It smells so good. We are deeply devoted to each other.
“Sir, all the items have been tallied!”
Yuan Rong put his all into marching inside, before Chun Jian could even stop him, only to meet his young master’s gloomy gaze, which looked as though it wanted to strip his skin off.
Terrifying.
Pei Ji sighed lightly, poking the little mute’s dimple with a touch of regret. The little dimple had already hidden itself away, but the outer rims of his ears had turned bright red.
“Since everything is packed up, let’s go home.” Pei Ji said, casting an assessing glance at the furnishings within the bedchamber.
It looked as though the items here had been deliberately arranged today just to put on a show for the occasion. Since that was the case, he would accept them without any false modesty.
“Empty this bedchamber out completely as well.”
Following Pei Ji’s command, in less than no time, He Zhile’s small courtyard was left spotless, with only the tables, chairs, and benches remaining.
After exchanging parting words with the He family, they returned home with full loads.
Looking at the empty courtyard, even He Hong’an hadn’t expected Pei Ji to pull such a petty stunt. It was a pity, really, about those furnishings he had purposefully ordered people to add.
Back at the Pei residence.
They happened to run into his father and elder brothers just returning from morning court at the front gates.
Everyone knew that Pei Ji and He Zhile were making up for their delayed return to the bride’s home today. They had left carrying quite a few things, so how was it that they were bringing back even more?
He Zhile obediently lowered his body in a greeting.
Pei Xiao waved a hand at him, then glanced sideways at Pei Ji, raising an eyebrow as he asked, “My boy, did you go to the He family to freeload? You certainly have a knack for it.”
Pei Su, standing off to the side, couldn’t help laughing, saying softly, “How is the fourth one freeloading? He’s clearly pillaging!”
“We won’t even mention that old fogey He Hong’an. I’ve simply retrieved the dowry that was wrongfully withheld from my Ah Zhi!” Pei Ji said, not without a hint of triumph, before asking, “Why are you back so early today?”
Pei Su’s expression revealed a mix of helplessness and indulgence as he smiled, “Your third brother claimed he was feeling unwell, and father happened to have an upset stomach, so I petitioned the Emperor to bring them home to recuperate first.”
Hearing this, Pei Ji looked over at his father and third brother Pei Ding. One stood tall and robust as an ox, while the other had a cold, placid expression like calm water. Where on earth was there any sign of illness?
That said, it wasn’t appropriate to continue chatting idly at the estate gates. If passersby happened to catch them, they might end up being laughed at for having a home they dared not enter.
As they walked toward the inner courtyards, they listened to the second brother recount the day’s court affairs. Back and forth, it was just the same old routine, nothing fresh at all.
Instead, they found themselves amused by Pei Ji’s antics of the day, continually giving him thumbs-up gestures.
“Speaking of which, you seem to have grown quite a bit lately.” Pei Su patted his shoulder with a smile, glancing toward He Zhile, who was watching the servants move things in the distance. “Finally discovered the other person’s good points?”
Pei Ji let out a couple of hums. “I didn’t even need to discover them; he was always good to begin with. It was just me being thick-headed in the past and causing him to suffer those grievances. He had a hard enough time in the He family; if he had to face hardship in the Pei residence as well.”
He couldn’t bear to imagine how miserable the little mute would feel.
If she had known of such a plight, the little mute’s mother would surely have been frantic with worry.
Pei Su curved his lips, his expression exceptionally gentle. “As long as you understand this, even giving him a shred of pity would be enough for him to live out his days in peace. There are no other women in the household; you should let him share tea with mother more often.”
“No matter, he’s fine just staying obediently where he is.” Pei Ji smiled. He didn’t harbor any grand expectations or demands toward the little mute.
He only wanted him to live well and get by peacefully.
Pei Su raised a brow in slight surprise, but said nothing more. After all, his fourth younger brother was already a married man, and these matters were naturally his to sort out.
“Then you.”
“I won’t chat with you anymore, he’s urging me!” Leaving behind this sentence and his second brother standing by the pavilion, Pei Ji spun around and sprinted toward He Zhile, who had kept his back to them the whole time.
Pei Su’s smile stiffened. That little thing hadn’t even looked at them once, had he?
Hearing footsteps approach from behind, He Zhile instinctively turned his head, only to be caught in an embrace from behind by Pei Ji. His face instantly flushed crimson, and forget about struggling. He didn’t even dare to move.
“Getting impatient waiting for me? I’ll escort you back to the Qing Courtyard right now.” Pei Ji bent down, resting his chin against He Zhile’s shoulder. As he spoke, he tilted his head to take a sniff, looking somewhat intoxicated. “You smell so good.”
He Zhile’s cheeks burned as bright as evening clouds, and for a moment he didn’t even know what to say. This was all thanks to the scented hair-washing water Chun Jian had prepared.
“Ah.”
The breath brushed against the sensitive skin of his neck, causing him to shrink inward involuntarily.
Pei Ji’s eyes crinkled into smiles, his tone laced with playful teasing. “You’ll have to let me use some of that scented hair water too. We need to radiate the exact same fragrance so outsiders will know how deeply devoted we are to each other. How about it?”
“Ah.” He Zhile nodded gently.
Such a trivial matter was, of course, entirely fine.
The smile on Pei Ji’s face deepened as he half-urged him along, walking briskly toward the Qing Courtyard. The moment they stepped into the courtyard, however, they were greeted by boxes piled all over the ground, leaving him momentarily dazed.
“Your mother actually left you this much dowry? They almost all got swallowed up by that old hag Zhuang. If you hadn’t insisted, she probably would have kept them for those two idiots of hers!” Pei Ji wore a smiling expression, though his eyes flashed with bone-chilling coldness.
He casually flipped open a casket to inspect its contents. Although the little mute was a young ge’er, his mother had clearly prepared a generous amount of gold, silver, jewelry, and ornaments. After all, these things could all be converted into hard cash.
Hm?
Pei Ji spotted an ornate hair-clasp fashioned like a phoenix. Its delicate feathers were woven from gold wire, its seven-colored tail tipped with bright eastern pearls, and its beak clenching a luminous pearl.
It looked lavish indeed, though not entirely uncommon.
What surprised Pei Ji, however, was that he had seen this exact item in his past life.
In his past life, he had never paid attention to the little mute, nor did he know that his dowry had failed to follow him into the Pei residence. After all, the Pei family had never cared about such things, let alone thought of making a living off a wife’s dowry, so he naturally remained ignorant of the whole affair.
Yet thinking back on it now, the little mute had never once mentioned this matter in his past life, nor had he ever made a fuss with the He family. So who had helped him get his dowry back in that previous life?
At this thought, Pei Ji couldn’t help feeling somewhat unsettled.
“Ahem!” Pei Ji cleared his throat tactically, casually fiddling with the jewelry while asking with exaggerated nonchalance, “Speaking of which, it seems I’ve never heard of you having any other friends? If you have time to spare, gathering with them might be nice.”
Wasn’t that a remarkably magnanimous thing to say?
He Zhile nibbled his lower lip slightly. Was this a deliberate insult?
A mute like him, unable even to speak, who would ever be willing to be friends with someone like him?
Pei Ji was monitoring his expression closely the entire time, and seeing him instantly grow downcast, he abruptly realized he had misspoken. He scrambled to remedy the situation. “Don’t misunderstand. I just figured that since we’ve been married for a month now, it’s about time to see some friends, and I was worried you might feel cooped up at court. If you want to go out, we can go together.”
He Zhile, however, shook his head hesitatingly. If he went out, he would likely become the butt of the joke, and worse, he might drag Pei Ji down to be ridiculed as well.
The other man didn’t like him to begin with. Now that their relationship had finally eased up, he certainly didn’t want to stir up any more trouble.
“Fine then, we’ll talk about going out whenever you feel like it.” Pei Ji pinched his ear, the solid warmth of the touch making him feel much more grounded inside.
“Ah.” He Zhile acknowledged softly.
The dowry boxes were quickly moved back into the storehouse, and the inventory lists were collected by Chun Jian for easy cross-referencing later.
As the two returned to the room to rest, surrounded by familiar surroundings, He Zhile finally relaxed a bit. But no sooner had he caught his breath than he remembered what his second brother, Pei Su, had said earlier.
He tugged gently on Pei Ji’s sleeve, raising his head to look at him with a worried expression.
[Shouldn’t we go check on Father and Third Brother?]
Since they had felt unwell enough to ask for leave from morning court and return home, they must have been suffering quite a bit. It wouldn’t do for Pei Ji not to go check on them.
Pei Ji pondered for a moment. “Alright, I’ll go take a look. You rest here for now, and just tell them whatever you’d like to eat for lunch.”
“Ah.” He Zhile nodded gently. Chun Jian could handle all of those things anyway.
With He Zhile settled, Pei Ji headed over to the east wing.
Perhaps because they had summoned the estate doctor ahead of time, by the time he arrived, the old physician was already in the middle of taking his father’s and brother’s pulses.
The old doctor’s withered, bony fingers rested on his father’s wrist, his drooping eyelids shut tight, his gray eyebrows knitted heavily together. His free hand stroked his beard from time to time, occasionally accompanied by a heavy sigh.
Pei Ji’s heart instantly leapt into his throat. Although in his past life his father’s and brothers’ health had had no issues, he couldn’t be certain whether his own rebirth had scrambled and disrupted everything.
If that really was the case, he couldn’t afford to take this lightly.
“Sigh.” The old physician let out a soft sigh, his raspy voice breaking the silence. “General, put your mind at ease. Eat whatever you wish to eat, and do whatever you wish to do!”
Crack.
For a split second, Pei Ji felt as though he heard the sound of his own molars shattering.
He lunged forward fiercely, grabbing the old physician by the collar. “You old codger, spouting nonsense again! See if I don’t knock out your remaining teeth so you can only drink watery gruel from now on!”
“What are you making a fuss about?!” Qin Yurong scolded with a frown. “Your temper is getting more and more explosive!”
“Yunzhou,” Pei Su called out softly, his voice carrying a trace of quiet displeasure and restraint. “Apologize at once.”
Pei Ji arched one brow high, but still released the old physician, let out a long breath, smoothed down the man’s lapels, and offered an apologetic bow.
Having served in the Pei household for all these years, the physician was well acquainted with the temperaments of the Pei family members, especially this fourth young master, whose personality was exceptionally fiery. Though deep down, he wasn’t a bad person.
Once the physician had finished taking pulses and asking diagnostic questions, there was nothing more to do. These matters weren’t things he could meddle in anyway. It was better to let the master of the house sort it out themselves. He was just a doctor there to diagnose ailments, and as long as he fulfilled his duty, that was enough.
Both Pei Xiao and Pei Ding wore somewhat sickly complexions, making it difficult for Pei Ji to continue kicking up a fuss. Still, he remained skeptical of the physician’s words. Things couldn’t possibly be that serious.
“Just do whatever the doctor says and don’t overthink it.” Qin Yurong patted her husband’s hand, her expression full of concern. “Just take this time to rest properly at home, and leave the court affairs temporarily to Jingxing.”
Pei Su nodded immediately. “Understood.”
“I’m heading back to rest.”
Pei Ding gave a couple of dry coughs, a hint of feverish flush crossing his face, before dropping those brief words and turning away.
Pei Ji clicked his tongue lightly. “Third brother’s stubborn temper.”
“Yunzhou,” Pei Su smiled faintly.
“Third brother, I meant third brother.”
Too lazy to listen to their bickering, Qin Yurong waved a hand to dismiss them, and Pei Ji and Pei Su lingered no longer.
As they stepped out of the east wing courtyard, Pei Ji paused in his tracks and turned his head to look at Pei Su. “Ah, Second Brother, Father and Third Brother aren’t actually sick, are they?”
Pei Su stared at him in silence for a moment, then reached out to press a hand against his forehead, murmuring, “I suspect you’ve fallen ill too, talking nonsense like this.”
Pei Ji: (blank)