Chapter 86 Pei Duo: Does Sui Sui feel sorry for your ex-husband?

The man's sharp shout instantly stirred up a storm in the crowd.

The third-place scholar actually won by cheating?!

Among the crowd were many who had passed the imperial examination this year. Upon hearing this, they felt indignant. Some even stepped forward to inquire about the reason, asking the leader, "The palace examination is set by His Majesty. How did he obtain the answers to cheat?"

The implication is that someone in the imperial court leaked the exam questions!

Otherwise, how could he have cheated?

If no one leaks the exam questions, then this year's third-place scholar will be one of the many successful candidates in the imperial examinations.

How can everyone's hearts be at peace?

Zhao Zhixue felt as if he had been thrown into a freezing winter pool. He was shivering with cold, and his mind was frozen. He stared blankly at the line of imperial guards in front of him, listening to the extremely dissatisfied remarks and questions from the crowd around him. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead and into his collar. His lips seemed to be stuck together, and he couldn't make a sound.

He kept thinking about it, over and over again.

How did others know about what he did so secretly?

That night, he secretly sneaked into the study of the Minister of Rites, and no one saw him.

Even though Zhao Zhixue had been dealing with officials for the past two months, he had never made connections with any high-ranking officials in the previous twenty years. In particular, he had never been stopped and arrested on the street by a group of imperial guards in iron armor like today. He was so frightened that he stood there for a long time, unable to recover and not knowing how to react.

The commander of the Imperial Guard had a cold and stern expression, and his voice was strong and clear.

He said to everyone, "This man is a student of the Minister of Rites' friend. The Minister of Rites appreciates his diligence and honesty, so he let him stay at his residence. Unexpectedly, this man stole the essay written by the top scholar ten years ago, which the Minister of Rites brought back from the palace. If the Minister of Rites hadn't found the essay familiar, he would have been able to fool everyone. The Minister of Rites has already imprisoned everyone in the residence for questioning. Four people in the residence saw this man sneaking into the Minister's study the night before the palace examination."

The commander of the Imperial Guards fixed his sharp gaze on Zhao Zhixue: "Zhao Zhixue, do you still dare to argue?!"

The general's loud and powerful shout startled Zhao Zhixue, leaving him completely stunned.

The streets were packed with people, and many people had also gathered in the windows of the second-floor apartments.

Countless eyes and countless insults rained down on Zhao Zhixue.

Some people even threw their shopping baskets at Zhao Zhixue.

Once one person started throwing things, countless others followed suit. The objects thrown into the air landed on Zhao Zhixue's head, face, and body. In just a short while, the once-glorious third-place scholar became a pathetic, universally reviled rat.

Throughout the entire process, Zhao Zhixue did not utter a single word.

Finally, he recovered from his shock, looked at the commander of the Imperial Guard opposite him, and shook his head repeatedly: "I didn't..."

Two eggs were smashed hard on Zhao Zhixue's forehead, and the sticky egg liquid slid down his face.

It's disgusting.

The commander of the Imperial Guards said in a deep voice, "Whether it is right or wrong, the Sage will decide."

He raised his hand and said, "Seize Zhao Zhixue and bring him to the palace to meet the Emperor!"

The two imperial guards behind him responded in unison, "Yes!"

The news that the third-place winner of this year's imperial examination had cheated by stealing an essay spread throughout the capital in an instant.

In the private room on the second floor, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao witnessed their son, on whom they had placed so much hope, become the object of everyone's scorn. Seeing him, who had been so glamorous just moments before, now covered in dirt and disheveled, and watching people point at him and hurl insults, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao felt heartbroken but powerless to do anything about it.

What right do these people have to treat their son like this?!

The Zhao couple saw Pei Duo at the very front.

He had previously said he would take them to see a good show, and this is it!

Was all of this done by Pei Duo?

Did he plan this all along?

Not only did the Zhao couple think this way, but Zhao Zhixue, after regaining his senses, also had the same thought.

Just now, Pei Duo said that he would take the two elders to see a good show, and the protagonist of this good show is him!

It must have been Pei Duo who harmed him!

But how exactly did he harm him?

Zhao Zhixue recalled that he and the Minister of Rites met Pei Duo at the restaurant that day. The Minister of Rites, who was a fourth-rank official, bowed to Pei Duo, who had no official position. Moreover, Li Fu said that Pei Duo's uncle had a close relationship with the emperor.

At this moment, Zhao Zhixue seemed to have sorted out all the chaotic and complicated doubts.

This premeditated scheme may have begun the moment he moved into the residence of the Minister of Rites.

Whether it was the Minister of Rites or Li Fu, they were both traps set by Pei Duo for him.

He waited for him to step into the trap step by step, and waited for him to divorce Jiang Ninghui. The moment he divorced Jiang Ninghui, everything beautiful around him changed, and those officials who had appreciated and valued him refused to see him.

Li Fu, who had expressed her feelings for him and was discussing marriage, also completely changed her attitude towards him.

The Minister of Rites, who had treated him very well, not only repeatedly turned him away, but also stabbed him in the back!

All signs began the day after he divorced Jiang Ninghui.

So... all of this was a scheme set up by Pei Duo to get Jiang Ninghui?

But is that really the case?

Even if Pei Duo's uncle had a close relationship with the sage, how could he have set up such a grand scheme?

How could his uncle possibly help Pei Duo plot and scheme in the court just to get a plain, illiterate woman?

Who exactly is Pei Duo's uncle?

Throughout, he only knew that his uncle held a high-ranking official position, but he did not know what that position was.

When Zhao Zhixue was forced off his horse by the Imperial Guards, he accidentally fell to the ground. He staggered to his feet, his eyes, bloodshot and filled with hatred, glaring toward the private room on the second floor.

He saw Jiang Ninghui standing in front of the window.

She is now dressed in gorgeous brocade clothes and wearing a jeweled hairpin, looking down at him who is being criticized and cursed by everyone!

He saw the indifference in her eyes.

It's all because of Jiang Ninghui!

It's all her fault!

He ended up in this state entirely because of her!

She's a lowly woman who conspired with her lover to harm him; what right does she have to be so high and mighty?!

She should thank him! He rescued her from the impoverished Hongshan Village, he gave her a better life, and it was because of him that she had the opportunity to meet Pei Duo. Shouldn't this despicable couple thank him? Why did they betray him?!

Jiang Ninghui is nothing but an illiterate, mediocre woman. How could she possibly live such a privileged life?

She should be just like him, stuck in the mire!

Like him, he should be condemned and despised by the world!

Zhao Zhixue was unwilling to accept this. He wanted to drag Jiang Ninghui down with him and expose her affair with Pei Duo in front of everyone. But before he could open his mouth, a strong force grabbed his collar and strangled him. Zhao Zhixue almost suffocated.

He coughed desperately, clutching his clothes, but before he could struggle, the commander of the Imperial Guards grabbed him by the collar and drove him into the palace on horseback.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Zhixue was like a helpless chick, being dragged away by the brave and burly Imperial Guards.

Jiang Ninghui watched the figure gradually disappear into the distance, her beautiful face devoid of any other emotion.

She saw and heard everything that just happened.

She never imagined that Zhao Zhixue's achievement of becoming the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination was due to him stealing articles from the study of the Minister of Rites.

How could he use such methods?

Did he ever consider whether the results obtained through cheating were fair to others?

She thought he probably wouldn't think about these things.

Jiang Ninghui felt no emotion at Zhao Zhixue's fate, nor his being taken to the palace by the emperor.

From the day Zhao Zhixue threw her a letter of divorce and thirty coins, driving her to the brink of death, her last vestige of affection for him was completely severed.

Especially considering the intense resentment he had shown her earlier.

Having been married to him for a year, that was the first time she saw resentment and bitterness in his eyes.

Jiang Ninghui withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyelashes, and saw Pei Duo under the window.

The young man's dark eyes stared silently at her.

She gripped the windowsill tightly with both hands, leaned forward, and gave the young man a faint smile.

A warm smile appeared in Pei Duo's dark eyes.

He stared intently at the smile playing on the woman's lips, his heart pounding as if he had swallowed a jar of candied fruit.

fine.

Sui Sui didn't feel sorry for that good-for-nothing.

They didn't care whether that good-for-nothing lived or died.

At this moment, Sui Sui only had eyes for him.

The young man smiled, grabbed the reins, and continued riding through the streets.

The lively procession gradually faded into the distance, and the sound of gongs and drums grew ever more distant.

Jiang Ninghui only looked away after the group had completely disappeared from sight. She turned around and sat down in a chair. She saw the door to the private room open, and the restaurant staff placed delicacies on the table. A servant respectfully invited her to have lunch first.

Jiang Ninghui was really not used to this kind of good life where she was waited on hand and foot.

She whispered, "Don't worry about me, you go back first, I'll be back in a bit."

The servant didn't say anything, just nodded and left.

The master had privately instructed them that if Lady Jiang did not like them serving her, they should stay away and not bother her. If Lady Jiang was unhappy, none of them would be happy either.

Jiang Ninghui only felt relieved after everyone left.

She ate something to fill her stomach, and not long after, Pei Duo came over, still wearing that dark scarlet court robe.

As soon as he arrived, he picked up Jiang Ninghui and placed her on his lap.

Jiang Ninghui's buttocks pressed against the young man's strong and powerful legs, and her slender back unconsciously tensed up.

Her feet were dangling in the air, and the young man's strong and powerful arms were wrapped around her waist.

He placed his hand on her waist and abdomen, and gently touched it.

The ventral part of the spikelet is flat.

Just like last night.

His finger bones were completely embedded.

Ask her if she has arrived.

Sui Sui wept silently.

He stared intently at the alluring and captivating corners of Jiang Ninghui's eyes.

He thought, since the finger bone is useless.

Then, the other him went in.

Will there be marks on Sui Sui's flat abdomen?

Jiang Ninghui grabbed his restless hand and looked at him with her bright, watery eyes: "Have you had lunch yet?"

Pei Duo's Adam's apple bobbed: "Not yet."

Jiang Ninghui: "The food is still warm, why don't you eat some?"

The young man embraced her and buried his face in the crook of her neck: "I want to hug Sui Sui again. It feels like three autumns have passed since we last saw each other."

Jiang Ninghui felt embarrassed upon hearing this.

Pei Duo inhaled deeply the faint fragrance emanating from Jiang Ninghui and asked, greedily rubbing his nose against her skin.

He raised his head, cupped Jiang Ninghui's cheek with one hand, and fixed his dark eyes on her face: "Suihui, that good-for-nothing has ended up like this, don't you feel sorry for him?"

Jiang Ninghui replied truthfully, "I don't feel bad about it."

That was his own fault.

Knowing full well that it was impossible, yet still doing it, one should have anticipated this outcome from the very beginning.

However, she couldn't help but think of that Lady Li; the news of her marriage to Zhao Zhixue must have spread far and wide.

Zhao Zhixue has made a grave mistake, and I wonder what has become of that Lady Li?

Jiang Ninghui gently tugged at Pei Duo's sleeve. The young man raised an eyebrow, and a smile appeared on his handsome, thin lips: "Is there something you need, Suihui?"

Jiang Ninghui asked, "Will Zhao Zhixue's cheating on the exam implicate those around him?"

Pei Duo: "Of course."

He pecked Jiang Ninghui's lips: "However, since Suihui and he have ended their marriage, it has nothing to do with Suihui."

Jiang Ninghui: "Wouldn't that implicate Madam Li?"

Pei Duo said, "Once this matter came to light, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review rejected the marriage proposal, so there is no problem."

Jiang Ninghui breathed a sigh of relief.

That's good.

Pei Duo gently stroked Jiang Ninghui's lips with his fingertips: "Suihui is kind-hearted, she even cares about that Miss Li."

Jiang Ninghui lowered her eyelashes and remained silent.

She just felt that Lady Li was also a woman, and that Zhao Zhixue was the one who did wrong, so it shouldn't involve others.

The fingertip that was caressing her lips suddenly slipped between her teeth.

The young man's hand reached into her mouth and stirred her tongue.

Jiang Ninghui was forced to open her mouth, and she grabbed the young man's strong wrists with both hands, trying to stop his unbridled behavior.

But it was to no avail.

He lowered his head and took her earlobe into his mouth, gently biting and licking it.

He said, "Sui Sui has the energy to care for others, so why not care for me more?"

Pei Duo took her hand and pressed it against his chest, his lips whispering in her ear, "I'm filled with Sui Sui here, Sui Sui, listen, it's calling you, Sui Sui, Sui Sui, Sui Sui, Sui Sui, Sui Sui..."

Jiang Ninghui couldn't listen to it anymore.

She quickly shrank her shoulders to avoid his lips, telling him to stop calling out.

It's like calling back a soul.

After lunch, Pei Duo took Jiang Ninghui back to the Pei residence and told her to rest first, as he had some matters to attend to and would be right back.

A carriage was waiting outside the Pei residence.

Pei Duo left the mansion and went straight to the carriage. The young man's voice was very calm: "To the Ministry of Justice prison."

The coachman urged the horse on, and the carriage went to the Ministry of Justice prison.

Outside the prison, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Rites were waiting. When the carriage stopped and Pei Duo got out, the two of them bowed and said in unison, "Young Master Pei."

Pei Duo: "Are they all inside?"

Minister of Justice: "Yes."

The Minister of Rites briefly recounted the events that had occurred in the palace that morning to Pei Duo, and then continued, "His Majesty said that the rest of the matters are none of his concern and have been entrusted to Young Master Pei."

Pei Duo nodded and entered the Ministry of Justice prison.

Seeing this, the two of them followed closely behind.

The Ministry of Justice's prison was dark and gloomy, with a foul, stench of blood in the air. April wasn't particularly cold, but the prison was perpetually dark and damp, and the haystacks on the ground were moldy, emitting a putrid stench.

The Zhao couple sat on the damp, cold ground, their faces ashen. They seemed lost in thought, staring blankly into one spot.

The Zhao family is completely finished.

It's all over!

On the second floor of the restaurant, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao witnessed Zhao Zhixue being publicly exposed for cheating in the imperial examination, becoming a pariah despised by everyone. When Zhao Zhixue was taken to the palace, the couple were also taken to the prison by the guards and stayed there for the whole morning until noon when Zhao Zhixue was finally brought in by the jailer.

He sat against the wall after he came in, head drooping, silent.

His official robes were stripped off, leaving him only in a white undergarment; his face was pale and numb.

The Zhao couple shook him and tried to ask him in sign language what had happened at the palace, but Zhao Zhixue seemed to have lost his soul and was unmoved by their shaking.

He kept repeating the same phrase: "Impossible, impossible, impossible..."

What's impossible?

Why do you say that?

The Zhao couple heard no further news from Zhao Zhixue.

All they knew was that this time it seemed to be truly over.

Zhao Zhixue remained in a daze, his face expressionless.

After the list of successful candidates for the imperial examination was announced, he went to the palace for the first time. It was his first time entering the palace and stepping into the place where officials held court. So he was trembling with fear the whole time and did not dare to raise his head, for fear of offending the emperor.

On his second visit to the palace, he did not see the emperor; only the emperor's chief steward spoke on his behalf about the emperor's procession through the streets on horseback.

Therefore, he failed to see the true face of the sage on both occasions.

This time, however, he was escorted into the palace by the Imperial Guards and made to kneel in the Golden Palace, where he was able to catch a glimpse of the Emperor's face.

The moment he saw the saint's face, all his attempts at excuses were choked in his throat.

The sage's eyes and brows were so familiar!

Her eyebrows and eyes look exactly like Pei Duo's!

He recalled asking Minister of Rites Pei Duo who his uncle was, and the minister only said that he would know when the time was right. He also asked Li Fu, who said that Pei Duo's uncle had a close relationship with the current emperor.

if--

If Pei Duo's uncle is a sage of the present day, then everything makes sense.

No wonder the Minister of Rites remained silent about Pei Duo's maternal uncle's identity.

No wonder he bowed to Pei Duo.

There is also Li Fu.

She said that Pei Duo's uncle had a close relationship with the saint.

That's not just a close relationship, it's clearly the same person!

He had always been manipulated and played by Pei Duo and all of them!

From the moment he arrived in Longchang, from the secret letter the prefect gave him that introduced him to the Minister of Rites, Pei Duo had already laid out everything, just waiting for him to jump in!

The Minister of Rites lied to him, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review lied to him, and Li Fu also lied to him!

Everyone is lying to him!

Did Pei Duo do all this just to get Jiang Ninghui?

Yes!

That must be it!

Why didn't he tell him?

If he says he wants Jiang Ninghui, he will give her to him.

If he had known earlier that Pei Duo had taken a liking to Jiang Ninghui, if he had known earlier that Pei Duo's identity was so powerful, he would have definitely divorced Jiang Ninghui as soon as possible, given her to him, and opened up a smooth road for himself.

The clanging of chains broke the deathly silence of the cell.

Two jailers came in, grabbed Zhao Zhixue by the arms, and dragged him out. When Zhao and his wife saw this, they got up and tried to stop Zhao Zhixue, but the jailers kicked them away.

Zhao Zhixue glanced back at his parents, who were sprawled on their backs, then looked at the jailer in terror: "Where are you taking me? What are you going to do?!"

The two jailers ignored him.

In their eyes, this person was no different from a dead man.

Zhao Zhixue's heart was in his throat. He was roughly dragged to the guard area by two jailers, who forced him to kneel down. His knees slammed heavily on the ground, and a sharp pain instantly shot through him. Before he could cry out in pain, he saw a familiar person sitting a few steps away.

He remembered the man's handsome face, dressed in a dark crimson court robe, until his death.

— Pei Duo!

It's him!

Two people were standing behind him.

They were the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Rites.

Zhao Zhixue's face was filthy, his eyes fixed on Pei Duo, his trembling voice squeezed out from his suffocating chest: "Who exactly are you?! Who is your uncle?!"

Even though he had already guessed it.

But he still couldn't quite believe it; he wanted to hear Pei Duo say it himself.

We all come from the remote Xiping Village.

In his eyes, Pei Duo was nothing more than the son of a fallen heiress and a former镖师 (bodyguard/escort).

Why is there such a huge difference in the blink of an eye!

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Author's Note: There's a red envelope in this chapter! Update before 10 PM tomorrow night~ [Sprinkling flowers]

I'd like to recommend my best friend's new novel to you guys.

"The Miss is So Frail" by Xiao Qiao Qiezhonglu

Synopsis: Lu Shiyu transmigrated into the body of the youngest daughter of a general's mansion who was raised outside the family.

Her father was a pillar of the state, serving three dynasties. He protected more than half of the Yan Kingdom. When he reached the age of sixty and had many descendants, he was accused of treason and died in the imperial palace.

The elder brother and nephew were all exiled to cold and bitter places, while the sister-in-law and niece were sold into prostitution.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, their younger sister/aunt was far away in Lin'an. How could someone as frail and weak as her endure such hardship?

However, Lu Shiyu, carrying the long sword 'Ding Jiang Shan', sailed towards the capital with a murderous aura.

"Ding Jiang Shan" is the sword of the mysterious master ranked first in the martial arts world. It is said that no one has ever seen the true face of the master ranked first. All that is known is that he is invincible. Even the one in the palace has invited him to come out of seclusion several times and treated him as the national advisor.