Chapter 20: Jiang Shiyuan, the Taifu you like is walking towards you.

Jiang Shiyuan turned her head in the direction of the sound, and she saw a group of civil and military officials dressed in official robes standing on the stone path not far away. In the center of the crowd, tall and standing like jade, was the Taifu, Pei Che, whom she had been mentioning repeatedly.

It was too late to cover her mouth. Jiang Shiyuan just wanted to find a hole to hide in, but Xie Ruoruo, that bad girl, tightly grabbed her hand, not letting her escape.

In her panic, Jiang Shiyuan could only use brute strength, pulling Xie Ruoruo into the nearby bushes.

No one saw! No one saw!

Hiding in the bushes, Jiang Shiyuan buried her head in her knees and kept praying.

Oh my God!

How can a person keep losing face so continuously?!

She really didn’t want to live anymore!

Perhaps panic heightened her senses, but even from such a distance, Jiang Shiyuan could still hear laughter coming from the crowd.

Maybe it wasn’t her senses being heightened, but rather the large number of people there.

It was just the right time for the morning court session to end, and this path was the main route out of the Golden Luang Hall.

In other words, today, she had basically teased the Taifu in front of all the civil and military officials?

Which respectable lady would act so recklessly with her words and speak so arrogantly?

Xie Ruoruo was right; she was finished!

Jiang Shiyuan felt like crying but couldn’t. She buried her head even lower, not even daring to lift it to glance, hoping Pei Che would turn a blind eye and quickly lead everyone away.

Meanwhile, Xie Ruoruo was eagerly watching and full of schadenfreude. She held Jiang Shiyuan’s hand to prevent her from escaping in her shame, all while closely watching Pei Che’s direction.

Pei Che had always walked in front of the emperor, and everyone in the palace knew him. He was known for his clear and lofty heart, uninterested in worldly matters, and he disliked women who approached him for no reason. Just getting closer to him would bring about rejection and disdain.

That was why, after all these years, Pei Che had never been seen with a woman by his side, let alone talking about marriage.

Only Jiang Shiyuan was bold enough to openly disrespect Pei Che!

Let’s see how Pei Che would slap her face! Hmph!

Xie Ruoruo perked up her ears, eagerly staring ahead. She heard the officials laughing heartily. At this moment, Pei Che said something to them.

It was too far, and Xie Ruoruo couldn’t hear clearly, but she saw that after hearing Pei Che’s words, the officials all widened their eyes, their mouths agape, looking more shocked than when they had heard Jiang Shiyuan confess her affection for Pei Che.

Then, those ministers bowed to Pei Che. At this point, Xie Ruoruo caught a few words drifting over and clearly heard them say, “Congratulations, congratulations.”

Congratulations?

What kind of congratulations?

Was Pei Che about to be promoted again? He was already the Taifu; where else could he go?

Xie Ruoruo snapped back to reality, and when she looked again, the officials had dispersed, and Pei Che was walking towards them.

Xie Ruoruo immediately whispered excitedly in Jiang Shiyuan’s ear, “He’s coming, he’s coming! Your Pei Taifu is coming, and he’s coming to find you!”

Jiang Shiyuan buried her head, wishing she could tear out Xie Ruoruo’s tongue. She should have let Xie Ruoruo fall from the tree that day, and if she had become mute, that would have been the best! Why did she save her?!

As Pei Che drew nearer, Xie Ruoruo had no intention of letting Jiang Shiyuan off the hook. She eagerly nudged her with her elbow, “Aren’t you fond of Pei Taifu? He’s coming. How about saying it again to his face?”

Jiang Shiyuan had no courage.

Jiang Shiyuan was very cowardly.

At this moment, all she wanted was to escape, to run away from this terrifying woman, Xie Ruoruo!

Jiang Shiyuan heard footsteps, and Pei Che had already come over, but he only saw a few palace maids and not the person he was looking for.

Pei Che stopped, and suddenly, from the bushes beside him, a figure sprang out.

“Taifu, Jiang Shiyuan is here,” Xie Ruoruo stepped out and pointed to where Jiang Shiyuan was crouching.

“Taifu, did you hear? Jiang Shiyuan, the eldest daughter of the General of the Kingdom, the niece of Concubine Jiang, and your former student, Jiang Shiyuan—”

Fearing that Pei Che might not remember, Xie Ruoruo introduced her in great detail: “She said you are like a clear breeze and bright moon, noble and dignified. She has admired you for a long time.”

Xie Ruoruo repeated it loudly again. Jiang Shiyuan couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly jumped up to cover Xie Ruoruo’s mouth.

“Ugh… Jiang Shiyuan, you’re committing an offense!” Xie Ruoruo scolded.

Jiang Shiyuan was no longer just trying to suppress her desire to commit an offense; she was filled with murderous intent. She gritted her teeth and said, “The civil and military officials haven’t gone far. Do you believe I’ll reveal to the world that you wet the bed at seven and fell into a latrine pit at eight? I’ll ruin your reputation!”

This woman!!

She was so vicious!

Princess Nine was livid, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t do anything to her; she still had Pei Che!

Pei Che would teach all the bad women who were eyeing him a lesson!

Xie Ruoruo shut her mouth and looked eagerly at Pei Che.

Pei Taifu, scold her!

Scold her like you scold the princes and princesses in the Ministry of Rites!

Pei Che looked at the two of them: one eagerly watching him, and the other looking like she had seen a ghost, her eyes avoiding his, her pale face now bright red, almost as if it could bleed, even more so than yesterday, looking like she might run away at any moment.

“Are you leaving the palace to return to the manor?” Pei Che asked, his tone gentle, as if nothing had happened.

Huh?

Xie Ruoruo was utterly disappointed. Why was he so calm? There wasn’t even a cold glance?

Pei Taifu, are you still the one who avoids women and frowns when anyone touches him?!

She was so disappointed!

Just as Xie Ruoruo was feeling disillusioned, the next scene shocked her completely.

Because Pei Che not only didn’t scold Jiang Shiyuan, but he even took the initiative to offer, “I’ll escort you.”

Huh?

Xie Ruoruo couldn’t believe her eyes as she looked at Pei Che, who appeared unfazed and showed no signs of displeasure, let alone disgust.

She turned to look at Jiang Shiyuan, whose face was as red as fire.

Jiang Shiyuan nodded and muttered a soft “Mm.”

What?

What was going on?

Pei Taifu actually volunteered to escort Jiang Shiyuan out of the palace, and Jiang Shiyuan actually agreed?!

Since when did Jiang Shiyuan become so bold?

Xie Ruoruo was stunned, her mouth hanging open, capable of swallowing a chicken egg.

Jiang Shiyuan was about to refuse, but then a memory she desperately wanted to bury surfaced from the boiling heat in her brain.

Last time, Pei Che had also offered to escort her, and what happened then—

Could she refuse now?

No! She was too cowardly to refuse.

“Come out first.”

Pei Che extended his hand to Jiang Shiyuan, palm up.

…

Meanwhile, the ministers who had been with Pei Che were already at the palace gate, and they seemed to be coming to their senses.

One old official, realizing late, asked, “Did I hear that right just now? Did Pei Taifu say ‘wife’?”

Another person nodded vigorously and said, “Yes, that’s right! Pei Taifu said—”

The person placed a hand over his chest, raised his head, and with a slight smile, imitated Pei Che’s tone and expression, repeating word for word:

“My wife is being mischievous. I apologize for making everyone laugh.”

As he imitated, he marveled, “I’ve worked with Pei Taifu for many years, but I’ve never seen him show such an expression.”

The others agreed, “Not only have we never seen it, but even when Pei Taifu won the top spot in the imperial examination, we never saw him smile like this. Who would have thought that, after all these years, he would actually marry? This is truly rare!”