He did nothing wrong either.
“Pei Yunzhou!”
“Whatever you’ve done in the past, I could always turn a blind eye and let it slide, but look at what you’ve done today! Do you think the one who was humiliated today was your primary spouse? The one humiliated today was the entire Pei family!”
“How dare you! How could you leave him behind alone in the palace to be bullied and tormented?! Kneel right here for me, and stay on your knees for a full three hours! No one is to give the Fourth Young Master water or food. If anyone disobeys, they will be sold off from the estate immediately!”
Before he could recover from the sharp pain and the grief in He Zhile’s eyes, Pei Yunzhou, who was now Pei Ji, was struck by one chillingly familiar voice after another ringing in his ears. It left his mind dazed as he stared in disbelief and suspicion at everything before him.
Beneath the eaves, a dignified and opulent noblewoman was glaring at him with a look of intense disappointment, her delicate hand repeatedly slapping the huanghuali wood chair as if she wished the armrest were his head.
This richly dressed woman was his mother.
Pei Ji’s mind spun in confusion. The members of the Pei family had long ago been thrown into prison and sentenced to execution by beheading; how could he possibly be seeing his mother again?
Could it be that even in hell, one must replay their mortal life before being allowed to enter the cycle of reincarnation?
He still had some impression of this exact scene. Not long after he and that little mute got married, He Zhile, as the official spouse of a court official, had been summoned into the palace by the Empress. Bound by status, Pei Ji naturally had to accompany him, but back then he utterly despised the little mute and certainly wouldn’t care whether he lived or died inside the palace.
Never had he expected that he would offend the Empress, resulting in He Zhile returning covered in injuries, while he himself was severely reprimanded by his mother for failing to look after him properly.
Reprimanded. It should have been just a reprimand. Why had it escalated to a physical punishment? This departed somewhat from his memories of before he died.
“Pei Yunzhou!” Qin Yurong continued angrily, “With you acting this arrogant toward me, are you refusing to submit to my discipline?”
For a moment, Pei Ji didn’t dare to speak. He was terrified that if he spoke rashly and caused any other trouble, even the judges of the netherworld wouldn’t spare him.
Yet the more he pressed his lips together in silence, the more Qin Yurong, sitting in the seat of honor, believed he was defying her discipline. She strode right up to him and pinched his ear hard, twisting it upward.
“Pei Yunzhou! Do you think that because you’ve gained some favor in the imperial court recently, you can now talk back to your own mother?!”
“It hurts! Ouch, it hurts! Mother, why are you resorting to physical violence all of a sudden!”
A sharp pain shot through Pei Ji’s ear, causing him to instantly let out a startled cry just like he used to. What shocked him even more was that it actually hurt!
He had long since died on the execution block, yet right now he felt a genuine, physical pain. How could this be?
Qin Yurong refused to let go. “You still know how it hurts? Your primary spouse was detained within the palace walls and whipped, yet you went unconcerned to spar on a martial arts ring! My only regret is that I cannot whip you myself, otherwise your primary spouse would only come crying to me again, begging for mercy! Pei Yunzhou, show some spine and stop making me look down on you!”
No, this isn’t right!
Pei Ji was slightly stunned. With the pain being this palpable, he naturally didn’t think he was merely reliving his past life; it seemed that the bizarre phenomenon of rebirth had actually happened to him.
Yet in his past life, although his mother had been angry about the incident, she had never flown into such a rage, let alone subjected him to such a harsh punishment.
Could it be that because of his rebirth, many events had taken a different turn? If that was the case, then if he could make some changes ahead of time, he might just be able to reverse the outcome of his past life!
Wait! None of that mattered right now!
“How is he?”
This was what worried Pei Ji the most at the moment.
In his past life, after he abandoned the little mute, not only did the youth suffer a whipping and interrogation, but afterward he became terrified of bamboo. Yet because bamboo had countless practical uses and couldn’t be avoided, Pei Ji had often deliberately used bamboo to scare him, refusing to stop until he saw the little mute drop tears in fright.
He had been vicious and cruel; the one who was childish and cried whenever he was scared was never the mute, but himself.
Seeing that he finally thought to ask about He Zhile’s condition, Qin Yurong released his ear and let out a light sigh. “His back is whipped raw and swollen. Fortunately, the Empress didn’t dare to truly deal a fatal blow and didn’t damage his foundation; flesh wounds can heal quickly, but a sickness of the heart is hard to cure.”
Yet Pei Ji found it utterly ridiculous. Did that woman sitting in the primary seat of the palace have to use such methods just to slap his eldest sister’s face?
And yet, that still counted as not dealing a fatal blow? One could only imagine that if she ever became truly vicious, her cruelty would surely be unimaginably venomous and impossible to guard against!
“I want to go see him,” Pei Ji said softly.
“Even if you say that, I will not waive your punishment. You will kneel right here for a full three hours, and if your legs aren’t crippled by then, you can crawl over to his courtyard and beg for his forgiveness!”
Qin Yurong had always been a woman of her word. Since she dared to issue such an order, not a single person beneath her would dare to defy her commands.
Even so, she left her personal maid behind to keep watch, ensuring that no one would offer him any assistance.
Pei Ji knelt willingly.
He sorted through the events that had occurred over these few days in his past life. The Empress’s excuse for making trouble, which was claimed publicly, was that the little mute had accidentally broken an item inside the palace and, unable to provide a reasonable explanation, was detained in the Empress’s palace to face private torture. On the surface, it sounded plausible, but in reality, it made no sense and lacked all logic.
It was simply because the Empress’s maternal family held immense power, and with the Crown Prince currently riding high in the imperial court, naturally no one dared to voice any criticism.
Pity the little mute, who suffered all this for no reason.
However, court affairs often caused a ripple effect across the entire board. Moreover, while the Crown Prince currently held considerable prestige and status, the Emperor still had numerous other heirs. The struggle for the succession was notoriously brutal, and a single misstep could lead to someone being dragged down from power at any moment.
No one could predict what tomorrow would bring.
From the sun high in the sky until dusk settled into evening, Pei Ji did not bend his spine by even half an inch. He needed to stand tall to see the person he wished to see.
His father and brothers walked past him, casting only a cold glance in his direction. Clearly, they were deeply displeased with his actions today and didn’t even want to pretend to maintain the facade of a harmonious father-son and brotherly relationship.
“Time’s up. Someone help the Fourth Young Master to the courtyard to rest.” Qin Yurong’s maid, Fei Hong, calculated the time, called out to the attendants, and summoned the estate physician who had been waiting nearby all along.
A punishment was a punishment, but if it genuinely crippled him, no one would have an easy time of it.
Pei Ji struggled to his feet, refusing the well-meaning offers of assistance from anyone, determined to drag his battered body to find He Zhile.
Fei Hong stepped forward to block his path, looking at him with a hint of vigilance as she offered a tactful reminder: “Since the Young Master’s body is unwell, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. The primary spouse has not recovered either and probably cannot endure any further fright.”
“Are you suspecting me?” Pei Ji’s face was pale, but his gaze was sharp enough to pierce bone as it landed on Fei Hong, sending a chill straight down her spine.
Naturally, Fei Hong doubted his intentions. After all, no one in the entire Pei estate would believe that the Fourth Young Master was rushing to see the primary spouse out of genuine concern. Usually, he didn’t miss a chance to speak coldly and harshly to the primary spouse over nothing at all, let alone right now when the Fourth Young Master had just been punished and surely had a bellyful of anger waiting to be vented.
Yet she was the Mistress’s personal maid, ordered to keep watch here. No matter how angry the Fourth Young Master was, he wouldn’t dare to truly punish her.
Pei Ji clearly realized this as well. He pressed his lips into a thin line and swept his gaze over the surrounding servants. Every single one of them wore the same expression as Fei Hong, assuming he was off to torment the little mute once more.
With such a terrible impression, the little mute probably wouldn’t want to see him right now either.
“This servant wouldn’t dare to suspect the Young Master, but since you are injured, you should seek medical attention promptly. Otherwise, the primary spouse will worry once he finds out.” Recalling the instructions Qin Yurong had given earlier, Fei Hong brought up the newly wed primary spouse to keep him in check.
She didn’t know if it would work, but to her surprise, the Fourth Young Master actually fell silent and turned away.
It seemed the Fourth Young Master truly knew he was in the wrong; presumably, he wouldn’t give the Fourth Primary Spouse a hard time for the next few days.
Pei Ji was indeed in the wrong, but more than that, he was afraid. He was afraid that his abrupt arrival would only frighten the little mute further, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control his own overflowing feelings and would end up startling the youth.
When it all came down to it, he was most afraid that the look in the little mute’s eyes would no longer hold any warmth toward him.
“Apply the medicine,” Pei Ji lowered his gaze and said quietly.
Meanwhile.
Having inexplicably suffered a round of whippings, He Zhile was lying quietly facedown on his bed. Occasionally, a tear would roll across the bridge of his nose, prompting him to turn his head and bury his face into the pillows so others wouldn’t see his wretched state.
Chun Jian’s eyes were red as he gently waved a fan, trying to help alleviate the burning pain around the young master’s waist and hips. Ever since the Mistress passed away, his young master had never lived a single day of peace; there was always some trouble or pain coming to find him.
“Young Master, shall I go beg them again to give us some ice to use? If we can’t use ice, who knows how long it will take for the swelling to go down with just medicinal powder?” Chun Jian’s heart ached fiercely for him.
Go ask around. Which proper primary spouse in any household couldn’t even get a bit of ice from the estate when they needed it?
Yet his young master strictly adhered to the rules in this Pei household, hiding himself away in this tiny courtyard and never stepping out to cause trouble for others. Even so, trouble always managed to find its way to him.
He Zhile gently shook his head, his hand resting against the bedsheets as he laboriously gestured a few signs.
Chun Jian understood the sign language and couldn’t help feeling a bit discouraged. “The Pei estate is so grand, surely they aren’t so petty as to withhold a bit of ice from the primary spouse? The physician didn’t explicitly say we could use it, but for them not to show even a sliver of consideration, it just breaks my heart for you.”
Having followed the young master since childhood, how could he not feel distressed by his situation?
“Besides, you never even wanted to marry into this family in the first place.”
“Ah.” He Zhile hurriedly made a sound to stop him from continuing, too distracted to even bother wiping his tears.
Chun Jian let out a soft sigh. “This servant knows he was wrong.”
His young master was terribly foolish; he had only ever silently loved that arrogant little general, and had never even entertained the thought of scheming to marry him.
Seeing him say this, He Zhile made another gesture at him, causing Chun Jian to immediately break into a smile.
“Then you rest a bit longer. The Mistress said that these past few days we can have our meals prepared in the small kitchen. This servant will go whip up something you like,” Chun Jian said softly.
The Pei estate was so vast one couldn’t see its borders. He had been in the Pei family with the young master for half a month now, usually having to go to the main hall for meals where everything felt awkward and stifling. Now that they could finally dine separately, it was only because his young master was ill.
Alas.
Although their position in the Pei estate was awkward, at least it was far better than their days back at the He residence. At the very least, their young master wasn’t going hungry.
Creak.
Before Chun Jian could stand up and leave, the door outside was pushed open. Although there were only the two of them here along with a few cleaning maids, those maids wouldn’t dare push the door open directly.
“Greetings, Fourth Master.” Before Chun Jian even fully processed what was happening, he instinctively bowed and curtsied in greeting.
Hearing that form of address, He Zhile instantly propped up his upper body and turned his head to look. The look of panic and unease on his face immediately slammed straight into Pei Ji’s eyes.
The slender, frail young master looked like a fish flipping on land, supporting his delicate upper torso as his face flushed red.
Only the tear tracks remained un-wiped on his cheeks, while his delicate brows and upturned nose were tinged with pink. His moist, bright eyes held an overwhelming mixture of emotions, sending a sharp pang of pain and dread straight through Pei Ji’s heart.
Realizing who it was, He Zhile hurriedly tried to have Chun Jian help him up, but the moment his hand lifted, it was firmly grasped by Pei Ji.
“Don’t get up. I just came to see you.” Pei Ji didn’t dare meet his eyes, though fortunately, the youth also lowered his gaze and stopped looking at him. Pei Ji continued softly, “Everything today was my fault. I shouldn’t have left you behind there and caused you to suffer all this. Are you willing to give me a chance to make amends?”
He didn’t dare utter more direct words just yet, choosing instead to inch forward cautiously, intending to breach the other’s defenses like warm water slowly heating a frog.
He Zhile’s eyes were swimming with moisture.
If one really thought about it, what did Pei Ji do wrong?
He never liked him in the first place, yet was forced by pressures from all sides to marry him into the estate, making him the laughingstock of many noble scions. It was hardly surprising that he abandoned him in the palace.
Yet he did nothing wrong either!
Sitting there perfectly fine, he was suddenly slapped with the charge of breaking palace items and subjected to a baseless whipping. He had pinned all his hopes on his husband saving him from the fire, only to be told that the other person had long since packed up and left him behind.
Was he some kind of terrible person? Why did he always have to be bullied like this?
And now this man had come to bully him further, talking about making amends. He didn’t care for it at all.