Pei Jing had always had a steady temperament, but now his voice carried a rare urgency.
This urgency, when it fell on Zhi Xia's heart, gave her an added sense of reassurance.
At the very least, it meant he cared, and that was a good start.
"I'll listen to you," Zhi Xia nodded.
At the same time, Pei Jing also breathed a sigh of relief, "The elders in both families will inevitably find out about this, and I only have five more days of leave, so time is tight. The wedding will have to be simple."
"It's fine, I understand," Zhi Xia was not too concerned with formalities. Having seen much, she knew that even the grandest wedding did not guarantee marital bliss thereafter.
Besides, she was already a month and a half along, so getting married as soon as possible was definitely best, otherwise people would talk if she had the baby before the wedding.
"As for the pregnancy, just blame it on me if the family asks," Pei Jing also considered Zhi Xia's feelings. Although she had been wronged at the time, girls had thin skin, and he could hardly say he had nearly died on the mountain and she had pounced on him!
Besides, talking about this would reflect badly on both of them, better to take the blame himself.
But he could not hide Zhi Xia's taking the medicine.
Having heard that after she returned, An's parents had neglected Zhi Xia in favor of An MeiYun, making her suffer, it was best to let them know of their daughter's hardship.
Pei Jing swiftly made arrangements in his mind, not noticing that Zhi Xia was staring at him intently, "It's my fault, is it really okay to blame it all on you?"
"I'm a man, it's no big deal, and only our families will know, it won't spread." Pei Jing still had great trust in the elders of both families.
Having said this, he hesitated, then added: "If you have no objections, let's register the marriage tomorrow?"
Not only was Zhi Xia worried about the pregnancy, Pei Jing was too.
Getting it settled early, even if the birth was a month or two premature, it could still be fudged, but leaving it too late would be problematic.
Since she was so sincere, Zhi Xia naturally had no objections.
Pei Jing added: "I'll come get you when I've got it sorted out tomorrow."
He didn't set a specific time, because as a military marriage he would normally need to file a report first and go through layers of approval.
But it was urgent now, no more delays could be borne, he could only go back first to discuss with Grandfather, and get Grandfather to pull some strings to hurry up the formalities.
The three elders were still talking about the troubles An MeiYun had brought, completely unaware that no sooner had one storm passed than another was brewing.
At this critical juncture, Zhi Xia's side had also run into trouble.
But this matter could be seen as a good or bad thing, depending on perspective. It was happy news, after all.
Old Pei was about to leave when he realized Pei Jing still hadn't returned from the bathroom.
Standing in the living room doorway, Old Pei called out loudly, "Pei Jing, are you done yet?"
What was taking this grown man so long in the bathroom, he couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
"I'll go out first, you come out later," Pei Jing lowered his voice and said to Zhi Xia, then promptly turned and left the kitchen.
Once outside, Old Pei still wondered, "Why did you go to their kitchen to use the bathroom?"
Although the two families were very close, running off to someone else's kitchen late at night when it wasn't mealtime was still inappropriate, people might think he was up to no good.
Pei Jing looked at Old Pei's expression and evaded the question, "Dad, I want to get married."
"Oh, wonderful news! Which family's daughter? What's her name? How long have you been seeing each other?" After all, Pei Jing was not young, and Old Pei had urged him to marry again and again over the years. It was his own lack of interest that had put a stop to it.
Now that Pei Jing had brought it up himself, Old Pei could only be delighted, "You're always so aloof, suddenly wanting to get married, and didn't even give the family a heads up about dating someone. And here I was, racking my brains trying to find a match for you!"
"It's the girl you just met, Zhi Xia," Pei Jing stopped in front of Old Pei, watching as his smiling face grew somber.
Indeed, when Pei Jing uttered Zhi Xia's name, Old Pei's heart lurched as if a string had snapped, "Pei Jing, she's a nice girl, but don't forget, she should call you uncle."
That his own son was interested in a junior gave Old Pei a burning shame.
"She's pregnant, the child is mine."
Old Pei stumbled, nearly falling over.
Slapping away Pei Jing's supporting hand, his voice even trembled a little, "Come inside, we'll talk in the room."
Though they were right outside their front door, walls have ears. They both understood this reasoning.
Pei Jing was also afraid of shocking the old man, which was why he had chosen to break the news gradually.
......
It took Pei Jing a long time to return, and Zhi Xia finally emerged from the kitchen.
Entering the living room, the old master and mistress had already finished their discussion, and the old mistress smiled and chatted with her when she came in.
Seeing her obvious fatigue yet still caring about them, Zhi Xia suddenly felt very guilty.
Since her return, she had received the most care and concern from Fourth Brother and the two elders, yet when something happened she didn't dare confide in them immediately, which was rather improper.
Zhi Xia couldn't say whether it was worry or fear.
Afraid they would see her as frivolous and withdraw their hard-earned care and affection after learning the truth.
She opened her mouth but still didn't know where to start.
So she backed down again.
Pei Jing said he would handle it, so...she would wait and see.
Maybe he had a better solution, if she interfered recklessly she might disrupt his plans.
Back in her room, Zhi Xia was filled with unease.
Good friends from the martial arts world messaged her, but she was in no mood to respond, declining their overtures for the first time.
Fourth Brother was leaving tomorrow, and she had prepared some things to give him, but had forgotten to mention it to Pei Jing earlier.
But on second thought, registering their marriage probably wouldn't take a whole day.
As she took out the things for An ZhiAng, she heard an urgent voice from outside, "Grandpa An, Grandma An, my grandpa is beating my uncle at home, please go take a look!"
Pei Xiang had been sent by her parents to plead for help.
Having grown up alone with his mother since his father and brothers were not around, Pei Jing had a steady, mature personality that required no worry from others, so Old Pei felt a trace of guilt towards this younger son and doted on him very much.
This was the first time he had beaten someone so severely that no one could persuade him to stop.
"Oh dear, they were fine just now when I went home, how did these two suddenly come to blows?" the old mistress exclaimed, and quickly called for the old master, "Men and their pride, I won't go, you hurry over to see what's going on, calm Old Pei down. The child is returning to his troop soon, his wounds haven't fully healed yet, don't let him get beat up badly!"
