Volume One, Chapter Eighty-Eight: Weakness

When Pei Jingmo returned home, the gatekeeper told him that the Gu family and the Lu family were already here.

The coming-of-age banquet had not yet begun. He did not want to see any of them, nor did he care to make polite conversation.

Fu Linhan had gone to pick up Bai Yinian, so he took the back way around the living room and returned to his room.

Normally, when he was away, no one dared enter his room, apart from the occasional cleaning done by Aunt Tang.

So when he heard movement in the bathroom, his first thought was Lu Rongrong.

Old Master wanted her to be married into the Lu family, and he would certainly try every possible means to bring them together.

The moment that thought flashed through his mind, his hand was already on the mask, fastening it over his face.

Yet the next second, the person before him was not Lu Rongrong.

It was his wife, whom he had not seen for only one morning, and had thought of all morning long.

The moment Song Qingyu heard Gu Yuandong’s voice, she was almost simultaneously opening the door to step out.

Startled by that sharp bark, she nearly jumped.

When she lifted her eyes, she happened to see the man putting on his mask and reaching back to tie the strings behind it.

That was close.

Only a hair’s breadth more, and she would have seen Mr. Gu’s face.

Her heart pounding, she hurriedly apologized, “I’m sorry, Mr. Gu—”

Pei Jingmo finished securing the mask and looked at her with a faint, brooding air.

He knew every one of Song Qingyu’s clothes by heart.

What she was wearing now was clearly not her own.

He collected himself and said coolly, “Why are you here?”

“Today is Xiaoxi’s eighteenth birthday. She invited me to her birthday banquet. Just now I accidentally got my clothes wet, and a servant brought me here to change. I didn’t know this was your room.”

Pei Jingmo’s brow furrowed tightly, his handsome face beneath the mask dark and grim.

Xiaoxi had mentioned before that she wanted to invite Qingqing to her birthday banquet, but he had not agreed.

It was not yet time to bring Qingqing home.

Xiaoxi could not have acted on her own, which meant there was only one person behind this.

“I’m sorry—”

Hearing Song Qingyu apologize again, and realizing he had frightened her, Pei Jingmo softened his voice. “It’s fine. Perhaps the new servant did not know this was my room and thought it was a guest room.”

Song Qingyu recalled the way the servant had led her here. That servant had not seemed mistaken at all, but rather as though she had deliberately brought her to this room.

A man and a woman alone in another person’s room made Song Qingyu deeply uncomfortable. “Then I’ll go out first.”

“Together.”

Fu Linhan had brought Bai Yinian to the Gu residence, and the two of them did not want to waste time on social niceties in the hall, so they came looking for Pei Jingmo.

Seeing him, Fu Linhan instinctively began, “Jing—”

His mouth was instantly covered by Bai Yinian.

“Mm-mph—”

Only then did he widen his eyes and notice Song Qingyu as well.

After Bai Yinian saw that he had noticed her, he let go.

Song Qingyu was still shaken by the shock and fluster of changing clothes in Mr. Gu’s room, and did not notice this brief exchange.

Seeing the two of them, she greeted them politely.

“Second Young Master Fu, Mr. Bai.”

Bai Yinian gave a slight nod.

Fu Linhan awkwardly scratched his hair. “Miss Song, why are you here? Where’s Jingmo?”

“Jingmo went on a business trip. I came to celebrate Xiaoxi’s birthday.”

“Oh, right. I heard from Yuandong that when Xiaoxi ran away from home last time, you took her in for the night, is that right?”

Song Qingyu smiled faintly. “It was nothing. A small favor, really. Then... I’ll go look for Xiaoxi first.”

“Sure, sure. Go on.”

Watching Song Qingyu’s retreating figure, Fu Linhan let out a long breath of relief.

He went limp all over, leaned against Bai Yinian, and patted his chest. “Xiao Bai, good thing you reacted fast. If I’d blurted out that name, I feel like I’d have been buried alive by someone.”

Fu Linhan stole a cautious glance at Pei Jingmo. Seeing his icy expression and not knowing what he was thinking, he immediately leaned in. “Did you call Song Qingyu here?”

“It was the old man.”

“What?”

Bai Yinian’s expression also turned grave.

“He knows you and Song Qingyu are already married? What exactly is he trying to do?”

At that moment, Uncle Zhou came over. “Second Young Master, the master asks that you go to the study.”

“Jingmo—” Fu Linhan looked at him worriedly.

Pei Jingmo smiled. “Don’t worry. He won’t kill me, at least.”

Bai Yinian said nothing, but patted Pei Jingmo on the shoulder to show that he would always stand by him.

“Help me keep an eye on Qingqing.”

With that, Pei Jingmo went to the study.

Inside, the old master was looking at a family portrait.

Back then, Gu Chenxi was still in Pei Shishi’s belly. The teenage Gu Mubei and Pei Jingmo stood on either side of their parents. It was also the only family portrait they had ever taken.

Hearing the knock, he tucked the photo into a drawer. “Come in.”

Pei Jingmo pushed the door open and walked straight up to Gu Chengde.

When father and son met, there was no warmth, only confrontation.

“So just to expose me in front of Song Qingyu, you really went to great lengths.”

Gu Chengde looked at him indifferently. “I told you long ago: I don’t care how you play around outside, but the woman you marry can only be Lu Rongrong. Since you refuse to obey, you leave me no choice.”

Pei Jingmo stared coldly at this so-called father.

Since the day he had become aware of the world, he and his brother had lived under his oppressive rule, needing his approval for everything they did.

Gu Mubei loved airplane models and had dreamed since childhood of becoming a pilot, only to have his wings cruelly broken by this man.

Watching his lively and cheerful elder brother reduced to a numb puppet, trained into obedience, Pei Jingmo’s rebellious phase had begun.

Compared with Gu Mubei’s docility, he had been the complete opposite, fighting, brawling, and causing trouble every day.

Even when the family discipline left him bloodied and torn each night, he could still go out and wreak havoc the next day.

During that time, one could often hear Gu Chengde’s furious shouting, along with the sound of a whip falling on a body.

At first, Gu Mubei would kneel at the study door and beg Gu Chengde; later, he became numb and no longer pleaded.

Back then, Gu Chenxi had just learned to walk. Whenever she heard the noise, she would run toward the study. Gu Mubei would hold her and soothe her. “Don’t be afraid. Father is just playing a game with your second brother.”

If he had not met Song Qingyu, Pei Jingmo did not know what kind of person he would have become.

That day, Song Qingyu gave him a White Rabbit milk candy and a bandage.

No matter how much pain he endured after returning home, he never talked back. After he was sent into the military, and only occasionally allowed out, he saw that his elder brother had already become the kind of son his father had always wanted.

Gu Mubei had once tried to resist too, but it was useless.

Now it was Pei Jingmo’s turn.

Clenching his fists tightly, Pei Jingmo said, “She is innocent. You had no right to touch her!”

“You should be grateful. This was the gentlest method I could think of.”

Outside the door, Uncle Zhou knocked. “Master, most of the guests have arrived.”

Gu Chengde looked at Pei Jingmo and said coolly, “Your dance partner is Lu Rongrong. Don’t forget to ask her to dance later.”

His words were both a reminder and a threat.

Smart people knew exactly how to use another’s weakness to achieve their own ends.

As he was leaving the study, Gu Chengde said, “You were too impatient. I should have taught you: never let others seize your weak spot, or you will be constrained at every turn.”

“Then you’d better guard your own weak spot carefully, and make sure I never learn of it.”

Gu Chengde halted. “I have no weak spot.”