"I never knew that before."
Faced with this sentence, Zhu was a little surprised, but not surprised. She was surprised that Pei Shuying would come to Dongshan Temple to find her, but she was not surprised that Pei Shuying said that she did not know that Li Dewu had married a wife and had children in Lingnan.
In fact, Mrs. Zhu does not hate Pei Shuying. There is nothing about this woman that deserves her contempt. Is it wrong to wait for her exiled husband?
Of course not. Pei Shuying's chastity memorial is not the chastity arch of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Even in the eyes of a time traveler like Li Shan, it deserves respect. Of course, only Li Dewu is wrong.
There was no one around. Except for the two women, there was only Cui Shiniang who accompanied her mother-in-law to Dongshan Temple to offer incense.
Mrs. Zhu looked at the Pei family lady. This was the first time they had met. Although she had a pretty face, her face was sad and her brows were knitted unconsciously. So she said the first sentence simply, "Are you afraid?" ”
After a brief silence, Pei Shuying nodded with a wry smile, "Yes, I'm scared."
How not to be afraid?
Ever since his father took over the matter of Li Dewu abandoning his wife and son, he had fought with the young man openly and secretly again and again, but could only watch as the other man climbed higher and higher.
My father is eighty years old this year. He had to join the East Palace for the sake of his children. He has become even more aged in recent times.
What scares Pei Shuying the most is that after Li Yuan returned to Chang'an from Renzhi Palace in August last year, everyone could see that the King of Qin had regained his footing, and his Majesty had begun to dislike the prince, and the wind in the court was also quite hostile to the East Palace. Unfavorable... After all, it wasn't just Li Yuan and Li Shimin who were trapped in Tiantai Mountain that day, there were also so many children from aristocratic families.
Under this situation, Pei Shuying found that her father had more and closer connections with the East Palace. How could this not make Pei Shuying afraid?
For his own sake, his father had to struggle desperately in his later years, so that in the current situation of endless death, once the East Palace was defeated, his father, himself, two nephews, a niece, and even the entire Wenxi Pei family's west dependent house...
I have to admit that Li Shan has won against the odds time and time again, and his experience of coming back from desperate situations is what scares Pei Shuying the most... In fact, Li Shan himself has no confidence. On the contrary, Pei Shuying is full of confidence in him and is not optimistic about Pei Shiju.
Zhu said softly: "What do you want?"
Before Pei Shuying could answer, Cui Shiniang beside Zhu suddenly spoke, "Li Lang once mentioned that the incident in Huating was not planned by him. Do you believe it?"
Pei Shuying was a little surprised that Cui Shiniang actually knew the inside story, but she paused and said: "Xin, because the outcome has not been decided, raising the sword at this time will not be helpful to the overall situation, and will anger her father. Although the King of Wei was crowned last year, But if you are resourceful, you will not be unwise in this."
Pei Shuying was telling the truth. Although her brother's death must be more or less related to Li Shan, if I have to break it down, it is more related to Li Dewu... In a word, no matter which side you are on, it is Li Dewu who is wrong. .
"You believe it, will Mr. Pei believe it?" Cui Shiniang held Zhu's arm firmly, "If he believed it, he would not still be attached to the East Palace."
Pei Shuying looked at Cui Shiniang, and she realized that she had underestimated the bride's status in the Li family, "If I persuade my father to return to his hometown as an official, might His Highness the King of Wei stop and not kill everyone?"
Mrs. Zhu simply closed her mouth and reached out to pat Cui Shiniang's hand holding her arm. However, she felt a little complicated. She and her son had been dependent on each other for many years. Her son refused to tell her many secrets, but he did not hide them from his wife. .
Cui Shiniang smiled softly, "I'm afraid Prime Minister Pei doesn't know about Mrs. Pei's visit."
Pei Shuying's silence proved that Cui Shiniang's guess was correct.
"It involves a family, and more importantly, the country and the country. How can we decide it with a woman's words?" Cui Shiniang said unceremoniously: "Please let Mrs. Pei inform Prime Minister Pei and then discuss it."
Pei Shuying left Dongshan Temple disappointed. On the way back, the woman burst into tears on the carriage and could hardly control her emotions. One thing is certain, no matter who wins or loses in the future, she will be a loser after all.
Once the inside story is uncovered and exposed to the world, he is more likely to be written down by history books and become a loser who will be pitied by future generations.
This emotion lasted until she returned to the backyard and saw her father who seemed to have been waiting in the house for a long time. Pei Shuying could no longer hold back and finally burst into tears.
I still remember that when Wude was reunited in the fourth year of his career, although his father had a silver thread on his head, he was full of energy and vitality. But now his hair is gray and his face is full of grooves. He is already very old and exudes the air of old age. taste.
After listening to his daughter choked up and talking about the conversation with Zhu and Cui Shiniang in Dongshan Temple, Pei Shiju smiled bitterly and said, "Why is it like this? Why is it like this?"
"Father, you also said that brother..." Pei Shuying raised her tear-stained face, "Li Huairen is very scheming and strategic. He would not have done it."
Pei Shiju shook his head, "Isn't it because the father lost his son in his later years?"
"And he's an only child."
"Is it enough that this debt should only be placed on Li Dewu?"
"Will Li Huairen give up when he returns home?" Pei Shiju sneered, "If it were Li Huairen we met today, he would definitely swear by it..."
To judge others by oneself, Pei Shiju felt that if it were him, he would definitely agree. There is no loss anyway... As for whether he will regret it, let's wait and see.
Pei Shiju has experienced too much wandering in his life. This "drifting" refers to his forcedness, his helplessness, the loss of his father, his mother, his wife and his son, from the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and then to the Sui Dynasty and Dou Dynasty. Xia finally returned to the Tang Dynasty, and none of this was due to Pei Shiju's personal wishes.
For a person like Pei Shiju who is wandering in troubled times, he works hard to control his own destiny and climbs up step by step. When his life is about to end, how can he be willing to place everything on Li Shan's kindness? ?
Pei Shiju sighed, with a self-mockery in his tone that only he knew. He was getting old after all, his daughter didn't think highly of him, and Li Dewu didn't think highly of him either... The guy actually rented a house in Jinchengfang secretly.
In addition to Tiance Mansion, there is also Cui Mansion in Jinchengfang... Obviously Li Dewu had the idea of entering Tiance Mansion or Cui Mansion to save his life once the East Palace was defeated.
But the outcome was not yet known, and Pei Shiju thought in his heart that although the East Palace was declining and the prince was relatively mediocre, it was not a bad thing for him.
At this time, there was a sudden noise outside, and a steward came hurriedly with a look of fear on his face.
"What's the matter?"
The steward said respectfully and quietly outside the door: "There's a fire in the kitchen... It seems like thieves broke in. Several servants were tied up and thrown into the latrine."
Pei Shiju waved his hand to dismiss the manager with an expressionless expression, and whispered to his daughter: "Who do you think Li Huairen is?"
"Haven't you heard of Jingguan by the Cangtou River?"
Li Shan's Huairen has always been less ruthless and cruel to his own people and enemies.
(End of chapter)
