His Ningning wasn’t even betrothed — what was wrong with accepting food from a man outside the family?

Yan Yunning looked at him gratefully. What a good brother!

Pei Qingyan didn’t so much as glance at Yan Zhiyi, and smiled. “Ningning, you don’t need to feel awkward around me.”

He had thought it over. Since Ningning wasn’t formally promised to Xuan Yanyu, he still had a chance — he needed to make more of an effort to show himself.

“Awkward around you?” An’nian teased. “Are you fond of our Ningning?”

Pei Qingyan admitted it without hesitation. “An’nian Cousin, I am fond of Ningning.”

The moment he saw her, he knew Ningning was a perfect match for him.

An’nian studied him — the young man in black, his bruised face curved into a smile as he spoke of his feelings for Ningning, his eyes bright.

Young General Pei and Ningning would indeed be a fine match.

“Zhiyi, what do you think?” An’nian had her heart set on bringing them together.

“Brother.” Pei Qingyan gave an ingratiating grin. “Big Brother, look at me…”

“You won’t do.” Yan Zhiyi refused.

“Yan Zhiyi, besides me, who else could be such a perfect match for Ningning?” Pei Qingyan shot a sideways glance at Xuan Yanyu.

He was not worthy!

“That’s right.” Yan Shiyao raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Big Brother Pei is absolutely right.”

Let Xuan Yanyu be driven to fury!

Yan Yunning felt a slight headache coming on as, beneath the round table, a certain someone snapped his chopsticks clean in half.

Yan Zhiyi gave a soft cough and looked at Pei Qingyan. “If Ningning agrees, I won’t stand in the way.”

Pei Qingyan and he had been friends for many years, and his character was decent enough. If Ningning was willing, he wouldn’t stop them.

“Brother.” Pei Qingyan hooked a smile. “Getting used to it early.”

Yan Zhiyi: “……”

Ningning hadn’t agreed yet — wasn’t that a bit premature!

“Ningning, shall we be wed before the year’s end?” Pei Qingyan’s voice held a note of excitement.

A Xuan Yanyu who had reached the end of his patience stretched his long leg under the table and kicked over the wooden chair Pei Qingyan was sitting on.

Pei Qingyan, caught completely off guard, went down with the chair. The chair slammed into his leg, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Xuan Yanyu, couldn’t you have just said something?” Yan Yunning lowered her voice.

The man looked down at Pei Qingyan from above, feeling no guilt at all. In his view, Pei Qingyan was far from innocent — knowing full well that Yan Yunning was with him, he had deliberately said all of that, which showed plainly that he didn’t regard him as any kind of threat.

He was merely giving him a reminder.

“Big Brother Pei.” Yan Shiyao, seated closest to Pei Qingyan, helped him up from the floor. “Are you all right?”

“How did you just fall like that out of nowhere?” An’nian frowned.

Pei Qingyan looked at Xuan Yanyu, his voice calm. “Young Master Xuan, why did you kick me?”

It hurt like anything — and he had the audacity to act in front of so many people.

Xuan Yanyu draped his arm over the back of Yan Yunning’s chair, his expression perfectly innocent. “I didn’t. Young Master Pei must be joking.”

Yan Zhiyi’s brow furrowed slightly as his eyes fixed on the man’s hand resting on the back of Yan Yunning’s chair, tapping a slow, deliberate rhythm.

“Ahem.” Shen Ruoyi tugged at Jiang Zhibai’s hand and said softly, “A’Bai, I’m done eating. Come outside with me.”

There was no way to continue the meal in this atmosphere.

Jiang Zhibai took her hand. “All right.”

With Jiang Zhibai and Shen Ruoyi gone, An’nian patted Jiang Zhijing, who had his head buried in his soup. Before she could say anything, he was startled with a jolt — the mouthful of soup he hadn’t yet swallowed went down the wrong way, and his face flushed a deep red.

An’nian: “……”

“What — what is it?” Jiang Zhijing wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth.

“Go outside — your son is looking for you.” An’nian grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the door.

Jiang Zhijing muttered to himself as he went — how did An’nian know their son was looking for him?

With them gone, Pei Qingyan tactfully retreated to hide behind Yan Shiyao and Yan Zhiyi.

“Brother.” A’Shi smacked her lips. “I want some of the soup in front of you.”

The girl blinked her eyes and held out her soup bowl toward Xuan Yanyu — her meaning perfectly clear; she wanted him to ladle some for her.

The man looked right through her as if she weren’t there.

A’Shi pouted, and tears slipped down before she could hold them back.

Yan Zhiyi cleared his throat. “Ningning, you’re done eating, aren’t you? Come with your brother.”

Hearing Yan Zhiyi’s voice, Xiao Shi turned to look at him, tears still in her eyes. “Young Master Yan, soup.”

“……” Yan Zhiyi found he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t heard. He took the bowl from her hand and ladled a spoonful of soup into it.

Xiao Shi wiped her tears, sat back down with a beaming smile, and obediently drank her soup.

“Young Master Yan.” Xuan Yanyu suddenly spoke. He raised Yan Yunning’s hand in his grip, his manner respectful. “Yan Yunning is the one this one intends to marry. Young Master Yan, please do not try to match Ningning with anyone else in the future.”

Yan Shiyao’s expression flickered with brief surprise. The man looked down at Yan Yunning, his handsome face earnest and focused, and a glimmer of warmth stirred in his dark eyes.

This…

Yan Zhiyi’s brow tightened. Xuan Yanyu’s background was unknown — how could the two of them be together? Besides, Xuan Yanyu appeared arrogant and irreverent. If Ningning married him, who could say whether she would be mistreated in the future.

He looked like someone raised in a wealthy household, yet he lingered at Yaoyao’s side without any apparent reason — none of it made sense to him. And yet over the past year or so, the man had made no suspicious moves whatsoever. Everything about him felt strangely out of place.

“Young Master Xuan, Ningning’s marriage is still for her father and mother to decide.” Yan Zhiyi smiled gently. “Such words, Young Master Xuan should not say to me in the future. Ningning, come here — your brother has something to say to you.”

Under Yan Zhiyi’s displeased gaze, Yan Yunning freed her hand from Xuan Yanyu’s grip. Yan Shiyao quickly pulled her to her side, and the three of them left the dining hall together.

……

By the edge of a clear river, the branches stirred by the wind cast their reflections on the water. As the breeze blew, the deep blue surface broke into layer upon layer of ripples. Scolded thoroughly by Yan Zhiyi, Yan Yunning sat sulking by the riverbank, staring blankly into the distance.

The sunlight fell lazily over her, and the young woman, chin resting in both palms, carried a natural beauty about her.

“Ningning Sister.” A’Shi came trotting over in small steps and sat down beside Yan Yunning, tilting her head until it rested on Yan Yunning’s shoulder.

“Ningning Sister, I want my brother.” The girl’s voice carried a note of pitifulness.

Yan Yunning’s eyelid gave a faint twitch. Brother? Was she talking about Xuan Yanyu??

She had only ever heard her call Xuan Yanyu “brother.”

“Ningning Sister, why hasn’t Brother come to find me yet?” A’Shi picked at her fingers, head lowered, voice quiet. “Has Brother stopped wanting me?”

“A’Shi, who is the brother you’re talking about?”

A’Shi puckered her lips. “I don’t know. A’Shi only knows that Brother likes to wear wine-red robes, and he likes to tie his ink-dark hair up with a gold crown set with rubies. A’Shi can’t remember anything else.”

Yan Yunning’s mind turned quickly. Wine-red robes?

A gold crown set with rubies to bind his hair??

Big Brother Mu??

A’Shi? Mu Shiqing??

No wonder she had found A’Shi so familiar — she was Big Brother Mu’s younger sister??

Yan Yunning stared at A’Shi, studying her carefully. She did look somewhat like Big Brother Mu.

“A’Shi, before you came to Yuanjing Manor, where had you been living?” Yan Yunning asked.

A’Shi stared at her blankly. “A’Shi has lived everywhere.”

“……” Yan Yunning pressed her lips together. “A’Shi, what else do you remember?”

A’Shi plucked at the little blades of grass on the ground, closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then said, “Someone was holding A’Shi, and walked a very, very long road.”