Chapter 91 I Hate You
She never expected Pei Wu to treat her like this. They had agreed to leave together, so why did he lie to her?
Jiang Ru struggled violently, and the two guards couldn't hold her down. As a result, they touched Jiang Ru's wound, which suddenly stung, and Jiang Ru hissed in pain.
The guards' main task was to protect Jiang Ru, so when they saw Jiang Ru cry out in pain, they instinctively let go of her.
Pei Wu's gaze fell and finally saw the wound on Jiang Ru's hand. She was perfectly fine just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, the back of her hand was covered in blood, which had already stained her fingertips red and was dripping down. Pei Wu couldn't help but take a step forward, but then hesitated and stopped.
Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Ru immediately ran towards Pei Wu. When she reached Pei Wu's side, a glimmer of expectation still lingered in her eyes. She reached out with her injured hand to grab Pei Wu and said, "Let's go, we should go."
Blood smeared onto Pei Wu's sleeve, leaving a dark red stain on his plain cuff. Pei Wu dodged her, saying, "You go first."
Jiang Ru still held on tightly to him, which made her wounds tear open even more, but she completely ignored the wounds on her hands and kept trying to drag him towards the carriage: "Come with me."
When she really used all her strength, she did manage to drag Pei Wu a few steps, but that was all.
Pei Wu tried to pry Jiang Ru's hand off his wrist, but Jiang Ru was holding on very tightly, and even a little force would easily tear her injured hand apart further.
Jiang Ru raised her bright eyes, which seemed to be filled with tears, and clenched her teeth tightly: "I told you long ago that we shouldn't have come to Bianjing. You'll really die if you stay here."
Pei Wu was just bluffing her, trying to find an opportunity to send her away. For a man like him, national righteousness outweighs personal feelings. Perhaps he only wanted to send Jiang Ru away because he discovered that Jiang Ru liked him.
Pei Wu hadn't let her go despite all the dangers they'd faced before, but now that he knew Jiang Ru liked him, he couldn't wait to send her away immediately.
Jiang Ru struggled to keep from being pulled away by Pei Wu. The mist in her eyes made her gaze appear exceptionally innocent, like a young girl experiencing her first love, always yearning for romance. She looked at Pei Wu with those clear eyes, asking for an answer with great confusion: "Don't you like me? So you want to send me away?"
When he confessed his feelings that evening, Pei Wu didn't give her the same answer. He only said that he knew about Jiang Ru's feelings, but he didn't say the same thing as her: "I like you too."
Perhaps in his eyes, Jiang Ru really is just a cousin. He sensed that Jiang Ru had developed inappropriate feelings for him, and now was the perfect opportunity to get rid of her. Does he even have any genuine feelings for her?
Even though she knew she shouldn't be worrying about these things at this moment, she still asked Pei Wu, "Don't you like me even a little bit?"
After a long silence, a cold wind blew by, and Jiang Ru shivered, her grip on Pei Wu's hand weakening.
Her eyes were frighteningly red. Having known Pei Wu for three years, she had long believed that Pei Wu and she were inseparable, but she never expected that Pei Wu never felt that way, and even her feelings for him were one-sided.
Tears lingered in her eyes, but did not fall. For some reason, Pei Wu did not try to brush her hand away. His eyes were so dark that Jiang Ru could not understand the emotions in them.
In his heart, everything was more important than feelings, not to mention that Jiang Ru was just a distant cousin, and besides, he didn't like Jiang Ru, so her entanglement was even more ridiculous.
At this moment, perhaps because he couldn't bear to see Jiang Ru sad, Pei Wu was determined to be ruthless towards her so that she would leave first. However, he ultimately failed to do so, and he couldn't control his heart when he saw Jiang Ru crying.
It's wrong to hurt Jiang Ru, it's wrong to make her wait for him with a love that has no answer. It's too cruel to Jiang Ru.
He suddenly said, "I like it."
Jiang Ru was stunned. Pei Wu looked at her, his eyes fixed on her alone. He repeated, "It's not that I don't like you. I've liked you for a long time. How could I not like you?"
Instead of the joy she had imagined upon learning that Pei Wu also liked her, Jiang Ru subtly changed the subject: "Since you like me, why won't you come with me?"
Pei Wu had already given this answer, but he still patiently told Jiang Ru, "I still have things to finish, you can go first, okay?"
Jiang Ru lowered her head and after a long while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Bookworm."
Perhaps because she had something stuck in her throat, Jiang Ru gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, I won't leave. I want to live, even if you don't want to. You know everyone wants you dead, yet you still want to serve this dog emperor. Is he worth it? He'll kick you to the curb when he's done with you."
Despite saying harsh words, she was still trying to persuade Pei Wu, attempting to soften his heart one last time: "If your entire family is executed one day, I will die with you. Can you bear that?"
This time, Pei Wu leaned down slightly, looked into Jiang Ru's eyes, and said earnestly, "Jiang Ru, you will not die."
Before Jiang Ru could speak, he continued, "I'll come find you as soon as possible. Wait for me, okay?"
He didn't answer Jiang Ru's question at all, and instead grabbed her hand and pried it open one by one. Jiang Ru was no match for his strength and could only watch helplessly as Pei Wu pushed her away. In her anger, she blurted out, "I hate you."
They had just confessed their feelings to each other when Jiang Ru immediately said she hated him. Pei Wu froze for a moment, then changed the subject: "It'll be dawn soon if we don't leave now, let's get in the carriage quickly."
After saying this, the guards who had been waiting nearby rushed forward. Jiang Ru glared at them, then suddenly raised her foot and kicked Pei Wu hard. Pei Wu's clothes were light-colored, and after being kicked like this, they were immediately covered with gray footprints.
She did kick him, but she didn't use any force. After kicking him, Jiang Ru felt sorry for him and hugged Pei Wu tightly. She didn't want to leave at all. Jiang Ru turned to the guards and said, "You can send Song Shu away. I won't go with you."
Dragging and pulling could easily hurt Jiang Ru, so Pei Wu finally sighed, raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears on Jiang Ru's face, as if treating his most cherished lover.
Then, he took out a handkerchief and covered Jiang Ru's face.
The flowers on the handkerchief were embroidered by Jiang Ru. Jiang Ru did not expect that Pei Wu's methods were becoming more and more sinister. He actually had a trick up his sleeve and drugged her again!
Before closing her eyes, Jiang Ru's last thought was that she would get her revenge one day.
The medicine was very effective, and Jiang Ru quickly fainted. Pei Wu carried Jiang Ru carefully and walked towards the sedan chair.
After placing Jiang Ru inside the sedan chair, Pei Wu noticed the injury on her hand, which must have been caused by a scrape on the sedan chair. He had left a loophole, which allowed Jiang Ru to not only escape but also get injured. Unwilling to let someone else do it, Pei Wu cleaned Jiang Ru's wound.
After the bloodstains were wiped clean, medicine was applied, and the wound was bandaged, Pei Wu stood up, looked down at the sleeping Jiang Ru, and turned to leave.
The sedan chair quickly disappeared into the long street. Bianjing was very lively at night. The sedan chair was inconspicuous. Pei Wu had bribed the city gate guards in advance. Even though the city gates were closed, Jiang Ru and Song Shu were still sent out.
The carriages outside the city gate were already waiting. Jiang Ru and Song Shu were carried onto the carriages. The roads were difficult to travel at night, but the carriages did not dare to stop for a moment and soon blended into the thick darkness.
When she woke up again, it was already noon the next day. Pei Wu had been extremely ruthless; after two doses of medicine, Jiang Ru slept for five or six hours straight.
Song Shu only drank one bowl of medicine, and she drank it earlier than her, so she naturally woke up earlier as well.
The moment she opened her eyes, Song Shu was by Jiang Ru's side. She had obviously already understood the situation and was not too flustered. Her first concern for Jiang Ru was: "How are you?"
Although Song Shu woke up early, she wasn't much better off than Jiang Ru. When she woke up, the carriage had already left the city gate and was even dozens of miles away from Bianjing. Pei Wu had made all the arrangements perfectly.
When she noticed the wound on Jiang Ru's hand, she guessed that Jiang Ru and Pei Wu had a conflict, so she stayed by Jiang Ru's side, afraid that Jiang Ru would do something foolish.
However, after Jiang Ru opened her eyes, she only glanced blankly at Song Shu and didn't ask anything.
Perhaps because she had already been heartbroken the night before, Jiang Ru could barely cry anymore. Her throat felt like it was on fire, and she couldn't speak. Song Shu quickly handed her a glass of water, which Jiang Ru drank in one gulp before asking in a weak voice, "Where are we?"
Song Shu replied, "We're almost at Yingchang Prefecture."
Jiang Ru closed her eyes. Her face was pale, and her lips were almost bloodless. She said weakly, "He lied to me again."
The person who lied to her was, of course, Pei Wu. Pei Wu must have been determined to send her away. She rushed back now, but she was sent away again.
Jiang Ru knew that following Pei Wu was just causing trouble, but she was afraid that Pei Wu would lie to her again, and even more afraid that Pei Wu would die.
Jiang Ru had never felt that the word "death" was anything to be afraid of, but when it came to Pei Wu, she began to avoid it and dared not face it directly.
Jiang Ru wasn't sure if this had happened in her past life. She only knew that Pei Wu's current situation was very dangerous, so he wanted to send her away. He was afraid that Jiang Ru would die, but he wasn't afraid of dying himself.
At this moment, Song Shu handed her a pancake and patted her uninjured hand reassuringly: "Eat something first."
Jiang Ru was hungry, but overwhelmed by her emotions, she couldn't stop feeling nauseous and shook her head to indicate that she wouldn't eat.
Song Shu sighed: "Your cousin is an official of the imperial court after all. If he leaves without saying a word, the emperor will be furious and will find him no matter what."
“I think your cousin did the right thing by sending you away first. This way, he can boldly do what he wants to do. Otherwise, if someone were to harm you, it would be a hindrance.”
Jiang Ru understood this reasoning. She was too excited last night, and she hated Pei Wu for lying to her. She was also worried about Pei Wu, which led to her impulsive actions.
Even now, she still impulsively wants to go back to find Pei Wu.
Jiang Ru is a human being; she cannot let reason prevail over emotion, she cannot analyze things rationally, and she cannot abandon Pei Wu when he is in danger. Jiang Ru stared blankly at a point in front of her and murmured, "Pei Wu and I have broken up."
Song Shu didn't hear clearly: "What?"
Jiang Ru told her earnestly, "I will never forgive Pei Wu. He treated me like this today, and he will do it again in the future. I will never believe a word he says again."
Song Shuwei held out the pancake, saying, "Have a bite."
If she acts out of spite, Jiang Ru will completely forget about it when she sees Pei Wu again. After all, nothing is better than being alive, but all of this depends on Pei Wu coming back alive.
Song Shu dared not speculate too much. Song Pingzhang's fate was still unknown, and Pei Wu's was even more uncertain. She dared not remind Jiang Ru of this matter, for fear that Jiang Ru would go back and die.
The carriage traveled day and night, and after several days, it arrived at a village in Tangzhou.
The house was far from residential areas, so their presence wouldn't attract much attention.
The house was old and dilapidated. As Jiang Ru lay on the wooden bed, she would occasionally think of the old mud house in Jinzhou. Although the house was broken, they still lived a good life there.
But now, Pei Wu has too much, and he no longer has that pure joy he once had, the kind of happiness that comes without any ulterior motives.
Even hundreds of miles away in Bianjing, things were still far from peaceful.
Two days after Jiang Ru left, the residence of the Left Vice Minister of the Imperial Household Department on Yujie Street caught fire. The fire burned all night, killing the Left Vice Minister's distant cousin, leaving no trace of her body.
Lord Pei was overcome with grief and could not bear the sorrow, so he fell ill and was bedridden.
Soon, Pei Wu submitted a letter requesting leave to observe three months of mourning for his cousin, and temporarily entrusted all matters of state to others.
The fire broke out suddenly, and everyone could only lament the tragic fate of the beautiful woman in private. In front of Pei Wu, they could only offer their comfort and tell him not to be too sad. From the time of the encoffining to the burial, a total of seven days passed, and people kept coming to the Song residence.
Among them, the most unwilling to believe it were the officials who knew Jiang Ru, such as Zheng Qiuhong and others. While others only shed a couple of symbolic tears, they had truly cried for Jiang Ru.
However, no matter how badly they felt inside, they couldn't show too much on their faces except for mourning. Otherwise, Pei Wu would be easily affected. He was already on the verge of death, and his friends were worried that he would follow Jiang Ru directly to the afterlife.
The rest of the time, they burned paper money for Jiang Ru and stayed in the mansion to help out for a few days.
These past few days, Pei Wu has been dressed in white mourning clothes every time he appears in public. His cousin has passed away, and he is wearing mourning clothes with a pale face, looking like a wandering ghost. Everyone has advised him to rest well, but the next day, Pei Wu still appears with that sickly appearance, as if he is about to die. It's really impossible for anyone to do anything about him.
For several days, Pei Wu seemed like a walking corpse. On the evening of the sixth day, an uninvited guest arrived at the Pei residence.
No one visited at night, and the entire mansion seemed eerie. White cloth was everywhere, and a cold wind seemed to blow. If one were timid, one would probably be afraid to stand in this courtyard and suspect that it was haunted.
So the person who stepped into the courtyard was particularly conspicuous. He was wearing light-colored clothes and stood in front of the burned-out house, looking at the ruins that were beyond repair.
The smell of burning lingered for a long time. Everything inside the house was burned to black fragments. The fallen beams and tiles were piled up haphazardly. The emperor stood in front of the dilapidated house, as if he could not believe it: "Could there be some misunderstanding, senior brother? Sister Jiang should have already run away."
Pei Wu calmly told the emperor, "Your Majesty, your cousin has already left. Please do not say such things."
The emperor wouldn't listen to reason. Ignoring his subordinates' attempts to stop him, he rushed straight in. He used his young hands to rummage through the broken dirt and rubble inside the house. Ashes flew everywhere, and he coughed from the fumes. He didn't care at all that his fingers were cut and bleeding from all the rummaging.
Blood mixed with black scorched earth blurred his hands as he searched futilely through the ruins, shouting to his subordinates behind him, "What are you standing there for? Come and search!"
The subordinates had no choice but to step forward and search through the charred ruins with their hands.
Pei Wu watched him calmly from beginning to end. It was truly strange that such a cold-blooded emperor would actually be willing to personally search for Jiang Ru's remains.
After searching for several hours, as the sky began to lighten, the emperor finally finished turning over the entire area. His hands were rotten beyond recognition, but he seemed to have forgotten the pain and didn't care about the filth at all. He just sat there in the scorched earth.
He hadn't slept all night, his eyes were bloodshot, and he stared wide-eyed, unable to face reality, a hint of helplessness flashing in them.
After a long while, he stood up, but slipped and fell, his foot getting stuck in the rocks, twisting his ankle.
His subordinates immediately rushed forward to help him up and pull him out of the rocks. He dragged his lame leg and limped toward Pei Wu, his face full of anger. He pressed his charred hand onto Pei Wu's arm and shook him, saying, "I never said I wanted Jiang Ru dead. Where did you hide her? Tell me!"
Ironically, if Jiang Ru were truly "alive," the emperor would not hesitate to take action against her when the time was right. He would even kill Jiang Ru if she could threaten Pei Wu.
But if Jiang Ru really dies, he will feel pain, regret, and hypocrisy, just like Song Pingzhang, who calls her "teacher" when he needs her, but can kick her aside and eliminate her completely when he doesn't.
Pei Wu lowered his gaze. The emperor was almost a head shorter than him, which made his gaze seem contemptuous, as if he were indifferent to the emperor's ugly behavior.
The emperor truly had no intention of taking Jiang Ru's life. He still remembered how kind Jiang Ru had been to him, sharing food with him and chatting with him.
Having been an actor for so long, he initially approached Jiang Ru with malice. He loathed Jiang Ru and Pei Wu, and the more he lacked something, the more he wanted to destroy it. Having grown up amidst deceit and treachery, he simply did not believe that such a good brother-sister relationship existed in the world.
Shouldn't brothers and sisters want to kill each other?
He resented Jiang Ru, resented the pity in her eyes when she looked at him. What a joke! He was the emperor, the ruler of the Great Xia Dynasty; what was Jiang Ru, this insignificant ant, that she would pity him?
She had no desire for power and never treated him as an emperor. No matter how high Pei Wu rose in rank, she remained the same towards him and even hoped that he wouldn't be promoted too quickly.
Pei Wu saw the anger and resentment in the emperor's eyes. He grabbed Pei Wu, his smile mad: "Senior brother, you knew I would target Jiang Ru, so you sent her away beforehand, right? Let me guess when you sent her away."
The emperor's eyes were filled with malice: "Back then in the main hall, my senior brother said he would be loyal to me. Was he just lying to me? You're actually wary of me."
He glared at Pei Wu: "You sent Jiang Ru away as soon as you got back that day, didn't you?"
Pei Wu simply stared at him, saying nothing, as if watching a play, observing his utter disgrace.
The emperor knew he had guessed correctly. He sneered, "You can hide her, but I will find her. I will find her even if I have to search every inch of the Great Xia."
At this moment, Pei Wu finally spoke up: "My younger sister has already left."
The emperor didn't believe it at all. He gave a disdainful "humph": "You're all wary of me."
He looked at Pei Wu with bloodshot eyes and said, "You, Song Pingzhang, the Empress Dowager, you are all wary of me."
Pei Wu objectively stated: "Lord Song has never been wary of the Emperor."
Upon hearing this, the emperor laughed in anger, tears welling in his eyes, and he was breathless with laughter: "You say Song Pingzhang is sincere to me? He just doesn't have anyone else to support. He only supports the emperor, not me."
To say that Song Pingzhang was sincere towards him is even more laughable.
Song Pingzhang originally didn't want to help him. Song Pingzhang valued his fourth brother the most and always treated him like a child who didn't have to inherit the throne. If his fourth brother hadn't died, he wouldn't have even given him a second glance.
So isn't it understandable that he hates Song Pingzhang?
He was already magnanimous to spare Song Pingzhang's life, considering that such a treacherous minister had approached him.
Upon hearing this, Pei Wu's last shred of compassion for the emperor vanished. He assumed that the emperor was young and, influenced by treacherous officials, was unable to distinguish who the loyal ministers were.
However, he never truly trusted Song Pingzhang. He felt that everyone who was kind to him had ulterior motives, and he thought that everyone wanted his position.
Pei Wu couldn't understand it. Even if the emperor had no power after ascending the throne, he was still taught by someone before he was seven years old. His tutors were all important officials in the court, and he also had old ministers who supported him after ascending the throne. It was impossible for him to have produced such a twisted emperor.
His insides are already rotten.
Pei Wu had always believed that people could be educated, but today he realized that the emperor before him was beyond saving.
He didn't listen to a word Song Pingzhang taught him.
A few rooster crows came from somewhere nearby, and a faint light appeared in the gray sky. The rooster crows were particularly loud in the night. Pei Wu said, "Your Majesty should return to the palace."
The emperor looked at him with such intense hatred that it seemed he wanted to kill him. If he had a weapon, he probably would have stabbed Pei Wu directly.
Finally, he made a harsh statement: "If you're so capable, then never look for her again."
As long as Pei Wu goes to find Jiang Ru, he will naturally have the opportunity to intervene.
After saying that, he finally released Pei Wu and turned away angrily.
Pei Wu spoke up: "Would Your Majesty like to offer incense for your cousin?"
The emperor paused in his tracks, his clothes already filthy and dusty. He didn't turn back: "The person isn't dead; this incense is offered to wandering ghosts."
Before Pei Wu could remind him that Jiang Ru was already dead, he quickly walked towards the side path.
At this moment, Pei Wu suddenly said, "Your Majesty, please don't call me 'Senior Brother' anymore."
The emperor paused slightly, knowing that this was Pei Wu's final act of severing ties with him. This time, he would not respond to Pei Wu's words, but they both knew that the emperor would not overstep his bounds again.
The entire courtyard had been ransacked by the emperor. A servant came forward to ask what was wrong, but Pei Wu glanced at the ruins and shook his head: "Don't worry about it."
Anyway, this house will be uninhabited soon.
The emperor himself got himself all dirty, yet he still reached out to touch Pei Wu. The servant hesitated, looking at Pei Wu's arm. There were two black handprints on both sleeves of his clothes, with faint dark red bloodstains in them. Since the hempen clothes were white, the two handprints were particularly conspicuous.
Noticing the servant's gaze, Pei Wu also looked down at the bloody handprint on his arm, and he immediately frowned in disgust.
This was the first time the servant had seen such undisguised disdain in Pei Wu's eyes. He was stunned for a moment, and when he looked again, the disgust in Pei Wu's eyes had disappeared. He said, "Get me a new set of clothes."
The servant readily agreed and went to find clothes for Pei Wu.
The coffin remained in the room for half a day. At dawn, the long funeral procession set off, with white paper money flying everywhere. Pei Wu walked at the front, his face even whiter than the paper, making it hard to tell who looked more like the dead.
The chosen burial site is in Mangshan, just outside Bianjing city, a popular choice for wealthy families in the area.
Logically speaking, Jiang Ru was from Shuzhou, so her coffin should have been returned to the mountains, but Pei Wu still chose to bury her in Bianjing.
At 9:00 AM, the coffin was lowered into the ground. No inscription was carved on the tombstone. Pei Wu saw everyone off. After the crowd dispersed, he sat by the tomb, silent, until it got dark before getting up and leaving.
Not long after he left, a group of people arrived at the tomb, and the leader was none other than the emperor.
The emperor changed his clothes, perhaps to provoke Jiang Ru and Pei Wu, he deliberately wore a bright red dress, which was very eye-catching even in the dark night.
He stood in front of the grave mound, and his subordinates all thought he had come late at night to pay his respects secretly. But to their surprise, he raised his foot and kicked the tombstone directly.
Then, he gave the order: "Dig."
The subordinates all suspected they had misheard; they looked at each other, but dared not move.
The emperor turned and glared at the crowd: "I said, are you all deaf?"
The subordinates looked at each other in bewilderment, and one of the bolder ones reminded them: "Your Excellency, this is a grave."
The emperor raised an eyebrow: "I'll tell you to dig!"
The subordinate dared not ask any more questions, quickly picked up his tools, apologized to the grave owner in his heart, and walked helplessly toward the grave.
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Author's Note: Xiao Jiang: Pei Wu, are you trying to turn the world upside down? When did I die?
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