Chapter 51 Chapter 51 He wants to be better and more obedient than anyone else, in order to...
In the past, he would have definitely asked for clarification, but when he caught a glimpse of the smile on Qiao Tang's lips as he stepped out of the door, even though he was burning with jealousy, he learned his lesson, turned around, jumped off the wall, and called Cheng Su.
Cheng Su's men had already been deployed around the Qiao family's house. They did not dare to spy on what was going on in Concubine Hui's room, and only paid attention to what was going on in the yard in front of the door. Therefore, they only heard the conversation when Nanny Wang led Liu Zhang into the house.
Cheng Su then reported to Pei Chengjue, "From what Nanny Wang said, it seems he's the cousin of Concubine Hui."
Pei Chengjue thought to himself that he had never heard his sister mention relatives before, and he had no intention of knowing these things when he investigated Qiao Tang. It seemed that he did not know his sister well enough.
He immediately ordered Cheng Su to investigate this cousin and all of Qiao Tang's relatives in Jizhou.
Cheng Su took the order and left, but he still felt unsatisfied. Even if Cheng Su was very capable, it would take time to find out a person's information, and he didn't have the patience to wait any longer.
Wei Qingyan was the only person in the capital who knew anything about Qiao Tang's relatives. He turned and ordered, "Send Wei Qingyan over."
The guards conveyed the order to the Duke's Mansion. The Duke and his wife were extremely worried. Wei Qingyan felt very exhausted every time he met Pei Chengjue, and he didn't know what the outcome would be this time.
Wei Qingyan's face remained calm. The Duke of Zhenguo couldn't bear to see him go alone. "I also want to see Your Majesty. Let's go together."
The two arrived at the house.
The weather seemed to be changing. The clouds in the sky were getting thicker, blocking out the clear sunlight and dimming the light under the wall.
Pei Chengjue was wearing casual clothes, standing there with his arms folded. At an age when he should be full of vigor and vitality, he was shrouded in a layer of depression, and his elegant and flamboyant eyebrows showed a heart-pounding restlessness.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was imposing too much pressure. The tyrannical look he displayed during court sessions these past few days almost tore the court officials apart. If no one could control him, the government would be in turmoil.
The Duke of Zhenguo sighed in his heart and glanced at Wei Qingyan beside him. Thinking of his son who was also depressed by Concubine Hui every night, his face became a little sad. How could these two cousins like the same woman!
The sky darkened, and Pei Chengjue's vision also became dim, and he glanced over indifferently.
The two men straightened their expressions, walked over quickly, and knelt at his feet, "Your Majesty, we greet you."
At this time, there were only the emperor and his subjects, no nephews or uncles, and no cousins.
Pei Chengjue's face was cold and resolute, and he lowered his eyes and looked quietly at the two of them.
The invisible pressure of the emperor reminded the Duke of Zhenguo of the late emperor, and he couldn't help feeling sad. The child he had watched grow up had finally come to this point.
The Queen Mother always believed that the late Emperor was heartless, cruel, and ruthless as an emperor, but she did not understand her own son and thought that he was just young and ignorant and indulged in love.
In fact, as he grew up, Pei Chengjue became more and more like the late emperor. He learned to suppress court officials with his ruthless heart without any instruction. However, his obsession with Qiao Tang was too obvious, which made the empress dowager misjudge him.
The Duke of Zhenguo knew all this very well, and he lowered his head in submission. Pei Chengjue looked away without any expression, "Stand up, Duke of Zhenguo, please sit down."
The Duke of Zhenguo sat down on the stone table in the courtyard. Pei Chengjue jumped onto the wall and looked through the open window at Qiao Tang who was sitting in the flower hall, his eyes filled with obsession.
"Wei Qing, come up."
Wei Qingyan's expression changed. He had never climbed over a wall before, so he went up with some effort. He followed Pei Chengjue's gaze and suddenly frowned.
In the flower hall, Qiao Tang had no idea what the two men were doing. She had just taken Liu Zhang to breakfast and was chatting in the flower hall.
She hadn't seen her cousin Liu Zhang for four or five years, and wondered, "Why did you say we haven't seen each other for three years?"
Liu Zhang's eyes flashed, and he lowered his head. "Three years ago, I went back to Jizhou. Due to an urgent matter, I only saw my cousin briefly. Before I could let my cousin know I was back, I left again."
Qiao Tang suddenly understood. Seeing him lower his head and be obedient as before, he laughed. It seemed that this cousin had only grown up, but his temperament had not changed.
Liu Zhang looked up at the sound, his face slightly red. "Although I haven't been able to see my cousin for years, I still miss her in my heart."
His voice suddenly sank. "A few months ago, I went to Jizhou again. I wanted to see my cousin, but I learned that she and her husband had divorced. Her husband had unfortunately fallen off a cliff, and my cousin had also come to the capital."
He looked over worriedly.
Qiao Tang felt warm in her heart. This cousin still remembered her. Her love for him over the years was not in vain.
She smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. My divorce from Wen Jing was a natural one. It's all in the past. As for Wen Jing falling off the cliff and dying, it was a misunderstanding. He's still alive."
"I guess I misheard the news. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, cousin." Liu Zhang lowered his brows to hide the strange look in his eyes, and pursed his lips. "When I heard about it, I was worried about you, so I rushed to the capital to look for you. I was lucky enough to run into Nanny Wang on the street after only a month in the capital."
Qiao Tang was surprised that he came here just to find her.
She looked at Nanny Wang beside her. Nanny Wang took her arm and said with a smile, "My cousin is so thoughtful. You have come a long way to find my daughter and have suffered a lot along the way. If there is no place to stay in the capital, you might as well stay here."
Liu Zhang turned his head and smiled gently at Qiao Tang, "I hope you don't mind me bothering you, cousin."
Nanny Wang squeezed Qiao Tang's hand, and Qiao Tang smiled and shook her head, asking the maid to clean Liu Zhang's room, and asked the servant to accompany Liu Zhang to the inn to pack up his things.
The entire sky was dim, and a drizzle was floating in the air, falling on the walls.
On the wall, Pei Chengjue's eyebrows were wet by the drizzle, but his coldness remained unchanged, and his gaze swept straight towards Wei Qingyan.
Wei Qingyan's voice was cold, "He is Concubine Hui's cousin, Liu Zhang."
The Duke of Zhenguo looked at the sky anxiously, and when he saw the two people jumping off the wall, worry appeared in his eyes.
Pei Chengjue was standing at the foot of the wall, half-smiling in the rain. "He's just my cousin, why does Wei Qing have such a grim expression?"
Wei Qingyan lowered his eyes and replied, "Your Majesty, calm down. I just remember that there was some rift between me and Liu Zhang in the past, and I am unhappy about it."
"explain."
Wei Qingyan had no choice but to tell everything he knew.
It is said that Liu Zhang is the son of Aunt Qiao Tang. Qiao Tang's mother originally had a younger sister who married into the Liu family in Qingzhou. Unexpectedly, after Liu Zhang was born, her husband changed his mind and became immoral, so he sent her and her son away with a letter of divorce.
The mother and son had nowhere to go, so they had to return to Jizhou to seek refuge with Qiao's mother. Their parents had passed away, and Qiao's mother only had her younger sister as a relative, so she naturally took good care of her and let the mother and son live in Qiao's house.
Qiao Tang had no brothers or sisters, and Liu Zhang suddenly appeared. He was thin and gentle, and liked to follow her every day. Qiao Tang felt pity for him and took good care of him.
After living like this for three years, Qiao's mother and sister could not forget their husband's disloyalty and died of depression. In the same year, the Liu family of Qingzhou came to their house and said that the Liu family had no heir since Liu Zhang, and they insisted on taking Liu Zhang back.
Liu Zhang left the Qiao family since then.
There was nothing special about it. When Pei Chengjue heard this, he knew that Wei Qingyan had something else to say, and his eyes swept over coldly.
Wei Qingyan could only say, "Before Liu Zhang's mother passed away, Madam Qiao wanted Liu Zhang's mother to rest in peace and not worry about Liu Zhang anymore, so she arranged for Concubine Hui to be engaged to Liu Zhang, and for Liu Zhang to live in the Qiao family for the rest of his life."
Pei Chengjue sneered.
Wei Qingyan said, "It was just a statement to comfort a dying person. The Qiao family didn't take it seriously, and Concubine Hui didn't take it seriously either, but Liu Zhang did."
"Three years ago, he suddenly returned to Jizhou. I discovered that he had ulterior motives towards Concubine Hui, so I expelled him from Jizhou."
When Wei Qingyan mentioned the old story, he did not hide it. Pei Chengjue raised his eyebrows and slowly revealed a perverse smile, "Wei Qing, I underestimated you."
He pointed to the wall and asked, "What do you think we should do now?"
Wei Qingyan's eyelids twitched, but before he could say anything, the Duke of Zhenguo sensed something was wrong and hurried over, "Your Majesty, I have to return to the border. I have something to say to Your Majesty."
Pei Chengjue suppressed his smile and asked, "When will you be back?"
The Duke of Zhenguo told the truth, "Ten days from now, after Qingyan's birthday, I can set off."
When Pei Chengjue heard this, he didn't take it seriously at first, but suddenly his eyes were shocked and a look of disbelief flashed across his face.
The charcoal fire that burned in the Qinzheng Palace last year and the Queen Mother's painful question suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Your Majesty and Wei Qingyan's birthdays are only a few days apart. I heard from the people in Taiji Palace that Concubine Hui personally sewed a belt. Was this belt for Your Majesty or for Wei Qingyan?"
He opened his mouth and asked anxiously, "Hasn't Wei Qing's birthday passed yet?"
The Duke of Zhenguo dared not refuse to answer. "Your Majesty, according to the capital, Qingyan's birthday has already passed. However, Qingyan doesn't celebrate according to the capital's schedule every year. He is concerned about the Wen family in Jizhou and celebrates his birthday according to theirs."
Pei Chengjue tensed his body, his hands in his sleeves trembling nervously. He trembled the corners of his lips, glanced at Wei Qingyan, and spoke in a low voice.
"Does Concubine Hui know?"
Wei Qingyan and the Duke of Zhenguo both noticed that something was wrong with him, but it wasn't the kind of abnormality that would make him violent and angry. Rather, it was the kind of nervousness that made him cautiously expectant, hesitant to believe it but also wanting it.
Wei Qingyan said cautiously, "Noble Concubine Hui only knows about the birthdays of the Wen family, not those in the capital."
As soon as these words fell, the two saw Pei Chengjue's face change in shock, his straight body swayed, and then he covered his face with his hands in annoyance and walked out of the house very quickly.
The father and son looked at each other, and the Duke of Zhenguo felt relieved. Although His Majesty's behavior was strange, he did not get angry after all. He forgave his son this time and told him to talk about those things later.
The spring rain fell continuously, falling all over Pei Chengjue. Pei Chengjue seemed unaware of it and rode his horse back to the palace.
When he arrived at Taiji Palace, he was soaked and in a dishevel, and rushed into the bedroom like a gust of wind.
The palace maids were already familiar with his recent madness, and they listened attentively to the banging noises coming from the bedroom with bated breath.
Pei Chengjue searched the bedroom recklessly but still couldn't find the belt.
He hated the belt so much before that he threw it away and treated it like trash. Now that he couldn't find it, he was so anxious that his eyes turned red and he tore the gauze curtain to pieces in a rage.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the night pearl rolling across the bed. A glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. He leaned over and searched for it, carefully turning it over from the head of the bed to the foot.
Until he found the box that Cheng Ying had prepared, and also found the belt.
He was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. His sister was so cute. Why did she like to hide things at the end of the bed?
He eagerly pulled out the belt and held it tightly in his palm, his heart beating wildly. This was sewn for him by his sister, given to him.
My sister has him in her heart!
He became happy, and his eyes and brows, which had been wet by the drizzle, were no longer gloomy, but suddenly showed a fresh and unrestrained look.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of regret. That night, he had been so foolish as to tie his sister's hands with a belt and say such words to her.
It turns out that his sister's cold attitude towards him is all his own fault and he deserves it.
He took off his wet robe, wrapped the long belt around his arms, got off the bed and changed into clean robes. When he walked out of the bedroom, he felt much lighter in his heart.
He no longer cared about Wei Qingyan or Liu Zhang. He would never go crazy because of jealousy and hurt his sister again.
But at the same time, the steps are heavy.
From then on, in front of his sister, he had to be better and more obedient than anyone else, and then his sister might give him a little love.
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