Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

Since the day he filed a lawsuit against Wen Xiujie in court and denied signing Pei Zhichao's confession, Wen Xiujie has not made any further moves.

Shen Qiongju was slightly relieved.

These days, she either stays by her father's bedside or thinks about setting up a winery in Shenjia Village.

The grain that Uncle Shen brought back was enough for the women and children of Shenjia Village to get through this cold winter.

Knowing that they could work and earn money at Shen's Distillery, they were all very keen on establishing the Shen's Distillery.

There are two large empty houses on the hill behind Shenjia Village. The original inhabitants fled famine before the New Year, and the village chief of Shenjia Village, who is also the third uncle, decided to allocate these two houses to the Shen family to use as a winery.

Shen Qiongju was unwilling to take advantage of the village, so she simply spent seven taels of silver to buy the land and drew up a contract in the village to avoid future disputes.

After several trips to Shenjia Village, the brewing workshop was almost ready.

While Shen Huaide was pleased with his cousin's daughter for being so thoughtful, he couldn't help but think that the girl was a complete spendthrift.

Even if it didn't cost any money, the village would still sign this contract, not to mention how much money we had previously subsidized the village.

However, just as the first batch of new wine from the Shen family's winery was about to be distilled, Shen Qiongju heard a hurried gong sound on her way to Shenjia Village for inspection.

"Clang, clang, clang—" The sound of a gong came from the alleyway at the city gate.

The banging was urgent and loud, like a death knell.

Shen Qiongju's heart skipped a beat, but her pace quickened involuntarily. The further she walked, the louder the noise became, as if the entire city had flooded onto this street.

She squeezed into the crowd and stood on tiptoe to look into the distance.

The open space in front of the county government office was packed with people. A commoner dressed in a blue official's uniform stood on a high platform, with a row of soldiers holding swords behind him.

He was holding a roll of yellow paper in his hand, and he was reading it at the top of his lungs:

"Upon investigation, it has been found that Pei Zhichao, the former commander of a thousand households, colluded with the northern barbarians and leaked military secrets. The evidence against him is irrefutable! His clansmen, knowing this but failing to report it, have shielded and condoned him. They are equally guilty according to the law!"

"By order of the county magistrate, the Pei family is hereby imprisoned and will be exiled to Dabao Village on the border to perform forced labor as atonement for their crimes!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted in uproar.

"Commander Pei is a traitor? Impossible!"

"I've met Commander Pei. He's such an upright man; he even helped me catch some petty thieves."

"Shh—keep your voice down, are you out of your mind?"

Shen Qiongju stood frozen in place, her ears ringing, the clamor of voices seeming distant and indistinct. She stared intently at the constable's face on the stage.

How could that be?

Didn't Pei Zhihui say that Magistrate Zhang's case couldn't be closed because there was no corroborating evidence?

Why was the Pei family exiled to Dabao Village just like in their previous life?

The county government gate creaked open.

A group of soldiers escorted a group of people over. They had already begun parading the Pei family through the streets.

At the front was Pei Shoulian, the head of the Pei family. The elderly man, over seventy years old, had a severely hunched back. Without his usual cane, he was being supported by two soldiers, one on each side. His wrists were wrapped with thick hemp rope, and his lips were trembling, unable to make a sound.

The women of the Pei family were pushed and shoved by the soldiers, and Pei Zhihui's aunt pursed her lips tightly, holding the youngest girl of the Pei family, Pei Zhichun, in her arms.

Pei Zhiyan's mother, Liu, was crying so hard she was unrecognizable, and the other two women also looked terrified.

Pei Zhiyan, his face full of resentment, his chest heaving, shouted at the crowd:

"My eldest cousin didn't treason! He was framed! You—"

A whip lashed him hard across the back.

The boy grunted, but stubbornly straightened his back and gritted his teeth, swallowing the rest of his words.

The youngest, Pei Zhichun, was being strangled too tightly by his aunt and finally couldn't help but cry.

"Waaah... Brother..."

The child's innocent cries were particularly jarring in the crowd.

Pei Shoulian turned around and looked at his crying granddaughter, his lips trembling even more. He slowly closed his eyes, and two streams of turbid tears slid down his wrinkled cheeks.

Seven years ago, the scene was the same. He was enjoying his grandchildren in the Pei family study when a group of soldiers rushed in and ransacked the house.

At first, the whole mansion was filled with wailing and weeping, but by the time they reached the road to exile, the people had become numb to the pain. One by one, they silently collapsed on the way to the northern border.

However, after only seven years, the Pei family had not even recovered its strength before they were again subjected to confiscation of their property and exile.

Is Heaven truly determined to destroy the Pei family?

Shen Qiongju stood in the crowd, feeling uneasy as well.

During the three months she lived in the Pei family, although there were more rules and some clansmen were quite rigid, they were mostly kind and law-abiding people, and they showed her, their new bride, a lot of affection and care.

Aside from the incident of drowning her, she had no insurmountable grudges or rifts with the Pei family.

Shen Qiongju stood there until the last group of people being escorted disappeared around the street corner before she suddenly came to her senses.

Pei Zhihui was not in the escort team?

In his previous life, he was in the escort team and had the ability to clear the Pei family of their crimes; in this life, he is no longer in the team, so he must have more time and space to devise a plan to rescue the Pei family.

She turned and ran towards the Pei family, not knowing how he had escaped the soldiers' detention.

The door to the Pei residence was ajar.

Through the crack in the door, one could see that the courtyard was in a mess—traces of the soldiers' search were everywhere.

The clothesline was broken, wet clothes were scattered all over the ground, the door to the main room was crooked, and the courtyard was in a mess of ransacked chests and cabinets.

The courtyard was deserted, clearly indicating that the house had been ransacked.

She slowly pushed open the gate of the Pei residence, wanting to go in and see if Pei Zhihui or any other members of the Pei family had managed to escape the calamity.

However, they encountered a group of soldiers in the backyard.

Unable to dodge in time, she had no choice but to meet the attack head-on.

"What are you doing?" the soldier asked gruffly.

Surprisingly, soldiers were searching the Pei family's home.

"I...I came here to collect some junk to exchange for money." Shen Qiongju saw a chipped vase on the ground and picked it up casually.

The officers and soldiers: "..." It's your turn.

The leading soldier sized her up, his lips twitching. "Why would a perfectly good young woman be collecting junk?"

"Then I won't disturb you while you're on your business," Shen Qiongju said, trying to slip away.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the main room:

"Let her in."

Shen Qiongju froze.

The soldiers made way for her, and she handed the vase in her hand to the leading soldier before walking into the main room.

Wen Xiujie sat in the central armchair—the seat Pei Shoulian usually occupied.

He was dressed in a black brocade robe, with a long sword at his waist, and toying with a celadon teacup in his hand, looking at her with a half-smile.

"Madam Pei," he said slowly, "what a coincidence, you've also come to the Pei family to make a fortune?"

"Unfortunately, we've already sent them all."

Shen Qiongju dropped the pretense and asked directly, "You don't have enough evidence, so on what grounds are you arresting them?"

Wen Xiujie smiled, put down his teacup, and stood up.

"On what grounds? Because Pei Zhichao has committed treason and collusion with the enemy, and the evidence against him is irrefutable."

"You're talking nonsense!" Shen Qiongju said firmly. "That signed document cannot serve as conclusive evidence! You arrested someone without authorization, which is illegal!"

"Is it illegal?"

Wen Xiujie laughed so hard his shoulders were shaking, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Madam Pei, you are truly naive."

He walked up to her, took out a roll of blueprints from his pocket, and slowly unfolded it in front of her.

It was a diagram of a mechanism, with intricate and complex lines and detailed annotations—it was a diagram for making a crossbow, and it also had many fingerprints on it.

Shen Qiongju's pupils suddenly dilated.

"This...this is..."

"You figured it out?" Wen Xiujie's smile grew even more playful. "This is the blueprint you stole from the Pei family. A special drug can reveal your fingerprints on it."

"I borrowed it specifically from the General's Mansion, just so that Magistrate Zhang could close the case."

He paused, leaned closer to her, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Tell me, wouldn't this count as proof that you signed it?"

Shen Qiongju's blood seemed to freeze.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Since this drawing has already been sent as evidence to close the case, Pei Zhihui should be able to find out that she stole it soon, without having to become prime minister to find out.

But why was this secret revealed so early in this life?

She wasn't sure how to face Pei Zhihui, how to be honest with him without incurring his hatred...

"Don't you know?"

Wen Xiujie's voice sounded like poison, seeping into her ears.

"You personally handed me this blueprint, you signed Pei Zhichao's confession, and you personally pushed the Pei family into the abyss!"

"Why should I? Of course, it's because you, my female Zhang Liang, have helped me in everything."

Shen Qiongju staggered backward, her back hitting the door frame, with nowhere left to retreat.

"No," her voice trembled, "I didn't mean to, I just wanted to save him..."

"Save him?" Wen Xiujie sneered.

Shen Qiongju collapsed to the ground, covering her face with her hands, her shoulders trembling.

Wen Xiujie looked down at her, a sliver of perverse pleasure flashing in his eyes.

He enjoys watching these kinds of scenes.

The despair of someone who thinks they are kind, only to discover that they are the culprit.

People in this world are all selfish, scheming, and vulgar. They insist on comparing who is more noble in their selfishness, deceiving themselves by saying they are doing it for others.

Why bother?

He watched Shen Qiongju's breakdown with admiration, squatted down, and patiently wiped away her tears. "Okay, stop crying."

Shen Qiongju slapped his hand away, her eyes red-rimmed, and demanded, "Why me?"

"Why?" Wen Xiujie tilted his head, as if he was thinking about the question.

"It's probably because... I like beauties who are a bit wicked; what you did before was too fake."

He laughed, a particularly hearty laugh.

"Alright, let's get down to business."