Chapter 47

Su Chunyan felt aggrieved to the extreme. She had originally thought that with Lu Zhenting by her side, if she "accidentally" fell into the lake, he would naturally be the first to jump in to save her. The coldness of the lake water was secondary; if Lu Zhenting saved her, he would certainly see her body, and marrying into the Lu General Mansion should not have been difficult.

But who would have thought that the one who jumped into the water to save her was not Lu Zhenting, but her brother-in-law. Her body had been seen by her brother-in-law; if her sister found out, she would surely hate her to death.

She did not know how to face her sister and her furious father, so she simply took advantage of her father's slap and fainted on the spot.

"My daughter!" Her mother, seeing her pampered daughter knocked unconscious by her husband, hurriedly lunged over to embrace Su Chunyan, crying in distress.

Su Hongtu, however, did not soften in the slightest. He had originally kept Su Chunyan until she was 17 without marrying her off, intending to wait for the next selection to send her into the palace.

Previously, Su Chunyan had repeatedly stated she did not want to enter the palace, and he had not paid it much mind, but he had not expected her to be so bold as to secretly use some means to lose her virtue to someone, and that person was her own brother-in-law, Pei Aosong!

He naturally understood Su Chunyan's thoughts, but it was not easy to speak plainly in front of everyone, so he just cursed angrily, "You are a disgrace! Someone, take this shameful daughter back!"

"Prime Minister Su, your daughter losing her virtue is a small matter," Song Mu stood up instead to speak for Su Chunyan, "but what if she catches a cold and damages her foundation? I have heard that for a young lady who damages her foundation from a cold, the future prospects for offspring might be..."

Su Mu had originally thought she was saying something kind, but the latter part of the sentence displeased her. She disregarded her status and image, pointed at Song Mu's nose and cursed, "You old woman! Why are you cursing my daughter!"

"Who are you calling an old woman?" Song Fu immediately stepped out, shielding Song Mu behind him.

He countered with cold eyes and furrowed brows, "My wife was offering you kind advice, telling your family to quickly treat the child to avoid a cold, yet you are there spouting blood and slandering people?"

Su Mu still wanted to curse back, but Su Hongtu let out an impatient roar, "Enough!". Only then did she close her mouth and tell the servants to take the feigning-unconscious Su Chunyan to the guest room and have the House Physician go to take her pulse and diagnose her.

"Father, Mother, this son-in-law will go change his clothes and return." Pei Aosong was also soaked, his ink-blue clothes stained with quite a bit of sticky, foul-smelling sludge, and his body emitted a damp, muddy stench.

After bowing to bid farewell to Prime Minister Su and Su Mu, he walked back to his room to change into clean clothes.

While scrubbing the filth off his body, he felt extremely annoyed, especially by the stench and the smell of water rust, which he couldn't seem to scrub off. He scrubbed forcefully dozens of times until his skin turned red, yet the smell remained on his body.

What gave him an even greater headache was Su Chunyan!

Throughout history, women who lost their virtue were mostly expected to marry the man involved, but with Su Wanqiu already being pampered at home, he already felt that life had lost its color.

If he were really forced to marry Su Chunyan as well, both sisters were of legitimate birth, so Su Chunyan would definitely have to be raised to the status of an equal wife...

Wanqiu would certainly be unwilling, and life in the inner courtyard would become unbearable!

At this very moment, he missed the days he used to spend with Lin Jiaojiao immensely.

She was someone without hidden agendas, so her laughter and tears were both real; this point alone made her a hundred times better than all the noble ladies in the Capital.

By the time he had changed his clothes, Su Hongtu was already waiting for him in the study. As soon as he saw Pei Aosong walk out, he went over and patted him on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "Aosong, our Su family only has these two precious legitimate daughters, and you have already married one..."

Pei Aosong knew what he was going to say, and he replied respectfully, "This son-in-law understands; having Wanqiu is enough for me!"

"As for today's events, as long as Uncle Song, Aunt Song, and General Lu do not speak of it, no one outside will know what happened today."

Hearing Pei Aosong say this, Su Hongtu's hanging heart finally settled, "That is good. I will handle them; you just need to give me the Letter of Release for Concubine and the household register, and I will handle it for you."

Pei Aosong bowed in gratitude, "Yes, Father-in-law."

Even though he felt ten thousand times reluctant to part with Lin Jiaojiao, he now had to follow his father-in-law's arrangements in everything.

When he handed the Letter of Release for Concubine and the household register to Su Hongtu, he hesitated for a moment.

Su Hongtu saw through it but did not say it, simply taking the two items, "Aosong, you have been tossed about all day and must be tired. Go and accompany Wanqiu and the child to rest."

"Yes. Sorry to trouble you, Father-in-law," Pei Aosong nodded and replied, "Wanqiu has had a hard day today, and this son-in-law should spend more time with her and the child."

Su Hongtu watched Pei Aosong's back as he walked toward Jinxiu Garden with satisfaction, stroking his beard. He hadn't thought much of this son-in-law at first—plain and unremarkable with no achievements.

But Su Wanqiu insisted on marrying him, and with his concubine sister providing a guarantee, and the palace in the midst of the Empress's enthronement ceremony, it was truly inappropriate to send Wanqiu into the palace, so he had no choice but to marry her off to him.

Later, when Pei Aosong took a servant girl into the mansion as a concubine, he didn't care; it was just a concubine, after all. Men, which one of them didn't have three wives and four concubines?

It was just that his concubine sister, Su Linlang, had come to the mansion in the middle of the night that day to deal with this concubine. Thinking that dealing with a concubine would make life easier for Wanqiu, he had agreed. Who knew it would lead to today's mess!

But none of that mattered now. The greatest merit of this son-in-law, Pei Aosong, was that he was obedient. As long as he was willing to be obedient, everything else could be discussed. As for matters in the officialdom, he could provide more support in the future.

He walked to the hall, spoke a few words to Song Fu and Song Mu, gave them the Letter of Release for Concubine, and let them return to their mansion.

Then he found Lu Zhenting alone and spoke a few words to him as well. Seeing Lu Zhenting nod and agree not to speak of Su Chunyan's fall into the lake to outsiders, he then gave him the household register for Lin Jiaojiao and her son.

Just then, Guo Shi had finished packing things up, and Zhu Geer had fallen asleep, so Lu Zhenting took them and left the Pei Mansion.

"General Lu, just now when I was in the room feeding the child, I heard a lot of commotion outside. Did something happen?" Guo Shi was a gossip-lover; missing the excitement at the Pei Mansion made her feel worse than losing a piece of gold.

"I didn't pay attention." Lu Zhenting thought that this matter had nothing to do with Lin Jiaojiao in the future, and since it was a matter of the Pei Mansion and he had promised Prime Minister Su, he did not mention Su Chunyan's fall into the water.

"Eh? What about that Miss from the Su family? Did you two go for a walk together?" Guo Shi's gossip attempt failed, and she felt a stifled breath in her heart that she had to vent, "That Miss Su clearly has her eyes on you. Are you going to take her as your wife?!"

Lu Zhenting knew she was asking on behalf of Lin Jiaojiao. He was somewhat between laughter and tears, "I have no interest in the Miss from the Su family, and I ask that you help me convey this to Miss Lin."

"How am I supposed to convey that? She is at the Dali Temple right now!" Guo Shi complained, "Don't tell me you want me to take the baby and go to the Dali Temple again!?"

That's right! Lin Jiaojiao is currently at the Dali Temple. After sending Guo Shi and the child back to the General's Mansion, he must hurry to the Dali Temple to bring Lin Jiaojiao back!

Thinking of this, Lu Zhenting hurriedly helped Guo Shi and the child into the carriage and flicked his whip to speed up.

And at this very moment, with the clanging sound of the prison door locking, Lin Jiaojiao "returned" to the place she was familiar with: the Dali Temple prison.

"Hehehe, mother yaksha," suddenly, a chilling laugh came from the next cell, "How did you end up back here? How about it? During the time you were out, did you feed the people who harmed you dung? Hehehe..."