A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

Pei Yan was utterly shameless. Cradling Ling, he sidled up to her.

He sat on the edge of the soft couch, lifted his daughter with both hands, and placed her on Mei Wanying’s back.

"Quick, soothe your mother. If you can make her happy, Daddy will buy you candy."

For him to be so shameless, a woman with Mei Wanying’s temper was sure to fly into a rage.

But with her daughter lying on her back, she didn’t dare to move, terrified she might hurt Ling.

’Pei Yan must be doing this on purpose,’ Mei Wanying thought. ’He’s trying to use our daughter to restrain me.’

She grew even more furious, wanting nothing more than to claw his face to ribbons!

Pei Yan didn’t know what Mei Wanying was thinking. He just wanted to use Ling to cheer her up.

’A child is so adorable. Who wouldn’t have their heart melt at the touch of her soft little body?’

’Ah Yin would be no exception.’

Although the baby was very light, Pei Yan was still afraid she would be too heavy for Mei Wanying.

He subtly tensed his arms, making sure none of Ling’s weight actually rested on Mei Wanying.

The man’s broad shoulders enveloped both Mei Wanying and the little one, circling them within his protective embrace.

This was a rare moment for their little family of three, and Pei Yan’s heart quivered with excitement.

’How wonderful would it be if we could always be together?’

Mei Wanying reached back, securely supporting her daughter, and finally managed to sit up.

Pei Yan’s wonderful fantasy was shattered. She coldly dismissed him, "Your Highness, men and women must maintain their distance. Please refrain from coming to places you shouldn’t be."

"If this happens again, please see yourself out of the Mei Mansion. We cannot afford to entertain a guest who knows no boundaries."

Pei Yan stared at his palm. Just moments ago, he had been able to touch Ah Yin.

Their family of three had been so close, like an ordinary couple playing with their child.

But in the blink of an eye, she had carried their child into the inner chamber, her delicate figure vanishing behind the beaded curtain.

The whiplash was too much. An unbearable ache spread through Pei Yan’s heart.

Yet he didn’t dare to step past that beaded curtain.

He didn’t dare... to press his luck.

When Ding Xiang returned from her errand, she found the door to the room shut tight and the serving maids nowhere in sight.

Her eyelids twitched nervously. ’Did that Useless Crown Prince find his way here so soon?’

Her face turned deathly pale.

Without a second thought, Ding Xiang pushed the door open, only to see someone completely unexpected.

Pei Yan was standing outside the curtain, and from the inner chamber came the sound of her mistress soothing the child.

She could also hear Ling’s soft suckling sounds as she drank her milk.

Ding Xiang jumped in fright. ’What was someone of his stature doing in her mistress’s room?’

’What happened between them?’

Countless thoughts raced through her mind, but Ding Xiang didn’t dare to ask.

She didn’t know whether she should leave or force herself to stay.

"Ding Xiang."

Mei Wanying called to her from inside.

"Yes, milady," Ding Xiang answered, hurrying past Pei Yan into the inner chamber.

The little one still had tear tracks on her face. Worried the tears would irritate her skin, Mei Wanying had Ding Xiang fetch some water to wipe Ling’s face.

By the time Ding Xiang emerged from the inner chamber again, the man was no longer standing outside the beaded curtain.

After fetching the water and wringing out a cloth, Ding Xiang re-entered the room and whispered, "Mistress, he’s gone."

Mei Wanying murmured in acknowledgement.

She took the cloth and wiped her daughter’s face herself.

’I’m sorry,’ she silently apologized to her daughter. ’I lost control of my emotions again today and scared you.’

’It seems I need to resolve this matter as quickly as possible, then make Pei Yan return to the Capital and never show his face again.’

’With him hovering around, it’s impossible for me to be at peace.’

’There’s no telling when I might take my anger out on my daughter again.’

’It was our transgression that brought Ling into this world.’

’The child is innocent.’

’She shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of the adults’ emotions.’

Regardless, Pei Yan ended up staying at the Mei Family’s old house.

Perhaps because he had witnessed that scene during the day, he had a dream that night.

He dreamed of a scene from his past life, an intimate moment with Ah Yin before he left.

The bridal chamber was a sea of fiery red.

The bed curtains billowed gently.

Ah Yin didn’t want him to leave. Though her ears were completely red, she boldly rolled over and pinned him beneath her.

The sky had already brightened. Faint light filtered through the bed curtains, enveloping Ah Yin in a hazy glow.

Her skin was fairer than snow, like the finest, warm mutton-fat jade.

From head to toe, she was flawless.

He lay on his back, watching that exquisitely beautiful face move above him.

His gaze drifted downward, merging with the sight he had glimpsed during the day.

"Ah Yin..."

Pei Yan subconsciously reached out to embrace her, but his hands met only empty air.

A sudden feeling of falling, as if he had missed a step, surged through him. His body jolted, and the sleeping man’s eyes shot open.

His eyes met a cold, silent room, devoid of any fiery red bed curtains.

He turned his head; the person he longed for day and night was not beside him.

’This isn’t our bridal chamber.’

That was Pei Yan’s first thought.

Then reality hit him. Ah Yin didn’t want him anymore. She had run a thousand miles back to Jiangnan.

She had borne their child, and she still didn’t want him...

The dream and reality were worlds apart.

Overcome with dejection, Pei Yan hugged Mei Wanying’s pillow.

This was the very pillow she had thrown at him the last time he came to Jiangnan, when he’d sought out Ah Yin at the temple.

Now, it had become his comfort.

He hugged the pillow, pretending it was Mei Wanying in his arms.

But her scent had long since faded from it.

Pei Yan tried to comfort himself. ’Besides me, who else gets to touch Ah Yin’s things?’

’I’m already very lucky.’

But the more he tried to console himself, the more miserable he felt.

If he hadn’t said things he didn’t mean, if he hadn’t done those hurtful things, Ah Yin would be lying beside him right now.

He would only need to reach out to hold her.

Pei Yan hugged the pillow tighter, cursing himself for being so useless, so unable to win Mei Wanying’s affection.

The desire in his body was still stirring. Pei Yan cursed under his breath and miserably made his way to the bathhouse.

’This is what you get for not cherishing her.’

’Serves you right!’

...

Perhaps the Useless Crown Prince was too severely injured to take immediate revenge on Pei Yan.

Or perhaps his subordinates had dissuaded him, or maybe he’d even had a change of heart.

Even as rumors about Mei Wanying and Pei Yan spread like wildfire, the Useless Crown Prince was nowhere to be seen.

Pei Yan was in no hurry to return to the Capital and settled into the Mei family home as if he had every right to be there.

Mei Wanying, on the other hand, grew increasingly agitated.

She desperately wanted to drive Pei Yan away, but she was afraid that once he left, she, Ling, and her mother would be in danger.

She could only tolerate Pei Yan, letting him linger in her sight.

She secretly swore that as soon as the Useless Crown Prince was dealt with, she would send Pei Yan packing without a moment’s delay.

If he dared refuse to leave, she would make him regret it!

While dark undercurrents surged in Jiangnan, the Capital City was anything but calm.

The Emperor’s health had always been poor, and after everything that had happened, he became so ill he was confined to his bed.

To pray for the Emperor’s recovery, the Empress personally went to the National Temple to ask for blessings of peace for him.

The noblewomen of the Capital, including Xue Xingyao, the Heir’s wife of the Chen Family, accompanied her.

However, there was an assassination attempt at the temple.

The assailants set fire to the wing, trapping the Empress inside.

It was Xue Xingyao who rushed into the fire and rescued the Empress.

When she went back to retrieve the peace charm the Empress had obtained, she was struck by a falling roof beam and gravely injured.

By risking her life to save the Empress, she performed a great service.

For this, and because the Duke Mansion’s ancestors had made a Contribution from the Dragon, the Emperor rewarded her by pardoning her mother and younger brother.

Their lives were spared, but they were barred from holding any official post for the rest of their lives.

As for the rest of the Xue Family, Duke Xue and Xue Yunshu, the main culprits in the treason plot, were sentenced to death.

The others were all exiled Outside The Border.

For Xue Xingyao, as long as the people she cared about were safe, she wanted for nothing else.

’It’s fine if they can’t serve as officials. A life of freedom—isn’t that a kind of happiness in itself?’

Xue Xingyao’s injuries were too severe. Her back was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, and she could only recuperate in bed.

Chen Shujing kept vigil by her sickbed, his face ghastly pale and drained of all color.

"Ah Yao, why did you have to do that?"

"I told you I would help you."