---

Chapter 48 – Returning Home
Pei Shang felt this was the happiest time of his entire life…

His tear-filled, pitiful appearance made Yu Mingyao shake his head repeatedly, unable to bear looking directly at him. As usual, he gave Pei Shang a stern warning not to bully Yu Mingyao, and only then turned to leave.

The others around them were tactful enough to quietly withdraw early on, leaving this small world to the engaged couple alone.

As the footsteps faded and the sliding door closed with a grating sound, the grand flower hall suddenly had only Yu Mingyao and Pei Shang left inside.

It was only at this moment that Yu Mingyao suddenly realized: the days she hadn’t seen Pei Shang were just as long as those she hadn’t seen Xie Zhuoguang.

The man before her, though dressed no differently from usual and doing his best to act spirited and cheerful, pretending he had no grievances whatsoever—
—but sincerity, once misplaced, always leaves traces.

The always free-spirited and slightly roguish young master of a noble family now had drooping eyelids and a mouth sulking as if it could hang an oil jug.

“Aren’t you coming over?”

Yu Mingyao chuckled softly upon seeing him.

That soft laugh instantly unlocked all the feelings Pei Shang had held back for so long. After glancing at her faintly, his footsteps became the fastest of all.

Yu Mingyao only felt a gust of wind sweep past, and the next moment she was tightly embraced by a hot, sturdy man.

She wasn’t tall, just reaching Pei Shang’s shoulder. It was effortless for Pei Shang to rest his chin in the crook of her neck and completely envelop her in his arms.

“So fragrant… Sister, you’re so fragrant…”

Yu Mingyao thought Pei Shang would start voicing the grievances of being neglected these past days, accuse her of being heartless, and say how sad he’d been. But as soon as Pei Shang embraced her, his face was filled only with satisfaction and contentment.

He was like a clumsy young man who had never touched a woman, yet also like an infatuated fool who might make ordinary girls uneasy.

His cold hair swept back and forth at the junction of her neck and chin.

Like someone who hadn’t smelled a thing in 800 lifetimes, he closed his eyes tightly and nuzzled and inhaled at the hollow of her neck.

If he’d gone further it might have been easier to accept, but instead his hands remained proper, his lips too—without crossing a single line. Yet his unfamiliar, warm breath brushed all her sensitive spots.

Pei Shang might have been fine, but Yu Mingyao couldn’t take it anymore.

Blushing, she pushed Pei Shang away and turned her back on him as if fleeing, tidying the hair by her temples.

“Sister Mingyao…”

Pei Shang was still confused as to why she suddenly turned away, but his eyes were immediately caught by the blush spreading across her snowy cheeks.

He thought those two rosy patches looked beautiful. He didn’t think much beyond that. He even leaned closer to her ear, wanting to admire her more clearly.

Yu Mingyao’s body softened under his touch, her push-and-pull attitude surfacing.

Her shy and tender appearance nearly melted Pei Shang’s heart.

“So beautiful… My sister is so beautiful.”

His heartbeat pounded wildly in his chest. Gathering courage from who knows where, Pei Shang stretched out his arms, wrapped them around her waist from behind, and pressed his chest tightly to her back.

Where their skin touched, it felt like fire.

—

The northern wind howled. Before the first snowflake fell, the Yu family finally set off again to return home.

Now that the marriage had been set, it was no longer appropriate to stay in the Pei residence.

Everyone understood this clearly. Their polite words of retention were only for formality’s sake.

After all, their statuses were different now. Compared to last time, this farewell was much more grand and formal, with many more people involved.

Everything else was fine, but whenever Yu Mingyao thought of Pei Yuzhu, still confined at the manor, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Madam Zhen, standing beside the Pei matriarch in the middle of the crowd, noticed Yu Mingyao’s hesitation and smiled gently.
“If not for the busyness of preparing a wedding, I truly wouldn’t bear to have you leave for so long. If you’re worried, shall we have Shang’er escort you?”

Pretending not to see Pei Shang’s eyes suddenly light up, she ruthlessly exposed him, saying,
“After all, someone has been plotting for a long time behind the scenes—he’s even calculated how many days delay there’d be if snow blocks the road on the return journey. There’s no controlling him; just let him go.”

“Mother, you—!”

Before Pei Shang could protest, everyone burst into laughter. His face flushed bright red. But before he could refute further, Madam Zhen waved her hand, and seven or eight black-clad guards along with two carriages slowly emerged from the crowd.

Seeing that preparations were thorough, Pei Shang, though embarrassed and angry, said no more.

After exchanging some final words, the convoy set off. Pei Shang thus accompanied the Yu family on their return journey.

—

“Master, shouldn’t we head off too?”

Cheng Qing wore a bamboo hat with a veil, concealing his face completely. Dressed plainly like a common coachman, he discreetly stopped an unremarkable blue-curtained carriage at the corner of an alley not far from the Pei residence.

From behind the curtain, Xie Zhuoguang’s cold voice sounded.

“Who said I’m leaving? Turn around—we’re going back to Duke Xie’s residence.”

Fine, fine—you’re lofty and noble. No wonder you can’t win a wife!

Cheng Qing grumbled silently, flicked the whip, and followed behind the Pei family convoy. After a long while without Xie Zhuoguang saying anything, Cheng Qing clicked his tongue inwardly.
If you really didn’t want to escort Miss Yu home, why did you anxiously ask around every day about when she’d leave and whether the Pei family’s young master would accompany her?

Whether he escorts her is their business as an engaged couple. What’s it to you, an outsider?

Cheng Qing often wanted to sass his own master.

Inside the carriage, Xie Zhuoguang wore a plain blue robe with a black sable fur collar. Perhaps still recovering from illness, he looked much paler and more worn than usual, and that circle of fur at his collar made him seem even more frail.

He sat quietly, eyes downcast, his slender white fingers flipping through a test paper worn at the edges from frequent handling.

If Yu Mingyao had been there, she would have been shocked. The paper was precisely the essay she had written during her first exam at the Pei family school. How it had ended up in Xie Zhuoguang’s hands was a mystery.

His eyes were calm as still water, fixed unblinking on the handwriting.

He kept feeling that the handwriting was familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

But how could that be? Before Yu Mingyao came to the Pei residence, he had never set foot in Suzhou. They should have never crossed paths. Why, then, this sense of familiarity?

Thinking back to Yu Mingyao’s faint emotions and hidden sorrows at the beginning, Xie Zhuoguang felt as if he had stepped into a vast mystery.

There were many things he still didn’t understand.

He furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time but still couldn’t figure out what that subtle wrongness was.

Whenever he thought of those fragmented, uncertain memories, it felt like thousands of needles pricking his mind—about to explode!

—

Perhaps thanks to Pei Shang’s guards, the journey was much smoother than last time. The Yu family, who had been anxious, gradually relaxed day by day as everything remained peaceful.

After completing the overland route, they switched to water travel. By the time the water route ended, they had reached Yangzhou.

Seeing the familiar waters, the tense strings in everyone’s minds finally loosened.

They relaxed—but no one expected that Pei Shang, someone who knew how to swim, would actually get seasick!

As soon as he boarded the boat, he vomited miserably.

Li Qing, who had come along, was efficient in other tasks but terribly clumsy at serving others, making Yu Mingyao frown deeply.

In just two or three days, Pei Shang was so sick and weak that he stayed in his room all day, not even strong enough to hold a bowl of food.

Li Qing’s attempts to help often resulted in spills, sometimes even soiling Pei Shang’s clothes.

Then Pei Shang had to delay recovery by bathing and changing again.

Yan Yue couldn’t stand it any longer, snatched the bowl from Li Qing, and gave him a fierce scolding. The grown man hung his head and apologized repeatedly.

Yu Mingyao, annoyed by their commotion, saw Pei Shang looking exhausted and waved them both away.

She personally spoon-fed Pei Shang small mouthfuls.

Pei Shang opened his mouth for the porridge and glanced at her.

Though dulled by illness, his gaze spoke louder than words.

Under such a burning gaze, Yu Mingyao went from being able to meet his eyes directly to only daring to look at his mouth, her ears turning red.

When the bowl of porridge was finally empty, she breathed a long sigh of relief, set down the bowl and spoon on the tray, and was about to call the others in—

—but a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her.

Men always know how to take advantage of the moment—Pei Shang was no exception. At first he was nervous and shy, but after a few tries post-engagement, he could now grab her waist without blushing at all.

“Yao-niang, let’s talk.”

Where he’d learned such shameless phrases was anyone’s guess!

“Don’t call me that.”

Yu Mingyao pretended to struggle, but was only held tighter.

“I haven’t even called you anything worse yet. Next time we meet, you’ll have to call me husband.”

Despite his illness, Pei Shang’s mischievous heart hadn’t died. He began to stir, emotions he’d suppressed all journey bubbling up.

He pulled Yu Mingyao onto his bed, cupped her cheeks, and made her look directly at him.

“Mingyao, I want to…”

His gaze clearly revealed what he wanted.

“Don’t you dare think about it.” Yu Mingyao reached out and covered his eyes. “Some things have to wait until after we marry.”

Pei Shang, hearing this, wasn’t angry but overjoyed:
“Then can I kiss other places instead?”

He felt this was the happiest time of his life. In all the past ten-plus years, no period had been as joyful as now. Every day he could see the one he loved; every day he could understand what happiness meant.

The person before him was the wife who would share joys and sorrows with him till old age.

“You don’t know how happy I was when I saw that engagement slip. I even regretted being too hasty before—wasting our nightly meetings on unimportant things.”

“I can hardly imagine how happy I would’ve been if I could have shared the joy with you that day.”

He shifted topics, “But saying it now is good enough. Anyway, I’m yours from now on.”

Pei Shang lowered his head slightly and gently nibbled Yu Mingyao’s earlobe:
“Sister, I want to share the pleasures of Wushan clouds and rain with you.”

As the words fell, Yu Mingyao finally lifted her hand from his eyes.

Her gaze told him:
She wanted it too.

---