After Pei Jinxu finished his work these past two days, he was to take Ning Wanwan out for Qi She as promised.
Changing into casual clothes and boarding the carriage, their grand procession exited the palace gates, leaving the other consorts to do nothing but stare with envy.
Ning Wanwan thought she didn’t know how to ride a horse. At first, she was awkward about it, stubbornly refusing to get on.
Pei Jinxu asked if the fall into the water had damaged her brain. In his memory, Ning Wanwan had always been a tomboy. They had grown up together, so how could she not even know how to ride a horse?
“What are you pretending for?” Pei Jinxu said with disdain.
Ning Wanwan: ?
Why had this damn emperor’s way of speaking changed? Didn’t he used to pretend to be so gentle?
“Pretend my ass.”
“What?” Pei Jinxu didn’t understand, a look of confusion on his face.
Of course, Ning Wanwan couldn’t tell him what it meant, afraid he would execute her entire clan.
Seeing Ning Wanwan stall, Pei Jinxu impatiently swung himself onto his horse, then suddenly grabbed the back of her neck and lifted.
“Ah!” Ning Wanwan cried out. In a dizzying maneuver, she was already on the horse.
Before she could even come to her senses, Pei Jinxu shouted, “Giddy-up!” and spurred the horse into a gallop.
At first, Ning Wanwan was screaming her head off, but she later noticed Pei Jinxu’s arms wrapped around her from behind. Feeling relatively safe, she began to relax.
Who knew that in that brief moment, the space behind her would become empty? Pei Jinxu had, at some point, leaped off.
Ning Wanwan felt her center of gravity shift and nearly fell off.
“Pei Jinxu, you son of a—!” Ning Wanwan gripped the reins for dear life, her legs instinctively clamping around the horse’s sides. Then, a miracle happened. She gradually found her balance with the horse’s rhythm, even becoming able to guide it freely.
A flicker of joy lit up in Ning Wanwan’s heart. She happily rode the horse in a circle before stopping in front of Pei Jinxu. She shot him a triumphant smile, the corners of her lips turned up and her beautiful eyes full of scorn.
Pei Jinxu chuckled lightly. He casually led over another horse, mounted it with a clean, fluid motion, and settled firmly in the saddle as his robes billowed.
“What a poser,” Ning Wanwan grumbled internally, unable to resist rolling her eyes.
In truth, she was the bigger poser. She even acted mischievously, taking her whip and fiercely striking the rump of Pei Jinxu’s horse. Startled, the horse shot forward like an arrow, flying a great distance away.
Pei Jinxu, however, remained perfectly steady. Ning Wanwan gave chase, riding alongside him.
The two began a game of pursuit, laughing and teasing like they did in their youth, utterly carefree and happy.
Ning Wanwan had never thought she would actually know how to ride a horse. Perhaps it wasn’t her, but the muscle memory of the original owner of this body.
She was having fun, but Ning Wanwan sometimes wondered, was there really such a good deal in the world as transmigrating to ancient times and getting a husband thrown in?
She was like a pheasant occupying a magpie’s nest, taking over someone else’s family and husband, enjoying a status that didn’t belong to her like an imposter—feeling content and guilty all at once.
And so, Ning Wanwan prepared to confess.
Seeing her staring blankly into space, Pei Jinxu, who was beside her, couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”
Ning Wanwan seemed to have mustered a great deal of courage. She was about to speak, but the words were hard to get out, leaving her stuck in an uncomfortable limbo.
Even if she told him, so what? Would he, an ancient monarch, believe any of it?
“Hey, lil’ sis, did you go mute?” Disbelief was written all over Pei Jinxu’s handsome face.
“Hey, lil’ bro, what are you talking about?” Ning Wanwan was speechless. This person must have a split personality. How could he be so different inside and outside the palace? He was like a completely different person.
“I told you to speak, and you just hem and haw,” Pei Jinxu said, his tone no longer the gentle, cool one from the palace, but rather the familiar one of a close friend. “If you’re not mute, then what are you?”
“You’re nuts. I’m just not going to tell you.” Ning Wanwan turned her head, leaving Pei Jinxu with a view of the back of it.
“Hmph, who cares,” Pei Jinxu scoffed, dismounting.
Ning Wanwan called out to him, asking in confusion, “Where are you going?”
Without turning back, Pei Jinxu’s cool voice drifted over, “Shangjing Street is nearby. I’m going to buy you some Peach Blossom Cakes.”
Ning Wanwan: ?
Had she ever said she liked Peach Blossom Cakes?
But after he brought them back and she had a taste, Ning Wanwan declared that she absolutely loved Peach Blossom Cakes.
“You used to love the Peach Blossom Cakes from that shop on the east street the most. Every time we came out, you’d always drag me there to buy some.”
“Sorry, I have amnesia,” Ning Wanwan said, her words muffled as she ate. Her cheeks were puffed out, and combined with her bewitching features, she looked like a little fox having a meal—cute, yet still stunningly beautiful.
“You really have amnesia?” Pei Jinxu asked tentatively.
“To be precise, she’s dead,” Ning Wanwan said nonchalantly.
She thought Pei Jinxu wouldn’t believe her, but he fixed his gaze on her and asked, “Then who are you now?”
“A female ghost.”
“Heh,” Pei Jinxu sneered.