Chapter 489 Reunion
At this moment, Shang Ruyi, who was overjoyed, also began to notice the figure. She felt that it was somewhat familiar, but not quite. When she raised her hand to cover her forehead and tried to make a closer look, she suddenly heard Yuwen Ye next to her gasp.
"...!"
Shang Ruyi didn't bother to look ahead anymore and turned to look at him in surprise.
But Yuwen Ye, whose face rarely showed joy or anger, was now showing a hint of surprise, which was mixed with a clear expression of delight.
Then he murmured, "Yes, it's him—"
Is it him? Who is it?
Shang Ruyi became increasingly surprised, then turned her head to look ahead, her legs unconsciously tightening around the horse's belly to make the horse walk faster.
Finally, the group in front of them slowly approached the pavilion where they were resting.
Dressed in a blue robe, as if a gentle breeze wafted from his sleeves, Shen Wuzheng walked forward with a smile. His gentle eyes had been filled with smiles the moment he saw Shang Ruyi's figure appear in the sunlight, and now they overflowed, flowing into the two deep dimples at the corners of his lips, creating a captivating tenderness.
At this moment, Shang Ruyi didn't care about anything else. She pulled on the reins and dismounted before the horse had even come to a complete stop. She walked quickly to him.
"elder brother!"
"As one wishes!"
The siblings were overjoyed and excited to see each other. After calling out "Brother," Shang Ruyi didn't even know what to say next. Shen Wuzheng, on the other hand, immediately took her hand and looked her up and down, his brows furrowing: "You've lost weight."
"Well?"
Shang Ruyi was taken aback, wondering how much weight she could have lost in less than a month.
However, if Shen Wuzheng says it is true, then it must be.
From childhood to adulthood, he was the undisputed leader in the Shen family. Even after he got married, he still seemed unable to change his obedience to his elder brother.
He simply laughed and said, "I suffer from summer heat."
Shen Wuzheng gave her a reproachful look, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh, and asked again, "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"I heard the news that you personally went into battle."
"Brother, those are all exaggerated claims by those people. You mustn't believe them. I've never even been down from the city wall."
"real?"
"certainly!"
Shen Wuzheng chuckled, clearly not believing her assurance, but now that his little sister was standing before him, perfectly healthy and lively, most of the past unease and danger could be forgiven.
After finally feeling completely relieved, he looked up again and gazed behind Shang Ruyi.
At this moment, Yuwen Ye was still riding his horse.
Even as a general, he should at least dismount and greet his brother-in-law, Shen Wuzheng. But at this moment, he remained seated on his horse, motionless.
But it wasn't because he was arrogant.
Instead, he was using most of his strength to suppress the excitement in his heart, but even with such a strong suppression, he could not control his rapid breathing, his heart pounding like thunder, and his eyes wide open as he looked behind Shen Wuzheng.
The other person finally slowly walked down from the pavilion.
He swayed as he walked, still seemingly carrying some of the dashing demeanor of a former nobleman. However, having not done it for so long, it felt somewhat unfamiliar, and his movements were a bit stiff. To his old friend, it looked rather comical.
But Yuwen Ye couldn't laugh.
Not only could he not smile, but even Shang Ruyi, who had been overjoyed with her brother, couldn't smile when she looked over Shen Wuzheng's shoulder at that person.
She couldn't even breathe.
Shen Wuzheng didn't say much, but pulled Shang Ruyi and subtly took a step back to the side, finally allowing the two of them to face each other directly.
Yuwen Ye's eyes slowly reddened. After taking another deep breath to suppress the bitterness in his heart, he suddenly dismounted and walked forward, but stopped a few steps away from the other person.
The other person was already smiling and opening their arms wide towards him—
"Feng Chen, I'm back!"
"...!"
Yuwen Ye remained silent and motionless, seemingly not intending to respond to the other's request for a hug. The other party also seemed not to really intend to hug him, immediately lowering his arms and revealing an unhappy expression: "Why are you still the same as always?"
However, it's not the same as before.
Normally, Yuwen Ye would never be so agitated as he was now, with red eyes and disordered breathing.
He stared intently at the other person, his deep eyes revealing obvious excitement and the joy of a long-awaited reunion. After a long silence, he finally said in a hoarse voice, "You're finally back."
"..."
"Go far!"
Standing before him was Pei Xingyuan, whom he had not seen for a long time, who had been exiled to Lingnan for his father, Pei Xu, who had advised the emperor to stop the campaign against Liaodong!
Upon hearing his voice, Pei Xingyuan's previously playful expression turned serious.
He said, "Hmm!"
At that moment, a surge of hot emotion welled up in Shang Ruyi's eyes, almost spilling out of her eyes. She quickly turned her head away, barely managing to stop it, but when she looked back at the two of them, the scene of Yuwen Ye standing by the roadside to see Pei Xingyuan off outside Dongdu City reappeared in her blurred vision.
Time flows on, and the sun and moon change.
Unexpectedly, the scene before her eyes miraculously overlapped with that scene from years ago.
The ways of the world are indeed absurd and helpless.
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Yuwen Ye ordered the army behind him to rest on the spot, while he himself, along with Shang Ruyi, Shen Wuzheng, and Pei Xingyuan, sat down in the pavilion.
The long-awaited reunion stirred up a lot of emotions in them.
Pei Xingyuan, in particular, was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve and never hesitated to express his feelings to others. At this moment, he said with a smile, "It's been so long, Feng Chen, you've really made something of yourself!"
"..."
In the past, Yuwen Ye would definitely have ignored him.
But at this moment, there was still some turbulent emotion in his eyes as he looked at Pei Xingyuan and asked, "When did you get back?"
"Me? I came back with my father two days ago."
"Uncle Pei is now—"
"Don't worry, he's in great spirits. They said they'd reinstate him, and he was going to court as soon as he got back. Luckily, I stopped him, otherwise who knows what trouble he would have said. If he were exiled again, I couldn't afford it."
Everyone laughed.
Although Yuwen Ye gave him money and instructed the officials to take care of him when he was exiled, Lingnan was a wild and desolate place, and he must have suffered a lot. But even so, it did not diminish his optimism and cheerfulness. Seeing him like this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but laugh.
During the conversation, Shang Ruyi learned that after the new emperor ascended the throne, he granted a general amnesty—an event that was, of course, orchestrated by Yuwen Yuan—and pardoned many officials who had been exiled. The Pei family was among those pardoned, and their exile was finally over, so they were fortunate enough to return to Daxing.
Shang Ruyi said, "By the way, Young Master Pei, how did you two come to know each other—"
Upon hearing this, Pei Xingyuan glanced at Shen Wuzheng, who was standing silently to the side with his lips pursed, sighed, and immediately said, "Of course I came back to catch up with some old friends, but Feng Chen has already gone to Fufeng, and the others—"
At this point, his expression darkened.
Shang Ruyi also recalled that when he was exiled, he had said that all the friends who used to call him brother had avoided him when he was in trouble, so there was no need to see such "friends" again; as for Lei Yu, she could hardly see him again.
Thinking about it this way, Shang Ruyi's mood also dropped.
But Pei Xingyuan is Pei Xingyuan. Even when he was feeling down, he immediately cheered himself up. He wiped his face and forced a smile, saying, "After asking around, I found out that this gentleman has actually returned after completing his studies."
As he spoke, he grinned and put his arm around Shen Wuzheng, saying, "It's been so many years since we last met."
Shen Wuzheng pushed his hand away expressionlessly: "Outrageous."
Undeterred by this cold reception, Pei Xingyuan simply pursed his lips and said, "You've studied for so many years, and you're still the same as before. I knew it, trying to catch up with you was a waste of time."
Shang Ruyi then realized that the two of them knew each other—but that wasn't surprising, since Shen Shiyan and Pei Xu were old friends, and the two were of similar age, so they knew each other to some extent. However, in the past, she had kept to herself and didn't interact much with the young masters and ladies of other families, so she didn't know about her brother's friendships; moreover, after Shen Wuzheng went away to study, he lost contact with these young masters of noble families.
Pei Xingyuan added, "I heard from him that you were coming back today, so I came with him to pick you up."
As he spoke, he puffed out his chest and said, "Am I a good friend?"
Yuwen Ye still ignored him.
But the intense joy in his eyes and brows was impossible to hide.
Shang Ruyi immediately smiled and said, "Young Master Pei's return is a joyous occasion. Once we return to the city, we will immediately host a banquet to welcome Young Master Pei back, shall we?"
Pei Xingyuan immediately beamed with joy: "Sister-in-law, Ruyi is still the most kind and generous person!"
He addressed her as "Sister-in-law," still maintaining the perspective of a friend of Yuwen Ye, while calling her "Ruyi" meant he considered her a friend as well. Shang Ruyi knew that while his words were a jab at Yuwen Ye for not showing too much intimacy, they also reflected a special kind of cherishing between old friends after a long separation.
So she didn't blame him for being "offending," and just smiled and shook her head.
Shen Wuzheng, who was standing to the side, glared at Pei Xingyuan.
At this moment, Yuwen Ye turned to look at Shen Wuzheng and said, "By the way, elder brother—"
Shen Wuzheng raised his hand slightly and said, "You should still call me Fuming."
Fuming was his courtesy name.
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but smile. It's important to know that Shen Wuzheng was aloof and had previously harbored a vague and unspoken hostility towards Yuwen Ye. The fact that he was now being addressed by his courtesy name was partly because Yuwen Ye's elder brother was already in Daxing City, making it awkward to call him "elder brother," but it also served as a form of recognition of his brother-in-law.
Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ye's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Brother Fuming."
Shen Wuzheng nodded slightly.
Yuwen Ye said, "Brother Fuming, what have you been doing lately—"
"Him,"
Before Shen Wuzheng could speak, Pei Xingyuan, who was standing to the side, laughed heartily and said, "He's quite the celebrity in Daxing City now."
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