Pei Zhiyan's eyes flashed. Song Wanying had always been simple - minded. He didn't expect that she would be a bit smarter when facing death.
But at this moment, he couldn't expose his relationship with Song Ruotang. Otherwise, with the rascality of the Song family, there would be many more troubles.
"You said to let them look for your younger sister. Then why did they attack me as soon as they came?" Pei Zhiyan asked, avoiding the crucial point.
Song Wanying didn't know how to explain. At this time, a faint voice came from the side. "It was getting late then. We didn't see clearly that it was you, my lord. We thought you were a bad guy, so we attacked..."
The speaker was the leader hanging on the wall. As he spoke, he coughed up blood, as if using his last bit of strength.
Pei Zhiyan frowned slightly. But Song Zhen seized the opportunity and quickly said, "Yes, my subordinates might have misrecognized you, which led to this misunderstanding. Lord Pei, we really didn't mean to hurt anyone on purpose!"
"I'll investigate whether it's true or not. You may stay here for the time being." At this moment, the Song family had changed their previous attitude and insisted that they just wanted money. Pei Zhiyan couldn't produce evidence that they intended to kill Song Ruotang for the time being, so he could only detain them first.
The Song Zhen family exchanged glances. It seemed that there was a chance.
Pei Zhiyan returned to his mansion. Uncle Pei rushed over and handed him a letter. Frowning, he said, "My lord, the Lin and Du families submitted memorials to impeach you today, accusing you of favoritism and abusing your power."
Pei Zhiyan's eyes turned cold slightly. He opened the letter and saw the emperor's handwriting.
The emperor was reminding him that the Lin and Du families intended to help the Song family. There must be something extraordinary about the Song family, and they couldn't be killed yet.
Pei Zhiyan tightened his grip on the letter paper. Looking up, he saw Song Ruotang arranging jars in the courtyard. He put away the letter and walked over. He helped her straighten her ruffled cloak. "Why aren't you holding an umbrella? Be careful not to catch a cold."
"I'm not cold." Song Ruotang straightened up, smiling like a beautiful flower. "But you, you were already injured. Instead of recuperating well, you went out with people on such a snowy day."
Pei Zhiyan took her hand and walked towards the eaves. There was tea being brewed in front of the corridor, giving off steam. He led her to the stove to warm her hands. "You're in poor health. You can't compare with me."
Song Ruotang smiled helplessly. Looking at the dancing flames on the stove, she said softly, "Zhiyan, you went to the Song family today, didn't you?"
Pei Zhiyan paused for a moment and turned to look at her. Song Ruotang's expression was calm, so she should have already guessed.
"Yes." He responded softly. Song Ruotang picked up the teapot and poured a cup of hot tea for him. The sound of the tea pouring rang out. She gently blew the misty steam. Her voice showed no emotion. "The people who came to kill us the second time were sent by them, weren't they?"
She could guess that it should be because Song Zhen didn't get the money and got angry, so he sent people to chase and kill her after she went out. But she was with Pei Zhiyan, so they didn't succeed.
Pei Zhiyan lowered his eyes and looked at the rippling tea. "I don't have evidence for the time being to prove that they intended to kill..." He tightened his grip on the teacup and felt the heat seeping into his knuckles, which was a bit painful.
He felt ashamed in front of Song Ruotang. He clearly knew that the Song family intended to kill her, but now after their white - washing, he couldn't find any flaws for the time being.
Facing the Song family, the people who had hurt the one he loved, Pei Zhiyan sometimes didn't want to be a just judge. But his inner morality and beliefs tortured him.
"Zhiyan..." Song Ruotang's soft hand covered the back of his hand, and she called him tenderly.
Pei Zhiyan looked up and met her eyes like spring water. The restlessness in his heart was instantly soothed.
Song Ruotang smiled at him. "Thank you."
She lowered her eyes and stared at the dancing flames in the stove. Her voice was like a gurgling spring. "I really don't like the people of the Song family, and they don't like me either. They even hate me to the extreme. But I just want them to see how well I live my life."
"But they've bullied you again and again. It's really despicable." Pei Zhiyan pursed his lips, and his voice was a bit low.
Song Ruotang tightened her grip on Pei Zhiyan's hand. "Their crimes don't reach the level of the death penalty, do they?" Saying this, she shook her head with a smile. "If you insist on sentencing them to death for my sake, the just and strict Minister of Dali Temple will be pushed to the forefront."
How could she not know that Pei Zhiyan had offended many people to get to this position. To be just, he would surely arouse the jealousy of the powerful.
If he insisted on getting rid of the Song family now, his political enemies would surely make a big fuss about it.
She didn't want to drag Pei Zhiyan into trouble. The Song family had tortured her for sixteen years. How could she spend such a high price just to make them die happily?
She would slowly wear down their bones and extract their oil, making them feel uncomfortable every day.
Pei Zhiyan had always wanted to find evidence to sentence the Song family to death to end their bullying of Song Ruotang. But precisely because their attempted murder was unproven and there was no evidence to prove it was a murder.
Now that the emperor had secretly given an order, it was impossible to execute the Song family.
After Song Ruotang said these words, he didn't know how to react. Song Ruotang understood him and didn't want to make things difficult for him...
"I understand." Pei Zhiyan held Song Ruotang's hand back, feeling the warmth of her palm. They looked at each other and smiled.
Since they couldn't be sentenced to death, they must get double revenge on the premise that they were still alive.
The next day when Pei Zhiyan arrived at the Dali Temple, Pei Yu ran over. Frowning, he said, "Father, the death - fighter who injured you and was captured that day died last night."
Pei Zhiyan frowned slightly. He had always ordered strict guarding, but the man still died last night. It seemed that after seeing the Song family being captured and giving testimony yesterday, he wanted to leave no evidence.
He snorted coldly. The Song family was really good at calculating.
Pei Zhiyan walked in, and Pei Yu quickly followed. The body on the wall had been taken down and covered with a white cloth.
The Song Zhen family was sitting on the straw. They showed no reaction to the death of their own death - fighter. On closer inspection, there was even a hint of relief.
Seeing Pei Zhiyan coming, Song Zhen also calmed down. He smiled at him. "Lord Pei is here?"
"Uncle, we really just sent people to look for Song Ruotang. We definitely had no intention of killing her. Please let us out?" Song Wanying grabbed the bars of the prison with both hands and looked at Pei Zhiyan eagerly.
She was really fed up with this prison. Not only was the ground damp and dark, but there were also many rats running around at night. Some even climbed onto her body and bit through her clothes, making her feel extremely disgusted.
"Get out?" Pei Zhiyan slowly chewed on these two words. The three members of the Song family stared at him intently, afraid that he would say something unexpected. But then they saw him nod slightly. "Okay."
Song Wanying let out a sigh of relief. Before she could smile, Pei Zhiyan's voice rang out again. "After the execution, you can leave."
"Un... Uncle, what execution? What are you talking about?" Song Wanying stood there stunned, looking completely incredulous.
Song Zhen also panicked at this moment. His back hadn't fully recovered yet, and now he was going to be executed. He would surely lose half his life. He rushed to the prison bars and said nervously, "My lord, didn't we already explain? It was all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding..."
"Oh?" Pei Zhiyan raised his eyebrows. "Was it also a misunderstanding that your people injured me?" He took a few steps closer and looked down at them. "Or was it also a misunderstanding that you went to blackmail Song Ruotang?"