Chapter 183 The Damn Pei Shizhang

The palace gates are deep and heavy.

Passing through the heavy-walled palace that was engulfed in the pitch-black night, Xiao Xun knelt in the study where Emperor Jingdi handled state affairs on a daily basis. He looked terrified and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Father, I have always been respectful to my elder brothers and sisters. I am not a person who forgets my parents and is unfilial. I would never kill my own flesh and blood! Such nonsense as assassinating Nan Xi is definitely not what I did. I beg you to investigate and clear my name!"

Emperor Jing stared at him and said, "So you are wrongly accused? You embezzled money from the Lianghuai Salt and Silver Commission, bought money to kill your brothers and sisters, and had an affair with his cousin when his wife just passed away. All of these are false."

Xiao Xun was sweating profusely and buried his head deeply. "Father is wise. I was indeed framed. I don't know how I offended Lord Pei, but he framed me like this? If even father doesn't believe me, I will die unjustly!"

"shut up!"

Emperor Jing was furious. He picked up a memorial from the table and threw it at him.

"If you have a good character and a clear conscience, how could he have made up such slanderous words to you even if he had ten times the courage!"

"I am indeed guilty! Now that things have come to this, I will speak frankly. At first, I valued Wen and wanted to take her into the palace, but I didn't know that she was the sweetheart of Lord Pei. Later, Xun had a miscarriage, and I lost my child. I was sad and heartbroken, so I no longer thought of taking a concubine. But this offended Pei Jian, and he fabricated countless false charges against me!"

"I lost my wife, and I feel guilty and remorseful. I drank at night, and that's why someone with ulterior motives took advantage of me. My love for Xun is clear to all, but I was immoral with other women because I was drunk. I know my crime, and I beg you to show me mercy."

After Xiao Xun finished speaking, he kept kowtowing.

Emperor Jing looked at the figure lying on the ground, and a look of disappointment gradually appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, a palace maid's voice came from outside, "The Queen is here!"

Empress Lu hurried in, without even looking at Prince Jing kneeling on the ground, she just knelt down and said in tears, "Your Majesty, all the mistakes are my fault. It's my fault that I didn't teach my son well, so Xun'er is so arrogant.

But he is our child after all. Doesn't Your Majesty know his character? How can you listen to the nonsense of an outsider? I have been managing the harem for these years, doing my best and treating the princes and princesses equally. I beg Your Majesty to understand clearly."

The atmosphere in the hall was extremely depressing. Only the sound of Empress Lu's sobbing could be heard, echoing in the dark corner of the hall that was not illuminated by the candlelight.

Emperor Jing had an ugly look on his face. He stared at the two people kneeling in front of him in silence.

"Go down."

After a long while, a cold voice rang out from the palace, "You are grown up now, no longer a three-year-old child. I will draft an order tomorrow, and you can go to your fiefdom now."

The emperor's voice was not loud, but every word he spoke was like a cold sword, piercing people's hearts.

…

Prince Jing will leave Beijing to become his fiefdom in a month.

The entire Dajing court was turned upside down by this sudden news.

Since Emperor Gaozu, there has never been a precedent of the emperor still being alive and the princes being sent to their fiefdoms. Usually, the previous emperor passed away, and the new emperor succeeded to the throne in front of the coffin, and the remaining princes went to their fiefdoms.

Everyone said that Prince Jing had made a serious mistake and was driven out of the capital.

When this order was issued, the Prince's party was ecstatic, and Prince Jing's faction suffered a heavy blow. Even the head of the Jing Party, Duke Fuguo Lu Wensheng, was reprimanded and punished, and stripped of his post as the Minister of the Dali Temple.

Pei Jian was therefore deified.

He reported the prince to the public, and everyone thought he was just trying to stop a rock with an egg, but they didn't expect that he would actually succeed!

The Censorate supervises all officials, and its reputation is well deserved!

Nian Xi hadn't been out recently, but still heard the news.

She had been frightened for many days, always worried that Pei Yan would be implicated because of her affairs. Now when she heard the news, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, worthy of being Pei Yan.

But somehow, she didn't feel relieved. Instead, she felt as if a storm was about to come.

On this day, Wen Qingheng asked Nianxi after leaving the government office, "You haven't been out for a long time. Do you want to go to Mingyue Tower for dinner tomorrow?"

The Wen family didn't know what happened to Nianxi in the primary school that day. She didn't want to worry her family. She just happened to have caught a cold, so she just made it up as an excuse for not going out.

But my brother's question today was very strange.

In the past, he would directly say "Brother will take you to Mingyue Tower for dinner tomorrow" instead of asking "Do you want to?" first.

So Nian Xi asked, "Is there anyone else?"

Wen Qingheng was exposed, and the boss said reluctantly, "It was Pei Jian. He was busy a few days ago and did something big quietly. Now that he is free, he thought of Qin Lang and me."

"It's strange that he suddenly had the idea to invite you. Do you think it's rude?"

Even though Prince Jing has a grudge against their family, now that he is about to leave the capital, they should celebrate.

But Pei Jian was going too far.

How could he invite his sister so openly?

Wen Qingheng accepted the offer and passed on the message. But he also naturally thought that his sister would definitely refuse.

You know, Wen Qingheng has never seen Nian'er give Pei Jian a good look!

His sister is not that kind of person~

"OK."

Nian Xi agreed immediately.

Wen Qingheng: ...

"Tomorrow I will be with Pei Jian," Wen Qingheng emphasized, "It's Pei Jian."

Nian Xi glanced at him, with a little doubt in her big eyes, "I know."

Wen Qingheng: Damn Pei Jian!

…

That night, Wen Qingheng tossed and turned in bed, thinking about one question over and over again:

How did Pei Jian do it?

He was so busy that he could hardly be seen on weekdays, but he still had time to be attentive to his sister. Now Nianxi's attitude towards him had obviously changed a lot!

Damn Pei Shizhang.

He, as a brother, didn’t even notice it!

If people don’t sleep well at night, they will feel tired, and when they feel tired, they will not be in a good mood.

So the next day when Wen Qingheng took Nian Xi to sit in the private room of Mingyue Tower, he had a long face and looked very unhappy.

Qin Lang is always a master at livening up the atmosphere. He was very surprised that his sister could come today, and he refused to let anything go. No matter how Wen Qingheng tried to pour cold water on him, he could always handle it skillfully.

Nian Xi is very grateful to Qin Lang.

Cui Lian said that it was Qin Lang who saved her.

But Nianxi never saw Qin Lang in the primary school that day. She knew that this was his gentlemanly heart and he didn't want to embarrass her.

So Nianxi pulled her brother's sleeve, ate tea instead of wine, stood up and said, "I can't express my gratitude enough, Mr. Qin, Mr. Pei... Mr., thank you for saving me, I will never forget it."

Wen Qingheng didn't understand what was going on and just thought that Nian Xi was thanking Prince Jing, but Pei Jian and Qin Lang knew the truth and also stood up and raised their glasses.

"It's nothing to be proud of," Qin Lang smiled and waved his hands, not forgetting to give his good brother a push, "It was all Shi Zhang who did the hard work, I didn't do anything."

Nian Xi shook her head.

There are some things that are hard to say in front of Big Brother, let alone something so embarrassing and shameful.

Her clear eyes were filled with gratitude, but she could only say "I am very grateful".

Pei Jian knew her.

He said nothing and drank the cup of tea in one gulp.

Boiling tea~

Qin Lang watched Pei Yan finish his drink with disdainful eyes.

This hot item!

I act stupidly when I'm around my sister!

If he wanted to win his sister's heart, he could just go crazy. Why did he finish the tea? He put himself in the middle of it. Qin Lang had no choice but to close his eyes and finish the tea.

In this side room, the three of them stood up and drank together, leaving Wen Qingheng sitting alone, feeling increasingly unhappy.

So when they sat down, he immediately said in a gloomy tone, "Today's situation reminds me of the Qixi Festival last year. It was also us. Alas, there was only one person missing."

Qin Lang grimaced because of the scalding tea, but in order to maintain his image, he had to endure it and did not hear what Qing Wen Qing Heng said.

Nian Xi and Pei Jian heard it.

There was silence on the table for a moment.

Wen Qingheng immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing.

His original intention was to stab Pei Jian, but if his words fell into his sister's ears, wouldn't it just cause more trouble? No one in their family dared to ask what Nian'er was thinking about Gu Ci now.

He must have not slept well last night, so he can't think clearly before speaking.

This hateful Qin Lang was not noisy at this time.

Just when things were awkward, Pei Jian spoke, and looked at Nian Xi with a pair of cold eyes. His voice was not loud, but everyone present could hear it clearly.

He said:

"Sorry, I'll be back soon."