"W-what?"
Zhao Wei was shocked that such a thing actually happened.
"Didn't you ever think at the time that this might not be an accident?" Pei Che asked.
Zhao Wei shook his head. "That incident happened too suddenly. I just thought it was the heavy rain that knocked down the trees on the mountain. By the time I discovered my cousin's plot, it had been over a year. How could I have thought of other possibilities?"
Pei Che felt that Zhao Wei trusted his cousin too much. Maybe it was her people who did it, and then pretended that it didn't work. That woman was vicious and had previously joined forces with his second aunt to make him subject to the royal family. Isn't it natural for such a person to lie? After all, she had deceived Zhao Wei before.
Perhaps he had seen through Pei Che's doubts, Zhao Wei said, "I overheard the plot between my cousin and uncle. At the time, I was staying at Li's house. After drinking a few more cups, I fell asleep in the cracks of the rockery and took a nap. I didn't expect to hear the conversation between my uncle and cousin."
At that time, the power of the Fourth Prince had been reduced by 70% or 80%. The Third Prince's position was stable and he was only one step away from ascending to the throne. As the mother's family of the Third Prince's concubine, the status of the Li Mansion naturally rose with the tide, becoming better and better day by day.
But unfortunately, Li Huanyan was only a concubine. Even if the third prince ascended the throne, she would still be a concubine. With the pressure from the mistress, Li Huanyan, who was always competitive, was always unwilling to accept it.
When she returned to the Li Mansion that day, Li Huanyan directly blamed her father for not doing well in the court and not being trusted by the Third Prince, which caused her and her children to be neglected. After that, she sighed and said that if she had been able to successfully persuade Pei Shijie, the Third Prince would surely have valued her very much. It was a pity that Pei Shijie was not tactful, otherwise how could he have ended up like this
Lord Li looked around in a hurry, fearing that someone might hear what he said. Even if she was the prince's concubine, she could not bear the charge of murdering the prince.
Li Huanyan said nonchalantly: "Why should I be afraid? I didn't harm him. My people didn't even do anything when he met with misfortune. I can only blame it on fate."
After saying this, she gritted her teeth again: "If he hadn't married that bitch and married me instead, wouldn't he have met with this disaster? He can only blame himself for being blind!" She actually looked like she was turning love into hate.
Lord Li hurriedly said, "You are now the concubine of the Third Prince, so you can no longer say these things. The Third Prince is jealous of Pei Shijie because of the matter of Feng's daughter. If he knew that you also had such thoughts, he would definitely banish you and your daughter to the cold palace in the future. It's a good thing that you didn't succeed in recruiting him in the first place. If the Third Prince knew that you privately persuaded your cousin to be a lobbyist, who knows what would happen."
Li Huanyan snorted, "What can he do? Pei Shijie is such a talented person. If he dares to turn him away, his subordinates will be the first to disagree. Well, let's not talk about this. Dad, have you discussed with my cousin and let his shop pay for the work?"
Lord Li said, "Don't worry. Your cousin is a filial person. Now that his mother has passed away and his father's family is no longer prosperous, we are his only relatives. As long as we persuade him kindly, he will agree. It's a pity that he and Yijia didn't get together, otherwise this matter would be much simpler."
Li Huanyan smiled contemptuously: "My concubine sister is very proud, how could she look down on a mere merchant like him. When she saw me entering the Third Prince's Mansion, she immediately hooked up with the concubine of the Duke Zhong's Mansion. She is also lucky. If Pei Shijie had not suffered a disaster, she would never have been able to make a name for herself in her life. Now she has become the wife of the Duke."
Lord Li advised, "Don't provoke her now. The Third Prince has not yet accomplished his great cause. Although the power and reputation of the Duke of Zhongguo's Mansion are not as great as before, it is still different with their support."
"Don't worry, Dad, I won't act on impulse..."
Zhao Wei finished speaking and sighed, "There are countless secrets involved here, and I don't think they told me this on purpose. So I think they didn't lie at the time. They weren't the ones who did what happened to your parents."
Pei Che was silent. No wonder Zhao Wei severed ties with the Li family. What he heard must be true. In this case, someone else cut down the tree and pushed it off the cliff. But who else would do it besides them
"Master Zhao, besides you, were there other people in the Tzu Chi Temple back then?"
"Thank you very much. Now that you have told me everything you know, I will take my leave." Pei Che bowed to him. He was a man who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment. Although Zhao Wei had let a wolf into the house, he was not the culprit who harmed his parents.
Zhao Wei returned the greeting with shame: "Prince Pei, you are too polite. If I knew there was something hidden, I should have told you as soon as possible, so that I could give Brother Pei justice as soon as possible." He thought that what happened back then was an accident, and because it involved so many people, even the current royal family, he thought it was better to have less trouble than more, so he buried it in his heart and never revealed a word. If Pei Che hadn't come to him several times, I'm afraid he wouldn't have easily said it out loud.
Pei Che was at a loss again. All the people he suspected had escaped punishment, but there was something fishy about what happened back then. What should he do
"Why hasn't your prince come back yet?"
The government office was closed today, and Pei Che said he would go to Zhao Wei's house to ask again. Jiang Miao had planned to go with him, but the two children also had a rare day off.
Thinking that he hadn't been with them for a long time, Jiang Miao and Pei Che went their separate ways. But it was late today, and for some reason Pei Che hadn't come back yet.
Some bad thoughts suddenly came to his mind. He wondered if Zhao Wei was furious after being exposed and simply arrested Pei Che to silence him.
"Puh, puh, puh!" Jiang Miao quickly shook his head vigorously, and spit a few times, throwing away the bad thoughts in his mind. Pei Che has someone to protect him, and he also has martial arts skills, how could he be easily harmed? He must have been delayed by something.
Jiang Miao tried to comfort himself, but no matter how much he comforted himself, the uneasiness in his heart still existed. Finally, he tore off the cloth on his body and walked out. He had to go and take a look.
Who knew that just as he walked out of the yard and called for someone to harness the car, a voice suddenly rang in his ears: "A Miao, it's so late, are you still going out?"
Jiang Miao turned around and saw that the culprit who had frightened him was standing there, looking at him with a puzzled look on his face. He walked over and punched Pei Che: "Why would I go out when I have nothing to do? You didn't come back so late because I was afraid that you would be chopped to pieces. By the way, did Zhao Wei admit it? Did you put him in jail?"
When this matter was mentioned, Pei Che's expression became complicated again.
"This is a long story. You haven't eaten yet, right? Go eat first, and I'll tell you everything in the evening." Pei Che knew that he was worried about him and would definitely not eat.
"You haven't eaten either, have you? Let's go together. The two children are still hungry. We haven't eaten together for a long time. You can tell me about that matter in the evening. It's rare that you're all at home today, so I cooked a lot of dishes..."
The sound that kept ringing in his ears and the warmth from his palms made Pei Che's confusion disappear little by little. No matter what, he didn't have to face it alone. There was always someone to accompany him, miss him, and love him.
(End of this chapter)