Chapter 130 Powerful and Resounding
Pei Xingjian chuckled softly, his laughter tinged with cold self-mockery, and looked at him with a sharp gaze: "Father should know why I have come."
Pei Yanzhi casually lifted his eyelids, his gaze meeting Pei Yanzhi's without wavering. He walked slowly forward with his hands behind his back, and the guards on both sides retreated silently like a tide, making way for him.
"Xingjian." His words were calm, yet carried an oppressive air of impending doom: "Considering your recent return, I will temporarily refrain from pursuing your trespassing. However, if you continue to be disrespectful, even if you are the heir of Yanzhou, I will not let you off lightly!"
After saying that, without waiting for his reaction, he turned his back to him and gave the order: "Everyone else, step back. You come with me to the study."
Then he left.
Just after they left, Ji Shu came out from behind the door. Ji Shu had woken up early, but she didn't expect to sleep until the afternoon.
Upon waking, she felt something strange in her chest. Pei Yanzhi's hands were loosely holding hers. Her ears turned red, and she was about to take them away when Lu Changming's voice came from the doorway.
He called out softly, "My lord."
The next moment, the man who had been sleeping with his eyes closed suddenly opened them, his eyes clear and bright, showing no trace of sleepiness.
He met Ji Shu's stunned gaze and hurriedly left with only one sentence: "Something must have happened. I'll go out first. Wait for me for dinner."
Ji Shu nodded, then quickly got out of bed, dressed, lifted the curtain, and went out.
The door opened, and Lu Changming said something in a low voice. Pei Yanzhi suddenly looked up and stared at her with a complex and unreadable expression. Then he turned and left.
After he left, Chunzhi rushed over, but she wasn't surprised at all when she saw that Junhou wasn't in the room.
Taking the comb from Ji Shu's hand, he lowered his voice and said, "My lady, the young master has returned!"
Ji Shu paused slightly as she fiddled with the hairpins and rings.
As Chunzhi deftly tied her hair into a bun, she continued, "I heard that the young master was making a scene in the courtyard, demanding to see the Lord, but the Commandant Wu was stopping him."
Ji Shu murmured, "What's meant to happen will happen eventually."
What troubled Ji Shu was that she had never liked Pei Xingjian. If she had any other feelings, it was mostly guilt.
I used him once, and that was it.
However, for the next ten months, she was now tightly bound to Pei Yanzhi. If she didn't get rid of him, who knew what kind of trouble he would cause.
Loosely tying her hair into a bun, Ji Shu looked at herself in the mirror, gently touching her cheek, and asked, "What do you think? If everyone finds out, won't people just call me a femme fatale who caused discord between two generations of rulers of Yanzhou?"
Chunzhi didn't know why the young lady would ask such a question, but she had served the young lady since childhood and knew her character well. If she didn't have something that made the father and son fall in love with her, how could they be so fond of her?
"Young lady, do not worry too much. The Marquis has already gone, and I'm sure the young master will not dare to be too worried."
Ji Shu stood up and straightened her skirt: "Let's go, let's go take a look too."
...
Inside the Wenxin Pavilion study.
The study was brightly lit, with gilded enamel candlesticks burning brightly. Pei Xingjian casually glanced around after entering.
His father, the ruler of Yanzhou, stood before his desk, his figure reflected in the mirror, making his tall and upright body appear even more imposing.
"Speak, what do you intend to do?" Pei Yanzhi's voice was calm and even, as if all the turmoil was insignificant and completely under his control.
This all-encompassing attitude completely ignited Pei Xingjian's pent-up anger.
What do you mean he's going to do this? He's going to marry his future wife, so why is he acting like nothing's wrong?
"What do I want?" He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, each word seemingly squeezed out between his teeth. "Father, who is the person in your room? Why is there a happy occasion in the manor, yet you keep it from me? Am I, the heir apparent, not even worthy to know the name of my future mother?"
Upon hearing this, Pei Yanzhi turned around, his cold gaze fixed on his son, who was not yet twenty.
They are still young, and so impatient.
"It seems you still remember the bet I made with you: if you fail to break off the engagement within the deadline, you will marry Wei Heng in two months."
"The deadline has not yet arrived!"
The young prince's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice trembled as he tried to control himself, "How much time has passed?"
"I gave you a chance, but you did nothing."
Pei Yanzhi's tone remained calm, yet carried an undeniable resolve: "So... I regret it."
“I went to Chongzhou to find her. I thought I would find Shu’er, explain the situation, and then ask my grandmother to cancel the engagement when I returned.”
Pei Xingjian's eyes bulged with hatred, his gaze almost bursting. "But I received news in Chongzhou... My good father approached her after I left, forcibly abducted her to Yang County, and hid her in his mansion."
“You blocked the news and prevented her from contacting me. You knew that if she wanted to, she would find a way to send a message to me... So you used every means to force her to marry you!”
"I don't know what method you used to imprison her here. You were the one who said that she was of low status, not worthy of being called a princess, and that it would be a joke if she became a princess."
After saying that, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, pointing at Pei Yanzhi and saying, "And now, Father, what are you doing?"
"You disregard human ethics and violate fundamental moral principles!"
Each word struck like a thunderbolt, and Pei Yanzhi's expression finally changed. "Basic principles? Human relations?" A tyrannical ferocity surged in his eyes, and his aura turned chillingly cold. "You think I care about these things?"
He approached step by step, his words like knives, piercing Pei Xingjian's heart: "You think you're so devoted, but where were you when she was being harassed by Wei Heng? What were you doing when she was being taken advantage of by Wei Ziming?"
"You knew she was of noble character and could not tolerate any injustice, yet you allowed these things to happen and pushed her away with your own hands!"
Pei Xingjian's face turned deathly pale, and he swayed as he looked up at his father in disbelief.
Pei Yanzhi's expression grew increasingly gloomy, looking at him with utter contempt, his tone mocking: "I've said it before, I did give you chances, but you didn't cherish them, so you can't blame anyone else."
"You say I disregard human ethics? Then did you and Ji Shu have a marriage contract? Did you go through the proper betrothal and marriage customs?"
He scoffed, "You have nothing. If you weren't bearing the title of Crown Prince, do you think you'd have the right to stand here and speak to me like this?"
Pei Xingjian staggered back a few steps. The exhaustion from several days of travel almost overwhelmed him, and he finally realized something in his eyes.
He looked at his father, his voice hoarse and broken, carrying the last trace of resentment in his question: "But you know...you know how much I love her. There are countless women in the world, why did you have to compete with your son for her? You are so much older than her, almost old enough to be her father..."
Pei Yanzhi's voice regained its extreme indifference, yet it was more resolute than any other word: "She has no feelings for you. Neither of us is married, so why can't I pursue her?"
"Of all things under heaven, what I desire, I have always earned through my own efforts, not by giving them away!"
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