Chapter 77 Even if he can't have it, he won't allow it...

As the candlelight flickered, Xie Yushu kissed Song Jie again, whispering sweet nothings on his lips, "Then try a little harder."

With a little more effort, you can reap even greater rewards.

Song Jie looked at her again and again, then hugged her tightly, pressing his face against her chest, and asked in a hoarse voice, "When are you leaving Bianjing?"

"Tomorrow morning." Xie Yushu tidied his hair.

He pleaded with her, "Then stay with me a little longer." As if afraid she wouldn't agree, he added, "Xiao Dao started using blood as medicine to refine new pills for Xiao Xu the day before yesterday. Today is the third day that Xiao Xu has been taking the new pills, which is the stage where he is experiencing a final burst of energy before death..."

Xie Yushu ran her fingers through his hair, stroking the back of his neck: "Is the knife alright? Were the medicines Xiao Xu gave him harmful to his body?"

Song Jie's love... a burning desire within his body, made him close his eyes, feeling both comfortable and uncomfortable. "If it happens, will you stop?"

Xie Yushu's fingers paused, and her words also stopped.

Song Jie looked up at her, and the jealousy in his heart suddenly wasn't so strong anymore, because at that moment he realized that Xie Yushu's greatest love wasn't Xiao Dao, but money and power, which were greater than her love for any particular person.

He kissed her chin again, murmuring in a hoarse voice, "If it's difficult, then don't ask." He would do such things for her.

#

Before dawn, Xie Yushu returned to the Pei residence. In the short time it took to change her clothes, Pei Heng's deputy general came to deliver a message saying that Pei Heng asked her to go to the front hall after she was ready, and that he would send her and Meng Jing out of Bianjing immediately after dawn.

Xie Yushu understood Pei Heng's meaning. He was afraid that after dawn, the emperor might hear some rumors and suddenly detain her, so he wanted to send her out of the city ahead of time.

There wasn't much to pack, so she only packed a few sets of clothes, took some silver and gold leaves, and went to the front hall.

Pei Heng had already packed up and prepared the carriage. Just as he reached out to help him into the carriage, Pei Shilin suddenly followed him out of the mansion.

"Where is my wife going, Second Uncle?" Pei Shilin stopped Xie Yushu, looking at Pei Heng incredulously. "We haven't divorced yet. Shouldn't you at least tell me before taking her away?" He still had his hair down, as if he had just woken up from a dream and chased after her.

Pei Heng glanced at him and simply said, "I asked her and Princess Kangyang to do me a favor. She was with Princess Meng, not with me alone. Don't misunderstand."

While saying not to misunderstand, she didn't hesitate to push Pei Shilin's hand away, and helped Xie Yushu onto the carriage by the elbow, whispering, "Princess Kangyang is waiting for you at the Prince's Mansion. You should leave the city first."

Inside the carriage, Xie Yushu could only hear Pei Shilin shouting, "Second Uncle! Second Uncle!" She was impatient and urged the driver to hurry up.

Pei Shilin blocked the carriage, saying, "Uncle, I won't let you pass unless you clearly state where you're taking her!"

Before she could finish speaking, Pei Heng grabbed her and pulled her away.

Pei Heng waved for the carriage to leave, grabbed Pei Shilin by the collar and brought him back to the mansion. He threw him into a chair in the main hall and said coldly, "You don't need to worry about Xie Yushu's matter anymore. Go back and get some rest. Don't interfere anymore. After things are resolved, I will arrange for you to divorce."

"What do you mean by 'resolving the matter'? How do you plan to resolve it? Is your solution simply to send him away?" Pei Shilin's back ached from the fall, and years of pent-up anger erupted as he jumped up and roared, "What if His Majesty asks me for him? Have you considered my safety or the safety of the Pei family? You disregard the safety of the Pei family, yet you care about a woman who doesn't live a virtuous life. I think Second Uncle has taken a liking to her."

Pei Heng hadn't expected him to utter such absurd words. He slapped him across the face, shoving him back into his chair. "Pei Shilin, if you have any humanity left, you shouldn't be saying such slanderous things about your wife." His cold, stern aura pressed down as he stared at Pei Shilin. "Wasn't her infidelity forced upon her by you and your son?"

Pei Shilin's ears were ringing from the slaps, and his mouth was full of the metallic taste of blood. When he met Pei Heng's gaze, he immediately became timid and dared not utter another word, afraid that he would not be able to withstand Pei Heng's two blows.

"You'd better watch yourself." Pei Heng wasn't going to waste any more time with him, and turned to leave with his entourage.

As soon as his figure disappeared into the courtyard, Li Huixian, who was hiding in the corner, immediately came out to see her son's swollen face. She was both angry and anxious: "Why do you still care about Xie Yushu? Let her go wherever she wants. Your second uncle would never want a woman like her. Why did you say those things to upset your second uncle? Aren't you just asking for a beating?"

"What do you know?" Pei Shilin, filled with resentment, brushed his mother's hand away, gritting his teeth in pain. "His Majesty forced me to divorce him because he has taken a fancy to Xie Yushu. Now that Pei Heng wants to take her away, isn't that going against His Majesty? If His Majesty doesn't dare to touch Pei Heng, does he not dare to touch me?"

Li Huixian then realized what was happening and panicked: "What should we do? No one can stop your second uncle from doing what he wants... Will the Emperor think that you didn't want a divorce and sent Xie Yushu away?"

That's what I'm afraid of.

Pei Shilin covered his face, his heart burning like oil. He couldn't understand what kind of drug Xie Yushu had given Pei Heng, making Pei Heng so confused, as if he and Shibin were outsiders with no blood relation to him. Pei Heng hadn't considered his career or his safety at all!

"Young Master," a servant hurriedly reported, "the Prime Minister's carriage has arrived again."

Is Song Jie here to pick up Xie Yushu again?

Since Pei Heng returned, Song Jie and Xie Yushu have become much more restrained, and it has been a long time since a carriage came to pick her up. But today they actually came again.

Isn't that a coincidence?

Pei Shilin thought of something and beckoned a servant over. He whispered to the servant, "Go and tell the people in the Prime Minister's mansion that Xie Yushu left Bianjing with Pei Heng before dawn. If he asks where you went or how long you've been gone, just say: 'Even my young master doesn't know about this. He opened his eyes and saw that the madam and the second master were gone.'"

Li Huixian, who was listening nearby, felt her eyelids twitch. After the servant left, she pulled her son aside and whispered, "Didn't what you said make Song Jie misunderstand that Xie Yushu and Pei Heng were having an affair and eloped? What if he comes after you too..."

“He doesn’t have time to bother me right now.” Pei Shilin chuckled coldly. “He’s after Pei Heng. Either he’ll send someone to chase after Xie Yushu and Pei Heng, or he’ll go to the palace and file a complaint against Pei Heng. That way, the Emperor will know that this has nothing to do with me. I want to divorce Xie Yushu, but my second uncle disagrees.”

He needed to first distance himself from the emperor and let the emperor know that he had no intention of disobeying him. As for whether the emperor would blame Pei Heng, he couldn't care less. It was Pei Heng who insisted on doing this, and he was just trying to protect himself.

#

The early morning in late autumn was cold and foggy.

Xie Yushu and Meng Jing's carriage had barely left the city gate when Pei Heng and his men arrived at the gate. Just as they were about to leave, a fast horse came galloping up behind them, and someone shouted urgently, "General Pei, please wait!"

Pei Heng turned around and saw Song Jie riding a tall horse, accompanied by several imperial guards, approaching at high speed through the mist.

The imperial guards blocked the city gate.

“General Pei.” Song Jie reined in his horse a few steps away, looked at him with a cold smile and said, “I’m afraid you can’t leave now. His Majesty has summoned you to the palace.”

"His Majesty summoned me to the palace, and it actually took the Prime Minister himself to deliver the decree." Pei Heng's face was also devoid of a smile. According to his prediction, His Majesty should not have known so quickly that he had taken Xie Yushu out of Bianjing.

Song Jie glanced behind him and said, "It seems General Pei has already sent Miss Yushu out of Bianjing."

Pei Heng looked at Song Jie, wondering why he had learned of Xie Yushu's departure from the capital so quickly.

However, he was also worried that Song Jie would send someone to chase after Xie Yushu, so he spurred his horse to Song Jie's horse and whispered to him, "Prime Minister Song should not have stopped me. You know very well that I did this for her own good."

Song Jie looked at him, exhaling cold air through the mist, and whispered, "If it's for her own good, General Pei should give her a divorce and let me and her be together."

Pei Heng frowned. He knew that Song Jie liked Xie Yushu, but he didn't expect that Song Jie really wanted to marry Xie Yushu and even said it so openly: "Prime Minister Song has misunderstood. If she liked you, she wouldn't need my help. The right to choose between divorce has always been in her hands. She didn't choose because she doesn't like you."

Song Jie's face darkened. "I don't need you to tell me these things."

He directly ordered Pei Heng to be "invited" to the palace to meet the emperor.

Pei Heng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he hadn't sent anyone to chase after Xie Yushu. He followed him into the palace and saw Xiao Xu, whose face didn't look too good.

Xiao Xu sat upright in front of him, a smile playing on his lips, and asked, "I heard that Minister Pei left Bianjing with your niece-in-law before dawn. Is that true?"

“Your Majesty has misunderstood. It was I who visited Princess Kangyang last night and asked her to accompany me south to invite the Grand Tutor.” Pei Heng presented the explanation he had prepared in advance: “Princess Kangyang wanted to take this opportunity to travel south, so she brought her daughter and niece. She originally wanted to bring Miss Jianing as well, but Miss Jianing refused because she wanted to stay at home to take care of her mother.”

Xiao Xu laughed when he heard this. "Is that so?" What a good reason. When Pei Heng mentioned yesterday that Princess Kangyang and the Grand Tutor were old friends, did he already plan to take Xie Yushu away with this opportunity?

"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you," Pei Heng said calmly.

Xiao Xu looked at Pei Heng's serious face and was furious. He didn't believe that Pei Heng didn't know that he had ordered Pei Shilin to divorce Xie Yushu. If Pei Heng knew, how could he not understand his intentions?

He realized that Pei Heng had seen through his affections for Xie Yushu, which was why he suddenly wanted to take Xie Yushu away!

They're outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant—how audacious!

However, he couldn't directly accuse Pei Heng of deliberately taking Xie Yushu away. Xie Yushu hadn't divorced yet, and he couldn't break the ice.

For a moment, his anger was stuck in his chest, neither rising nor falling. He wasn't angry because Xie Yushu had left the capital; she was just a woman, where could she have gone? He could send someone to bring her back at any time.

What angered him was that Pei Heng actually disobeyed him for the sake of a woman, and what angered him even more was that Pei Heng had only just been granted the title of marquis and yet dared to harbor disloyal thoughts!

"Since the purpose is to invite the Grand Tutor, why did General Pei split his forces into two groups and arrange for Miss Yushu to leave Bianjing before dawn?" Song Jie asked with a sneer. "I heard from your good nephew Pei Shilin that no one in the Pei family knows that you are going to take Xie Yushu away."

Pei Heng raised his eyes to look at Song Jie, his brows furrowing. Had Pei Shilin leaked this matter to Song Jie?

“Isn’t it strange that even her husband doesn’t know you took her away?” Song Jie smiled and bowed to the Emperor, saying, “Your Majesty, why don’t you invite Pei Shilin and Miss Jianing to the palace to find out the truth?” He added, “Didn’t General Pei just say that he asked Princess Kangyang for help? Princess Kangyang originally wanted to take Miss Jianing with her, so Miss Jianing must know about it.”

Pei Heng's heart sank. Xie Jianing and Xie Yushu were at odds. Even if Xie Jianing knew that he had asked Meng Jing for help, Xie Jianing probably wouldn't defend Xie Yushu, not to mention that there was also that bastard Pei Shilin...

Song Jie looked at him with a sinister gaze, as if telling Pei Heng that even if he couldn't have her, he wouldn't allow anyone else to take her away.

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Author's Note: Pei Heng: Song Jie, that venomous man!