A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

Mei Wanying had shown Ling a portrait of her father every day. Having seen it so many times, she finally recognized Pei Yan this time.

She knew this was her daddy, not a stranger.

Pei Yan’s expression was priceless.

He should have been happy that his daughter recognized him.

But for his daughter to call him "stinky daddy" and forbid him from kissing Ah Yin... wasn’t that just too much?

Ling scrambled up from the soft couch and half-tumbled, half-crawled to wedge herself between Pei Yan and Mei Wanying.

She muttered from her little mouth, "Don’t you hug my mommy!"

Pei Yan simply stretched out a long arm and gathered Ling into the hug too.

"Your mommy is my wife. Why can’t I hug her?"

Ling opened her mouth, but she didn’t know how to answer. Suddenly, she was speechless.

She turned her head to look at Mei Wanying.

Her face looked as if she were calling for backup. "Mommy, what should I do?"

Pei Yan raised an eyebrow, his arm around Mei Wanying deliberately tightening.

His muscles bulged, pressing painfully into Mei Wanying.

The man asked with deceptive casualness, "Ah Yin, did you teach Lingling to scold me? And forbid me from getting close?"

Mei Wanying felt a sense of dread.

She shot Ling a pleading look, trying to signal the little girl to quickly move on from the topic.

But no matter how clever Ling was, she was still just a two-year-old and wasn’t very good at reading signals.

She thought her mommy was telling her to answer her daddy’s question.

She said honestly, "Mommy said, Daddy is bad..."

"I’m bad?"

Pei Yan’s lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, a dangerous glint hidden within their depths. "Ah Yin, is that what you really think?"

’This rascal is full of tricks,’ Mei Wanying thought. ’He looks so calm on the surface, but who knows what mischief he’s plotting underneath.’

’What’s wrong with saying he’s bad?’

Mei Wanying stiffly changed the subject. "Are you coming with us to the General Mansion?"

The words had barely left her mouth when the man snorted, his tone smug. "Changing the subject won’t work. I’ll remember this."

Mei Wanying wanted to cry but had no tears. "You knew perfectly well we were in the Capital City, yet you played dumb. How is that not bad?"

Ling chimed in, "Bad!"

Her small body struggled for a moment, but she couldn’t break free from her daddy’s arm.

Ling repeated loudly, "Daddy, bad!"

Even though he was being scolded, Pei Yan laughed aloud. ’Having Ah Yin and his daughter by his side... this is truly wonderful.’

He planted a kiss on Mei Wanying’s cheek. Not wanting to leave his daughter out, he kissed her little, chubby face too.

He said, "Wherever you go, I’ll go."

It didn’t matter if they returned to the General Mansion, went to Ling’s Princess Mansion, or even accompanied him into the palace.

’He was Ah Yin’s man; of course, he had to do as she said.’

Mei Wanying wanted the family to be reunited, but she was afraid of delaying Pei Yan’s official business.

"We’re not in a hurry to leave. We’ll be staying in the Capital City for the New Year. If you have urgent matters, you should take care of them first."

Knowing Mei Wanying was thinking of him, Pei Yan was in a pleasant mood. "Don’t worry, everything has been taken care of."

Pei Yan was very busy. To make time for Mei Wanying and Ling, he had pulled several all-nighters to finish his official duties ahead of schedule.

Now, he felt completely relaxed.

He could now focus solely on being with his wife and daughter.

Resting his chin on Mei Wanying’s shoulder again, Pei Yan said in a low voice, "Tonight, I can finally get a good rest."

The tips of Mei Wanying’s ears burned.

Her mind immediately jumped to conclusions.

She tilted her head and gave Pei Yan a sidelong glance. "You’d better mean what you say."

Pei Yan hummed noncommittally.

Mei Wanying didn’t know what he meant, and with her daughter present, she couldn’t press him for an answer.

So, she let it drop.

...

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the General Mansion.

The butler was already waiting. The moment the carriage stopped, he immediately ordered the servants to unload the luggage.

He trotted over to greet them. "Miss, you’ve finally returned!"

’He had thought this estate would never welcome its mistress home again.’

"I never thought the Miss would return, and with the Little Princess, no less!"

’They’re both safe and sound!’

The butler grinned from ear to ear. ’If the General knew in the great beyond that his daughter was doing so well, he would surely be able to rest in peace.’

The General Mansion was just as it had been; not a single thing inside had been moved.

Mei Wanying praised the butler for managing it so well, but the butler didn’t dare to take the credit.

"The Emperor sent people to come to the mansion for repairs once a month. For flowers and plants that weren’t growing well, they either tried their best to save them or planted new ones of the same variety."

"Your courtyard is exactly the same as before. A few days ago, the Emperor himself came by to prepare daily necessities for you and the Little Princess."

When a house is unoccupied, it easily falls into disrepair, and the gardens can grow wild.

It takes a great deal of effort to keep it well-maintained.

The Mei family didn’t lack the servants to do the work, but the fact that Pei Yan had thought of it showed that he loved everything associated with her.

He loved Mei Wanying, so he loved everything related to Mei Wanying.

He wanted to preserve every blade of grass, every tree, every tile on the roof, just as it was.

For one, he was preserving the things Mei Wanying cared about.

For another, the mansion held their shared memories. Whether bitter or sweet, they were keepsakes he had no desire to erase.

This estate had to be preserved.

’It belongs only to Ah Yin.’

’No one else can touch it!’

Mei Wanying glanced at Pei Yan. She said nothing, but the upward curve of her lips showed she was very pleased with everything he had done.

She stopped the butler from following them further. "I’ll take Ling for a walk to familiarize her with the mansion."

The butler was extremely perceptive. He gave a bow and went to busy himself elsewhere.

Ding Xiang didn’t follow them either, instead returning to the courtyard to put away the luggage.

With Mei Wanying on one side and Pei Yan on the other, they held Ling’s hands and strolled unhurriedly through the estate.

Ling looked from her mommy to her daddy, grinning so widely she couldn’t close her mouth. She had long since thrown her plans to pester her father to the back of her mind.

She skipped and hopped, chattering away without a pause.

As Pei Yan listened, his expression softened, the frost in his eyes melting away to reveal a distinct smile.

He had dreamed of days like this many times, but none had ever felt as real as this moment.

Pei Yan still couldn’t believe that Mei Wanying would actually return to the Capital City to see him.

"Ah Yin."

"Hm?"

The man called her name again, only to be teased by Ling.

"Daddy, are you a parrot?"

Pei Yan clicked his tongue. "You’re my daughter. Does that make you a parrot too?"

Ling thought being a parrot sounded just fine.

’Parrots are cute.’

She nodded emphatically. "Our whole family is!"

Mei Wanying: "..."

’She hadn’t said a single word, so how did she get dragged into this by these two?’

While the family of three was touring the estate, the great and noble families of the capital had all received the news.

Mei Wanying had returned to the Capital City.

And she had brought the Princess with her!

Everyone began to speculate that she had returned to contend for the position of Empress.

The Emperor’s stance was firm; he had consistently refused to select new women for the Harem. Those who wished to send their daughters into the palace had found no opportunity to do so.

Now that Mei Wanying was back, could their daughters still enter the palace and win glory for their families?

Suddenly, Mei Wanying became the talk of the Capital City.

Whether they had designs on sending their own daughters to the palace or not, everyone was discussing her and Ling.

The Gu Family was no exception.

Back then, when Mei Wanying was pregnant, Empress Dowager Gu had wanted to marry her into the Gu Family to give the child a legitimate status.

But Wanying had used the child in her womb as a threat, forcing the Empress Dowager to change her mind and allow her to raise the child herself.

Later, she almost married Gu Xun, which would have made him a live-in son-in-law of the Mei family.

In the eyes of the Gu family, Mei Wanying was a scourge, but they didn’t dare say it out loud.

After all, she was the apple of the Emperor’s eye. Anyone who dared to speak ill of her would surely be severely punished by the Emperor.

Mrs. Gu finally understood. "No wonder the Emperor sent Xun away on business. It was because Mei Wanying was returning to the Capital City, and he wanted to prevent the two of them from meeting."

Mrs. Gu’s tone was full of grievance. "If she’s in the Capital City, Xun has to leave? This... isn’t that a bit too tyrannical?"