Chapter 124: with translation of chapter title

Pei Yunxi also thought so; Father Emperor said he would confine her for a month, but she didn't believe he would really be willing to let her be stuck in these four walls copying the Dao De Jing and palace rules every day—she was copying until her hands were about to be ruined!

And Xueer, who is useless, imitates her handwriting not at all; all the copying is done by her alone!

Pei Yunxi waited like that, full of hope, day after day; the crown prince's consort-selection banquet and Mu Yuanzhi's birthday feast were already drawing near, yet the Emperor showed no intention of lifting her confinement.

"What's going on? Father Emperor couldn't have already forgotten me, could he?!" Pei Yunxi, who was copying until she was almost going mad, flew into a rage and smashed something for the first time.

The palace servants who came in to tidy up had never seen their master lose such a temper before, much less smash things; usually this gentle, understanding master never lost her temper and always spoke softly.

How come lately they increasingly feel that their master actually has a bad temper?

The palace servants also recalled the gu poison previously found during the palace search, and inevitably felt a bit panicked.

Xueer, seeing this, naturally knew what they were thinking, and went over to say: "The master was punished with confinement, cannot attend her brothers' and sisters' banquets, so of course she's irritable; don't overthink it."

The palace servants, hearing that, felt Xueer made perfect sense; if it were them, they'd also be in a bad mood, so they nodded in sudden realization: "Xueer sister is right."

"When you go out, gather more outside news; if you hear any good news, come back and report it to the master so she can feel at ease." Xueer continued.

The palace servants all nodded, keeping it in mind.

Xueer herself also went out to inquire, but the news she got was that the Emperor currently had no intention of lifting Pei Yunxi's confinement, nor did the crown prince go to plead for her; instead, the Third and Fifth Princes went several times, all to no avail.

Pei Shangyan naturally had no bandwidth left for Pei Yunxi now; Pei Shangling had told him everything, and he was already worried about the consort-selection affair, so now his mind was in utter turmoil.

He drank his sorrows away daily in the pavilion of the imperial garden; today, Pei Jue and Pei Shangling also happened to arrive together.

"Why is Brother Crown Prince drinking alone here? Is it because the consort candidates sent for him aren't to his liking?" Pei Shangling teased, feigning lightness.

He naturally knew the main reason for Pei Shangyan's worries, and deliberately said something light to ease the atmosphere.

Pei Jue arrived silently together with Pei Shangling.

"Sit." Pei Shangyan said indifferently, not pouring them tea or wine, he lifted his cup and gulped it down again.

Pei Jue sat down and poured himself tea; Pei Shangling saw the atmosphere grow even more oppressive and, unable to avoid it, brought up the core of their worries: "Have you visited little sister during this time?"

Pei Shangyan: "Confinement means no visits allowed."

As soon as he spoke, silence fell over the scene again.

"Things depend on human effort; it's not a matter of whether it's allowed, but whether they want to. If it were the past, not to mention a mere confinement, even a mountain of knives and a sea of fire couldn't stop them from seeing little sister."

"What about Yuanzhi? Have you seen her?" Pei Jue spoke up.

The expressions of those two grew more complicated; Pei Shangyan couldn't even swallow his drink, saying: "Every time I go to the princess's mansion I see no one; now wanting to see little sister Yuanzhi's face is harder than climbing to heaven."

"What could they say even if they met? Anything would be futile; the chasm between them is already unbridgeable, with too many misunderstandings, and now realizing this is too late."

Pei Shangling glanced at the silent Pei Jue beside him, which inexplicably made him angry, and he lashed out: "Brother Jue, you obviously noticed little sister was off early on, yet you chose to conceal it; if you had spoken up sooner, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now!"

Pei Jue frowned upon hearing this: "If I spoke up, what would you think? You never once rashly blamed Yuanzhi for anything; it's always her fault, and you even twist things to push the blame onto her."

The usually quiet Pei Jue rarely spoke so much at once; Pei Shangling's face flushed and paled from his words, unable to rebut, for it was indeed true—even if he had heard Pei Jue say that Pei Yunxi had touched Mu Yuanzhi's glove, he would still refuse to believe Pei Yunxi had tampered with anything.

He felt vexed, and could only keep drinking.

But soon he could no longer bear this atmosphere: "Are we really just going to let our relationship with Yuanzhi break beyond repair?!"

He was unwilling!

"They were once such close siblings, with over a decade of feelings—could it really vanish this easily? Is there truly no room for maneuver? Is it really impossible for her to forgive them even a little?"

"Of course not!" Pei Shangyan's eyes suddenly firmed; he set down his cup: "No matter how hard, I will not give up."

Pei Jue shared the same thought, nodding: "The urgent task is for us to figure out how to make amends, to make Yuanzhi believe we will always be her brothers, and to have her accept us again."

"But how do we do it?" Pei Shangling really had no idea; he could hardly even see her face, and the gifts he sent—aside from the practical ones—were all thrown back; even if she accepted his gifts, it was merely acceptance, without gaining even a shred of goodwill.

Pei Shangyan sighed: "Let's take it slow; rushing won't help, and little sister Yuanzhi's birthday is coming up—this is a good opportunity."

It really is a good opportunity.

"I recall that the Prince of Chun from Huangli State previously came seeking a marriage alliance to marry Yuanzhi; this time, on his diplomatic mission, he will also come!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the three of them felt as if facing a formidable foe.

They already clearly understood what kind of lawless ruffian this prince was; this visit certainly wouldn't be a simple diplomatic mission.

"If I had known he would set his sights on Yuanzhi, I shouldn't have agreed to let her go as a bridesmaid at the Lan Ting wedding!" Pei Shangling pounded the table in frustration.

Pei Shangyan rubbed his brow: "Even if he missed her last time, he'll surely see her this time when he comes here."

He paused, then said sharply: "We must definitely guard against him; we cannot let him have a chance to get close to little sister Yuanzhi."

The other two both nodded.

"Will the people brought by Huangli State also become candidates for the crown prince's concubine?" Pei Jue suddenly said.

"Don't mention it." Thinking of this gave Pei Shangyan a headache; he didn't even want to select a primary consort, let alone a concubine—but as heir apparent, he had no choice but to propagate the imperial line.

He merely glanced at the list of noblewomen sent over; after all, the decision would be made by Father Emperor, not him, so his likes or dislikes didn't matter—he now only wanted to know how to restore a good relationship with little sister Yuanzhi and return to the past.

"Once you marry, you'll belong to us—how could we not bring it up?" Pei Jue's gloom deepened at once.

"After all, you also have the possibility of choosing someone you love."