After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

The consequence of unbridled indulgence was that Pei Jiaoran drove him from his bed to sleep on the bamboo couch by the window in the middle of the night. There were many birds in the mountains, and even though he had been tossing and turning late last night, Li Xiujing opened his eyes early amid the birdsong.

I tiptoed to the bedside and quietly lifted a corner of the curtain to look inside. I saw Pei Jiaoran breathing steadily, and he seemed to be sleeping soundly. However, his sleeping posture was really indecent, with his legs spread out, almost occupying the entire bed.

I knew she probably did this on purpose to prevent me from sneaking back in the middle of the night.

With a low laugh, Li Xiujing sat down on the remaining empty space, his legs hanging down at the end of the couch, and his eyes fell on Pei Jiaoran's face.

She looked better when she was asleep. At least she wasn't as sharp as when she was awake.

He was thinking about it when someone pinched his waist hard. He looked over in pain and saw Pei Jiaoran staring at him with his peach blossom eyes, looking at him with a mocking expression.

"My dear, you lost to me last night. Why, you refuse to admit it before even a day has passed?" Pei Jiaoran sneered.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiujing looked embarrassed. He stood up and walked out, pretending to be calm.

"I'll go to the kitchen to see how breakfast is prepared." Li Xiujing stopped at the door and said.

As soon as Li Xiujing stepped out of the door, he heard joyful laughter coming from behind the overlapping curtains. Hearing this sound, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Last night, when he was in high spirits, Pei Jiaoran suddenly mentioned that she wanted to make a bet with her. If he won, she would let him do whatever he wanted, but if he lost, he would have to sleep by the window for two days in a row. At that time, he was enjoying himself and didn't think about it. He nodded and agreed to her bet. The result is predictable, he actually...

Thinking of this, Li Xiujing snorted softly.

When he came back with the lunch box, he saw Pei Jiaoran sitting by the window. He looked like he hadn't woken up yet. Li Xiujing felt guilty and walked over slowly with his hands behind his back.

"Do you want to sleep a little longer? They shouldn't be coming today, right?" Li Xiujing hugged her and said gently.

"If they don't come, then they don't come. I'm happy and at ease." Pei Jiaoran stepped on the ground barefoot and looked around. "But I think Yuan Yanchong will come to look for me. It's a good opportunity for him to owe me a favor."

Li Xiujing broke off half of the Hu pancake and handed it to Pei Jiaoran. He raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "It's hard to ask the censor to owe you a favor. In this huge city of Chang'an, is there anyone who doesn't owe you a favor?"

"They may owe me something, but not everyone is worthy of me asking for the favor." Pei Jiaoran chewed a Hu pancake, "Today's Hu pancake is not fragrant enough. Eh..."

Li Xiujing added some more sesame porridge to her bowl. He seemed to remember something and looked at her and said, "You said you should be nice to the cook. Otherwise, you will be killed."

"If it's not tasty, shouldn't you point it out?" Pei Jiaoran finished drinking the sesame porridge and said to the servant at the door, "Go tell the chef who prepared the Hu pancake today. He didn't control the heat well, so his Hu pancake is not fragrant enough."

"Here."

After calling someone in to clear the meal, Pei Jiaoran returned to sit on the bamboo couch by the window. Seeing Li Xiujing's clothes scattered on the couch, he raised his foot and gently kicked them down.

Seeing his clothes kicked off, Li Xiujing snorted, picked up the sword on the shelf beside him, and stepped out of the room to practice with it.

The window on the bamboo couch was open, and Pei Jiaoran could see what was happening outside just by looking up. A few bamboos were picked outside the house, and the half-green and half-yellow bamboo leaves fell to the ground. At this moment, they were fluttering in the wind, and some of them even flew into the house with the wind.

Looking at the half bamboo leaf that fell on the book, Pei Jiaoran chuckled. He put down the book and went out through the window. He stepped on the bamboo and broke off a bamboo branch and rushed towards Li Xiujing.

The bamboo branch has no edge, but its meaning is sharp. Pei Jiaoran is a master of swordsmanship, and his figure is like flying phoenixes and flapping wings. The collision between the bamboo branch and the iron sword is like the sound of metal colliding.

The hand holding the bamboo stick suddenly changed from pressing down to sweeping upwards, and the blade on the other side also suddenly reversed. The back of the blade brushed against the bamboo leaves, barely removing a wisp of green skin from the bamboo.

The green peel fell to the ground and was quickly stepped on again.

Just as the sword was about to strike, hurried footsteps were heard on the corridor.

After glancing at Li Xiujing, Pei Jiaoran threw the bamboo stick lightly, then climbed back out of the window and tilted his head to look outside.

"My lord, this is Mr. Pei. Minister Yuan sent someone to deliver a letter saying that Lu Yi had Wen Shu beaten up. Now he has been tied up and taken to the county government office to ask Magistrate Zhou for an explanation," said the servant.

Hearing this, Pei Jiaoran raised his eyes and said softly, "Yes. Go tell the person who came, I'll be there in a minute."

The servant who brought the news took the order and left.

Soon, Pei Jiaoran changed into a purple robe and went out. The gold seal and goldfish bag on her waist sparkled in the sunlight.

Touching his chin, Li Xiujing said, "I'll go with you."

When we arrived at Zhaoying County, we found that things were more lively than we had imagined. Yesterday, Lu Yi's mother came from Chang'an in the middle of the night, bringing Concubine Zhang's imperial decree to support her son. But she was stopped at the door by Wen Shu's men and was not allowed to enter.

Lu Mu had always been highly sought after in Chang'an, and had never suffered such humiliation. She fainted in front of the mansion in anger. Lu Yi, who was in the mansion, rushed out upon hearing this and ordered the attendants accompanying Lu Mu to beat Wen Shu. Wen Shu was currently lying in the public room of the county government, being treated by a doctor.

Two men in purple robes appeared at the county office. They dismounted and threw their whips to the servants at the door.

"I'll go see Wen Shu first." Li Xiujing said.

Walking into the county office, Pei Jiaoran looked at the people in the room and smiled.

Stepping over the threshold, Pei Jiaoran said with a smile: "Central Minister Yuan."

"Mr. Pei is finally here." Yuan Yanchong pointed at Lu Yi who was standing beside him, "Mr. Lu said that the old lady was personally appointed by His Majesty as the Lady of Wu. How could a county lieutenant like Wen Shu be so presumptuous?"

Glancing at Lu Yi, Pei Jiaoran found an empty seat and sat down. "How is Madam Wu?"

"Thanks to Mr. Pei's concern, my mother has woken up. Just now, I was asking how I planned to punish Wen Shu." Lu Yi looked at Pei Jiaoran with a smile, "After all, my mother was personally appointed by His Majesty as the Lady of Wu. She was stopped from returning home and became ill due to anger. Wen Shu must give an explanation."

"I came to Zhaoying to recuperate, not for official business. Why doesn't Mr. Lu ask Yuan Zhongcheng what to do about this matter?" Pei Jiaoran took a sip of the hot tea on the table and sighed with difficulty: "If Mr. Lu is really involved in something big, I don't think His Royal Highness the King of Wu will tolerate it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yi's face suddenly changed. The letter from Chang'an only told him that these two people were the prince's men. If he wanted to keep his wealth and glory, he should do as the letter said and deal with these two people.

"Mr. Pei, what are you talking about? I am naturally loyal to His Majesty and His Royal Highness the King of Wu, and I dare not overstep the line."

Hearing the displeasure in Lu Yi's tone, Pei Jiaoran said, "Didn't Censor Yuan come here because he received a report that Zhaoying County Magistrate Zhou Xian accepted bribes? If so, why don't you bring Zhou Xian to trial?"