When Li Rong's men quietly sneaked into the Pei household, Pei Wenxuan was standing in front of a basin of clear water, quietly looking at his own appearance.
He had actually come back to life.
He looked at himself in disbelief. He was almost twenty years old. But his many years in the imperial court had taught him to restrain his emotions. Even if his heart was turned upside down, he still maintained a calm expression.
His attendant, Dong Ye, looked at him with trepidation and whispered, "Young Master, are you alright?"
He had been in a daze since he woke up early in the morning and asked him what day it was. Although Pei Wenxuan usually didn't like to talk, he was rarely so silent. Dong Ye couldn't help but feel a little afraid. He continued, "Young Master, if you're not feeling well, I'll go get a doctor for you."
Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan finally looked up. After replying with a "no need", he washed his face and directly went out.
He walked out of the courtyard, and Dong Ye hurriedly followed. After a while, he finally said, "Young Master, if you have something to say, don't keep it to yourself. Perhaps you'll feel better if you say it out loud. Miss Qin came to break off the engagement. You can't blame her. She's also sincere to you, but … "
"Say no more."
Seeing Dong Ye talking more and more, Pei Wenxuan stopped and turned his head to tell Dong Ye, "Don't mention this matter in the future."
As he spoke, he stood outside the courtyard with his hands folded in his sleeves, looking at the distant tower in the palace city.
The tower towered into the clouds, with red paint and golden tiles. Copper bells hung under the eaves, jingling when the wind blew. It was exactly as he remembered.
When he was in the Prime Minister's residence, he liked to stand in the courtyard and look up at the tower in the distance. Now, this habit seemed to have been preserved. Looking at the tower now, his heart slowly calmed down and he began to think about his situation.
He remembered that when he was 20 years old, he had just finished mourning in his hometown and returned to Huajing. His second uncle controlled the Pei family, and his mother was weak and easily bullied. She always claimed that she was sick to avoid trouble. Although he was the most logical successor of the Pei family, he was ostracized by his family. As the eldest son of the Pei family, he could only be a small prison guard in the Ministry of Justice.
The current date should be right after his engagement was annulled.
When his father was still alive, he arranged a marriage between him and Qin Zhenzhen, the daughter of his family friend from the Qin Clan. The marriage was decided at an early age, so there wasn't any formal ceremony. They exchanged jade pendants, and the marriage was settled. As a result, he and Qin Zhenzhen had known each other since they were young, and he wholeheartedly wanted to marry Qin Zhenzhen.
His father had passed away when he was young, and the Qin Family was on good terms with his Second Uncle, Pei Lixian. Therefore, it was reasonable for Qin Zhenzhen to annul the betrothal.
The engagement back then wasn't formal enough, so annulling it was simple. After returning the keepsake, he didn't even write a letter. He left some money and left.
Of course, he didn't blame Qin Zhenzhen. He didn't have the ability, so there was no reason for him to blame a woman.
What happened after that?
Pei Wenxuan tried hard to remember.
Later, it was probably because of his awkward status that the Emperor took a liking to him and betrothed him to Li Rong.
With Li Rong's current status, it would be embarrassing for her to marry a poor son, and the whole world would talk about it. However, if she was married to a prestigious family, it would be like adding wings to a tiger, and the Emperor would have no choice but to fear her. Pei Wenxuan looked noble, but he had no future. He was the most suitable candidate for Li Rong.
After becoming the Emperor's son-in-law, the Pei family began to value him again, and he finally had a real backer in the imperial court.
According to the time, the marriage decree should be issued soon. If he could do it all over again, he would still have to marry Li Rong.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He and Li Rong were enemies in their previous lives.
They had worked together for a lifetime, and they had been suspicious of each other for a lifetime. He originally thought that Li Rong would treat him as a friend, even if they weren't husband and wife. He didn't expect that in the end, in the face of power, she would still kill him without batting an eye.
However, if he died, she wouldn't be able to live either.
She gave him a sharp sword, and he gave her a bowl of poison to pierce her intestines.
They never owed each other anything, and their lives were the same.
People's resentment was nothing more than injustice. In the past thirty years, there was nothing unfair about them. His heart belonged to someone, and she had people by her side. She gave him a sword, and he gave her poison.
Thinking about it this way, even if she killed him, he wouldn't have much resentment. Now that he had to do it all over again, he didn't feel much resentment when he thought about marrying Li Rong again.
He couldn't help but think about it.
The 18-year-old Li Rong was still a little naive and kind. She would occasionally blush when she saw him. She lifted her veil and looked up at him with a sincere smile. She took the wine cup and said to him, "Pei Wenxuan, no matter why we got together, since we are husband and wife, I still want to spend the rest of my life with you."
If he didn't let Li Rong find out that he cared about Qin Zhenzhen in this lifetime, or if he didn't care about Qin Zhenzhen in this lifetime, she wouldn't have been so angry, she wouldn't have separated from him, and she wouldn't have met Su Yongqing …
Perhaps they could still be an ordinary couple and grow old together.
He was tired of the suspicion and conflict in his previous life. If he could, he also wanted to have an ordinary family and live a peaceful life.
As for Qin Zhenzhen …
In his previous life, he couldn't ask for anything, so he protected her for a lifetime. In this lifetime, the responsibility was greater than love, and the regret was greater than missing her. Since it was fated that they couldn't be together, then so be it.
After thinking it through, Pei Wenxuan calmed down. He turned his head and said to Dong Ye, "Let's go back."
He didn't need to do anything now. He just needed to wait for the imperial edict.
However, he waited in his room for a few days. The imperial edict didn't come, but an invitation to Princess Ping L E's spring banquet was sent to his residence.
Ping L E was Li Rong's title. Looking at the fancy invitation, Pei Wenxuan felt a little uneasy. He frowned and couldn't help but think — in his previous life, he had attended Li Rong's spring banquet. Was it because he was too old and had lost his memory, or was reality out of line with his memories?
While Pei Wenxuan was at home trying to figure out what was going on with the spring banquet, Li Rong was in the palace, happily making arrangements for the spring banquet.
She liked this kind of lively occasion. When she was young, she thought it was noisy. Now that she was older, she realized that the elderly liked to watch the young people make noise.
This made her feel full of youthful energy!
In addition to making arrangements for the spring banquet, she had a lot of things to do.
First, she went to pick out a new pile of clothes. She sent all the black and white cold-colored clothes she used to keep at the bottom of the box. She specially got some red and gold colored clothes, which made her look radiant and beautiful!
Then, she copied all the maintenance procedures from her previous life. Every day, from morning to night, she massaged, bathed, and applied fragrant ointment. She didn't miss a single detail and fully enjoyed the beauty of being a princess.
Finally, when she was free, she had to listen to the Jing Lan report the four young masters' itineraries.
Every day, Lu Yu squatted at home and counted ants. She had already counted two ant nests and made good friends with ants.
Recently, Yang Quan got into a fight at the military training ground and sent three of his colleagues to the medical center. Then, he was beaten to the bed by his father and had been crawling in bed for two days.
Recently, Cui Yulang was in high spirits at the brothel and wrote 30 poems, which were well received.
As for Pei Wenxuan, he went to work every day and practiced calligraphy. At a young age, he had become a retired official of the imperial court. The strangest thing was that he always stood in front of his house, as if he was waiting for something.
Of course, in the end, he successfully waited for her invitation to the spring banquet.
"Heaven really rewards those who wait." Li Rong was soaking in the petal pool and listening to the Jing Lan's report. He couldn't help but ask, "At that time, was he surprised? Did he ever think that he, an eighth-rank official, would receive an invitation from Princess Ping L? Was he crazy with joy? "
"No." Jing Lan's expression was calm. "At that time, Lord Pei's expression wasn't very good. The servant next to him, Dong Ye, asked him how he received the invitation and if it was sent to the wrong person."
"What did he say?"
"Lord Pei said," Jing Lan said methodically, "The invitation wasn't sent to the wrong person. He's good-looking, so the invitation must have been sent to him by you."
Upon hearing this, Li Rong couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of water.
For the first time, she knew that Pei Wenxuan was so confident about his looks.
However, Li Rong soon had some doubts. How did Pei Wenxuan know that she liked good-looking people?
Li Rong kept this question in her heart.
Time passed very quickly. Li Rong felt that she had just adapted to life in Changle Palace when the spring banquet arrived.
On the first day of the spring banquet, she went to her courtyard in the suburbs in advance and missed the schedule of the other aristocratic families in the capital the next day. On the morning of the second day, the young masters and young ladies of the aristocratic families came one after another. Outside the courtyard, there was an endless stream of luxurious carriages and precious horses. Each family's carriage was luxurious and exquisite, accompanied by servants. It looked very dignified.
After a while, two jade carriages came one after the other. The carriage in front had the character "Su" carved in jade, while the carriage in the back had the character "Pei" carved in jade.
When the two great Huajing families came one after the other, everyone made way for them.
After a while, the carriages came to a stop. A person from the Su Family's carriage came out first. That person was dressed in a white brocade robe with a jade hairpin tied to his crown. His features were handsome and elegant, and his temperament was elegant and moving.
As soon as he appeared, someone hurriedly called out, "Young Master Su, you also came!"
"The Princess invited me," Su Yongqing opened his mouth and said with a smile, "How could I not come?"
As he spoke, he got off the carriage and had the servants quickly make way for the carriage behind.
As soon as Su Yongqing appeared, everyone gathered together and chatted with Su Yongqing. When Pei Wenxuan got off the carriage, not many people paid attention to him.
Pei Wenxuan got off the carriage by himself. When he heard Su Yongqing's voice, he couldn't help but raise his head to take a look.
This was the person who had accompanied Li Rong for the past twenty years. He didn't like him.
His disgust for Su Yongqing was almost instinctive.
After all, even if he and Li Rong had made it clear that they each had their own lives, Su Yongqing was still a challenge to his dignity, just like how Qin Zhenzhen was to Li Rong.
This kind of disgust had nothing to do with love, but the dignity in his heart.
However, this was already his next life. Pei Wenxuan felt that it was irrational to fuss over the matters of his previous life. He quickly turned his head and led Dong Ye into the courtyard.
Although Su Yongqing was talking to someone, his footsteps didn't stop. He walked into the courtyard with Pei Wenxuan one after the other.
At this time, Li Rong had also woken up. She had finished dressing and was yawning as she rushed to the courtyard where the main banquet was being held. Just as she reached the entrance of the courtyard, she heard a familiar voice.
That voice had changed a little, but it was still engraved in her heart.
She was so familiar with that voice that she subconsciously turned her head.
Then, she saw two people in front of her.
One was wearing a white robe and a jade crown, standing with a smile. The other was wearing a blue robe and a golden crown, looking at her in a daze.
One of them was elegant and gentle, while the other was handsome and upright. The two of them stood not far from each other. It could be said that they were stunning.
Li Rong looked at the two of them and was stunned for a moment. At this time, Su Yongqing was the first to regain his senses. He bowed to Li Rong. Between his lips and teeth, he repeated the words he had said countless times in the past.
"This humble subject Su Yongqing greets Your Highness."
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