It's that Pei Qinzhou."
"You, you are...!" The fat man was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth. The information he received clearly stated that Wen Zhibai would not arrive in Jiangnan until tomorrow.
"Can't you guess yet? Besides Wen Zhibai, who else is by Pei Qinzhou's side?"
The trembling shopkeeper, Wang, almost choked on his breath: "You...you know Lord Pei!"
Pei Qinzhou, the Crown Prince's top advisor and a young, successful general, is known to everyone, though no one has ever seen his true face.
Soon, the local prefect arrived at Lingxi Pavilion with his soldiers, bowing and scraping before Pei Qinzhou, and took away all the troublemakers from the Qian family.
"Thank you, Lord Pei~" Wen Zhibai flattered.
Shopkeeper Wang was so shocked that he dared not speak. He probably guessed the relationship between Pei Qinzhou and Wen Zhibai, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left.
"Yes, I did say I don't accept verbal thanks."
"Stop! I still need to inspect the fabric, so please go home and wait for me, Lord Pei."
"They'll use me and then kick me out."
"Unwilling"
"I'm willing." He bent down and hugged Wen Zhibai: "I'll wait for you."
...
Later that evening, when Wen Zhibai returned, Pei Qinzhou was waiting at the gate of the house.
He kept his word.
If you say you'll wait for me, then stand in the same place forever and wait for her.
Whether in the past or present.
Wen Zhibai jogged towards him: "Have you been waiting long?"
He paused for a few seconds before slowly replying, "Not long."
She took his arm, expecting him to ask her about her day, but he didn't say anything for a long time after they entered the room.
“Pei Qinzhou, we are lovers now, we should be honest with each other, right?” She kept her head down, looking at the road on the ground, as she said this.
Pei Qinzhou remained silent for a long time.
Wen Zhibai stopped in her tracks and looked up at him: "Why won't you answer me?"
"Excuse me, I... Could you please say it again?"
Do you really like me?
"Of course." This time he didn't hesitate.
"Okay, I'll ask you this: are you hiding something from me?"
"...No, I would never lie to you."
Once again, I saw avoidance in his eyes.
Wen Zhibai released his arm and said in an icy tone, "Although I'm with you every day, I still want to ask you, are you alright?"
"Zhibai, what's wrong?" His smile had a bitter undertone, but he still pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I'm fine."
"Okay." She didn't ask any more questions, but her expression turned displeased. She ignored his steps and walked back to her room in a huff.
Pei Qinzhou's thin lips moved slightly, but he hesitated to speak.
He followed her and sat down beside her: "I've already given the orders, and no one will dare to cause trouble for Lingxi Pavilion again. I will take care of everything that makes you uneasy."
Hearing this, Wen Zhibai's anger subsided a little, her heart softened, and she looked at him, saying, "Thank you."
There's no need for thanks between us.
“I am no longer the daughter of a high-ranking official. Wen Zhibai is just an ordinary person, a woman from an ordinary family. Standing next to you, I always feel inappropriate.”
He had only meant to tease Pei Qinzhou, but Pei Qinzhou's expression turned serious: "You're the perfect fit."
——
In the pitch-black night, the lines on Wen Zhibai's wrist that had once been entwined by a white snake suddenly became hot, startling her awake from her sleep and causing a sudden, inexplicable panic in her heart.
Without thinking too much, she casually threw on a coat and rushed to Pei Qinzhou's room.
As I approached the door, I heard a muffled, painful groan coming from inside.
Her heart tightened, and she gently pushed the door open a crack—she saw Pei Qinzhou lying on the ground, his expression contorted with pain, his white clothes stained with glaring blood.
Wen Zhibai was struck dumb, staggering half a step. Forcing herself to remain calm, she closed the door, suppressing a sob in her throat, and called out, "Pei Qinzhou, are you asleep?"
There was no response.
She knocked loudly on the door again, raising her voice: "Pei Qinzhou, it's me! Are you asleep?"
The room remained deathly silent.
"Creak—"
She pushed open the door, and moonlight streamed in. Pei Qinzhou subconsciously looked in the direction of the light and saw Wen Zhibai. He immediately covered his face and tried to get up from the ground in pain, but he couldn't.
"Pei Qinzhou!" Wen Zhibai rushed over and supported his swaying body. "What's wrong?" She forcefully pulled down his hand that was covering his face. "It's me, Zhibai!"
She frantically wiped the blood from his lips with her sleeve, her voice trembling with tears, "What's wrong with you... Pei Qinzhou, what's wrong with you?"
With tears welling in his eyes, Pei Qinzhou struggled to focus and see her face clearly, and said with difficulty, "Zhibai... don't cry..."
"I'll go find you a doctor right away!"
Pei Qinzhou grabbed her sleeve: "Don't go... I'm fine."
"You're in this state, and you still say you're fine!"
Pei Qinzhou tried his best to appear calm, veins bulging on his forehead, and he held her hand tightly: "I'm really fine... don't go."
“Pei Qinzhou, if the doctor finds that you are perfectly fine after taking your pulse, as you say, I will marry you as soon as we return to Shangjing.” She had just taken a step when she found herself being held back by him.
"Let go!" Wen Zhibai shouted at him for the first time.
"..."
"Let me go! Are you out of your mind?!" Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the silent Pei Qinzhou, both angry and distressed. "Can't you hear me? Let me go find a doctor!"
"Yes... I can't hear you." His eyes reddened. "I'm sorry."
Wen Zhibai was shocked, his eyes filled with a mixture of heartache and regret.
"Please forgive me... I can't explain it to you..."
Her sobs were exceptionally clear in the quiet night, but now only she could hear them. She forced herself to calm down, cupped his face in her hands, and made him see the shape of her lips:
Pei Qinzhou, if I were to say that I have never forgotten you, never forgotten our past, would you still refuse to say it?
The reason she refused to say she remembered before was because she was afraid he would repeat the same mistakes. Wen Zhibai couldn't accept that he would be drawn into a vortex of hatred again, just like in her previous life.
He has suffered enough; he should not let himself be bound by hatred any longer.
Pei Qinzhou's pupils contracted sharply, and his thick eyelashes trembled slightly: "You really... remember me?"
"Yes." She nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I remember everything you've done for me..."
He had his doubts, but he was still willing to believe every word she said. What did it matter whether she remembered or not? Being with her was all he wanted in his life.
“Pei Qinzhou.” Wen Zhibai bit her lower lip tightly: “I can’t accept losing anything more…”
Lovers should be honest with each other.
But Pei Qinzhou still couldn't speak frankly.
To bring her back to life, he sacrificed himself, going through nine reincarnations before finally finding this glimmer of hope. The loss of all five senses was the price he paid.
He was once asked, "Is it worth exchanging eternity for a fleeting moment?"
His answer was always her.
But at this moment, seeing her grieving for him, he wavered for the first time.
"I only ask you, is it because you resurrected me that you are like this now? The Crown Prince once said that you vomited blood right after I appeared."
"...Yes, I gave you a second chance at life. But my current state has nothing to do with you."
"What does that have to do with?" Wen Zhibai trembled all over. "Tell me how I can cure you..." She reached out to touch him, but he turned his face away.
"Don't worry about me."
These words cut into Wen Zhibai's heart like a knife.
Her tears finally fell to the ground like broken beads, her brow furrowing incredulously: "In this world, only I know you, understand you, and love you, Pei Qinzhou. Dare you say that again... You don't want me to take care of you?"
"All I want is for you to be happy. As for my life or death, you don't need to know."
In a fit of anger, Wen Zhibai raised his hand, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to strike him on the face:
"How can your life or death be unrelated to me! Do you think it's noble to sacrifice yourself so that I can be reborn? Or do you think that if you say this, I will abandon you? Let me tell you, Pei Qinzhou, if you die, I will never live on... This life was given to me by you, and I will return it to you!"
She closed her eyes, two streams of tears falling down her cheeks, then cupped his hands in hers and brought them to her face: "Let's get married when we return to Shangjing, okay? We'll never be apart again..."
The instant he shed tears, Wen Zhibai rushed into his arms, tightly embracing his waist, and looked up at him: "In this life, we will only be separated by death, never by life again."
She must find a way to save Pei Qinzhou.
anyway.
She loved him just as he had loved her. No matter how much she defied fate or turned the world upside down, no one could take him away from her life.
Even if she doesn't have his divine power.
Even if I am just a mortal being.
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