Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

Pei Zhihui raised his head, his dark eyes looking at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions she couldn't understand.

Shen Qiongju abruptly turned her face away, not daring to meet his gaze.

"I... am cold," she managed to squeeze out.

Pei Zhihui didn't say anything, but simply untied all the ropes on her wrists, then stood up and reached out to help her.

Shen Qiongju subconsciously shrank back a little.

The movement was subtle, but it did not escape Pei Zhihui's eyes.

His hand froze in mid-air for a moment before finally retracting it.

"Is my sister-in-law afraid of me?"

His voice was soft, with a hint of the hoarseness typical of young people.

Shen Qiongju bit her lip and did not answer.

She didn't know how to answer.

Are you afraid?

What are you afraid of? Afraid of a sixteen-year-old boy?

But her body was more honest than her mind.

She was terrified, terrified to death.

The air inside the ancestral hall was so stagnant it was suffocating.

After a long while, Pei Zhihui withdrew his gaze, turned around and walked to the corner of the ancestral hall, pulling a bundle out from the shadows.

"Tomorrow at noon, the clansmen will come to bury your brother. After the burial, they will attack you."

His tone was calm, as if he were stating something that had nothing to do with him.

"I won't let them drown you."

Shen Qiongju suddenly looked up, staring at him in disbelief.

Pei Zhihui, with his back to her, placed the bundle on the offering table, opened it, and inside were several plain clothes and some loose silver.

"No. 13 Qinghe Street, Liangzhou Prefecture City. That was the courtyard I rented when I was studying. The landlady was a deaf-mute old woman who didn't talk much."

As he spoke, he took a key out of his pocket and placed it on his bundle.

"Go there and wait it out for a while. I'll come pick you up after I've taken care of things at home."

Shen Qiongju's mind was buzzing.

This is completely different from my previous life.

In her previous life, Pei Zhihui hated her.

They hated her for not upholding her virtues as a woman, hated her for causing the death of her brother, and hated her for bringing shame upon the Pei family.

But now...

"Why are you helping me?" she asked with difficulty, her voice hoarse.

Pei Zhihui paused for a moment.

He didn't turn around, but just lowered his eyes and stared at the bundle. After a long while, he slowly spoke.

"Before my brother died, he asked me to take good care of you."

Shen Qiongju's eyes instantly reddened. Whether in her past life or this life, the person she felt most sorry for was Pei Zhichao.

Pei Zhichao was the youngest commander of the Zhenbei Camp, but three months ago he was imprisoned without cause on charges of treason.

Her husband's colleague, Wen Xiujie, approached her and said that if she stole the blueprint for the weapon depicting the mechanical crossbow from Pei Zhichao, he would guarantee her husband's release from prison.

Are weapon blueprints more important than life itself?

She had only been married for three months. Pei Zhichao was the husband she had personally chosen. She didn't want to lose him, nor did she want to become a widow at such a young age.

She went to beg Old Master Pei, but he refused to hand over the blueprints. So she went to Pei Zhichao's study and stole a blueprint for a crossbow mechanism.

The day after she nervously and hopefully handed the blueprints to Wen Xiujie, Pei Zhichao was tortured to death because the evidence was conclusive. He died less than ten days after being imprisoned, at the young age of twenty-seven.

The authorities only returned the clothes and said the body had been disposed of; they couldn't even see the body one last time.

She was shocked to realize that she had become the murderer of her husband, and she repented in the funeral hall with fear and guilt.

However, what frightened Shen Qiongju even more was that Wen Xiujie, using her theft of the Pei family's blueprints as leverage, made another demand:

Let her enter the Wen household as a concubine.

In her past life, she was a cowardly and selfish person. She was afraid that Wen Xiujie would expose the theft of the blueprints, and she would become the one who leaked military secrets, putting her life in danger.

She was also afraid that if this matter were to be made public, not only would her reputation be ruined, but the Pei family would definitely kill her to avenge her husband.

Ultimately, she gave in after Wen Xiujie's repeated threats.

Her guilt towards Pei Zhichao had long been overwhelmed by fear, and she entered Wen Xiujie's house on the seventh night after Pei Zhichao's death.

This confirmed that she had been secretly colluding with Wen Xiujie to murder Pei Zhichao.

Therefore, after Pei Zhihui was appointed as the prime minister, the first thing he dealt with was the Wen family and his former sister-in-law.

"Moreover," Pei Zhihui's voice lowered slightly, "I know that you went to the Wen residence before to save your brother."

"You were so devoted to your brother, yet he bullied you. It's my fault for being useless."

He turned around, his dark eyes looking directly at her, a resolute light in them.

"Sister-in-law, you shouldn't be punished for this."

Shen Qiongju could no longer hold back her tears, which rolled down her cheeks.

She covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.

This sincere young man was forced into becoming a madman blinded by hatred in his previous life.

For a moment, she didn't know who to blame.

She choked back tears, "You must be careful of Wen Xiujie, he..."

Pei Zhihui interrupted her, his tone revealing a maturity beyond his years, "I will stay and deal with him."

"But you can't stay."

He paused for a moment, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes.

Shen Qiongju's heart tightened.

"I overheard something from outside the door," Pei Zhihui said calmly, seemingly seeing through her doubts. "Wen Xiujie is no good."

"Sister-in-law, stay away from him."

After saying that, he handed the bundle to her.

"You must leave before dawn. I've already taken care of the guard at the back gate; he'll let you out."

"Remember, go to Liangzhou Prefecture, No. 13 Qinghe Street."

"Don't leave without permission. Wait until I've settled things at home before I go to pick up your sister-in-law."

He spoke softly, yet it inexplicably sent a shiver down Shen Qiongju's spine.

She took the bundle, and when her fingertips touched his hand, that instinctive tremor surged up again.

She unconsciously withdrew her hand.

Pei Zhihui's eyes darkened for a moment.

He didn't say anything more, but simply turned and walked towards the door.

Pei Zhihui.

Shen Qiongju suddenly called out to him, "...Thank you."

Her voice was soft, yet it reached his ears clearly.

Pei Zhihui paused slightly.

He pushed open the door, and the night poured in, stretching his shadow long.

"You are my sister-in-law."

"It's my duty to protect you."

The sky will soon brighten.

Shen Qiongju changed into the clothes in her bundle, tied her hair up simply, and quietly slipped to the back door under the cover of night.

The gatekeeper was indeed not there.

She pushed open the door and saw a slightly worn, green-canopied carriage quietly parked there.

The driver was a dark-skinned, taciturn middle-aged man. When he saw her come out, he simply nodded slightly and gestured for her to get in the car.

He glanced back at the Pei family's residence and immediately got into the carriage.

Without looking back, he disappeared into the night.

Unbeknownst to her, shortly after she left, a dark figure quietly appeared.

The man watched the direction she left, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

"run?"

"I'd like to see where you can run to."

He licked the still-bleeding teeth mark on the back of his hand, a sinister glint in his eyes.