51. Chapter 51 Oops
Pei Jing pinched his brows with a headache, "When did you fall in love with me?"
Xiaoxiao still vehemently denied it, "I really didn't."
Pei Jing looked at her dimly, "Since there isn't one, then do you mind if I discuss this with the Emperor's uncle?"
Xiaoxiao's blushing face turned pale in an instant. She hurriedly grabbed Pei Jing's sleeve and looked at him timidly, "Don't go."
The little girl looked so pitiful. Pei Jing's heart softened for a moment, but then he thought of her deception and became unhappy again. "Then confess honestly. If you don't, I'll tell the emperor's uncle."
Xiaoxiao's eyes were red and her feet felt cold. She felt that the end was coming. She couldn't even imagine how terrible the consequences would be if Brother Pei knew that she coveted him.
Xiaoxiao choked up and said, "Not long."
She had no choice but to confess the truth.
After hearing this, Pei Jing felt inexplicably sorry for the little girl. Thinking of the fact that the emperor's uncle was not interested in women, his expression became serious. He felt that the little girl was destined to get hurt.
He couldn't help but say, "What's so good about the Emperor's uncle? He's an old man, and so fierce. He has a cold face all day long, and even a child would be scared to tears by him. If you marry him, you're going to have a rough life."
Xiaoxiao felt a little depressed after hearing this. In her heart, Brother Pei was good in every way: mature, steady, reliable, not cold at all, just a little old!
She was too embarrassed to retort, so she just quietly defended herself, "I didn't want to marry him."
This was the truth. From the beginning to the end, Xiaoxiao had never dreamed of marrying him. Brother Pei was so powerful, how could she be worthy of him?
He already has Gu Zhen in his heart, and who knows, he might marry her soon. All Xiaoxiao can do is try to restrain her feelings so as not to be discovered by Brother Pei.
Over time, this feeling will naturally fade away.
Pei Jing's expression was strange for a moment. When you like someone, doesn't it mean you want to be able to hold their hand and grow old together? After guessing what the little girl was thinking, he couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
Seeing her lost expression, he tapped Xiaoxiao on the head with his fan and deliberately asked, "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. Since you are interested in him, why don't you want to marry him? Do you think that even if you like someone, you have to stay away from the world?"
Pei Jing pretended to be disappointed and knocked her again, "You really need to change your temper. If you want something, go for it."
His voice unconsciously rose.
Xiaoxiao was afraid that others would hear her, so she covered his mouth anxiously and said, "Keep your voice down."
Seeing that Pei Jing looked like he couldn't wait to urge her to express her feelings.
Xiaoxiao was a little panicked, so she had to bite the bullet and explain, "I think it's fine now! Really. Maybe I don't like him that much. When I think about it carefully, he is indeed scary, boring, and very strict. I really don't want to marry him."
Xiaoxiao spoke ill of him against her conscience, but secretly added in her heart, as if she could get married just because she wanted to. Not to mention that there was Gu Zhen in front of her, even if there wasn't Gu Zhen, he would still treat her like a child. Yesterday he even called her a little girl.
Xiaoxiao has thought more than once, if she had been fourteen or fifteen years old when she picked him up, and had become a grown-up girl, would he not treat her like a child at all times?
Pei Jing almost believed it. She was pretending so convincingly that it seemed like she really felt it.
Pei Jing knew how much she admired the emperor's uncle. Normally, she would never say anything bad about him. This time, she must have done it to dispel his doubts.
Seeing how deeply in love she was, Pei Jing didn't know what to say for a moment. Although he always believed that the emperor's uncle couldn't get a wife because no one dared to marry him, he also knew how charming he was.
Many women in the capital admired the emperor's uncle, and Xiaoxiao was definitely not the only one who wanted him but couldn't get him. He had some hope at this moment, that she was just temporarily infatuated.
He couldn't help but say earnestly, "There are many good men in the capital, and there are many who are more gentle and considerate than the emperor's uncle. If you find someone who is compatible with you, you can tell me and I will arrange a marriage for you. It would be better to marry anyone than the emperor's uncle."
Xiaoxiao thanked him dryly, "Okay, when I find someone I really like, I'll definitely tell you."
He then took Xiaoxiao to Suyuexuan. Thinking that the emperor's uncle might have Gu Zhen in his heart, he racked his brains to slander him as they walked, "A man like the emperor's uncle who has no desires and no demands is only suitable to marry someone like Gu Zhen. One spends all day handling state affairs, and the other recites Buddhist scriptures and chants Buddhist scriptures. Neither of them would find the other boring. Otherwise, if they get married, the princess will definitely ask for a divorce every day."
Xiaoxiao barely suppressed the bitterness in her heart and agreed, "Indeed, Brother Pei is so busy all day, so he should marry someone who is devoted to Buddhism. Only then will the couple live in harmony. Otherwise, the princess will definitely ask for a divorce every day."
Pei Xiuhan was just about to go out. Just as he walked out of the yard, he heard the little girl's voice. He paused slightly and looked towards the distance.
Pei Jing and Xiaoxiao were walking towards Su Yuexuan, but because there was still some distance between them, they did not see him.
Xiaoxiao didn't know that he had heard what she said.
Pei Xiuhan didn't even know that she actually thought of him like this behind his back. Marrying someone devoted to Buddhism? And getting divorced every day?
Is he so disliked?
Pei Xiuhan's face looked a little bad. He was wearing a black brocade robe today, which made him look very imposing. His gloomy expression was particularly scary. The secret guards hiding in the dark unconsciously moved to a slightly farther place and continued to hide.
Pei Jing and Xiaoxiao walked forward a few steps before they saw Pei Xiuhan. The man was standing under a sycamore tree. The mottled sunlight shone on him through the leaves, but failed to drive away the coldness around him.
When the two saw Pei Xiuhan, they felt inexplicably guilty and quickly shut up. Thinking that they were a bit far away and he probably didn't hear them, Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief.
She felt bitter in her heart and couldn't smile. She was still immersed in the disappointment of his impending request to marry Gu Zhen. After approaching, she could only call out weakly, "Brother Pei."
The girl has snow-white skin, and her pretty face looks quiet and beautiful in the sunlight.
Pei Xiuhan pressed the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth to suppress the irritation rising in his heart. He was reluctant to question the little girl. When he looked at Pei Jing, his expression was no longer so pleasant, and his voice became colder. "It's already so late, why don't you go back to the palace to attend classes? Do you want me to tie you up and take you back?"
As soon as Pei Jing saw his expression, he knew that he must be in a bad mood. He said in his heart, "Oh no!" and quickly winked at Xiaoxiao, but Xiaoxiao didn't receive his gaze.
The little girl was still standing there obediently, looking listless. If she was given a bed, she would fall asleep right there.
Pei Jing couldn't help but glare at her. For the first time, he felt that she was so unreliable. She said she would help him plead for him, but when the time came, she just walked away and walked away!
Pei Jing had no choice but to go up on his own. To protect himself, he betrayed Xiaoxiao without any psychological burden. "Uncle! I didn't mean to skip school. It was Xiaoxiao. She wanted to go shopping and had no one to accompany her. She wanted me to accompany her. I was afraid you wouldn't agree, so I brought her here to ask your permission."
Pei Xiuhan glanced at Xiaoxiao indifferently. When Xiaoxiao noticed his gaze, she finally came back to her senses. She exclaimed and then saw Pei Jing's gaze.
She finally remembered to plead for mercy and said softly, "Brother, can you let him go home a little later? It's very tiring for him to stay in the palace all day. It's rare for him to come out."
Pei Xiuhan didn't say anything, his eyes fell on the two of them indifferently.
Although Pei Jing was younger than Xiaoxiao, he was quite tall. Now fourteen, he was more than half a head taller than Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao wasn't actually short now. Perhaps because her parents were both tall, and she had gotten enough nutrition, she had grown quite a bit taller. For her age, her height was above average. Even so, she only reached Pei Jing's ears.
When she stood beside him, she had a feeling of being a little bird relying on its man. The two of them, one with a beautiful face and the other with a charming and delicate appearance, were an indescribable match in harmony.
The more Pei Xiuhan looked at him, the tighter his brows furrowed. In the past, he thought Pei Jing was just a kid, but now he suddenly realized that this kid had grown up. Judging from his facial features, he looked quite decent.
Pei Xiuhan suddenly felt a sense of crisis. He sneered calmly, not wanting to come across as unkind in front of Xiaoxiao. He said directly, "I'll ask you three questions. If you can answer them, I'll let you go out for a walk. If you can't, you'll have to go back to the palace."
Pei Jing always felt that his problem would not be simple. Facts proved that his premonition was true. He had no choice but to return to the palace angrily. Before leaving, he did not forget to say, "No wonder you still can't get married."
Pei Xiuhan heard it all clearly, and his face turned a little dark.
After Pei Jing's figure disappeared from the courtyard, he turned to look at Xiaoxiao and said, "Let's go."
Xiaoxiao blinked.
Pei Xiuhan said, "Don't you have anyone to go shopping with you? I'll go with you."
As he said this, he gestured to Shi Yu, who was hiding in the dark, asking him to cancel the meeting.
After Shi Yu saw this, his figure disappeared from the spot.
Xiaoxiao couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ah!" and whispered, "I didn't want to go shopping. The emperor said he was bored in the palace, so I suggested going shopping with him. Brother Pei, go do your thing. I'm going back first."
On normal days, if he suggested going shopping together, Xiaoxiao would definitely agree happily. But after finding out that he might get married, Xiaoxiao felt a little disappointed and subconsciously wanted to keep her distance from him.
After she finished speaking, she was about to run away.
Hearing this, Pei Xiuhan's eyes darkened. He reached out and grabbed Xiaoxiao's arm, "Why are you running? If you're worried that he'll be bored, then go shopping with him. Aren't you worried that I'll be bored too?"
Could it be that in the eyes of this little girl, Pei Jing was even more important than him? Pei Xiuhan felt suffocated.
Xiaoxiao was a little confused and dazed, but Pei Xiuhan looked very... righteous.
Xiaoxiao realized belatedly that he was unhappy. She thought he was in a bad mood and wanted someone to accompany him. Xiaoxiao did not run away again. She whispered tentatively, "Then I will accompany you for a walk?"
Pei Xiuhan did not comment and asked someone to prepare a carriage, which came directly to the door of Su Yuexuan.
Xiaoxiao obediently followed him into the carriage. There were many mosquitoes in the summer, and incense was burning in the purple clay Guanyin incense burner in the carriage.
The smoke of cigarettes rose, and Pei Xiuhan's angular face was hidden behind the cigarettes, and his appearance seemed a little softer.
Xiaoxiao had been stealing glances at him, thinking about how to persuade him, but unexpectedly Pei Xiuhan spoke first, "I'm not that busy."
Xiaoxiao exclaimed "Ah", unable to react.
Pei Xiuhan continued with a straight face, "I'm not so busy that I have to marry someone who is devoted to Buddhism."
Xiaoxiao's face turned red as she realized that Pei Jing had actually overheard her conversation with him. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into the ground.
She stammered and explained quickly: "Brother, I, I don't mean anything else."
Pei Xiuhan didn't listen to her explanation and continued, "If I marry the princess, I naturally can't ignore her. Not to mention accompanying her every day, if she wants to go shopping from time to time, I can also satisfy her."
Xiaoxiao was stunned by what she heard, and she couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. Before she could even feel sad, she heard him continue, "Divorce and the like only happen to other people."
Xiaoxiao wanted to cry for a moment, "Brother, I didn't mean to curse you to divorce, I, I, I was just joking at that time."
Xiaoxiao was too embarrassed to expose Pei Jing, so she tried to defend herself. At this moment, she wanted to pull Pei Jing out and hit him on the head with a fan to make him talk nonsense.
Pei Xiuhan felt the anger in his heart dissipate a little after he finished explaining. Seeing that the little girl was very uncomfortable, he slowed down his tone and said, "I'm not angry with you. What are you afraid of? You just have some misunderstandings about me. If you have any other misunderstandings, please tell me."
Xiaoxiao hurriedly shook her head. "No, Brother Pei is the best to me. Really, you're steady and careful, and you handle things perfectly. I absolutely don't have any other misunderstandings!"
The little girl tilted her face upwards and spoke very seriously, her black eyes clear and pure, her expression couldn't be more pious.
Pei Xiu Han could see his own figure in her eyes, as if the little girl's heart and eyes were full of him. There was finally a hint of smile in his eyes. He planned to take this opportunity to accompany her well and let her fully realize that he was not busy.
At this time, Yang Hao hurried over. The driver pulled the reins and stopped the carriage. Yang Hao walked to the curtain and said to Pei Xiuhan, "Your Highness, there's news from the Ministry of Justice that the King of Qin has made a new discovery. Please go there as soon as possible."
Imperial spies would sneak into the palace from time to time, and there would always be people who wanted Pei Jing's life. If Pei Jing died, if the other party acted properly, Pei Xiuhan might be branded as a regicide.
By then, Pei Jing's grandfather would never give up. The Xiao family had many capable people. If they kept biting Pei Xiuhan, the Great Zhou would inevitably be in chaos. Many people were hoping for chaos in the Zhou Dynasty. Two days ago, Pei Xiuhan found out that a young eunuch had a problem with his identity and directly sent him to the Ministry of Justice. I wonder what the King of Qin discovered.
Pei Xiuhan's eyes darkened and he felt a pain on his face. He had just said that he was not busy when something happened.
Xiaoxiao quickly said, "Brother, go do your work first. I'll go shopping with you when you're done."
Pei Xiuhan had no choice but to nod.
The King of Qin was his elder after all, and he said it was an urgent matter, so Pei Xiuhan couldn't refuse. He simply said, "Wait for me at the palace. I'll be back soon."
Xiaoxiao nodded quickly, and she got off the carriage with her skirt lifted up. When the carriage disappeared around the corner, Xiaoxiao's tense nerves finally relaxed, and she just felt that she was very unlucky today.
It would have been fine if Pei Jing had discovered her secret, but after she had finally managed to fool Pei Jing, all the bad things she said were heard by Brother Pei.
Xiaoxiao sighed and was about to go back to Suyuexuan to wait for his return when she suddenly thought of Xiaoxing.
Xiaoxing came out with her in Pei Jing's carriage. Now that Pei Jing has left, what about Xiaoxing?
Xiaoxiao hurried out of the house.
Xiaoxing was standing next to the stone lion, waiting for her silently. It was just past 3 p.m. and the sun was still very bright. He stood in the sun, his thin figure looking frail and lonely.
Xiaoxiao blamed herself so much that she quickly ran to Xiaoxing and said, "It's so sunny here, why don't you go into the house?"
Xiaoxing just smiled shyly.
Xiaoxiao then remembered that there was no paper or pen nearby. She felt a little guilty and touched Xiaoxing's head.
She still remembered that Xiaoxing wanted to go out with them because she wanted to go for a stroll on the street. Xiaoxiao said, "Let's go for a stroll first."
She asked someone to leave a message for Pei Xiuhan, asking him to go directly to Shui Mo Pavilion to find her after he was done. Shui Mo Pavilion was located on the most prosperous street in the capital. The shop had three floors and sold landscape paintings, paper, ink, brushes, inkstones, antiques and the like. There were quite a lot of items. Xiaoxiao planned to take Xiaoxing there to have a look first.
After Xiaoxiao brought Xiaoxing to Shuimo Pavilion, she found that the little guy was not in high spirits. "Don't you like these? If you don't like them, I will take you to another store."
Xiaoxing shook his head. The boy had beautiful features and looked shy and cute when he smiled. Xiaoxiao thought he was hot from walking and a little thirsty, so she took out the water bag and handed it to him.
Xiaoxing smiled at her and silently said thank you, sister.
He looked particularly handsome when he smiled, and Xiaoxiao couldn't help but curl her lips. She took Xiaoxing in for a walk. Xiaoxiao hadn't been here for a while, so she took a look to see if there was anything new.
As she was looking, she saw a familiar figure walking in. It was Princess Yuyang, followed by two guards.
When Xiaoxing saw Princess Yuyang, his body froze. He never expected that he would meet her when he went out today.
He calmly hid behind the bookshelf, hiding his figure.
Xiaoxiao didn't notice anything unusual about him. She didn't want to deal with Princess Yuyang, so she subconsciously turned her back and pretended to look at the painting.
The shop was very large, and there were other noble ladies inside. Her and Xiaoxing's presence was not conspicuous. Princess Yuyang did not notice them and went straight to the second floor.
Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiaoxing also breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously.
Seeing that Xiaoxing didn't want to go shopping, Xiaoxiao said, "Let's go to the teahouse and have a cup of tea. We'll wait for Brother Pei to arrive and then go somewhere else."
Xiaoxing was eager to leave and nodded immediately after hearing this.
When Pei Xiuhan arrived at the Ministry of Justice, he found out that the King of Qin was looking for him for another matter. After hearing this, his brows furrowed.
He stayed in the Ministry of Justice for nearly an hour before he finished his work. When he came out of the Ministry of Justice, he saw the servant from the palace. After learning that Xiaoxiao was in the Shuimo Pavilion, Pei Xiuhan went directly to the Shuimo Pavilion.
It wasn't too late at this moment, and he could still accompany her for an hour.
Xiaoxiao and Xiaoxing were still in the teahouse. They had deliberately found a seat by the window. When Pei Xiuhan got off the carriage, Xiaoxiao saw him at a glance.
She walked out of the teahouse with Xiaoxing.
When he saw Xiaoxing, Pei Xiuhan's brows unconsciously frowned, "Why is he here too?"
Xiaoxiao then realized that she hadn't told him about Xiaoxing's existence. She quickly explained, "When the Emperor and I went out, I took him with me. When I went into the mansion to look for my brother, he was waiting for me outside, so I simply took him out for a walk."
Xiaoxing looked young, not even as tall as Xiaoxiao, so Pei Xiuhan naturally wouldn't be jealous of him. It was rare for him to spend an hour with her, and he thought it was just the two of them. But when he saw that there was a little burden behind her, Pei Xiuhan felt a little unhappy.
He didn't want to chase him away in front of Xiaoxiao, so he said, "Get in the carriage first. I'll take you to an interesting place."
Seeing that he was still in a bad mood, Xiaoxiao nodded quickly. She still remembered her mission, which was to accompany him to relieve his boredom and make him happy.
Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Brother, stretch out your hand and I'll give you something good."
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