Li Rоng wаtсhed Pеi Wеnхuаn swiftlу rise to his feеt. Shе instantly rеalized whаt wаs hарреning and frownеd. "You lied to me?"
"A temроrarу meаsurе," Реi Wenхuаn quiсklу еxрlained. "I cаn еxрlain."
Heаring his words, Li Rong wаs so angrу shе lаughеd. Shе wаntеd to saу sоmething but in thе еnd оnly shоuted, "Stор the cаrriаge!"
"Wаit, wait!" Pei Wеnxuan got uр tо рull Li Rong bаck. "Don't be аngrу. I rеallу hаd nо сhоiсe. Lеt mе eхplаin, alright?"
Li Rong ignоred him. Аs thе сarriаgе саme to a hаlt, she pushed him aside аnd turned to get оff.
But she рushed with suсh fоrcе that Pei Wenxuan stumbled backward, landing on his wound and making him gasp in pain. Hearing the sharp intake of breath behind her, Li Rong paused and turned around to see Pei Wenxuan sitting on the floor, blood seeping through the bandage on his shoulder. Her expression changed, and she hurried back to help him up. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Pei Wenxuan let her support him as he sat back on the couch. Li Rong called for a physician, who boarded the carriage to examine the wound and re-bandage it.
While the wound was being treated, Li Rong stared at Pei Wenxuan's injury, while Pei Wenxuan watched Li Rong intently. After the bandage was changed and the physician and servants had withdrawn, Pei Wenxuan cautiously reached out from under the blanket, gently touching Li Rong's hand. He whispered, "I was putting on a show for everyone earlier and couldn't explain properly. Please don't be angry, alright?"
Distracted by this, Li Rong's anger subsided somewhat. Knowing that Pei Wenxuan had his own considerations, she lowered her gaze to the embroidered patterns on the brocade quilt and said calmly, "Tell me what you're planning."
"Today, Consort Rou ordered me to persuade the remaining scholars to drop their pursuit of the exam substitution case. If they agreed, they would be allowed to take the imperial examinations as usual and receive a sum of silver. If they refused..."
Pei Wenxuan trailed off, but Li Rong understood. She nodded slowly. "Consort Rou wants to have it both ways—to gain a reputation for championing the people while avoiding offending too many noble families."
As she spoke, she looked up at him. "So you deliberately caused trouble at Wang Houwen's residence to force him to take you in?"
After all, Wang Houwen was the Minister of Personnel. How could he have no means to deal with someone barging into his home like that?
"Yes," Pei Wenxuan nodded. "But I didn't expect Su Rongqing to show up. Once he arrived, I worried he might seize the opportunity to kill me, so I arranged for guards to protect me along the way. I also kept him talking to buy time, waiting for Your Highness."
"Then why did you take that sword strike?" Li Rong frowned. Pei Wenxuan sheepishly rubbed his nose. "Well, the position of Minister of Justice hasn't been decided yet, has it?"
If something happened to him while he was with Su Rongqing, Su Rongqing would inevitably face repercussions.
Understanding his scheme, Li Rong lowered her head in thought without speaking. Seeing this, Pei Wenxuan reached out to embrace her, pulling her into his arms to comfort her. "The injury was my own doing. I knew what I was doing, so don't worry too much."
"Focus on recovering properly."
Li Rong used her fan to block his attempt to hug her and said calmly, "Once you're healed, I'll settle the score with you."As she spoke, Li Rong helped him lie down. Pei Wenxuan looked at the person before him—her expression stern, yet her movements unusually gentle—and couldn’t help but laugh.
Li Rong glanced at him coolly. “What are you laughing at?”
“I thought Your Highness would give me a hard time.”
“You’re not young anymore,” Li Rong said, sitting beside him. “If I wanted to trouble you, it wouldn’t be now. I’ll go to the palace in a while. You should go back and rest first.”
Pei Wenxuan acknowledged her words. Seeing Li Rong lost in thought, he reached out and took hold of her fist resting beside him, his voice gentle. “Your Highness, what did you say to Su Rongqing earlier?”
“Hmm?” Li Rong turned her head, surprised that he was interested in this matter.
Her words to Su Rongqing earlier had naturally been spoken too softly for others to hear. Pei Wenxuan had only seen the two of them in a standoff. After a moment’s thought, Li Rong replied, “Just some harsh words, that’s all.”
“But when Your Highness turned back, you seemed upset.”
Pei Wenxuan pressed further. Li Rong had no intention of answering, but when she met his smiling eyes, she paused.
Guessing that Pei Wenxuan cared, she fell silent briefly before letting out a bitter smile and slowly saying, “It’s just that I feel like I raised a dog, put effort into it, but could never truly tame it.”
“It’s not just a day or two that he’s been untamable,” Pei Wenxuan said, somewhat curious. “When you learned he killed you, you weren’t heartbroken. Why do you care now?”
Li Rong remained silent, and Pei Wenxuan waited quietly. The carriage wheels rolled slowly over the ground, creaking softly.
“Perhaps because him killing me was within my expectations,” Li Rong said with a shake of her head and a smile. “But not even understanding what kind of person I am—that was unexpected.”
“Alright,” Li Rong turned away, tucking the blanket around him. “You’re so petty. I didn’t see you being so particular in our past life. Why are you competing over everything in this one?”
“Actually, I was quite petty in our past life too.”
Pei Wenxuan didn’t hide it. Li Rong laughed. “Oh? How come I didn’t know?”
“I almost wanted to kill him.”
Li Rong’s movements froze. Pei Wenxuan’s voice was soft. “When you wanted to divorce me for him, I wondered if I should kill him.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Li Rong pretended nothing was wrong, joking, “If you had killed him, maybe we could have lived a few more years.”
“Yes, I regret it too,” Pei Wenxuan said, lying there and looking at Li Rong with a smile. “But if he had died then, wouldn’t you have remembered him for the rest of your life?”
“Who knows.”
The carriage curtain fluttered up and down. Li Rong glanced outside—they weren’t far from the Princess’s Manor now. She patted the blanket and said to him, “Rest for now.”
“Is Your Highness sending me back to my residence?”
“Once you’re in my carriage, you still think you can go back?”
Li Rong laughed, gently patting his cheek. “Come back to the Princess’s Manor with me, Lord Pei?”
“But what about His Majesty…” Pei Wenxuan frowned. Li Rong chuckled. “I’m infatuated with Lord Pei. Today, I learned Lord Pei was secretly meeting another woman, so I went to catch him in the act. When I found Lord Pei in danger, I tied him up and brought him back to my manor. How does that sound?”
Pei Wenxuan thought for a moment, lifted his uninjured arm to rest behind his head, and nodded. “Acceptable.”
When the two arrived at the Princess’s Manor, they had just reached the entrance when they heard the coachman’s somewhat uneasy voice from outside. “Your Highness…”Upon hearing the words, Li Rong lifted the carriage curtain and saw a capable guard from Consort Rou's side blocking the entrance, coldly stating, "Princess Pingle, you have violated the prohibition by leaving your residence without permission..."
"And what of it?"
Li Rong spoke directly, and the guard was momentarily stunned by her question, "And what of it?" Li Rong sneered, "Instead of questioning me, why don’t you go back and ask your master if she’s made any progress in investigating Chen Hozhao’s case after all this time? I agreed to be confined to give face to Father Emperor. She shouldn’t mistake a chicken feather for a warrant and think I, Pingle, am easy to bully!"
"Go back and tell her that if she dares let those shameless women get anywhere near my former Imperial Son-in-Law again, if she doesn’t care about her own face, I’ll tear it off for her!"
After Li Rong’s outburst, everyone was left bewildered, completely unable to grasp what she meant by "shameless" women.
Pei Wenxuan, hearing Li Rong’s tirade, quickly pretended to faint. Li Rong immediately ordered people to carry Pei Wenxuan inside. When the guard saw Pei Wenxuan, he protested, "Your Highness, this is a court-appointed official..."
"This is my former Imperial Son-in-Law!" Li Rong declared with righteous indignation, blocking the guard’s path. "Since he married me, he is mine for life. If he is to die, he must die within my Pingle residence. If you don’t let him die here, I’ll make sure you die here."
"Step aside! Carry him in!"
Li Rong pointed toward the residence, positioning herself in front of the guards to force a path, and Pei Wenxuan was carried inside.
Once Pei Wenxuan was brought in and they entered the room, he opened his eyes.
"Your Highness," Pei Wenxuan looked at the woman sitting in the room, fanning herself. Li Rong glanced at him sideways as he said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "After today, the rumor that Your Highness lost her head over beauty will likely spread through the court again."
"Haven’t I lost my head over you enough times?" Li Rong glared at him and scoffed. "I’ve chased after you crying all the way here, and now I’ll also bear the infamy of snatching you away in your time of crisis?"
Pei Wenxuan chuckled and beckoned to Li Rong.
She walked over to him, sat by the bed, and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Your Highness, I have a question for you. Can you answer me truthfully?"
Pei Wenxuan seemed to have pondered for a long time before asking. Li Rong raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"Your Highness, if we hadn’t been killed by Su Rongqing," Pei Wenxuan asked with difficulty, "would we still be together?"
Li Rong hadn’t expected this question. She was momentarily stunned, and Pei Wenxuan smiled. "I was just asking casually. It’s a baseless question anyway, so don’t think too much about it."
"Then why did you ask?"
Pei Wenxuan choked up. Li Rong laughed, reached out, and embraced him. "Don’t worry, no matter what."
"I’ve always liked Brother Pei the most."
Pei Wenxuan smiled, his chest vibrating slightly with laughter. He leaned down and kissed Li Rong’s hair. Moonlight fell into his slightly grayish eyes as he said gently, "And I’ve always liked Your Highness the most."When Pei Wenxuan fell asleep at the Princess's Manor, Consort Rou's guard returned to the palace. He quietly recounted Li Rong's words to Consort Rou. Hua Le, enraged, sprang to her feet and exclaimed, "What does she mean by 'some shameless woman'? She even fights over a man who divorced her—does she have any shame? What right does she have to act so arrogant? Mother," Hua Le turned to Consort Rou, "I'm going to Father right now to report her for violating the house arrest order to rescue Pei Wenxuan."
"Enough," Consort Rou said slowly, sipping her tea. "Her house arrest was just your father giving us face. We should be thankful she isn't causing more trouble. Don't go looking for trouble now."
After all, the case involving Chen Houwen still hadn't uncovered any other connections to Li Rong.
What Consort Rou truly cared about wasn't Li Rong, but why Pei Wenxuan, who had been perfectly fine, had provoked Wang Houwen.
Now that he had provoked Wang Houwen and this had happened...
Who would act as mediator for those students? What should be done next?
Wang Houwen was the Minister of Personnel. This matter clearly involved him, but given his high position and numerous allies, he couldn't be touched. Since Pei Wenxuan had offended him in her name, she still had to offer some form of apology.
After some thought, Consort Rou had someone draft an apology letter, added some gold and silver, and sent it to Wang Houwen.
But before the gifts could be sent, she received a letter first, said to have been delivered from outside the palace by the Wang family.
Consort Rou hurriedly had someone open it and saw a doggerel written on the page:
In Pig Food Lane, crows and sparrows bustle,
Once perched on a branch, they boast of being phoenixes.
Clad in yellow, crowned in green, pearls in their beaks,
Yet unable to hide the filth tainting the night's fragrance.
Seeing this poem, Consort Rou's expression changed instantly. Hua Le snatched the page and, after a quick glance, flew into a rage: "This Wang Houwen is too insolent! Who does he think he is, daring to say such things about you..."
Pig Food Lane was where Consort Rou came from, and this poem mocked her origins to the extreme.
Consort Rou's face remained calm. After a long while, she let out a light laugh.
"Good. Very good."
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