Chapter 13: A Minor Friction Occurs, Take Her In as a Dog (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Two quarters of an hour later, inside the Pei Mansion.

"Husband, who is she?"

Xie Qingwu looked up, staring at Ye Hanshuang. Fortunately, there was some distance between them; otherwise, from her perspective, she wouldn't have been able to see Ye Hanshuang's face, only the mountains by looking up.

"My younger sister," Pei Shaoqing said concisely.

Xie Qingwu understood: a female thief. But on the surface, she wore a flowery smile and greeted her enthusiastically: "So it's my sister. I don't know your name yet. You are truly naturally beautiful and have an extraordinary bearing. Come, come inside and sit."

"Slap!" With a cold face and cold eyes, Ye Hanshuang raised a brow slightly, raised her hand, and delivered a slap.

"Ah!" Caught off guard, Xie Qingwu let out a cry of pain and was slapped to the ground. Holding her face, she glared at Ye Hanshuang in shock and anger: "You... you dare hit me?"

"You are worthy of calling me sister?" Ye Hanshuang stepped forward. Her tall frame bent down, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow over Xie Qingwu. She reached out a large hand, easily pinched her smooth cheek, and said coldly: "Bitch, get your status straight. You're just a captive my big brother snatched back. Do you really dare to think of yourself as my sister-in-law?"

"Let go of me!" Xie Qingwu shook her head to break free from her grip. She glared at her with stubborn eyes, trembling all over with rage, and gritted her teeth: "My big brother and I have a cooperative relationship, not a captive one!"

"Fine, let's say what you say makes sense, but if you make me unhappy again, I'll beat you just the same." Ye Hanshuang crossed her arms and said with a cold, pretty face.

"You!" Seeing the other party acting completely unreasonable, Xie Qingwu looked at Pei Shaoqing in a fit of pique.

Pei Shaoqing chuckled: "She is my sister who has been through life and death with me and can block blades for me. You are just my wife in name only. Do you expect me to speak up for you?"

It was he who had directed Ye Hanshuang to hit her.

"You... you people..." Xie Qingwu felt both angry and aggrieved. Her eyes instantly turned red, and tears streamed down her face.

"Alright, alright, your makeup is ruined from crying." Pei Shaoqing changed his tune from before, stepped forward, crouched down, and gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. He reached out to pull her into his arms and looked at Ye Hanshuang, reprimanding her not too harshly: "You too, a girl shouldn't just go around hitting people. No matter what, she is your sister-in-law in name. Hurry up and apologize."

"Sister-in-law, please forgive me. It was my lack of manners," Ye Hanshuang pursed her red lips and said in a stiff tone.

Pei Shaoqing looked down at Xie Qingwu again, stroking her red, swollen cheek with pity: "I was just joking with you earlier. No matter what, although we don't have the reality of a married couple now, our fates are linked and we share life and death. How could I not side with you?"

Discipline, manipulation, playing with emotions.

Being bad to her at times and good at others, having those around him play the villain while he plays the hero, making her recognize her situation, rely on him more and more, and step by step, completely take control of her.

"You are all bullying me!" After all, she was just a nineteen-year-old girl who had never traveled far from home. Treated with such hot and cold behavior, and feeling aggrieved and suppressed for the past two days, Xie Qingwu completely lost control of her emotions. She hugged Pei Shaoqing, her temporary reliance, and wailed loudly.

Feeling the warm, fragrant, and soft body in his arms, Pei Shaoqing gently patted her jade-like back to comfort her and gave Ye Hanshuang a look, signaling her to leave quickly.

Ye Hanshuang watched the two of them tightly embraced. She felt a bit stifled inside, but she could only close the door and leave.

Li Jiangjun nimbly jumped to the floor and followed.

"Is the Piaoji Jiangjun jealous?"

It ran to Ye Hanshuang's feet and said cheekily.

"Ah, that hurts me!"

The next second, it was kicked away, slammed heavily against the courtyard wall into a cat-pancake, and slowly slid down. Lying on the ground, it clawed at the air and wailed: "Assaulting a superior, committing treason! This is treason! A capital offense! A capital offense, meow!"

Inside the room, after crying, Xie Qingwu's emotions were released and she calmed down. Only then did she realize she was still being held in Pei Shaoqing's arms, and belatedly wanted to break free.

"Let me go."

Pei Shaoqing did not let go; instead, he held her even tighter, grinning: "I didn't dodge when you hugged me earlier. It has to be fair, right?"

"Then... then how long are you going to hold me?" Thinking of how she had taken the initiative to hug Pei Shaoqing and received his careful comfort, Xie Qingwu felt a bit embarrassed.

The key was that there was nothing she could do if this thief wouldn't let her go.

Ye Hanshuang's slap earlier made her realize that she could only rely on Pei Shaoqing now. As long as the other party didn't cross her bottom line, she didn't want to fall out with him yet.

But she didn't know that a bottom line is just like underwear.

Once you take one step back, it will be completely stripped off.

Pei Shaoqing tightened his hold on her, rested his head on her fragrant shoulder, inhaled the faint scent of her hair, and closed his eyes: "Tell your husband about my family situation. Once you finish, I'll let you go, my wife."

"Fine, you cannot deceive me." Xie Qingwu gave him a distrustful look before slowly saying: "Pei Shaoqing's mother died of illness when he was three. His father, the Weiyuan Marquis, is now forty-five and has never remarried... He has an older brother named Shaotang, twenty-seven, who is married and serves in the military, having served the father in the Northern Frontier for years... Ah!"

She suddenly let out a cry of surprise, her delicate body tensed instantly, and even her toes straightened, because a sensitive spot was being pressed against, making her afraid to move. She glared at Pei Shaoqing with flushed cheeks: "You..."

She couldn't help but think of the projection she saw on the screen yesterday, trembling with fear.

"Holding such a beauty of a wife, it would be strange if I didn't have a reaction, right? Continue. Don't worry, I promised I wouldn't touch you, so I won't mess around." Pei Shaoqing smiled slightly. Setting aside the facts, he looked like a gentleman.

Perhaps because she was at home, for convenience and comfort, Xie Qingwu only wore Ice Silkworm Silk as thin as a cicada's wing under her skirt. The cold, silky material, layered with the warm and plump sensation of her skin, made him unable to resist rubbing against her.

Xie Qingwu bit her red lips and gave him a shy, angry glare, wanting only to finish speaking quickly and escape the devil's clutches. Her voice trembling, she continued: "The eldest sister-in-law, Nalan Yujin, is twenty-five. She lives apart from the older brother and stays in the capital alone to manage the household affairs... Ah! Don't move! Because Pei Shaoqing acts absurdly, he has a poor relationship with his brother and sister-in-law... Stop..."

Xie Qingwu really couldn't go on. To prevent herself from making a bigger fool of herself, she pushed Pei Shaoqing away with all her might.

One hand struggled to support her body on the ground to keep her drained, softened frame from collapsing. With her mouth open, panting rapidly, she said with dazed eyes but still feigning composure: "Let's stop here for today."

"Then rest well, my wife. I will go call someone to boil water for you to bathe and change," Pei Shaoqing whispered thoughtfully into her ear, then stood up, left, and closed the door.

Although he promised not to touch Xie Qingwu, that was just to appease her. To replace Pei Shaoqing's identity without any mistakes, he had to win over Xie Qingwu and bind her to him. If he couldn't win her over, he would have to destroy the flower.

After the door closed, Xie Qingwu finally couldn't hold on and collapsed. She bit her red lips and lay on the ground, feeling ashamed and furious. She had made such a fool of herself in front of that thief!

……………………………

All afternoon, Pei Shaoqing thoughtfully did not appear in front of Xie Qingwu again. In the evening, he took Ye Hanshuang to Hongbin Lou. After all, his current persona was someone who didn't know martial arts, and when it was inconvenient for him to act, it was time for Ye Hanshuang to play her part, so he had to keep her with him often.

"My lord is here, please take the seat of honor!"

In the private room, Sun Youliang and Song Youcai, who had been waiting for a long time in casual clothes, stood up respectfully to welcome him as soon as they saw Pei Shaoqing push the door open.

"I left the house a bit late, sorry for the wait," Pei Shaoqing said indifferently while walking toward the main seat.

Sun Youliang smiled while pouring him wine: "No, no, we arrived early."

"Yes, yes, yes," Song Youcai echoed repeatedly.

Pei Shaoqing greeted: "Everyone, sit."

After simple pleasantries, and after a few cups of wine had warmed up the atmosphere and opened the conversation, Pei Shaoqing asked Sun Youliang with a curious look: "Mingde, you passed the Cultivated Talent exam at such a young age, why didn't you continue to take the exams?"

Mingde was Sun Youliang's courtesy name.

"It's truly shameful to speak of!" Sun Youliang downed a cup of wine and set it down heavily. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice: "Although this subordinate has practiced martial arts since childhood, I never hoped to rely on it to make a living. Instead, I followed my father's dying wish to study hard in hopes of passing the imperial examination. But reality forced me to abandon literature for martial arts."

He once had a childhood sweetheart fiancée, but later, a passing young nobleman took a fancy to her and forcibly took her as a concubine. Through framing and political maneuvering, he lost his scholarly status. To save his life and keep hope for revenge, he had no choice but to join the Jing'an Guard.

Yet after joining the Jing'an Guard, although he worked hard to seek advancement and even spared no effort to curry favor with his superiors, years had passed in the blink of an eye, and he was still in the same place, having achieved nothing.

"Absurd! Such a thing actually happened?" After listening, Pei Shaoqing looked filled with righteous indignation, and while toying with his wine cup, he said to Sun Youliang, "You, although you are capable in both literature and martial arts and know how to handle affairs, your foundation is ultimately shallow. Without a noble person to promote you, it is difficult to advance even an inch in the officialdom, but if you encounter a noble person to assist you, it is not impossible to soar into the sky."

The meaning in these words was already very obvious.

"I know you, my lord, come from the Capital and are a big figure I could never reach before. I only ask that you give me a chance to wash away my shame; this humble one is willing to go through fire and water for you, and will not refuse!" Sun Youliang immediately kowtowed on the spot.

"Me too!" Song Youcai immediately dropped his wine cup and knelt down, saying with a resonant voice, "This humble one is willing to serve you like a dog or a horse, and would not refuse even death!"

"What is all this talk of death? I see you both living to rise to the blue clouds and soaring to great heights," Pei Shaoqing laughed, put down his wine cup, and said, "Both of you, get up."

"Thank you, my lord!" the two said in unison.

Pei Shaoqing picked up a bite of food and said nonchalantly, "I have just arrived and know very little about the people and affairs of Tongzhou. Tell me about them, starting with Centurion Zheng, County Magistrate Wang, and Flag Sergeant Chen."

"Yes, my lord!"

(End of chapter)