Pei Yanchao woke up in the afternoon of the next day.
He opened his eyes and moved slightly. Then he noticed Jiang Sihe, who was lying asleep beside the bed.
He slowly turned over on his side, not wanting to disturb her. The sunlight shining in through the window lattice happened to fall on her. Her soft hair blended with the light, looking warm and bright...
Pei Yanchao reached out his hand, wanting to gently touch the hair on top of her head. But when his fingers were about to touch her hair in the light, he forced himself to take his hand back.
This light and warmth didn't belong to him, nor could they.
He leaned back gently against the bed, took a reluctant look at Jiang Sihe, and sighed softly.
Hearing the faint sound, Jiang Sihe suddenly opened her eyes and saw that Pei Yanchao was awake.
"You're awake...?"
She was still a bit dazed, but she had already sat up straight and stepped forward to check on his condition. However, Pei Yanchao blocked her with his arm.
"Where are Yan Yiheng and the others? I have something to tell them. Call them in for me..."
Jiang Sihe felt that Pei Yanchao seemed to have returned to his previous cold self...
The Pei Yanchao who treated her in the cave seemed to be just an illusion she had under such circumstances...
It couldn't be. He had left all the food for her and hadn't eaten any himself. It couldn't be an illusion.
They had been missing for several days. Pei Yanchao must have a lot of important matters to deal with. At this moment, she couldn't be too fussy about these things.
"Okay, I'll go out and call them in for you right away..."
Jiang Sihe got up and walked out. Pei Yanchao's eyes followed her back, and a flash of complexity and heaviness passed through his eyes.
After Yan Yiheng and Yan An were called in, Pei Yanchao roughly understood the situation of these days and then told them how to handle the follow - up matters.
By the time all the matters were dealt with one by one, it was already getting dark.
"I'll handle the affairs of the Dongyue Kingdom myself when I get back. You just do as I've said for the rest..."
It took Pei Yanchao less than a quarter of an hour to analyze all the matters clearly and come up with countermeasures after waking up. Yan Yiheng couldn't help but admire his wisdom and strategy.
After Pei Yanchao finished talking about the business, Yan Yiheng crossed his arms in front of his chest, tilted his mouth and asked with a smile, "My Lord Pei, now that the business is done, could you allow me to say something else..."
Pei Yanchao knew what he wanted to say and directly said, "She's the daughter of Jiang Zongyuan. It's only natural for me to take care of her..."
Yan Yiheng smacked his lips. "Old Pei, how come I just realized that you're so stubborn..."
Pei Yanchao gave him a cold look. Yan Yiheng quickly waved his hands at him. "Alright... just pretend I didn't say anything. Don't use your tricks on me. I can't play against you..."
Then he turned around and walked out, saying as he walked, "I'll go and do the business. Take care, My Lord Pei!"
Seeing Yan Yiheng leave, Yan An stepped forward and looked at the sky outside. "My Lord, do you want this subordinate to send Miss Jiang back now?"
"Yes!"
"Look, it's getting late. What if something goes wrong on the way..."
"The longer she's away from home, the more worried her family will be. The earlier she goes back, the less worried they'll be."
Pei Yanchao said slowly.
"Miss Jiang is decocting medicine for you. Before you woke up, Miss Jiang decocted the medicine and fed it to you herself. This subordinate doesn't know about your medicine... How about waiting for her to feed you the medicine?"
Yan An said carefully, unable to hide his anxiety. My Lord, this is such a good opportunity. You've gone through hardships together and supported each other. This is just the right time to cultivate your relationship after you wake up. How can you send her away now!
Pei Yanchao asked coldly, "She took care of me? What were you doing?"
Yan An quickly replied, "It's because Miss Jiang was worried about you, so..."
"Yan An, it's impossible between her and me..."
His words were so decisive that Yan An was also stunned.
It was obvious that his Lord treated Miss Jiang differently. Moreover, they were both unmarried. Why was it impossible?
It was just a difference in age. But in his opinion, Miss Jiang didn't seem to care about this...
Why was his Lord's heart so cold?
There was a moment of silence in the room. After a long time, Pei Yanchao said, "She will have a better future, but it won't be with me!"
Yan An nodded and replied, "This subordinate understands. I won't talk too much in the future!"
"The medicine is ready. The business is done. It's time to take the medicine!"
Jiang Sihe came in from the door with a medicine bowl in her hand. She saw that the expressions of the two of them were not very good.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't know what they had talked about and asked a little worriedly.
"Put the medicine on the table. I'll take it myself later. You pack up. Yan An will send you back..."
Hearing this, Jiang Sihe's fingers paused slightly, but she quickly reacted and explained, "Don't worry about this. Commander Yan has publicly announced that Princess Yuemi is staying in the Lingyin Temple for a few days. I accompanied her here, so there won't be any suspicion..."
"I've already asked Yan Yiheng to take Princess Yuemi back to the capital. You don't need to stay here any longer!"
Pei Yanchao had returned to his usual cold self, but Jiang Sihe stubbornly didn't want to believe it.
"Yan An, you go out first. I have something to ask Lord Pei..."
Yan An didn't dare to respond. He looked at his Lord in a dilemma, not knowing whether he should go out or not.
"What, does Lord Pei think it doesn't matter if others hear what I'm going to say next?"
Pei Yanchao had no choice but to nod at Yan An.
Yan An left briskly.
"You understood what I said last in the cave, right?"
Jiang Sihe took a step forward and stared at him.
Pei Yanchao lowered his eyes and didn't reply.
Jiang Sihe smiled bitterly. "So it's always been my own wishful thinking? Lord Pei has never had any other thoughts about me?"
Pei Yanchao raised his eyes and looked at the little girl's somewhat disappointed face. His heart couldn't help but ache slightly.
"We have different statuses. After all..."
"I don't want to hear this. I dare to admit honestly that I'm in love with you. What about you?"
"You just had a short - term dependence on me in the cave and mistook it for love..."
Jiang Sihe couldn't help but laugh. Was he so cowardly as to change the concept like this?
"Fine, then let it be my wishful thinking. I'm in love with the high - and - mighty Lord Pei."
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Jiang Sihe wiped them away randomly and then said with a choking voice.
"Just think of it as my girlish infatuation. But after today, I'll let go. From now on, I'll only regard you as an elder and a teacher."
After saying that, she calmed herself down and said in a very calm tone, "My Lord, don't feel troubled in the future. I won't pester you either..."
After saying these words, when she turned around to leave, she felt that it wasn't free - and - easy enough. She turned back again with a bit of a smile.
"By the way, when I get married later, I'll definitely send an invitation to Lord Pei. Lord Pei must not decline. You must come and have a glass of wedding wine..."