After the Affectionate Second Male Lead Reincarnated

Part 2

03

I was instantly wide awake and sat up abruptly, staring at Pei Du.

Pei Du saw through my thoughts at a glance, raising his hand to reveal a small white porcelain bottle.

He sighed, "This is an ointment tribute from the Western Regions. Applying it will ensure no scars once the wound heals."

"There's no need. The palace staff can handle these things, and I can apply the ointment myself."

"But you didn't. I heard from Xi Yun that you turned the imperial physician away and didn't eat dinner."

In the dim candlelight, I could faintly see a thin layer of ointment on Pei Du's fingertips.

"I already applied medicine at the Xiao residence, and I don't want to be redundant. Besides, whether I scar or not is unimportant to me."

A woman adorns herself for those who delight in her, but I no longer need anyone to delight in me.

Pei Du withdrew his hand helplessly. "If you won't use the medicine, you should at least eat something, right?"

He lifted the curtain, making the candlelight brighter, and I could faintly smell the familiar scent of osmanthus.

It was osmanthus cake and osmanthus wine from the most famous Yipin Lou in the capital. Every time Pei Du and I quarreled, he would use these to appease me.

Because he knew, Yipin Lou was where I fell in love with him.

My transmigration wasn't accidental; it came with a mission.

In this abusive novel, Song Yan Yu was tormented both physically and emotionally, and the deliberately melodramatic plot was resisted by readers. I was sent to turn her tragic love story into a sweet romace.

Song Yan Yu would accidentally consume a drugged tea at Yipin Lou, nearly losing her chastity.

Though she retained her purity, misunderstandings arose between her and Xiao Yan, causing him to leave for the border, leaving her to endure rumors alone in the capital.

At that time, I didn't know Pei Du was also secretly helping Song Yan Yu.

So I pretended to converse with Song Yan Yu, secretly switching her teacup.

Meanwhile, Pei Du had already driven away the lecher in the room, waiting to rescue the unconscious Song Yan Yu.

Unfortunately, the plan was exposed the moment I replaced Song Yan Yu and entered the room. Fearing their scheme would be revealed, the mastermind decided to kill me to silence me.

I turned and faced a blade, but a strong hand grabbed my waist, spinning me around.

My clothes were torn, warm blood splattered on my face.

Unexpectedly, when our eyes met, I saw Pei Du's eyes.

I looked at the gash in his flesh and couldn't help but cry out.

My heart raced, "Why is Your Highness here?"

Perhaps I was too panicked then to notice the same surprise in Pei Du's eyes.

"Of course, I'm here to find you."

Before he finished speaking, Pei Du had already pushed me away, plunging into the fight alone.

Before this, I had met Pei Du several times, whether at family banquets or hunting trips outside the palace.

Each time, he would say, "Miss Jiang, what a coincidence," and then stay close, talking to me until the gathering ended.

That day in Yipin Lou, countless memories surged.

The person in front of me was injured fighting for me. Perhaps in these long years of transmigration, I had grown weary of loneliness, or maybe the danger made me confused between fear and affection.

But I did fall in love with Pei Du, mistakenly believing those encounters were deliberate on his part, that he genuinely came to find me that day in Yipin Lou, that he truly wanted to shield me from the blade...

But in the end, it was merely my wishful thinking. The moment I fell for him was nothing but a lie.

The one he risked his life to save was never me.

"In truth, I don't like osmanthus. That day at Yipin Lou, I didn't go there to eat osmanthus cake."

My thoughts drifted away as I calmly replied to him.

Claiming to go for osmanthus cake was just a lie to cover for the original character's preference for osmanthus, to fool Pei Du.

I grew to like osmanthus because I fell in love with Pei Du.

I just didn't expect that, we both lied that day.