Chapter 204: Are you planning to have a quarrel? (Second update)
Not long after Pei Xingju left, Duke Xin and others also caught up here.
However, after entering the door, all they saw was a mess on the ground, and there were traces of fighting in the courtyard and on the eaves.
"Duke, we caught a woman!" someone shouted in a moment.
In the corner, they found a woman cowering in fear. She was probably in her early thirties. Her skin was a little rough due to long-term work, but her straight eyebrows and small oval face showed that she was a beauty in her youth.
Duke Xin stepped forward, frowned, and looked at her for a moment before saying to the guards, "Send someone after them immediately."
"yes."
A group of guards armed with swords immediately ran out of the door with lit torches.
In the courtyard, Marquis Cheng'en was also standing there. He glanced at the woman, then walked up to Duke Xin.
"Why not interrogate her? Maybe she knows Duan Hongyuan's whereabouts."
"She is a mute." Xin Guo said impartially.
"Huh? How did you know?"
Duke Xin knew this woman well; she was a widow. Her husband had died, leaving her childless. Because she was somewhat pretty and mute, she was often coveted. Duan Hongyuan had been a poor young man when he first came to the capital. He had helped her and even lived here for a while, paying her a few cents a month to do his laundry and cooking.
Later, Duan Hongyuan entered the government and rose to higher positions. He would occasionally come to see this woman. Of course, it was not just a simple visit, this woman could be considered Duan Hongyuan's mistress in the capital.
Originally, it was just Duan Hongyuan's personal matter. A man, after all, always needs a woman when he needs one. Duke Xin didn't care about it. If Duan Hongyuan hadn't been in trouble today, he probably wouldn't have remembered this trivial matter between them.
But if you ask, you will definitely get nothing. After all, Duan Hongyuan is a cautious person and would never tell his own affairs to a mute woman.
His eyes swept around the dilapidated yard and suddenly stopped on a short arrow on the ground.
"What is this?" Marquis Cheng'en followed his gaze and picked up the broken arrow.
Duke Xin frowned, took the broken arrow, examined it for a moment, and said, "Let's go to Pei Mansion."
.
When Duke Xin brought people to visit, Pei Xingju had just returned not long ago.
He was changing his clothes at the time. After a moment's hesitation, he ordered, "Please ask someone to go to the main hall."
Chen Yi said, "He must be here for Duan Hongyuan."
Pei Xingju's actions tonight were part of their plan. Shen Yi had been waiting at the Pei residence until he finally heard that Pei Xingju had captured Duan Hongyuan. However, before he could even catch his breath, he heard that Duke Xin had arrived.
Coming here at this time, I have nothing to do except think about Duan Hongyuan's affairs.
He asked, "Duan Hongyuan definitely can't be handed over to him, but how can we hide it from him?"
Pei Xingju was also a little hesitant. Duke Xin was not an easy man to fool. If he really knew that Duan Hongyuan was in his hands, his plan would probably be ruined.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Send someone to Muxiyuan to invite Zhuang Wan over."
"Miss Zhuang?" Chen Yi glanced at the sky. "What can Miss Zhuang do? Besides, it's so late, I guess everyone has gone to bed, right?"
Pei Xingju glanced at him meaningfully: "You just need to tell her that I invited her to the main hall to enjoy the moon, and she will know."
After saying this, Pei Xingju immediately went out.
Behind him, Chen Yi was confused, but he still quickly found a servant to go to Muxiangyuan to pass on the message.
Over here, Duke Xin and Marquis Cheng'en were sitting in the main hall, having finished a cup of tea when they saw Pei Xingju arriving late.
"Lord Liang," Pei Xingju bowed as he entered, "I wonder why you've come here so late at night?"
Before Duke Xin could speak, Marquis Cheng'en sneered.
Marquis Cheng'en and Pei Xingju had long harbored a grudge due to a conflict between his daughter Jiang Shan and Zhuang Wan. Seizing the opportunity, he angrily declared, "Lord Pei knows exactly what's going on."
Pei Xingju smiled slightly and replied calmly, "Forgive my ignorance, I really don't know."
"Pei Xingju, stop pretending!" Marquis Cheng'en said, "Do you have Duan Hongyuan in your hands? What exactly do you want to do? Duan Hongyuan is a rebel. You're hiding a traitor. Are you planning a rebellion too?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, he put a hat on me. If it were someone else, they would have been scared by him.
Pei Xingju simply smiled coldly, walked past him and said to Duke Xin, "Lord Liang, I don't know what the Marquis of Cheng'en means. Could you please explain it to me?"
Duke Xin put down the teacup slowly.
"Master Pei! Just hand over Duan Hongyuan, and I promise not to tell anyone a word about what happened today."
Pei Xingju smiled and said nothing.
"Could it be..." Duke Xin raised his eyes: "Does Lord Pei really intend to rebel?"
"This humble servant is utterly loyal to the emperor, as heaven and earth bear witness. I wonder where Lord Liang's talk of rebellion comes from."
At this time, Marquis Cheng'en said, "We found your whereabouts in the house in Lianhua Lane, west of the city."
"Your Majesty's words have confused this humble servant," Pei Xingju said, "I have stayed at your residence the entire night and have not left the house. Perhaps... Your Majesty has made a mistake?"
"you--"
At this time, a man came hurriedly outside. As soon as he walked to the corridor, he heard the voice.
"Yuzhi, you said you would accompany me, why are you gone again?"
She walked a few steps into the main hall, but when she saw other people in the hall, she stopped immediately.
"We have a visitor in our house? Who is it?"
She pretended not to recognize the two people in the hall, walked up to Pei Xingju, and asked in a low voice that others could hear, "Who are they? They come here so late at night to disturb others. They have no manners at all."
Marquis Cheng’en: “…”
The corners of Duke Xin's mouth twitched.
After a moment, she continued to mutter, "We've all gone to bed, what are they doing here now?"
"Go back and wait for me first," Pei Xingju coaxed, "These two are my colleagues in the court, and they have something to discuss."
Zhuang Wan said coquettishly, "You always say this, but once you start discussing something, you never stop. I don't care. You promised to accompany me tonight."
Pei Xingju glanced at Duke Xin with an awkward and helpless expression, a smile of apology on his face. Then he said to Zhuang Wan, "Be obedient. They're just here to ask some questions."
"What's the problem?"
Pei Xingju was about to speak when Marquis Cheng'en snorted coldly, "Master Pei, are these the women in your household? It's bad enough that she's meeting a stranger in the middle of the night, but she's also being rude and unruly. I remember this is the daughter of the former Chief Censor, Master Zhuang, right? I didn't expect a young lady from the Zhuang household to be this kind of person!"
Wow! Are you planning to have a fight?
Then she won’t be polite!
"Sir, I seem to have seen you somewhere before. Oh..." Zhuang Wan pretended to recall, "So it's Marquis Jiang of the Cheng'en Marquisate. Of course, my rules aren't as good as yours. Young Master Jiang is out flirting and bullying men and women, while Miss Jiang is arrogant and disrespectful, stirring up trouble. So these are the rules of your Marquisate!"
"you--"
"What do you mean by 'I'? Don't think you can be disrespectful just because you're old." Zhuang Wan retorted, "What do you mean by meeting a stranger in the middle of the night? Are you ashamed or what? Why don't you let people see you? Besides, how did I know you were there? Did Pei Xingju invite you in? You just walked in like that? You're breaking into someone else's house in the middle of the night and disturbing their sleep, and you think you're right? Haven't you heard the saying? As the sage said, disturbing someone's sleep is tantamount to murder and robbery!"
"You're being unreasonable!" Marquis Cheng'en was so angry that his face turned red and his neck thickened. "I won't argue with you, but it's just that villains and women are difficult to raise!"
Zhuang Wan continued to refute him, "Is that so? You keep saying that villains and women are hard to raise, yet some men, even at their age, take concubines who are as old as their daughters. You keep harping on about the teachings of the saints. Did the saints make you so lustful?"
"Wanwan!" Pei Xingju pretended to be stern, "Don't be rude to the Marquis!"
"He was rude first." Zhuang Wan cursed inwardly, but her face was filled with grievance. She whispered to Pei Xingju, "Why did you associate with such a person in the court? Stay away from him from now on, lest he be corrupted by the company he keeps!"
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