Chapter 456: Chapter 166 Comfort_3
Everyone adored her, she was her father’s prized pearl and dear love. Commoners of Shengjing often said one didn’t know what good fortunes in past lives one must have accrued to be born a Miss Qi.
Indeed, such a life was envied by many but attained by few.
This blessed life should have known no sorrow, yet today the peony bore dew and frost; upon entering the room, she sat silently in her chair, staring blankly at the screen in the room, lost in thought.
There was a hush among the maids standing all around, not one of them daring to speak. It was at this moment that suddenly, from outside the door, a voice called out, "Sister——"
Following that, the beaded curtain studded with tiny gems was swept aside, and a man in a brocade robe entered.
The visitor was Qi Yutai.
The maids hurriedly paid their respects, and Qi Yutai, unaware of the somber mood in the room, quickly walked to Qi Huaying’s side, plopped down at the table, and cheerfully said, "Sister, do you have any spare change? Lend me a thousand taels, I’ll pay you back in a few days."
Qi Yutai had come to borrow money.
Grand Preceptor Qi’s birthday was fast approaching, coinciding with the summer hunt. With the Ministry of Revenue usually having little to do, his official duties were negligible. Jin Xianrong had approved his leave so that he could prepare for the summer hunt and his father’s birthday at home.
However, the steward had arranged the birthday feast, and there was no need for Qi Yutai to interfere. Staying at home, he felt the strict rules of the house as heavy and oppressive as a bird trapped in a cage. Even with Spirit Rhinoceros Fragrance burning, his mind was in turmoil.
He truly wanted to find an opportunity to relax.
His father had explicitly forbidden him from taking Cold Food Powder, and after learning about the affairs of the Ke Family, had become even more stringent. Every expenditure of silver from the public account had to be recorded by the steward. Cold Food Powder was already banned, and its price was exorbitant. With his meager salary, he couldn’t afford it and, finding no other solution, he turned to Qi Huaying.
While the father was harsh with him, he was exceedingly indulgent towards his sister, Qi Huaying. She spent money like water—just her expenses on rouge, dresses, and snacks each month were close to a thousand taels, and Qi Qing never restricted her pleasures. The two siblings had been close since they were young, and whenever he had asked for Qi Huaying’s financial assistance, she agreed without hesitation.
It was the same today.
Qi Yutai said, "Father has been keeping a tight hold on me lately, I spent my salary a few days ago. Dear sister, once I receive my salary, I’ll repay you!"
Qi Huaying was always generous with money, but today she hesitated to respond. Qi Yutai found this strange until he suddenly heard the sound of sobbing. Looking up, he saw Qi Huaying turn her head away, her cheeks wet with tears.
Startled, he quickly stood up, "What’s the matter, sister?"
Qi Huaying continued to weep softly without speaking. Qi Yutai frowned and pressed, "Who has wronged you?"
The maid Qiang Wei, who was standing to one side, spoke in a quiet voice, "Today, the carriage passed by the entrance of the lane near the Medical Officer Institute..."
"And what of it?"
Qiang Wei glanced at Qi Huaying and seeing that she was still silent and tearful, swallowed nervously and carefully said, "Miss, from the carriage, you saw Marshal Pei speaking with another woman..."
Qi Yutai was taken aback.
Qi Huaying turned her head away, and the memory of what she had seen that day made her cry even more, her eyes becoming even redder and more swollen.
She did not expect to encounter Pei Yunmeng there.
Ever since her heroic rescue at the Baoxiang Tower, her heart had been set on the handsome Commandant of the Palace Front Office.
After her father learned of her feelings, he did not prohibit them and even had the old steward deliver several invitations to Pei Yunmeng, asking him to visit for casual talks.
Pei Yunmeng declined every time.
One time he gave official duties as an excuse, but anyone could see his refusals were deliberate after repeated instances.
Qi Huaying felt dejected, wronged, and a touch of anger and reluctance at being rejected.
Perhaps it is always so, the more something is out of reach, the more one wants it. Despite Pei Yunmeng not caring for her, she wanted at all costs to tame him and make this dashing Commander submit to her.
As a lady of a noble family and a maiden of a reputable house, she could not meet him outright like the shameless common women. Since he would not come to banquets, she had to wait for another chance.
Day by day she waited, until she herself became weary and disheartened. Who would have thought that fate is so unreasonable? Today, as her carriage passed the street opposite the Medical Officer Institute, she was fated to see him.
Qi Huaying stared blankly at the screen.
The screen depicted a summer night street scene that brought back the memory of what she had witnessed not long ago.
In the summery night under the brilliant moon, lilies bloomed in the street of Official Lane, their fragrance carried by the cool night breeze. Qi Huaying caught sight of the man she had longed for in her thoughts.
The young man stood there, his face as fine as jade, his presence remarkable, causing those around him to seem somewhat dimmer in contrast.
Her heart leapt with joy, and she hastily told the coachman to stop the carriage. Her smile hadn’t reached her eyes when she saw the young man turn away to speak with someone beside him.
He was tall, his bearing proud and upright. From Qi Huaying’s viewpoint, she couldn’t see who he was talking to. She could only make out a light blue robe and slender silk sleeves that felt hauntingly familiar.
It was vaguely the figure of a young woman.
Qi Huaying gazed blankly across the street.
He tilted his head, smiling at the other person. Despite the distance, Qi Huaying felt she could see through the crowd to those deep black eyes.
They showed a serious demeanor, utterly unguarded, as he listened to the person beside him.
Qi Huaying’s heart skipped a beat.
She had never seen Pei Yunmeng like this.
In a fleeting glimpse at Baoxiang Tower, although Pei Yunmeng seemed approachable, he was dangerous and icy when dealing with Lu Dashan, indifferent and frosty when moving about the Imperial Court, yet sometimes when talking with a palace attendant, he seemed to have no distance, unlike some of the nobility in Shengjing who always kept a haughty air.
This kind of danger was like a vortex, attracting everyone closer, and she was no exception.
And it wasn’t until today that she caught a glimpse of another side of this young man, a side hidden beneath his aloof exterior.
Warmer, softer.
Yet it was directed towards another stranger.
The woman by his side seemed to sense something and looked over in this direction, making Qi Huaying urgently tell the coachman to drive on, avoiding the other person’s gaze.
The carriage rattled unstably through the streets of Shengjing, her heart as unsettled as the carriage, wishing to draw back the curtains and let the night breeze scatter the turmoil within, but she halted abruptly upon seeing the brilliant street lamps across the street, and in a flash of insight, remembered a past event.
She recalled why that woman tonight felt so familiar.
Just after the Lantern Festival, she thought she saw the figure of Pei Yunmeng with a woman by Jingde Gate, but when she looked again, the figure had disappeared, leading her to doubt her own eyes.
Until she saw that person today.
That woman was particularly slender and fragile, so frail it was heart-wrenching, unmistakably similar to the figure from the Lantern Festival.
Qi Huaying immediately realized that the woman Pei Yunmeng stood with that day at the Lantern Festival, and the woman laughing with Pei Yunmeng today, was the same person!
It turned out she had been by Pei Yunmeng’s side all along!
Qi Huaying came to a sudden understanding.
No wonder.
No wonder despite repeated invitations from her father, he had excused himself due to busy affairs. She had thought it was because she hadn’t tamed this cold and dangerous beast yet, but the reality was far worse than she had imagined. Unbeknownst to her, someone else had already tamed him first.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling onto the blanket, the sparkling drops now muddled with murkiness.
Upon hearing the full story from Qiang Wei, Qi Yutai became furious, "That Pei Yun, daring to make my sister so heartbroken, I will go and settle the score with him!"
Qi Huaying grabbed him.
"Brother, what are you doing? Do you want to embarrass me even more?"
She was always proud, feeling out of place for having fallen for a man so actively being the daughter of the Grand Preceptor, and now that her affection seemed inconsequential to him, her shame and frustration were even harder to bear.
Qi Yutai quickly turned around to comfort her, "Pei Yun is young and doesn’t understand these things. It’s normal for a man to engage in flirtation now and then, sister shouldn’t worry about it. But—"
He changed tack, "Someone my sister fancies dares to touch? Who is that woman, have you found out?"
Qi Huaying didn’t answer, so Qiang Wei had to speak up, "Today she was seen wearing the robe of a medical officer of the Medical Officer Institute..."
"Most likely, eight or nine out of ten, she is a female medical officer of the Medical Officer Institute."