A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go Chapter 16: First Regret

Pei Yan didn’t understand why Mrs. i was treating i Wanying this way.

She was crying so pitifully.

So aggrieved...

Pei Yan started to walk out involuntarily, but Mrs. i called out to stop him again.

"Ah Yan, that night, you and Ah Yin in the study..."

Before she could finish, Pei Yan interrupted her. "Madam, if you’re hoping I’ll marry her, you’d best give up that idea right now."

Pei Yan’s expression turned cold.

He had told them long ago that he only saw i Wanying as a little sister.

’Forcing this marriage again and again... does she really think I’ll compromise?’

"No matter what, I will never marry i Wanying."

Pei Yan’s eyes were filled with detachnt. "I don’t like being manipulated. Please, know when to stop."

’Looks like today is another carefully orchestrated play.’

’All just to make feel sorry for i Wanying.’

Pei Yan found it laughable. ’If being pressured into marriage worked, I would’ve been married long ago!’

Mrs. i’s heart pounded. Pei Yan was warning them.

"A woman’s reputation is very important, Ah Yan. You two, an unmarried man and woman, were alone in a room together. That is a fact."

Speaking so bluntly about that matter to a man of a younger generation who wasn’t family was difficult for Mrs. i.

She had put it delicately.

Pei Yan’s expression grew even colder.

’Have i Wanying and I not been alone together countless tis over the years?’

’If that was all it took to force a marriage and make compromise, I would’ve brought her ho as my wife ages ago.’

Pei Yan stood with his hands behind his back, half of his body hidden in shadow, his expression unreadable.

Mrs. i heard him say, "Tomorrow, soone will deliver a list of nas. Take your pick. No matter who you choose, I will ask my Father Emperor to decree the marriage. You won’t have to worry about the Crown Prince forcing a marriage, nor will you have to fear i Wanying suffering in a marriage beneath her station."

"If the young n in the Capital City aren’t enough for her to choose from, she can also pick from the sons of prominent families across the lands."

"I have only one condition: give up this fantasy. I will never marry i Wanying."

Mrs. i was horrified.

’Pei Yan is actually going to marry Ah Yin off to another man!’

Without further hesitation, Mrs. i said hurriedly, "You have to take responsibility for Ah Yin! She’s already..."

"The young miss fell into the water!"

"Soone, help!"

"Hurry, soone!"

The panicked shouts of a servant woman ca, drowning out Mrs. i’s voice.

Pei Yan was agitated and didn’t clearly hear what she had said.

Only one ssage registered in his mind: i Wanying had fallen into the water.

’She’s not even better yet, and now this... Does she not want to live?!’

Pei Yan clenched his jaw so tightly that a muscle twitched in his cheek.

Unable to think of anything else, he strode quickly outside.

"Ah Yin!"

Mrs. i’s legs went weak, and she stumbled out to see what was happening.

’My husband is gone. If sothing happens to my daughter too, what reason do I have to live?!’

There was a pond full of lotuses in the front courtyard, just a short walk from the main hall.

i Wanying had jumped in herself. Overco with emotion, she wanted to use this self-destructive act to interrupt the conversation between her mother and Pei Yan.

At the sa ti, she was proving her determination to die rather than marry him.

As for the consequences of jumping, she was so swept up by her emotions that she didn’t have ti to weigh them.

She was afraid of marrying Pei Yan, afraid of that cold and imposing Prince Mansion.

Even more, she was afraid of the mocking gazes of others.

She didn’t want to live despised by others. One wrong turn was enough.

’I must not make the sa mistake again!’

The early spring air was still deceptively cold. The icy water enveloped i Wanying’s body, chilling her to the bone.

She couldn’t swim and could only thrash about on instinct.

Of the two servant won, one shouted for people to rescue i Wanying, while the other ran to get a bamboo pole to fish her out.

Hearing the commotion, maids and servants from nearby hurried over.

She was the only young miss in the mansion. If sothing happened to her, it would be as if the sky had fallen!

As she thrashed, water flooded her mouth and nose, stealing her breath. After a few more struggles, i Wanying’s body began to sink to the bottom of the pond.

SPLASH!

Soone jumped into the pond. A strong body cut through the icy water, heading straight for i Wanying.

Wrapping an arm around i Wanying’s slender waist, Pei Yan’s eyes blazed with a towering rage.

’How dare she!’

’She actually jumped!’

’To force my hand, she’d really resort to anything, even throwing her own life away.’

Pei Yan was about to go mad with anger.

In this entire world, only i Wanying could so easily provoke his anger.

’I never should have co to the i Mansion.’

’I never should have co to back her up!’

The arm holding i Wanying tightened, as if Pei Yan wanted to crush her to pieces.

"If there’s a next ti, I won’t do a thing even if you die right in front of !"

The mont they broke the surface, Pei Yan threatened her through clenched teeth.

i Wanying’s eyes were shut tight, her skin so pale it was almost translucent. She was still breathing, but she had inhaled water and passed out.

Pei Yan brought her to the shore. Just as he was about to press on her chest to make her cough up the water, Mrs. i stopped him.

"Let Nanny Liu do it."

Nanny Liu imdiately went over to perform first aid.

Pei Yan’s outstretched hand froze. Only after a few breaths did he slowly retract it.

i Wanying was wearing spring clothes. The fabric, neither too thin nor too thick, was now soaked and clung tightly to her body, outlining her delicate and shapely figure.

Pei Yan quickly averted his gaze, turning his back to i Wanying.

He had saved the drowning i Wanying, which ant they’d had physical contact. This was a perfect opportunity to force the marriage.

But Mrs. i was scared.

This was the second ti her daughter had tried to kill herself, all to avoid marrying Pei Yan.

If there was a third ti, and her daughter died, she didn’t know how she would go on living.

’Nothing is more important than Ah Yin’s life!’

Mrs. i’s limbs felt weak and her heart ached. ’If Ah Yin doesn’t want to marry him, then so be it.’

’If we’re truly cornered, I’ll risk my own life to fight for a chance for Ah Yin’s survival.’

’We won’t rely on Pei Yan anymore!’

Mrs. i tightly gripped her daughter’s hand. She watched as Wanying coughed up water, her breathing becoming steady and her eyelashes fluttering as if she were about to wake up.

She said to Pei Yan, "The i family will rember the debt of Your Highness saving her life. Rest assured, we will not repay your kindness with ingratitude by forcing you to do sothing you do not wish. As for today’s events, I will make sure everyone in the mansion keeps their mouths shut so no rumors or gossip will spread. Your Highness may be at ease."

Pei Yan stared at the pond’s surface, lost in a daze.

’If the i family pressures to marry her now, what will I choose?’

He never expected Mrs. i to say such a thing.

His heart felt empty, and a thin fog seed to cloud his mind, making it impossible to think or know how to react.

Mrs. i said, "Your Highness, please go change your clothes and then you may leave. It is not convenient for us to entertain guests today."

The person who had just been trying to get close to him, calling him Ah Yan, was now addressing him formally as "Your Highness" with every other word.

Polite.

And distant.

Even i Wanying was the sa.

Before, when she was happy, she would call him Ah Yan, or Brother Ah Yan.

When she was unhappy, she would call him by his full na, Pei Yan.

And when she was being sarcastic, she would call him Young General.

But in their last two etings, she had only called him the distant "Your Highness."

Before Pei Yan could react, the faintly stirring i Wanying was already being carried away.

When the footsteps faded into the distance, he slowly turned his head.

There was nothing there.

i Wanying was already gone.

Pei Yan pressed a hand to his heart. This was clearly the outco he had wanted, yet for so reason, he couldn’t feel happy about it.

The image of her deathly pale little face surfaced in his mind—sickly, fragile, as if she would shatter at the slightest touch.

For the first ti, Pei Yan felt a pang of regret.

’I... I shouldn’t have said those things. I hope she didn’t hear .’