Chapter 15: Is This Something That Can Be Said Out Loud?!

When Song Shijie asked this question, even Pei Aosong was stunned.

Wasn't Pei Aosong just confessing without being pressed?

He understood the reason behind it; it was merely that his mother could not stand Lin Jiaojiao and wanted to expel her from the Pei Mansion, but to borrow the power of the Dali Temple to throw someone into prison was going too far.

This matter could only be downplayed, first by sending the people from the Dali Temple away, offering an apology, and later asking his father-in-law to help smooth things over and have this case dismissed.

As soon as Pei Aosong thought of his father-in-law, who was the Chancellor, he immediately felt a toothache.

He could only force a smile, "These are just trivial matters of the inner residence that are not fit for the public eye; I have let Magistrate Song see a joke."

"Over ten years ago, there was a foreign spy in the Pei Mansion. That matter had conclusive evidence back then and was a settled case; the female spy was executed by slow slicing," Song Shijie tapped the table, his gaze like a torch, "Now, someone has reported that there are spies hidden within the mansion. This concerns the state and the nation; it is not something you, Lord Pei, can just dismiss by calling it a trivial inner-residence matter."

Upon hearing this, Pei Aosong even put down the chopsticks he was using to pick up food for Song Shijie.

His forced smile vanished, and his voice turned cold: "Then how do you think this matter should be handled? I, Pei Aosong, am a dignified Military Minister; the Pei Mansion surely cannot be harboring alien spies time and time again, can it?"

"That is something you must ask yourself." Song Shijie's voice was even colder, "Why is it not some other household, but your Pei Mansion, that has been reported time and again for harboring Southern Frontier alien spies?"

Indeed, why was it always the Pei Mansion being reported time and again for harboring Southern Frontier alien spies?

Pei Aosong seemed to understand who was operating in the shadows, but this was a method of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred; why was his mother always so foolish?

He merely shifted the "battlefield," bowed to Song Shijie and said, "Magistrate Song, you and I both serve the imperial court; you understand my character. The pure remain pure, and the muddy remain muddy. Besides, who doesn't know that the Military Council easily makes enemies in court?"

He stood up and bowed deeply to Song Shijie, "I ask that the Dali Temple help investigate and clarify which political enemy is repeatedly framing the Pei Mansion."

Song Shijie naturally understood the reason behind it; setting aside the old case, this time the concubine looked like she was being framed.

Even he, an outsider, could see that she was trying every possible way to preserve her own life.

Moreover, the whistleblower, Zhao An, was someone from the side of the Pei Mansion's primary wife; wasn't this clearly an inner-residence struggle?

The current primary wife of the Pei Mansion was Su Wanqiu, the legitimate daughter of the current Chancellor, Su Hongtu. He covered the sky with one hand and could kill anyone he wanted to.

It was just to get rid of a concubine, yet they even borrowed the name of his Dali Temple to file a case; what a brilliant tactic.

Thinking of this, Song Shijie snorted coldly, "What does your Pei Mansion's political enemy have to do with my Dali Temple? The Dali Temple serves the imperial court, not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry!"

"Since someone has already reported the case, our Dali Temple must investigate it to the end. If someone is truly meddling in this, the Dali Temple is not to be trifled with!"

As he spoke, he slapped his blade onto the table. His subordinates, seeing this, all stood up and began slapping the table with their swords and blades.

Where had Pei Aosong ever seen such a display!

He could not afford to provoke the Dali Temple!

"Fine," Pei Aosong lowered his head, "Then I will go tell my concubine to go back with you and cooperate with the Dali Temple's investigation."

Seeing that Pei Aosong was willing to cooperate with the investigation, Song Shijie's tone softened slightly, "The Dali Temple will not use corporal punishment when interrogating suspects. If she is not a spy, she can be returned to the Pei Mansion in three to five days."

Pei Aosong picked up his wine cup and downed a full cup in one gulp.

Song Shijie did not even finish his meal and immediately ordered his subordinates to follow Pei Aosong to take the person in right now.

Pei Aosong could only bite the bullet and lead the people from the Dali Temple toward Jiaohua Garden, but he walked sluggishly on the way, and the Dali Temple officers did not urge him.

Before entering Jiaohua Garden, Pei Aosong heard the laughter of Lin Jiaojiao and Bai Zhi from afar.

"Be careful, save these medicinal dregs for me to soak my feet." Lin Jiaojiao's crisp voice was as pleasant as wind chimes.

"Ah? This is the first time I've heard of medicinal dregs being used to soak feet!" This was Bai Zhi's surprised voice; even Pei Aosong could tell that in Jiaohua Garden, there was not much distinction between superior and inferior.

"This medicine is much more authentic than the ones where we are from! It must not be wasted!" Lin Jiaojiao's voice was very lively; she had no idea what she was about to face.

"It's just that where we are from, some hateful little devils tricked away the medicinal herbs from the place of origin," inside the room, Lin Jiaojiao's tone shifted from lighthearted teasing to gnashing hatred, "Truly, those who are not of our race must have a different heart!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Aosong thought, is this something that can be said out loud?! If the Dali Temple finds out, it will be a disaster!

He hurriedly glanced sideways at the Dali Temple officers. The man's face was as black as ink, scaring Pei Aosong into taking three steps in two, rushing into the room and covering Lin Jiaojiao's mouth tightly.

Lin Jiaojiao hurriedly pulled at Pei Aosong's hand, and when she turned back to see it was her husband, she immediately put on a flattering expression, "Husband, why have you come? My chest is hurting."

"Today, Liu Dafu took my pulse and said it was because I didn't recover well during my confinement. Now that I haven't even finished my confinement, I keep getting rashes. If my body is not well, how can I serve you, Husband~"

Pei Aosong signaled to Lin Jiaojiao, indicating that there were people from the Dali Temple following behind him.

Only then did Lin Jiaojiao look past Pei Aosong to see behind him. As soon as she saw the people from the Dali Temple, she felt as if the sky had collapsed.

It's over, it's over; plans cannot keep up with changes. The plan she had originally agreed upon with Liu Shouyi had all turned into smoke.

Pei Aosong saw the panic in Lin Jiaojiao's eyes. He gently stroked Lin Jiaojiao's long hair to comfort her, "Jiaojiao, the Dali Temple needs you to go back and cooperate with the investigation for a few days. Don't worry, Magistrate Song said you can return to the mansion in three to five days."

Lin Jiaojiao knew well that at the Dali Temple, Pei Aosong was truly beyond his reach and could not protect her. She could only lower her head, bite her lip, and respond, "Okay."

Going to the Dali Temple was likely to be a perilous journey. Anyone who had watched television knew that the ancient Dali Temple had plenty of cruel tortures to make people confess. If she went through a round of those, she feared she would be beaten so badly her own mother wouldn't recognize her.

Not to mention the things she had said yesterday to disgust the people from the Dali Temple; now her guts were green with regret.

Lin Jiaojiao felt waves of distress in her heart. No, she had to find a way to clear her name as soon as possible, but the people from the Dali Temple were following Pei Aosong to arrest her... what could she do?

She could only think of other ways.

Before leaving with the people from the Dali Temple, Lin Jiaojiao felt an inexplicable and infinite worry for Pei Tiezhu. As long as she was not in the Pei Mansion for a single day, that ugly baby might suffer harm and die!

"Husband, it doesn't matter if I cooperate with the Dali Temple's investigation, but I cannot set my mind at ease regarding the child, Tiezhu." Lin Jiaojiao said sadly, "A mother and child are connected at heart; I want to take the child with me to the Dali Temple."

"Audacious! How dare you negotiate terms with the Dali Temple!" The Dali Temple officer gripped his blade and stepped forward, "Do you think the Dali Temple is a Benevolent Nursery? You think you can bring whoever you want, and take whoever you want?"