Chapter 408 Extra 18

Yu Tang naturally didn't know what happened to Gu Xi. Even if she knew, she didn't have the time to care or the energy to think about it.

Wei Xiaochuan was chosen as the third place in the imperial examination. She was so happy that she took Wei Xiaochuan to the temple to perform a ritual for Wei Xiaoshan. She told him about this matter and then they both got in a carriage and slowly returned home.

Pei Yan has guests.

Yu Tang and Wei Xiaochuan sat down in the flower hall.

April in the capital is the time when the breeze blows and flowers bloom.

Yu Tang and Wei Xiaochuan talked about his marriage: "...A letter came from my aunt, saying that she sent someone to make thorough inquiries. Miss Shen is quite sensible, but because she is a young girl, she is inevitably a little spoiled. If you get married, I am afraid that you will be asked to be more tolerant between husband and wife. It is up to you to decide on this marriage."

Wei Xiaochuan's face flushed, thinking that Shen Fang was a rather arrogant person, but he had a good heart and was very reasonable, so he whispered, "My affairs are all decided by my sister and mother."

This is what willingness means.

But Yu Tang was still afraid that he had some grudges against Miss Shen, so he said gently: "People with bad tempers usually act straightforwardly, and straightforward people will inevitably offend others. For some things, you have to experience them yourself before you know the truth."

Wei Xiaochuan nodded and said, "The Shen family said that the relationship started with my humble beginnings. Just based on this point, I am willing to do it."

Yu Tang nodded with a smile and sent someone to report to Xu Xuan, asking her to come forward and propose marriage to Shen Fang.

Xu Xuan was used to being a good person, so she was naturally very careful about what she said. She did not mention that the Wei family had sent someone to visit Miss Shen, but only said that Yu Tang was afraid that Miss Shen would be wronged, so she wanted to wait until Wei Xiaochuan passed the imperial examination before proposing marriage, so that the Shen family would save face.

Shen Fang had always thought highly of Wei Xiaochuan, and thought that even if he failed the exam this time, he would definitely pass it if he took more exams. But he did not expect Wei Xiaochuan to be so talented and lucky. In the first year of the emperor's accession to the throne, he was chosen as the third place by chance, which made it difficult for him to ask about his sister's marriage.

Now that Yu Tang took the initiative to bring it up, he was naturally willing.

Shen Fang hurriedly wrote a letter back.

The marriage between Wei Xiaochuan and Miss Shen was thus settled.

Just as Yu Tang said, although Miss Shen was a bit coquettish, she was sensible and knew what was important and what was not. In addition, Wei Xiaochuan was influenced by Pei Yan and never took a concubine or a maid in his life. The relationship between the couple was very harmonious, so Miss Shen was even more obedient and paid great attention to all matters of the Wei family. Wei Xiaochuan's nephews were all educated in the Shen family school, and many of their descendants became scholars. When Pei Jiang became an official, the Wei family's nephews were raised by Wei Xiaochuan in front and taken care of by him in the back. Gradually, their status changed and they became the second most educated and farming family in Lin'an after the Pei family.

The friendship between the two families has lasted for hundreds of years.

Of course, that's all in the future.

What is making Pei Yan embarrassed now is Zhang Ying's family affairs.

Old Master Zhang had always valued Pei Yan, thinking that he was a man of great talent and should be able to show his talents in the officialdom and leave his name in history. He often lamented with Zhou Zijin that Old Master Pei had delayed Pei Yan's future. When he learned that Pei Yan had raised a farmer's son like Wei Xiaochuan, he was even more moved and thought of the deceased Zhang Shao and Zhang Shao's eldest son Zhang Yue.

He wanted Zhang Yue to become Pei Yan's disciple and study under him.

Pei Yan felt that he was sorry for his wife and children, as he was unable to ennoble his wife and children like Pei Xuan, and he also did not leave the position of the head of the Pei Mansion to his children. He was thinking about how to teach his two sons to read and make sure that both of them could pass the imperial examinations. He had no interest in teaching other people's nephews and nieces.

Even when Zhang Ying came to ask for it in person, he didn't want to agree.

But who is Zhang Ying? He was the Minister of Personnel for 20 years. Seeing Pei Yan hesitating, he immediately went to Zhou Zijin and asked, "What do you think he means? Does he think our Yue Er is not qualified enough? Or does he have other concerns? There are some things I can't say. Please be the middleman and ask for me."

The old man came in person, so how could Zhou Zijin dare to refuse? He ran to Pei's house and first stole a few bottles of good wine hidden by Pei Xuan. He also tricked Yu Tang into asking their chef to prepare banquets for him for several days in a row. They listened to music, drank wine, and ate delicious food for several days. Then he pulled Pei Yan to talk about the Zhang family.

Pei Yan did not hide the truth from him and said bluntly: "I have to teach my own two children, I am afraid I don't have the energy to take care of their Zhang Yue. That child is fifteen years old, right? I heard that it was Master Zhang who taught him personally, so he should have no problem studying. Why bother to go far away?"

Zhou Zijin laughed and said, "You also have a silly moment? Is Lord Zhang asking you to teach Zhang Yue to read? He wants to take your family to the next level! It's a pity that neither of your families has a child of the right age, otherwise Lord Zhang would definitely want to arrange a marriage with your family."

Speaking of this, Pei Yan had a headache again.

Fei Zhiwen made his point very clearly.

They wanted to marry their eldest daughter to their son Jiang, but Yu Tang disagreed. He said the child was too young and he didn't know his character. He didn't want to arrange marriages for his two sons too early. He wanted them to be married at least until they were ten years old and had found a suitable person.

On this point, he and Yu Tang thought the same thing.

But no one knew what medicine Fei Zhiwen had taken, and no matter what he told Mrs. Fei when he got home, Mrs. Fei would bring her two children to visit their home every now and then. The son was okay as he was young, and the daughter was gentle and pretty. She called her "brother" and "brother", which made Jiang'er's heart soften a little, and she called Qian'er so much that she was willing to take her to see her cats every time she came.

If this continues, it won't be that the Fei family will have to marry their daughter to their family, but that their sons will be at the disposal of the Fei family's daughter.

Pei Yan could not tolerate such a thing happening.

He acted decisively and bought a house outside, moving in with Yu Tang and his two sons, under the pretext of finding a quiet place for his sons to study.

Zhang Ying simply sent Zhang Yue over.

Shen Fang and Fu Xiaowan both passed the imperial examination and became scholars of the imperial court, and were observing government affairs in the six ministries. Zhang Huihe and Pei Tong, under the care of Fei Zhiwen, went to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites respectively. Everyone stayed in the capital. Zhang Hui and Fu Xiaowan rented a house in a courtyard house. As they had nowhere else to go on their day off, they simply went to Pei Yan's yard to have a few drinks, chat, and play with Qian Ge'er. This made Pei Yan's yard even more lively than where he had lived before. Yu Tang had to frequently instruct the kitchen to add more dishes and pour more wine, and was very busy.

Mrs. Pei also comes to see her grandson every few days.

Pei Yan was so angry that he moved back to the Pei Mansion.

Fortunately, Pei Hong is still up to par. After getting over the initial rush, she slowly got on the right track with the help of shopkeeper Tong Er. She became more and more familiar with the accounts at home and started to help Pei Hong. The banquet takes care of family affairs.

It was he who helped arrange the marriage between Pei Bo and Miss Li.

Everything is taken care of and nothing goes wrong.

Pei Yan simply urged Pei Yan to find him a wife and sent him back to his hometown in Lin'an.

The Second Wife was naturally reluctant to let him go, but Pei Hong was willing to do so. He felt that it would be much better to return to his hometown with his wife without any pressure from the elders than to live there in the capital. He did not feel his mother's reluctance or separation at all, and returned to Lin'an happily as if he was going on a spring outing. It was not until Jiang'er passed the imperial examination that he returned to the capital with his wife and children and met Pei Fei on the way.

At this time, Pei Fei no longer had the high-spiritedness of a young man from a noble family. He became a silent and steady traveling merchant. He concealed his identity and settled down in Wenzhou. He married and had children, and became a big merchant in the Wenzhou area.

However, because Pei Hong was the son of a minister and a cousin who had just passed the imperial examination, he was welcomed and greeted by the officials of the post station with great pride.

The brothers passed each other. Pei Fei recognized Pei Hong, but Pei Hong did not recognize the brother in front of him who was wearing a felt hat, coarse cloth clothes and lowering his head.

He was only concerned with telling his wife to keep a good eye on their young son and not let him run around, otherwise he would have to search the whole yard for him.

He turned around and said to the steward beside him: "Why did Yin He become the top scholar? How does the fourth young master feel? But it doesn't matter, he will marry the eldest daughter of the Fei family soon - Master Fei treats him so well, even his own son is no better than this. Yin He is marrying the girl of Feng Yushi's family, and Feng Yushi has a bad temper, he will have a hard time. In this regard, our fourth young master will definitely win over Yin He!"

"That's it, that's it!"

Everyone around Pei Hong smiled and agreed with him as they walked inside, respectfully surrounding him.

The most capable shopkeeper beside Pei Fei knew Pei Fei's background. He looked at Pei Hong who was surrounded by people and asked Pei Fei in a low voice: "Are we really not going to say hello?"

"No need!" Pei Fei pulled his hat and said softly, "The people of the Pei family have nothing to do with me anymore."

When he left home, he stayed in the temple where he had lived for three days, but no one came to see him.

Until this moment, he still remembered his cold limbs and numb fingertips.

He promised the people who did business with him at the time that they would go south together, doing whatever business they could find to make money, until they settled in Wenzhou and saw two wealthy families in Wenzhou fighting. Only then did they realize that the Peng family was completely finished, and merchants from Fujian heard the news and were dividing up the business left by the Peng family.

He intuitively felt that this was an opportunity, and relying on his understanding of the major forces in the capital, he fought for his first family business.

I also know that after people at home looked for him several times and couldn't find him, they stopped looking for him.

"No need to say hello." Pei Fei looked up at the dark clouds overhead, seeing that it was about to rain, and said again, "Qiniang is still waiting for me to come home!"

He became a father, had a son and a daughter, and his wife was pregnant with another, so he would soon be the father of three children. His son was five years old this year, and was better at studying than his brother Pei Tong when he was a child. In a few years, he might become a scholar or a top scholar. Why should he go to the beach at home?

Moreover, his elder brother has been in the Ministry of Rites for so many years, and he is still just a small clerk. Even Fu Xiaowan, who worked with him at the time, has now been sent to Huguang as a Tongzhi. However, he only thinks that being an official in Beijing is respectable, and he has to gain experience in the capital...

"Let's go!" He urged the shopkeeper beside him again, "If we go any later, there might not be anything left for us to do!"

The Song family of Suzhou is also finished.

The Wu family is stronger than theirs, but not that much stronger.

With his third uncle Pei Yan, who would prosper if he obeyed them and perish if he supported them, the Wu family probably didn't have many good days left.

To be honest, he still wants to please his third uncle.

The reason he came to the capital this time was to buy out several shops of the Song family through someone else.

However, the Yu family should be the one that gets the most money.

No one knew what the Yu family was thinking. They acted very low-key. They had acquired many industries in the past few years, but they remained silent in Lin'an without any news leaking out. When Yu Yuan walked on the streets of Lin'an, he even looked as humble as before.

If he had not studied the Yu family carefully, he would not have thought of it even after running into Yu Yuan several times in the business world.

However, none of this has anything to do with him.

This is his last time to leave Wenzhou. From now on, he will raise his children himself like his third uncle did. If he cannot raise a fourteen-year-old judge like Pei Qian did, he should be able to raise a fourteen-year-old scholar!

He is a descendant of the Pei family.

The blood of the Pei family flows in his body.

Pei Fei thought about it, and with great rage in his heart, he raised his voice a few times and said, "Let's go home!"

The people around him nodded repeatedly.

Pei Hong, who had already walked into the yard, frowned.

He seemed to hear a familiar voice.

But since he is an acquaintance, why wouldn't I say hello to him?

He turned around and saw only a tall figure leading a group of hurried caravans.

Pei Hong was thinking about whether to ask someone to inquire about the caravan that had just left. The local officials who had received the news had already come over with their respective masters, calling him "Third Master Pei" from a distance. He remembered his uncle's instructions and did not dare to neglect them. He hurriedly and respectfully replied "Master Wang" and "Master Li", and put the matter behind him...

"Flower Princess" has come to an end here. Thank you all for your company over the past year. I will start a new article "Cousin" at the end of July. I hope you will continue to support me and take a look at it when you have time.

Thank you! I bow!

See you in July!

(End of this chapter)