Chapter 6 Doting on concubines and destroying wives
——Two days later——
It was reported that the servant who delivered medicine last time was bitten to death by a poisonous snake in the backyard. When Pei Jingyuan learned the news, he hurried to the backyard to find his mother Liu Rumeng.
"Mom, Zhang Ping is dead. He was the most useful chess piece I placed next to Pei Jingchuan. Now that he is dead, it will be difficult to tamper with Pei Jingchuan's medicine in the future." Pei Jingyuan said to Liu Rumeng with a serious expression.
Liu Rumeng, wearing a royal blue skirt, sat in the room, thinking for a moment and said, "It's okay. He has been taking the medicine for more than a year, and his body must have been broken. Stopping the medicine now will only delay the onset of the drug's effects. Now that Zhang Ping is dead, we can just arrange someone else."
"I'm afraid there is no chance. Pei Jingchuan has assigned this task to the servant who has served him since childhood. The servant has no father or mother and is an orphan. We have no bargaining chips to threaten him." Pei Jingyuan said disappointedly.
"Who said that we must arrange for a servant? No matter how good the servant is, can he be as useful as this woman?" Liu Rumeng smiled.
"Mom, what do you mean?" Pei Jingyuan looked at Liu Rumeng in confusion.
Liu Rumeng looked at him dimly, chuckled and said, "You guys have already married, so it won't be long before you arrange for some concubines to stay in the backyard. Especially Pei Jingchuan, the purpose of the Duke's wife letting him get married is to leave a family line. If the prince's wife can't get pregnant, she should also fill Pei Jingchuan's courtyard with someone else." Liu Rumeng picked up the teacup, took a sip and continued, "After all, everyone knows that Pei Jingchuan's life can't wait, so if the prince's wife doesn't get pregnant in the next one or two months, they should be anxious."
"Yes, it's mother who thinks long-term. I know what to do next." Pei Jingyuan's eyes lit up and he said excitedly.
Liu Rumeng glanced at him and continued, "I heard that Xu Qingyue's dowry was not returned? We are really short of money right now, so her dowry is still of some use to us."
At this point, Pei Jingyuan frowned again and said to Liu Rumeng, "Mother, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get Xu Qingyue's dowry back. After all, the Duke's wife has spoken."
"We can't accept it openly, but you can ask Mrs. Xu to talk to her when you return home. After all, the dowry belongs to the woman, and they still have the final say. By the way, aren't you returning home today? Why aren't you ready to go to the Xu family yet?" Liu Rumeng couldn't help but urge them.
Pei Jingyuan then remembered and said goodbye to Liu Rumeng, "I am going back home today. I asked Qingyue to wait for me in the room. I was too anxious when I learned about Zhang Ping's situation, so I came to find my mother first."
At this time, on the other side.
Xu Qingyan stood at the gate of the Duke's Mansion, looking at the return gifts prepared by the Duke's wife for them. She couldn't help but reveal a trace of pain on her face, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart: "This Duke's wife is really generous! The return gift is so rich, it's a pity that the Xu family is not worthy of it. If the Duke's wife hadn't forbidden Pei Jingyuan and Xu Qingyue to exchange their dowries, then my dowry would only be twenty bags of rice and five hundred taels of silver!"
Hearing Xu Qingyan's words, the Duke's wife's smiling face froze instantly, thinking: Was Xu Qingyan's original dowry so shabby? If so, then Mrs. Xu was really too much to her! Now think about it, the return gifts I prepared for them today are not only the finest pearls and jade, enamel and glass, but also the precious bird's nest and Ganoderma lucidum, etc., and the jewelry alone is enough for several large boxes.
"Mother, you prepared so many gifts this time. I guess the Xu family can't put them all in. It would be better to leave some for my room." Pei Jingchuan spoke at the right time.
[Great! Great! The young master still understands me, the young master is really considerate! Haha... I will definitely remember the kindness of the Duke's wife in my heart! It would be better to give it to me this time. If it is given to my stepmother, she will not be grateful, but will only think that this is what she deserves! Maybe she will think that I am living well in the Duke's Mansion and will make things difficult for me when I go back! ] Xu Qingyan applauded Pei Jingchuan's words in her heart.
Pei Jingchuan's thin lips curled slightly when he heard this, and a smile appeared in his eyes.
When the wife of the Duke was regretting that she had prepared too well, Pei Jingchuan's words just hit the spot, so she nodded in agreement.
When Pei Jingyuan and Xu Qingyue came out, the return gift had already been put on the carriage. They had never doubted the return gift from the Duke's Mansion, so they got on the carriage without checking.
————Xu Mansion————
Mrs. Xu knew that today was the big day for her to return home, so she had people start making preparations in the mansion early in the morning. When the servant reported that Xu Qingyue and the others had returned, she smiled and went to the door to greet them together with Lord Xu and the servants of the mansion.
"Mother!" As soon as Xu Qingyue got off the carriage, she ran to Mrs. Xu's side affectionately.
"Qingyue, you're back." Mrs. Xu held her daughter's hand with a smile in her eyes, and her eyes were full of doting.
Xu Qingyan and the others came down from behind, and she called her in a distant and cold manner.
Then, Pei Jingchuan and Pei Jingyuan simply greeted them.
Madam Xu and the others pretended not to know about the bride exchange and asked Xu Qingyue and the others in surprise. Xu Qingyue took this opportunity to secretly hint to her mother that her dowry had not been exchanged.
Mrs. Xu naturally noticed it as well, and immediately became dissatisfied with Xu Qingyan.
"Qingyan, the fact that you snatched away my eldest sister's marriage is a fait accompli. Your mother can't say anything to you now. But after all, you are of humble status. You must not be too willful in the Duke's Mansion, understand? Don't dream about those things that don't belong to you. Now you just need to serve the prince wholeheartedly. Do you hear me?" Madam Xu preached to Xu Qingyan with a serious face.
It was clearly their own marriage, but they still pinned the blame on Xu Qingyan, saying that she had stolen the marriage, and deliberately told her not to have any delusions, which was actually a reminder for her to return the dowry. Xu Qingyan certainly understood what her stepmother meant, but she was not stupid, so why should she return it?
So she evaded the question and said, "My mother is right." Then, nothing more was said.
Mrs. Xu looked at her eagerly, but she didn't say anything after she said this. She couldn't help but feel angry. When she was about to say something else, Pei Jingchuan spoke first.
"Mother-in-law, what do you mean by that? Yan'er is just a concubine's daughter, how could she snatch the marriage of my eldest sister? Wasn't this marriage a mistake caused by your family's negligence? Could it be that Master Xu favored his concubine over his wife and helped the concubine's daughter to change it on purpose?"
"No...no...of course not, young master, please don't misunderstand me. My wife said the wrong thing out of confusion. Please don't take it to heart with her." Pei Jingchuan's words "favoring a concubine and ignoring his wife" scared Lord Xu so much that even the hand holding the cup shook.
Daxia attaches great importance to the reputation of officials. If he is rumored to favor his concubine over his wife and help concubines to get married, then his official career will be over. As he said this, he couldn't help but glared at his wife.
Madam Xu was stunned when she heard this. She never thought that Pei Jingchuan would speak for Xu Qingyan. He was a young master who married the daughter of a sixth-rank official without knowing why. Shouldn't he be angry? He should be angry at Xu Qingyan! He should be disgusted with Xu Qingyan, so why would he defend her?
Suddenly, she felt a strong sense of unwillingness.
Xu Qingyan, a concubine's daughter, is actually worthy of riding on his head!
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