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

Chapter 222 Return to the Marquis Mansion

Pei Dongzhou watched Shen Shuyi fawn over him and thought to himself that he had to give her a good slap now and then to make her behave.

I must say, my cousin is very adaptable and has a sweet tongue that's really endearing.

He remained expressionless and indifferent.

Shen Shuyi didn't think anything of it. After all, he was the male lead, and it was normal for him to be aloof. As long as he didn't lock her in a dark room, she felt she could accept anything else.

She diligently served the male protagonist food, but she noticed that he simply moved the breakfast she had prepared aside without eating a single bite.

This... is difficult to comment on.

Pei Dongzhou's actions convinced Shen Shuyi to let him go.

Forget it, why bother trying to please the male lead? I should take care of myself first.

She buried herself in her food, channeling her anger into her appetite. Once she was full, her mood instantly brightened.

Because she was under Pei Dongzhou's surveillance, and all her medicines had been confiscated by him, she had no choice but to obediently get into the carriage with him and stop causing trouble.

Shen Shuyi didn't sleep well last night, and coupled with Pei Dongzhou's icy face, she didn't want to talk to him. On the way back to the capital, Shen Shuyi simply found a comfortable spot to lean back and muttered to herself, "This carriage is so uncomfortable. Life is too short, why not treat yourself better?"

Pei Dongzhou, who had been resting with his eyes closed, glanced in his cousin's direction upon hearing this.

My cousin muttered something for a while, then leaned against it and fell asleep. She's the kind of girl who can make herself comfortable anywhere.

Pei Dongzhou stared at Shen Shuyi with a complicated expression for a while before continuing to feign sleep.

Inside the residence of the Marquis of Pingyang.

Pei Xizhou and Pei Nanzhou have been inquiring about Pei Dongzhou's whereabouts recently, because Pei Dongzhou suddenly disappeared without a trace. He is nowhere to be found at the Dali Temple, nor anywhere else, and there is no one at the Marquis's residence. The young master Pei has suddenly vanished without a trace.

Both brothers guessed that Prince Pei had found out about his cousin and went to bring her back to the Marquis's mansion.

The two had originally planned to leave the capital after the Lantern Festival to continue their search, but now that Prince Pei had news of his cousin, they decided to wait patiently at the Marquis's residence.

Pei Beizhou, however, thought that Pei Da, Pei Er, and Pei San all seemed a bit foolish, actually fighting to the death for Cousin Shen. In his view, Cousin Shen was just an ordinary woman who liked men, not as special as Xia Nianchu, and he didn't know what the three brothers saw in her.

When he learned that Shen Shuyi had run away from the wedding, a secret sense of pleasure welled up inside him.

Pei Dongzhou had always had everything he wanted since childhood, and was the dream husband of many young ladies from prominent families in the capital. Yet, even such a young master like Pei had a woman who didn't fancy him and ran away from the wedding at the last minute.

This shows that in Shen's cousin's eyes, Prince Pei and her illegitimate son were no different, and no matter how outstanding Prince Pei was, there were things he could not obtain.

He even wondered if Pei Dongzhou really intended to never get married if his cousin Shen never returned to the Marquis's mansion.

But that night, the Hou Mansion, which had been quiet for some time, suddenly became lively, because Pei Dongzhou had returned and had also brought back his cousin Shen. Hearing that the front hall was very lively, everyone went over.

Pei Beizhou didn't want to watch the show; he just hoped that Shen Shuyi would never come back, so that the young master Pei would remain a bachelor for life.

The lobby was indeed very lively.

The old lady was about to go to bed when she heard that Shen Shuyi had returned home. Overjoyed, she hurried to the front hall and her eyes welled up with tears when she saw Shen Shuyi walking side by side with Pei Dongzhou.

Shen Shuyi saw the old lady immediately. She rushed to her side and nestled into her arms, saying, "Grandmother..."

The old lady suppressed the tears in her eyes and gently patted Shen Shuyi's back: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." Seeing that Shen Shuyi's return had alarmed everyone in the Marquis's mansion, Xia Nianchu felt somewhat unhappy.

She just felt that Shen Shuyi had no right to make such a big show of things.

A young and beautiful woman has been out and about for so long, who knows if she's still clean?

She deliberately asked, "Cousin Shen, have you encountered anything since you left the Marquis's residence? There are many bad people outside; if it were you, Cousin Shen..."

"If you can't speak properly, Xia Nianchu, then shut up! If you don't want this mouth, you can cut it off!" Pei Dongzhou coldly swept his eyes over Xia Nianchu, his gaze sharp as a knife.

Xia Nianchu felt that Pei Dongzhou's affections were completely biased.

Aren't these all things she said things that everyone cares about? During the time Shen Shuyi was away, it's entirely possible that she had an affair with another man, like her own mother Pei Zhichun, and became pregnant with some man's illegitimate child.

So, as the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. With Pei Zhichun as her restless mother, Shen, her cousin, is no less so.

Pei Xizhou saw that the old lady was holding his cousin tightly and wouldn't let go, and he was a little envious. He also wanted to go up and hug his cousin.

He knew that his elder brother must have found his cousin, otherwise his elder brother wouldn't have suddenly disappeared.

He walked up behind Shen Shuyi and asked, "I also want to hug my cousin."

The next moment, Pei Dongzhou spoke up: "From now on, you have to call her sister-in-law. I will soon pick another auspicious day to marry my cousin."

He was trying to completely extinguish Pei Xizhou's feelings for Shen Shuyi.

“Since we’re not married yet, who knows what the future holds? At the very least, my cousin is our cousin now.” Pei Nanzhou walked over, his gaze falling on Shen Shuyi’s face.

Shen Shuyi disliked Pei Nanzhou's clingy gaze, so she stood obediently beside Pei Dongzhou, neither responding nor looking at him.

The old lady only wanted to know what had happened to Shen Shuyi after she left the Marquis's residence, so she took her to Heshou Hall.

Seeing the old man's good spirits, Shen Shu began to recount what had happened on the road.

"You actually got along well with the prefect's wife and went to the prefect's mansion in Hezhou?" The old lady thought this girl was too bold.

Shen Shuyi nodded vigorously: "Yes, I originally planned to stay for a while, but then my cousin, the young master, came looking for me, so I decided to leave first."

As she spoke, she glared at Pei Dongzhou.

Pei Dongzhou simply smiled faintly and did not respond.

She still managed to escape that time. I have to say, my cousin has a very keen sense of smell and is a master at running away.

Pei Nanzhou and Pei Xizhou were both a little distracted, because they were both in Hezhou at the time, but they didn't think to go to the Hezhou Prefecture to look for someone, while Pei Dongzhou went to the prefectural government.

"It seems that Dong-ge'er and you are destined to be together." The old lady's words were loaded with meaning.

Everyone present was intelligent; how could they not understand the deeper meaning behind the old lady's words?

"Who's destined to be with my cousin, the young master? If he hadn't come looking for me, I could have stayed in the prefectural government for a while longer. But actually, I'm happier to be home with my grandmother."

(End of this chapter)