Chapter 79: Escaping hundreds of miles away from the renamed village, Pingyi Village is filled with...
Pei Langcai, who was about to leave, stopped in his tracks, his face burning with pain as if he had been slapped.
He stared at the Empress with bloodshot eyes: "How could she have been there?"
Thinking about all the outrageous things he had said back then, Pei Lang wished he could kill himself!
The Empress was startled by the anger and resentment emanating from him and took a half step back, but then she quickly recovered and frowned slightly: "At that time, lives were at stake. Did I have to worry about such things?"
"Even I cannot know what you and His Majesty were talking about."
The Empress's majesty remained unchanged, but Pei Lang's imposing presence had diminished.
"When Lin Zhi left the side hall that day, she left behind a sachet. If Lord Pei wants to take it back, he must agree to be Yu'er's tutor, and I will not say anything more."
But Pei Lang's face darkened upon hearing this: "Your Majesty overestimates me. I may be able to raise one crown prince, but I may not be able to raise a second one."
"The position of Crown Prince is not easy to hold. His Majesty is in his prime, and the court officials are sending noble ladies to the palace one after another. Your Majesty the Empress is being far too hasty."
"Yu'er is the eldest son of the legitimate wife, why can't I fight for him?"
The Empress's gaze swept over Pei Lang's somewhat haggard face: "I have heard that the concubine also gave birth to a daughter before her death."
“Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. Even if Yu’er doesn’t have the ability to become the Crown Prince, Lord Pei is the Emperor’s mentor. If he can teach Yu’er, even the Emperor will have to give him a lot of face.”
"Now that Lord Pei has become a father, he must be able to understand my good intentions."
Pei Lang's large hands were bulging with veins, and he still wanted to get the last thing Lin Zhi left behind.
"...Very well, but Your Majesty, please keep your promise."
With a wave of her hand, the empress handed Pei Lang a sachet that he recognized all too well.
"The entire He family has been sentenced to death. He Luochen has been trying to pull some strings to see you. After all, you were husband and wife for a day, so I wonder if Lord Pei would be willing to lend a hand?"
Upon hearing He Luochen's name, Pei Lang's eyes darkened, and he slowly said, "If it weren't for her, Azhi wouldn't have suffered so much."
"This person deserves to die; even if he is torn to pieces, he will still be guilty."
The Empress raised an eyebrow slightly, said nothing more, and left with impeccable poise.
Pei Lang gripped the sachet tightly in his hand, trembling, but hesitated to open it. He had such a small wish, and he was afraid that if he opened it, all his spirit would dissipate.
Holding the sachet tightly in his hand with his five fingers together, Pei Lang stared at it intently for a moment before striding away from the palace and rushing back to his residence.
"Does the young lady still have a fever today?"
As Pei Lang strode into the room, he frowned and asked the wet nurse beside him, "The young lady was already premature and weak. If she has to go through this again, I'm afraid it won't be good."
"Don't worry, my lord. I fed the young lady the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician earlier, and she's no longer hot and is sleeping well."
"The young lady woke up crying twice earlier, and we servants just couldn't soothe her. Even though her voice was hoarse from crying, we still couldn't stop her."
Pei Lang felt a pang in his heart. This child was so stubborn; she was truly a carbon copy of her mother.
"...Understood. You all stay outside and serve me. I'll go and check on things myself."
Pulling open the door a crack, Pei Lang slipped inside. He frowned and told the maids in the room to leave first. He sat down beside the small bed, looking at the sleeping baby. The baby's thin little fists were raised to his face, smaller than a cat's.
Pei Langcai couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat when he saw her delicate brows and nose. He frowned and forced himself to turn his head away.
Everyone says that daughters resemble their fathers, but in his eyes, this child was clearly a carbon copy of Lin Zhi.
When he first saw the petite and frail Lin Zhi at the Pei residence, he was attracted by her outstanding bone structure. However, at that time, he loathed himself and actually felt compassion for his enemy's niece.
Little did she know that this person would later become the apple of her eye.
Pei Lang raised his hand and pinched the space between his eyebrows, while his other hand held the sachet to suppress his tears.
However, he felt a strange texture when he touched it; it didn't feel like the usual spice.
He frowned and opened the sachet, only to find a small note inside. It was covered with many names written on it. Looking at the familiar handwriting and the auspicious meanings of the names, Pei Lang belatedly realized that these were the names Lin Zhi had wanted to give to their child.
A tear fell onto the note. Pei Lang quickly turned his head away, wiped the water off the note, and stared at the words "Zhao Ning" for a long time, unable to come back to his senses.
"Azhi, is this the name you want to give our daughter?"
The baby in the crib whimpered and cried twice before waking up and kicking around without even opening its eyes.
Pei Lang quickly held the child in his arms, but his longing for the child only intensified.
"Invite the Pei family's uncles and relatives to come and include my daughter in the family genealogy."
Xingyun stood before the desk, somewhat hesitant: "Sir, the young lady... her surname is Lin?"
Pei Lang stared at the memorial in his hand without even looking up: "What's wrong?"
Xingyun hurriedly shook his head: "No...it's nothing."
Now that his master holds a very high position, even if the young lady wants to have a separate family genealogy, it is not impossible. He is just afraid that his master is not in good condition.
"Jifeng has returned with his men today. After catching up with the caravan, they searched thoroughly but found no trace of the Second Young Master and his wife."
"The caravan leader also said that he had never seen the lady, but the second young master gave them silver notes and told them to set off as soon as possible."
With a "crack," the pen in Pei Lang's hand snapped in two. "Despicable."
It's only been seven days since Lin Zhi's death, but Pei Mingli has vanished without a trace with her body, and the people he sent out to track him have all lost track of him.
He never expected that his impetuous younger brother would now be playing mind games with him.
He tossed aside the broken pen in his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose: "Send Jifeng to find out Pei Mingli's whereabouts again. He must find him alive or dead. Don't come back if you can't find him."
Thinking of his daughter's incessant crying at dusk earlier that day, Pei Lang leaned back in his chair, looking utterly exhausted.
"The master at the Buddhist temple said today that Mianmian cries every evening because she misses her mother too much, and also because Azhi's spirit is restless."
Even if there is no body, it would be good to make a cenotaph for burial.
"We'll have someone prepare tomorrow. If Mianmian keeps crying like this every day, I'm afraid she'll ruin her voice."
Seeing the lord's ashen and haggard face, Xingyun hesitated, then finally agreed. "My lord... you must take good care of yourself for the sake of the young lady."
Pei Lang naturally understood this principle: Mianmian had already lost her mother, so how could she lose her father as well?
But... if it weren't for Mianmian, he would have liked to go with Lin Zhi.
"By the way, how are those two girls with Azhi doing?"
Mentioning Chuntao and Xiaying, Xingyun frowned: "Xiaying is in good health. She recovered from a serious illness, but she doesn't speak every day and just quietly packs up the remaining clothes of the madam."
"But Chun Tao... she's a bit frail and still can't get out of bed. The doctor examined her and said it was because she inhaled too much soot, which might not be good for her..."
"They are all loyal servants, and they will naturally need financial assistance. It is not appropriate for me to do it myself, so I will leave it to the steward to handle."
After he left, Pei Lang held the sachet to his forehead, closed his eyes, and felt Lin Zhi's last breath.
"I've made a cenotaph for you, but please leave me the sachet as a keepsake."
"Mianmian is still too young, she doesn't understand, she can only cry."
"Azhi, if you don't want to come to me, then don't leave me alone day or night."
The delicate and intricate embroidery pressed against his cheek, and Pei Lang felt an overwhelming ache in his heart.
"Lin Zhi, wife of Pei Lang, head of the Pei family."
The inscription on the tombstone was still fresh. Pei Lang was shocked to realize that only a few days had passed since Lin Zhi left, yet he felt numb with pain, as if she had not died, but had simply gone elsewhere and would return from time to time.
But when he looked closely at the stone tablet, a dull ache began to throb in his heart.
Pei Lang saw everyone off, but lingered there for a long time before leaving.
As the footsteps behind him drew closer, he frowned and dodged the fierce palm strike. He saw Xie Zheng glaring at him with a flushed face, and his dissatisfaction grew even stronger.
The two fought fiercely, each trying to kill the other without hesitation.
Pei Lang, who was distracted due to not sleeping well and being unable to get a full night's rest, was struck on the old injury on his shoulder by Pei Lang's palm, which brought the fight to a temporary halt.
"You say you're good to Lin Zhi, but this is how you treat her?"
"She's not even twenty years old! Pei Lang, you're worse than an animal!"
Pei Lang, covered in dust, lay on his back on the ground with red eyes: "If I had known it would turn out this way, I would rather not have entered this game!"
Xie Zheng, however, only gave a cold, sarcastic laugh: "Lord Pei, Chief Minister Pei!"
"You only care about your power and your official position. Now that you've reached the pinnacle of your career, no one can stand in your way anymore."
"I will watch you live a life of loneliness and misery!"
Before leaving, Xie Zheng took one last, deep look at Lin Zhi's cenotaph, and then rode away.
Pei Lang sat guarding the stone tablet until dusk before vaguely remembering something and rushing back to the manor: "Did Mianmian cry today?"
The wet nurse quickly took the baby from her.
Awake and smiling.
"The young lady was very well-behaved today, please rest assured, sir."
Pei Lang awkwardly and clumsily took Lin Zhaoning into his arms, but a gentle smile appeared on his broken lips.
Hundreds of miles away, two more households appeared in Pingyi Village.
The curious Mrs. Luo was in poor health and unable to go out to chat with the villagers, but she did hear from the scholar's son that someone had moved into the abandoned house next to hers.
The two siblings were Pei, the older brother whom he had saved before, who had brought his sister back to live with him.
Grandma Luo, leaning on her wooden cane, walked out shakily. She stood at the door and looked around for a long time but didn't see anyone. She wanted to go over and knock on the door but was too embarrassed to do so.
Just as she sighed deeply and turned to leave, she heard the door creak open behind her: "Auntie, these are cakes I made myself. If you don't mind, please accept them and try them."
Despite her poor eyesight, Aunt Luo turned around and exclaimed "Oh!" without blinking as she accepted the cakes offered to her: "Mother, is this... the Weaver Girl descending to earth?"
But the "fairy" in front of him just smiled with narrowed eyes: "Auntie, I am Pei Langjun's sister. My parents have passed away, so I came to seek refuge with my brother."
“From now on, we will be neighbors. You can call me… Fei Yi, Lin Fei Yi.”
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Author's Note: Pei Gou will go crazy next time we meet [heart emoji]
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