MYUFPC CHAPTER 35
Zhan Yanqing is very attractive
Zhan Yue adhered to a gentleman's demeanor, wanting to leave a bit of room for imagination between them. But some people clearly didn't have the same idea.
Pei Yuantang wasn't a martial artist, and thus, his hearing wasn't as sharp as Zhan Yue's. Consequently, the spot he chose to eavesdrop was much more conspicuous than Zhan Yue's.
He was sitting by the pond with one leg bent, a dogtail grass dangling from his mouth. Just as Jiashan and the others walked out, they happened to see Pei Yuantang looking down in deep thought.
Dan Cui asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, Shall we greet Pei daren?"
A flicker of dark light crossed Jiashan's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She said, "He's been waiting for us."
Sure enough, as soon as they approached, Pei Yuantang raised his head slightly.
His appearance was undeniably handsome. Although his features weren't as flawless as Zhan Yue's, he was still quite good-looking, with a hint of both pride and gentleness in his eyes.
Pei Yuantang spat out the grass. Looking at Jiashan, he said with a flash in his eyes, "I heard everything."
As to what exactly he heard, Pei Yuantang didn't specify, and Jiashan didn't probe further. She thought for a moment and said, "I received your letters too."
Pei Yuantang seemed to smile. Jiashan could only see his eyes curving earnestly.
Pei Yuantang said, "Oh. Did it scare you?"
His tone was casual, as if he were talking about something ordinary. But as soon as Jiashan thought about the careful sincerity hidden beneath his flamboyant handwriting, she felt a little uneasy all over.
Jiashan said, "It's your behavior that scared me a bit."
Pei Yuantang smiled.
Jiashan slowly asked him, "Will you marry another woman in the future?"
Pei Yuantang glanced at her, a faint smile on his lips. "What, are you expecting me to remain chaste for you?"
Thinking of his concubines in the previous life, and the fact that his position as a primary wife had always been vacant, Jiashan pursed her lips and simply stared at him without saying anything.
Pei Yuantang seemed a little impatient and said, "Don't look at me with that lovesick expression. It makes me feel like a pitiful creature."
Jiashan's expression was unusually calm. She said, "Then I won't look at you."
As soon as she said that, Jiashan truly averted her gaze. At that moment, Pei Yuantang's eyes suddenly became bolder.
He looked at Jiashan. After a moment, Pei Yuantang lowered his gaze and twirled the dogtail grass in his hand. "I'm not afraid to tell you, I once begged my father to come to the palace and propose marriage on my behalf."
"But he refused," Pei Yuantang smiled.
He narrowed his eyes and said wistfully, "He thought that my future was bright, and if I married into the royal family, people would gossip behind my back. If I were to rise in rank, the scholars would say that I relied on you to climb the social ladder. As a descendant of the Pei family, he couldn't allow me to give others such an opportunity to criticize me."
“Am I such an old-fashioned person?” Pei Yuantang finally smiled bitterly. He said, “That's why I wrote to you personally. I thought, as long as you said yes, I would try my best, no matter what, to ask my grandfather to come to the palace. I wouldn't care about my father's opinion or what others thought of me.”
“But I didn't get that ‘yes’ from you,” Pei Yuantang’s thin lips curved into a smile as he looked sideways at Jiashan. “All I got was news of your betrothal to Zhan Yanqing.”
Under the dim starlight, Jiashan's face softened slightly. The moonlight, like scattered gold, sprinkled onto the pond, quickly dotting the surface with cold, silvery crescents.
Jiashan said, "My uncle has his pride, and so do you."
Jiashan lowered her head. She suddenly realized why Pei Yuantang had argued so vehemently with her uncle about their marriage in her previous life.
Pei Zijing, Pei Yuantang's father, was the Grand Master of the Imperial College. Because of his many students, he had always cherished his reputation. When the Pei family had initially become the maternal family of the Empress, they should have been rewarded with land and titles. However, Pei Zijing had repeatedly declined all rewards.
Because of this, many people who had been prepared to gossip about the Pei family had to change their tune and praise Pei Zijing for his integrity. He had maintained his purity for so many years, and if Pei Yuantang were to marry into the royal family, it would undoubtedly cause a significant shock to the literati.
So he was unwilling to humble himself and ask the emperor for a marriage.
In her previous life, Jiashan had not had the opportunity to hear Pei Yuantang's sincere confession of "why don't you marry me?"
Perhaps, in Pei Yuantang's heart, the strict and impersonal family style of the Pei family was the main reason why he couldn't marry his cousin. That was why he kept concubines and deliberately went against his father's wishes.
Jiashan quietly looked at Pei Yuantang for a while. She lowered her voice, “Thank you for liking me. But to be honest, even if my uncle had agreed, the Emperor would probably not have consented. And besides—”
Jiashan said seriously, “Zhan Yanqing is very attractive.”
Pei Yuantang scrutinized her and hummed softly, his tone a little more resigned than before. “I don't like hearing you say that.”
“There’s no other way,” Jiashan smiled faintly and said slowly, “I'm going to get married, you have to accept that fact.”
Pei Yuantang pursed his lips.
Jiashan looked at him intently. “Since you don't want me to treat you like a pitiful creature, then I hope you can share your happiness with me in time.”
“For example, if you get married in the future, I would also welcome you to tell me about your wife’s virtues,” Jiashan said.
Pei Yuantang glared at her, his expression not looking very friendly.
Jiashan raised an eyebrow and deliberately asked him, "Are you really going to tell me that you don't plan to get married in the future? That doesn't sound like you."
Pei Yuantang waved his sleeve and said. “Don't worry about me.”
“You're my cousin, after all and even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected,” Jiashan reasoned. “When we were young, Mother and Aunt would always tell us to look out for each other.”
“You’re so heartless,” Jiashan’s eyes flickered, taking the offensive first.
Pei Yuantang’s handsome face almost turned red from anger. He threw the grass away and blurted out, “Then tell me. What is it about him that makes him so attractive?”
“I won’t be at ease until I get a clear answer,” Pei Yuantang regained his previous arrogance. He widened his eyes and met Jiashan's gaze.
Some things were better said out loud than left bottled up inside. Jiashan didn't dodge his gaze. Her eyes blinked once, and she met his gaze directly, “Hmm.”
Jiashan counted on her fingers, carefully listing the reasons. “He's more sensible than you, and more steady. Um…”
Jiashan looked up, glanced at Pei Yuantang's height, gestured with her hand, and nodded, saying, “He’s probably taller than you.”
“He’s more eloquent and makes people feel more secure.” Jiashan’s cheeks turned a rosy red. The pair of ruby earrings on her ears made her face look even more delicate and beautiful.
Seeing that Pei Yuantang didn’t say anything, she stopped and asked, “Do you want to hear more?”
“No,” Pei Yuantang squeezed out a word from between his teeth. He said, “I get it.”
“I’ll become as good as him one day, you’ll see,” Pei Yuantang snorted. “But that future me will only belong to someone else, not to you.”
There was a hint of defiance and childishness in his words. But at least, he was finally willing to admit the existence of this “someone else”.
Jiashan couldn't help but smile. She didn’t say anything.
Pei Yuantang looked her up and down. He straightened his clothes and regained the appearance of the noble young master he had been when he arrived.
He flicked his sleeve, raised his head, and walked away with his chest puffed out. The arrogance and dissatisfaction in his demeanor had increased.
Su Yu and Dancui couldn’t help but cover their mouths and giggle.
Knowing the root of Pei Yuantang's problem, Jiashan felt more relaxed than before. She also hoped that her cousin could find a gentle girl and not waste his good time.
She adjusted the slightly askew hairpin on her head and walked towards the banquet.
Meanwhile, behind the rockery, Zhan Yue finally lost his composure as a gentleman. He said to the other person without hesitation, "Wait for me here."
"Alright," the man said. Zhan Yue raised his food and with that, he followed Jiashan.
Hearing heavy footsteps coming from behind, Jiashan turned around with Su Yu and Dancui. Zhan Yue was standing straight, looking at them. He raised his eyes and glanced lightly at Jiashan.
Su Yu and Dancui were startled and quickly retreated, one on each side.
Jiashan furrowed her brow slightly. Zhan Yue said indifferently, "What a coincidence. I ran into Your Highness here."
Jiashan looked up at him and asked with a wry smile, "Oh, it was a coincidence? That's too much of a coincidence."
"I also happened to witness a scene where Your Highness was fending off an admirer," Zhan Yue said, his gaze fixed on her.
Jiashan didn't fall for his trap easily. She raised her chin slightly and said, "Perhaps your eyesight is not very good. It wasn't just one scene, but two."
"It's just," Jiashan paused slightly, her gaze seemingly inadvertently sweeping over Zhan Yue.
Jiashan's skin was as white as fresh snow. "In the first scene, it wasn't me who was being admired."
"Hmm," Zhan Yue nodded lightly. His delicate features softened as his long eyelashes blinked. "I guess I came at the wrong time. I only saw one scene."
"I seem to remember a certain princess saying, 'Zhan Yanqing is very attractive,'" Zhan Yue smiled, feigning innocence. "What a coincidence."
Jiashan, who was already prone to blushing after drinking, turned even redder from head to toe like a shrimp that was crispy on outside and tender on the inside, after hearing those words.
She looked up, her almond-shaped eyes widened as she glared at Zhan Yue.
Zhan Yue smiled at her.
"Do I really make you feel very secure?" He took a step closer, almost brushing past Jiashan's ear as he asked.