Song Ruotang steadied herself and wanted to try again, but her legs were so weak that she couldn't move at all.
Pei Zhiyan sighed, picked her up around the waist and walked straight towards the table. When they reached the dining table, he casually let Song Ruotang sit on his lap and put his arms around her, making her lean against his chest.
"Don't be so stubborn," Pei Zhiyan said, putting his arm around Song Ruotang's shoulder. "I'll be heart - broken if you fall."
Song Ruotang blushed slightly. She tugged at his robe and didn't look at him, but she felt as if a little deer was bumping around in her heart.
Pei Zhiyan brought over some congee and asked Song Ruotang, "Is congee okay?"
Song Ruotang nodded. Pei Zhiyan scooped up some congee with a spoon, blew on it gently, and after testing the temperature, he brought it to her lips.
Song Ruotang was a bit uncomfortable. She wriggled in his arms and whispered, "I can do it myself..."
"It's okay. I'll feed you," Pei Zhiyan said with a gentle smile, dodging her out - stretched hand.
Song Ruotang had no choice but to obediently nestle in his arms while he fed her spoonful by spoonful. After they finished their meal, Pei Zhiyan called someone to clear the table and carried her back to the couch.
"A Tang, you've been tired. Take a rest," Pei Zhiyan said as he pulled over the brocade quilt and tucked in the corners for her. Seeing that he didn't seem to plan to lie down with her, Song Ruotang curiously grabbed the corner of his robe. "Are you going out?"
She turned her head and looked out of the window. It was already completely dark.
Pei Zhiyan looked at Song Ruotang's bright eyes in the candlelight. He softened his expression and leaned closer to her. "Do you want me to stay?"
Song Ruotang always felt there was something strange about his question. They never slept in separate rooms on normal days, so why would he ask such a question?
But she still nodded. "Of course I do."
Pei Zhiyan leaned over and kissed her forehead, then explained, "I was just about to go and deal with some affairs. Since you want me to stay, I'll have someone bring the things here."
Only then did Song Ruotang understand why he was about to leave, so she said nothing more.
Uncle Pei brought a stack of documents into the room. Pei Zhiyan sat down at the desk by the window and started to deal with them. Song Ruotang stared at his handsome back, and suddenly a sense of peace welled up in her heart.
If there were no problems with the Song family and Pei Yu, it would be great if she and Pei Zhiyan could be just like an ordinary couple.
But...
Thinking of the faces of the Song family, she let out a breath and closed her eyes.
The Song family was heartless. She would never show them any mercy...
Pei Zhiyan looked at the documents on the desk. Most of them were about how the Lin and Du families had impeached him in the court in the past two days while he was recuperating from his injury.
Emperor Chengqian had reminded Pei Zhiyan to be vigilant against the Song family, because this impeachment was caused by his arrest of members of the Song family, which also indirectly indicated that the Lin and Du families were involved with the Song family.
Pei Zhiyan put the documents aside and rubbed his temples. Originally, Song Zhen was just a registrar under the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but now that he was involved with the Lin and Du families, it would be more difficult to deal with him.
He looked out of the window. The snow on the pine trees had melted completely, revealing their lush canopies, adding a touch of vitality in this winter. Just like Song Ruotang, who had survived tenaciously in a difficult environment.
Pei Zhiyan turned his head and saw Song Ruotang's peaceful sleeping face. He walked over and gently stroked her cheek. It seemed that it was becoming more and more difficult to teach the Song family a lesson for her...
In this case, it would be better to bring her back to his mansion and try to avoid the Song family.
Pei Zhiyan acted quickly. He wanted to finalize the matter of bringing Song Ruotang back to the mansion during the period when the emperor had allowed him to recuperate.
The Song family didn't have the energy to cause trouble these days. After all, three of their members were seriously injured and bed - ridden.
While Pei Zhiyan was busy preparing for Song Ruotang's entry into the mansion, Pei Yu found him again.
Pei Yu had been training at the bottom of the Supreme Court of Judicature for two months and had become more mature. Pei Zhiyan saw him wearing a dark blue long robe with a cashmere jacket of the same color. He no longer had that ostentatious air. Pei Zhiyan nodded slightly and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Father, the newly revised criminal penalty documents of the court have just been completed. The governor of Qingzhou was my classmate in the past. He just took office in Qingzhou and is interested in the newly revised criminal penalty documents. I realized the strictness of the execution last time, and since someone needs to deliver the new documents, I'd like to go there myself and explain them to him," Pei Yu said tentatively, as if he was afraid that Pei Zhiyan would not agree. "I won't delay any business, Father. What do you think..."
Pei Zhiyan didn't have the intention of stopping him. "If you want to go, then go. It's just right for them to understand the degree of execution."
"Thank you, Father!" Pei Yu's eyes lit up and he thanked him happily.
Pei Zhiyan nodded, and Pei Yu went back to pack his luggage.
Time passed quickly. The preparations for Song Ruotang's entry into the mansion were all set. One day, just after Song Ruotang finished washing up, she saw a group of maids following Pei Zhiyan, each holding a wooden box.
"Zhiyan, what's this?" Song Ruotang asked curiously. Pei Zhiyan asked the maids to open all the wooden boxes. "These are the wedding dresses for you to wear when you enter the mansion. I've selected a few. See which one you like?"
Pei Zhiyan had told Song Ruotang before that he would make up for all the ceremonies. So she had to choose a wedding dress again and be brought back to the Pei Mansion by Pei Zhiyan in a proper way.
Song Ruotang remembered that when she first married Pei Zhiyan, because Song Wanying didn't like it, the wedding dress she wore was extremely simple, monotonous and even cheap. Now, looking at the wedding dresses Pei Zhiyan had selected, it was a sharp contrast.
Pei Zhiyan seemed to remember it too, so the wedding dresses he selected were all gorgeous and beautiful but not too ostentatious.
Song Ruotang's eyes swept over the wedding dresses. After a careful look, she finally chose a wedding dress with a pearl - inlaid collar.
In fact, she really liked the pure and gentle luster of pearls. When she was in the manor, the old woman who taught her how to make wine had a pearl hairpin. The old woman originally said she would give it to her, but it was finally snatched away.
Pei Zhiyan leaned over to take a look at the wedding dress and nodded with a smile. "This one suits you very well. You'll look very beautiful in it."
Song Ruotang blushed slightly and turned her head to look at Pei Zhiyan. She found that there was not much surprise in his eyes, as if he had already expected that she would choose this one.
He had carefully noticed that Song Ruotang liked pearls, so of course he could guess that she would choose this dress.
Pei Zhiyan set the date for her entry into the mansion three days later. It happened to be a lucky day.
Song Ruotang had also been preparing for her entry into the mansion these days. She had been wondering what Pei Yu's expression would be when he learned that she had married Pei Zhiyan, but he had gone to Qingzhou, so they could only meet in the future.
According to the rules, as a concubine, Pei Zhiyan couldn't go to pick up Song Ruotang. She had to enter the mansion by herself. So he returned to the main mansion one day in advance and waited for her there.
On the day when Song Ruotang was to enter the mansion, Xiaoxi woke her up early to do her makeup. A whole room of people were bustling around without any slack.
Song Ruotang looked at herself in the mirror and was in a daze for a moment. She had never dressed up so formally before. For a moment, she hardly recognized herself in the mirror.