Great Master Huijue reached for the freshly cleaned bird’s nest.
Pei Xiao, irritated, brushed his hand away. “Great Master Huijue, what exactly are you trying to say?”
Huijue stared at his reddened hand.
This young man struck fiercely—something meant for his wife couldn’t even be touched by others!
“Nothing much. I merely wish to ask Benefactor Pei: do you still dare claim your heart is free of attachments?”
Pei Xiao’s fingers paused slightly. He picked up chopsticks and carefully plucked a tiny feather from the bird’s nest.
His tone was indifferent. “Just keeping a pampered cat for amusement. It was so in the past, remains so now, and will not change in the future.”
Three years ago, when first stewing bird’s nest congee, he had been clumsy and impatient.
Now, his movements were practiced and patient—clear evidence of frequent practice.
Huijue shook his head. “Benefactor Pei, you overturn clouds and rain with a turn of your hand, yet I’ve never seen you attend to anyone else with such care.”
“Careful nurturing is naturally so my Yu’er becomes more obedient.” Pei Xiao turned his wrist, pouring all the bird’s nest into the boiling pot.
The bird’s nest tumbled and struggled in the rolling water.
Pei Xiao stood with hands behind his back, watching indifferently as it gradually submitted and grew calm.
But Great Master Huijue laughed heartily. “Yet from start to finish, I never mentioned the Jiang family. How did Benefactor Pei immediately think of her? Truly heart-unattached?”
Pei Xiao’s eyes darkened.
He’d fallen into the stinky monk’s trap!
Bald donkey!
“Great Master would do better not to inquire into worldly affairs. You know well—Buddha doesn’t deliver the Jiang family.” Pei Xiao flicked his sleeve and left.
His voice remained steady.
But when reaching the doorway, he stumbled over the threshold.
Great Master Huijue watched his retreating back, finding it novel.
Could someone as coldly arrogant as Lord Pei actually flee in panic?
“Since Benefactor Pei has such feelings, perhaps you should tell Lady Jiang certain matters. Continuing to conceal them may lead to irreparable consequences.”
Pei Xiao’s steps halted, his fingers curling slightly behind his back.
After a long moment, he uttered a light scoff. “If it’s lost, it’s lost. What would I need to repair?”
Ridiculous!
Pei Xiao mocked inwardly as he strode away.
His posture was upright, his shadow straight, exuding an aura of complete control.
But Great Master Huijue remained unconvinced, sighing softly. “Does Lord Pei truly still believe he holds the chess pieces? Don’t you realize you’re already deep in the game, your original heart altered?”
Pei Xiao’s gaze deepened like an unfathomable cold pool.
Huijue approached and patted his shoulder. “Lord Pei, you’ve grown angry.”
Pei Xiao never used to have such excessive emotions.
Why did Huijue’s few words make him lose emotional control?
Why?
Huijue had already understood, smiling with amusement. “Lord Pei should go brew your bird’s nest congee. Your wife is hungry—you’ll surely ache with concern.”
By evening, Jiang Yu still hadn’t seen Pei Xiao.
In her room, massaging her ankle, she contemplated how to send Pei Xiao away so she could meet Meng Qingyao.
“Benefactor, your bird’s nest congee!”
Two knocks sounded at the door.
Jiang Yu recognized a young monk’s voice. Surprised, she asked, “Where is my husband?”
It was strange enough that Pei Xiao had spent from noon till evening preparing one bowl of bird’s nest congee.
But that he hadn’t yet arrived—despite employing both soft and hard tactics to secure tonight’s stay in her room—was even more unusual.
The young monk reported from outside, “Benefactor Pei said he’s feeling unsettled today. He wishes to copy the Heart Sutra in the adjacent meditation room and requests that you need not wait for him.”
“Oh, Benefactor Pei also asks you to remember to apply medicine.” Having delivered the message, the young monk set down the congee and left.
Jiang Yu opened the door and touched the lukewarm congee.For the past three years, Pei Xiao had never been so careless.
Was he… suddenly tired of pretending?
Or was he scheming something again?
This unusual behavior made Jiang Yu even more cautious about acting rashly.
She needed to understand what Pei Xiao meant.
Dragging her injured leg, Jiang Yu reheated the bird’s nest congee and went to the adjacent meditation room.
The door to the meditation room was slightly ajar.
Pei Xiao sat cross-legged beneath the Buddha statue, eyes closed in meditation, his jade-like fingers slowly turning Buddhist beads.
His complexion was pale, his features exquisitely refined like a painting, with a cinnabar mole gracing the space between his eyebrows.
He resembled a deity more than any portrait ever could.
At the faint sound of footsteps, Pei Xiao lightly lifted his eyelids, yet his gaze remained deep and forbidding like an abyss. “Who’s there?”
“It’s… me!”
After hesitating a moment, Jiang Yu put on a smiling face and pushed the door open. “I noticed my husband hasn’t had dinner yet, so I specially brought this over.”
Jiang Yu limped forward, her swollen ankle faintly visible beneath her swaying skirt.
Pei Xiao frowned, instinctively moving to support her, but just as he began to rise, he firmly settled back down.
“I’m not hungry. There’s no need for you to trouble yourself, my lady.” Pei Xiao’s lips curved into a smile.
This particular smile was all too familiar to Jiang Yu.
During her initial recovery period, Pei Xiao’s smiles had been just like this – resembling a Buddha statue’s expression, present only in the eyes and brows but never reaching the flesh.
Growing increasingly uneasy, Jiang Yu approached and began massaging his temples. “Husband, are you feeling unwell?”
Pei Xiao raised his hand to stop her. “There’s no need for concern, my lady. It’s merely some troublesome matters in the capital that have escaped my control, requiring self-reflection.”
Although Huijue’s words had sounded far-fetched, Pei Xiao had to admit that recently, Jiang Yu had indeed stirred his emotions several times.
He detested nothing more than the feeling of being manipulated.
All emotional attachments were sinful obstacles that should be mercilessly severed and destroyed!
Pei Xiao stood up, avoiding the hibiscus fragrance that clung to her, and moved toward the writing desk. “Since my lady is injured, I should remain here chanting scriptures and praying for your swift recovery.”
His aloofness was evident, yet what Jiang Yu feared most now was his composure.
When he remained calm and self-possessed, she found no opportunity to act.
“How thoughtful of you, husband. Let me assist you.” Stumbling after Pei Xiao, she rolled up her sleeves and began grinding the ink.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him, Jiang Yu added her feminine presence to the scholarly atmosphere.
Loose strands of her hair occasionally brushed against Pei Xiao’s arm, tickling like a cat’s caress.
Pei Xiao glanced at her sideways.
Jiang Yu looked up at him, her almond-shaped eyes shimmering with affection. “What is it, husband?”
Pei Xiao’s throat moved.
He wanted to say she was standing too close, their arms almost touching – how could he possibly copy Buddhist scriptures like this?
But then he remembered how he used to ask Jiang Yu to stand closer when he painted, so she could better appreciate his work.
Over time, he would naturally wrap his arm around her waist and ask, “How does this Rose of Sharon look?”
Her eyes would sparkle like starlight as she nodded: “Everything my husband paints is beautiful.”
He would smile then, his gaze fixed on the rise and fall of her collar, whispering in her ear: “Shall I paint one on Yu’er’s body tonight?”
“Husband, you’re teasing me again!” Jiang Yu’s cheeks would flush crimson as she buried her face in his chest.
After a long moment, she would murmur in a voice soft as a mosquito: “Be gentle.”
…
Pei Xiao’s mind grew dizzy. He took a deep breath, pulling himself back to the present.
Walking alone to the doorway, he let the breeze cool him before turning back to look at Jiang Yu, who stood frozen in place.
“This inkstone isn’t fine enough. I’ll find a better one.” Pei Xiao bowed slightly toward her before taking his leave.
Jiang Yu was completely bewildered.
Why had Pei Xiao suddenly transformed – both polite and distant?
Could it be…
He was already contemplating how to kill her?