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

After standing in place for a moment and seeing the doctor go to Mei Wanying’s courtyard, Pei Yan left the Mei Mansion directly without changing his clothes.

The man had a noble air; even soaked to the bone, he didn’t look the least bit pathetic.

If anything, his aura was even colder, sharper, making it impossible for anyone to meet his gaze.

Pei Yan’s face was devoid of expression as he boarded his carriage.

Without a second glance at the Mei Mansion, he commanded, "To the mansion."

Wei Jue and the others had been waiting outside the mansion, not knowing what had happened.

But anyone familiar with Pei Yan could see that he was in a terrible mood.

The absolute worst!

Wei Jue thought, ’It must have something to do with Miss Mei.’

’She’s the only one who can make His Highness’s emotions fluctuate so wildly.’

’I wonder what Miss Mei did.’

’Don’t tell me she tried to force a marriage proposal again?’

’His Highness refused, so Miss Mei pushed him into the water?’

He was dying of curiosity, but he didn’t dare ask.

’At times like this, you have to make yourself as small as possible, or things will end badly.’

’I definitely don’t want to go to the training grounds to be his sparring partner. That’s no different from being a human punching bag.’

’His Highness really hurts when he hits people...’

「Prince Chen Mansion」

Pei Yan entered the mansion with a dark expression, his body radiating a heavy, oppressive aura. Everywhere he passed, people held their breath, terrified of setting him off.

When they saw him kick a flowerpot placed at the entrance of the main building, they knew the situation was serious.

The butler quietly asked Wei Jue, "His Highness is always so composed and never shows his emotions. What happened today?"

Wei Jue shook his head.

He didn’t know either.

Miss Mei had provoked His Highness plenty of times before, and he would get annoyed, but he had never lost his composure like this.

The man was utterly volatile!

Anyone who provoked His Highness right now would surely meet a miserable end!

"Go get the Imperial Physician!"

The deep male voice rang out, and the expressions on both Wei Jue and the butler’s faces changed at once.

’Is His Highness unwell?’

Then they heard the man inside say through gritted teeth, "Send him to the Mei Mansion. Have him give Mei Wanying a thorough treatment. And he’d better fix her brain while he’s at it!"

’The path was so wide. How could she have fallen into the water?’

’Didn’t she just jump in herself?’

’Does she really think she’s an immortal with nine lives to spare!’

The more Pei Yan thought about it, the angrier he became. He desperately wanted to go back to the Mei Mansion and give Mei Wanying a piece of his mind.

But the image that appeared in his mind was her small, lifeless face, her despairing eyes... Pei Yan could only swallow his anger.

It was suffocating him!

’I must have done a lot of wicked things in my past life and ended up indebted to Mei Wanying to be tormented by her again and again in this one.’

Waving off the servants, Pei Yan grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathing room.

He stripped off his damp clothes, revealing a powerful, well-built physique. He was a general who had fought on the battlefield. From the day General Mei took him in, he had lived and breathed the military barracks, forging a body of lean, hard muscle.

His muscles were clearly defined and powerful, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His skin was a rugged, wheat-like tan.

The water pouring over his body rolled down, gathering into streams that traced a path over his firm abdomen before disappearing from sight.

The faint scratch marks on his chest were gone. Pei Yan lowered his gaze and stared at the spot for a long while.

Droplets of water fell from his sharp brow bone. Pei Yan wiped his face, casting aside all the thoughts in his mind.

When he appeared before others again, he had returned to his usual self.

Wei Jue reported, "The Imperial Physician has already gone to the Mei family’s residence. After taking her pulse, he will come to the mansion to report on Miss Mei’s condition."

Pei Yan said nothing and went to the study.

Wei Jue scratched the back of his head.

’His Highness must have heard me, right?’

Pei Yan had returned from the military camp, visited the palace, and then gone to the Mei family’s home. By now, the hour was late, and the sky had already darkened.

The study was brightly lit. Pei Yan picked up a book on military strategy but didn’t turn a single page for a long time.

The air was silent, so quiet you could hear the flickering of the candle flame, which occasionally let out a faint CRACKLE.

After an unknown amount of time, the man tossed the book aside, leaned back against his chair, and closed his eyes. He allowed himself to break his routine, neither handling official business nor studying military tactics.

Perhaps from sheer mental and physical exhaustion, Pei Yan unknowingly drifted into a dream.

His surroundings hadn’t changed. There were bookshelves displaying all sorts of books, famous paintings with profound artistic conception hung on the walls, and a wide desk was placed in the spot with the best light. On the desk were writing implements and the books he often read.

Judging by the layout, it was a study.

Whether it was the study in the Prince Chen Mansion or the one in the Mei Mansion, the arrangements were nearly identical.

The scene shifted. A woman was bent over the desk, and he was gripping her willow-slender waist.

Sinking into softness.

Unable to pull away.

The woman’s long, silky black hair draped over her shoulders. Her neck was as graceful as a swan’s, her shoulders delicate, revealing beautiful shoulder blades that fluttered in the air as if about to take flight.

Her skin was fairer than snow, smooth and delicate, like a piece of flawless jade.

The darkness couldn’t hide her exquisite curves. Though her limbs were slender and her waist narrow enough to be encircled by one’s hands, she was full and voluptuous in all the right places.

The longer Pei Yan looked, the more he felt that the woman’s figure was familiar.

And her sobbing—it was dreadfully familiar too!

Pei Yan wanted to see her face clearly. He leaned down, pressing against her, and reached out to turn her cheek toward him.

In the darkness, she let out a cry of alarm.

Her hands flailed about, trying to grab onto something for support.

"Ah Yan, I can’t see..."

Her lovely profile came into view. Her beautiful eyes were moist, the corners brimming with a seductive charm.

Pei Yan’s pupils contracted.

It was Mei Wanying!

"Your Highness, the Imperial Physician is here," a young servant announced from outside the study. "He says he’s here to report on Miss Mei’s condition. Should I let him in?"

The stern man’s eyes snapped open.

The amorous scene vanished in an instant, and the softly crying person was gone.

Pei Yan breathed heavily, clutching his chest. His heart was beating erratically.

His gaze swept across the study, confirming that Mei Wanying wasn’t there. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Having had such a dream, Pei Yan felt both guilty and vexed.

His brow furrowed deeply. ’How could I dream of such nonsensical things!’

’How could that woman have Mei Wanying’s face!’

Heaving a heavy sigh, Pei Yan told himself that dreams were the opposite of reality.

’I only did... that... with Mei Wanying in a dream. It’s not like it really happened.’

’It was all fake!’

Pei Yan sat up straight, about to order the Imperial Physician to be brought in, when he suddenly noticed something strange about his body.

As if struck by lightning, he looked down below his abdomen, his face filled with shock.

His stern face flushed bright red.

It was just a dream, yet his body had actually reacted. And so shamefully... he would have to change his clothes again.

"Damn it!"

It was unclear who he was cursing.

Pei Yan slammed a hand on the desk, and the amorous scene from his dream, which had taken place on this very desk, flooded his mind.

It was frighteningly real.

As if he had truly shared an intimate encounter with Mei Wanying.

Pei Yan’s face darkened. ’It must be because I touched her body and saw things I shouldn’t have when I pulled her from the water. That’s why I had such an unbelievable dream.’

’Fake!’

’It’s all fake!’

Pei Yan started towards the bathing room, coldly instructing Wei Jue, "From now on, you will handle all of Mei Wanying’s affairs. Unless it’s a matter of life and death, there’s no need to inform me of anything else."

Wei Jue nodded.

But he was even more bewildered now.

’Didn’t His Highness just take a bath? Why is he taking another one?’