Chapter 33: Simply about to be driven mad with rage

Seeing Wang Jiaojiao, who had been acting coquettishly toward him just a few days ago, acting so distant, Pei Aosong was stunned for a moment. He went over, intending to take her hand and speak, but unexpectedly, Lin Jiaojiao pulled her hand away, stepped directly two zhang away, and said straightforwardly, "Lord Pei, it is fortunate that you have come today; I have serious business to discuss with you."

Pei Aosong nodded repeatedly, "Easily done, easily done. Come home with me first, and we can discuss anything."

Lin Jiaojiao's expression was cold: "I will not go back with you. What I want to say is, can you release me from the Pei Mansion?"

Pei Aosong looked Lin Jiaojiao up and down: It had only been a few days, so how had she become like a different person after leaving the Dali Temple and arriving at the General's Mansion? Suddenly, he realized with a start, "Jiaojiao, did someone at the General's Mansion threaten you?"

"No one threatened me," Lin Jiaojiao said, walking over to a chair and sitting down, "It is I who no longer wish to return to the Pei Mansion."

"If no one is coercing you, then how can you not come home? You must be angry, right? Angry that I let the people from the Dali Temple take you away," Pei Aosong walked to her side to coax her, "Jiaojiao, I will not do that again in the future. Come home with me quickly."

Hearing Pei Aosong say this, Lin Jiaojiao almost laughed out of anger. How could this man be like this? Was he truly completely unaware of her real situation in the Pei Mansion?

Seeing Lin Jiaojiao's expression was poor, Pei Aosong braced himself and added, "Then I will be a better father. I will go visit Tiezhu every day, and when he grows up, I will accompany him in martial arts practice. That should be enough, right?"

This time, Lin Jiaojiao truly could not laugh at all, "Lord Pei, do you not know what my situation is in the Pei Mansion?"

"Do you not know that your Old Madam is trying every way to put me to death?"

"Do you not know who framed me, claiming I was some kind of Southern Frontier spy?"

Lin Jiaojiao's three consecutive questions left Pei Aosong speechless. The air seemed to have frozen. After a long while, Pei Aosong finally said, "Jiaojiao, why don't you stay at the villa for now? Once Mother's anger has subsided and everything is properly arranged, you can return to the Pei Mansion with me."

Lin Jiaojiao looked at him, clearly seeing that he knew of the old hag's actions, yet he had never once protected her!

In the end, she couldn't even be bothered to explain. Without even lifting her eyelids, she said, "I will not go back with you. You should just release my household register from the Pei Mansion. Oh, and release Tiezhu's household register as well. I am going to take him to change his surname."

"You want to take the child away?" Pei Aosong's spirit suddenly deflated, and he slumped onto the stool.

He did not know Lin Jiaojiao could be so heartless!

Pei Aosong pulled a bitter smile from the corner of his mouth, "Change to what surname? Follow your surname Wang?"

Before Lin Jiaojiao could speak, another cold, harsh voice came from the doorway, "Follow my surname Song."

Lin Jiaojiao turned her head to look, and almost choked on her own saliva.

She saw Song Shijie being pushed into the room in a wheelchair by a servant from the General's Mansion. Once the person was delivered into the reception hall, the Lu General's Mansion servant exited on their own.

Song Shijie looked at Pei Aosong, his face as dark as ink, "Lord Pei, how about you gift this concubine to me?"

Seeing this, Lin Jiaojiao knew Song Shijie was helping her break free from the Pei Mansion. She walked out with a swaying, graceful gait, came to the stretcher, took his hand, and said in a sweet, cloying voice, "Oh my, Shijie, your wounds haven't healed yet. Why have you come out like this? Aren't you afraid of catching a chill and affecting your recovery?"

"You!? You people!?" Pei Aosong was so angry he was speechless.

Song Shijie almost vomited up his previous night's meal from disgust. He frowned and said, "My father will come to the Pei Mansion tomorrow to claim the person. I ask Lord Pei to release Lin Jiaojiao and her child. Another day, I will send a bridal sedan chair with eight bearers to marry the mother and child into the Song Mansion. From then on, the child will follow me and change his surname."

"That's right, you don't like the child Tiezhu anyway. I see that Lord Song is very good to him. When Tiezhu had a fever, it was Lord Song who anxiously went out to buy medicine to treat Tiezhu's fever," Lin Jiaojiao said, acting intimate beside Song Shijie.

If it were an ordinary person, their earlobes would have turned red from embarrassment, but Song Shijie did not change his expression. He only stiffly cooperated, repeating that sentence: "Lord Pei, I have taken a fancy to your concubine. I ask you to release her from the mansion."

Pei Aosong was, for a moment, at a loss for how to answer. In official circles, it was common for officials to gift beauties or concubines to one another, but for Song Shijie to say he would use a bridal sedan chair with eight bearers to marry one of his concubines—that was an unprecedented, bizarre event!

"As you can see, I have fallen in love with Lord Song. I ask Lord Pei to be accommodating and release my household register and Tiezhu's household register." As Lin Jiaojiao said this, she wrapped one arm around Song Shijie's neck and leaned her face close to his. If it weren't for the fact that his cheeks were covered in stubble, she might have even kissed him for the sake of the act.

Song Shijie dared not move—he dared not move at all, fearing that if he moved, he would be kissed!

Pei Aosong was simply about to be driven mad with rage. It was one thing that he couldn't get his concubine back from the General's Mansion, but this concubine was actually hooking up with the Dali Temple Junior Minister!

Seeing he still wouldn't leave, Song Shijie spoke up, "Lord Pei, rest assured. Once Lin Jiaojiao marries into my house, I will certainly treat her well, and there will be no poisoning of food, causing people to die inexplicably."

"What poisoning of food?" Pei Aosong was startled again, "Who is poisoning the food?"

Even Lin Jiaojiao was stunned for a moment, followed by the lingering fear of having survived a disaster: Holy crap, the food sent from the Pei Mansion that day really was poisoned! It was fortunate she had been decisive and hadn't eaten it!

"That is something you will have to go back and ask the people of the Pei Mansion yourself." Song Shijie narrowed his eyes, looking at Pei Aosong haughtily, "Lord Pei, shouldn't you go back and investigate?"

Lin Jiaojiao knew he was provoking Pei Aosong, so she immediately used a cloying voice, "Shijie is truly capable! Otherwise, I would have been killed by the people of the Pei Mansion long ago! I was so scared!"

"Truly infuriating!" Seeing the two acting intimate while ignoring him, Pei Aosong flicked his sleeves and left in a rage!

Once the person was gone, Lin Jiaojiao immediately let go of Song Shijie. The two looked at each other with mutual disgust. Lin Jiaojiao said, "I didn't expect your acting to be so good; you could win an Oscar!"

Song Shijie said in a cold voice, "I am only helping you to repay the debt of saving my life."

"Hi! Actually, it's fine if you really want to marry me." Lin Jiaojiao said nonchalantly. Out of professional habit, she began to examine the wounds on Song Shijie's body again.

Song Shijie snorted coldly in his heart: Whoever marries you will have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes!

Seeing Song Shijie did not respond, Lin Jiaojiao began to discuss the post-marriage plan with him, "Anyway, you don't like me, and I don't like you. It's just going through the motions, a sham marriage. After we marry, you live your life, and I live mine. I plan to open a medical clinic; you, as my nominal husband, just need to provide the capital. Later, we will split the clinic's revenue fifty-fifty."

Thinking for a moment, she added, "I won't stop you from liking other girls. If you take a fancy to one and bring her home, that's fine too. If you two can withstand the test of love, we can just get a divorce—oh, no, what is it called in ancient times? A separation, yes, a separation."

Song Shijie snorted coldly, "You say marry, we marry; you say separate, we separate. Where does that leave the reputation of my Song Mansion?" ===== CHAPTER 34 =====