A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go Chapter 40: Investigate the Wild Men Around Her

i Wanying’s hand, resting on the quilt, tightened. "I will bid His Highness farewell at dawn."

Mrs. i patted her hand. "That’s for the best. We haven’t even unpacked the luggage. As long as you’re well, we can leave whenever we’re ready."

Hearing that Mrs. i had arrived, Pei Yan ca to the guest courtyard out of respect for his elder.

And so, he overheard their conversation.

After standing there for a long ti, Pei Yan thought, ’It’s actually a good thing for i Wanying to return to Jiangnan.’

’I’m about to leave the Capital City, and after what happened today, she’d be terrified and all alone.’

’The Crown Prince is severely injured. If I stir up a little more trouble for him, it will be difficult for him to extend his reach to Jiangnan, no matter how long his arm is.’

’For now, getting i Wanying away from this place of conflict is an excellent choice.’

’Once I’ve pacified the border and returned to the Capital City, I’ll send soone to Jiangnan to bring i Wanying back.’

’As her "older brother," I have to pave the way for her. I can’t just let her hide away in Jiangnan and never marry.’

’The last ti I took i Wanying back to her mansion, she said she’d chosen the first na on the list, but I didn’t take her seriously.’

’When I get back to the Capital City, I’ll pick soone better for her.’

’i Wanying has terrible taste. To think she’d choose a powerless son of a noble family who can’t even truss a chicken.’

’Forget everything else, he’d have a hard enough ti just protecting her.’

’What good is a man like that?’

’If she really marries him, she’ll regret it!’

Pei Yan sighed. ’When it cos to i Wanying’s marriage, I’m the one who has to approve.’

’As her "older brother," I have no choice but to manage this for her.’

Just as Pei Yan was about to step inside, he heard the people within ntion his na.

Mrs. i: "You were so cold to Ah Yan a while ago, then you suddenly seed like a completely different person. Mother has been wanting to know why."

Pei Yan’s footsteps froze.

He wanted to know, too. How could i Wanying suddenly turn on him like that?

’I haven’t done anything to wrong her.’

’i Wanying cursed , chased away, and refused to give the ti of day.’

’If it was just jealousy, if she didn’t want to marry another woman, I already told her: I won’t marry anyone she looks down on.’

’I was going to give i Wanying ti to adjust her attitude.’

He could understand i Wanying distancing herself, trying to draw a clear line between them.

But wasn’t i Wanying’s attitude a little too harsh?

She’d try to scratch him at the slightest disagreent. Pei Yan’s heart ached with a sour, bitter feeling.

’Why is i Wanying so fierce with ?’

’She’s not like this with other people.’

Pei Yan held his breath, wanting to hear how i Wanying would answer.

’She’d better give a satisfactory answer.’

’Otherwise... I won’t care about her feelings anymore. I’ll marry whoever the elders in the palace choose for .’

’And it’ll be useless for i Wanying to object then!’

A soft voice sounded, and Pei Yan heard i Wanying say, "I suddenly realized he’s nothing special. A three-legged toad is hard to find, but two-legged n are a di a dozen. There’s no need for to hang myself on this one tree."

Pei Yan’s face completely darkened.

He ground his teeth. ’So this is the reason i Wanying won’t give the ti of day?’

’She’s having a change of heart!’

i Wanying was a nostalgic person. Pei Yan suspected she had recently been in contact with so shady characters who had been a bad influence on her.

Pei Yan spun on his heel and left the guest courtyard.

"Go investigate who she has been in contact with recently."

He added, "Focus the investigation on wild n!"

Wei Jue: "..."

’Wild n?’

’He’s so full of resentnt, anyone who didn’t know better would think he was trying to catch a cheating lover...’

Without looking back, Pei Yan strode out of the guest courtyard.

He let out a cold snort.

’It’s not like I care if i Wanying loves !’

’I just don’t want her to be deceived by so silver-tongued man from the outside.’

’If a perfect man appeared, I would be more than happy to marry her off!’

This was Prince Chen Mansion. Everyone followed Pei Yan’s orders, so naturally, no one took it upon themselves to tell i Wanying that he had been there.

「Inside the room.」

Mrs. i said, "You suddenly started ignoring him, and Ah Yan feels quite wronged. He saved you this ti, so you should talk to him properly. If there’s any lingering resentnt, take this opportunity to resolve it."

Pei Yan had a cold personality and was always chilly toward i Wanying, but it wasn’t as if he was any warr to outsiders.

That was just his temperant.

Mrs. i used to disapprove of Pei Yan’s behavior, feeling that her precious darling was being wronged.

More than once, she had told General i to rein in Pei Yan. Even if he didn’t like Ah Yin, there was no need to be so sullen.

It was so hurtful.

But the General said that was just Pei Yan’s temperant.

He also said that Pei Yan didn’t use flowery words to deceive Ah Yin, and the choice was in Ah Yin’s hands. As long as she figured things out for herself, Pei Yan couldn’t hurt her.

At that ti, Mrs. i felt her husband was being biased.

No matter how much he cherished talent, he shouldn’t place soone else before his own daughter.

Because of this, Mrs. i even took i Wanying back to her maternal ho to live for a while.

But her sister-in-law there assud she had been driven out of her husband’s ho because she couldn’t bear a son, and had brought her daughter along with her.

After just a few days, she started making sarcastic, passive-aggressive remarks.

Others also urged her to return ho, saying that the General was powerful and influential, and many won had their eyes on him.

There were plenty of won willing to be his concubine.

They told her to go back and keep a close watch so that no one could take advantage of the situation.

So even said that being unable to bear a son was her fault and that she should take the initiative to find a concubine for the General.

At the very least, to continue the i family’s bloodline.

They had even picked out a candidate—a young woman from their clan—and wanted her to take the girl back to the General Mansion to serve the General.

Mrs. i was both shocked and furious, and imdiately took her daughter and returned ho.

It was that incident that made her see her maternal family’s true colors.

When the General was alive, they were focused on currying favor with him for the Su Family’s benefit, so they would at least put on a facade.

Once the General was gone, she and her daughter lost their value in their eyes, and their cruel, an-spirited nature was completely exposed.

Before Ah Yin had even finished the mourning period, they were already arranging to marry her off for a political alliance.

But when the Crown Prince appeared and said he’d taken a fancy to Ah Yin, the Su Family, knowing his ill intentions and fearing they’d be implicated, completely abandoned her and Ah Yin.

They even drew a clear line between them, ordering them never to return to the Su Family ho again.

This was why Mrs. i hadn’t turned to her maternal family for help, instead pinning her hopes on Pei Yan.

Compared to others, Pei Yan treated Ah Yin quite well.

Every ti Ah Yin was in trouble, even though Pei Yan would look sour, he never failed to do what was necessary.

There were too many people in the world with honey on their tongues but daggers in their hearts. Mrs. i had co to terms with things now and felt that Pei Yan wasn’t so detestable after all.

At the very least, he had truly saved Ah Yin.

He didn’t hesitate to openly fall out with the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince, rather than just weighing the pros and cons.

Mrs. i thought, ’Pei Yan simply doesn’t have romantic feelings for Ah Yin. He’s a living, breathing person; it’s only natural that he doesn’t want to be forced into sothing.’

’Actions speak louder than words.’

Pei Yan’s performance this ti made Mrs. i let go of her prejudice against him.

She also felt that she had been wrong before.

She shouldn’t have pressured Ah Yin, nor should she have tried to make Pei Yan repay her for their past kindness.

Mrs. i felt so guilty that she could hardly eat or sleep. She didn’t know what she could do to make up for her mistakes.

i Wanying didn’t have any lingering resentnt; she had simply figured things out.

But she couldn’t tell her mother about her rebirth—it was too unbelievable.

Her mother would probably think she’d been scared witless and try to find a doctor to treat her.

i Wanying humd in agreent.

"I won’t be petty with him anymore."

This incident had taught her a lesson. She didn’t have to marry Pei Yan, but there was no need to sever all ties with him.

The Crown Prince wouldn’t let her go because of it; on the contrary, he would beco even more brazen.

As for others, the more they feared Pei Yan, the less likely they would be to make a move against her.

Pei Yan was a very good shield.

’It’s just putting on an act. I can do that, too,’ i Wanying thought.