Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?! - Chapter 311

Chapter 311: 311- Xiao Pei [1]
Just as their breaths brushed together, the moment hanging sweet and delicate between them…

tok tok tok.

A knock came from outside, followed by a sweet voice, “Sister Du Juan, may I come in?”

Then another, slightly younger voice chimed in eagerly,

“I’m also here, Sister Du Juan! I… I need some advice!”

Xiao Pei’s eye twitched.

His jaw tightened, the corners of his lips twitching upward in a perfectly polite smile that barely concealed his irritation.

Damn, what is this timing, i knew it, I’m never this lucky.

He inhaled, straightened his robes, and smoothed his hair like a gentleman preparing for an imperial audience.

“Ahem,” he said softly, “Allow me.”

Du Juan gave him a helpless little smile, brushing her lips with her fingers as if to hide a laugh.

Xiao Pei strode to the door and slid it open.

Standing there were two girls, one bright-eyed and cheerful, the other graceful.

His eyes landed first on the younger one. “…Fang Mei?”

She blinked, her face lighting up. “Greetings uncle Da Pang.”

For a split second, his elegant facade cracked.

Ah… it’s his sister, he thought bitterly. Fang Yuan, you cunning devil. I’ll get back at you for this.

The other girl, Fang Lian, gave him a small, respectful bow.

“Benefactor Xiao Pei,” she greeted warmly.

Before he could respond, footsteps approached from behind. Du Juan appeared beside him, her calm composure returning in an instant.

“Fang Mei, Fang Lian,” she said gently but firmly, “what brings you two here?”

Fang Mei clasped her hands together. “Sister Du Juan, I wanted to ask you to allow to have a spar with you, this time I’m sure I can touch you—”

“And I needed your advice on a formation array,” Fang Lian added quickly, glancing between them.

Du Juan’s brow twitched ever so slightly.

She glanced back at Xiao Pei, whose expression was the picture of patience.

“The house,” she said, clearing her throat delicately, “is currently… occupied.”

Both girls blinked, puzzled.

“So,” Du Juan continued smoothly, her voice soft but leaving no room for argument, “perhaps you two should go to the courtyard. I’ll join you there in a moment.”

Fang Mei nodded immediately. “O-Oh! Yes, of course!”

Fang Lian followed with a polite bow. “We’ll wait for you outside, Sister Du Juan.”

As they turned to leave, Du Juan gave Xiao Pei a faintly apologetic look.

“I’ll go handle this quickly,” she said, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Don’t go anywhere, alright?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied smoothly, though the glint in his eyes betrayed mischief.

Du Juan sighed softly and followed the girls away.

Once they were gone, silence settled again in the room.

Xiao Pei stood there for a few seconds, arms crossed, staring at the half-closed door before he stretched lazily and then reached for the Crimson Soul Spear leaning against the wall.

“Alright…” he said, spinning the weapon lightly in his hand, his grin widening.

“Let’s go meet Brother Fang. It’s time someone else’s peace got disturbed for a change.”

With that, he walked out of the room, humming under his breath.

The garden of Mount Skyhowl shimmered softly under the afternoon light.

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged beneath a flowering pear tree, its petals drifting around him like white snow. Beside him, Lin Zhaoyue knelt on the grass, her expression bright and full of curiosity.

After their earlier talk about her identity, about the life she couldn’t remember, the floodgates had opened.

“Was I… strict?” she asked, tilting her head, her tone innocent yet searching.

“Sometimes,” Fang Yuan answered, his lips curving faintly. “But only when you were right.”

She blinked, surprised. “Then… was I gentle?”

He chuckled softly. “Rarely.”

“Then what was I like?” she asked again, leaning closer, eyes wide and eager. “I want to know.”

Fang Yuan took a slow breath. The wind stirred, carrying the faint rustle of leaves.

“You were…” He hesitated, eyes softening with distant memory. “Well, fierce. You didn’t hold back when you wanted something. If your heart decided on something, no one could stop you, not me, not the clan, not even the heavens.”

Lin Zhaoyue’s lips parted slightly. “Really? That doesn’t sound like me at all…”

He glanced at her, this innocent, wide-eyed version of her and for a moment, he almost laughed.

The woman she had once been would have burned the sky before letting someone say that.

Her next question, however, caught him off guard.

“Then… did you love me?”

Fang Yuan froze.

The garden fell silent. Even the spiritual butterflies circling the blossoms seemed to stop mid-flight.

His gaze drifted down to the pond beside them, watching the ripples move lazily across the water.

Did I love her?

The question echoed in his mind.

He remembered the old Lin Zhaoyue, the fierce, possessive, unpredictable woman who could smile sweetly one moment and threaten to break his bones the next. .

She terrified most people… including him.

He had avoided her whenever he could, convinced she was crazy, a danger wrapped in beauty.

But even then, she had always been there.

Every time the clan wavered, every time he left to chase something reckless, she had been the one holding the Fang Family together.

And when the two kingdoms invaded…

“Patriarch Fang?”

Her soft voice pulled him back.

Lin Zhaoyue was looking at him, her brows slightly furrowed, eyes filled with worry.

“Are you… okay?” she asked quietly. “Did I say something wrong?”

Fang Yuan blinked, and for a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

She was sitting there, innocent, gentle, so unlike the tempest she once was and yet still her.

Still Lin Zhaoyue, even without the memories.

He turned to her and smiled faintly.

He was just about to speak again when the sound of approaching footsteps broke the quiet.

A familiar voice followed next which was far too cheerful for the mood.

“Brother Fang!”

Both Fang Yuan and Lin Zhaoyue turned together towards the garden path.