Chapter 491: There Is No "Forever"

Li Lei eventually removed the unnatural expression he wore on his face.

"Preceptor," he said. "it was the Preceptor who gave me the fengshui and allowed me to strategize effectively against Imperial Entertainment, thank goodness." He did not understand why the Preceptor wanted to help him, but when that man appeared in his life, asking him if he were willing to save Xiao Ling, he agreed without a thought.

It was okay even if it were a scam.

Even if his life was at stake.

All he wanted was for Xiao Ling to be blissful, to be free from that man's clutches.

Thankfully, his gamble paid off.

Xia Ling then realized what happened—it was all her brother's doing. "Didn't he say the vows could not be broken?" she asked giddily.

Startled, Li Lei said, "When did he say this?"

Xia Ling replied, "Not long after I was taken away by Pei Ziheng, I instructed Sister Mai Na to pass the amulet to you, wanting you to go and find him. You later sent me the message saying that the Preceptor expressed his lack of ability to help me in my request."

"So that was your request back then?" Li Lei was slightly confused and did not understand. "If he did not help us break the vows back then, why would he choose to help us now?"

Xia Ling, too, could not understand. It seemed like these questions would only be answered when she met her brother.

She told Li Lei, "Is the Pei family really going bankrupt?"

Li Lei narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't tell me you're feeling pained over that."

Xia Ling smiled sadly. She was feeling slightly troubled over it, because regardless of how cruel Pei Ziheng was to her, he did help her out, and that made it all so complicated. "Him liking me wasn't wrong in any way at the start. He just did so in the wrong way." Xia Ling's voice was gentle. "You suppressing him is all for the sake of rescuing me, but when he releases me... please don't give him any more trouble."

"He treated you that way, and you're still thinking of him?" Li Lei's expression turned dark. The wound on her lower abdomen was still there, and she was already helping that man plead for forgiveness. "Do you really... not love him?"

Xia Ling's heart skipped a beat, as she sensed his jealousy.

"I..." She didn't know what to say, and Li Lei was still in the dark about everything regarding the reincarnation.

"I know I owe you an answer." Xia Ling thought for a moment. "If I'm able to return to your side this time around, I'll tell you everything that happened between him and me. Li Lei, the person I love now is you."

Since she could go back to how it was before, she would no longer try to hide it.

She loved him, and this was a strong vow she made in her heart after all that had happened.

Li Lei's expression slowly softened. "Alright." For the longest time, he knew that Xiao Ling's heart hid a huge secret, one that Pei Ziheng could not know of. Before the paragliding incident, he was so close to finding out the truth, but everything became messy after that event, and thus, the investigation was interrupted.

The fact that she was willing to tell him the truth herself, how could it not make him happy?

"Please take good care of yourself," said Li Lei. "I'll be able to come and bring you away very soon."

She smiled and nodded.

Li Lei accompanied her for a while more before leaving the hospital.

When Xia Ling returned to the hospital ward, the crowd of reporters had dispersed. Even the ward itself had been tidied up, with all used items replaced with new ones.

But the nurses were looking at her oddly. Seeing the ongoing battle today, and believing what all the reporters said, they would have thought she and Li Lei had cut all relations all because she wanted to marry Pei Ziheng in order to be a corporate spy. Today, Imperial Entertainment was about to experience its downfall, and she was about to return to Li Lei's side.

They were secretly full of disdain towards her.

Xia Ling didn't care, as there were already too many things on her mind. She did not have the energy to care about how other people saw her. The wound on her lower abdomen was not stitched yet and hurt from time to time. She did not dare to move much now and needed to take care of herself properly. As long as she could return to Li Lei's side, it did not matter that she could no longer bear children.

She regretted her impulsiveness.

What was an even bigger regret was her not taking good care of the baby. She could have returned to Li Lei's side with the baby too, and be able to tell him that that was their child, their child called Shaohui—Hui bearing the meaning of light.

Her heart full of bitterness and pain, what was a month felt like a hundred days.

It had really been a long time.

She sat in the ward in a very long daze.

At midnight, the chauffeur came to fetch her. "Madam, please follow me home."

Xia Ling was slightly stunned. "My wound hasn't completely healed, I need to continue staying in the ward for treatment." She did not wish to return to the house and face Pei Ziheng.

However, the chauffeur said, "Mister wants me to fetch you home for dinner." Seeing the unwillingness on Xia Ling's face, the chauffeur could not help but add on, "Madam, please just head back to see how things are, as Mister has recently lost a lot of weight."

She then recalled Li Lei's words about the Pei family soon facing their downfall.

She suddenly felt a guilty conscience creeping up on her as she was the cause of this mess.

Pei Ziheng destroyed her and her child, and she also destroyed his family. No one owed each other anything now. She thus decided that it would do no harm to go visit him before Li Lei came to bring her away.

Therefore, Xia Ling followed the chauffeur back.

Pei Ziheng stood in the yellow lighting in the living room, staring at her. "You're back." Almost a month of not seeing him, his complexion had become haggard. If Li Lei were to be thought of as radiant, he would be a complete mess.

For a moment, Xia Ling did not know what to say.

"Come eat with me since you're back." Pei Ziheng headed into the dining room.

Xia Ling followed him in silently, only to see the table piled with all her favorite dishes, from both this life and the previous. "What is this...?" Xia Ling was shocked.

Pei Ziheng had already sat down, and personally placed a piece of grilled scallop onto her plate. "Let's eat."

There was something not quite right with him today.

She did not dare to question further and quietly accompanied him for dinner.

After dinner, he did not head to the study as per usual, and instead, pulled her along to the terrace to have some wine in the moonlight.

"Do you still remember how I brought you back here 19 years ago?" Pei Ziheng tilted his head towards the moon, his voice low and distant. "Back then, I fell in love with you at first sight and only thought about protecting you, never letting you get hurt forever."

Xia Ling was silent. Where was the "forever"?

Ultimately, the one who hurt her the most was him.

Pei Ziheng poured out a glass of wine, sipping it slowly. He was acting very differently today, causing Xia Ling to be unable to tell what he had up his sleeves. She did not engage in conversation, nor persuaded him.

Just like that, he downed glass after glass till the bottle was empty.

He turned to stare at her intensely for a long time.

Xiao Ling, do you still remember that I once said I would never ever let you get hurt?

Sadly, I still messed up at the end of the day.

Pei Ziheng rose to his feet and told Xia Ling, "It's getting chilly, and the dew is heavy. Let's turn in for the night."

Xia Ling found it weird and climbed into bed with him. Just like how many nights went by this past year, she fell asleep in his embrace.

His body curled behind her back, as he held her in his arms, his hands gripping her tightly.