Chapter 66: Retribution. Who is so smart? Whose husband is he? ...
Who doesn’t need the blessing of children?
Since ancient times, whether it is a woman or a king, the most important thing is to carry on the family line and support the husband and raise children.
But who doesn't know that Pei Sizhengjun has been married into the Pei Mansion for a year and has no children? If he said he wasn't anxious, no one would believe him. But no one expected the Crown Princess to bring this matter to light and mock him.
For a moment, no one dared to respond to her. After all, they couldn't afford to offend the Prince's Mansion, and neither could they afford to offend the Pei family.
"Crown Princess, that's true." Qi Guan chuckled. "Besides, the more children one has, the better. Crown Princess, you must work hard to give the Crown Prince more children. If you can't, then adding concubines is just as effective."
The Crown Princess's family, the Meng family, was the Minister of Justice, so their power and status were naturally incomparable to ordinary people. The Crown Prince had been very fond of her since he was the Third Prince, and even did not allow his concubines to give birth to children before her.
For many years, she was the only one in the backyard. Even if there were a few concubines occasionally, she would either drug them or get rid of them after they had been favored by the prince.
She had been living like this all along, but the Third Prince suddenly became the Crown Prince. In order to consolidate his power, even if His Majesty did not grant him marriages, the Crown Prince would find ways to marry a few concubines with good family backgrounds.
Qi Guan's words undoubtedly hit upon her current worries and even trampled on her smiling face.
"Master Qi, you don't have to worry about the affairs of our house. But Master Qi, when you marry into the Pei family in the future, you must make sure to have children for the Pei family as soon as possible." The Crown Princess didn't seem to care what he said. The implicit meaning of her words was still to mock He Zhi.
To her, no one could be more disgusting than He Zhile.
Qi Guan chuckled: "This is our family affair, so there's no need to bother the Crown Princess with any of it."
Qi Guan has been pretending to be a man for these years, so he has naturally mastered these soft knife-like words to perfection. He also knows where others' pain points are, and it is effortless for him to stab them.
Besides, he didn't care much about the Prince's Mansion.
Although the Qi family is a merchant family, they are royal merchants and still have some face in front of His Majesty. Even the princes and princesses have their belongings in their mansions. How could they easily bring down the Qi family?
The Crown Princess looked at him with anger, but she couldn't show her anger in front of these ladies, as it would undoubtedly damage her reputation as a virtuous woman.
"Then there's nothing more to say." She smiled softly, forcing herself to look away. She looked at the ladies and said softly, "Please don't be polite. Let the children play together. Just think of it as having more playmates."
"Thank you, Princess."
Who doesn’t want their own child to be the playmate of the emperor’s grandson?
If there is a chance, maybe I can become the prince's companion and study in the palace in the future. This is an unparalleled honor!
Looking at the ladies gathered in groups and the children surrounding the little grandson in twos and threes, only He Zhiliao and Qi Guan looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Then let's eat our own food." Qi Guan said, "The food in the Prince's Mansion is naturally good. You look as weak as a chicken, so eat more."
He Zhiliao frowned slightly. He had obviously eaten a lot and was very energetic!
Qi Guan turned his head to look at him and saw that he was a little unhappy. He felt a little pitiful. Thinking of what Pei Ding had warned him before he came, he spoke to comfort him again.
"Your physique is there. If you want to punch and kick, you have to eat more." Qi Guan said.
He Zhiliao pouted and used the fact that he was a man to justify his actions. Did he really think I couldn't hear him?
Qi Guan sat beside him like a small mountain, and he was inexplicably intimidating. Even the gossip in secret was reduced.
After all, Qi Guan was very brave, with sharp ears and eyes. Whenever he heard something, he would immediately retort, which made those ladies dare not even gossip about him in private. How could they tell that he was weak and sickly?
After eating a little, the Crown Princess invited everyone to stroll in the courtyard again.
Although the Prince's Mansion is still the Third Prince's Mansion, its specifications and decoration are somewhat different from before. The adjacent house has also been directly opened up and expanded, and many flowers, plants and bonsai have been planted inside.
He Zhiliao frowned slightly. A house next to the prince's palace was certainly not an ordinary citizen's house. How could they just open it up for personal use like this...
[Does this count as illegally occupying private homes and land?]
He Zhiliao subconsciously looked at Qi Guan, thinking that this merchant's son should know more than him.
"Of course it counts. Next to it is the previously deserted marquis' mansion. Even if they explain to His Majesty, it is impossible to grant them that house." Qi Guan chuckled. The current crown prince actually looked like this.
He Zhiliao nodded slightly, thinking that this matter could not be hidden from Pei Ji. However, he said that the prince was in a difficult situation recently and would not do anything to him.
If God wants to destroy someone, he will first make him crazy.
The connected marquis's mansion was actually much more spacious than the prince's mansion, with rockery, flowing water, small bridges, ponds, and everything else.
"The Crown Prince knows that Lin'er likes mountains and rivers, so he specially renovated this courtyard. You ladies can also feed the koi." The Crown Princess was in front of the crowd and walked down the bridge a few steps ahead of them. She was particularly graceful and noble.
There are two small bridges in the spacious courtyard, and under the bridge is a flowing pond with lotus plants and koi fish. The fat koi fish shuttle through the lotus pond, and when they are fed, they will swim over with their tails wagging.
The ladies were all standing on the bridge in front. The crowded bridge naturally could not accommodate He Zhile and Qi Guan, so they had to go to another bridge where they could still see the same scenery.
He Zhiliao grabbed a handful of fish food and threw it into the pond. His eyes fell on the ladies. Those old people were on the bridge, so they were not afraid of the bridge collapsing.
The marquis's mansion was originally in ruins. No matter how well it was repaired, there would inevitably be some parts that could not be repaired in just a few days.
He only needed to glance at the wooden planks beneath his feet and step lightly on them before he could feel the rustling sound.
"Let's go down." Qi Guan said suddenly.
He Zhiliao had the same idea, so the two of them quickly left the bridge and went to feed the fish by the pond.
boom--
As they stepped off the bridge, they suddenly heard a loud roar, followed by all sorts of screaming and noise.
"ah!!!"
“Help!!!”
“Puha——Help, help!!”
He Zhiliao looked in shock at the women who had fallen into the water. For a moment, he looked around in panic, trying to find something to rescue them to the shore.
Qi Guan was very tactful and walked away a little. However, he saw a wooden stick nearby and gave it directly to Chun Jian, asking them to use it to save people.
The Crown Princess was terrified until she saw He Zhiliao coming towards her with a wooden stick, and then she remembered to order people to rescue the ladies.
Both Daphne yanhua and Asarum can swim and are very nimble. They immediately jumped into the water and rescued people one by one. They rescued those who couldn't swim first and then slowly pulled up the rest.
If it were just these, it wouldn't be serious. When the bridge collapsed, many of the ladies who fell into the water were hit.
For a moment, the entire Prince's Mansion was in chaos. No one had expected that such a thing would happen when they were just visiting.
The imperial physician was quickly called into the mansion to treat the ladies, but the matter could not be concealed, and before long, the ladies sent people to pick them up.
"Thank you, Pei Zhengjun, for saving my life. When my mother is better, I will definitely come to your house to thank you!"
"Thank you, Pei Zhengjun, for saving my life. Our master is still in the palace. I will definitely repay you handsomely someday."
"Thank you, Pei Zhengjun..."
The servants and the ladies and gentlemen in the mansion all expressed their gratitude, saying that they knew what happened today was all thanks to He Zhiliao, otherwise they would have been hurt even more seriously.
The Crown Princess looked at them helplessly as they thanked He Zhiliao. Besides being frightened, she also felt an even stronger hatred towards him.
She didn't understand. He was just a man, so why did the Pei family like him so much?
Seeing that everyone else had left, He Zhiliao and Qi Guan naturally could not stay any longer, so they said goodbye to the Crown Princess.
"Today's events..."
"Even if we keep our mouths shut, this matter has already spread. Instead of worrying about us talking too much, why not think carefully about how to reduce the prince's anger?" Qi Guan lowered his eyes and glanced at her, and the words he said were extremely ruthless.
He didn't want to have anything to do with these women. If his status could not be changed at this point, he would rather not meet them again.
Before leaving, He Zhiliao turned his head to look at the Crown Princess. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise, and there was a hint of smile in his eyes.
Even he had not expected that he had done nothing, but the Crown Princess had already caused trouble for herself. What happened today was enough to drive the couple apart.
When he thought about how she had planned to drug him and ruin his reputation, he felt that she deserved all the bad luck she had.
"It's better to leave this place as soon as possible. I'll take you back home." Qi Guan said.
"Would you like to visit me? But my third brother is not on leave today."
Qi Guan laughed when he heard that. "Then I wouldn't dare go. I'm sure my future mother-in-law would give me a cold shoulder..."
He then recalled how the future mother-in-law had coldly ignored him when the two families met before. It seemed that she had not said a single word of dissatisfaction, but in fact, her dissatisfaction was clearly shown on her face.
He wanted to put on a smiling face, but since she had gone from being a strange lady to being his mother-in-law... he was a little hesitant.
Qing Yan always said that he was as reckless as Pei Ji, but he didn't dare show his recklessness in front of Qin Yurong.
"Mother has already allowed you to enter the house, so just let her go. If you send her to the door but don't come in, you'll be gossiped about."
He Zhiliao understood better than him how to be cautious when facing elders. Even if the other party didn't like him, if he wanted to ease the relationship, he could only work harder. It would be bad to always avoid them.
"...That makes sense." Qi Guan was helpless. Who made him fall in love with Pei Ding at first sight? Even as a man, he had to compromise for love, right?
Qi Guan entered Pei's mansion with him. He had been here before, but his purpose was very clear, which was to see Pei Ding. But today was a little different, which made him particularly nervous.
I'll take you to pay your respects to your mother.
He Zhiliao said this to him with a beautiful smile on her face, as if paying respects to Qin Yurong was such a happy thing.
Qi Guan really couldn't understand it, but he still nodded in cooperation. It was only natural for him to meet his mother-in-law.
When the two of them arrived at the east courtyard, the maids immediately went into the house to report, but they learned that Qin Yurong was not there to meet them.
"Madam is tired today and is resting now. This is the gift that I was asked to bring to Mr. Zheng and Master Qi." Feihong came out holding two brocade boxes and handed them to them.
He Zhiliao had long been accustomed to his mother not wanting to see him, and he gladly accepted the gift. However, Qi Guan looked a little unhappy, and he did not expect to be rejected.
Feihong specifically explained, "Master Qi, please don't be so careless. Even if Si Zhengjun came here himself today, Madam would not see him. But Madam knows your feelings, so she sent you a gift."
The Madam has this kind of personality. She will see him when she wants to, and avoid him when she doesn't want to. She doesn't need the daughters-in-law to come to visit her in the morning and evening, and she doesn't set any rules. As long as she lives a good life, it's fine. Even she feels that being a daughter-in-law of the Pei family is a blessing.
Qi Guan finally dispelled the grievances that lingered in his heart. Now that things had come to this, it was no longer appropriate to go to Qing Yan and cry...
"Thank you, auntie." He chuckled and thanked her.
"Then I won't see you off." Feihong bowed with a smile.
He Zhiliao nodded repeatedly, of course serving his mother was more important.
Qi Guan felt it was inconvenient to stay any longer, so he said goodbye and left with the gift.
What was left of He Zhi? He sighed slightly, went back to the house to change clothes and practice calligraphy, and listened to Yanhua and Xixin telling him about the He family.
He had been keeping an eye on the Jing'an Marquis Mansion for some time. It looked peaceful on the surface, but maggots had already appeared inside.
After He Yao was demoted, he had nothing to do and no one dared to employ him. Even the Seventh Prince stopped associating with him. He gradually began to play with women and frequent brothels.
The one who was even more distressed was Zhuang Hongxiu. Lately, He Ruman had been causing trouble at the Marquis' Mansion whenever he had some free time. Even Zhuang Hongxiu couldn't get rid of him with money. If he continued to cause trouble, He Ruxi would be delayed.
[He's going to be overwhelmed with this kind of frequency, right?]
He Zhiliao turned around and asked them, "Your body can't stand all the partying every night."
Yanhua chuckled: "We gave him something."
Um?
"Although it allows him to do it with ease, it is a chronic poison. This kind of poison is usually addictive. If the drug is not given regularly, he will suffer." Yanhua smiled with her eyes curved. She loved to study these things the most.
He deserves to suffer.
He Zhiliao smiled at her.
"I understand!" Yanhua responded immediately.
They knew that their master was also keeping an eye on this matter. If they made any move, their master would probably attack the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion immediately.
Yanhua was sent by Pei Ji. She was very efficient and found the red-light district where He Yao was that night and directly administered a heavy dose of medicine.
The police station had been relatively quiet recently, with no messy assassinations, but unexpectedly, another incident occurred that night.
And it was an affair in a red-light district.
He Yao fainted on the brothel girl, vomiting dirty blood, and his whole body was shaking and twitching. The girl was scared and started crying, which instantly alarmed everyone else.
If something happened to the young master of Jing'an Marquis's Mansion in the brothel, no one would dare to take the responsibility, so they would quickly seek medical treatment and report to the police.
【Why are you back so late? Is there something wrong? 】
Pei Ji returned home later than usual, so He Zhiliao couldn't help but ask him with some concern, pretending to know nothing.
Pei Ji looked at him with interest, seemingly not expecting him to ask such a question despite knowing the answer. "You don't even know about this big drama?"
【ah? 】
What?
Pei Ji chuckled, "Then I won't tell you, guess it yourself."
He Zhiliao quickly caught up with him, sticking to him like a little tail, and it was clear that he wanted Pei Ji to say it in person.
Pei Ji ignored his follower behavior, walked into the house with a smile on his face, hung up his coat, walked to the table to pour a cup of tea, and sat down on the couch leisurely.
【ah! 】
Pay attention to me!
He Zhiliao puffed up his cheeks slightly and rushed directly to him. Pei Ji, who was originally drinking tea leisurely, quickly took him into his arms and slapped him on the butt without any hesitation.
"What are you doing?" Pei Ji chuckled and whispered in his ear, "You're just busy trying to please me, and you don't even care whether my husband has dinner or not."
Hearing him say this, He Zhiliao sniffed at him and then pinched his nose.
[I can smell the scent of Songhexuan! ]
As soon as I smelled it, I knew that she must be joining in the fun at Songhexuan, and she came back so late on purpose without telling him!
"He Yao is in trouble. The doctor said that he took a lot of medicines that he shouldn't have taken, which caused residual poison to accumulate in his body. It suddenly broke out tonight and has already entered his limbs and bones. I'm afraid he won't have much time left." Pei Ji whispered in his ear, but his eyes were always fixed on his expression.
He Zhiliao widened his eyes slightly, looking shocked and frightened.
Pei Ji chuckled, "You've been shocked for so long, have you thought of an excuse?"
He Zhiliao gradually put away the expression on his face, blinked his bright eyes at him, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
There was tension and fear, but no regrets.
He was afraid that Pei Ji would think that he was cruel and ruthless for doing this, and that he would think that he was so vicious and unworthy of being his king.
【He...he deserves it! 】
"After thinking for so long, this is all you can say?" Pei Ji sighed lightly, somewhat dissatisfied.
He wanted to hear He Zhi's deeper emotions.
He Yao is the He family's hope. If he becomes completely disabled, the Jing'an Marquisate will be over.
"Then Zhuang Hongxiu...is seeking revenge for her mother?" Pei Ji asked again.
He Zhiliao nodded. It should be very easy to understand to avenge one's mother.
Although he had no memory of his mother, the thick letter had pieced together his mother's appearance for him. Even though his mother died young, she still loved him. Those words contained strong love and were carefully planned for him.
He remembered every word his mother said in the letter.
Mother should be a free and unrestrained wind, not a handful of yellow earth.
Maybe blood ties are like this. Even if the memory has been destroyed long ago, blood ties will not.
Seeing him cry, Pei Ji laughed, "Isn't that something you can just say? I should praise you for doing well. Whose husband is so smart?"
【I, your family.】
He Zhiliao wiped away the tears that fell on his lips and responded obediently.
"Good boy." Pei Ji kissed the corner of his lips, savoring the same salty and wet feeling.
On the other side, the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion.
The brightly lit house was already in chaos.
He Hongan sat in the main seat with a gloomy face. The candlelight reflected on him, and even his shadow seemed to jump in the dark, which made people feel particularly depressed and frightened.
He roared as if he could no longer hold back, "This is the good son you raised!"
"Can you blame me for this? I have to take care of all the affairs of the mansion. Yao'er has been in a gloomy mood these days. He finally wants to go out for a walk, but he just drinks to relax. How can I bear to care about him?" Zhuang Hongxiu also sat down and wiped her tears. "But you, you clearly have nothing to do these days, but you are not at home all day. Who knows where you have been fooling around!"
He Hongan suddenly slammed the table and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? If you can't even take care of such a small matter at home, what else can we expect you to do?"
Zhuang Hongxiu forgot to cry when she heard this and started to complain, "Don't I have enough work to do in this mansion? The third child comes to the mansion to cause trouble whenever he gets the chance, and you, as a father, don't intervene! And Xixi, she's about to reach marriage age, but she can't even find a good husband! It's all your fault as a father!"
"If it weren't for me, would you have such a good life now?"
“…”
The two sides started arguing, and they didn't care about He Yao who was still unconscious on the bed, let alone He Ruxi who had been listening to them talking.
He Ruxi sat very dignified. As she grew older, she became more beautiful. Listening to her parents quarreling, she just felt bored.
If it weren't for all the troubles at home, she would have been married off to a good family long ago. It was all He Yao's fault, that useless guy. It would be better for him to just die. Living like this is disgusting.
She glanced at the unconscious He Yao indifferently, but a hint of viciousness flashed across her eyes.
"Mom and Dad, stop arguing. My second brother is still resting." He Ruxi reminded softly, "When my second brother wakes up, I will persuade him well. As for marriage...if it really can't work out, my daughter will not marry and will stay with you in your old age."
"Ridiculous!" He Hongan was furious. "You are a good girl and you should get married! Why are you just staying at home? I will find a way to find a marriage for you. At the very least, you can become a concubine of the princes!"
Before He Ruxi could say anything, Zhuang Hongxiu was furious. "Bah! You asked me to be your mistress before, but now you want my daughter to be someone else's mistress too! Do you have any heart?"
"Women's opinions! If she could become the prince's concubine, would you still act like this?" He Hongan looked at her with some annoyance. "Didn't you rush to her because I was a marquis? You only wanted power and status, not fame!"
He Ruxi nodded imperceptibly.
Zhuang Hongxiu was also stunned. "The prince's concubine? Then, then what should I do? The situation in the mansion..."
"I'll find a way. Don't worry about it. Take care of your son first!" He Hongan stood up and walked out of the house without even bothering to look at He Yao again.
Zhuang Hongxiu also reacted, turned around and held He Ruxi's hand, "Son! If you can become the prince's concubine, if he ascends the throne in the future, you can directly be made a concubine! Our family will rise again!"
He Ruxi smiled slightly, but she was particularly disgusted with her ignorant appearance and her incoherent speech. If it weren't for those inferior means, she would not be able to marry into the family.
However, those methods do have many merits.
Even as a concubine, she had a way to gain the prince's favor, provided that her father could convince the prince.
He Yao was not unconscious for too long, but there was some residual poison in his body, and the accident happened when he was doing that thing, which caused Jing to be completely unable to make it.
After waking up, he made a big fuss at home and drove away all the doctors who came to see him.
But they all forgot to give the doctors a few more warnings before sending them away, so the news of He Yao's inhumanity spread throughout the streets and alleys again.
For a moment, the people who already disliked the Jing'an Marquis Mansion disliked them even more, and regarded them as unlucky and avoided them as much as possible.
“Serves you right!”
Upon learning this, Harumi breathed a sigh of relief.
"In the past, that family always regarded He Yao as their foundation, even taking He Ruman and He Ruxi with them, yet they chose to bully you! Now that you've ended up like this, it's all their karma!"
He Zhiliao nodded heavily, it’s all retribution!
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The author has something to say: Qi Guan: It’s another day to see my mother-in-law… [crack][crack][crack]
Pei Gouzi: "Whose sweetheart——" [evil smile][evil smile][evil smile]
Little Cicada: Your! Home! [Sprinkle flowers][Sprinkle flowers][Sprinkle flowers]
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