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

The situation at the Border was tense. Before Pei Yan arrived, the army was fractured into several factions, utterly disorganized.

Pei Yan was once the Young General, famed for his military achievements.

Now, he was a Prince of distinguished status.

It was enough to command respect.

From the day he arrived at the camp, he held absolute authority. Everyone had to obey his commands.

But some still schemed behind his back.

A traitor leaked intelligence, coordinating with the enemy from within to launch a surprise attack on the camp.

Having followed General Mei to the battlefield since he was very young, Pei Yan’s ability to handle crises after years of campaigning was unquestionable.

The enemy was so desperate to take Pei Yan’s life that they dispatched their elite forces. They launched a surprise attack under the cover of darkness, aided by their mole.

Although they repelled the enemy in the first clash, the traitor took advantage of the chaos to set fire to the grain stores.

The wind fanned the flames, and the fire raged.

The losses were indeed devastating.

More than half of the grain supplies Mei Wanying had donated before leaving the capital were burned.

The grain supply was paramount. If they didn’t ferret out the traitor, more trouble was inevitable.

By the time Pei Yan finished his war council in the commander’s tent, the sky was already growing light.

He had just clashed with the enemy forces. He still wore his cold, hard armor, which was stained with dried blood.

He radiated a deadly aura.

After the council, a trusted aide brought him a meal, along with a letter.

Pei Yan glanced at it indifferently, assuming it was an ordinary letter. But then he saw two words written starkly on the envelope: "Pei Yan."

And the handwriting was especially familiar.

He had seen it countless times before!

His heart leaped. Something burst forth from deep within him, spreading rapidly to his every limb.

It instantly soothed his turbulent emotions.

The corners of Pei Yan’s mouth curled up, then quickly flattened again.

"Leave," he commanded in a low voice.

The moment the trusted aide turned to leave, the man picked up the envelope.

Besides the demanding and willful Mei Wanying, who else would dare address him so brazenly by his full name?

She hadn’t written to him in a long time. He thought Wanying was still angry.

It seemed Xue Xingyao had cheered her up.

He silently credited Xue Xingyao for this achievement. ’If Chen Shujing ever dares to bully her in the future, Ah Yin and I will have her back.’

’If she wants Silver, we’ll give her Silver.’

’If she wants status, we’ll give her status.’

’As long as Ah Yin is willing to give it, I won’t be stingy in the slightest.’

’Best friends? What a load of crap. I’m on the side of whoever makes Wanying happy!’

Pei Yan turned the envelope over and over, a smile playing uncontrollably on his lips, wondering what Mei Wanying had written.

Sometimes, she would deliberately tease him, filling an entire page with just two words: "Miss you."

The ink was silent, but deafening.

The memory made Pei Yan’s ears burn. ’Wanying is just too brazen.’

So brazen that everyone knew how she felt about him.

Whenever the two of them stood together, people would trade knowing glances behind their backs.

’We’ve been apart for so long. Wanying must miss me terribly. She’s probably up to her old tricks again.’

His well-defined fingers caressed the envelope, but then he noticed the dried blood on the back of his hand. The overwhelming metallic tang forced him to set the letter aside for the moment.

He took off his armor, washed his hands several times, and only then did he sit down at the desk and solemnly open the envelope.

When he saw the contents of the letter, Pei Yan froze. It said, "A good dog doesn’t block the path."

’The dog... who is she talking about?’

His expression turned strange. ’Wanying... she’s not cursing me out, is she?’

The handwriting was scrawled, the strokes heavy. It was obviously written in a fit of irritation.

’But I’m a thousand miles away. I haven’t done anything to make Wanying angry.’

’What’s gotten into her now?’

Pei Yan couldn’t figure it out and suddenly felt a bit wronged.

’Wanying sent a letter all this way just to curse me out.’

’She’s really asking for it!’

’If... if Wanying were here right now, I’d have to teach her a lesson.’

Pei Yan silently made a mental note. When he returned to the capital, he would go down to Jiangnan and catch her.

’And settle this score with her!’

’Since Wanying called me a dog, she shouldn’t blame me for acting uncivilized.’

Pei Yan snorted, slammed the letter on the table, but his gaze didn’t move away.

Although Mei Wanying was proud and pampered, she wouldn’t speak maliciously, and certainly wouldn’t curse people randomly.

Pei Yan was certain of one thing: he was the only person Wanying had ever cursed. Wasn’t that just another proof of how special he was to her?

His resentment dissipated. The man picked up the letter again, reading that sentence over and over.

His mood strangely calmed down.

He even picked up a brush and annotated the bottom with a line: "I miss you, too."

When he realized what he had written, Pei Yan jolted, his immediate instinct to destroy the evidence so no one would see it. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

But a voice in his heart told him, ’You do miss Wanying. It’s useless to hide it. Even if you destroy the evidence, can you cut open your heart and erase every trace of her?’

The answer was no.

From the day he met Mei Wanying, she had been special.

It was useless for him to resist.

Wanying was just there, an immovable presence. He could either accept reality, or he could fight himself over it and drive himself mad.

Before, he had chosen the latter.

He had lost.

He didn’t want to be at odds with Wanying anymore.

’Child husband, so what? Let them mock me. I was raised by the Mei family. There’s nothing wrong with calling me their child husband.’

’Damn my pride! To hell with it!’

’This was a match made in heaven. Otherwise, why hadn’t Wanying chosen someone else as her child husband?’

His gaze fell back to the letter. Wanying only dared to be fierce with him, one of her own.

She would never be able to call anyone else a dog.

With that thought, Pei Yan grew even more certain of his special place in Wanying’s heart.

A wave of delight washed over him. He had to end this conflict as quickly as possible and go back to see Wanying.

Putting the letter away carefully, Pei Yan picked up a cold flatbread and took a bite.

It was tasteless and a bit hard.

’Wanying is a pampered young lady, used to the finest delicacies. Thank goodness I didn’t give her the chance to follow me to the Border. She wouldn’t eat or sleep well, and her health would only deteriorate.’

’Wanying’s skin is so delicate. Once, she cut her hand just by touching a bamboo leaf.’

She had held up her fair, tender finger to his face, wanting him to blow on it.

Of course, he refused.

Wanying then changed her tune, asking him to help bandage it.

Pei Yan had been injured countless times on the battlefield. To him, that wasn’t even a wound.

But for some reason, he did it anyway.

Using his handkerchief to wrap her cut finger...

’The wind and sand at the Border are too harsh. Her delicate skin could never endure it.’

Pei Yan was certain, once again, that sending Wanying back to Jiangnan had been the right choice.

Now that his mind was at peace, he understood why Wanying had cursed at him.

’Too many people must have been bothering her, making her feel uncomfortable, and she finally got annoyed.’

Since she was unhappy, he would grant her wish.

This way, she wouldn’t hold it against him and give him the cold shoulder when they next met.

The trusted aide entered the tent to clear away the dishes and saw the wound on the side of Pei Yan’s shoulder. The blood had already dried, and it hadn’t been bandaged yet.

"Should I summon the physician, sir?"

Pei Yan turned his head to look, only then discovering he had another wound.

To him, as long as it wasn’t fatal, it wasn’t a serious injury. A few hours of rest and his energy would recover.

’If Wanying saw this, she’d be so heartbroken she’d start crying again.’

’She already has an eye condition; it’s better not to give her a reason to cry.’

The wound was too far back on his shoulder to bandage by himself.

Pei Yan: "Go."