Upon hearing this, Pei Wenxuan’s expression immediately changed.

He knew Wen Shi’s temper well, and he was also clear about Li Rong’s personality. When these two came together, nothing good would come of it.

Pei Wenxuan quickly ordered the carriage driver to hurry, then sat back in the carriage and carefully questioned Tong Ye: “How did the old madam suddenly end up in the inner courtyard?”

“The steward said it was because Nanny Qian, who serves the old madam, happened to spot Imperial Physician He coming to our estate.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Wenxuan’s anger flared up: “Wasn’t it said that this matter needed to be done discreetly, without anyone knowing?!”

“Imperial Physician He came in wearing a cloak, and people were cleared before he entered,” Tong Ye explained. “Who knew Nanny Qian had such sharp eyes that she could recognize Imperial Physician He from afar? The steward said that in earlier years, the master often invited Imperial Physician He to the estate to examine the old madam. Nanny Qian secretly admired Imperial Physician He for some time and is very familiar with him. This kind of thing—if no one mentions it, how would we know?”

Pei Wenxuan was momentarily speechless. He paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, “Forget it. Just remember to be more careful next time.”

Pei Wenxuan pondered how to get Wen Shi out as quickly as possible as he returned to the estate.

As soon as he entered the estate, he saw Wen Shi from afar, leaning against a small table and dozing off. He hurried forward and called out, “Mother.”

Hearing his voice, Wen Shi instantly sat up straight and looked toward the direction Pei Wenxuan was coming from, on high alert.

Pei Wenxuan stepped forward and bowed to Wen Shi, feigning confusion as he said, “Mother, why did you come to your son’s quarters today? Your health isn’t good. If there’s anything, you could just summon me over…”

“Don’t you know why I came?!” Wen Shi bellowed. “Instead of learning good things, you’re keeping a mistress in a golden house! I came here today to teach you a lesson. Previously, when you and Her Highness divorced, you didn’t even tell me. Well, that was fine—I just considered it a quarrel between you young couple. But what are you doing now? Bringing back some dubious woman, and even having an imperial physician come for an examination. You’re not… are you…”

Wen Shi’s face flushed red. Pei Wenxuan understood her meaning and quickly said, “Mother, you’ve misunderstood. Regarding the matter of offspring, your son won’t act recklessly.”

“Then what about that woman?” Wen Shi pressed on. “Do you still want to reconcile with Her Highness or not? If Her Highness finds out what you’re doing, will she ever come back to you?”

Upon hearing this, everyone cast surprised looks at Wen Shi.

Currently, all of Hua Jing was saying that Li Rong was arrogant and domineering, and that Pei Wenxuan had initiated the divorce. Yet according to Wen Shi’s words, it seemed Pei Wenxuan was the one pursuing Li Rong without success.

Seeing everyone looking at her in surprise, Wen Shi snorted softly: “What are you looking at? Don’t I know my own son? I’m perfectly clear about your feelings for Her Highness. Would you really divorce her?”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

This was the first time he felt his mother was so perceptive. Wen Shi waved her hand, dismissing everyone. Pei Wenxuan glanced imperceptibly at the area behind the folding screen, feeling somewhat anxious. Wen Shi began to lecture: “Wenxuan, I know everyone in Hua Jing likes having three wives and four concubines, but you can’t go astray. If you want to enjoy the blessings of many wives, you won’t have genuine sincerity. Her Highness is a girl with a sincere heart. That time she stood up for you…”

“I understand,” Pei Wenxuan interrupted her. “Mother, how about this—let me escort you back first. I’ll go back and explain to you.”

“Can’t you explain it here? Stop trying to fool me. You’re just using delaying tactics, afraid I’ll see that girl…”

Before she could finish, a soft “achoo” came from behind the folding screen. The entire room instantly fell silent. Using her feminine intuition, Wen Shi immediately reacted: “There’s someone here?”

“No.” Pei Wenxuan stiffened. “Mother, please go back first.”

Wen Shi paid him no mind and stood up directly, about to go behind the folding screen.

Pei Wenxuan quickly stepped forward to block Wen Shi: “Mother,” Pei Wenxuan grew anxious, “please go back first, all right?”

“Is it that woman?”

Wen Shi raised her hand, pointing toward the folding screen. Pei Wenxuan quickly said, “Mother, there’s no woman. Please leave.”

Hearing this, Li Rong felt somewhat guilty. She couldn’t help but blame herself—she had endured for a full hour, so how could she not hold back this final sneeze?

Seeing Pei Wenxuan’s appearance, Wen Shi was so angry she laughed: “Do you think I’m stupid? Move aside!”

“Mother…”

“You won’t move? Then don’t blame me for speaking harshly and making everyone look bad! You vixen, listen well—someone like you can only hide behind this folding screen of mine, never able to see the light of day for your entire life. You don’t even count as a concubine!”

Hearing Wen Shi’s words, Li Rong raised an eyebrow. This was the first time anyone had cursed at her like this, and she found it quite novel.

“Mother, please stop.”

Pei Wenxuan pushed Wen Shi outward. Wen Shi shoved against him and said angrily, “Let go of me! Are you going to hit me?! Let me see what kind of seductive appearance has bewitched you like this! I must see her today!”

“Mother…”

“Very well, husband,” Li Rong saw that Pei Wenxuan really couldn’t get Wen Shi to leave, so she changed her tone of voice and spoke from behind the folding screen in a coquettish manner, “just let her see. Let her see what kind of seductive appearance I have.”

“Stop making trouble…”

Hearing Li Rong also speak out, Pei Wenxuan felt utterly exhausted. When Wen Shi heard Li Rong dare to speak, her anger erupted: “Move aside and let me teach this little tramp a lesson, so she knows the height of heaven and depth of earth, thinking she can enter the Pei family’s gates whenever she wants!”

“Oh my, what’s so difficult about that?” Li Rong said leisurely, fanning herself and leaning against a pillar. “Haven’t I already entered?”

“You shameless woman!” Wen Shi spat. Li Rong directly retorted, “You have no face.”

“Let me see her!”

“Mother…”

“Tell her to come see me, and we’ll see who teaches whom a lesson.”

“Madam…”

“You actually dare call her ‘madam’?!”

Wen Shi instantly flew into a rage. Li Rong laughed lightly: “I’m not only the madam, but in the future I’ll also be the old madam of the Pei family, and the mother of the Pei family’s legitimate eldest son. Scold away—if you have the ability, curse at me to my face and see whether you’re more shrewish or I am. What scene hasn’t this humble servant seen? Old Madam, you’d better save your energy. Don’t try to show off with an axe before Master Guan—who knows who’ll be teaching whom a lesson.”

“You… you…”

Wen Shi was breathing heavily in agitation. Li Rong was just about to say a few more words to make her retreat in the face of difficulty when, before she could speak, Wen Shi couldn’t catch her breath and rolled her eyes back, fainting.

Pei Wenxuan caught Wen Shi in one swift motion, crying out in panic, “Mother!”

Hearing something wrong in Pei Wenxuan’s voice, Li Rong quickly peeked out from behind the folding screen and saw Pei Wenxuan calling for people. She said somewhat guiltily, “She fainted?”

Pei Wenxuan glared at her and rebuked in a low voice: “What ridiculous nonsense.”

With that, Pei Wenxuan carried Wen Shi out and quickly had a physician examine her. Li Rong thumped her legs. Tong Ye scurried in and helped Li Rong up, asking, “Your Highness, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Li Rong waved her hand and sighed: “Let’s go back.”

After Pei Wenxuan confirmed that Wen Shi had no serious problems, he had someone stay to care for her and returned to see Li Rong.

Li Rong was lying on the bed, reading a popular novel by lamplight.

Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a moment before walking into the room. Li Rong pretended not to see him and continued turning pages.

Pei Wenxuan walked up to Li Rong and sat down. Just as he was about to say something, Li Rong put down her book and quickly said, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t expect her to faint either. I just saw that she insisted on seeing me, so I wanted to anger her into leaving.”

“I’m not blaming you,” seeing Li Rong’s defensive posture, Pei Wenxuan found it somewhat amusing. “Why are you so nervous?”

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he placed his hand on her leg and said with some concern, “You stood behind that folding screen for so long—are your legs all right?”

Li Rong hadn’t expected Pei Wenxuan not to blame her, and she felt an indescribable awkwardness. She averted her gaze from his face and said quietly, “They’re fine.”

“Let me massage them for you.”

Pei Wenxuan paid no mind to her words. He called someone in and had them prepare footbath water for her, adding medicinal herbs according to the prescription she usually used, boiling it before pouring it into the water.

After giving instructions, he went to change his clothes. When the servants brought in the water, he sat across from the footbath and had Li Rong place her feet in the water.

When the comfortable sensation of her feet in the water washed over her, Li Rong finally realized how uncomfortable her legs had been earlier.

Pei Wenxuan lowered his head and pressed on her acupressure points, saying quietly, “I know you stood for a long time and suffered grievances. My heart aches for you—I have no intention of blaming you.”

Li Rong kept her head down without speaking. Pei Wenxuan looked up at her and smiled: “Don’t worry.”

Li Rong quietly looked at the person sitting across from her. Rarely did she see a trace of the mundane warmth of common folk emanating from this person. For a moment, she felt as if she weren’t a princess and Pei Wenxuan weren’t some important court official.

She watched as he cradled her feet in his embrace and dried them with a cloth, his earnest manner no different from loving couples among the common people.

Gone was the calculating shrewdness, replaced by a feeling that gave one a sense of solid reassurance.

She could see the fatigue in his eyes. After he called someone in to pour out the water and had her lie on the bed while he massaged her calves, Li Rong lay on the bed and said quietly, “You should sleep.”

“In a moment.”

Pei Wenxuan carefully massaged her calves: “You didn’t take good care of yourself in earlier years. When you’re old, your legs will hurt.”

“If you don’t sleep early now, when you’re old…” Li Rong instinctively retorted, then abruptly stopped. Pei Wenxuan laughed: “Afraid I’ll die before you?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Li Rong buried her head in her arms: “You’re so young—why say such things?”

Pei Wenxuan didn’t respond. Li Rong was becoming drowsy from his massage. Looking for something to occupy herself, she murmured drowsily, “What did Consort Rou want with you today?”

“She went to arrest people from the Shangguan family and was driven out.”

Pei Wenxuan said in a low voice, “His Majesty sent me to assist her precisely because he intended for me to be the scapegoat and help her arrest people.”

“What will you do then?”

Li Rong wasn’t worried about such matters. She knew Pei Wenxuan was a slippery eel who wouldn’t get into trouble over something like this.

“Then I’ll just handle it properly.”

As Pei Wenxuan spoke, he seemed to remember something. He leaned forward against Li Rong and said softly, “Your Highness, can you do me a favor?”

Li Rong glanced at him lazily. Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, “The list Consort Rou gave me is all Shangguan family members. I’m afraid we need to give Miss Aya advance warning. I’ll bring the people over and guarantee nothing will happen to them.”

“Go ahead.” Li Rong was nonchalant. “If they really did something wrong, then deal with them accordingly. Better to eliminate future trouble for Chuan’er.”

“All right.”

Hearing his words, Li Rong also felt tired. Leaning against the bed, she said softly, “I should probably move back tomorrow.”

Pei Wenxuan’s movements paused. Li Rong said slowly, “Just tell your mother you drove the person away. That way you can give her an explanation. If she continues to scold me so harshly, I can’t bear the humiliation either.”

Pei Wenxuan said nothing. He kept his head lowered, and only after a long while did he respond with a sound of acknowledgment.

Li Rong turned over, propped her head up to look at him, and said with a smile, “That’s it? You won’t even try to make me stay?”

“I want to,” Pei Wenxuan smiled bitterly, “but I also feel you’ve been wronged. That you’re willing to lower yourself like this for me already makes me very happy. I can’t keep wronging you like this.”

Hearing this, Li Rong smiled gently. She patted Pei Wenxuan’s hand and said warmly, “Go to sleep.”

Knowing Li Rong would leave tomorrow, Pei Wenxuan refused to let go.

The two of them were intimate all night. In the early morning when Li Rong got up, she had everything arranged. Before daybreak, she headed straight back to the Princess’s estate.

She mixed in among the vegetable farmers. The guards were just going through the motions and weren’t watching strictly. She followed the vegetable farmers into the Princess’s estate, returned to her room, changed her clothes, and had a good sleep.

Although she had left Pei Wenxuan, she still lived according to the routine she had followed at the Pei estate.

Taking medicine when she should, maintaining her health regimen when she should.

Meanwhile, Pei Wenxuan, having received Consort Rou’s orders, mustered his troops on the very first day. By afternoon, he went straight to the Shangguan family’s gates.

Shangguan Ya had received Li Rong’s message in the morning and was already prepared. Pei Wenxuan aggressively pushed open the doors and entered. The Shangguan family put on a show of confronting Pei Wenxuan, and by nightfall, they handed over the Shangguan family members to the Constabulary Bureau.

Consort Rou hadn’t expected Pei Wenxuan to handle things so efficiently—bringing the people in after just one day. She couldn’t help but be somewhat shocked.

Pei Wenxuan wore a smile on his face as he led the people kneeling on the ground, saying, “Your Ladyship, the people have been brought in. Your Ladyship may interrogate them thoroughly. If there’s anything else this official can do, please feel free to speak.”

Since Pei Wenxuan put it that way, Consort Rou would be foolish not to use him. After praising Pei Wenxuan thoroughly, she gave him a list of names and had him go arrest people everywhere.

All the tasks of offending people were done by Pei Wenxuan, while Consort Rou just wanted to push Pei Wenxuan forward to do the dirty work.

Pei Wenxuan didn’t disappoint her expectations. Every day he mustered his troops and marched imposingly with his men from one end of Hua Jing’s streets to the other. Nearly everyone in Hua Jing knew that Pei Wenxuan was handling the imperial examination case, working tirelessly and forgetting to eat and sleep.

While Pei Wenxuan’s reputation among the common people soared to unprecedented heights, his name among the aristocratic families became increasingly notorious.

Every time he went to arrest someone, he made a huge commotion. He almost always had people ram straight through the family gates, then entered with the Constabulary Bureau’s token, his face stern as he bellowed, “This official has come on Consort Rou’s orders to arrest people. Bring out the suspects!”

His official authority was overwhelming, and this kind of behavior made the aristocratic families curse him as disgusting.

He mentioned Consort Rou to everyone he met—Consort Rou ordered him to arrest people, Consort Rou ordered him to do things. If you’re not satisfied? Then go to court and tell His Majesty that Consort Rou was wrong.

At first, there were indeed people who worked up the courage to impeach Consort Rou, saying she indulged her subordinates and was arrogant and discourteous.

But Pei Wenxuan had already discussed this with Li Ming beforehand—now that Consort Rou was handling affairs, the aristocratic families looked down on her and would certainly speak ill of her.

So these few people who impeached Consort Rou ran straight into the line of fire. Li Ming treated them as if they were spreading rumors and slandering Consort Rou. To protect Consort Rou’s position, he had them dragged out and beaten with boards.

After this happened, no one dared impeach Consort Rou anymore.

Since these people didn’t dare to impeach, neither Consort Rou nor Li Ming had any idea about the aristocratic families’ private attitudes. They simply thought they had intimidated them and that they no longer dared slander Consort Rou.

Pei Wenxuan, under Consort Rou’s banner, created chaos throughout Hua Jing and arrested quite a few people.

Although they were basically from the Shangguan faction, other people would inevitably be implicated to some degree. And Pei Wenxuan’s understanding of clan relationships ran far deeper than Li Ming’s or Consort Rou’s, and his grasp was more precise.

Which young masters, though not in positions of real power, were actually dearly loved by their families.

Which young masters seemed glamorous and impressive but were actually despised by their families.

Each family had different feelings toward different descendants. When arresting Shangguan clan members, he followed the list Consort Rou gave him. When arresting other aristocratic family members, he was selective, specifically choosing those officials who seemed unloved and without real power but were actually extremely cherished by their families.

Consort Rou couldn’t perceive the difference in all this. She only knew that Pei Wenxuan had brought back every single person she wanted, and even more than she had anticipated.

Consort Rou began to develop some admiration for this young man.

After all, young men who were this capable, reliable, and handsome were truly too rare.

She began to calculate how to secure Pei Wenxuan firmly under her command.

Meanwhile, Pei Wenxuan was calculating when he should close the net.