Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In my previous life, even when Pei Ying and Pei You were at each other’s throats, he had still been willing to step in and rescue me, his younger sister-in-law, from embarrassment.

If I became his wife in this life, perhaps that would not be so bad.

At least…

At least he would not stand coldly by when I was being mocked.

Then I thought of Elder Sister and my future brother-in-law’s wedding date, which had been postponed again and again.

I paused, then picked up my brush and began writing a reply to Pei Ying.

“I am willing to marry you!”

“If possible, please come to my family home to propose in three days.”

There were no lingering, lovesick words.

I told Pei Ying, plainly and directly, that I was willing to marry him.

Elder Sister stood beside me.

She stared at the clumsy, rounded characters I had written, one after another, and said through gritted teeth,

“That Pei Ying only showed his face once, and he won our Suisui’s heart. He really has stumbled into incredible luck.”

Looking at Elder Sister’s bright, lively features, I pressed my lips together and smiled faintly.

Now, Elder Sister should finally be at ease.

Presumably, she would no longer sneak into my room in the dead of night and lie beside my bed, crying in secret.

Whether in my previous life or this one,

she had always feared that once she married, I would be bullied in the Ming Mansion.

Ming Sui’s letter was delivered to the Yongning Marquis Manor.

Pei Ying’s young servant tucked the letter against his chest and hurried toward his courtyard.

These past few days, Pei Ying had asked again and again whether a letter had arrived from the young lady of the Ming Mansion.

After waiting and longing for it, the letter had finally arrived today.

The servant moved quickly through the garden, thinking he had to get the letter to the Heir Apparent as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, a fierce gust of wind rose along the way.

The thin sheet of paper was swept away, spinning several times in the air before drifting down to the ground.

The servant hurried to pick it up.

But someone else beat him to it.

The letter was lifted delicately between the fingers of the manor’s Second Young Master, Pei You.

Amid the servant’s startled cry, Pei You opened it.

The letter had only two lines.

Very short.

Pei You laughed as soon as he read it and muttered to himself,

“Now you’re saying you’re willing to marry me?”

“Hmph. Well, I don’t want to marry you.”

“And you want me to come propose in three days?”

“Ming Sui, even if you wait until dark three days from now, I won’t go!”

“I’d like to see who else would be willing to marry you besides me.”

With that, he tossed the letter down, flicked his folding fan, and left in high spirits.

He walked off too quickly and too hastily.

Thus, he did not hear the servant say,

“Second Young Master, you’ve misunderstood. This is our Heir Apparent’s letter…”

No bluebird carried word beyond the clouds; lilacs knotted their sorrow in the rain.

These past few days, Pei Ying had been unable to calm his heart.

He was afraid he would never receive Ming Sui’s letter.

He was also afraid that if he did receive one, it would be a polite refusal.

More than that, he feared he would miss her again in this life.

Suddenly, the servant’s voice rang out from the courtyard.

“Heir Apparent! Heir Apparent! A letter came today from the Ming family’s second young lady.”

She had finally written back?

Pei Ying could not wait. With one leap, he vaulted out through the window lattice.

He strode quickly to the servant’s side and snatched the letter from his hand.

Then, with trembling fingers, he unfolded the paper.

“I am willing to marry you!”

“If possible, please come to my family home to propose in three days.”

Only two short lines.

Pei Ying repeated them over and over in his heart.

At last, he pointed at the letter, as if he could hardly believe it, and sought confirmation from the servant beside him.

“She is willing to marry me?”

“Is that right?”

“I didn’t read it wrong?”

The letter was shoved right before the servant’s eyes.

The servant saw the two lines of rounded, clumsy characters.

Unable to help himself, he read aloud,

“I am willing to marry you!”

“If possible, please come to my family home to propose in three days.”

Then he looked up and met the Heir Apparent’s expectant gaze.

The servant nodded firmly.

“Yes. Second Miss Ming is willing to marry you. You didn’t read it wrong.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the servant saw the usually aloof and steady Heir Apparent break into a foolish, wildly delighted smile.

“Hahahaha, wonderful. Suisui is willing to marry me…”

The servant knew Pei Ying had long been deeply in love with Second Miss Ming.

He also grinned happily.

“Yes. Our manor is going to have a wife for the Heir Apparent.”

As soon as he said that, he suddenly remembered what had happened while he was carrying the letter.

Frowning, the servant recounted his encounter with Pei You from beginning to end.

When Pei Ying heard the servant vividly imitate Pei You’s words-

“I’d like to see who else would be willing to marry you besides me.”

Pei Ying laughed in anger.

In the previous life, if Ming Hui had not been in such a hurry to find a way out for Suisui,

what right would a fool like Pei You have had to marry her?

And after marrying her, he had not even cherished her.

He had worn her down for years.

In the end, he had even caused her to lose her life.

At the thought, Pei Ying wished he could drink his blood and devour his flesh.

A chilling aura radiated from him.

The servant beside him was so frightened he held his breath.

After a long while, the servant hesitated, then asked haltingly,

“Then… should we still explain to the Second Young Master that the letter wasn’t meant for him?”

“From what I saw, the Second Young Master seems to have misunderstood something.”

The Heir Apparent and the Second Young Master had never gotten along.

The Second Young Master resented the Heir Apparent for being more learned than him.

He also resented that Pei Ying had been born earlier and taken the position of Heir Apparent from him.

But they were, after all, brothers born of the same father and mother.

If the Second Young Master only found out afterward that this letter had not been meant for him,

he would probably come looking to make trouble for the Heir Apparent.

Their brotherly bond would only worsen.

That was what the servant thought.

But Pei Ying’s tone was indifferent.

“Didn’t you tell him?”

“He didn’t hear it himself.”

“Who can he blame?”

Before he and Suisui were successfully married,

it would be best if Pei You knew nothing at all.

Standing beside his slow-witted servant, Pei Ying thought this with an expressionless face.