A Desperate Husband Is a Substitute - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Then I’ll wait for my lord to have dinner. What do you usually like to eat?”

He clearly hadn’t expected me to ask that.

For a moment, he froze.

While Pei Yihan was distracted, I slowly slid down, squeezed through the gap between his arm and the chair, and slipped out.

Clutching the clothes to my chest, I bolted for the door.

My agility, if I may say so, was truly unparalleled.

“I’ll make the arrangements myself, then.”

In the blink of an eye, I was gone.

That day, every servant in the Pei Mansion saw me sprinting through the residence with an armful of Pei Yihan’s clothes.

As if a dog were chasing me from behind.

The moment I returned to the main courtyard, I ordered the maids to hide all my storybooks.

They were full of indecent filth.

Pei Yihan absolutely could not be allowed to see them.

“Miss, is my lord really coming over tonight?”

My maid Lüya was, without a doubt, a career-minded servant girl. She was ready for inner-courtyard warfare at any moment. Unfortunately, Pei Yihan’s rear courtyard had only me in it, which greatly limited her room to perform.

“Yes. That’s what he said.” I nodded.

“What a pity that Miss is on her monthly courses today. Otherwise, if you put in a little effort tonight, by next year there might be a young master in the manor.”

The way Lüya looked at me-

It was the very picture of bitter disappointment.

“Lüya, you’re an unmarried maiden. What kind of outrageous things are you saying?”

“Go tell the kitchen to prepare dinner first.”

I hurriedly urged Lüya to leave.

Her gaze was too sharp.

I truly couldn’t withstand it.

“Then this servant will go ask around and find out what my lord usually likes to eat!”

“No need. Just make what I like.”

“Miss!!”

Every single “Miss” Lüya uttered was filled with the meaning of hating iron for not becoming steel.

In the end, Pei Yihan never came.

They said the Crown Prince had summoned him to the Eastern Palace to discuss urgent matters.

Not only had rumors circulated privately in the capital long ago, but Pei Yi had once hinted at it to me as well.

The Crown Prince and Pei Yihan shared an unusually deep bond, and neither had married despite the years passing.

Perhaps…

Whether it was the Pei Family or Pei Yihan himself, none of them could ever reveal his true feelings.

At best, it would ruin his official career.

At worst, the entire Pei Family would be implicated.

This affection

was destined to be buried deep in the heart.

People truly must not harbor any delusions. Once a delusion is born, if it goes unsatisfied, the pain is unbearable.

This, I understood very well.

Tonight-

I ended up eating until I was stuffed.

Then I took out the treasure I had just obtained-a newly published racy little storybook from Wutong Academy!

It had taken me tremendous effort to get my hands on it.

This time, the plot was especially thrilling!

A carriage, a rainy night, the street…

In my dream, I vaguely saw Pei Yihan’s face.

The scene around us was unmistakably inside a carriage.

Pei Yihan knelt before me, his face flushed, looking as though he was ready to let me do as I pleased.

I hooked a fingertip beneath his chin.

And then.

He actually began reading aloud from the racy storybook.

His voice gradually grew clearer.

I instantly startled awake.

Sure enough,

Pei Yihan was sitting by the edge of the soft couch, holding that very storybook in his hand.

In that cool, distant voice of his, he was reading the most audacious lines.

Only his brows were knitting tighter and tighter.

I immediately sat up and covered his mouth. “Keep your voice down. Do you think this is something to be proud of?”

It was simply an insult to refinement!

“You usually read things like this?”

There was a faint blush on his face.

I quickly snatched the storybook back from his hand.

“What I usually love reading are the Four Books and Five Classics. This… this… this book must have been given to me by mistake at the academy.”

My voice stammered a little as I lied through my teeth with a perfectly solemn expression.

Pei Yihan let out a soft laugh. “My wife is truly learned.”

“I came to apologize. Last night, there truly was an urgent matter. It concerned peace between two nations and a princess being sent for a marriage alliance, so I had no choice but to go.”

A princess sent for a marriage alliance?

There had indeed been rumors in the capital. This time, Pei Yi had led the army to a great victory, capturing three cities from the Qi Kingdom in succession.

It had forced the Qi Kingdom to send envoys to negotiate peace.

In a few days, Pei Yi would arrive in the capital together with the Qi Kingdom’s envoys.

The Eastern Palace’s rear courtyard had been empty for many years.

The princess sent for the marriage alliance was very likely to be granted to the Crown Prince.

In the past, both court officials and members of the inner palace had openly and secretly urged the Crown Prince to take a wife and concubines, to continue the imperial line and produce heirs sooner.

The Crown Prince had always found various reasons to put it off.

But this time, the marriage-alliance princess concerned the peace negotiations between two nations.

He was probably no longer able to refuse.

Pei Yihan and the Crown Prince’s feelings were forbidden by worldly convention, destined to become a lifelong regret.

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

That silent, thoughtful expression, however, took on an entirely different meaning in Pei Yihan’s eyes.

“The moment you hear Pei Yi is returning to the capital, you become this distracted?”

Pei Yihan’s expression darkened. I supposed he, too, was troubled by the matter of the marriage alliance.

Out of consideration for his feelings,

it was better not to mention the Crown Prince.

“Pei Yi and I grew up together. Now that I hear he has achieved merit and fame, of course I’m happy for him,” I said, going along with his words.

He pressed, “Is that the only reason?”

“Yes.”

I patted his shoulder, attempting to give him a little comfort.

“Have you ever resented me?”

When Pei Yihan asked those words, his expression was exceptionally solemn.

It was as if everything in the world had come to a halt.

Only he and I remained.

“What?”

The sudden question left me rather bewildered.