Chapter 226: Chapter 100 Sending a Silk Banner_2
Two days ago, he was still dining with others at a restaurant when he suddenly learned that a government officer had gone to his mansion to take Meng Xiyang away. He hurried back to find that the Military Inspection House had caught a perpetrator who confessed in front of everyone that it was Meng Xiyang who ordered an assassin to harm the Resident Female Doctor Lu Tong at Renxin Medical Hall, because Lu Tong had saved Pei Yunshu, who unexpectedly went into early labor.
It was initially a minor issue, and Mu Sheng didn’t take it to heart, only to be enraged that the people from the Patrol House were so bold as to touch someone from his Prince’s Mansion. Little did he know how this small matter would spiral out of control, subsequently involving forbidden medicine from the palace, alarming the Empress Dowager. Afterwards, Consort Yan and Meng Xiyang were successively imprisoned, leaving him, the Commandery Prince, in a flurry of distress.
Mu Sheng didn’t believe that Pei Yunshu was unrelated to this affair, but Pei Yunmeng’s men guarded the entrance to her courtyard, making it impossible for even him, the Commandery Prince, to enter. Having no choice, he could only shout Pei Yunshu’s name loudly at the courtyard entrance, but that woman, who had always been meek, seemed to have grown a spine at some point and completely ignored his shouting, refusing to come out and see him from beginning to end.
Mu Sheng glared coldly at Pei Yunmeng, aware that it was since the return of this brother that Pei Yunshu had begun to show defiance towards him. This pair of siblings!
He said, "Pei Yunmeng, what are you trying to do?"
Pei Yunmeng smiled, reaching into his robe to pull out a piece of paper and slapped it onto Mu Sheng’s face.
Mu Sheng was furious, snatched the paper, and saw that it was densely covered in writing. "What is this?"
"Mu Sheng," Pei Yunmeng’s tone could even be considered courteous, "given the situation, you surely don’t think you can muddle through without consequences." He chuckled, "I’ve written the divorce paper for you; all you need to do is copy it."
Divorce paper?
Mu Sheng looked down at the paper before his eyes as though stung, and suddenly let out a cold laugh, "So, it’s for this purpose..."
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Pei Yunmeng’s men took Meng Xiyang away. Mu Sheng knew there was something suspicious about Mohailuo, yet he still ordered Pei Yunmeng to return Meng Xiyang.
Meng Xiyang was beautiful and eloquent, not to mention that Pei Yunmeng taking her away publicly was a slap in the face to him, Prince Wen. To protect Meng Xiyang was to protect his own dignity.
Later, when Pei Yunmeng released Meng Xiyang back to the mansion, Mu Sheng waited a few days and saw no further pursuit from him. He let down his guard and felt somewhat triumphant. Pei Yunmeng, after all, was still young and dared not directly contend with the Prince’s Mansion.
He originally thought this would be the end of it, but little did he expect this man to be so calculating. Earlier releasing Meng Xiyang had been nothing more than a ruse to lower his guard, and now the real trap was waiting. Not only Meng Xiyang but even Consort Yan from the palace had been thrown into prison. From the very beginning, Pei Yunmeng had no intention of letting Meng Xiyang off; he wanted to deal with Meng Xiyang and ensure that Pei Yunshu would leave the Prince’s Mansion.
From the start, he aimed to kill two birds with one stone!
Realizing he had been duped, Mu Sheng was furiously enraged. He sneered at the man before him: "Don’t even think about it. Forget the divorce paper, I won’t even give her a letter of dismissal." He taunted with malicious glee, "I want her to languish in my Prince’s Mansion, to die and become a ghost of the Prince’s Mansion!"
"Swoosh—"
A glint of cold light flashed, and the chilling edge of a blade pressed against his neck, as the deadly intent slowly spread from his throat.
"You, have you lost your mind?" Mu Sheng stood frozen, not daring to move an inch.
Pei Yunmeng’s hand holding the knife was steady, his face smiling but his gaze piercingly cold. He said, "How imposing the Commandery Prince is."
"I wonder, when the Commandery Prince was embezzling funds for the water conservancy projects in Qiyin City last year, did he also feel this imperious?"
At these words, Mu Sheng’s complexion changed, and he blurted out, "How do you know?"
"Of course, I know." Pei Yunmeng smiled faintly, "I’ve always taken an interest in the Commandery Prince."
A tremor went through Mu Sheng’s heart.
This matter was known only to his own people; how Pei Yunmeng came across this information was beyond him. How much did he know, and what evidence did he possess? Holding such a fatal weakness of his... merely a Commander of the Imperial Guards, how could he have accomplished this?
"You dare to do this, aren’t you afraid I’ll tell your father?" Mu Sheng attempted one last bargaining chip, trying to use Lord Zhao Ning to intimidate the man before him. Marriages between nobles were never a personal affair; they involved clan dynamics and relations between families, which required consideration of many aspects. Pei Yunshu’s wishes were an insignificant factor before the interests of the entire Pei family.
Pei Yunmeng looked at him as though he had heard something ludicrous, and said incredulously, "Commandery Prince, don’t you understand Lord Zhao Ning? If he knew about these affairs, he would only cut ties with you even faster."
He pondered for a moment, "But maybe if you play your cards right, perhaps you might get to witness a scene of father and son turning on each other."