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

If it weren’t for the Crown Prince’s meddling, Pei Yan wouldn’t have been delayed at the Border for so long.

This "critical illness" was merely a way to turn the tables.

The Crown Prince wanted to remove this stumbling block, and he, too, wanted to end the struggle as quickly as possible.

If the conflict dragged on, how could he bring Mei Wanying back to his side with a clear conscience?

But he was also unwilling to keep living apart from her.

’I want Mei Wanying by my side. I want to see her the moment I open my eyes each day.’

Pei Yan’s reason still held. He couldn’t repeat the mistakes from his dreams; he couldn’t place Mei Wanying in a dangerous environment.

Only when the situation was stable could Mei Wanying return to the Capital City.

Pei Yan missed Mei Wanying. He missed her more than ever and was desperate to see her.

Even just a single glance, a single word, would be enough to soothe his restless heart.

After arranging everything, Pei Yan secretly traveled to Jiangnan.

He had accompanied Mei Wanying back to her hometown before, so he knew the location of the Mei Family’s old house.

He headed there with a clear destination in mind, only to come up empty.

Mei Wanying had left the city!

Of course, Pei Yan had to go after Mei Wanying. He had traveled a thousand miles just to see her.

Once he saw her, he would have to return to the Capital City.

Just as he was about to leave the Mei family’s estate unnoticed, he heard two maids gossiping in a corner.

The subject of their discussion was Mei Wanying.

Pei Yan stopped in his tracks.

"Is the young lady really with child? I saw her when she went out just now, and her belly wasn’t showing at all. Could her cloak have been hiding it?"

Pei Yan froze.

’With child... what does that mean?’

A look of confusion appeared in his eyes. He and Mei Wanying weren’t married yet, let alone consummated their relationship. Where would she get a child?

His intuition told him there was more to this story.

He knew very well what kind of person Mei Wanying was.

She would only ever bear his children.

’For anyone else to even get close to her... that’s just wishful thinking!’

"And her husband... do you think he even existed? Could he be made up? Otherwise, how could he just die so suddenly? After all this time, not a single person has ever seen what he looked like."

"The young lady just got back, and all those poor relatives immediately came to freeload. If she didn’t say something like that, would they ever have given up? The husband might be fake, but who knows if the child in her belly is real."

"We’ll know in a few more months..."

Afraid the Steward would find them slacking off, the two young maids left after gossiping for a while.

From those few words, Pei Yan pieced together what had happened.

He trusted Mei Wanying, but he didn’t trust the men out there.

Every time she appeared, those shameless curs would glue their eyes to her.

’It’s not impossible that they’d try to tempt Wanying into making a mistake while I’m away.’

Pei Yan caught the main point: the "husband" was already dead.

He let out a cold snort.

’Good riddance. He died just in time!’

’Whether this husband was real or fake, as long as he was still breathing, this matter wouldn’t have been over!’

The man’s expression grew thoughtful. It seemed some people had short memories; they had forgotten the taste of a broken hand from three years ago and were once again eyeing the Mei family’s fortune.

’To deal with them, Mei Wanying must have given herself the title of a widow.’

’As for the child, that’s probably also a ruse. When the time comes, she could adopt one from the outside and deceive everyone.’

Knowing Mei Wanying as he did, this was something she was capable of doing.

Others might think being a widow had a bad reputation, but she didn’t care about such things.

If Mei Wanying cared about rumors and slander, she wouldn’t have chased after him for so many years.

’She’s not like other people!’

After figuring it out, Pei Yan’s heart settled back into his chest.

Mei Wanying could only be his.

Even if she had taken a husband who married into her family, he would have driven the man away.

Fortunately, this so-called "husband" hadn’t shown up to be an eyesore. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure what he might have done.

Pei Yan had arranged for men to protect Mei Wanying, but he hadn’t told them to pry into her private life.

When nothing was happening, those men just needed to protect her from the periphery.

He wasn’t sure if there would be any slip-ups when it came time for Mei Wanying to "give birth." What if she couldn’t find a suitable child to adopt? Wouldn’t her plan fall apart?

With Mei Wanying’s defiant temper, she would probably try to face those vicious beasts head-on.

She was a young woman, hardly strong enough to lift a thing, and could easily be taken advantage of.

Pei Yan decided to help her.

’As long as the troublemaking relatives are dealt with, whether Mei Wanying actually has a child or not won’t matter anymore.’

The man strolled through the residence as if it were his own home, yet he precisely avoided the patrolling guards.

The last time he was here, Mei Wanying had pulled him along for a tour of the estate.

She was so scatterbrained that she’d even gotten lost.

’I wonder if she’s been as silly this time?’

The thought of Mei Wanying put Pei Yan in a great mood, making him cast all matters of the state to the back of his mind.

’Since I’ve come to Jiangnan, I should spend some quality time with Mei Wanying.’

The next time they met might be months from now.

’What if I don’t coax her properly and she really does take a husband into the family?’

The mere thought of that scenario was unacceptable to Pei Yan.

The man Mei Wanying should marry was him. The children she should bear were his.

’If anyone dares to have any foolish delusions, to even touch a single one of Wanying’s fingers, I will definitely not let them off lightly!’

Just imagining it was enough to make Pei Yan furious.

Therefore, when it came to dealing with the Mei family relatives, he showed no mercy.

Pei Yan knew exactly who the troublemakers were and who liked to hide like cowards, stirring up trouble from behind the scenes.

After dealing with them one by one, the pent-up frustration finally dissipated.

Feeling refreshed, Pei Yan set off again for the temple outside the city to find Mei Wanying.

He had come all this way. Leaving without seeing her would be absurd.

...

The Mei family relatives who had been dealt with were all dumbfounded.

They hadn’t provoked anyone, so why had they been beaten up for no reason?

Upon asking around, they discovered it wasn’t just one or two of them who had been taught a lesson.

Putting their heads together, they realized that everyone who had been targeted had gone to the Mei Family’s old house.

"That little wench, Mei Wanying, actually dared to send people to beat us up! She’s gotten bold!"

"Where did she find such thugs? One kick broke several of my ribs. When my guards came to rescue me, he took care of them too."

"My husband’s legs were broken..."

Breaking bones takes a hundred days to mend. Now they wouldn’t be able to leave their homes for a long time.

Let alone go and make trouble for Mei Wanying and her mother.

"To be that skilled... could they be Prince Chen’s men?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the beaten relatives couldn’t help but flinch.

If that was true, it meant Prince Chen had his eye on them. If they dared to cause trouble for Mei Wanying again, they might lose their lives next time!

"Are we supposed to just stand by and watch that slip of a girl, Mei Wanying, inherit such a massive fortune? Isn’t she afraid it’ll be more than she can handle?"

"Let’s wait. One mountain cannot hold two tigers. Prince Chen and the Crown Prince will have to determine a winner sooner or later. If he wins, we can be flexible. We’ll go and sweet-talk Mei Wanying. She’s just a girl, naive and easily fooled. Why worry that we can’t squeeze some benefits out of her?"

"And if Prince Chen loses, Mei Wanying will lose her backing completely. Won’t she be at our mercy then?"

Such a massive fortune, enough to keep several generations fed and clothed without worry, was truly tempting.

"Mei Wanying really has it good. Her own father protected her when she was young, and now she has Prince Chen as her backer."

"Back then, even the clan elder stepped in, but the General still refused to adopt a male heir. He was afraid Mei Wanying would be taken advantage of. He wouldn’t even promote the younger generation of our own family. He would rather support an outsider and train him as a potential son-in-law than give us a piece of the pie."

"No matter how well he trained that outsider, didn’t he still refuse to marry his daughter? I wonder if the General is regretting it in his grave."