The Grand Princess

TGP Chapter 4: Spring Banquet

"This humble official, Su Rongqing, greets Your Imperial Highness."
______

While Li Rong's people silently sneaked into the Pei residence, Pei Wenxuan was standing in front of a basin of water, quietly examining his appearance.

He was actually reborn.

Seeing himself at the age of twenty, he couldn't believe his own eyes. It was just that he had learned to restrain his emotions from his years in the imperial court, so even if his heart had turned upside down, his face would remain calm.

The servant boy Tong Ye anxiously stood to the side, watching him and asked in a small voice: "Young Master, are you alright?"

Early this morning, after Pei Wenxuan got up and asked him what day it was, he had been in a daze up until now. Although Pei Wenxuan usually wasn't very talkative, he had rarely ever been so silent. Tong Ye could not help but feel a little scared and said: "Young Master, if you are not feeling well, let this servant invite a doctor."

After hearing this, Pei Wenxuan finally looked up. After responding with a simple "no need", he washed his face and went straight out the door.

He walked out of the courtyard, and Tong Ye hurried after him. After holding back for a while, he finally said: "Young Master, don't hold back if there's something, just say it and maybe it will help you feel better. About Miss Qin breaking off the engagement, Miss Qin cannot exactly be blamed, she is sincere to you too, it's just that..."

"No need to speak further."

Pei Wenxuan saw that Tong Ye kept talking and talking, so he paused, turned his head and told Tong Ye: "In the future, don't bring this matter up again."

As he spoke, he stood outside the courtyard with his hands clasped behind him, looking at a tall pagoda in the capital city in the distance.

The top of the pagoda was hidden in the clouds. It had red-lacquered and gold tiles as well as copper bells hanging under the eaves. When the wind blows, a tinkling sound would follow, just like in his memory.

When he was back in the Left Prime Minister's residence, whenever he was troubled, he liked to stand in the courtyard and look up at the tall pagoda in the distance. Up until now, this habit has not changed. Now looking at the tall pagoda, he slowly calmed down and began to think about his situation.

He remembered that when he was twenty years old, he had just ended his filial piety mourning period in his hometown and returned to Huajing. His second uncle controlled the entire Pei family. His mother was weak and gullible and eventually pretended to be ill to avoid confrontation. Although it was most logical that he become the head of the Pei family, he had to endure being excluded from the family in all sorts of ways. Despite being the eldest son of the first wife of the Pei family, a noble and reputable clan in Huajing, he could only serve as a minor jailer in the Ministry of Justice.

This should be the day after his engagement was annulled.

Back when his father was still alive, his father had set up an engagement between him and Qin Zhenzhen, the daughter of the Qin family. At that time, they were both very young, so there was no formal ceremony and only jade pendants were exchanged as engagement tokens. He and Qin Zhenzhen had known each other since childhood. He had always wholeheartedly wanted to marry her, but who would have expected misfortune to arrive.