meet
Two days later, Pei An arrived at Huichun Hall as promised.
After entering, Banxia led him to the back room.
"I'm sorry, Lord Pei, my master said that only you can go in by yourself."
Pei An looked back, reassuring Zhang Zizhi with his eyes, and then stepped inside.
Banxia lowered her head and retreated, closing the door behind her.
Pei An moved his gaze, somewhat wary, from the closed door and found two people sitting at the square table in front of him: a woman facing him and a man with his back to him.
"Lord Pei, you've arrived," Xu Ruoyan said calmly, without getting up to greet him.
Pei An is now sixteen years old, and he asked his elder brother for a position in the Ministry of Revenue, so it is not inappropriate to call him Lord Pei now.
Pei An ignored her and instead stared at the man whose back was to him.
Their body shapes are so similar...
After his suspicions were confirmed, his tense nerves relaxed.
"Third Brother."
Pei Jue stood up and straightened his sleeves.
He turned around, took a step forward, and stood in front of Pei An: "Xiao An, it's been a long time."
Pei An stared at him intently, his emotions barely concealed. He gripped his sleeve tightly, his pupils trembling, and a few tears welled up in his eyes.
"Brother, you're still alive."
Pei Jue smiled and patted his head: "Yes, I'm still alive."
Pei An finally couldn't hold back anymore, took off the mask she usually wore, and threw herself into Pei Jue's arms and burst into tears.
In the past, Pei Jue was his only solace in this palace. When he was young and naive, Pei Jue led him step by step through his childhood, sheltering him from the wind and rain, and protecting him behind his back.
A year ago, chaos erupted in the palace, and Pei Jue disappeared without a trace. Pei An didn't know where he had gone and searched everywhere to no avail, so he had to learn to survive in the palace on his own. Without his brother to protect him, he could only pretend to be mature and strong, making himself seem unapproachable.
Now that his brother has returned to his side, he realizes that he has never learned how to be an adult.
He would rather hide behind his older brother and be a child for the rest of his life.
After finally crying enough, Pei An felt a little embarrassed and got up from Pei Jue's arms to wipe away her tears.
But he soon noticed the white veil covering Pei Jue's eyes.
"Brother, what happened to your eye?"
Pei Jue didn't want to worry him, so he said that he had suffered a minor injury and would recover soon.
Xu Ruoyan didn't want to disturb the two brothers' reminiscing, so she sat in the back without saying a word.
Under these circumstances, she was even less able to accept what Pei Jue had said the day before.
Given the deep bond between them, how could Pei Jue so decisively say something like "kill him"?
Pei An was comforted and held back his tears. He looked at Xu Ruoyan behind Pei Jue and asked, "Third Brother, who is this?"
Pei Jue smiled and pulled him to Xu Ruoyan: "This is my wife, your sister-in-law."
Pei An suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking at Xu Ruoyan and then at Pei Jue, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Brother, the late Empress introduced you to so many girls from wealthy families, but you didn't like any of them, and you wouldn't even take a concubine. How come you've brought me a sister-in-law now?"
Pei Jue smiled and looked at Xu Ruoyan: "The story of my relationship with your sister-in-law is a long one, but marrying her was not something I was forced to do as before; it was my own choice."
Xu Ruoyan silently shifted her gaze to the smooth floor.
Even though this person's eyes were covered, there was still a feeling of tender affection about them.
Pei An got excited when he heard this and insisted on getting to the bottom of it.
"So you've already held the ceremony?"
This stumped Pei Jue.
When Xu Ruoyan came to her side, she agreed to be his wife in name only. However, they were both very short of money, so they did not hold a ceremony, let alone register their marriage with the government.
Seeing Pei Jue's embarrassed look, Pei An understood. He patted Pei Jue's shoulder heavily and whispered in his ear, "Then you'd better be careful not to let anyone steal your sister-in-law away."
What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Although Pei An's words contained a hint of humor, Pei Jue was genuinely worried that Xu Ruoyan might run off with someone else, since he didn't seem to have anything that could keep Xu Ruoyan.
We need to register quickly, and then hold the wedding ceremony.
It wasn't entirely about getting a title for himself. Pei Jue believed that if he wanted Xu Ruoyan to willingly become his wife and spend her life with him, he had to take this matter seriously and not be perfunctory.
Xu Ruoyan poured Pei An a cup of hot tea: "Sit down and let's talk."
Pei An quickly accepted the gift with both hands, saying, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
After the three of them sat down, no one spoke, and they remained silent for a long time.
Pei An, puzzled, looked up at the two of them with a questioning gaze.
Xu Ruoyan nudged Pei Jue's thigh from below, and Pei Jue cleared his throat and said, "We want to do something and hope to get your help."
Pei An immediately said, "Brother, what do you need my help with? Please don't hesitate to ask."
Pei Jue opened his mouth, but Xu Ruoyan pulled his sleeve under the table, so he silently shut his mouth.
“Xiao An, it’s like this,” Xu Ruoyan smiled at him, “This matter is quite risky and not easy. Your brother trusts you a lot and wants you to join us. When you hear this… try not to be too surprised.”
Pei An nodded, puzzled, but a sense of foreboding crept into his heart.
Under the table, Xu Ruoyan released Pei Jue's sleeve. Receiving the signal, Pei Jue spoke: "We want to rebel."
Pei An spat out a mouthful of tea, stood up abruptly, and almost overturned the chair.
"What was that? Bro, was I just hallucinating?"
Xu Ruoyan glanced at him, and Pei An jumped up and sat up straight, but he still couldn't hide the shock on his face.
He smacked his lips and lowered his voice: "Brother, I don't think this is very feasible."
Why do you say that?
Pei An spread his hands: "Think about it, after Pei Huai took the throne, the old ministers in the court either retired to their hometowns or were killed by him for various reasons. Now most of the people in the court are his people. How can we fight against him? We have no money, no people, and no army. It's impossible to do anything."
“Besides,” he frowned, “if Pei Huai finds out you’re still alive, he’ll definitely try every means to get rid of you. You have nothing now, so killing you would be a piece of cake for him.”
“That’s why we need your help,” Xu Ruoyan said. “We can find ways to earn money and we can find ways to place people in the palace, but we can hardly do these things without you.”
Pei An stared wide-eyed in disbelief, pointing at herself: "Me? Sister-in-law, are you talking about me, someone with no real power who's constantly being watched by Pei Huai and could lose my head at any moment?"
Then Pei Jue and Xu Ruoyan nodded in unison.
Pei An gave a wry smile.
As expected of a married couple, they have such great chemistry.
Pei An said, "The imperial examination will be held in a few days."
"I know what you're trying to do—get me to tamper with the results of the imperial examination?"
Pei Jue shook his head: "It's for you to keep an eye on things and make sure no one else manipulates the results of the imperial examination."
Xu Ruoyan readily took out a list and handed it to Pei An. It contained the names of the people they had selected, including Li Siming.
“Qi Feng will definitely arrange for someone to tamper with the results of the provincial examination to ensure that those who get in are all his own people,” she explained to Pei An. “What you need to do is ensure that these people are not removed from Qi Feng’s list, and that they can pass the provincial examination, participate in the palace examination, and get the highest possible ranking.”
Pei An took the paper and looked at it carefully; it was full of people he didn't recognize.
"You want them to participate in court affairs and become your people in the palace?"
Pei Jue nodded: "That's right. We don't have any influence in the court right now, so we can't interfere directly. We can only start by sending people in from the bottom up."
Pei An thought for a moment and then said, "But this is too slow. New recruits usually start from the bottom. By the time they gain some power, we'll probably have been discovered by Pei Huai long ago."
"So we also need to try to break through the upper levels, but this is quite difficult, and only you can do it."
Pei An pondered for a long time, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "I remember now! Pei Huai has been doing nothing but bad things since he took office, so many officials have a lot of complaints about him. However, Pei Huai's methods are too ruthless, so no one dares to oppose him. Among the high-ranking officials, if we were to say who dislikes Pei Huai's style the most, it would have to be Guo Yuan, the Minister of Personnel. I can try to start with him."
Pei Jue also thought this was a feasible plan, so he told him to be careful.
“I will.” Pei An nodded.
Xu Ruoyan suddenly spoke up: "What do you plan to do?"
“I can’t think of a good plan right now,” Pei An said. “Although I see him every day at the morning court, we hardly communicate. Since he is the Minister of Personnel, why not let him help us in the imperial examination?”
"Oh, by the way, Guo Yuan's wife recently gave birth to a son, but she has contracted some kind of illness and is in a coma every day. It seems she won't make it. So Guo Yuan has been on leave at home, and we probably won't see him for a while."
Pei An became more and more worried as he spoke, but Xu Ruoyan's eyes lit up.
"Perhaps I can give it a try."
Pei An looked at her in confusion, then suddenly realized, "Oh right, sister-in-law, you know medicine, maybe you can cure his wife." But the next second he deflated, "But the Imperial Hospital is helpless, sister-in-law, I guess you probably won't be able to do anything either."
"That's not necessarily true," Xu Ruoyan murmured.
The Imperial Medical Academy's incompetence doesn't mean she, a modern person, is incompetent. Many diseases that were incurable and undiagnosable in ancient times have found treatments in modern times, so she has a great chance of seizing this opportunity.
"Go back today and introduce me to Guo Yuan. I'll wait for your news."
Pei An still had some doubts, but he didn't show them and just nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Pei Jue, who had been listening silently to the side, also spoke up.
"Since you're in the Ministry of Revenue, could you get me some salt permits?"
Pei An immediately guessed what his brother was thinking.
"Simple, it will be delivered to your residence tomorrow."
Pei Jue nodded and said, "After the imperial examination, you may need to go to Jiangnan."
"Go to Jiangnan?" Pei An thought for a moment. "Do you want me to go into business?"
Pei Jue shook his head: "I need you to contact the various prefectures and try to form alliances with the local areas, and secretly recruit soldiers and horses there. It's impossible to do these things in the capital without being discovered. Only by hiding in the local areas can we buy ourselves enough time."
Pei An subconsciously touched his head and felt a chill on the back of his neck.
Why are you going to go so far!
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