Chapter 44 Were you bullied?

Chapter 44 Were you bullied?

Pei Wu actually hid it very well, but Jiang Ru was so intelligent that she saw through it at a glance. She looked up at Pei Wu with concern in her eyes: "Were you given a hard time at work today?"

Pei Wu didn't find it difficult, but he was a little frustrated. He forced a smile and decided not to spoil the fun at this joyful time, so he said, "No."

Jiang Ru pouted: "Yes, you are. Stop pretending."

She reached out and measured Pei Wu's eyebrows, separating them with two fingers, and said, "Your brows are furrowed by two millimeters, I can see that."

Pei Wu stared at her in astonishment. Under Jiang Ru's gaze, his brows slowly relaxed. He himself didn't even realize that he was frowning, but Jiang Ru noticed.

After his brows relaxed, Pei Wu's expression was flawless, but Jiang Ru moved her hand down further and pointed at Pei Wu's face: "Your face is tense too."

He changed his mind wherever Jiang Ru pointed, as if he were changing his expression constantly. Jiang Ru teased him for a few moments, then stopped picking on his facial expressions and instead shook her finger: "No need to hide it anymore. I noticed something was wrong with you the moment you got home."

Having spent so much time with Pei Wu, she knew him extremely well. Pei Wu was like a transparent person in her eyes; she didn't even need to look at him to know what he was thinking.

As for why it wasn't discovered immediately today, it's really not Jiang Ru's fault.

She was so worried that Pei Wu would discover the surprise she had prepared that she panicked and didn't have time to think much about it. Besides, at that time she thought Pei Wu had just been transferred to a new job and was working too hard, which was why he did this.

Even after resting for a while, Pei Wu was still like this, and he didn't even smile when he saw the meal she had carefully prepared. Only then did Jiang Ru realize that something was wrong.

There are very few things that can make Pei Wu unhappy. If Jiang Ru really noticed it, then he must have been wronged.

Pei Wu is only sixteen years old and has to go to work every day. As a result, he was bullied when he first arrived at his new workplace. Even now, he is still trying to hide it from Jiang Ru. How can he be so pitiful?

Jiang Ru looked at Pei Wu with affection, unconsciously lowering her voice: "Tell me, who bullied you?"

Just as Jiang Ru could understand Pei Wu, Pei Wu could also understand Jiang Ru. Jiang Ru was overthinking things again, probably imagining all sorts of scenarios where Pei Wu would be bossed around.

Jiang Ru had imagined him to be too weak, so Pei Wu patiently said, "I wasn't bullied."

Jiang Ru didn't believe it: "Impossible."

After saying that, she frowned and thought for a moment, then asked Pei Wu, "Then why are you unhappy?"

Pei Wu stared at her for a long time, when he suddenly caught a few whispers in his ear.

Pei Wu turned his head and saw that the dishes on the table next to him were steaming hot, and the people around the table were staring at the two of them, glancing at them and then lowering their heads to whisper.

Xia: "Can you tell that Lord Pei is unhappy?"

Xiaozhu: "No, did you notice?"

Xia: "Me neither."

Xiao Fang: "Is Lord Pei really unhappy? You can even tell, young lady. You have sharp eyes."

Xiao Chen: "No wonder they're siblings, I just couldn't tell."

These people even whispered and plotted loudly, without any attempt to hide it; it was clear they had learned from Jiang Ru.

Pei Wu paused for a moment, then compromised by saying, "Let's eat first, and we'll talk about it after we finish eating."

This dish was carefully prepared by Jiang Ru, so we can't let it get cold. We can cook it later.

Unable to get any information out of her immediately, Jiang Ru gave in and decided to fill her stomach first.

After the two sat down, Jiang Ru ladled a bowl of chicken soup for Pei Wu. The chicken soup had been simmering for a long time, and it smelled wonderful and tasted delicious.

After ladling out the soup, Jiang Ru put a chicken leg on Pei Wu's plate: "Eat up, you work so hard every day, you need to eat more."

Pei Wu looked at Jiang Ru and put the chicken leg back: "You also go to work every day, it must be very tiring."

Jiang Ru has been reducing the time she spends at the beverage shop these past few days. The shop has already gained a reputation, and the newly hired workers are basically able to get started, so she doesn't need to stay there all the time.

Moreover, Jiang Ru is the boss, so she doesn't need to worry about interpersonal relationships; she only needs to manage the store. Unlike Pei Wu, who is surrounded by seasoned veterans in the officialdom, a newcomer like him is destined to be exploited.

But... they're not so poor that they have to share even a chicken leg.

Jiang Ru stared at the chicken leg in her bowl, speechless: "There are so many in the pot, why are we picking them up from each other?"

Pei Wu realized he had made a foolish mistake and silently turned his head away.

Jiang Ru stood up: "I have them all, I have them all, I didn't favor one over the other."

As she spoke, Jiang Ru picked up a spoon and scooped a large spoonful for each person.

In ancient times, meat was only eaten during festivals. However, Jiang Ru and Pei Wu are now able to earn money, so buying a chicken is nothing. Moreover, it is even more necessary to celebrate Pei Wu's birthday.

Perhaps remembering that Pei Wu hadn't been in a good mood earlier, Jiang Ru comforted him, "It's good that you came back early today, otherwise we would have stolen all the food on this table."

Pei Wu asked, "What if I don't come back tonight?" Then Jiang Ru's meal would have been for nothing.

Jiang Ru didn't hold back at all: "Then I'll go to the Privy Council to bring you food. I'll make sure you get to eat no matter what. Eat up."

Pei Wu was force-fed a lot by Jiang Ru, and he forgot that he shouldn't eat too much. When he left the table, his stomach was still full. Jiang Ru didn't rest for a moment. As soon as she put down her bowl, she called Pei Wu to the study to interrogate him about what had happened that day.

As soon as she entered the study, she said aggressively, "Who bullied you? Tell me."

She had a fierce demeanor, as if she was about to rush up and fight the person Pei Wu had identified the moment he revealed who it was.

Pei Wu found it amusing: "If I tell you, will you help me bully them back?"

This is a bit difficult, but it's not impossible. Jiang Ru pondered and said, "We'll see. If they bully you too much, I'll think of a way."

Pei Wu then added, "I wasn't bullied."

Jiang Ru glanced at him suspiciously and shook her head: "I don't believe you. You want to tell me everything that happened today, without missing a single detail."

In fact, Pei Wu's mood wasn't as bad as before, and he really hadn't been bullied at all, but when Jiang Ru asked, he still told her everything.

From his arrival at the Privy Council, and then waiting for Su Mu...

Jiang Ru suddenly interrupted him: "You mean, he made you stand from morning until noon?"

Pei Wu nodded: "He's sleeping, so..."

Jiang Ru angrily scolded, "How could you be so mean? Couldn't you at least have a chair to sit on while you wait? Besides, who is he, the emperor, that he makes people stand and wait?"

Jiang Ru was indignant for Pei Wu: "He's so bad, he's really too bad."

Actually, this was nothing to Pei Wu. Back in the academy, the teacher had made them stand like this before, but Jiang Ru reacted strongly and got very angry, cursing at Su Mu.

After she finished cursing and venting her anger, Jiang Ru said fiercely, "If he bullies you again, I'll sneak into his house one day and replace his water with laxatives."

Her words were purely venting, after all, the Su residence was heavily guarded, and whether she could even get in was another matter, but Pei Wu did not spoil her mood, and just listened quietly to her rant.

After scolding Su Mu, Jiang Ru looked down at Pei Wu's legs and asked, "Does your leg hurt? If you stand for several hours without moving, your leg will hurt a lot."

Pei Wu shook his head: "It's not sour, it's fine."

Jiang Ru didn't believe it and insisted that Pei Wu stand up and walk a few steps to show her. Pei Wu had no choice but to walk a few steps. Jiang Ru saw that he walked steadily and showed no signs of limping, and then she was relieved.

To distract her, Pei Wu continued talking about what happened next. Jiang Ru listened attentively, occasionally cursing Su Mu, and then came the final, important part.

What happened after entering the palace.

Fearing that Jiang Ru might not understand, Pei Wu explained it very clearly. Although Jiang Ru didn't know much about court affairs, and she hadn't studied history properly before, she could roughly understand what Pei Wu was worried about.

She was not surprised at all that Pei Wu would run into a wall in this matter. Unless it was an extremely powerful dynasty, they would avoid war if possible, as war was a waste of resources and manpower, and they preferred to negotiate.

Jiang Ru pondered for a moment and said, "Don't think too much. After all, you are just a junior official who has just entered the officialdom. Even the prime minister can't do it. How could you possibly do it?"

“Only when your words carry enough weight will others listen to you.” At this point, Jiang Ru couldn’t remember telling Pei Wu to take it slow. She said, “First, you should grow bigger and stronger, then others won’t dare to disobey you.”

Pei Wu listened attentively to her words. Jiang Ru comforted him first before saying, "Besides, it's not urgent yet, and the Yan Kingdom may not necessarily invade, so don't worry too much."

However, Jiang Ru paused at this point, as if she had remembered something.

In my past life, there was such an incident: the Yan army invaded the Great Xia Kingdom by surprise. The people were terrified and even slept with bundles in their hands, ready to flee at any moment.

Even before the Yan state had penetrated deep into the territory, the people were already like frightened birds, each thinking about their own way out.

Fortunately, the worry didn't last long, as the imminent conflict stopped. It seemed that the Great Xia sent officials to negotiate and reached an agreement with the Yan State, so the situation was indeed stabilized and no fighting occurred.

The specific timeframe seems to be... next year.

But with wolves in front and tigers behind, the Yan state managed to stabilize, but then the Qi state came.

Two years before her death, the imperial court was conscripting soldiers everywhere and increasing taxes, which she could hardly bear. So when the soldiers came to arrest her, she felt more powerless than angry, because for her, it was just a matter of dying a little sooner.

Jiang Ru remained silent for a long time before saying, "Perhaps, we really should fight."

And there's more than one to fight.

Pei Wu looked over in confusion. Jiang Ru paused for a moment. The events of the next few years were still far away. Jiang Ru only told Pei Wu about the present: "Yan State may really send troops. If you really want to do something, you can only gain a foothold as soon as possible and make your words have an effect."

This makes her argument that Pei Wu should slowly and cautiously disappear completely invalid.

Pei Wu was right. Only by climbing high enough can one change oneself, change others, and even change the country.

For Pei Wu at this point, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Therefore, he needs to climb higher.