Chapter 34 My Cousin Always Stares at Me
At this moment, Jiang Ru could guess what Pei Wu was going to write in his memorial without even having to guess.
Pei Wu stood upright in front of the table, his brushstrokes decisive and swift. Perhaps it was the fearlessness of youth, but he displayed a sense of righteous indignation.
Jiang Ru became worried for him: "But the fact that he beat someone in the street shows that he is not afraid at all, so your memorial might be useless."
The court can't be entirely deaf and blind. Chen Gou's arrogance must be due to someone backing him up. His father is a minister, and if Pei Wu's memorial offends the person behind him, he will be retaliated against in the future.
Pei Wu had already finished writing the memorial. Instead of answering Jiang Ru's question directly, he asked, "Do you think I should write it?"
Jiang Ru witnessed the horrific state of the beaten man with her own eyes today. If there were a place to seek justice for him, Jiang Ru would naturally be willing. She paused for a moment: "It should be written, but..."
She was afraid that Pei Wu would get herself involved.
Jiang Ru ultimately didn't say anything. Pei Wu wasn't stupid; he knew the consequences. Jiang Ru could only mutter, "You write it."
Pei Wu had already finished writing; the ink was still wet. Jiang Ru glanced at it. In his memorial, Pei Wu detailed Chen Gou's crimes and finally requested the emperor to punish him.
There was nothing wrong with it. Jiang Ru glanced at it and looked away. She asked Pei Wu, "Do you think anyone else would write a memorial besides you?"
Pei Wu: "Of course."
He looked at the worried Jiang Ru and said softly, "Don't worry about me. If I pretend not to know, not only will I feel guilty, but you won't be at ease either."
Pei Wu read so many books and was so determined to take the imperial examinations, wasn't it all for this? He couldn't just enter the court and then only care about protecting himself.
They all understood this principle, so Jiang Ru tacitly approved of Pei Wu's actions.
Perhaps because she had something on her mind, Jiang Ru couldn't sleep well that night. In her dreams, she kept worrying about Pei Wu and fearing that he would be implicated.
The next morning, Jiang Ru woke up early. When she came out dressed, Pei Wu was having breakfast. When he saw her wake up, Pei Wu seemed surprised for a moment: "Why are you awake so early?"
When Xiao Zhu saw that she was awake, she wanted to bring her breakfast, so Jiang Ru sat down opposite Pei Wu.
Pei Wu ate very politely, with elegant movements and perfectly bent fingers. Jiang Ru stared at his hands, mesmerized.
Because he was about to leave, Pei Wu had already changed his clothes. The official robes of a sixth-rank official were scarlet, with a silver-plated leather belt around his waist and a horizontal band on his outer robe. The robe was very large, perhaps because Pei Wu was tall enough to fit into it.
Pei Wu's temperament was already rather cold, and wearing this outfit made him even more unapproachable.
He had fair skin, which looked stunning against the crimson fabric. His slender hands emerged from the wide sleeves of his robe, and as he moved, the cuffs slid down to reveal his wrists.
Jiang Ru stared at his hand for a long time, so long that Pei Wu had already finished his breakfast. He glanced at Jiang Ru, who was staring at his hand, thought for two seconds, and then withdrew his hand.
Jiang Ru's gaze quickly shifted to his face.
Pei Wu twitched the corner of his lips: "Cousin, why are you staring at me all day?"
Jiang Ru stared at him for so long that she forgot why she had come. She followed Pei Wu eagerly and watched him put on his official hat. The black official hat had two legs sticking out from behind. Actually, the hat wasn't very nice, but when Pei Wu wore it, it looked perfectly natural, as if it was meant to be.
After much thought, Jiang Ru concluded that it must be because of her good looks.
Unable to get a reply from Jiang Ru, Pei Wu waited patiently for a while, but Jiang Ru still didn't speak. She just followed him and said, "I'll see you out."
Pei Wu really didn't ask any more questions. They walked along the corridor to the side door. Jiang Ru didn't say anything else or answer his questions. She just clung to the door, looking at Pei Wu expectantly: "I'll wait for you to come back."
She was worried about Pei Wu.
Pei Wu quickly understood what she meant. He stood by the door and looked at Jiang Ru for a while: "I will be back as soon as possible."
Jiang Ru nodded: "Okay, you can go now."
Unless under special circumstances, officials of the sixth rank could not submit memorials directly; they had to report through each level. Although this was somewhat troublesome, most of the time, the memorials would reach the emperor.
Early that morning, Pei Wu handed the memorial to Xu Shiduo, a Hanlin Academician.
Given Chen Gou's actions yesterday, today's memorials will likely pile up like a mountain. Pei Wu is not in a hurry, however, the memorials have been submitted for a long time, but there has been no response.
For the first few days, Jiang Ru was worried that he would be retaliated against, but after sending the memorial, there was no response. Jiang Ru guessed that the person above did not want to care. After all, Chen Gou and the emperor were cousins, and if he wanted to turn a blind eye, no one could stop him.
The person who was beaten in the street was truly innocent.
Pei Wu also felt something was amiss, so he submitted another memorial, which was once again ignored.
Until the day before his day off, he received an invitation, signed by Song Pingzhang.
The next morning, Pei Wu went to the Prime Minister's residence early. The doorman led him through the rockery and bamboo forest to a courtyard.
Pei Wu waited in the courtyard for a while before Song Pingzhang arrived late. Since it was a day off, Song Pingzhang was only dressed casually in a round-necked black robe, with his hair casually tied up. Before he even got close, he let out a hearty laugh: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Pei Wu stood up and called out to Prime Minister Song.
Song Pingzhang didn't respond. He looked at Pei Wu and suddenly said, "Speaking of which, you can be considered my student."
Calling someone "teacher" last time was just a moment of panic. If I were to actually call someone "teacher" like that, it would be an attempt to unnecessarily claim a connection.
Song Pingzhang was just saying it casually, and Pei Wu didn't say anything, so he didn't care: "Have some tea first, chrysanthemum tea is the best for cooling down."
Pei Wu responded and took a small sip. He knew that Song Pingzhang had summoned him today for more than just tea.
Before long, a page boy came forward with a tray, and the contents of the tray looked very familiar to Pei Wu, including a memorial written by Pei Wu himself.
This memorial was intended for the emperor, but inexplicably ended up in the hands of Song Pingzhang.
Pei Wu looked at Song Pingzhang with a calm expression. Song Pingzhang smiled and pointed to the memorial on the table: "Take a look."
Pei Wu raised his hand, flipped through the book, and glanced at it. It was written by him, confirming that it was correct.
Pei Wu closed the memorial, his expression turning somewhat cold: "What is the meaning of this, Prime Minister Song?"
Song Pingzhang: "Do you think your memorial will even reach the Emperor?"
At this point, Song Pingzhang changed his tune again: "Even if it could be delivered to him, do you think he would really execute Chen Gou according to the law, as stated in the memorial?"
Pei Wu raised his eyes but did not speak.
Song Pingzhang snorted coldly: "Now the court is divided into two factions, the Empress Dowager's faction and Su's faction. The Emperor is young, and the government is now in the hands of others. His Majesty has seen your memorial, but he is powerless to do anything about it."
Needless to say, the Empress Dowager was a powerful figure. With the emperor being young, it was common for power to fall into the hands of his maternal relatives.
As for that traitor Su, Emperor Wen trusted treacherous officials in his later years and once relinquished power, which made Su's faction increasingly arrogant. At its worst, Su's faction managed all affairs of the court. As a result, after Emperor Wen's death, their henchmen had already taken deep root and could not be eradicated overnight.
Song Pingzhang's words made a lot of sense, but he overlooked one point. Pei Wu calmly asked, "And Prime Minister Song, which faction do you belong to?"
Song Pingzhang said solemnly, “Of course I will wholeheartedly assist Your Majesty. Now the court is controlled by traitors. As you have seen, the Chen family scoundrels are injuring people in the street, but no one dares to do anything about it. If this continues, the country will cease to exist.”
He makes a lot of sense, but Pei Wu is only a sixth-rank compiler in the Hanlin Academy. He has no power and no money. What can he do?
How could he trust Song Pingzhang?
If Song Pingzhang was truly loyal to the Emperor and intercepted his memorial en route, then Pei Wu would have nothing to say. But if he was deliberately trying to trick Pei Wu, then what should Pei Wu do?
Pei Wu was not afraid of who would read the memorial or who would report it to; the fact that he wrote the memorial showed that he was not afraid.
But what if this memorial never saw the light of day from beginning to end?
Under Song Pingzhang's eager gaze, Pei Wu calmly replied, "Of course I am loyal to Your Majesty."
He wouldn't rashly take sides; the only one he would side with was the one sitting on the dragon throne. Pei Wu wouldn't trust anyone else.
Upon hearing this, Song Pingzhang laughed heartily. He was not angry, nor did he ask Pei Wu for his decision. He simply handed the memorial to Pei Wu and said, "This memorial need not be submitted."
Even if it's handed over, no one will read it.
The Great Xia Dynasty may appear glamorous on the outside, but it is rotten inside. This dynasty has been riddled with holes by termites, and a single blow could bring it down.
In the end, Song Pingzhang did not press Pei Wu. He simply told him to stop submitting memorials and then let Pei Wu leave. When Pei Wu came out of the Prime Minister's residence, a carriage was already prepared outside to take him back home.
Pei Wu clutched his two memorials, bowing his head in deep thought for a long time. He realized he needed to find an opportunity to meet the new emperor.
As for this memorial, there is indeed no need to send it again.
Jiang Ru knew that the Prime Minister's residence had invited him, and thought that he might not return until dark, but Pei Wu returned before lunchtime.
After entering, Pei Wu went straight to his study, lit the oil lamp, and burned the memorial on the lamp oil.
Flames raged and quickly engulfed the paper, burning it to ashes.
When Jiang Ru saw that he was not in good condition, she followed him to the study and saw this scene: the memorial that was supposed to be submitted had been taken back and burned by Pei Wu.
Jiang Ru hesitated for a moment, then asked, "How... how did it end up back in your hands?"
Pei Wu lowered his eyes, unsure how to tell Jiang Ru. Before he could speak, Jiang Ru guessed, "Could it be... that he was intercepted halfway?"
She was right. Pei Wu gave a low "hmm". Seeing that he was in low spirits, Jiang Ru stepped forward. She looked down at the two clumps of ashes and said in distress, "Is this what a one-man show is? There's not even a chance to speak."
Pei Wu's emotions were slightly stirred by her words, and he smiled: "It should be the Three Words Hall."
The Empress Dowager's Party, the Soviet Party, and the Prime Minister's Party.
Jiang Ru pondered the complex relationships within the imperial court, when suddenly a rebellious idea came to her mind.
Add Pei Wu to this Three-Character Hall to make it a Four-Character Hall.
That's what Jiang Ru thought, but she could only comfort Pei Wu: "Fine, let's take it back. We're just starting out, so let's try not to get into conflicts with anyone. Let's take it slow."
Pei Wu responded softly, and Jiang Ru continued, "Let's take it slow. One day, we will surely make him receive the punishment he deserves."
Pei Wu gazed at the two clumps of ashes and said with certainty, "Yes, it will."
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