She was slow to come and remove the burlap sack from herself, so Pei Huai’an had no choice but to take it off himself.
Seeing her with her back turned to him, hugging her head and burrowing into the corner of the carriage, not daring to look at him.
This young lady who, three days ago, had confessed her feelings and been rejected, then bawled her eyes out in his courtyard—today, she actually dared to snatch a husband from beneath the rankings. He found it quite astonishing.
“Miss Liang, Miss Liang…”
Just as he called her to turn around, who would have thought she’d suddenly spin about and drop to her knees before him with a thud.
“Seventh Young Master Pei, I’m sorry!”
How could this be proper?
“Miss Liang, you mustn’t perform such a grand courtesy…” He reached out to help her up.
She still refused to rise, blushing as she pleaded, “Seventh Young Master Pei, the person who captured you was someone I hired. He didn’t know your identity. Please, you must not tell anyone about this matter.”
“All right, I won’t tell anyone, but please get up first.”
How embarrassing.
Liang Qingluo thought, how could she be so unlucky as to have caught the seventh son of the Pei family?
She dared not let him help her. She braced herself on her arms to get up on her own. Who could have guessed that just as she lifted herself halfway, the carriage suddenly jolted. Losing her balance, she pitched forward, instinctively grabbing onto him. The instant she fell into his arms, she heard a ripping sound—
After the bump, the carriage briefly steadied. Liang Qingluo sat up in shock and stared at the half-torn collar of his robe, exposing his fair and smooth shoulder.
“Sorry, so sorry…”
She barely got the words out when the carriage jolted again, and with a little “smack,” she ended up kissing his bare shoulder.
“……”
Both of them were completely stunned.
The carriage was silent, the only sound the rumbling of the wheels as it moved along.
Liang Qingluo remained kneeling on top of him, forgetting to get off for a moment.
She stared at his shoulder, and he stared at her. After a long pause, Liang Qingluo finally regained her senses.
She had put on makeup today, and her lips were painted. Where she had kissed him just now, a bright red lip mark was left behind.
“I’m really sorry,” she reached out in a panic to wipe away the mark, her movements flustered, “I truly didn’t mean it. Why won’t it come off?”
The lipstick stain only smeared into a red mess under her hand, with some color still clinging stubbornly. Seeing that she couldn’t wipe it clean, her mouth worked faster than her brain—she bent down and blew a warm breath onto that patch of skin…
Feeling the body beneath her suddenly go taut, she realized what she had done, but by then, her breath had already brushed across his skin.
The lantern hanging in the carriage swayed, and the exposed patch of skin quickly turned crimson. Liang Qingluo turned her head and saw the blush spread to his neck, ears, and that handsome face…
“Brother Pei, Brother Pei…”
Outside the carriage came the shout of Pei Huai’an’s classmate.
Perhaps the classmate really thought he had been abducted, and had come specifically to intercept them.
Liang Qingluo was about to get out of his arms when the carriage was stopped so abruptly that the two of them were thrown together once more.
The classmate jumped onto the carriage, lifted the curtain to save the day, but was dumbfounded by the scene inside: “Oh my! This is… fierce, isn’t it?”
Which family’s young lady could be so bold? Actually doing this in a carriage…
Liang Qingluo buried her face in the hollow of Pei Huai’an’s shoulder, neither able to get up nor willing to stay put.
Pei Huai’an turned to look at his classmate, and behind the classmate, a crowd of curious onlookers was craning their necks.
“Let the curtain down first.”
“Oh, right!”
Once the curtain was lowered, the two immediately separated. Liang Qingluo shrank back into the corner, covering her face, apologizing over and over.
Pei Huai’an straightened his clothes: “Miss Liang, I’ll take my leave first.”
“Take care, Young Master Pei.” Liang Qingluo really had no face left to meet him again.
No one spoke a word of this affair, but that couldn’t stop the rumors. When he got off the carriage that day, he hadn’t realized he’d also smeared rouge on his own face. Among the passersby were quite a few classmates from the National Academy, so the news that the seventh son of the Pei family had been snatched up and even molested spread like wildfire.
On the third day after the incident, Madam Liang of the Military Command brought her youngest daughter to their door to apologize.
Pei Huai’an had no mother, and his father was always busy with business, coming home late and leaving early. So it was Shen Youran, the mistress of the household, who received Madam Liang and her daughter. After hearing their explanation, Shen Youran knew she couldn’t make a decision herself, so she led them to the old lady’s quarters, sending someone to inform Pei Huai’an to come as well.
Before Pei Huai’an arrived, Madam Liang had her youngest daughter apologize in front of the old lady: “This girl lost her senses a few days ago and kept the truth from me, going out to snatch a husband from the rankings. Who could have guessed she’d blunder into abducting your esteemed seventh young master? I truly apologize…”
Luckily, Liang Qingluo hadn’t used her family’s carriage that day, the men who did the snatching were hired, and no one had seen her face. Outsiders only knew that the seventh son of the Pei family had been snatched up, but not who was behind it.
The old lady did not take it too much to heart: “Xiao Qi is a man, suffering a little loss is nothing. As long as your Ninth Miss’s reputation remains intact, all is well. Besides, my Xiao Qi is strong-willed; idle rumors won’t bother him, Madam Liang, you don’t need to blame yourself too much…”
They’d been through worse before. The last round of gossip was much more severe—at most, it just damaged his reputation and made matchmaking a bit harder.
Thinking of arranging a marriage for Xiao Qi, Old Madam Pei’s eyes brightened as she gazed at the beautiful young lady before her.
“Madam Liang—”
“She’ll be eighteen after this summer,” Madam Liang quickly replied, guessing at the old lady’s intent. She had indeed brought her daughter today not just to apologize, but also to sound out a potential match. So, in a teasing tone, she hinted at her meaning, “It’s not that she’s so young and desperate to get married—she’s just being foolish, which is why she stirred up this husband-snatching mess…”
The little girl called out, “Mother.”
Madam Liang shot her a glance: “Why are you still standing there? Aren’t you going to apologize to Seventh Young Master Pei yourself?”
Liang Qingluo wanted to say she’d already offered a whole basketful of apologies in the carriage, but in front of Old Madam Pei, she couldn’t talk back to her mother. So she stood up sheepishly, “Yes, Mother, I’ll go now.”
The old lady chuckled, “Go on, you young people should settle your own matters. I’ll chat with your mother here.”
Liang Qingluo awkwardly excused herself. Shen Youran did not linger, taking the chance to accompany Liang Qingluo to see Pei Huai’an.
At that time, Pei Huai’an was on his way to the Chunxuan Hall after receiving word. The three met halfway, and Shen Youran, needing to attend to some household matters, left them alone and took her leave.
Pei Huai’an looked at the bashful young lady before him and smiled. “I didn’t tell anyone about that incident, so why did you come to confess all on your own?”
“Yesterday, one of my sisters-in-law was chatting with my mother about recent amusing events. When she mentioned you being snatched up, I said something in your defense, and my mother noticed something odd. Later, she questioned me about it and today forced me to come to your house to apologize…”
“Your mother scolded you?”
“Mm, she even made me kneel in the ancestral hall.”
“How long did you kneel?”
“Only for a while, then Father came in…”
“So your father didn’t blame you?”
“No, Father even praised me, saying I’m a little tigress, just like he was in his youth…”
Pei Huai’an couldn’t help but laugh, “You really are rather fierce.”
Liang Qingluo looked up at him, her cheeks puffed out slightly, “Are you sure that’s a compliment?”
She didn’t know that, at this moment, her cheeks still had a faint blush, her eyes were round and bright, and when she looked straight at him, there was a hint of stubbornness that was almost silly—not so much like a tigress, but more like a fluffy little kitten.
“It is a compliment.”
“Compliment me for what?”
“For being adorable.”