Chapter 35 (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Pei Zan caused a scene, which delayed things for a while.

But with the Wu family banquet about to begin, the maids outside, who were getting ready, dared not delay any longer. They all looked anxiously at Uncle Feng, asking him to come up with a plan.

Uncle Feng looked at the creaking courtyard gate and sighed, "Let's go in and serve Miss Lin."

At the old steward's command, no one dared to challenge him unless they wanted to quit working for the governor's mansion.

Even though the old women were terrified of Pei Zan and their legs trembled like leaves, they still had to grit their teeth and go in to serve him.

Fortunately, Pei Zan heard the commotion but did not make things difficult for the servants. He only lifted his eyelids and gave a stern reminder when he was discharged from the hospital: "Remember to give your young lady another bath."

Upon hearing this, the servants were all shocked and wondered: In just a quarter of an hour, the Grand Commander had actually accomplished something.

Lin Rong wasn't inexperienced in bed; she could easily see the meaning behind the women's probing gazes. She felt inexplicably ashamed and deeply embarrassed, so she said nothing.

Lin Rong took off her clothes and was helped into the water by the servants.

Lin Rong had red marks on her body, so she definitely couldn't wear that jacket that revealed her collarbone. After all, it was a family banquet, and she was supposed to be the hostess of the family, so she had to cover herself up.

After thinking it over, the maid took out a gardenia honey-colored stand-up collar short shirt from the wardrobe and had Lin Rong change into it, along with a light and flowing pleated skirt.

After Lin Rong applied the ointment to the back of her neck again, the nanny styled her hair into a bun and adorned it with a red agate and pink peach blossom hairpin.

Lin Rong was beautiful, with delicate eyebrows, fair skin, and apricot-shaped cheeks. Her skin was as white as snow, and even a young lady from a high-ranking family could not have such beauty. No wonder she could bewitch Grand Commander Pei!

After she was properly dressed, the maids and servants pushed Lin Rong out the door with satisfaction so that Pei Zan could take a look.

He had expected a look of amazement to appear in Pei Zan's eyes, but the Grand Commander merely gave him a dismissive glance and then looked away without saying a word.

Uncle Feng, seeing Lin Rong dressed so beautifully for the first time, exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Lin looks stunning today! Standing next to our master, they are truly a match made in heaven!"

These words were presumptuous. Who didn't know that the only person who could be paired with Grand Commander Pei was that unmarried Miss Wu? Yet Pei Zan, such a high-ranking official who valued rules, didn't utter a word of rebuttal... The servants were startled, and the scales that had been tilting towards Wu Nianzhen turned back to Lin Rong's side.

They set off, and Pei Zan led Lin Rong onto the carriage.

Lin Rong sat down on one side of the cushion and asked uneasily, "Today is the young master's family banquet to choose his principal wife. I am just a concubine. Is it inappropriate for me to go with you? What if people misunderstand me as an arrogant concubine? Will I be dragged to a pig cage to be drowned?"

Lin Rong had seen too many spoiled concubines being punished by the main wife. If the head of the family didn't keep an eye on them, they would have nowhere to cry when the main wife found fault with them.

Pei Zan chuckled at her nonsensical ramblings.

Pei Zan glanced at her and said indifferently, "If you don't want to be drowned in a pig cage, you might as well solidify your title as a favored concubine, so that you won't be dragged away by others in the future. The servants will be snobbish and domineering, and you won't even have a trusted confidant to inform you."

Lin Rong never expected Pei Zan to say such heartless words. She was overwhelmed with grief and lost all hope.

Lin Rong suddenly fell silent, which made Pei Zan, who was resting with his eyes closed, feel a little uncomfortable.

He looked up, unusually kind, and explained to Lin Rong, "Bringing you to my residence is to give you face, and you don't appreciate it?"

Seeing that Lin Rong was clueless, Pei Zan gently stroked the dark Buddhist beads on his wrist and said meaningfully, "The concubines who can be taken to the banquet by their master are all those whom the master cares about. If Lady Wu does not want to lose favor, she will not offend me or do anything to you."

Lin Rong couldn't understand these things, but she could tell that Pei Zan didn't intend to kill her for the time being, so she gladly accepted the young master's kindness.

Before Lin Rong could thank him, Pei Zan called for her to extend her hand again.

Lin Rong honestly opened her palm, and a heavy bag of gold ingots landed in her hand.

Lin Rong opened her purse and saw more than twenty glittering golden beans, which made her jaw drop in astonishment.

Each plum blossom ingot weighs about two coins and is cast with auspicious patterns of "flowers blooming and wealth," making it look extremely luxurious.

Lin Rong knew that such branded gold ingots could not be sent to the gold shop for melting down. If they were exposed, someone would definitely tip them off to the governor's mansion.

Pei Zan deliberately had a family crest made to prevent her from hiding money.

Sure enough, Pei Zan warned her: "The number of gold ingots is limited, and there are servants watching your share of the reward. If even one ingot is missing, I will definitely search your courtyard. Lin Rong, if you don't want things to get too ugly, you'd better behave yourself."

Lin Rong nodded. She dared not harbor any thoughts of hiding money, after all, Pei Zan had eyes and ears everywhere, and if he found out, she would be in big trouble.

Lin Rong weighed the money bag in her hand and estimated it contained about four taels of gold.

Good heavens! You have to understand that one tael of gold is equivalent to ten taels of silver. Lin Rong was holding a huge sum of forty taels of silver, and she didn't know what to do with her hands.

Lin Rong sighed, "Young Master..."

Pei Zan: "Hmm?"

"The servants of the Wu family are really lucky," Lin Rong said sullenly. "The tips are all two qian of gold."

Pei Zan pressed his aching temple, his eyes sharp as knives, and said coldly, "Having a hard time living in the Governor's Mansion?"

Lin Rong didn't dare to answer, she just shrank back and mumbled, "No, not at all."

He's a bit stingy.

-

The entrance to the Wu residence was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, creating a festive atmosphere.

Upon hearing this, everyone, regardless of age or gender, emerged from the mansion and waited anxiously at the courtyard gate.

Wu Nianzhen, who had dressed up carefully, was pushed to the front by the triumphant Liu, who wanted her to see Pei Zan as soon as possible.

By the light of the gauze lantern, Madam Liu looked her daughter up and down.

Today, she specially chose a blue gauze jacket with a blue sea and moon pattern for Wu Nianzhen. Pearls were wrapped around her black hair, and silver and jade earrings hung from her plump ears. She looked like a willow swaying in the breeze, with a graceful demeanor.

Lady Liu herself was a favored concubine, so she knew exactly what men liked. Having seen many alluring and seductive women, she preferred gentle and demure girls. Her daughter's outfit was definitely the right choice.

Even Wu Nianzhen herself harbored a hope that Pei Zan would fall in love with her at first sight.

Wu Nianzhen knew that her marriage was extremely good; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she had gone from a sparrow to a phoenix.

Upon learning that she had married Pei Zan, her cousins, who had previously looked down on her, all came to curry favor with her, hoping that Wu Nianzhen could whisper in Pei Zan's ear and help their husbands get ahead.

Wu Nianzhen also learned a lot about Pei Zan from others. They said that Pei Zan was a brilliant young man, not only a top scholar with outstanding literary talent, but also a brave and skilled young general. Now, he is in charge of mercenaries and is the overlord of the southern region, with immense power. It is truly enviable to marry him.

As for Pei Zan's appearance, Wu Nianzhen had heard people say that Pei Zan had a long waist and bushy temples, and was exceptionally handsome. He was a first-rate handsome man, otherwise he would not have been chosen by the emperor as the top scholar.

But Wu Nianzhen had never met Pei Zan and was afraid that those words were just rumors spread by others, so she dared not take them seriously.

Wu Nianzhen was also prepared in her heart. Even if Pei Zan was born rough and ugly, she would not mind at all. After all, she was after power and wealth, so it didn't matter who she married.

However, when the green-canopied carriage stopped at the gate of the mansion and the handsome man appeared before her, Wu Nianzhen's heart skipped a beat.

Pei Zan lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage, meeting for the first time the female officials and their families from Luzhou.

The man was strikingly handsome, with long eyebrows that reached his temples and delicate, thin lips. His wide-sleeved, bamboo-patterned blue robe swayed gently with his movements, and his half-up black hair draped over his tall, imposing back, giving him an air of serene indifference and refined elegance.

Wu Nianzhen had never seen such a handsome young man before, and she was stunned and speechless for a long time.

Pei Zan, who got out of the car, felt uncomfortable being stared at. His cold phoenix eyes swept over Wu Nianzhen, who then came to her senses, blushed, and lowered her head demurely.

A servant handed over a footstool.

Pei Zan raised her jade-like finger, hooked it behind the carriage curtain, and waved to the young girl inside.

"come out."

Lin Rong originally wanted to play the victim, but Pei Zan was shameless and dared to pull her out of the car.

Lin Rong had no choice but to get off the bus.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lin Rong was suddenly caught in the sight of others, and there was no way to hide from her.

She wanted to distance herself from Pei Zan, but unexpectedly, the man suddenly went crazy and grabbed her arm, helping her steadily down from the carriage.

Lin Rong was shocked. She gave Pei Zan a resentful look, but dared not say a word.

At this moment, he felt countless piercing gazes coming from all directions, as if they wished to torture Lin Rong to death immediately.

Lin Rong became the target of public criticism.

Uncle Feng was a clever man. He stepped forward and introduced Lin Rong to the ladies of the household in a generous manner: "This is Miss Lin from our household."

He didn't say that Lin Rong was Pei Zan's concubine, but the fact that she could ride in the same carriage as the Grand Commander made it obvious to anyone what her status was.

Meanwhile, Pei Zan learned that Lin Rong had been taken away by Lao Feng, but he didn't care where she went.

There's always someone to look after them, so nothing bad will happen.

Wu Nianzhen, however, was shoved by Madam Liu. She hurriedly stepped forward shyly and greeted Pei Zan, saying, "Nianzhen greets Grand Commander Pei."

When the engaged couple met, Wu Nianzhen felt a little shy, a little nervous, and a little uneasy... because she had just seen that Aunt Lin from afar, and she was indeed quite pretty, but she was not bad-looking either!

As she was to become his future wife, Pei Zan did not embarrass her in public.

He nodded indifferently and said, "Third Miss, there's no need for such formalities."

Afterwards, Wu Chong personally invited Pei Zan to take his seat.

Wu Nianzhen was still an unmarried woman and could not accompany him, so she had to leave reluctantly.

Pei Zan chatted and laughed with Wu Chong while secretly pondering.

The woman named Wu Nianzhen was only of average appearance, even less so than Lin Rong.

However, her dress was somewhat unpleasant to look at.

Today, Wu Nianzhen deliberately wore a green dress, and the silk fabric she chose was similar to the blue robe that Pei Zan was wearing. It seems that someone tipped Wu Nianzhen off and specially asked her to choose a flattering dress.

Pei Zan frowned slightly, his eyes revealing a coldness.

He dislikes people who are full of scheming.

Wu Nianzhen is quite cunning and scheming... she is a treacherous person.