Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 87 Second Cousin, you're really not my type!
"Pfft..." Pei Xizhou, who was drinking tea, reacted the most.

Of course, others were also greatly affected.

Seeing that his exaggerated reaction had attracted everyone's attention, Pei Xizhou honestly explained, "Sorry, I was frightened by my second brother."

You can't really blame him. Pei Nanzhou is usually aloof and reserved, and he rarely shows up around his second brother, let alone women.

Today he actually said he wanted Shen's cousin?

No, Second Brother wants to take Cousin Shen as a concubine!
Shen Shuyi had actually prepared herself mentally beforehand, but Pei Nanzhou's words still refreshed her understanding of how perverted the male lead was.

As the male lead, there's no limit to how crazy he can get.

Just because she provoked Pei Nanzhou, he actually humiliated her in this way.

She had explicitly told Pei Nanzhou that she would not become a concubine for any man, yet he insisted on publicly announcing that he would take her as his concubine. She would never believe that Pei Nanzhou wasn't deliberately humiliating her in this way.

The old lady was also quite frightened. How could the child she raised with her own hands become a concubine for Nan Ge'er?

Isn't this a slap in the face to her?

Just when she was in a bad mood, someone else was fanning the flames. It was Xia Nianchu who said, "No matter what, Cousin Shen is a girl raised in the Marquis's mansion and the old lady's favorite. How can Second Cousin let Cousin Shen become a concubine? Even if Cousin Shen has lost her chastity, Second Cousin should not use this to humiliate Cousin Shen."

Pei Nanzhou glanced at the enigmatic Pei Shizi, then at the silent Shen Shuyi, and calmly began, “It’s not that I’m trying to humiliate Cousin Shen. The woman I want to marry should be skilled in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and come from a distinguished family. While Cousin Shen is good, her background is still lacking. After much thought, it seems that only this method can make things satisfactory. Grandmother, I sincerely wish to take Cousin Shen as my concubine…”

The old lady couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Pei Nanzhou, saying, "How is the girl I raised from a bad background? Who says a woman has to be proficient in everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting?"

Just because Yi-jie is an orphan, does that give Nan-ge the right to look down on her like this?

She grasped Shen Shuyi's hand: "Don't listen to your second cousin's nonsense. You are very good and outstanding. As long as you don't want to be anyone's concubine, no one can force you!"

Seeing this, Pei Nanzhou smiled helplessly and said, "Grandmother, my cousin Shen and I are in love. To be honest, my cousin Shen has shown me affection more than once, and I thought about it for a long time before I came up with this compromise."

He looked at the silent Shen Shuyi and smiled gently: "If my cousin didn't like me, why would she have shown me kindness so many times? Now everyone knows that my cousin and I have been intimate. If she doesn't stay with me, how will she face herself in the future?"

Shen Shuyi waited quietly for Pei Nanzhou to finish speaking, then revealed a sweet smile: "I'm not good at anything, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and I'm an orphan, so I'm far from meeting Second Cousin's marriage requirements. Most importantly, I don't like Second Cousin at all. I might be able to compromise on anything, but I'm particularly stubborn when it comes to choosing a man. If it's not someone I like, I won't take him! Sorry, Second Cousin, you're really not my type!"

Pei Nanzhou clearly hadn't expected her to reject him, especially to say in public that she didn't like him. This woman had approached him several times, showing him affection, and even when she threw herself into Pei Shizi's arms, she hadn't forgotten to provoke and challenge him—wasn't she just trying to pique his interest in her?
Moreover, he publicly stated that her reputation was ruined, and she had no choice but to follow his script.

After Shen Shuyi said this, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Clearly, it wasn't just Pei Nanzhou who was surprised by Shen Shuyi's bluntness; no one else expected her to speak so harshly.

Pei Nanzhou quickly regained his composure and said calmly, "But my cousin was alone with me in the cave, and she even bandaged my wounds. We had physical intimacy..."

“Second cousin should go out more and see what the Great Qi is like now. In the Great Qi, men and women can sit together and go out together. Even when I treated your wound, I only saw the hideous wound on your leg and didn’t see you as a man at all. If what you say is true, then wouldn’t a female doctor have to get married every time she treats a patient?!” She straightened her back and said in a crisp voice, “There’s something that has been bothering me for a long time. Why are men allowed to philander, while women are guilty even for glancing at a man? Why are men superior to women? When married men or men who are engaged or have someone they like philander, why can their unfaithful behavior be glorified as a trivial romantic affair? At the same time, they demand that women be faithful to one man forever!”

The hall fell silent once again.

Apart from the four Pei brothers, everyone else present was either married or unmarried.

They were taught from a young age to be good wives and mothers, and before they even got married, they were taught that it was only natural for their husbands to take concubines.

Li was deeply in love with Master Pei all her life, but Master Pei didn't only love Consort Zhao; he also had concubines and maids. And no matter how much she hated him, she, as the legal wife, had to share the man she loved with so many women.

No one ever told her that feelings are mutual, so why should she only have her husband as a man, while he can have other lovers at the same time?
When Xia Nianchu saw that everyone was looking at Shen Shuyi, even Pei Xuexuan, who had always looked down on Shen Shuyi, was looking at Shen Shuyi with strange eyes, and her four cousins ​​were also staring at Shen Shuyi, she suddenly felt a surge of crisis.

Ever since that day when she felt her luck had returned, she believed she could be invincible among men.

But until now, only Pei Beizhou has listened to her every word. Yet at this moment, Pei Beizhou has also been drawn to Shen Shuyi, which startles her.

It seemed that his luck had suddenly diminished considerably because of Shen Shuyi's words.

Not to mention Xia Nianchu was startled, Pei Beizhou also felt something was amiss.

He was simply shocked that Shen Shuyi could utter such shocking words. When he realized that he had been staring at his cousin Shen for too long, and then looked back at his cousin Xia, for some reason, the amazement he had felt when he first saw her seemed to have faded considerably.

Pei Dongzhou, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up: “What Cousin Shen said makes some sense. But I think that whether it is a man or a woman, they should be single-minded and not look around. I believe that love is sacred and exclusive. If Nanzhou truly loves Cousin Shen, he should marry her, not just take her as a concubine.”

Shen Shuyi's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She felt that Prince Pei was truly different from the other men present. It was also the first time she had felt that Prince Pei was a man of considerable insight.

(End of this chapter)