Chapter 62 Chapter 62 It’s better not to hurt his pride
The Dali Temple Prison was strictly guarded and all news about Pei Huaishen was completely blocked. Jiang Manrui was exhausted after not having eaten or drunk anything for three days.
As Lu Suizhu's footsteps approached, she sneered, "The Pei family's reputation is no longer as glorious as it once was. Even a musician can become a wife." She strained her eyelids and spoke slowly, "Miss Lu, you don't really think the Pei family is a good place, do you?"
"What exactly do you want to say?" Lu Suizhu looked at her with a stern look in his eyes.
Jiang Manrui sneered, "Jiang Zhihe is a coward, and anyone can step on her. I hate her status as the Jiang family's legitimate daughter. I hate her apathetic nature. Why does she disdain everything I desperately want when others offer it to her? I hate her, and that's why I hope she dies."
The words were like poisonous snakes that wrapped around Lu Suizhu's feet, making him feel cold all over.
"Do you think the master and the old lady are unaware of what I've done? They know everything, but for the sake of the Pei family's reputation, they not only don't care but also cover it up for me. They sent young Pei Zhiji away because they were afraid he would find out the truth and cause trouble."
"And the Jiang family, they are Pei Zhiji's maternal grandfather and uncle. As soon as Jiang Zhihe died, they were eager to marry me to them. You haven't seen Pei Zhiji as a child. He was so thin and small that he would be out of breath and about to fall down after walking a few steps. Hahahaha." She laughed with her head tilted back and gestured with her hands.
Lu Suizhu took a deep breath and couldn't bear to listen anymore. Pei Zhiji had never told her about his difficult childhood, and she had only noticed the vulnerability he occasionally revealed. Now she finally understood how he developed his aloof and arrogant character.
When he first entered the Pei Mansion, he had asked her: "Don't you want me to die?" At that time, Lu Suizhu only thought he was moody and suspicious, and she had never imagined that so many people really wanted him dead.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Jiang Manrui's smile became even wider. When Lu Suizhu looked up again, she thought she was crazy and ran towards the door. Jiang Manrui was even faster and grabbed her waist, not letting her go. Lu Suizhu struggled to break free from her shackles and shouted, "Help!"
"You are his wife. If he wants me to die, I will drag you down with me. I will make him spend his whole life in regret and self-blame, and he will never escape my shadow—"
It was simply hopeless. Lu Suizhu bit her arm with all her might, and the flesh and blood in her mouth tasted fishy. Jiang Manrui just laughed crazily and shouted angrily in the ancestral hall: "Chunmei——"
There was a faint smell in the air, as if raw oil had been applied to lacquered wood. Lu Suizhu felt that something was wrong.
Tung oil had already been spilled in every corner of the ancestral hall. Chunmei lit a fire outside, and the entire dark ancestral hall instantly caught fire. The sea of fire gasped and grew higher and higher, and the flames jumped onto the roof and roared at the sky.
The servants in the mansion were all dumbfounded, shouting back and forth: There is a fire, put it out quickly!
The fire spread rapidly, the smoke was choking, the beams were burnt black, and the doors and windows were engulfed in flames. Lu Suizhu's eyes were dizzy, and her nose was filled with the smell of burnt charcoal. She was looking for an exit everywhere. Jiang Manrui wanted to die with Lu Suizhu, but she refused to let her do so.
"Lu Suizhu, stop struggling. To tell you the truth, Pei Zhiji won't live long. He's just as short-lived as his mother, and he might even be without any descendants!"
"Shut up! He's like this because of you, cough cough cough."
At the front gate of Dali Temple Prison, Xu Ruogu escorted Pei Zhiji out and suddenly saw a fire in the direction of Pei's mansion.
Pei Zhiji's face changed immediately. He abandoned the sedan chair and took the horse by the stirrup. When he returned, the thick smoke had spread to all parts of Pei's mansion. He choked his lungs from inhaling the soot.
The ancestral hall had been engulfed in flames, blazing red. Just getting close to it would burn you.
Fang Dian ran down the alley in a panic, and even dropped two of her hairpins: "Master Pei, the girl is still inside!"
The tall figure in the crowd swayed, Pei Zhiji took the bucket of water from the servant's hand, poured it over himself, and rushed in.
The flames were like boiling soup rolling in his face, and Pei Zhiji was soaked with sweat. He covered his mouth and nose with his wet sleeves. Suddenly, a beam fell on his head, and he was forced to step back two steps. He vaguely saw a red figure in the fire.
"Suizhu" He coughed heavily, using his fingers to disperse the black smoke. He tried desperately to open his eyes but couldn't. He couldn't hold on any longer. His eyes lost focus and he fainted, falling into the raging flames.
Lu Suizhu gritted her teeth and crawled on the ground, finally finding a vent. Her face was charred and her hands were scratched. She struggled to crawl out through the bright dog hole. Jiang Manrui chased her closely from behind, pulling off one of her red embroidered shoes by her ankle. After all, Lu Suizhu was young and strong, and she crawled out like a loach.
Just at this moment, the crisscrossing beams of the house fell down and completely blocked the entrance.
Lu Suizhu coughed desperately, and black smoke came out of her throat when she spoke. Fang Dian was the first to notice her. Before she could rejoice, Fang Dian screamed, "Oh no! Master Pei is still in there!"
Her eyes suddenly turned black, even worse than when she was wrapped in black smoke. Lu Suizhu turned her head with great effort, and sighed in her heart, is it possible that she is really going to become the lovebirds of hell with him today?
But Xiao Feng came out carrying the unconscious Pei Zhiji. He leaned forward, knelt on his knees and leaned Pei Zhiji against the tree.
Lu Suizhu closed her eyes and gasped, her chest and abdomen sank as she relaxed her strength. She looked at him from afar with great relief. Many times, she felt that Pei Zhiji's temperament was not free and easy. He took the responsibility of the entire family, but did not care much about his own life, just like today's action which was tantamount to seeking death.
The doorman announced excitedly: The second young master is back, the second young master is back!
Pei Huaishen's chin was covered with blue stubble. When he came out of prison, he was greeted by a burning fire, his unconscious elder brother, and Lu Suizhu lying on the ground.
"Huai Shen——"
A voice called her from the sea of fire, so familiar that it seemed like he had heard it thousands of times. He looked up in panic, without time to sort out the situation. He heard her mother's shrill screams in the sea of fire, and he took steps to find a way in.
"Mother, mother, don't be afraid, wait for me to save you."
The rules of the Pei Mansion meant that no one dared to stop their master. They all watched him go to his death. Lu Suizhu really felt that this broken rule should be changed. She struggled forward with all her strength and barely grabbed Pei Huaishen's boots: "Second Young Master, the fire is too strong. You will die if you go in."
She was too weak to be easily thrown away. Fortunately, Xiao Feng came over and hugged Pei Huaishen's waist tightly. He struggled in vain and knelt on the ground crying.
"Huai Shen, I don't regret anything I've done. You must fight for it. This Pei family is yours, forever yours. Only when you become the Patriarch of the Pei family will all my efforts for you be realized!"
Mobilizing all the blood in her body to shout out this instruction, Jiang Manrui was completely hit by the broken beams. She slowly curled up in pain, and was still calling for her son until the end when she was consumed by the fire.
Lu Suizhu gathered some strength and made some noises. Pei Huaishen finally saw a conscious person. He had witnessed his mother's death with his own eyes and was still trembling with heartache. He half-knelt on the ground and asked Lu Suizhu with trembling lips: "What on earth is going on? What on earth is going on?"
"I'll tell you everything. Let's leave here first." Lu Suizhu advised kindly, half dragging Pei Huaishen away from the mess.
The fire burned for a long time, and the ancestral hall and several courtyards were reduced to charred ashes and disappeared.
Pei Zhiji woke up from a violent coughing fit. The pain from the coughing continued unabated. Sun Liangxu's acupuncture treatment finally paid off. He lay on his side on the couch, clutching his chest, and said in a hoarse voice, "Where's she?"
As soon as the words fell, the curtain was lifted, and Lu Suizhu's teasing voice floated in: "Lord Pei, can't you leave me?" She had changed into clean clothes and was smiling, as if all the thrilling things that had happened before had never happened.
Fang Dian led the doctor and servants to retreat quietly, leaving the room quiet for the two of them.
Lu Suizhu leaned over and kissed him on the eyelashes. Pei Zhiji's Adam's apple rolled rapidly, his eyes half closed, and his eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. He wrapped his arms around Lu Suizhu's waist and held her in his arms. Lu Suizhu buried her head in his neck, feeling his heartbeat which was much faster than usual, her fingers unconsciously entangled with the hair on his back.
"If I really died, you would probably... be very sad, right?" She asked knowingly, but he answered firmly, "No."
Before she could frown or get angry, words colder than the ice on the cliff fell heavily on her face: "If you die, I will die too."
"What are you talking about?" Lu Suizhu struggled out of his tight embrace, and her heart suddenly felt a pang when she recalled Jiang Manrui's words.
"What did Jiang Manrui say to you?"
In front of him, her thoughts were always exposed. "Nothing, just some annoying words, I forgot them long ago."
Pei Huaishen suddenly appeared at the fire scene today, and Lu Suizhu was caught off guard. When she asked about this, Pei Zhiji also sighed.
After escaping from the palace, he went straight to the Dali Temple. Although Jiang Manrui was guilty of serious crimes, she was Huai Shen's biological mother after all. Pei Zhiji originally wanted to help them see each other for the last time. If he had known that Jiang Manrui was determined to perish together with him, he would never have been so merciful.
"It's my fault. I promise there will be no such incidents in the future."
How will you compensate me, my husband?"
Lu Suizhu's eyes were bright and shining. She was lucky to survive the disaster. She was not affected at all. However, her eyes at this moment had a strange attraction, as if she really wanted to ask for something from Pei Zhiji.
Pei Zhiji was filled with apologies but didn't know how to express them. He couldn't handle her temper at all, so he could only turn his face away slowly, looking somewhat embarrassed as if he had run out of ideas.
"All my salary and wealth are now under your control. I really...have nothing left."
There really wasn't any romance at all. Lu Suizhu's teasing was no less than the sound of a zither and a harp against a cow. However, considering that Pei Zhiji had been in a coma for a day and a night and his thoughts were a little slow, it was understandable.
As dusk deepened, the room fell silent. Lu Suizhu stared at his still pale face and finally broke the silence with a soft voice. "The Second Young Master left with Jiang Manrui's ashes. He asked me to tell you he's sorry."
Her eyes were a little hot. When she first met Second Young Master Pei, he was so high-spirited and unrestrained. But when they parted yesterday, he looked so dejected. If Pei Zhiji saw him like that, he would feel distressed. She held Pei Zhiji's hand and comforted him, "Huai Shen went to see the old lady yesterday. I believe he knows something. It's difficult for anyone to accept that their mother has killed someone. We should give him some time."
Pei Zhiji said that nothing was wrong, but the corners of his lips were so gloomy that he couldn't even smile. A heavy fatigue weighed down on him.
"If you're tired, take a break. I'll go see how the medicine is going."
"No need to go, they will take care of it." Pei Zhiji didn't want her to worry about trivial matters, nor did he want her to waste time lying on the sickbed. He advised her to go out and relax, but she refused. He had no choice but to move back on the bed to make room for her.
Now he has opened up cracks in both the Wang and Xie families. These aristocratic families, which were already full of cracks, can be shaken like rotten wood with just a slight disturbance. The world may ridicule him for not knowing how to show sympathy to one's own kind, or praise his thundering means. Only he knows that the chess game in the distance is still being played out step by step, but the mind of the player is so confused that he can't tell the direction.
"Madam." His voice was low and slow, with a strange sense of relaxation: "I seem... a little tired.
These words came out almost without hesitation, not as if he were talking to a newlywed wife, but rather to his wife who had shared his life for decades. His brows rarely relaxed. "I would like to ask His Majesty for leave and leave the capital for a while. I miss my master, so I'd like to take you to visit him. My master is also an expert in music, and you'll like him."
People say that people become more nostalgic when they are about to die. Lu Suizhu felt heavy-hearted when he realized that even a man like him who regarded his official duties as his life was tired of it.
Pei Zhiji saw through her thoughts and said gently, "Madam, you cherish my skin, and I cannot bear to make you frown. Even if I have to drag this sick and broken body, I will do my best to hold on until I am old and gray."
He thought his words were flawless, but unexpectedly, Lu Suizhu didn't even bother to glance at him. Pei Zhiji saw that no one was around, and suddenly, just like they did at Qingfeng Cottage, he lowered his head and gently kissed her on the lips. "I'm not lying to you. I really just have something I can't figure out, and I'd like to ask Master for some guidance."
Lu Suizhu nodded, believing it. However, looking at Pei Zhiji's expression, which was so dull, she wanted to say something but stopped herself several times, her lips moving, but she finally swallowed the words back.
Well, as for some marital pleasures, it won’t be too late to bring them up slowly after he gets better. If I reveal them now, I’m afraid it will hurt Master Pei’s reputation, which is higher than the sky.
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