Why would I cheat if I didn't love you

Pei Jingzhi was filled with despair and only wanted to leave Liuyun Manor.

This Liuyun Manor, which had carried his hopes but shattered them in an instant, was a filthy place that revealed the most disgraceful side of his wife, Madam Liu.

"Madam..."

The maidservant Dongxiang came running over in a hurry. Seeing Pei Jingzhi present and recalling how those eighteen warriors had just scattered like frightened birds, she instantly understood what had happened.

"Madam, I... I tried to stop Lord Pei, but Lord Pei insisted on forcing his way in. I... I couldn't stop him, and I... I already sent someone to deliver a message to you..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Madam Liu slapped her across the face.

With a loud smack, the maidservant Dongxiang spun completely around on the spot.

"You useless thing! I told you to keep watch, how could you be so careless? Now my husband has found out, what do you say we do?"

Tears welled up in Dongxiang's eyes from the slap, but she couldn't help glancing at Pei Jingzhi, who had already turned to leave, feeling a trace of resentment in her heart.

I told you not to come in, but you just had to!

I told you that if you came in, you would end up divorcing Madam, but you just had to see for yourself.

Are you happy now?

Did you get what you wanted?

Of course, she only dared to keep these thoughts to herself and wouldn't dare voice them aloud. She could only say against her true feelings, "Madam, quickly go after him. Lord Pei loves you so much; when he was young, he was even willing to lay down his life for you."

"You have merely made a tiny mistake that any woman in the world might make. As long as you sincerely repent to Lord Pei and return these eighteen men to Protector Bai, Lord Pei will definitely forgive you."

Madam Liu hesitated for a moment.

"I have to return these eighteen men?"

While she was speaking, Pei Jingzhi had already walked far away.

Madam Liu could no longer afford to feel reluctant. She quickly chased after him. Her rapidly running figure became increasingly clear in Pei Jingzhi's peripheral vision, looking just as she did in their youth.

Running towards her childhood sweetheart who had returned home to visit from the military camp.

The tears that Pei Jingzhi had just managed to hold back came streaming down again.

Delusions, pure delusions!

When he was young, how could he have been so naive and ignorant of the world?

Could a sincere heart truly move heaven and earth?

"Jingzhi, Jingzhi..."

Madam Liu rushed in front of Pei Jingzhi, spreading her arms to block his path. "Listen to me."

"This is just a misunderstanding."

"It's not what you think!"

His path blocked, Pei Jingzhi tried to step aside, but Madam Liu clung to him tightly, making it impossible to break free. He couldn't help but raise his reddened eyes to look at Madam Liu before him.

This youthful Madam Liu, blooming like a fresh flower, peerlessly beautiful, was the one who had captured his heart at first sight in his youth, drawing him in so deeply that he had willingly fallen at her feet.

But after truly being together with Madam Liu, she had never again shown such a girlish temperament in front of him.

Therefore, whether she loved him or not had actually been evident all along.

It was all his, Pei Jingzhi's, wishful thinking.

"Get out of the way!"

Pei Jingzhi held back his tears. Amidst the massive emotional turmoil, he slowly regained his rationality, and the imposing aura of a high-ranking regional official appointed by the Empress to provide disaster relief gradually emanated from him.

"I said, get out of the way!"

This shout carried the heavy authority of an official, truly sharp and fierce.

Madam Liu was momentarily stunned.

She seemed to have never seen this side of Pei Jingzhi.

Her heart trembled slightly.

However, having been with Pei Jingzhi for so many years, she held too great a psychological advantage over him. She quickly adjusted herself and said, "Jingzhi, listen to my explanation. These eighteen men were merely gifted to me by someone else. I was just looking at them..."

"I really didn't do anything with them."

"I didn't do anything at all!"

"I swear it, may lightning strike me if I'm lying!"

It was as if Pei Jingzhi was seeing Madam Liu for the first time, his eyes widening in disbelief.

With the facts right in front of her, Madam Liu could still spout such hypocritical lies without blushing or skipping a heartbeat. Was this her true face all along?

"Jingzhi, don't look at me with those eyes."

"I'm telling the truth."

"It couldn't be more true."

"Look at my sincere eyes."

Pei Jingzhi laughed out of sheer anger. "The truth? Then what are these eighteen men doing here in Liuyun Manor?"

"Why do they exercise every day, walking around Liuyun Manor without their shirts on? Who is that for?"

"Those eighteen men were just vying for your favor right in front of you. How could that be a habit formed overnight?"

"You were holding that man's hand, looking so intimate and full of tender affection. Did you think I was blind?"

"I used to have you in my heart, putting you first in everything. I never scrutinized the hidden meanings in your words and yielded to you at every turn. But did you really think I, Pei Jingzhi, am a fool?"

The ferocity in Pei Jingzhi's words grew heavier, yet the pain in his heart felt increasingly like it was being carved out by a knife. "You have disappointed me too much."

"All these years of doting on you and taking care of you were ultimately wasted."

"In your heart, there is only your dead first love. You never had me, Pei Jingzhi, and you never loved me, Pei Jingzhi."

"You never loved me at all!"

Madam Liu grew anxious. "Jingzhi, I do love you! How could I not love you?"

"If I didn't love you, why would I have an affair?"

Pei Jingzhi's eyes widened even more.

She admitted it.

But whether she admitted it or not no longer mattered. He forcefully pushed past Madam Liu, intending to return to the Pei Residence. He just wanted some peace and quiet now.

"Jingzhi, why are you still leaving?"

Madam Liu became even more frantic, her tone involuntarily carrying a hint of anger. "Don't go too far."

"I've already apologized to you, what more do you want me to do?"

"At worst, I'll just dismiss all eighteen of them and let them leave."

"I've made such a huge concession for you, you should be over your anger by now, right?"

Pei Jingzhi wasn't over his anger; instead, he nearly laughed out of sheer fury again.

Tearing off that disguise, he suddenly realized that his judgment was ridiculously poor. He had once sworn to choose one city to grow old in, meet one person to spend his life with, and serve one monarch with his life, but it all turned out to be a complete joke.

As his steps quickened, Madam Liu chased after him even more desperately.

"Pei Jingzhi, what exactly do you want?"

"Yes, I know I'm at fault, but don't you ever think about whether it's entirely my fault?"

"Are you completely blameless?"

"Why didn't you listen to me and take good care of your health so you could stay forever youthful?"

"Why did you have to be such a loyal minister, running all over the world under His Majesty's orders? You were either busy with disaster relief, building canals, or promoting talents, working yourself until your hair turned white and your body grew old."

"If you hadn't been like that, if you had followed my advice and taken care of yourself, how... how could I have ended up like this?"

"Pei Jingzhi, it's clearly your fault, yet you're putting all the blame on me now?"

Pei Jingzhi's footsteps paused, his fists subconsciously clenching tight.

But then he released them and continued taking large strides outward.

At this, Madam Liu completely exploded. "Pei Jingzhi, we've been husband and wife for so many years, and I never realized you were so petty and narrow-minded!"

"You're going too far!"

...