Chapter 15: He Must Eradicate Every Trace
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On the day of their homecoming visit, the carriage was piled high with gifts. Jiang Nian had never expected there to be so many that neither she nor Pei Jiuru had anywhere left to sit.
Worried that her parents might grow anxious waiting for them, Jiang Nian sent Green Wax ahead with the carriage to the Jiang residence. The Pei and Jiang estates were close by anyway, so she and Pei Jiuru could simply walk there.
They walked side by side, their sleeves never once brushing against each other.
After a long silence, Jiang Nian reminded him uneasily, “I’ll have to trouble you again today…”
Pei Jiuru noticed what appeared to be a child crouching in the middle of the road ahead. Hearing Jiang Nian’s words, he withdrew his gaze and immediately replied, “Don’t worry.”
When he had returned to their chamber the previous night, he had found that the couch had been fitted with softer cushions and bedding.
Whether Jiang Nian had done it to thank him for driving Tang Qingwan away or to remind him that the day of their homecoming visit had arrived, he had received both her goodwill and her concern.
That was the nature of a transaction: if one accepted something, one had to offer something in return.
“Jiang Nian.”
“Hmm?” Jiang Nian turned her head toward Pei Jiuru. Seeing the slight frown between his brows, she followed his gaze and discovered that a young child was sitting not far away. “Whose child is that?”
The little boy was as delicate and pretty as a carved figurine, and his clothes were clearly expensive. He looked no more than four or five years old. Sitting in the middle of the road, he had red-rimmed eyes and a flushed nose, as though he had cried himself exhausted.
Jiang Nian crouched down. “Why are you here all by yourself? Where is your family?”
“I can’t find my sister.” The boy sniffed, his lips trembling before tears began to patter down his cheeks.
“Don’t cry. Where did your sister go?”
The boy sobbed hard and pointed west. “My sister sneaked me out to play, but she went that way. I couldn’t keep up with her, and she still hasn’t come back.”
“Stay here and wait obediently.” Jiang Nian rose and asked Pei Jiuru, “We aren’t in any hurry to get home. Shall we help him look for her first?”
“All right.”
They headed into the alley to the west, and Jiang Nian could not help feeling uneasy. “I know this place. When I was little, my mother never let me come here to play. Once I grew older, I sneaked over a few times and discovered that it was nothing more than a few abandoned houses. If that girl really encountered trouble here, I’m afraid no one would ever know…”
Pei Jiuru halted. “Jiang Nian, why don’t you take the child to the prefectural office first? I’ll go look for his sister.”
Jiang Nian blinked. “Are you worried about me?”
“I’m worried that the child might remain alone in the street and fall into the hands of someone with ill intentions.”
Jiang Nian found that reasonable. “All right. But can you manage on your own?”
Pei Jiuru found those words strangely familiar. Remembering when she had asked him the same thing before, he began to despise himself. Why did he still remember what had happened on their wedding night?
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“There’s no need to worry about me.”
“Oh.”
Only after watching Jiang Nian’s back disappear did Pei Jiuru lower his head to examine the traces on the ground. They were wax.
He had deliberately sent Jiang Nian away. Clearly, this matter was not as simple as it appeared.
The moment he had first seen the child in the middle of the road, he had suspected a trap. He had initially wanted to stop Jiang Nian, but after some thought, he had held his tongue.
Perhaps Jiang Nian’s kindness had changed his mind.
Her stopping today was no different from the day she had stopped when he lay dying by the roadside. If someone had persuaded her not to stop that day, he would have died where he fell.
Following the trail of wax westward, he eventually stopped before a house at the very end of the alley. After studying it for several breaths, Pei Jiuru noticed the telltale signs. Dry grass had been piled all around the house, and the outer edge of the grass had been drenched in wax.
The child had been deliberately abandoned in the middle of the road. Who had set this trap, intending to burn him to death? Could news of his marriage already have reached the ears of those few old bastards?
Pei Jiuru’s eyes flickered. He picked up the handkerchief lying by the door, wrapped a stone inside it, and threw it over the roof.
“Go inside and have a look!” he shouted toward the empty air. The instant the words left his mouth, he turned and hid.
After waiting for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, just as he had expected, someone cautiously poked her head out from behind the house.
However…
Pei Jiuru, concealed in the shadows, froze. He had thought it would be one of his uncles from the clan. Instead, it was Tang Qingwan.
Pei Jiuru held his breath and focused his attention.
Tang Qingwan wore a savage smile. When she saw that the handkerchief by the door had vanished, she hurried forward and slammed the door shut.
“Jiang Nian, you never imagined I would scheme against you today, did you? You actually think you can fight me? If I can’t have a good life, neither will you! Ha ha ha! This is what you get for offending me yesterday! You deserve it! You pair of shameless adulterers—go to hell!”
As she spoke, she tossed a fire starter onto the dry grass. In an instant, tongues of flame crawled up the house like centipedes.
Expressionless, Pei Jiuru rolled up his sleeves and silently approached Tang Qingwan from behind.
In the next moment, he seized her by the back of the neck.
She wanted him dead?
“Who is it?” Tang Qingwan cried out. She tried to turn her head, but could not overcome the strength behind her. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Tang Qingwan clawed at the clothes of the person behind her. Taking advantage of the movement, Pei Jiuru seized her arm and forced her elbow back, twisting it behind her.
Tang Qingwan cried out in pain. “Jiang Nian? It’s you! You aren’t inside!”
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Then, realizing that Jiang Nian could not possibly possess such strength, she began to plead. “Pei Jiuru? Let me go! I never meant to harm you! Please, let me go!”
Pei Jiuru said nothing. With one hand gripping the back of her neck and the other restraining her, he kicked the door open with a bang and shoved her inside.
Tang Qingwan fell face-first to the ground. Ignoring the pain, she spun around to flee, only to find that the door had already been shut.
“Open the door! Let me out!”
Panic filled her as flames began to snake through the cracks. She could not understand how she had suddenly become the fish on the chopping block.
The alley was secluded, but it was not entirely deserted. She knew people would soon discover the fire.
Yet she had been determined to burn Jiang Nian and Pei Jiuru to death, so she had poured enough wax to ensure that Jiang Nian would not survive until help arrived. Now, the person trapped inside the house was Tang Qingwan herself.
Tang Qingwan screamed and sobbed, “Let me out! Jiang Nian! Pei Jiuru! Open the door!”
“I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Please, let me out!”
“Let me out! I’ll give you money! Please…”
Pei Jiuru acted as though he had not heard her. From beginning to end, he did not utter a word.
Wiping his hands, he turned and left the alley.
He did not care how much Tang Qingwan hated Jiang Nian, nor did he wish to know why Jiang Nian had shown mercy to her. Since Tang Qingwan had sought her own death and tried to burn him alive, he would show her no mercy.
If someone harmed him, he would root them out completely.
After walking some distance, Pei Jiuru glanced back. The fire had grown fierce, and people had noticed it. They were shouting for the fire brigade to come and extinguish the flames.
The dry grass and wax were both clues, but no matter how thoroughly the matter was investigated, everything would lead only to Tang Qingwan.
All he needed to do was think of a way to deal with Jiang Nian’s questions.
By the time he reached the prefectural office, Pei Jiuru had already prepared what he would say.
Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of a woman crying. His heart tightened, and he strode into the prefectural office.
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