A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

The trees in the garden swayed gently, bringing about a cooling breeze.

Pei Ziheng’s voice was heavy. “That’s a long time later.”

Nanny Zhou was anxious. “How long later could it be? Five years or ten years? Sir, that’s the best time for a girl. If you can’t promise her, then don’t hurt her.”

“Hurt?” Pei Ziheng sneered coldly. “Nanny Zhou, what do you mean by hurt? If I walk in now and tell her to break up, wouldn’t it be hurting her?”

Nanny Zhou was silent. Things had already happened, and it was difficult to retrieve spilled milk.

Pei Ziheng said again, “What’s wrong with her following me? I can give her the best material security. I can love her for a lifetime and let her have children at the right time. Besides status, she can have everything.”

Nanny Zhou’s heart trembled and she whispered, “A lifetime?”

Pei Ziheng said, “A lifetime.”

The two looked silently at each other in the garden in the late morning night. Nanny Zhou suddenly found that the man in front of her was scarier than she had thought. He did not only want to possess the girl, but he never intended to let her go either. Perhaps, from the first day he’d brought the girl home, it’d been doomed to end like this. All the doting and cherishing were built on the thin ice surface of a mirage. Once broken, it would fall into the abyss immediately and be consigned to eternal damnation.

But the girl knew nothing about it.

And so what if she knew? She would only be condemned to eternal damnation sooner.

Nanny Zhou was alarmed and said in a tight voice, “You’re being unfair to Miss.” She was still young and didn’t have the chance to make her own decision and yet had to accept the trajectory of fate under his terrible possessiveness instead.

Pei Ziheng chuckled lowly. “Fair? Only the weak talk about fairness.” In his dictionary, there was never the word “fair”. There was only obtain and fail to obtain, want and not want. “Nanny Zhou, don’t worry about these things that don’t need worrying over.” He warned his servant. “Take care of her, I want her to live forever without worries.”

The man’s figure disappeared step by step in the summer night wind.

Nanny Zhou’s hands and feet were cold, and she couldn’t imagine the sadness and despair in Miss when she learned of this day.

Pei Ziheng slowly passed through the porch and went upstairs. In the small music room on the second floor, the girl was holding a piece of musical score and practicing. She had always worked hard on her singing. When she debuted, she would be a hit.

Pei Ziheng stood at the door for a very long time.

Xia Ling turned her head inadvertently and was taken aback. “Brother Pei!” She immediately burst into a smile, putting down the musical score and running over to him. “When did you arrive? You scared me by standing here.”

Pei Ziheng’s voice was gentle. “Am I disturbing you?”

“No,” she said, smiling brightly. “I’ve been practicing for the whole afternoon and was just preparing to end.”

He looked at her carefully and saw a faint blush on her cheeks. “Is your body better? Does it still hurt?”

She blinked and reacted to what he was asking, the originally healthy blush on her cheeks turning into a deep red. “No, it doesn’t hurt,” she whispered, not daring to look up at him.

He chuckled and stretched out his fingers to comb her soft long hair. “Nanny Zhou came to find you today?”

“Oh.” She was surprised. “How did you know?” Her face grew even redder and she was about to run away.

Pei Ziheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. “What did she say to you?”

Her slender wrist was held tightly by one of his arms and she couldn’t break free. Her whole body fell into his embrace and she didn’t dare to move. “No, nothing…” She studied his expression apprehensively before stuttering. “She just asked, asked me about some contraception. And she even bought for me, bought me a condom.”

Under the faint light, her expression was bashful and charming.

Pei Ziheng’s heart throbbed and he wanted to take her back to bed immediately. He endured the urge and said, “Condom?”

She was too shy to speak and bowed her head to avoid meeting his gaze.

“Nanny Zhou is really considerate.” His voice was emotionless.

Xia Ling plucked up the courage to ask, “Will you use it? Nanny Zhou said it’s not good for the body to eat medicine for a long time. I might not be able to bear children in the future.”

“Do you want me to use it?”

“I…” She was speechless again. It was really annoying, how was she going to answer this kind of question?

He reached up and raised her face. “I’ve never used it before.” His low, ambiguous tone was like silk fluttering beside her ear. In the past, he had never used it even when doing it with prostitutes. There had always been professionals watching the women take the medicine. There had only been a slip-up once, where a woman who didn’t know what was good for her had to be sent forcefully to the hospital for abortion and suffered a miserable end.

This little girl actually wanted him to use it?

Xia Ling’s eyes were watery and she felt so wronged she was about to cry. Nanny Zhou had said that was the best contraceptive measure. The other measures were either uninsured or carried great physical damage to her body. Did… did he not care?

Pei Ziheng stared at the sobbing little girl and said gently, “I’ll break precedence for you.”

She was surprised and instantly burst into laughter. “I knew Brother Pei was the best.” Her smile was like the sun breaking through the dark clouds and lighting up the whole world.

Pei Ziheng looked at her smile and lost his senses for a moment.

The two went downstairs for dinner. At night, he was exceptionally gentle with her. He didn’t want to hurt her, and most importantly, she was different from any other woman. Later, when he married a proper wife from a prestigious family and gave birth to future heirs, she would also give birth to children for him. He would protect her body and make sure no accident happened to her.

The summer vacation passed by quickly and it was the day of a new term at the Training Camp.

Xia Ling was reluctant. “Brother Pei, I can only see you once in a while from now on.”

Pei Ziheng dressed her and combed her long hair with the horn comb. “You refused when I told you to attend day school. If you miss me, you can come find me at Imperial Entertainment anytime. Anyway, they recognize you and nobody would dare stop you.” Over the years, Xia Ling had gone to Imperial Entertainment many times and everyone already knew that this stunningly beautiful girl was adopted by the Chairman and was not to be picked on.

An event similar to the Li Bingyu matter a few years ago would never occur again.

Xia Ling nodded. “Then you have to remember to think about me.”

He laughed. “Of course.”

“And…” The beautiful girl turned her head. She stopped talking and pondered over it for a long time before finally saying, “You promised me that you wouldn’t be with other women. You have to keep your promise.”

This girl was unexpectedly concerned about this whole-heartedly.

Pei Ziheng teased her intentionally. “You’re jealous again?”

“No!” She blushed. Ever since she had been together with him, she had gotten more and more shy.

“No?” He said slowly, “Why then…”

“You’re so annoying!” She jumped off the stool and ran downstairs with a red face, not daring to look at him.

Pei Ziheng’s eyes flashed with a gentle smile. He put down the comb and slowly descended the stairs too. The Rolls-Royce was parked in front of the villa. He got into the back seat and saw that she was already sitting there.

Seeing him come in, she snorted and turned her head to look at the scenery outside.