Chapter 46.2

With a cry of surprise, two strange old men and Shen Yiming’s family of three appeared at the door of the Pei family. They also heard what Pei Ji’an and Shen Yimei had just said.

“My dear girl, don’t cry. Seeing you like this breaks my heart,” Mother Shen rushed to embrace Shen Yimei. “It’s Pei Ji’an who is unlucky. It’s the Pei family who is unlucky. Let’s go. From now on, our Shen family and their Pei family will cut ties.”

Mother Pei was anxious. She and Mother Shen had been old friends for years. Father Shen had once saved Father Fu’s life. How could their families just sever ties?

She stepped forward to try to hold Mother Shen’s hand. “In-laws, please don’t be angry…”

“Who are your in-laws?” Mother Shen shook off Mother Pei’s hand. “Your son and my daughter have already divorced. Even if our Shen family is not good enough, we will not let our daughter stoop to marry a married man.”

“Besides, he said he never had feelings for Yimei,” Mother Shen scoffed. “Is Pei Zheng some kind of plant? Did we force him to ruin my daughter’s reputation? He said he would take responsibility, and what happened? He wanted a divorce after just three years. Is this how you Pei family takes responsibility?”

Mother Shen had reached her breaking point and wasn’t going to give Pei Ji’an any leeway.

Lu Nong was stunned and instinctively looked up at Pei Ji’an, who, in turn, instinctively tightened his grip on Lu Nong’s hand.

“Pei Ji’an!” Shen Yiming intentionally shifted everyone’s focus from Mother Shen’s topic back to himself. He gritted his teeth and glared at Pei Ji’an with resentment. “Do you even have a heart? My sister loves you so deeply, yet you won’t even say a single lie about loving her or being moved by her. Is your heart made of iron?”

Mother Pei also spoke up at the right moment. “Ji’an, what you’re saying is too hurtful. Quickly apologize to Aunt Shen and Yimei.”

Everyone looked at Pei Ji’an with disapproving eyes, as if his lack of love for Shen Yimei was an unforgivable sin.

They wanted to see Pei Ji’an in regret and pain.

Lu Nong gently squeezed Pei Ji’an’s hand. Sometimes, she didn’t quite understand the values of people in this era. Why must one repay deep affection with love?

“Shen Yimei and Pei Ji’an are already divorced. No matter how deeply Shen Yimei loves Pei Ji’an, what does it have to do with him? If there are many people who are crazily in love with Pei Ji’an now, does that mean he must marry all of them?”

Lu Nong looked around at the crowd, finally delivering her final blow. “That’s called moral coercion.”

The people present seemed to ponder her words. Song Yeping glanced at Lu Nong in surprise, seeing her in a new light as the new wife of his brother-in-law.

Lu Nong mainly wanted to hear Pei Ji’an explain what Mother Shen said about him ruining Shen Yimei’s reputation. Based on her current views of the Pei and Shen families, she had to suspect there was more to the story.

Pei Ji’an remained unusually calm and was intrigued by Mother Shen’s accusation. He quietly replied to her, “I took responsibility for Shen Yimei’s innocence.”

Pei Ji’an’s gaze pierced through the confusion, directly into Shen Yiming’s eyes. “As for how Pei Zheng came to be, aren’t you and your sister clear about that?”

Shen Yiming’s pupils shrank, and Shen Yimei clearly became tense.

“I also want to know why, after you got me drunk, Shen Yimei ended up in your room. The next morning, I became the one who ruined her innocence.”

“Someone drugged me.”

Pei Ji’an sneered. Back then, he had been weak, and his family treated him worse than Shen Yimei, an outsider. Pei Ji’an didn’t believe they had no suspicions about why Shen Yimei appeared in Shen Yiming’s room. Yet no one cared for his explanation.

In the end, everyone thought Shen Yimei was the one suffering.

All these years, he didn’t bring it up out of respect for Shen Yimei and Shen Yiming. It was just that he felt disgusted—disgusted with himself and disgusted with Shen Yiming, who he had thought was a good brother. He had stabbed him in the back at his most vulnerable moment.

Not mentioning it was for Pei Zheng’s sake. He didn’t want Pei Zheng to know that his birth was filled with schemes and shame.

The reason he hadn’t married for so many years was purely out of disgust—nothing more.

The room was silent for a while. The Pei family was so shocked that they were speechless, but except for Mother Shen, everyone else in the Shen family was not surprised.

Pei Mingxia felt dizzy. Shen Yimei had always told her that she and her brother were in love, so after the incident, she had said the same to their parents.

She had believed it for so many years, and now she was being told that it was all a lie, that everything had been a deception from the start.

Yes, her brother had said he didn’t like Shen Yimei, but she thought it was because he didn’t want to take responsibility for her.

Shen Yiming’s expression darkened. This was an old story from many years ago. Everyone knew the truth, and whether it was revealed or not held no practical significance. Still, it was a scar on Shen Yiming’s heart. In the middle of the night, he often thought that if he hadn’t been so foolish back then, he and Pei Ji’an might still be close brothers, relying on each other through life and death.

His sister wouldn’t have gone mad to this extent.

Everything was his fault. In his youthful arrogance, he failed to understand that some mistakes come with a price. He would spend his entire life paying for his sister’s misfortune—caring for her for the rest of his days.

Shen Yimei finally stopped sobbing, feeling a mix of despair and fear. It turned out he had never forgotten, and he had always despised her.

In a daze, Shen Yimei recalled countless memories from the past. She remembered the first time she met Pei Ji’an. He stood beneath a tree blooming with white plum blossoms, looking young and handsome, exuding a cold distance that kept others at bay. Shen Yimei fell for him at first sight.

Later, she learned that he was a comrade of her brother from military school. Her brother often spoke of him when he returned home, praising his strength, how he attracted girls, and how he never seemed to spare a glance for any of them.

It was easy for Shen Yimei to fall in love with Pei Ji’an, just as many others had. She always sought opportunities to be with him, pleading with her brother to invite friends over just to catch a glimpse of Pei Ji’an.

To her delight, she discovered that Pei Ji’an was the child of Uncle Pei and Aunt Pei. They had never met because he had been fostered with a family in the countryside until he returned after being admitted to military school last year.

This meant that if Pei Ji’an had grown up with Uncle Pei and Aunt Pei, then she and he would have been childhood sweethearts. Shen Yimei was thrilled by this twist of fate.

Years passed, and both families noticed Shen Yimei’s feelings for Pei Ji’an. They tacitly approved of a future marriage between them. After getting a clear response from her mother, Shen Yimei couldn’t contain her feelings any longer and impulsively confessed to Pei Ji’an. However, he rejected her, telling her he would not accept the family’s arrangement to marry her.

At that moment, Shen Yimei’s love seemed destined to end, while everything else was just beginning.

She became infatuated with Pei Ji’an, and ultimately did something that made her gain Pei Ji’an but also lose him forever.

She conspired with her brother against Pei Ji’an, just as Pei Ji’an had described. They exploited his trust in her brother, getting him drunk. Knowing Pei Ji’an’s character, her brother understood that if they didn’t go all out, Pei Ji’an would never give in.

Two months later, Shen Yimei became pregnant and married Pei Ji’an as she had wished.

However, life after marriage was far from easy. Pei Ji’an never touched her again, whether before or after the birth of their son, Pei Zheng.

What tormented Shen Yimei even more was the way Pei Ji’an looked at her. His gaze seemed to pierce her soul, calmly scrutinizing her shortcomings as if seeing through her completely.

No one likes to feel exposed or scrutinized. Everything felt unbearable.

Sometimes, she thought Pei Ji’an knew she loved him, but he treated her feelings with disdain. She wanted to shout and question him, but she didn’t dare. After all, she was the one who had made mistakes, so she could only bottle up her emotions.

As soon as Pei Zheng was born, Pei Jian asked to be transferred out of Beijing. He would rather fight on the battlefield than stay with her. This was the marriage that Shen Yimei had painstakingly designed.

Shen Yimei regretted her choices. She had once been a sheltered young lady, but after marrying, she found herself raising a child. Although she had hired a nanny, she still felt unhappy.

It wasn’t until a man appeared that her dreary married life was disrupted.

Shen Yimei couldn’t bear to think any further. She lowered her head and softly said, “Mom, let’s go.”

“Why should we leave? Let’s clear the air today.” Feng Xiaoyuan scoffed at Shen’s family. How dare they blame everything on Pei Ji’an just because he was a man, shifting all the responsibility onto him while their own daughter and son had committed wrongdoings?

How could such shamelessness exist in the world?

Their daughter was pure and innocent, yet they still dreamt of reuniting with Pei Ji’an.

Feng Xiaoyuan was nearly sickened by the thought.

Since the truth was already out, Pei Ji’an decided to lay everything bare to avoid future entanglements. He spoke flatly, “As for why we’re getting divorced, I believe Aunt Shen can ask Shen Yimei in front of everyone why she insists on this divorce.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mother Shen asked, her face serious as she turned to Shen Yimei.

Shen Yimei shrank back, trying to evade the question, but Mother Shen gripped her arm tightly. “What’s going on? Are you saying that you were the one who initiated the divorce?”

“Mom, please don’t ask. Yimei can’t take this kind of stress,” Shen Yiming said, unable to watch their mother pressuring his sister.

“Do you know what’s going on? You know but won’t tell me? You’re letting her look like a shrew in front of Pei Ji’an. Shen Yiming, tell me if what Pei Ji’an said is true. If it is true, do you still know these words, loyalty, faith, propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame?”

Mother Shen’s anger escalated. From the brother and sister teaming up against Pei Ji’an to the underlying truth behind Shen Yimei’s divorce, she felt as if her world was turned upside down. Her lifelong pride in her upbringing seemed to backfire as her two children slapped her in the face with reality.

Shen Yiming felt defeated.

“I’ll explain,” Wang Hongmian stepped in front of her husband. “What Pei Ji’an said is true. Many years ago, my husband Shen Yiming made a mistake. My sister-in-law divorced Pei Ji’an because she had an affair and became pregnant with that man’s child. She had no choice but to get divorced!”

This statement is earth-shattering.