Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

Shen Qiongju jumped off the carriage and immediately ran towards the county jail.

At the prison gate, two jailers leaned lazily against the wall. When they saw a young woman rushing towards them without regard for anything else, they immediately reached out and stopped her.

"Halt! Who goes there? This is prison grounds, trespassers will be killed!"

"Sir, I've come to visit my father," Shen Qiongju said anxiously. "Could you please make an exception?"

As she spoke, she slipped a silver ingot into the hand of the older jailer.

The older jailer weighed the silver ingot in his hand and asked sternly, "Who is your father? When did he go in?"

Shen Qiongju said, "My father, Shen Huaifeng, should be going in in the next few days."

The older jailer became serious upon hearing Shen Huaifeng's name: "Commander Wen instructed that no one is allowed to visit without his permission."

Shen Qiongju pleaded, "Brother prison guard, can't I just take a look?"

The older jailer handed the silver ingot back to Shen Qiongju, saying, "No, the higher-ups have said we can't visit her."

Undeterred, Shen Qiongju inquired, "How is my father's health?"

"He's lost a finger and has had a fever for the past two days. He's barely breathing," the older jailer said impatiently.

Another, younger jailer, seeing his pale face, felt a pang of pity and quietly gave her a wink, his lips moving silently.

Go to the Wen residence.

Shen Qiongju immediately understood that Wen Xiujie insisted that she go to the Wen residence first.

We can't delay any longer; Father can't afford to waste even a second now.

She handed the silver ingot to the young jailer, saying, "Please take good care of my father, brother."

After saying that, she turned around and walked towards the most luxurious mansion at the other end of the county town.

As the young woman turned and headed towards the Wen residence, the two jailers, one old and one young, exchanged a glance.

The young jailer quickly stuffed the silver ingot into his waistband, grinning as he said, "I'm keeping your promise. I'll go get Shen Huaifeng a cleaner cell and have the coroner change the dressing on his finger."

The older prison guard: "..."

.

At the entrance of the Wen residence.

Shen Qiongju struggled to take each step; the vermilion gate resembled the mouth of a giant beast, as if it were about to devour her once again.

After being informed, she was led into the study. Unlike the usual quarters of a military officer, this place had a deliberately refined and elegant atmosphere.

Wen Xiujie sat upright behind the desk, his dark-colored casual clothes making him look tall and straight, with the demeanor of a scholar-general.

But Shen Qiongju knew him too well; beneath that gentle and refined exterior lay a greedy and filthy heart.

However, with her father on the verge of death, she had no choice but to take a temporary measure.

"Taking the initiative to come to your door, it seems Madam Pei has come to her senses." He said gently.

His gaze, however, was like a cold spider web, intricately wrapping around her, especially lingering on her slender waist and pale cheeks.

Shen Qiongju bowed her head and tried her best to appear submissive and timid. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. "My lord, my husband is gone and my father has been wronged. I only beg you to give me a way out."

Her voice, naturally soft and sweet, sounded even more pitiful at that moment.

"There is a way to survive."

Wen Xiujie slowly stood up, walked around the desk, and approached her with a calm gait. He stopped a step away from her and looked down at her pale face.

That gaze carried a discerning eye for assessing the value of an item and a possessive desire.

"Look at you, with that delicate body of yours, what a waste it would be to drown you!"

His fingers suddenly lifted, not to touch her skin, but to gently brush the delicate outline of her collarbone beneath her mourning clothes with his knuckles.

The action, though seemingly casual, carried an undeniable sense of aggression.

Shen Qiongju froze, suppressing the urge to back away, her nails digging deep into her palms.

"My lord..." she said, her voice trembling.

Wen Xiujie seemed quite satisfied with her reaction of suppressing her fear, and chuckled softly, a laugh devoid of warmth.

"What are you afraid of? Follow me, and you'll be pampered with fine clothes and a luxurious house. It's far better than that rigid and aloof Pei family."

His words were extremely gentle, yet they were laced with a finely venomous barb: "At that time, you can simply stay in the courtyard prepared for you without worrying about being drowned."

"Qiongju, thank you, sir," she managed to squeeze out of her throat.

"But my father is seriously injured. I beg you to ask a doctor to treat him first, and let Qiongju take my father home to settle down."

Wen Xiujie squinted at her, as if weighing his options.

After a moment, he said slowly and deliberately, "Okay. However, before you pick up your father, you have to do one thing first."

He turned around, took a document from the desk drawer, and laid it in front of her.

"Paint."

Shen Qiongju looked down and saw it was the false evidence accusing Pei Zhichao of treason!

Wen Xiujie leaned down, his breath warm against her ear, his voice extremely low: "Don't test me anymore, understand?"

"If you don't want your father to lose another finger, then you'd better behave."

Her face was deathly pale, but her other delicate hand gently pressed against his chest. Looking up at her pitiful face, she timidly said:

"Please, sir, rescue my father first. I will go to court tomorrow to testify for you and personally identify my late husband's crimes."

"If the agreement is signed directly at the Wen residence without witnesses, it will be difficult to convince the public, and the general will be criticized for abusing his power in the future."

Her eyes sparkled with an unconscious allure, yet her tone was soft and pitiful.

Wen Xiujie stared at her for a long time, then suddenly smiled, his fingers stroking her chin: "I don't need you to worry about these things, just sign the document first."

Shen Qiongju knew there was no way out.

She picked up her pen, her wrist hovering above the paper, and paused for a long time.

Although she signed the agreement, it wasn't confirmed in court, so she still had a chance to back out.

Her father couldn't wait any longer; at worst, she would go to the capital later to appeal for justice and overturn the case.

Finally, Wen Xiujie came over, pressed her wrist, and made her sign her name and press her fingerprint on the forged document stained with her husband's blood.

Every stroke feels like a knife cutting into your skin.

Wen Xiujie put away the documents with satisfaction. "Someone, go and fetch a doctor. Go with Madam Pei to the prison to fetch the person."

When Shen's father was carried back to the old Shen family house, it was clear that medicine had been applied, but his severed finger had become infected and he was already unconscious with a high fever.

The doctor cleaned the wound, scraped away the necrotic tissue, and then applied medicine and bandaged it.

Shen Qiongju stayed by her father's bedside, not sleeping all night.

The sky outside the window is gradually brightening.

She looked at her father's bandaged fingers, feeling a cold emptiness in her heart.

Having signed the agreement and agreed to become a concubine, she ultimately embarked on the same path as in her previous life.

But in this life, she won't let them push her down a dark path.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered.

.

Inside the Pei family ancestral hall, candlelight flickered.

Pei Shoulian paced back and forth in the hall, leaning on his cane. Each step he took landed heavily on the blue brick floor, making a dull thud.

"Something's not right." He suddenly stopped, a hint of doubt flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Wen Xiujie has clearly already obtained the approval, so why hasn't he taken action yet?"

Pei Junlan sat to the side, her prayer beads spinning very slowly, her brows furrowed.

"Zhihui, was this your doing?"

Pei Shoulian suddenly turned his head to look at the boy in the corner.

Pei Zhihui leaned against the wall, his face so pale it was almost transparent. He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow under his eyelids.

"I only asked Magistrate Zhang to postpone this matter," he said in a low voice, "using some... things he didn't want people to know."

"What is it?" Pei Shoulian pressed.

Pei Zhihui raised his eyes, a hint of coldness flashing in his dark pupils.

Three years ago, Zhang Yuan, the illegitimate son of Magistrate Zhang, died suddenly, and it was publicly stated that he had a sudden illness.

"In reality, he poisoned his own son in order to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy, so that the son of a powerful and wealthy person could take his place in the imperial examination."

The ancestral hall fell silent instantly.

Pei Junlan's prayer beads stopped, and Pei Shoulian's cane hung in mid-air.

"How...how did you know?" Pei Shoulian's voice trembled.

"I was classmates with Zhang Yuan before, and I could tell by carefully observing the anomalies in this matter," Pei Zhihui coughed twice.

Pei Shoulian remained silent. These two brothers, one brave and the other resourceful, one scholarly and the other martial, even ignoring their ingenuity, were enough for the Pei family to regain its former glory.

Unfortunately, Heaven is blind.

He finally sighed, "You did well, but what about Wen Xiujie..."

"He won't let this go easily." A shadow of gloom flashed in Pei Zhihui's eyes. "This can only stop him for a while. If he really wants to make a move, he'll always find another way."

No sooner had he finished speaking than hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Pei Zhiyan rushed in, his face filled with anger.

"Chief! Cousin! I know that woman has run off there again!"

"What woman?" Pei Shoulian frowned.

"Shen Qiongju!" Pei Zhiyan gasped for breath, "I went to the inner city today to gather information and saw her with my own eyes coming out of the Wen residence!"