A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Panda Novel

Sister Mai Na said, “He fought against his entire family alone for half a year and managed to convince them, and last winter, he buried Xia Ling in the Pei family graveyard. While there weren’t many people present for the burial ceremony, the ceremony was still very grand, and he made sure to give her the full works, not saving on any bit of spending or class. Many important figures in the Pei family also attended the ceremony.”

As she spoke, Sister Mai Na smoothed her finger across the picture on the newspaper. “This was done very secretively and not announced to the public. If I had not sent someone to investigate and take this photo and publish it, the fans would not know until now where Xia Ling was buried.”

Xia Ling was stunned and looked at Sister Mai Na with a confused expression on her face. “Why did he keep it a secret?”

Sister Mai Na gave a bitter smile. “The Pei family wants to keep the fact that someone with a different surname was buried in the Pei family graveyard quiet, even if they had agreed to it under Pei Ziheng’s insistence. Also, Pei Ziheng…”

The bitterness in her smile intensified. “You’ve seen how Xia Ling’s fans have amazing imaginations. Once it was mentioned that Xia Ling had slept with someone, Pei Ziheng was immediately brought under the spotlight. However, Pei Ziheng might not be willing to come clean about this relationship. Otherwise, Xia Ling would not have had to hide it while she was still alive, and he would definitely not have gotten engaged. If people were to find out that he buried Xia Ling in his family graveyard, many speculations would arise. For someone like Pei Ziheng who prefers being low-key, he would likely not want to incur these problems.”

Sister Mai Na was quiet for a while, before saying in a low voice, “However, I’ve always felt that Xia Ling wanted their relationship to be out in the open.”

Xia Ling was also silent. That’s right. She had wanted it to be a public relationship. Who did not want to be able to date openly?

Unfortunately, this relationship was destroyed before it could come out in the open.

Flashing back to several days before — in the Pei family graveyard.

A light rain was falling onto the grave tablet of a relatively new-looking grave. The grave tablet was made of high-quality stone, and engraved on it in a formal and impactful font were four words, “Xia Ling’s Resting Ground.”

Pei Ziheng was standing in front of the grave tablet, dressed in a black suit.

Accompanying him was Chu Chen, who bore a somber expression. He took the big bouquet of white roses from the bodyguard and handed it to Pei Ziheng with reverence.

Pei Ziheng received the flowers and commanded in a deep voice. “All of you can take your leave.”

Hence, Chu Chen beckoned for all the bodyguards to follow him and they quietly left the premises so that Pei Ziheng could be alone.

Pei Ziheng bent over and placed the bouquet of white roses before the grave tablet. There were 44 roses in total, which represented an undying love. The petals of the roses swayed under the drizzle, and the raindrops that fell on the petals looked like teardrops that were on the verge of falling.

“Xiao Ling… ” Pei Ziheng smoothed the grave tablet and said in a husky voice, “I have come to see you.”

In the vast graveyard, it was silent, and only the sound of the wind blowing could be heard.

Pei Ziheng’s expression was full of grief as he continued, “It was all my fault, I didn’t protect you well. I regret not giving you your rightful status when you were alive. If I had made our relationship public, you wouldn’t have poisoned Wang Jingwan and the Wang family would not have taken revenge on you and pushed you offstage…”

“Xiao Ling, I made the Wang family pay for this. The murderer has been caught and punished by the law, and the Wang family business has suffered badly; they are unlikely to be able to revive themselves for at least three generations.”

“But Xiao Ling, all this has no meaning… because you are not here with me. I’m willing to trade the entire Pei family for you to come back to live, for you… to smile and look at me one last time.”

His voice choked up a little and he stopped talking.

The bone-chilling coldness of the grave tablet traveled up through his hand slowly, extending from his skin down to his bones and then to his heart.

After a long while, he softly said to the grave tablet, “You must think of me as a joke.” He had tried his best to get her back and keep her by his side, only to get this sad outcome. He still remembered the shock, anger, pain, and terror in her eyes when he had locked her up.

He thought that if he had been hard on her, and to tame her like a “pet”, or to take it one step further like some of his teachers had advised, to make it such that she developed Stockholm syndrome, then no matter what he did to her, she would willingly stay at his side.

However, he was wrong, very wrong.

She had been living in torture for a whole year, before leaving him in such a tragic way.

“I had thought before that if I couldn’t have you, I would… ” His voice became even more hoarse. “… destroy you.”

“Yet,” He laughed self-reproachingly. “it was only when you left me that I realized… Xiao Ling, you are part of my life, a big part of my life…”

Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as he lowered his head gently against the grave tablet. “During your commemoration ceremony, fans from around the world were waiting for me to speak, but I only said one sentence and could not continue… It is not that I did not want to say anything, but instead I was scared that if I had said another word, I would be unable to control myself. I was afraid that I would lose it and break down in front of everyone. I was afraid that I would be overwhelmed with emotions…

“Xiao Ling, I am not as strong as you might think.”

“I was always so scared… of losing you…”

The rain started to become heavier as it beat upon his body, drenching his intricately-made black suit.

Under the little pavilion of the graveyard caretaker, the few bodyguards were watching this scene from afar. “Mr. Chu,” One of the bodyguards asked in concern. “is Boss okay? The rain is getting heavier…”

Chu Chen looked over with a complicated expression on his face and said, “Don’t go over. We will wait here.” If there was anyone in this world that could affect Pei Ziheng’s emotions, that person would be Xia Ling, even if she was now dead.

Watching Pei Ziheng in his grief, Chu Chen was more certain than ever of one thing: Xia Ling was Boss’ only weakness and pet peeve.

“You must be new here.” Chu Chen lit a cigarette, ignoring the rain that was blowing in from outside the window, and turned to speak to the bodyguard.

The bodyguard gave a start before replying. “Yes.”

“Then, let me give you a tip.” Chu Chen said, “Next time if there is anything regarding that person in the grave, do whatever Boss says without question. Listen more, speak less. Or else, you will not have a very long life…”

He took a deep puff after he finished his sentence and turned to look at the scenery outside the window, ignoring the solemn expression of the bodyguard at his side.

In the rain, Pei Ziheng was still half-kneeling in front of the grave tablet.

“Xiao Ling, I have several things that I want to tell you.” His voice was low and hoarse, but he spoke with clarity. “Do you remember Valiant Song? The horse that you loved so much a few years back. After you died, I abided by your wishes and left her at the Nan Shan riding club for safekeeping and did not touch her at all. However, that animal allowed someone other than you to ride her.”

“I was furious. How can she betray you? Even if you are no longer here, it is still unacceptable.”

“I broke her legs.”

“Actually, I wanted to kill her. An animal that betrayed you does not deserve to live. However, you are no longer here, and she is something that you left behind. Killing her would mean there would be one less thing of yours left behind…”

“So, I allowed her to live. Don’t worry, even though she can’t run anymore, I will make sure to take care of her until she dies of old age.”

“Why are there always idiots that betray you? There is one more…”

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