“Since the Princess has spoken,” Pei Lixian struggled for a moment before finally speaking up, “then I have nothing to worry about.”

“Then tomorrow I’ll send people over,” Li Rong said directly, “to inventory the finances and move them into the Princess Manor.”

“Your Highness,” upon hearing this, everyone became anxious, “Are you planning to have Wenxuan separate from the family?”

Li Rong fell silent. Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, “Of course not. When Her Highness comes, it’s only to inventory the finances and take over the warehouse keys. Wenxuan is a member of the Pei family and naturally won’t leave the Pei family. It’s just that Her Highness has a noble status, so I’ll temporarily stay with Her Highness at the Princess Manor to keep her company.”

After Pei Wenxuan explained this, everyone finally felt at ease.

Pei Wenxuan turned his head to look at Pei Xuanqing and said respectfully, “Grandfather, if everyone has no objections, then let’s settle it like this. In the past, Wenxuan was inconsiderate and didn’t visit the clan members regularly, causing everyone to mistakenly think Wenxuan had no family in his heart. In the future, Wenxuan will return often to visit Grandfather and look after the clan relatives. Those who share the same surname—blood is thicker than water. There’s no relationship more solid than this. I hope that in the future, all clan relatives and Wenxuan can look after each other and move forward together.”

“That you have this intention brings Grandfather great comfort. You’ve grown up now. This matter,” Pei Xuanqing looked toward Pei Lixian, “let’s settle it this way then?”

Pei Lixian bowed, which counted as acceptance.

With the matter resolved, Wen Shi finally couldn’t hold on any longer. Her entire body went limp. Li Rong caught her and lowered her voice in warning, “Hold yourself together!”

Wen Shi looked at Li Rong with tears in her eyes, then forced herself to stand up again.

Pei Wenxuan exchanged pleasantries with everyone and saw off the other guests one by one. After only their immediate family members remained in the great hall, Li Rong supported Wen Shi and said to Pei Wenxuan, “Mother-in-law isn’t feeling well. I’ll take her away first.”

Pei Wenxuan acknowledged with a sound and bowed respectfully, “Thank you, Princess.”

Li Rong nodded and helped Wen Shi walk out.

Pei Wenxuan sat in the great hall for a while, chatting with Pei Xuanqing and the others about family matters. Pei Xuanqing was also tired from sitting so long, so after saying a few words casually, he also left.

In the end, only Pei Lixian and Pei Wenxuan remained in the great hall. Pei Lixian nodded toward Pei Wenxuan and simply said, “Wenxuan, you go back first. I won’t see you off.”

With that, Pei Lixian was about to leave when Pei Wenxuan called out, “Second Uncle.”

Pei Lixian stopped in his tracks. Pei Wenxuan walked forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Pei Lixian at the doorway, his voice calm, “Father once told me that a family clan is never built by one person alone. The future of this family lies in inheritance, not in strife.”

Pei Lixian didn’t speak. Pei Wenxuan continued slowly, “I remember when I was young, Second Uncle also took me to fly kites. I wasn’t born a rebel. Second Uncle might as well trust me a bit more.”

Listening to Pei Wenxuan’s words, Pei Lixian turned his head.

He remembered what Pei Wenxuan looked like as a child. He hadn’t expected that in the blink of an eye, this person had grown so much—taller than him, younger than him, and with more of a future than him.

Pei Lixian looked at Pei Wenxuan quietly. After a long while, he said slowly, “You don’t hate me?”

“To be honest, that depends on what Second Uncle does from now on.”

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he looked at Pei Lixian, “But I believe that in Second Uncle’s heart, there’s still some affection for family, and you want the Pei family to be better.”

After Pei Wenxuan finished speaking, he smiled lightly and bowed, “Wenxuan will take his leave now. I’ll come visit Second Uncle again another day.”

With that, Pei Wenxuan got up and left, exiting through the Pei family’s main gate.

Li Rong had already settled the frightened Wen Shi and was waiting for him in the carriage. After Pei Wenxuan got in, Li Rong was leaning sideways against the table, flipping through a book. “Had a chat with your second uncle?”

“Mm.” Pei Wenxuan responded, then asked, “How’s my mother?”

“Started trembling as soon as she came out. She’s sleeping now in the carriage behind, being attended to.”

“Is she alright?”

“What could happen to her?” Li Rong laughed. “Your mother has outlived quite a few people, you know.”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan was completely reassured. Though his mother was always crying and looking sickly, she actually lived longer than several other elders.

Pei Wenxuan sat down. Seeing his smooth posture, Li Rong couldn’t help but ask, “Your injury healed?”

“How could it be that fast?” Pei Wenxuan laughed. “I’m not some fierce general. The wound is naturally still there.”

“You didn’t aggravate it today, did you?” As Li Rong spoke, she felt somewhat uneasy. She put down her book and beckoned, “Let me take a look.”

Pei Wenxuan’s movements paused. His first instinct was to refuse, but when the words reached his lips, he seemed to think of something and smiled instead, “It does hurt a bit. Help me check if the wound has split open.”

With that, Pei Wenxuan turned his back to Li Rong and raised his hand to loosen his clothing.

His posture was elegant as his clothes slowly slipped from his shoulders, like curtains being drawn back gradually. Li Rong was drawn in by his affected manner of undressing and found it rather strange, “Is your clothing stuck or something?”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

With that, Li Rong raised her fan and pressed down the clothing on Pei Wenxuan’s back. Looking up with her eyes, she saw no visible signs of blood seeping through the wound, so she said, “Should be fine. Have someone change your dressing when you get back. I’d say it’s almost healed.”

“Mm.”

Pei Wenxuan’s expression was calm as he thought about something while slowly pulling his clothes back up.

Li Rong’s thoughts were elsewhere. She said slowly, “Tomorrow I’ll go inventory your assets. I’m afraid Pei Lixian won’t let us get the money that easily.”

“Whatever’s left is what we’ll get.”

Pei Wenxuan said indifferently, “He’s a smart man. The money is destined to be impossible to keep. He won’t make things difficult for you over these small matters. Tomorrow you can just send anyone to do the inventory. The key is to get the property deeds back. Most of my father’s assets are in other regions. When the time comes, have Tuoba Yan go and reclaim them one by one.”

Ever since bringing Tuoba Yan under their command, this person’s commercial talents had proven extraordinary. The two of them found her quite useful. However, Li Rong hadn’t expected Pei Wenxuan to entrust even his father’s inheritance to Tuoba Yan for management. After all, at the end of the day, Tuoba Yan was still her person.

Li Rong examined him with a curious look. Pei Wenxuan came back to his senses, looked up at her, and smiled lightly, “Why is Your Highness looking at me like that?”

“To be honest,” Li Rong said cautiously, “you’re letting Tuoba Yan manage the handover of your father’s assets. You’re comfortable with that?”

She didn’t say it explicitly, but Pei Wenxuan understood her meaning. He paused, and somehow, there was still a bit of sourness in his heart.

On such critical matters, he knew that Li Rong kept things clear between them in her heart. She ultimately had other intentions and had never thought about going all the way with him—she didn’t even have the thought of accidentally going all the way.

But this was originally their agreement. It wasn’t unreasonable for Li Rong to think this way. He could only laugh as if nothing was wrong and say calmly, “Your Highness and I are now one body. I have nothing to worry about.”

“But in the future…”

“Let’s talk about the future when it comes.” Pei Wenxuan interrupted her. Li Rong became even more suspicious, “Pei Wenxuan, this isn’t like you.”

“Hmm?” Pei Wenxuan picked up his tea, responding casually. Li Rong opened and closed her small fan, “You’re not planning for the future? You’re someone with more schemes than a beehive has holes. If you’re not thinking about the future at all, I’m afraid what you’re thinking is something inconvenient to tell me. That makes me nervous.”

“Your Highness overthinks,” Pei Wenxuan heard Li Rong say this and knew that being too abnormal wasn’t good either. He spoke slowly, “It’s not that I haven’t thought about the future. It’s just that all the futures Wenxuan envisions now include being together with Your Highness.”

Li Rong froze in the motion of lifting her cup, but before she could react, Pei Wenxuan continued, “Your Highness and I have been together for so many years. Even if we’re not husband and wife, we’re still family. In this lifetime, Wenxuan doesn’t want to part ways with Your Highness.”

Like wind rising across a calm surface, the wind blew across the pool of her heart, suddenly stirring up ripples before quickly returning to stillness.

Li Rong felt somewhat awkward and secretly cursed herself for overthinking. She coughed lightly and said, “You’re right.”

“So this title of Lady Pei,” Pei Wenxuan looked up, smiling lightly at Li Rong, “Your Highness will probably have to bear it for quite a while.”

“It’s a small matter.” Li Rong waved her hand magnanimously. “It’s just a title.”

“Your Highness truly doesn’t let small matters constrain her when accomplishing great things.” Pei Wenxuan praised her softly. Li Rong gently blew on her tea leaves, quite pleased with herself. She was just about to respond with some self-deprecation when she heard Pei Wenxuan open his mouth and call out softly, “Wife.”

These two words seemed to roll on his tongue, and when they came out, they carried an indescribable, sultry tenderness. Li Rong’s hand trembled slightly, and then she heard Pei Wenxuan laugh loudly, “Your Highness is still not used to it.”

“Just joking,” Li Rong waved her hand. “I don’t mind.”

Pei Wenxuan smiled without speaking and didn’t press the matter further. Instead, he said, “But Your Highness doesn’t plan to get the list from Su Rongqing anymore, right?”

“If you can get the list from the Pei family, I naturally won’t ask Su Rongqing for it.”

Li Rong tapped her small fan lightly against her palm. “Actually, what you said does make some sense. It’s better to keep relationships simple when possible. It’s fine to get the list from him, but it’s even better not to. What do you think?”

“I naturally agree with Your Highness.” Pei Wenxuan grabbed a small handful of melon seeds and cracked them with his head lowered, asking as casually as if chatting, “So does Your Highness plan to follow Shangguan Ya’s suggestion and approach Su Rongqing next?”

“Let’s see how it goes.” Li Rong sighed. “This matter is awkward. You and I are still married. For me to approach him—it always feels somewhat improper. But if I approach him too late, I’m afraid by the time we divorce, he’ll have already married.”

“Does Your Highness like him?”

Pei Wenxuan kept his eyes lowered, cracking melon seeds, his expression showing neither joy nor anger—completely like a good friend chatting. Li Rong thought for a moment and said slowly, “I suppose I feel it’s a pity.”

“I like him, but not quite. I don’t like him, yet I have some attachment. What you said…”

“Pretend I never said anything.” Pei Wenxuan quickly interrupted her, saying seriously, “My brain was flooded some time ago. Anything related to Su Rongqing doesn’t count. Don’t take it to heart.”

“But I think what you said made sense.”

Li Rong frowned, somewhat puzzled by Pei Wenxuan’s sudden change. Pei Wenxuan tossed the uncracked melon seeds into the fruit plate and looked up with a light smile, “What have I said that didn’t make sense?”

Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan’s smile. Her intuition told her something wasn’t quite right. She was about to speak when she saw Pei Wenxuan hiss. Li Rong quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The wound seems to have split open.”

Pei Wenxuan frowned. “I was just thinking of leaning against the wall to sleep for a bit, but as soon as I moved…”

“You want to sleep?”

Li Rong glanced at the road. “It’s not much longer. Can you hold on?”

“I’m a bit tired.” Pei Wenxuan smiled bitterly. “To be honest with Your Highness, if you hadn’t been there today during the family discussion, I wouldn’t have been able to continue.”

“They’re all family.”

Li Rong nodded, understanding Pei Wenxuan’s difficult situation.

Pei Wenxuan lowered his eyes, seeming somewhat sorrowful. “The family is in such chaos, and I’ve been injured recently. I haven’t had a moment’s rest…”

“So what do you want?” Seeing him talk for so long, Li Rong directly interrupted him. “You want me to give up my spot so you can lie down?”

“How would I dare?”

Pei Wenxuan shook his head. Looking at Li Rong, he became somewhat embarrassed. “This humble subject just wants to ask—could Your Highness lend me your shoulder to lean on?”

“If it’s just this small thing, you should have said so earlier.”

Li Rong laughed, moved to sit beside Pei Wenxuan, and patted her own shoulder. “Go ahead and lean.”

“Your Highness is so kind.”

Pei Wenxuan praised Li Rong as he leaned over.

Li Rong felt Pei Wenxuan leaning against her and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you comfortable like this?”

“Comfortable.”

Pei Wenxuan answered decisively. “Your Highness could also try leaning on me?”

“No need.” Li Rong looked oddly at his posture. He was tall, so to lean on her, the difficulty level didn’t seem any less than leaning against the wall.

But since Pei Wenxuan himself felt it was fine, then she’d consider it fine.

Pei Wenxuan leaned quietly against Li Rong. After a while, Pei Wenxuan suddenly said, “Li Rong, did you and Su Rongqing ever spend time together like lovers later on?”

“Hmm?”

Li Rong found it somewhat strange. “What do you mean?”

“That is,” Pei Wenxuan thought for a moment and said slowly, “not the relationship between a princess and her male companion, but the relationship of lovers.”

“I don’t quite understand. What’s the specific difference between these two relationships?” Li Rong thought about it. Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong’s hand resting on the table and said gently, “For example, if they were lovers, at a time like this, he would hold your hand.”

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he reached out and grasped her hand, then threaded his warm fingers between hers, interlacing them.

His movements were very slow. Where the man’s slightly rough hand gently touched, there was a kind of silent, tingling sensation that traveled up from the fingertips. He slowly interlaced their fingers, then curved his knuckles and locked their ten fingers together.

“Like this.” His voice was low and husky, brushing past her ear.

Li Rong looked up at Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan was leaning against her, his eyes lowered, his gaze falling entirely on their interlaced hands. He didn’t let go, nor did he make any further moves.

Li Rong restrained all her emotions and desires. She wanted to pull her hand away, but somehow, her body just stopped there.

She found herself somewhat attached to the feeling brought by this interlacing of ten fingers.

Whether in body or in heart.

For a brief moment, she had the dazed feeling that this man was seducing her.

But before she could think more carefully, she heard the guard outside speak with some urgency, “Your Highness, something’s happened.”

Hearing this, Li Rong immediately looked up coldly. She yanked her hand away, rolled up the curtain, and said coldly, “What is it?”

“Luo Juan is dead.”

The guard stood outside the curtain. He seemed to have just received the news and rushed to deliver it, his whole body still panting.

“Lord Xun Chuan investigated for a long time before discovering that Lord Luo and all the other witnesses are dead.”

Author’s Note:

[Mini Theater]

Pei Wenxuan: “What do you think of Su Rongqing? (Choose carefully—choose wrong and you’re dead.)”

Li Rong: “This… this is a trap question.”

Pei Wenxuan: “Answer.”

Li Rong: “Well, it’s a pity. I still have some feelings.”

Pei Wenxuan: “You’re done for. If you don’t give me something sweet, I’m going to make a scene today.”

Li Rong: “Something sweet like what?”

Pei Wenxuan: “Let’s interlace our ten fingers and make a vow.”

Li Rong: “Huh?”

Pei Wenxuan: “Starting today, you’re my wife. Don’t even think about running away in the future.”