Pei Zhiyan looked at Pei Yu's expression and let out a soft laugh. "You don't even know why I arrested Song Wanying, yet you still want me to show mercy and let you stay in the Supreme Court?"
Pei Yu was taken aback for a moment. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Song Wanying. She was about to cry out, but when she met Pei Yu's gaze, she averted her eyes guiltily.
Song Wanying was dragged away. Pei Yu slumped to the ground and looked up at Pei Zhiyan. "It was Song Wanying who framed Song Ruotang, wasn't it?"
"I gave you three days, but your performance disappointed me greatly." Pei Zhiyan stood in front of him with his hands behind his back. "You don't need to come to the Supreme Court for duty tomorrow. I'll handle the transfer with the Ministry of Personnel."
"Father, I know I was wrong. Please let me stay in the Supreme Court. I'll do anything. Please let me stay..." Pei Yu was scared now. He bowed his head and kept kowtowing.
Pei Zhiyan had originally planned to punish Pei Yu to tame his arrogance. If he let him leave the Supreme Court, it would give him a chance to slack off. So he did it on purpose to make Pei Yu yield.
One should always keep an eye on people.
Pei Yu pleaded for a long time until his forehead was bleeding. Pei Zhiyan finally sighed. "Since you know to repent, I'll let you stay in the Supreme Court as a handyman. You need to start from the bottom to understand the meaning of working in the Supreme Court."
Hearing this, Pei Yu was stunned for a moment but didn't dare to refute. It was good enough that he could stay in the Supreme Court, so he didn't dare to say anything else.
He quickly thanked Pei Zhiyan, who then ordered someone to take Pei Yu away.
Now that Pei Yu was just a handyman in the Supreme Court, he couldn't live the life of a noble young master in the Pei Mansion like before. He had to live in the dormitory at the back of the Supreme Court with the other handymen and eat in the canteen.
After Song Wanying was arrested, Song Zhen came to find Pei Yu and asked him for help. But when he found out that Pei Yu had been demoted and was now just a handyman, he had to bite the bullet and go to Pei Zhiyan.
"Lord Pei, I wonder what mistake my daughter made that she has to be detained in the Supreme Court?" Song Zhen didn't know what Song Wanying had done and asked Pei Zhiyan without a clue.
Pei Zhiyan raised his hand to take a sip of tea and said leisurely, "Your daughter conspired with others to frame someone and tried to kill the other person. Don't you know, Lord Song?"
Hearing this, Song Zhen immediately became nervous. What trouble had Song Wanying caused this time? Framing someone?
"Does the lord mean that Wanying framed Song Ruotang?" Song Zhen asked tentatively.
Pei Zhiyan raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed that Song Zhen knew his daughter quite well.
Seeing that Pei Zhiyan didn't say anything, Song Zhen knew he had guessed right. He quickly explained, "Lord, there must be some misunderstanding. Aying has always been innocent. How could she frame Song Ruotang?"
"It seems that Lord Song has a bad memory," Pei Zhiyan sneered. "You've forgotten about the jade bracelet incident so soon."
Mentioning this, Song Zhen blushed. He felt a bit ashamed, but for Song Wanying's sake, he still braved himself and said, "We did misunderstand last time, but this time..."
"Is Lord Song doubting the results of the investigation by my Supreme Court?" Pei Zhiyan looked at Song Zhen, who quickly shook his head. "Absolutely not..."
"In that case, Lord Song doesn't need to say more. We'll handle Song Wanying fairly." Pei Zhiyan issued an unfeeling order to evict the guest.
Song Zhen slunk out of the Supreme Court. Nie Rong was waiting anxiously outside. When she saw him coming, she quickly stepped forward. "How about it? Can he forgive Aying?"
Song Zhen was a bit annoyed. "Don't mention it. She provoked Song Ruotang again. The people in the Supreme Court found out, and she can't escape this punishment."
"What should we do then?" Nie Rong was a bit anxious. "Aying is our daughter. You can't just stand by and do nothing, can you?"
"What can I do?" Song Zhen was a bit angry. "I just went to see Pei Zhiyan, and he showed no sign of relenting."
Song Zhen walked irritably to the carriage without looking at Nie Rong. "Prepare a doctor and some medicine for injuries."
Nie Rong was still crying outside the carriage, but Song Zhen didn't want to pay attention to her anymore. After a while, Nie Rong sniffled and got into the carriage. She sat opposite him. "It's all that unlucky girl. I said we shouldn't have called her back, but Aying just didn't listen..."
Song Zhen pursed his lips tightly. Thinking of Song Ruotang, he also clenched his fist in disgust.
But now that Song Wanying had just been arrested, if they went to trouble Song Ruotang again, the people in the Supreme Court would say they were taking their anger out on Song Ruotang. So this was definitely not a good idea.
Song Zhen suddenly realized that it seemed quite difficult to deal with Song Ruotang now.
After Pei Zhiyan returned to the mansion, he went straight to Song Ruotang's residence. He got off work earlier than usual today. Song Ruotang was a bit surprised when she saw him. "My lord, why did you get off work so early today?"
"It's a festival today, so I came back earlier." Pei Zhiyan took off his cloak and handed it to the young servant beside him. He walked up to Song Ruotang and naturally took her hand. His eyes fell on her neck.
In the dim candlelight, the mark on Song Ruotang's neck was already bruised. It was especially prominent on her slender and fair neck.
Pei Zhiyan pursed his lips and told her what had happened during the day. "Pei Yu is not capable enough, so I demoted him."
Song Ruotang was a bit surprised at Pei Zhiyan's speed. She had originally planned to give Pei Zhiyan the letter in which Pei Yu had threatened her and let him teach Pei Yu a lesson. But she didn't expect that Pei Zhiyan would handle it without her having to do anything.
Regarding this, Song Ruotang had nothing to say. She could only say that it was good that Pei Yu had been demoted.
Pei Zhiyan didn't expect her to reply. He just continued, "Xue Mang is a habitual criminal. He kidnapped women by force, broke into houses to steal, and even beat to death the grandson of an old woman who sold Chinese date cakes. Such a villain deserves to die."
When Song Ruotang heard the words "Chinese date cakes", her heart skipped a beat. She grabbed Pei Zhiyan's sleeve and curled her fingers slightly. "My lord, did that old woman who sold Chinese date cakes go to the area around the candied fruit shop on East Street..."
Pei Zhiyan raised his eyebrows slightly. "Do you know her?"
Song Ruotang's hanging heart finally settled. It seemed that her guess was right. The child that Xue Mang had beaten to death was really the grandson of that old woman who sold Chinese date cakes.
"It's said that Xue Mang tried to steal the Chinese date cakes by force. When the child saw his grandmother being bullied, he stepped forward to argue with Xue Mang and was beaten to death by him." Pei Zhiyan's voice was a bit low when he mentioned this.
Song Ruotang closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. "Such a villain really deserves to die."
Pei Zhiyan pulled Song Ruotang closer to him to shield her from the wind. After thinking for a while, he still said, "Song Zhen came to see me today too."
Song Ruotang stopped in her tracks. She didn't even need to think to know why Song Zhen had come. She just cared about Pei Zhiyan's attitude. "What do you think, my lord?"
Pei Zhiyan looked at Song Ruotang's expectant face and raised his hand to pinch her nose tip. "Naturally, I'll handle it fairly."
He held Song Ruotang's hand to keep her warm and smiled. "Let's make up for the fifty strokes from last time this time."