My elder sister forced me to become a concubine; I was reborn and remarried into the emperor's

Pei Ji has a pair of narrow phoenix eyes with pupils as black as ink. He usually looks at people coldly, giving people a sense of coldness and solemnity.

But at this moment, Wei Nanxun clearly saw her own joyful smile in his eyes.

It was a gentle gaze she had never seen before.

She felt as if she had been captured by a gentle net, unable and unwilling to break free.

He gave her the illusion that she was deeply loved.

It's not just liking, it's love.

Unfortunately, the two were not alone. Man Xinghe, who was standing nearby, had somehow retrieved the two arrows and was playing with them in his hand. When he looked up, he saw the two locked in a stalemate.

Strangely enough, they weren't speaking, but their eyes met and looked at each other, yet their gazes seemed to be drawn to each other.

It was as if no one could get between them.

Man Xinghe scratched the back of his head. Although he felt the atmosphere was subtle, he really didn't understand and thought it was just an awkward situation.

He didn't take it seriously and said, "Uncle, since we lost the martial arts contest just now, how about we have an archery contest instead?"

His voice jolted Wei Nanxun awake. She abruptly pushed away the arms that were around her, lowered her head, and retreated to the side.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness."

Pei Ji felt the warmth of the embrace vanish, his fingers clenched in mid-air before falling. He frowned and looked at Man Xinghe. If looks could kill, he would have died a hundred times over. What a clueless idiot.

He glanced indifferently at the arrow in the boy's hand and said sneer, "Still want to compete?"

Although it was only two words, Man Xinghe already understood his meaning: his arrow had been shot down, the outcome was already decided, and there was no need for further competition.

The boy was usually quite confident in his archery skills, and upon hearing this, he said, "I was just demonstrating for Ah Xun, so it doesn't count. Let's compete again."

Pei Ji immediately thought of the way he had just left, holding Wei Nanxun's hand.

The little girl didn't struggle or refuse; instead, she obediently jogged to keep up with him.

From afar, one is flamboyant and unrestrained, the other is bright and well-behaved; the young man and woman are surprisingly well-matched.

He had never known that human jealousy could be so terrible, nor had he ever cared so much about his age.

His chest tightened, and his tone carried a barely perceptible hint of malice: "Teach? Is this how you teach people?"

Man Xinghe didn't catch his sarcastic tone and thought his uncle was simply mocking him for not knowing how to teach, so he was a little angry.

He just doesn't know how to teach. Who knew that Miss Wei, who seems quite intelligent, just couldn't grasp this aspect?

"Ah Xun, tell your uncle whether I know how to teach or not!"

Pei Ji's gaze fell on her, making Wei Nanxun's face burn.

What are these uncle and nephew up to? Why are they determined to make things difficult for her today?

“The Crown Prince has taught very well. It is my dullness that prevented me from grasping the key points. This is not the Crown Prince’s fault.”

Why would someone who has only known a boy for half a day assume that she is speaking up for him?

Pei Ji sneered, "Then it seems I've been meddling in other people's business."

After saying that, he didn't look at her again, turned his back and strode away.

After Wei Nanxun left, she looked up and saw his back disappear at the end of the corridor, with Zhou Fuhai running behind him, his hat almost falling off.

He was angry.

Her fingers twisted and twirled under her sleeves, and her heart sank.

In fact, during the months the two spent together, Pei Ji rarely showed his emotions, making him seem very gentle and reserved.

She had seen him smile, but it was extremely rare to see him angry.

This made Wei Nanxun a little flustered for a moment, but she quickly calmed down.

It's good that you're angry; it's best to give up on her altogether.

She was able to stop wallowing in despair.

She thought she could let go, but when she couldn't help but say "be careful," she knew that she had been deceiving herself all these past few days.

Seeing that she seemed a little down, Man Xinghe thought she had been frightened again and comforted her, saying, "Uncle always speaks so fiercely, he didn't mean it to you. You haven't seen how he scolds me, he's really inhuman."

"However, my uncle is acting strangely today. Could it be that the pressure of being regent is too great, and he has nowhere to vent it, causing him to fall ill?"

"Sickness?"

Wei Nanxun keenly grasped the meaning of the words "illness".

Man Xinghe then realized he had misspoke and immediately shook his head: "No, I misspoke. It's an illness, not a symptom. We should find the imperial physician to take a look at him."

He laughed it off a few times, avoiding any direct confrontation, but the more he did so, the more it seemed like he was trying to cover something up.

An attack? He looks perfectly normal, and his injuries have fully healed. Could he have some hidden illness?

As dusk settled and darkness descended, it was no longer suitable to shoot arrows.

The two packed up their things and agreed to teach her again the next day. Lingxi then came to call them to have dinner.

In the flower hall of the side hall, Empress Dowager Jiang sat in the superior position, with *** and Pei Ji sitting on her left and right respectively.

This was a family dinner, so there was no formal seating arrangement. A small round table was used, and as soon as the two of them arrived, Man Xinghe naturally sat down next to ***.

Wei Nanxun paused, realizing that she had indeed planned everything meticulously, but had overlooked this one crucial detail.

There's no choice of seats right now, and she can't exactly say she's not hungry and won't eat, that would be too obvious and awkward.

He had no choice but to sit down next to Pei Ji.

Since learning of the emperor's illness, Empress Dowager Jiang had been in a heavy mood. Today, her children were all present, especially her youngest son, with whom she hadn't eaten together for many years. This made her feel much better.

Today's dishes were all made according to Pei Ji's taste. When the dishes were served, she didn't even need the palace maids to serve her, and personally served Pei Ji several dishes herself.

"Shouzhuo, I remember you loved this shrimp ball soup when you were little. Come, try it and see how it tastes."

"And this lamb chop is made from young lamb. It's not gamey and is very tender. Even I like it. You should try it."

Pei Ji didn't give much feedback, occasionally nodding and saying "good," but even that made Empress Dowager Jiang very happy.

She even started to find Wei Nanxun more agreeable. She was very self-aware and knew that her youngest son had only come to see her today because of this girl.

Although the little girl is too alluring and restless, she has a rare, calm and likable personality; she neither causes trouble nor likes to show off.

Even if it was an act, the fact that she could keep it up for so long and fool Pei Ji was quite an achievement.

Seeing that the little girl only picked at the food in front of her, and ate it in small bites with her head down, she looked very refined.

In a good mood, she said, "Ah Xun, come on, try this shrimp ball with egg white filling. Being too reserved and shy will make you go hungry."

Wei Nanxun was surprised to be summoned so suddenly. She quickly got up to express her gratitude and handed over the bowl and plates.

Pei Ji sat between the two of them. She tried to stay close to the table and stretched out her arms so as not to touch him.

The plump, round shrimp balls fell into her bowl, and she could then see that the golden-brown, crispy shrimp balls were coated with almond slices and sprinkled with a little bit of almond crumbs.

I wonder which chef invented this method; it's both beautiful and delicious.

Unfortunately, Wei Nanxun cannot eat almonds.

She was taken aback, but since it was a gift from the Empress Dowager, she could refuse the Empress Dowager's kindness by saying that she was allergic to almonds.

Fortunately, the amount of almonds wasn't too large; at worst, I can go back and get some medicine later.

She gritted her teeth and reached for the shrimp ball with her chopsticks.

Before she could even pick it up, another pair of silver chopsticks reached out and, without even looking, snatched the shrimp ball from her bowl.

She looked up in surprise, only to see Pei Ji had already swallowed the shrimp ball expressionlessly.

“Shouzhuo, if you like to eat, there’s more here. How can you take food from a girl’s bowl?”

He didn't even look at her, and said in a calm voice, "I like this."