Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 181

Chapter 181: With Me

Pei Que?

What was he doing here?

Before An Zhi could figure it out, she heard her father enthusiastically leave with Fulu.

She had a vague suspicion in her mind, so she followed him, but she didn’t go out to meet Pei Que. Instead, she hid in the back room, secretly eavesdropping on Pei Que’s conversation with her father.

In the main hall, a maid had already served Pei Que tea.

Seeing Pei Que now, An Chengye felt a strong sense of familiarity. “Fourth Master Pei, you don’t need to get up. Sit down.” He even addressed him as “you.”

Pei Que raised an eyebrow at An Chengye’s “you.” After all, he was a junior and couldn’t possibly be called “you.”

“Uncle, you’re too polite. You’re the elder. You don’t need to address me like that.”

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.” An Chengye still hoped Pei Que could save him from his misery. Furthermore, judging by Pei Yu’s generational status, Pei Que wasn’t his junior. “You’re a master, so naturally I should respect you.”

An Zhi, who was sitting in the inner room, nearly laughed out loud at her father’s repeated “you.”

In truth, Pei Que hated it most when she called him “Fourth Uncle.” Now, her father had raised Pei Que’s generational status even higher, widening the gap between them, and Pei Que couldn’t say it out loud.

Thinking of Pei Que’s potentially stiff expression, An Zhi longed to go out and take a look.

Outside, after exchanging pleasantries, An Chengye finally got to the point: “Fourth Master Pei, are you here for something?”

“Yes, something.” Pei Que had come today specifically to curry favor with his future father-in-law. “I know Uncle and the Wang family aren’t on good terms, and the Wang family is narrow-minded. So, I wanted to ask you, Uncle, if you’d like to come with me to the Ministry of Works?”

The Ministry of Works had relatively little real power among the six ministries, but An Chengye wanted a position with limited authority, one that allowed him to take advantage of the situation.

He was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, “Yes!”

With his long-cherished wish finally resolved without needing to ask anyone for help, An Chengye’s liking for Pei Que grew stronger and stronger.

An Zhi breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that An Chengye’s matter had been resolved.

She didn’t linger any longer and quietly retreated from the main hall with Binglu.

“Miss, this Fourth Master Pei is truly a good man.” Over the past period of time, Binglu had witnessed Fourth Master Pei’s kindness to her young lady, and she truly felt for her young lady that he was a good man.

“He is good,” An Zhi said softly.

She could sense Pei Que’s feelings for her. If it weren’t for Pei Yu’s incident, she would have been attracted to him long ago. But fate played tricks on her.

Seeing someone from the main courtyard approaching, An Zhi coughed softly, signaling Binglu to stop talking.

“Miss, how are you?” Chaolu said, holding a food box. Her face was round, and her smile was warm and friendly. “The Meng family sent some autumn tangerines, and they asked me to deliver some to each courtyard. If you like them after you try them, please let me know, and I’ll send more to you.”

An Zhi nodded, said “Alright,” and parted ways with Chaolu. After walking a long way, Binglu finally asked, “Miss, do you think the Madam has changed a lot since the Fourth Young Miss passed away? She’s become more welcoming to us.”

“The old lady of the Meng family is quite insightful,” An Zhi explained to Binglu. “The Madam comes from a humble family, so her tolerance is unavoidable, but she has a good grandmother who knows how to guide her. The Meng family won’t be able to rise again for another ten years, and our father isn’t the kind of devoted and loyal man. If the Madam can’t win him over, and if she creates rifts with us younger generations, her future will be difficult.”

If Meng Jie had been smarter, she would have treated An Zhi with respect from the start. There was no need to fight for empty reputations.

Neither An Zhi nor An Xu cared too much about the An family’s wealth.

Now that Madam was showing goodwill, An Zhi accepted it.

After returning to the courtyard, An Zhi felt sleepy after lunch and wanted to take a nap.

Unexpectedly, Pei Que hadn’t left and had come to her room.

“Why are you here?” An Zhi asked subconsciously while sitting on the edge of the bed.

Hearing this, Pei Que became slightly annoyed. He sat down opposite An Zhi’s bed, as if he were quite familiar with the place. “Your ability to be stubborn and difficult to deal with has certainly improved.”

“No,” An Zhi pursed her lips, lowering her gaze slightly. Her long, thick eyelashes hid her eyes. Hearing Pei Que’s soft hum, she mustered up the courage and whispered, “You’re not a donkey, after all.”

The maids knew their young lady was taking a nap, so no one dared make a noise in the courtyard. The room was very quiet, but even though An Zhi spoke softly, Pei Que heard her clearly.

Pei Que chuckled lightly. Seeing An Zhi’s cute pout, he felt a sudden urge to tease her. “If I were a donkey, would you still want to deal with me?”

“Of course not!” An Zhi suddenly raised her head, realizing she had spoken too loudly. She covered her mouth and shook her head, a little flustered. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I understand.” Pei Que crossed his legs on the soft couch, propped his elbows on the table, and rested his chin on his fist, staring intently at An Zhi. “I heard your aunt plans to find you a suitable suitor?”

An Zhi nodded. For some reason, she felt uneasy.

“Don’t go,” Pei Que said.

“I don’t want to go either,” An Zhi said, genuinely uninterested in marriage. “I’m just pretending to please my aunt; I’m not serious about it.”

Hearing this, Pei Que’s thin lips slightly curved upwards, but he still insisted that An Zhi shouldn’t go. “Even pretending is unacceptable. Even if you’re not serious, which of those powerful young men wouldn’t be attracted to you?”

Whether it was her appearance or family background, An Zhi was impeccable. Even though Pei Yu had broken off their engagement, in the face of absolute power, that was no longer an issue.

Without Madam Qian even having to look for potential suitors, many of the ladies who invited her to parties were already eyeing An Zhi.

An Zhi blushed slightly at what Pei Que said, “I’m not some prize to be coveted; how could everyone possibly like me?”

“I helped your family out so much today, and this is just a small request.” Pei Que’s tone turned slightly pleading. “You know, when I went to talk to Wang Wenxuan about Uncle’s transfer, he lectured me for quite a while, subtly criticizing me the whole time.”

Hearing this, An Zhi immediately thought, “Does Wang Wenxuan have no fear of death? He dares to antagonize someone as vengeful as Fourth Master Pei!” But then she remembered that Wang Wenxuan’s father was the Prime Minister, and the Wang family was notoriously arrogant. Thinking about it that way, it wasn’t impossible.

Looking up, she met Pei Que’s gaze, and her heart softened. “I’ll explain to my aunt. Because Pei Yu hurt me so much, I don’t want to consider marriage proposals right now.”

She paused. “But my aunt will probably say that I don’t need to rush into anything, to take my time. My aunt loves me dearly, and I don’t want her to worry too much. If I absolutely can’t refuse, I won’t be with them anymore.” Then she asked, “Is that… satisfactory?”

“Satisfactory.” Pei Que smiled sincerely; he was truly satisfied.

An Zhi, hearing Pei Que’s laughter, thought he might have misunderstood and quickly explained, “Actually, that’s what I was thinking anyway. I really haven’t thought much about marriage.”

“What about me?” Pei Que’s heart pounded, his dark eyes fixed on An Zhi. “If it were with me, would you have no thoughts about it?”