Chapter 162 Tutor
Taifu Wei knelt at the palace gate and asked the eunuch to bring in two things.
It’s the same ruler, and it’s the same resignation letter to return home.
Pei Yan picked up the old ruler and rubbed it gently.
Jiang Shuyi came out after calming down in the inner hall. Seeing Pei Yan playing with the ruler, she went over and asked curiously, "What is that?"
Pei Yan glanced at her and said, "Hit your thing."
Jiang Shuyi was so angry that she wanted to turn around and leave. Pei Yan laughed and said, "It's the thing that hit me."
Jiang Shuyi then stopped and turned back with curiosity restored.
Pei Yan smiled, but his eyes were deep and unfathomable as he looked at the ruler: "Back then, the Grand Tutor used this ruler to beat my third brother who bullied me. My mother reported him to my father, and he also used this ruler to beat me later."
Jiang Shuyi immediately became angry: "Why hit His Majesty? His Majesty can't make any mistakes!"
Pei Yan said calmly, "Because I pretended to be too kind and cowardly, the Grand Tutor was angry at me for not fighting back, and beat me so that I could stand up. He told me that as a prince, I should not be too submissive, otherwise I would end up being eaten by others."
Jiang Shuyi's face suddenly showed distress, and she grabbed Pei Yan's other hand: "Does it hurt? Your Majesty, I will rub it for you."
Pei Yan turned to look at her and kindly reminded her: "It's too contrived."
Jiang Shuyi was seen through, and she recovered from her guilty conscience in an instant, saying confidently: "I really feel sorry for Your Majesty."
Pei Yan saw through her intention to speak up for Liu Wuniang and was afraid that he would let Master Wei off the hook.
He put down the ruler and picked up the petition for retirement and returned home to read it.
Taifu Wei spoke sincerely in the poem. He first said that he was blessed by the grace of the late emperor to enter the palace to teach Pei Yan, and how much effort and care he had put into him. He also praised Pei Yan as a benevolent monarch, and said that it was enough for his life to be able to teach such a student. Finally, he wrote that he should have been a dull and incompetent official in the court, but because of his old age and frailty, he had to resign and return to his hometown to spend his remaining years in retirement. He voluntarily donated all his family property and lived on farming and reading with his descendants.
Jiang Shuyi looked at the neat and powerful handwriting on the memorial. Just like Taifu Wei, he looked dignified, upright and meticulous.
She asked: "How come the Grand Tutor doesn't even admit his guilt? Doesn't he know that what he did has been discovered by His Majesty?"
Pei Yan closed the memorial and looked out the door: "He has confessed his guilt. He is using our old friendship to plead for mercy from me, hoping that I will let him go this time and let him retire with dignity."
Jiang Shuyi saw the emotion in Pei Yan's eyes.
She remembered how Liu Wuniang squatted on the ground and cried and trembled all over after she learned that her parents had died; she remembered the fear and panic in her heart when she was about to be forced to marry by the county magistrate; she remembered the women who knelt down and cried when they left Pinghe County...
She still had someone to rescue her, but if they were caught, it would be a luxury for them to have the same fate as Liu Wuniang.
Jiang Shuyi looked at Pei Yan for a long time, then reached out and grabbed a little bit of fabric at the corner of his sleeve, then knelt down on her knees.
Pei Yan lowered his eyes to look at her: "Get up."
Jiang Shuyi shook her head.
She looked up. The golden hairpin in her hair was clearly carved with the style of palaces and pavilions. However, after being reflected by the sunlight outside the window, it cast a clear shadow like mountains and rivers on the woman's fair skin.
"Your Majesty had a very hard time when he was young, and only the Grand Tutor gave him comfort. As your Majesty's most beloved concubine, I can say anything to your Majesty, and I am your closest relative who doesn't even need to kneel down to you in private. I shouldn't force your Majesty to punish the Grand Tutor."
Pei Yan closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Then don't kneel."
Jiang Shuyi bit her lip, her eyes were red, and her wet eyelashes trembled twice: "So I am just Jiang Shuyi now. Your Majesty, please don't think that I am your favorite concubine. I am just a servant who was almost abducted. I am here to plead with Your Majesty to punish the tutor and give justice to me and those women!"
Pei Yan looked at her silently.
Jiang Shuyi didn't know how to persuade him. She was not good at the passionate speeches of a civil official. She could only shed tears and tell Pei Yan what she was thinking bit by bit.
"Wu Niang is a very good person. Your Majesty doesn't know that in the storybooks I read in the past, those brothel owners were extremely vicious and would beat and scold the girls under their charge. But when Wu Niang mentioned those girls, she was really compassionate. She told me a lot of things on the way, and I realized that what I had experienced was nothing. There were people who lived such a desperate life..."
In order to track down Jiang Shuyi's whereabouts, Pei Yan went to Manchunlou. Compared with what she heard, he saw many things with his own eyes.
Jiang Shuyi tightly grasped his sleeves, her voice choked with sobs and sadness: "Your Majesty, think about it, if it was me...I was not found by Your Majesty, and unfortunately fell into the situation that Wu Niang said, unable to live or die, what should I do? Your Majesty, don't you feel sorry for me, my concubine..."
Before she could finish her words, Pei Yan suddenly pressed the back of her head, and before Jiang Shuyi could react, he swept over her with a kiss that almost suffocated her.
When she was finally released, Jiang Shuyi gasped for breath, her lips as fresh as rose petals that had been softened by soaking in water.
Pei Yan did not leave. He bent down, put his forehead against hers, and smiled bitterly, his voice a little hoarse: "You said you wanted to plead for mercy as a subject, but you didn't keep your word at all. You grabbed my sleeve and used yourself to anger me. Should you be punished?"
When Jiang Shuyi heard him say this, she knew that Pei Yan would probably deal with Master Wei impartially.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes and nodded heavily: "It's what I deserve! Your Majesty will punish me as you wish!"
Pei Yan didn't have time to punish her right now.
He met Master Wei in Wenhua Palace.
Taifu Wei is already over fifty years old, with a lot of white hair on his temples. Even though it is not as much as his black hair, it is still very conspicuous.
He dragged his old body and stepped into the lecture hall step by step. He knelt down and kowtowed to his imperial student, his voice trembling slightly: "Your Majesty, I greet you. I haven't seen you for 21 days. How are you?"
Pei Yan looked at his trembling back for a long time, then bent down to support him, his tone as gentle as before: "I'm fine, teacher, don't worry."
Wei Taifu did not stand up. He looked up at Pei Yan with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty has grown up. That's great. You don't have to be bullied anymore, and you don't have to worry about me anymore..."
Pei Yan did not insist on helping him. He stood up and looked around the familiar tables and chairs in the lecture hall, as if he was nostalgic: "It's been seventeen years."
Wei Taifu sighed, "Yes, for a full seventeen years. I still remember that Your Majesty was only seven years old at that time. Among all the princes, Your Majesty was the thinnest and most pitiful. I thought at that time, is it because he didn't have enough food? Can the princes in the palace not have enough food?"
Pei Yan chuckled.
Wei Taifu's expression also relaxed a lot because of this smile, and he talked about the past freely: "Later, I learned that your majesty has a gentle and kind personality, and I felt even more pity for you. However, I am only an outsider and cannot interfere in the affairs of the harem. I thought, at least in my lecture hall, no one can bully your majesty. I want your majesty to focus on his studies wholeheartedly, so that he can achieve great success in the future and be superior to everyone else."
Pei Yan: "I am fortunate to have lived up to my teacher's expectations."
Wei Taifu laughed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty is smart and clever. You know the principle of keeping your abilities hidden and waiting for the right time to act. You were the crown prince first, and finally became my monarch. Your Majesty, I don't know how happy I am."
Pei Yan looked back at him and asked softly, "But why did you betray me, teacher?"
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