Zhang Zhixu’s coming-of-age ceremony was held on schedule. Not only did Zhang Yuanchu and Gong Lan arrive, but even several of the clan elders who rarely showed their faces came.

Those uncles and great-uncles who had previously petitioned at court for Li Shu to severely punish him now stood before him making small talk as though nothing had ever happened, and even presumed to adopt the manner of elders with him.

Zhang Zhixu received all of it with a blank expression, his gaze drifting constantly toward the door.

Chen Baoxiang had said she had something to attend to today and would come once she had finished — Ningsu had said it would be at least noon before she arrived, and told him to take it easy for now. But he simply could not stop himself from craning his neck to look.

Yinyue came over and saw his state, and could not resist teasing him: “Second Brother, is your neck sore yet?”

Zhang Zhixu gave a dismissive huff, lowered his head, and straightened his hem, pretending he had stopped looking.

But within two breaths, he could not resist lifting his eyes again.

Yinyue laughed heartily, just about to continue her teasing, when an announcement was suddenly called from outside: “General Cheng has arrived, His Excellency Pei has arrived.”

Cheng Huaili and Pei Ruheng?

Why had these two come?

Her expression changed at once, and Yinyue immediately retreated into one of the side rooms.

Zhang Zhixu looked toward the entrance in puzzlement, and saw Pei Ruheng wheeling Cheng Huaili inside, stopping to exchange pleasantries with people along the way, until they reached him.

“Arriving without an invitation — I hope Zhang-daren doesn’t mind?” Cheng Huaili smiled with every appearance of benevolence.

Before Zhang Zhixu could respond, the uncles beside him had already stepped forward to greet the visitor: “It is only the boy’s coming-of-age ceremony — we are honored that the General would come in person. Fengqing, quickly, invite the General to be seated.”

Every one of Li Shu’s former subordinates had been purged cleanly by Li Bingsheng — yet Cheng Huaili was the sole exception. He received neither reward nor punishment, and continued to serve as Military Governor of the North, retaining considerable standing at court.

Zhang Zhixu had thought about why. Perhaps it was because his capable military officers were too numerous, too useful for His Majesty to readily do without. Or perhaps it was because his connections were too extensive, and moving against him recklessly would destabilize the court.

But seeing this person still made his entire body uncomfortable — repelled, resistant, revolted.

Pei Ruheng steered the wheelchair to the main table and did not sit with the others; instead he walked over to Zhang Zhixu: “Zhang-daren, might I have a word in private?”

Zhang Zhixu was a little annoyed. Who was this person, exactly, to come looking for him directly?

But Zhang Yuanchu had already spoken up: “Go on, we elders can have a chat among ourselves.”

Zhang Zhixu: “……”

He shook out his sleeves and walked out of the main hall.

Seeing Pei Ruheng again in this body, he really was not particularly tall, and looked just ordinary. If it weren’t for the fact that he was Cheng Huaili’s nephew, Chen Baoxiang wouldn’t have given him a second glance.

He looked down at his own robes — new, made from flowing-cloud satin — and at his waist, the little tiger sachet Chen Baoxiang had picked up at the market a few days back.

The man across from him, hmph, only had a vulgar jade pendant hanging from his waist.

He turned his gaze away to the clouds drifting overhead, and said coolly: “What do you wish to advise?”

Pei Ruheng shook his head: “I wouldn’t presume to advise. Only — I’ve heard that you and Chen Baoxiang have grown very close, with quite an involved relationship.”

What was meant by ‘grown very close’? He and she were practically living together; anyone with any sense should feel that they were as good as husband and wife, yet this person could only say ‘quite an involved relationship?’

Those gossips of Shangjing were usually so capable of spreading rumors — how had they let this one fall short?

Zhang Zhixu said irritably: “What does that have to do with you?”

Pei Ruheng gave a half-smile: “Zhang-daren’s information seems rather lacking. Before she became entangled with you, Commissioner Chen and I had quite a history as well.”

His information lacking? He had been present throughout her entire pursuit of him — no one was more fully informed than he was.

Pei Ruheng was the one who truly didn’t know the situation, yet he persisted, saying: “Compared to you, I know her better. I know her warmth, and I know her coldness. I know what she looks like when she loves someone, and I also know what she looks like when she is merely using someone.”

“Zhang-daren, I only wish to counsel you — don’t follow in my footsteps.”

His expression was sincere, and he had calibrated his tone very well; anyone who heard it would have felt it was spoken from the heart.

But Zhang Zhixu had barely made it through the first sentence before he couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

Who knew her better?

Pei Ruheng?

He didn’t even have the energy to laugh.

This person probably imagined that he and Chen Baoxiang were in some ordinary sort of relationship, and that two sentences of provocation would be enough to send him running back to grab Chen Baoxiang by the shoulders and ask whether she truly had feelings for him.

She did — Zhang Zhixu was entirely certain.

The only thing he was uncertain about was the question of how much.

But regardless of how much or how little, he and Pei Ruheng were not on the same footing to begin with. When Chen Baoxiang had used Pei Ruheng, it had been all taking and no giving. With him, even when she was making use of him, she still took care of his feelings.

Completely different.

He gave a light snort, brushed off his shoulder, and said calmly: “You have in fact reminded me of something.”

Pei Ruheng looked up at him, thinking he had gotten through.

Then Zhang Zhixu turned to look at him and said: “To capture Commissioner Chen’s heart, one needs both ability and sincerity. Without them, getting cast aside leaves one with nothing but a belly full of grievances, running around looking for sympathy — quite undignified, wouldn’t you say?”

Pei Ruheng: “……”

He was at a loss. The Zhang Zhixu of reputation — cold and remote as the moon, lofty and unapproachable — how could he be the sort of person who would actively work to capture a woman’s heart, and say something like that so openly?

He was even wearing a challenging expression.

Challenging? For Chen Baoxiang’s sake?

Pei Ruheng stepped back half a pace, feeling that this was nothing like the genius of the Zhang Family he had envisioned, and that things had not unfolded as he had imagined.

Any normal person who had heard these things should, at the very least, have been unsettled or given pause.

Zhang Zhixu was not. He not only failed to hesitate, but looked Pei Ruheng up and down with a half-smile: “Finished? You’re looking rather pale. There are sour plums at my table — eat a couple, it’ll settle things down.”

“Do excuse me.”

For one fleeting moment, Pei Ruheng felt as though he were looking at Chen Baoxiang — smiling pleasantly while delivering the most cutting words, then turning and walking away without a backward glance.

Even the manner was exactly the same.

He frowned and took two steps in pursuit, only to be blocked by a dark-faced guard who said coldly: “If you don’t wish to partake, this subordinate can see you out.”

Pei Ruheng: “……”

In truth, he had not come today for Zhang Zhixu — he had come to see Chen Baoxiang.

The court had shifted, the throne had changed hands, and Chen Baoxiang had gone from an obscure military clerk to a coveted Second-Grade Military Marquis.

Suddenly, he didn’t even have a chance to explain himself to her.

If he could go back to the housewarming banquet at Lu Qingrong’s place, Pei Ruheng swore he would never deliberately test Chen Baoxiang again. He would follow his heart and walk toward her, and ask her why she hadn’t come looking for him in so many days.

He hadn’t liked Cen Xuanyue — he had only wanted to see what reaction Chen Baoxiang would have if he grew close to someone else.

Wasn’t testing each other in love something everyone did? That was just the way people behaved. How had it pushed her so far away that he could never pull her back?