Song Ruotang raised her hand to cover her wildly pounding heart, trying to force herself to calm down. Seeing her like this, Pei Zhiyan asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
"I'm fine..." Song Ruotang shook her head. After adjusting her state, she squeezed out a few tears and said, "I'm just... so happy that my husband would say such things."
Pei Zhiyan smoothed her disheveled hair, curved his lips slightly, and didn't refute.
But then Song Ruotang looked up at him with pleading eyes and asked, "My lord, if you help me in your capacity as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, wouldn't it be considered abusing your power for personal gain?"
Pei Zhiyan paused for a moment. Song Ruotang continued, "Won't my lord's good reputation for being impartial be ruined because of me?"
Pei Zhiyan gave a helpless smile, reached out and gently scraped the tip of her nose, and said, "You seem to have great confidence in yourself. You're so sure that I'll side with you?"
Song Ruotang nodded. "I'm sure. My lord is a high - ranking official. You won't lie to a weak woman like me, right?"
Pei Zhiyan raised his eyebrows. "Who gave you the courage to talk like this?"
"You did, my lord." Song Ruotang threw herself into Pei Zhiyan's arms with a laughing tone.
Pei Zhiyan shook his head helplessly without refuting. He just instructed her, "If others provoke you in the future, you don't have to hold back. But if you're in the wrong, I'll punish you."
Song Ruotang pouted. "I understand, my lord."
Pei Zhiyan was very tolerant of Song Ruotang. Firstly, she was ten years younger than him, and he always thought she still had a childish heart. Secondly, he had already decided to keep her by his side, so it was natural for him to spoil her.
Song Ruotang was quite satisfied with the result of today's incident. She had not only tricked Pei Zhiyan into making a promise but also got closer to his heart. Moreover, today was the first time she had made Song Wanying suffer a setback.
Although she herself had been slapped, overall, the result was not a loss.
After all, in her previous situation, she could only let the Song family bully her, but now things were gradually changing.
Since Pei Zhiyan promised Song Ruotang that he wouldn't tell Song Zhen and the others, he would surely keep his word. However, Song Wanying might not.
So, to prevent Song Wanying from complaining and bringing the Song family's parents to bully Song Ruotang, after Song Ruotang fell asleep, he immediately called someone over.
"Go and tell Song Wanying that the daughter - in - law the Pei family wants cannot be an untrustworthy person."
Pei Zhiyan sat in front of the wooden table and said coldly. Just as the person was about to leave after receiving the order, he added, "By the way, she should also be taught a lesson for today's impudent behavior."
"Understood, sir."
Pei Zhiyan finished the tea in his cup, turned his head to look at the quietly sleeping Song Ruotang. Those who bullied her would pay the price.
Song Ruotang had her back to Pei Zhiyan. Her originally closed eyes slowly opened, and there were turbulent emotions in her eyes...
On her way back, Song Wanying was still fuming. She wondered why Pei Zhiyan had to be there today. If it hadn't been for him, she would have given that bitch Song Ruotang a good beating. Instead, she had ended up being scolded by Pei Zhiyan and ordered to apologize.
Song Wanying, who had been spoiled since childhood, had never suffered such humiliation. She clenched her fingers and pounded them hard on the small table in front of her, making the teacups on the table ring with a clear porcelain sound.
"Miss, there's no need to be so angry about this," the maid beside her comforted. "The master and the mistress will surely stand up for you when they know that you've been wronged today. Then who would dare to interfere in our Song family's affairs?"
Song Wanying thought for a while and nodded. "You're right. I'll let my parents teach that bitch a lesson in public then. I'll make all the people in the city know about her ugly deeds. She's just a low - class concubine. I'd like to see who would protect her!"
Just as she was speaking, there was a sudden thud, and the carriage braked sharply. Song Wanying and her maid were caught off guard. They slammed into the small table in front of them and then leaned back and hit the carriage wall.
"You useless slaves! How do you drive the carriage? If you hurt the miss, ten of your lives wouldn't be enough to compensate!" The maid supported her hurt waist with one hand and grabbed Song Wanying with the other.
But after she scolded for a few sentences, there was no response from outside. She couldn't sit still anymore and lifted the curtain to go out.
Song Wanying waited for a while. There was no more scolding. She was a bit confused. It was so quiet around that a sense of fear welled up in her heart. She tentatively called out, "Cailian?"
There was no answer. Song Wanying was a bit scared. The wind blew the carriage curtain, and she stared at it intently. Through the gap, she saw a black figure slowly approaching.
"Cailian, is that you? Cailian!" Song Wanying shrank into the corner of the carriage, her voice trembling. The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing a masked face.
Song Wanying widened her eyes. "Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
The other person said nothing and just came over with a rope. Song Wanying struggled violently and shouted shrilly, "My fiancé is Pei Yu, the assistant minister of the Court of Judicial Review. If you dare to kidnap me, you're going against the Court of Judicial Review. How dare you..."
Before she could finish her words, the other person stuffed a rag into her mouth, put a sack over her head, and carried her out of the carriage.
The other person stopped after a while. Song Wanying was thrown on the ground. Her back hit the cold stone wall, and she groaned in pain.
Someone took off the sack on her head. Before she could see who it was, she was slapped hard on the face.
She bit the rag tightly. No sound could come out, and her face slowly swelled up.
The other person had some fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but it could be seen from her eyes that she was a woman. Her palms were rough. When she slapped Song Wanying's face, it was like rubbing her face hard on gravel, causing a stinging pain.
This woman was tough and didn't talk much. She slapped Song Wanying's face back and forth ten times before stopping.
Song Wanying's face was already swollen beyond recognition. Her flushed face was full of blood streaks, looking a bit terrifying. Blood slowly flowed from the corner of her mouth and her nose. It was extremely miserable.
The other person pulled out the rag from her mouth. Song Wanying gasped for a few breaths and stared at them angrily. "Who gave... you the courage... to treat me like this..."
"My master said that the daughter - in - law of the Pei family cannot be an untrustworthy person," the masked person said slowly.
Song Wanying's imposing manner instantly disappeared. She stood there stunned, unable to say a word, not daring to say anything. She could only watch them leave.
She couldn't figure out whether this group of people was sent by Pei Zhiyan or by Song Ruotang.
But no matter which side it was, they were warning her about the same thing: not to tell Song Zhen and the others about today's incident, otherwise the alliance between the Pei and Song families would be destroyed.
But compared to Pei Zhiyan, Song Wanying was more inclined to believe that it was the people sent by Song Ruotang. After all, Pei Zhiyan was her future father - in - law. How could he send someone to teach her a lesson?
Song Ruotang was married to Pei Zhiyan's friend. She had been wronged today. Song Ruotang could just whisper something in her husband's ear, and surely she could charm that old man so much that he would send someone to warn her.