Chapter 75 Even the emperor might not be worthy of her. ...
Xie Yushu looked at the package on the table and guessed that it was from Xiaodao, because no one else would ask Pei Heng to bring it.
The room was quiet. Granny Xizhi and the others, with their keen sense of propriety, retreated to the courtyard gate to stand guard.
In the silence, Pei Shilin knelt on the ground, feeling both embarrassed and afraid. Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, he decided to speak first: "Since Second Uncle has heard it, I will not hide it anymore. Today, after the morning court session, His Majesty summoned me alone and asked me to release Xie Yushu. Second Uncle has been in the court for many years and should be very clear about His Majesty's intentions."
He looked up at Pei Heng: "I know my second uncle looks down on my cowardly behavior, but what should I do? Disobey the imperial decree and risk the safety of the Pei family? Besides, Xie Yushu has long since abandoned me, why bother..."
"Why did you propose to her in the first place?" Pei Heng interrupted him, looking down at him and asking again, "When you proposed to her, did you go through all the proper formalities, sign a marriage contract, and solemnly welcome her into the Pei family?"
Pei Shilin was speechless when asked the question; he found it difficult to directly explain why he had married Xie Yushu in the first place.
Pei Heng spoke for him: "You initially sought to marry Xie Yushu to become the son-in-law of the Marquis of Yong'an, hoping to gain his assistance and secure a bright future. However, after the marriage, you discovered that she was not favored by the Marquis of Yong'an and could not provide you with any assistance. Therefore, you unhesitatingly sent her to the Prime Minister's residence in exchange for Song Jie's support."
How does he know all this?
Pei Shilin's face turned pale. He wanted to speak up and explain, but Pei Heng clearly didn't want to listen to him. He said, "You don't need to tell me that your mother begged you to save Shibin, which is why you did it. If you were an upright person, you would know that harming someone should be punished with death and wrongdoing should be punished. Shibin deserved his punishment. You did it for yourself. You didn't want to ruin your future because of Shibin's stain."
His lowered eyes were cold, as if he were judging a case, and Pei Shilin could hardly see any blood ties in his expression.
“You have never treated Xie Yushu as your wife. You have never even treated her as a person. She is just a tool for you to pursue your own interests.” Pei Heng’s tone was cold and decisive, as if he were giving a verdict on Pei Shilin: “From beginning to end, you are nothing but a petty person who pursues his own interests. So I am not surprised that you are now selling your wife for personal gain. Wife, family, reputation, dignity, there is nothing you cannot sell.”
The system's voice echoed in Xie Yushu's mind. She slowly loosened her fingers and looked at the two people. The former supporting character, Yushu, only wanted justice, but no one spoke up for her.
Now, Xie Yushu wants more than just "justice".
She watched as Pei Shilin, his face deathly pale, became desperate. He suddenly stood up and shouted with an unprecedentedly angry expression, "You are noble, but your second uncle was born a chosen one, raised by your grandfather, and now you are the dignified Marquis of Yongyi. You are virtuous and worthy of the title 'Yongyi'. Then tell me, what should I do? If Xie Yushu were your wife, what would you do? Would you disobey the emperor and defy his decree?!"
Xie Yushu finally heard those words; this was exactly what she had been waiting for.
She looked at Pei Heng and saw his tightly clenched fingers and taut lips, knowing that he must be struggling inside.
"For a woman, Second Uncle is willing to risk the lives of the Pei family. Isn't that disloyal and unfilial?" Pei Shilin questioned angrily.
idiot.
Pei Shilin did not yet understand that this was not a struggle against the Emperor on her behalf, but a struggle between Pei Heng's sense of righteousness and his loyalty as a subject.
Xie Yushu knew all too well that Pei Heng was a loyal and righteous man, and that he would never do something like "selling his wife for personal gain." So she spoke first, saying, "General Pei, you don't need to make things difficult for me. It is Pei Shilin and his mother who owe me, not you."
Pei Heng looked at her, and she raised her eyes to look at Pei Shilin, her expression resolute and powerful: "I knew long ago that I had entrusted myself to the wrong person. They are a den of snakes and rats, neither of them are good people. That's why I dragged my feet on the divorce, wanting to sink with the Pei family. But now I've changed my mind."
She looked at Pei Heng again and smiled faintly: "You are a great hero, and you kept your promise to bring Xiao Dao back safely. You shouldn't be dragged down by me."
Pei Heng felt as if her smile and decisiveness had pierced his heart. He suddenly felt that how could a good-for-nothing like Pei Shilin be worthy of Xie Yushu? Xie Yushu was brave, resourceful, and had great courage; she deserved to be called a pillar of strength.
"Go and write the divorce papers." Xie Yushu reached out to Pei Shilin: "If you sign the divorce papers today, I will move out of the Pei residence and will never implicate your Pei family."
Pei Shilin was stunned for a moment. He never expected Xie Yushu to agree, let alone so readily, even though his second uncle was about to protect her...
He immediately reached into his pocket to take out the divorce papers, as if afraid she would regret it, and spread them out in front of her, saying, "I have already written the divorce papers. You just need to sign and put your fingerprint on them."
Xie Yushu couldn't help but laugh when he saw that Pei Shilin had even prepared inkpads. He thought there was no one else in the world as despicable as Pei Shilin.
She reached for the divorce papers, but a rough hand suddenly grabbed them, pulled them away, crumpled them into a ball, and threw them out the door.
"Second Uncle!" Pei Shilin was so anxious that he wished he could go out and pick it up.
Pei Heng's face turned completely black. He grabbed Pei Shilin's collar and forcefully forced him to kneel on the ground. "Pei Shilin, listen carefully. As long as I am alive, I will never allow any member of the Pei family to do such a thing as selling their wife for personal gain. If you insist on doing so, I will have no choice but to punish you with a hundred strokes of the cane according to the family rules and remove you from the Pei family genealogy. From now on, you will no longer be a member of the Pei family."
Pei Shilin was so frightened that he couldn't speak.
"I'll handle this. Until then, stay in your room and be a coward." He forcefully flung Pei Shilin out of the room and shouted, "Get out!"
Pei Shilin fell on the stone steps, but dared not confront Pei Heng directly, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger and leave.
The room fell silent again. Xie Yushu felt relieved, but said calmly, "Why do you have to do this? Don't you also despise me? Why anger the Emperor and implicate your Pei family for my sake?"
“I don’t feel disgusted,” Pei Heng answered almost instinctively.
Xie Yushu looked at him in surprise: "Don't you hate me?"
For some reason, when he met Xie Yushu's gaze, his heart felt a little hot, and he didn't dare to look at her any longer, turning his head to look outside the door.
The autumn wind was blowing outside the door, and fallen leaves covered the ground.
He didn't actually dislike her. He had some prejudice against her because he didn't know her well before, but later she followed Xiaodao and broke into the palace at night with Jianghua. Not everyone has such courage and boldness.
He admired her, but now he felt sorry for her. She shouldn't have married such a good-for-nothing as Pei Shilin, and been humiliated and degraded...
Someone as intelligent as her shouldn't be confined to this small house.
"I promised you I would compensate you on behalf of the Pei family and Pei Shilin." He didn't answer her question directly, but instead asked, "You don't want to enter the palace? Even if the Emperor promised you the position of Empress, you still wouldn't want it?"
Xie Yushu smiled. "Actually, you think I'm someone who craves wealth and status, right?"
Pei Heng wanted to explain, but then she said, "Who wouldn't want to be empress? But I don't want to humble myself and serve an old man in exchange for the empress's position."
He looked at her and saw frank ambition in her face, as well as a hint of arrogance, as if she believed that even the emperor might not be worthy of her.
He rarely saw such arrogance on a person's face, but for some reason he didn't dislike Xie Yushu's arrogant expression. He even felt sorry for her ambition; if she were a man, she would surely have made a name for herself.
Xie Yushu reached out and opened the package on the table, where she saw some beautiful jewelry, rare rouge and face powder, and a few gold leaves.
Her gaze softened instantly. "It was Xiaodao who gave it to me, wasn't it? Only he would be so foolish as to think I needed these things, like a little puppy."
Pei Heng saw a flowing tenderness in her gaze and expression, which was probably a heartfelt affection.
He then understood that Xie Yushu liked the small knife.
Pei Heng responded with a soft nod and said, "I understand."
"Know what?" Xie Yushu looked at him, puzzled.
Pei Heng stood up and said, "If you don't want to enter the palace, I will do my best to help you. You don't need to worry about Pei Shilin. I will not let him divorce you, at least not until the Emperor has given up on the idea."
"How do you plan to help me?" Xie Yushu asked him. "His Majesty's pressure on Pei Shilin may just be a matter of diplomacy before taking action."
Pei Heng knew that he understood why the Emperor had suddenly sent him away from Bianjing to invite the resigned Grand Tutor back. It was probably to get rid of him. He was afraid that as soon as he left Bianjing tomorrow morning, the Emperor would put pressure on Pei Shilin and Xie Yushu again.
He felt a sense of dejection and loss. His Majesty had always ruled the world with benevolence and righteousness, so why had he suddenly lost his mind in his old age? Why had he done such an absurd thing as coveting the wife of a subject?
"Would you be willing to leave Bianjing with me temporarily?" Pei Heng asked after a moment's thought.
Xie Yushu was extremely surprised: "You want to take me away?" She really didn't expect Pei Heng to want to take her away.
“It’s not about escaping,” Pei Heng said again. “It’s about coming south with me on some business.” Perhaps if she were to leave Bianjing for a while, the Emperor would come to his senses.
Xie Yushu did not answer him immediately, because leaving Bianjing with Pei Heng was beyond her plans.
So she asked first, "How can you take me with you on your errand? I'm your niece-in-law."
Pei Heng felt inexplicably awkward upon hearing the words "niece-in-law," and then said, "You don't need to worry. I will find a way to make it reasonable for you to leave Bianjing with me, and it won't cause you any controversy."
"What method?" Xie Yushu asked curiously.
#
Pei Heng went to the Meng residence without stopping, met Meng Jing, and explained that the Emperor had sent him to invite the Grand Tutor back to Bianjing. He also said that he wanted to invite Meng Jing to go south with him to help persuade the Grand Tutor.
Before Meng Jing could agree, Pei Heng said, "This journey south will be arduous. Princess, you may bring Miss Jin Yue and my niece-in-law Yu Shu to take care of you."
Meng Jing finally realized that Pei Heng probably wanted more than just her to persuade the old tutor.
She put down her teacup and smiled at Pei Heng: "General Pei, why beat around the bush? Just say what you want to say. I like Yu Shu very much, and I will definitely help her if I can, for her sake."
Pei Heng hesitated for a moment. He didn't want others to know that the Emperor had pressured Xie Yushu to divorce, fearing it would bring even more criticism to Xie Yushu.
He simply said, "The princess saw right through me. Actually, I wasn't sure about getting the old Grand Tutor back. My niece-in-law, Yushu, suggested that since you and the old Grand Tutor's daughter are very close, and the Meng and Zheng families have been on good terms for generations, asking you might be able to make it happen. That's why I shamelessly came here." He then smiled and said, "Of course, she didn't come up with the idea for nothing. She wants to travel south but it's inconvenient for her to leave Bianjing alone, so she wants to go with you."
Is that so? Yushu wants to go sightseeing at this juncture?
Meng Jing didn't believe it. She always felt that Pei Heng was covering something up for Xie Yushu, so she agreed to Pei Heng's request and wanted to send someone to invite Yushu over to ask.
Before she could leave, Xie Jianing, who had rushed over, stopped her.
"Does Aunt know why Xie Yushu wants to escape Bianjing?" Xie Jianing was accompanied by a maid named A Kui.
A-Kui was someone she brought back from the prefecture. She was exceptionally skilled in martial arts and had remarkable lightness skills. She was loyal to her and was the only person she trusted at the moment. So this afternoon, she sent A-Kui with Xie Yushu out of Yuqing Temple.
After hearing Pei Shilin and Xie Yushu get into the carriage together, A-Kui said, "Let's get a divorce. This is the Emperor's will..."
If Xie Yushu's coachman hadn't been quick-witted and discovered A-Kui, and if Xie Yushu hadn't told Pei Shilin to go back and talk about it later, A-Kui would definitely have heard more.
But Xie Jianing had already guessed it. From the moment Xie Yushu threw himself on the Emperor to save him at the victory banquet that night, she could tell that the Emperor had ulterior motives towards Xie Yushu.
Now she's being granted the title of princess, given a mansion, and even pressured to divorce her husband—her intentions are all too obvious.
She said directly to Meng Jing, "Because the Emperor has taken a liking to her and wants her to enter the palace to accompany him..."
Meng Jing's face darkened, and he said in a low, angry voice, "Shut up!"
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Author's note: Pei Heng: It's not that I dislike you, it's that I was prejudiced before.
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