Farewell My Concubine
Pei Wenjin was jolted by the kiss, and with his neck being choked, he couldn't push her away or obey her. After struggling for a while, the princess angrily bit his lip until it bled.
He gasped in pain, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He tried to pull away, but ultimately didn't, letting the princess kiss him until she was satisfied. Only then, still dazed, did he manage to move her away.
Xiao Diting was still not satisfied and wanted to lean in and kiss him, but even Pei Wenjin, who had a thick skin, couldn't help but scold her.
But when the words reached his lips, the commander felt extremely ashamed and swallowed all his words. He tried to adjust his heavy breathing and met Xiao Diting's mocking gaze.
The culprit acted on impulse, completely disregarding the fate of the person opposite. She hadn't thought of anything else either, and only belatedly felt a little embarrassed when someone caught her gaze.
Xiao Diting's gaze lingered on Pei Wenjin's glistening lips for a moment before he coughed and turned his face away. Then, remembering something, he turned back exactly as before.
The feeling of unease was thrown back at her just like that.
Pei Wenjin was taken aback by her frankness. His eyes were wide open, his ears were half red, and he managed to choke out a few words through gritted teeth after a long while: "Reckless and unscrupulous."
Not content with having taken full advantage, Xiao Diting raised an eyebrow and deliberately teased him, "Nothing else to say?"
Pei Wenjin was concise and refused to elaborate: "No."
Xiao Diting controlled his grip, pinched his chin, and turned his face towards him. Changing his light tone, he uttered each word with great care: "I have it."
Pei Wenjin's reaction time was roughly as slow as if he had traveled all the way from Jiangnan to the Northwest. Xiao Diting's breathing was much heavier than before, and he himself was in no better shape, giving a mumbled "hmm" and trying to break free.
The princess, having anticipated his thoughts, affectionately pressed her fingertip to his lips, carefully wiping away the moisture, while continuing to tease him, "So glossy, you should wipe it off."
Pei Wenjin: ...
So that's what she meant by "I have".
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have come.
He closed his eyes in near despair, looking completely helpless. This sight caused Xiao Diting's rare moral conscience to ache, and he felt a sudden pang of guilt, as if he were forcing a good woman into prostitution.
However, the princess was used to being carefree, and there was an important matter waiting for her to attend to, so she couldn't afford to indulge in sentimental thoughts here. She could only decisively push the commander aside and steadily dismount herself.
Leaving Pei Wenjin behind is not an option, nor is staying put.
Ignoring his restless emotions, the Third Princess glanced at him, tilting her head curiously to see what he was still standing there for.
The tenderness she showed was fleeting, like the wind, hard to catch. She quickly reverted to the decisive and mad Xiao Diting she had been before.
"Do you want me to serve you hand and foot?" Xiao Diting teased him deliberately.
Pei Wenjin remained silent, looking as dejected as a wronged wife.
Xiao Diting generously pulled the reins from his hand and sighed repeatedly: "Lord Pei has been traveling back and forth. It must be hard work. It's all my fault."
So when the Imperial Guards arrived later, clad in their armor, they rushed over to find their superior sitting on horseback, like a stiff, unyielding Buddha.
Meanwhile, the princess, dressed in night clothes, was pulling on the horse's reins to lead the way for their superior.
The visual impact was incredibly strong; everything, from top to bottom, was trampled into the snow by the horses' hooves.
Upon seeing his subordinates, Pei Wenjin's wandering spirit finally returned to its place. He gritted his teeth and roared, "Gentlemen, listen to my command! The Yang family has audaciously plotted to murder the imperial heir. Arrest them on the spot!"
"yes!"
With a command, the black-clad guards surged into the Yang residence like a tidal wave, instantly surrounding the scattered servants. Several servants who tried to resist were pinned to the snow by the Imperial Guards, unable to move.
Pei Wenjin finally dismounted from his horse, his earlier unease replaced by a cold, hard expression.
He walked to Xiao Diting's side and stood beside her. He reached out to take the reins from her hand, his tone firm and unyielding: "Your Highness is not feeling well. Please return to the inn to rest. I will handle things here."
Xiao Diting didn't let go, still gripping the rough reins, and looked up at the direction of the ancestral hall where the fire was most intense: "What do you plan to do?"
Pei Wenjin followed her gaze and saw thick smoke rising into the night sky from the ancestral hall, the sparks particularly glaring against the snow. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was as cold as ice: "Yang Li murdered his father for money and dared to kidnap a princess and defy the court; he was doomed. According to the law, his entire family should be executed to serve as a warning to others."
Xiao Diting scoffed: "Yang Li has an ignorant old mother who's over fifty, and Ji Shuangqiao, who's a 'hero' this time. Should we include them too?"
Pei Wenjin remained silent. Xiao Diting glanced at him, turned his head away, and sneered, "This place is far from the emperor's reach. If you acknowledge me as your princess, then you have to listen to me."
Pei Wenjin composed himself, knowing that Xiao Diting's mind was made up, so he did not stop her and replied in a deep voice: "This humble servant is entirely at the princess's behest."
"Then follow."
Xiao Diting wanted to rescue Ji Shuangqiao, but embezzling grain was a capital offense, and plotting against the imperial heir was an even greater crime. If Pei Wenjin was in charge of this matter, then her wishes would be insignificant.
So she wanted to put Pei Wenjin under pressure, and Pei Wenjin was happy to agree.
The Huaizhou grain bill has been delayed for so long not because the Embroidered Uniform Guard was incompetent, but because the real mastermind was her adoptive father and brothers. Pei Wenjin had been pretending to maneuver around for a long time, but if he were to take charge, it would be tantamount to telling the emperor directly, "I don't want to do this anymore, I want to rebel."
If the title were changed to "The princess is concerned about Huaizhou, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard works together to solve the major grain supply case," it would not only enhance the royal family's reputation but also make the Embroidered Uniform Guard less embarrassed.
There should be no discord between the emperor and his subjects. Xiao Di had come to Huaizhou to ask Pei Wenjin for a favor. If this caused a rift between him and the emperor, it would be disastrous.
Although Pei Wenjin himself doesn't mind, it's likely that no one will have an easy time in the future.
With the grain draft nearing completion and the year-end approaching, the Northwest Commander-in-Chief, returning to Beijing for his duty report, mentioned that he would inevitably have to address this old issue. Those days on the front lines have been marked by frugality and hardship.
Fortunately, there were no battles to fight, otherwise the emptiness and hardship would have been unbearable. When the commander-in-chief of the Northwest got into trouble in Huaizhou, he would have come to the capital to tear people apart.
Since the mastermind is beyond Xiao Diting's reach, he can only temporarily rely on the underlings to survive.
Yang Li was the scapegoat for the Huaizhou grain bill. Yang Li himself knew this.
"Young Master! We can't catch them! The outside is full of Imperial Guards!"
When the servants came to report, he knew that the situation was hopeless, but he did not stop. He was stunned for a moment before instructing all the servants to delay the Imperial Guards as much as possible.
He also wanted to drag Ji Shuangqiao to see his father.
He gripped Ji Shuangqiao's wrist tightly, his nails almost digging into her flesh. Ji Shuangqiao winced in pain, but still didn't struggle. She just looked at him coldly, her eyes full of mockery—look, this is the wealth and glory you've been striving for, in the end it's all for nothing.
Yang Li and Ji Shuangqiao were childhood sweethearts. Before the Ji family's misfortune, they were a perfect match, both handsome and beautiful. Their childhood friendship was deep and innocent, and it's truly a cruel twist of fate that they've come to this.
There was a fire burning behind the ancestral hall, and not far away, one could hear the cries of servants and female relatives being dealt with by the Imperial Guards.
One shout after another, incredibly noisy, but Yang Li didn't find it jarring; in fact, she felt a little gratified... The journey to the Yellow Springs was quite lively.
Outside was a net of heaven and earth, inside was a raging inferno.
Having reached this point, Ji Shuangqiao no longer had any intention of continuing to live. Her parents and younger brother had passed away early, and her revered father, Yang Ye, had left her.
If it weren't for the pursuit of the truth, why would she continue to waste her life in this world?
Perhaps they're tired of living.
The fire reached the ancestral hall, and the air was distorted by the heatwave, but the couple knelt side by side in front of the chaotic offering table, and the spirit tablet of Yang's father was nowhere to be found.
They didn't have time to search, and Ji Shuangqiao had forgotten where she had put it when she ran away. The two knelt there, and for the first time, a rare harmony emerged between them, a stark contrast to their previous estrangement and hidden agendas.
The flames were almost touching the hem of Ji Shuangqiao's skirt. Blinded by hatred, her health had been deteriorating over the years, and she was coughing incessantly from the thick smoke.
Yang Li turned her head to look at her, and asked the question that had been hidden in her heart for a long time: "Do you hate me?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Shuangqiao felt like crying. She tried her best to cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and with a sob in her voice, she replied in a muffled voice, "Yang Li, you are my only family in this world."
"Can we be husband and wife again in our next life?" After saying this, Ji Shuangqiao stared at him stubbornly, tears streaming down her face. Only when she was about to die did she realize that she loved Yang Li much more than she had imagined.
Upon hearing this, Yang Li's breath hitched.
A raging fire had already broken out on the eaves of the ancestral hall. The crackling sound of burning wood mixed with the sizzling sound of melting snow, like a death knell.
Ji Shuangqiao bit her lip, imagining herself throwing herself into Yang Li's arms as she did on the day her family was destroyed.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly went berserk, grabbing Ji Shuangqiao and rushing out of the ancestral hall. A scorching wave of air rushed towards them, and the thick smoke choked them, making it impossible to open their eyes. Ji Shuangqiao staggered a few steps as he dragged her, and a corner of her clothes was singed by sparks.
"Yang Li! Are you crazy!" Ji Shuangqiao had inhaled too much smoke and dust and was having some difficulty breathing.
Yang Li ignored her concerns and dragged her through the burning threshold, determined to pull her out. The memorial tablets inside were already burned beyond recognition, and half of the offering table had collapsed. Sparks fell to the ground, igniting the scattered paper money, and the fire spread along the ground towards their feet.
Looking at the flames on the ground, at Ji Shuangqiao coughing incessantly from the thick smoke, and then recalling the look in his father Yang Zhengyuan's eyes before he died, he suddenly laughed, laughing until tears streamed down his face.
He staggered and helped Ji Shuangqiao up, ignoring her cries and resistance, and grabbed her waist, throwing her violently out of the ancestral hall.
"I want to be a real tyrant too!"
He roared, feeling refreshed. Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to see his father's memorial tablet. Ignoring the burning palms on his hands, he took a deep look at Ji Shuangqiao outside the fire.
Ji Shuangqiao was pinned down by the arriving Imperial Guards. Fear overwhelmed her, and at that moment she couldn't even scream.
Yang Li smiled at her, then turned and rushed into the sea of fire.
He struggled through the flames until he found the charred memorial tablet, and knelt down with a thud. His knees slammed onto the scorching ground, but he seemed not to feel the pain, only repeatedly kowtowing, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud.
"Father... your son was wrong..." His voice was broken and fragmented amidst the thick smoke and flames, "Your son shouldn't have coveted that wealth... your son has come to see you..."
The dilapidated ancestral hall could not withstand the pressure; in the fire, the roof beams broke first, and then it collapsed with a crash.
Ji Shuangqiao, as if his soul had been ripped out, knelt motionless before the sea of fire.
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