The little incident passed quickly. Everyone simply acted as if nothing had happened, gathering around Zhao Yuling once more and continuing with laughter toward the garden.
Jiang Sui followed along at a leisurely pace, her brows slightly furrowed as she focused on wiping her hands, rubbing so hard that the small patch of fair skin turned completely red.
She had touched that bracelet earlier—now her hands carried its scent…
Xiao Lanxi cautiously sidled up to her, not noticing her somewhat obsessive movements, and asked curiously, “Third Sister, why do I feel like… Her Highness seems to be targeting you a bit?”
Jiang Sui’s wiping motion paused.
Hmm… Was it really that obvious? She had thought only she herself had noticed.
Thinking this, she merely looked up and smiled at Xiao Lanxi. “Really? I don’t think so. I accidentally dropped the bracelet, and Her Highness didn’t even get angry. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding?”
Xiao Lanxi looked at the carefree expression on the girl before her and gave a slight twitch of her lips before replying, “Alright.”
But she couldn’t help adding a word of caution: “Still, Third Sister, I think you should be more careful. It’d be best to keep your distance from her from now on.”
Jiang Sui curved her eyes in acknowledgment, then immediately turned the conversation to the newly planted black chrysanthemums in the garden, clearly not taking her words to heart.
Xiao Lanxi sighed silently in resignation. After thinking it over, she decided that even if something did happen, Pei Zhiyu would probably be able to handle it, so she stopped worrying.
Jiang Sui truly didn’t care much about what had just happened.
In fact, she was inexplicably a little pleased… that her intuition hadn’t been wrong.
So she hadn’t disliked this princess without reason after all.
While chatting idly with Xiao Lanxi, she lightly lifted her lashes and glanced toward Zhao Yuling, who was surrounded by a crowd not far away.
The Seventh Princess’s baseless hostility toward her could only be because of Pei Zhiyu.
After all, she had never met the princess before.
Jiang Sui couldn’t help furrowing her brows and letting out a small huff through her nose.
So he really had gotten himself entangled with someone. He’d said it was nothing that day—how annoying!
The chrysanthemum banquet ended without further incident. After it dispersed, Jiang Sui left the palace grounds and, sure enough, saw the marquis’s carriage waiting outside the palace gates.
A familiar figure in a green robe stood tall and straight beside the carriage, seeming to sense her presence as he looked in her direction.
Xiao Lanxi, perceptive as ever, immediately released her hold on Jiang Sui’s arm and said with a smile, “Third Sister, I’ll head back first then. We’ll meet again when we have time.”
Jiang Sui gave a soft smile and bid her farewell in a gentle voice. Only after watching her board the Xiao family’s carriage did she walk toward Pei Zhiyu.
“Did my husband wait long?”
“I just arrived not long ago.” Pei Zhiyu’s smile was warm. As she drew near, he took an imperceptible step forward to catch the fragrance on her. “How was the gathering today?”
He spoke while reaching for Jiang Sui’s hand to help her into the carriage.
Had Pei Zhiyu not brought it up, it might have been fine—but the moment he mentioned it, Jiang Sui was reminded of what had happened earlier.
Her smile faltered, and before she had even settled properly into the carriage, she pulled her hand back from his grasp.
Pei Zhiyu looked at his now-empty palm, the curve of his lips momentarily stiffening, his eyelids giving a faint tremble.
Suisui… what’s wrong?
Unease flooded his heart, his stomach seeming to clench.
“My lady,” he said, still gentle, his smile as composed as ever. He took an oil-paper bundle from his sleeve, carefully unwrapped it, and offered it to her. “The banquet ran long. I thought you might be hungry, so I bought some of your favorite pastries.”
A sweet fragrance drifted through the carriage. Jiang Sui’s gaze unconsciously fell upon the small bundle of pastries, her nose twitching slightly as her body instinctively leaned toward it.
Amusement flickered in Pei Zhiyu’s eyes as he leaned in to make it easier for her to take them.
Jiang Sui looked at the pastries, then at the jade-like gentleman across from her smiling so gently, and extended her hand halfway—only to abruptly pull it back.
Her husband was always like this. He was considerate to her, but he was just as thorough with everyone else.
They were husband and wife—shouldn’t it be different?
When he’d been with the princess that day, had he smiled like that too…?
She lowered her lashes, her voice subdued. “…I’m not hungry.”
Pei Zhiyu pressed his thin lips together, his chest feeling as though someone had gripped it. But he said nothing, simply tucking the bundle back into his sleeve as she’d indicated, and said softly, “That’s fine. We’ll have them when we get back.”
The unease in his heart swelled with each beat.
Why was Suisui acting so strangely the moment she returned? Had she heard something?
Had Xiao Lanxi learned something from Xiao Heng and told Suisui?
No… that shouldn’t be. Xiao Heng wasn’t the type to speak carelessly.
Who exactly had said something? That princess…?
The shadow in Pei Zhiyu’s heart grew steadily darker. His fingertips resting on his knee began to tap unconsciously, betraying a clear restlessness.
Jiang Sui said nothing either, twisting her sleeve as she stewed over the little knot in her heart.
The two returned to the estate in silence. Pei Zhiyu alighted first and turned back to help Jiang Sui down, only to see the young woman with her face set tight, lifting her skirts and hopping down on her own. Her flowing water-red sash trailed behind her like a koi fish, slipping right through his fingers.
Pei Zhiyu’s hand froze mid-air, then his fingers curled inward. He shifted to hover his hand at her lower back instead, taking the opportunity to step closer and catch the faint fragrance wafting from her.
His breath tightened, a dark glint passing through his eyes.
She had smiled and spoken with him so warmly when they first met—and now she wouldn’t even let him touch her hand.
What exactly happened at the banquet?
Pei Zhiyu suppressed the urge to pull her into his embrace, trailing half a step behind her. The hand hidden in his sleeve clenched tightly, knuckles cracking softly.
When they returned to Qiwu Court, Jiang Sui claimed she needed to change clothes first. Pei Zhiyu’s gaze lingered over the girl’s slightly tense and downcast face before he answered in a hoarse voice:
“Alright, I’ll wait outside. Call for me when you’re ready, my lady.”
Was Suisui unhappy because of him?
Or… the Seventh Princess?
“Chenbi.”
Pei Zhiyu stood in the corridor outside the room, his voice no longer carrying the gentleness he used with Jiang Sui:
“What happened at the banquet? Who did my wife speak with? Tell me everything, in full detail.”
At this moment, he was grateful that he had assigned Chenbi to accompany her to the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet as well.
While Chenbi reported in a soft voice, Jiang Sui inside was changing clothes with a listless expression.
Shiyue naturally knew why she was upset and whispered in persuasion:
“Miss, don’t be angry with the young lord anymore. He must not have known either. In the end, isn’t it all that person’s fault?”
Jiang Sui wrinkled her nose and said gloomily, “It’s not because of that.”
Shiyue was taken aback: “Then why is miss…”
Jiang Sui suddenly turned her head to look at her and said:
“Shiyue, if… if the princess truly does like my husband, why do you think that is?”
Shiyue was utterly confused and thought for a long while before answering: “Well… the young lord is handsome, distinguished in bearing, and gentle and refined. Perhaps it’s because of that?”
“Exactly. It’s because my husband is too good.”
Jiang Sui said softly, but her expression was utterly serious: “My husband is considerate and thorough with everyone, good to everyone, and the same to me. So then… as his wife, what difference is there between me and other people?”
“Clearly, my husband should treat me differently, be good only to me… only the best to me, and no one else.”
“So,” Jiang Sui pressed her palms together in front of her chest and said with utmost solemnity, “it’s all my husband’s fault for being too good.”
But… how could a person possibly be good to only one person?
Shiyue opened her mouth, feeling that her mistress’s thinking was both harsh and hard to comprehend, and could only force a reply:
“May… maybe.”