Chapter 48: The imperial court's reward required him to marry ten wives and concubines and have ten children,...

At the gate of Jishiyi Station, the eunuch who was in charge of announcing the imperial edict walked forward with a solemn look in his hands, holding two imperial edicts covered with yellow silk.

He glanced at Pei Yixue and the others, unfolded one of the documents, and cleared his throat: "Pei Yixue, accept the imperial decree. The Emperor Fengtian Chengyun decrees that Pei Yixue is now imprisoned, but he was able to save himself calmly and made an indelible contribution to the elimination of the Seven Heroes Yashan bandits. I grant you a thousand taels of gold and a hundred acres of fertile land... I decree this!"

In order to ensure that Xie Yushu could get a better job, this bandit suppression campaign was carried out as Pei Yixue wished.

In the memorials submitted to the court, the role he played was just a victim who was captured in the Seven Heroes Cliff, and most of the credit was given to Xie Yushu.

After Pei Yixue received the imperial edict, the eunuch who announced the edict immediately unfolded the second imperial edict.

"Xie Yushu received the imperial decree! The Emperor Fengtian Chengyun issued an edict, saying that Xie Yushu valued friendship and loyalty, and in order to save his best friend, he disregarded his own safety, contacted Pei Yixue internally and the government externally, and was brave and resourceful, and successfully assisted the government in eradicating the cancer of Qixia Cliff. He is truly a pillar of the country, and he is given the title of the first meritorious service.

I hereby exempt him from the subsequent examinations and promote Xie Yushu to the position of Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture. Qi Chen will take office in five days. I decree this!"

After listening to the eunuch's reading, Xie Yushu was stunned.

Even if he won the title of top scholar in the imperial examination, he would not necessarily be assigned an official position immediately. He just followed Pei Yixue's instructions, transported a few carts of goods to Qixia Cliff, and sprinkled some potions given by Pei Yixue along the way. How did he get the first merit and get the official position?

These achievements should be attributed to Pei Yixue.

Until the eunuch said again: "Thank you, Shao Yin, accept the order!"

Xie Yushu seemed to have just woken up from a dream. He stepped forward and respectfully took the imperial edict.

Pei Yixue gave each of the people who came to announce the imperial edict two ounces of gold as a reward for their hard work, and politely sent them out of the post station.

As soon as the person left, Chang Feng could no longer suppress his anger and glared at Pei Yixue: "You are so generous, I thought you came to Qixia Cliff for your broken post station, but the big money is here! The inside of the capital has long been rotten, you sent Ah Shu to the capital, which is tantamount to sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth!

What’s more, the people behind the Seven Heroes have been eyeing us covetously in the dark! ! ”

"I believe in Ah Shu." Facing Chang Feng's anger, Pei Yixue said these four words lightly and looked at Xie Yushu beside him.

"Unreasonable!" After Chang Feng finished cursing, he turned to Xie Yushu. He probably wanted to say some words of persuasion, but now that the imperial edict had been issued, how could it be changed by a few words from others?

Chang Feng simply shut his mouth and stared at Pei Yixue, as if he wanted to skin him alive.

"It's because of me that you went to the Seven Heroes Cliff?" Xie Yushu's eyes were red as he stared at Pei Yixue.

"Without Ah Shu, I would have also entered the Seven Heroes Cliff." Pei Yixue smiled brightly, "Now I should congratulate Ah Shu for having his wish come true. I've said before that the statue in the dilapidated temple is very powerful."

A year ago, he tricked Xie Yushu into making a wish in a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of Xitang County. Xie Yushu's wish at that time was to "become the top scholar in the imperial examination and become an official in the court."

Now that he has skipped the step of becoming the top scholar and entered the court as an official ahead of time, how can that not be considered as fulfilling his wish?

"Oh, Ling!" Chang Feng gritted his teeth, "In five days, Ah Shu and I will go to the capital together, and you and your broken post station will stay in Yancheng!!"

Pei Yixue pondered, "Ashu, I still have some things to deal with in Yancheng. I'll ask Uncle Zhang Xi to go with you in five days so that you can have someone to take care of you in the capital."

Chang Feng glared at Pei Yixue and said, "Zhang Xi is from the countryside, and you want him to go to the capital to take care of Ah Shu? Humph, don't worry, Ah Shu has me in the capital!"

After yelling at him, Chang Feng changed his tone and said to Xie Yushu, "Ah Shu, let's go. The journey to the capital is long. Let's go buy some entertainment."

"I still have something to do." Xie Yushu glanced at Pei Yixue and walked towards his room.

At the entrance of the post station, Pei Yixue and Chang Feng stared at each other. Pei Yixue said jokingly, "Then I'll have to trouble Master Chang to go and buy it by yourself. I believe that with Master Chang's ability, he will be able to take on such an important task."

After saying that, Pei Yixue turned around and went back to his room.

"Pei Yixue!" Chang Feng was furious. "What exactly do you think of Ah Shu? If you really wanted to be with him, why did you personally send him to the court and cut off the possibility of him marrying you?"

Pei Yixue looked sideways at Chang Feng, "Being an official in the court is what Ah Shu wishes."

"Just because his wish goes against yours, you'll give up the idea?" Chang Feng asked doubtfully.

"As a love rival, you don't know your opponent well enough." There is no need for unreasonable rules such as Shuang'er cannot marry after becoming an official in the court.

"I, I don't understand?" Chang Feng put his hands on his hips and laughed out of anger at what he said.

Pei Yixue said nothing, which was considered as his agreement. He turned around and continued to walk into the house, ignoring Chang Feng's calls from behind.

In the room.

Pei Yixue spread out a map of the neighboring province and circled thirty or forty places of varying sizes in red on the brown parchment.

These are the post stations in various places that have been selected by the lower levels and presented to him for finalization so that he can conduct a second field investigation.

After looking through the advantages and disadvantages of each place, Pei Yixue picked up a wolf hair brush and drew several red tick marks on the sheepskin map.

"Knock--"

There was a knock on the door. Pei Yixue paused holding the pen and said, "Come in."

The door opened, Pei Yixue looked up and saw Xie Yushu walking in.

Under Pei Yixue's gaze, Xie Yushu turned around and slowly closed the door.

"Ashu is looking for me?" Pei Yixue put down his pen.

"Yeah." Xie Yushu walked towards him, stood in front of him, and stared at him.

The two looked at each other, Pei Yixue smiled and waited patiently for the other to speak.

As time passed, Xie Yushu's emotions could no longer be suppressed, and they surged, "Why...why was it me?"

"What did Ah Shu say?" This was a random question, and Pei Yixue was a little unsure of what Xie Yushu meant.

"Why do you like me?"

Pei Yixue was stunned for a moment, then jokingly said, "Maybe on the day I was kicked out of the Pei family, I went to the Wang family's ancestral home, and Ah Shu didn't kick me out. He was even kind enough to clean up a room for me to live in."

Xie Yushu didn't expect Pei Yixue to give him such an answer. He was silent for a while: "But, that is your house. If anyone wants to drive us out, it should be you and Aunt Li who should drive me and my grandmother out."

"How could the nanny and I be able to defeat Ah Shu at that time? It was because Ah Shu never bullied the weak that the nanny and I were able to have a clean place to stay." Pei Yixue recalled the scene at that time and found it funny when he thought about asking him to kick Xie Yushu out.

At that time, he was half dead after walking two steps. To drive Xie Yushu out of the house was like using an egg to hit a stone.

Not sure if it was because of his smile or his other words, Xie Yushu blushed, lowered his head and spoke in a much lower voice: "If it were anyone else, they wouldn't chase you away either."

"Who said that?" Pei Yixue gave an example: "Twenty years ago, the Pei family was also surnamed Wang, and the house deed is still in my hands. But my wet nurse and I were actually kicked out at that time."

"No one can agree with the Pei family's actions. If it was just because I didn't drive you away and cleaned up the house for you, you don't have to repay me like this."

Xie Yushu said: "In terms of appearance, I am not as pretty and gentle as Shuang'er. In terms of temperament, I am not gentle, and I can't regard my husband as my heaven. From childhood to adulthood, I never thought that there would be a man who likes me, and I never thought about marrying a man."

What is this? Is she rejecting him again? Pei Yixue's smile remained unchanged, and his voice was as gentle as ever.

He said: "I thought I had made my feelings clear to Ah Shu."

"I don't like overly gentle Shuang'er, nor do I like the docile Shuang'er, and I don't like those Shuang'er who always say 'husband is the most important thing'. I like Ah Shu."

"I like Ah Shu, not because Ah Shu took me in, and my love for Ah Shu is not for return. It is what my heart desires and what I do."

Pei Yixue stood up, Xie Yushu's eyes suddenly widened, and then he took two steps back.

After steadying himself, Xie Yushu said in a panic, "You, you, don't be so radical."

Pei Yixue continued to move forward and raised his hand to cover Xie Yushu's cheek. The moment his hand touched Xie Yushu, he was obviously startled.

"Don't be too radical. What does Ah Shu mean?" Pei Yixue's lips curved into a beautiful arc. "Ah Shu came here tonight just to confirm my feelings for you?"

Xie Yushu stared at Pei Yixue's tender peach blossom eyes and said hesitantly, "Don't you regret it? With me, we can only get married after I retire and return home."

"Ashu said." Pei Yixue's eyes lit up, "You want to marry me?"

Xie Yushu was stunned by the question, but Pei Yixue heard the word "marriage". He said helplessly: "That's not the point."

"This is the key point, the most important thing." Pei Yixue emphasized.

"But you, your body...may not be able to wait until then." Xie Yushu said what he had never said before.

Although he always comforted Pei Yixue by saying that he would be able to find a miracle doctor and that her illness would be cured, in fact, given Pei Yixue's usual condition and the disease that even Xu Yi could not cure, Xie Yushu always felt pessimistic in his heart.

Facing Pei Yixue's gaze, Xie Yushu did not explain further and continued to ask Pei Yixue: "Even so, are you willing?"

Pei Yixue leaned forward and said sincerely, "Ah Shu, ask again."

"You..." Xie Yushu didn't expect Pei Yixue to have time to tease him at this moment. He felt embarrassed and his face became even hotter.

Facing Pei Yixue's burning gaze, Xie Yushu pursed his lips, but still spoke again: "You can only get married with me when I retire and return home. Even so, are you willing?"

A smile spread across Pei Yixue's face, and she slowly said, "I do." But Ah Shu was wrong about one thing. We will never wait until then to get married.

Pei Yixue held Xie Yushu's face in his palm, staring at Xie Yushu's lips.

At such a close distance, the hot breath they exhaled could clearly hit each other's faces.

Under Pei Yixue's burning gaze, Xie Yushu glanced away uncomfortably.

"It's been so long, and Ah Shu is still not used to me getting close to him." Pei Yixue's tone was gentle, but there was a hint of questioning in it.

His fingertips slid down and brushed across Xie Yushu's throat, and Xie Yushu shuddered.

Pei Yixue whispered in Xie Yushu's ear: "Now, I am acknowledged by Ah Shu himself, my dear fiancé?"

"Yeah." Xie Yushu held down Pei Yixue's hand as she tried to move it further down.

"'Hmm', what do you mean?" Pei Yixue smiled, her face almost touching Xie Yushu's.

Xie Yushu did not answer immediately. He glanced left and right, and finally moved his eyes to Pei Yixue's face again. His words were a little stiff: "You... want to know?"

Pei Yixue stared at Xie Yushu in surprise. Unexpectedly, Xie Yushu also learned to keep the secret. Pei Yixue followed Xie Yushu's words and answered, "I do."

"Promise me one thing and I'll tell you."

Pei Yixue said sincerely: "I can do ten or a hundred things for Ah Shu, but there are some things I am destined to be unable to do. For example, if I leave Ah Shu, I will not be able to make any promises to Ah Shu."

These words made Xie Yushu feel dizzy. The cunningness that had just arisen in his mind disappeared completely, and his rationality was also blurred.

"...That's not it. I just want you to promise me that you won't do such dangerous things as going to the Seven Heroes Cliff alone in the future? If you really have no other choice and have to take the risk, can you discuss it with me?"

Xie Yushu's concern turned into a warm current flowing through Pei Yixue's heart, "Is this the only request Ah Shu has taken so much trouble to make?"

"Just this one thing." Xie Yushu said firmly.

Pei Yixue laughed out loud, "Don't worry, Ah Shu. As long as you are here, I will not be willing to lose my life in advance."

"You, you said it. As long as I am still here, you will never step into the underworld before me."

"Yes, I did." Pei Yixue answered, not forgetting to ask the question that he had not yet gotten a clear answer to: "Ashu, can you tell me now, am I now Ashu's fiancé?"

"Forget it." Xie Yushu's voice was resounding, his eyes red as if he had given up everything. "But if you can't wait until I retire and return home, our agreement will be invalid. I will marry ten wives and concubines and have ten children. I will also buy all the brothels in the capital and have fun every night."

"Ashu~" Pei Yixue called out in a soft voice, somewhat helpless. Xie Yushu was going to a brothel, and it was probably where those prostitutes were having fun every night.

"So you have to live well and live until I retire and return home." Xie Yushu suddenly hugged him in his arms.

Pei Yixue buried his head in the man's shoulder and said, "Okay, I'll live well."