Pei Yu’s body stiffened at once. A flicker of panic flashed through his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. He opened his mouth as if to explain, only to let the words trail off into a murmur.
When he looked up, he met Cui Yaoning’s gaze.
Her expression was icy. Her beautiful, captivating eyes were devoid of any emotion, like a deep, motionless pool.
In all their years of marriage, when had Pei Yu ever seen her like this?
Outsiders claimed that Cui Yaoning of the Cui family was stunning and graceful, yet arrogant, domineering, and overbearing. They said she would seize whatever she desired and that no noble lady dared to contradict her.
Only Pei Yu knew that wasn’t true.
Yaoyao was a little spoiled and headstrong, but she was also easy to coax. Though they had quarrels after their marriage, they always reconciled quickly.
This was the first time she had ever looked at him with such indifference.
A chill crept into Pei Yu’s heart. His throat felt as though it were clogged, and he could not force out a single word of explanation.
Cui Yaoning let out a mocking laugh and raised her head to instruct the maid in the room, “Go and bring her here.”
Tao Shuang and Xingyu both knew whom she meant and went downstairs at once.
Pei Yu swallowed and finally spoke in a hoarse voice, “Yaoyao, this is my fault. It has nothing to do with her.”
Looking at his handsome face, Cui Yaoning felt a sudden stab of pain in her chest.
She was truly heartbroken.
Though she had grown up pampered and her life had always been smooth, she had sincerely liked Pei Yu and she still did.
But he had changed.
She remembered that summer when she was fifteen. The heat had been unbearable. They had planned to visit a temple outside the city to admire the newly blooming lotus flowers, but shortly after they set out, she fell ill from the heat.
She had felt disappointed and frustrated at breaking her promise.
At dusk, Pei Yu arrived, drenched from head to toe, holding a bundle of lotus flowers in his arms. His eyes shone brightly, as if filled with light.
“This is the finest branch in bloom at the temple,” he had said. “I had to beg the abbot for a long time before he allowed me to pick it.”
Even the heavy rain could not dispel the oppressive summer heat. Yet the sight of him standing there with those lotus flowers somehow quieted the entire room, and Cui Yaoning distinctly heard her heart pounding wildly.
Blushing, something rare for her, she had stammered, “Th… thank you.”
At that time, she truly believed she would grow old with Pei Yu.
Those memories replayed over and over in her mind. She could not understand why the boy who, at sixteen or seventeen, had said that marrying her was the greatest wish of his life, had become like this.
Though her heart was breaking, her face remained calm. “You know I would never stoop to violence.”
Pei Yu snapped out of his daze, his throat dry and tight.
Half an hour later, several maids and servants brought the woman in.
The moment she saw Pei Yu, she struggled free from their grasp and rushed toward him, calling out “Pei Lang” in a trembling voice. Pei Yu instinctively reached out to steady her, but then seemed to remember something. He hesitated and withdrew his hand.
Cui Yaoning asked evenly, “When did this happen?”
Meeting her cold gaze, Pei Yu forced the words out with difficulty.
“Four months ago…”
Cui Yaoning’s lips curved faintly.
Two months ago, on her birthday, Pei Yu had hurried back from Yangzhou. That evening, they went together to the temple, where the abbot permitted them to light an everlasting lamp beneath the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in the rear courtyard.
Pei Yu had stood by the stone table under the tree and written his wish on the ever-burning lamp.
She had leaned in to look. It read, “May you be safe and sound every year.”
Thinking about it now, it all seemed ridiculous.
Cui Yaoning did not wish to dwell on the matter any further. Her gaze shifted to the mistress, who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old. She wore a light green dress, her belly slightly rounded. Her face resembled a blooming peach blossom, cheeks flushed with rosy color. Upon closer inspection, her brows and eyes did indeed bear some resemblance to Cui Yaoning’s.
Ruiniang was also staring at her.
Cui Yaoning, renowned as the most beautiful woman in Luoyang since she came of age.
She had been frail since birth, weighing less than three pounds when she was born. Sickly and delicate as a child, she rarely went out, which left her complexion pale and fine. Her illness only accentuated that pallor, rendering her skin as white as snow. Yet her features were exceptionally radiant, brilliant and resplendent like a peony in full bloom. Reclining as she was now, she seemed even more alluring, so captivating that it almost felt improper to look at her for long.
Ruiniang lowered her head in embarrassment.
Some had said she bore a resemblance to the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, but she knew that was far from the truth. She was nowhere near comparable.
Cui Yaoning withdrew her assessing gaze and said calmly, “Pei Yu, you know my temperament. Since you cannot keep the promises you once made to me, there is no longer any possibility between us. Let us divorce.”
Pei Yu looked up in shock, clearly not expecting matters to escalate to this point. He stepped forward abruptly. “I can explain, Yaoyao. Let me explain—”
He admitted he had made a mistake.
He had never intended to do anything with Ruiniang. But he could not bear to see a woman who somewhat resembled Yaoyao being mistreated.
Especially her eyes, slightly similar to hers, when they gazed at him with tenderness and affection.
Yaoyao would never look at him that way. She was the legitimate daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe, proud and spoiled in her dealings with others, willful even with him. If he displeased her, she would simply have him thrown out without hesitation.
Ruiniang’s gentleness had nearly intoxicated him.
And yet, Cui Yaoning had always been completely devoted to him.
Even so, he had never planned to take Ruiniang as a concubine. It was the county magistrate who had drugged him, causing him to mistake Ruiniang for Yaoyao and commit this error.
When he awoke, he was at a loss. When he tried to send Ruiniang away, he discovered she was already pregnant. With no alternative, he had no choice but to bring her back.
He had intended to wait for the right moment to tell Yaoyao, but he had never expected her to find out first.
A sharp pain pierced Cui Yaoning’s chest. She pressed her hand against it, steadying herself. “Give me the divorce papers.”
Bitterness filled Pei Yu’s throat as he asked hoarsely, “Yaoyao, do you truly not care at all about the bond between us as husband and wife?”
“Marital bond?” Cui Yaoning laughed softly, her voice dripping with mockery. “Pei Yu, are you even worthy of speaking to me of that?”
Pei Yu clenched his fists, turned his face away, and said in a low voice, “Yaoyao, abandon that thought. I will not allow you to leave me.”
Cui Yaoning no longer wished to argue. “Tao Shuang, call Nanny Zhang. Tell them to write a letter home and ask my brother to send someone to fetch me.”
“Yes,” Tao Shuang replied, preparing to leave.
“Wait,” Pei Yu called out. He turned to Cui Yaoning, his voice heavy. “Yaoyao, you were unwell. I did not wish to tell you, fearing it would upset you too greatly—”
He spoke slowly. For some reason, a sudden sense of uneasiness seized Cui Yaoning. “What do you mean?”
Pei Yu looked at her and said solemnly, each word deliberate:
“At midnight yesterday, the Crown Prince secretly practiced witchcraft in an attempt to seize the throne. Crown Princess Cui and all the concubines of the Eastern Palace were executed. The entire implicated clan has been annihilated. The women within three generations have been reduced to prostitutes, and the men have been exiled three thousand miles away.”