The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 194 Another trouble occurs

"If there's anything else you want to say, say it all at once."

Pei Du crossed his arms, waiting for Pei Xingzhi to continue.

If he had evidence that Han Yueru and Pei Xingzhi had hired someone to commit murder, he wouldn't have allowed them to stay peacefully in the Duke's mansion.

Pei Xingzhi was amused and said, "I won't disturb you any longer, brother. I'll head back now."

Pei Du felt much better after watching Pei Xingzhi leave, seething with anger.

"Are you deliberately trying to upset him, or are you really planning to go back to the Duke's mansion?"

Xu Zhun only asked Pei Du after everyone had left.

Pei Du shook his head: "I will never go back to the Duke's mansion. I will find a time to tell him about the divorce, and then my mother and I will have nothing to do with the Duke's mansion anymore."

Xu Zhun agreed, there was no need to return to the Duke's mansion anymore.

"Yongning, have the issues at the girls' school been resolved?"

Li Jiangui asked a question, also concerned about whether things were stable at the girls' school.

Princess Yongning stood up and nodded: "It has all been resolved."

Li Jiangui then asked, "If there are young women who are already married, can they go to the girls' school?"

Princess Yongning was taken aback. At the time, all the girls in their school were not yet married, and she had not yet considered marriage.

Shen Hanyu also looked over. This was quite important to her, after all, she had a marriage contract with her.

Before Princess Yongning could speak, Qin Shoujie, the Minister of Rites, spoke up.

"Your Majesty, after a woman gets married, she has to manage the affairs of her household and handle many tedious matters. How can she have time to attend classes at the girls' school?"

That's indeed how it is for women who marry into powerful families, so Qin Shoujie wasn't entirely wrong.

Princess Yongning waited for Qin Shoujie to finish speaking before explaining: "When the girls' school was established, it was not said that married women were not allowed to come. It was just that those who were not yet married were given priority. As the Minister said, married women are indeed busy with many affairs, but they are not completely without time. Besides, there are also many people over forty years old among those who participate in the imperial examinations."

Qin Shoujie snorted and stopped talking.

Li Jiangui was quite satisfied with Princess Yongning's words. He looked at Pei Du, who smiled. Now Shen Hanyu could rest assured.

Pei Du knew exactly what Shen Hanyu was thinking.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiaying instinctively clenched her fists.

Liang Siyu noticed this and offered, "If you want to go to the girls' school, you can go."

Qi Jiaying thought about it and still refused.

“Now that my mother-in-law has handed over some household affairs to me, I really don’t have the energy to go anymore.”

“Mother is still young, she has time to manage things for a few more years. I’ll speak to her on her behalf, she won’t disagree.”

A glimmer of hope rekindled in Qi Jiaying's heart. She knew that Liang Siyu was a man of his word, and that Xu Ying did indeed listen to Liang Siyu.

If Liang Siyu helps her, she might actually go to the girls' school.

"Thank you."

Shen Hanyu saw Li Jiangui and Pei Du exchange a glance and knew that the question was asked on her behalf.

The wedding date has not been set yet, and she has many concerns because she still hopes to use this opportunity to turn her life around.

Now that Princess Yongning and Li Jiangui had spoken, she was completely at ease.

As the banquet drew to a close, Shen Hanyu went out for some fresh air, and Pei Du followed her out.

"You don't need to worry about the wedding date anymore, and no one will keep asking about it. The wedding date is still up to you."

Pei Du said the same thing when he requested that imperial edict, and he says it now.

Shen Hanyu smiled and said, "Why do I feel like you're implying that we can set a wedding date?"

Pei Du pressed down on the corners of his mouth. He did indeed have this thought in mind, but he certainly couldn't admit it out loud.

"However, to be honest, neither of us has anyone to worry about now, and we can leave the affairs of the mansion to Miao Cui and Jin Chui, so it really doesn't affect me much."

These words were spoken by Shen Hanyu, and Pei Du looked at her.

“There’s no rush,” Pei Du advised Shen Hanyu. “The matter of the Duke’s mansion is not over yet, and your cousin is also going to marry into the Duke’s mansion. Our matter is not urgent either.”

Shen Hanyu agreed. As for Liang Ruochu, she didn't know what she would be doing after marrying into the Duke's mansion.

The same goes for Han Yueru and her son. These two had attacked Pei Du multiple times, and now that Pei Du was in Chang'an, he had to be wary of them doing anything dangerous.

"Let's deal with that mother and child first."

With Han Yueru and Pei Xingzhi around, Pei Du was always worried.

Shen Hanyu also had people to deal with. She turned around and saw Zhou Yurong and Xiao Ran inside the hall. She had to get rid of these two.

Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we've heard from Lu Lingyue. Xiao Ran's confinement ended long ago, so Lu Lingyue must be having a tough time.

"Miao Cui, have someone inquire about Lu Lingyue."

To bring down Zhou Yurong and Xiao Ran, we might need Lu Lingyue to play a role.

Miao Cui wrote it down.

The welcoming banquet ended smoothly, and Li Jing and Zhao Yu went out together.

"Your Highness, what about Zhou Chengye?"

Li Jing wasn't too panicked. "Zhou Chengye won't tell. The people he cares about are in my hands, and no one else can help him."

Zhao Yu felt a little relieved. As long as Zhou Chengye still cared about those people, he wouldn't reveal Li Jing's name even if they went to the Dali Temple.

"We need Zhao Xiang's help with this matter."

Zhao Yu looked up, "My father?"

"Zhou Chengye has been imprisoned at the Dali Temple, so we can only ask Prime Minister Zhao to help him."

Zhao Yu agreed, saying she would talk to Zhao Wanfu.

"It's no use coming to me."

Zhao Wanfu had originally come to see Li Jing, but then he overheard what Li Jing said.

"What does Prime Minister Zhao mean by this?"

"His Majesty forbade me from getting involved in this matter, saying that it concerns His Highness and that Yu'er is the Crown Princess, so I should avoid suspicion."

While the stated reason was to avoid suspicion, it's hard to say whether the real reason was actually suspicion of him.

Li Jing originally sent Zhao Wanfu over because he was afraid something might go wrong, but now things are hard to say.

"Your Highness, don't worry, Zhou Chengye doesn't have the guts to betray you."

Li Jing narrowed his eyes: "Tell me, how did Zhou Chengye get caught?"

The events happened so suddenly that Li Jing only now had a chance to think about how Zhou Chengye was found.

Zhao Wanfu naturally couldn't possibly know that.

Zhao Yu pursed her lips. Zhou Chengye stayed with them, so something must have gone wrong at the Eastern Palace.

"Let's check again when we get back."

This matter cannot be brought to light; it can only be investigated discreetly.

Li Huaijiang openly admitted that he was the one who did it, and Li Jiangui might also suspect him.

Zhao Wanfu felt this was a bit troublesome. "Your Highness, deal with this kind of person as soon as possible in the future. Don't leave them around for Princess Huaijiang to find."

Li Jing has learned his lesson this time and will not keep people around next time.

Everyone returned home with their own thoughts. Upon arriving at the East Palace, Li Jing summoned Zhou Chengye and asked him where he had been these past few days.

"He... went out once today," the palace maid said tremblingly.