traveling merchants
Qiongyu Tower
Amidst the clinking of glasses, the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Xu Jingting, raised his wine cup with both hands to toast the person seated at the head of the table, his eyes filled with both flattery and humility: "It is my honor that Governor Pei has graced my humble banquet with his presence."
Qiongyulou is the most luxurious restaurant in Yanjing, and each table is served with the finest Fenjiu liquor in Yanjing, so intoxicating that one can hardly contain one's whiff of it. With such extravagance, how dare they call themselves a humble banquet?
Behind the desk, Pei Jue chuckled, but still nodded to him, giving him some face: "How could that be? I've always heard that Lord Xu is a frugal person, and seeing him today, it's certainly true."
Everyone knows that Minister Xu rose from a minor fifth-rank official to a high-ranking third-rank minister in the court by marrying the daughter of the Right Chancellor. Since becoming Minister of Revenue, he has been indulging in luxury and wealth, unable to extricate himself from it.
However, most of the other officials in the room were from the Right Chancellor's faction. Upon hearing this, these shrewd individuals made jokes and pretended not to notice the sarcasm in the words, saying things like "The Governor is absolutely right" and "Your Excellency the Governor..."
Minister Xu's face darkened, but after a moment, he burst into loud laughter: "What are you saying?" He turned his head and scolded the servant beside him: "What are you doing? Governor Pei has arrived, why haven't the singing and dancing started yet?"
Accompanied by a burst of elegant music, the room was instantly filled with the sounds of singers and dancers.
Pei Jue smiled, brushed aside the singing girls who wanted to pour him wine, and drank alone.
The officials who knew him well took the opportunity to stir things up, pushing and shoving each other. An old man, holding a cup of wine, stepped out from the crowd and awkwardly offered a toast to Pei Jue.
Pei Jue smiled faintly: "And who is this?"
The old man, who had thought he would be ignored, suddenly blushed, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "I am the Director of the Grain Storage Department of the Ministry of Revenue, in charge of grain storage and supply."
"So it was you."
Pei Jue nodded and then raised his glass in return.
In an instant, everyone at the table was also infected by this and came up to toast Pei Jue, but Pei Jue did not return the toast.
"I've heard that Governor Pei is going to form a marriage alliance with the Zhou family? This is truly a joyous occasion, and I'm here to congratulate Governor Pei." An official under Minister Xu said with a smile, seemingly offering his sincere congratulations.
Upon hearing this, everyone secretly wondered if this was a test to see if Pei Jue was involved with the Crown Prince. The eldest daughter of the Zhou family had married into the royal family and become the current Crown Princess. With the Crown Prince currently weak and the Fourth Prince possessing immense power, and Pei Jue controlling the military, the two were bound to vie for control.
Pei Jue, already quite drunk, looked impatient upon hearing this: "She's just a concubine chosen by our elders, what's there to celebrate?"
After he finished speaking, the official who was celebrating exchanged a glance with Minister Xu, then his smile deepened, and he said a few more kind words.
"Of course, how could a girl from the countryside be worthy of Governor Pei? Besides, the person the governor admires is not her." The once lonely old man suddenly became lively, but the more he drank, the more erratic he became, and his words gradually became unrestrained.
"Oh, I had no idea such a person existed?" Pei Jue propped his forehead up and squinted at him.
Suddenly, the room fell silent. The old man, seeing this, lost all interest in alcohol and felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. Oh no! He rarely drank, but this was all because of his loose tongue in the past.
A moment later, the old man slumped into a chair and swallowed hard, his throat dry.
He was about to say something when Han Zhou, hidden in the shadows, stepped forward with a long knife. In less than a moment, the old man touched his neck, his eyes wide open. Before he could even beg for mercy, he had already fallen to the ground, lifeless.
"It's a real pity that this man died at the hands of villains." Pei Jue dismissed the matter lightly. The many people in the room were filled with fear and dared not breathe. This Governor Pei was incredibly audacious, daring to kill a court official right in front of them!
Pei Jue may seem mild-mannered tonight, but everyone knows he is a true military commander. Ten years ago, he led a few thousand Southern Feather soldiers and dared to utterly defeat tens of thousands of troops who were attacking from the south.
There were many timid and weak people here. Even if they were indignant, they dared not show it. They would simply make an excuse about having something to do at home and leave the table in a hurry.
After everyone left, Han Zhou rushed forward and stuffed a pill into the old man's mouth. Several people then appeared from the shadows and secretly dragged the old man away.
"Go and bring Bai Su back."
The person behind him responded in a low voice and quickly retreated. In the blink of an eye, only Qingyao remained. He popped a piece of pastry into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and laughed, "You're really something, playing the underdog game?"
"With this person, the case of the Beauty's Intoxication can be solved quickly. Who knows, we might be able to return to Wu County next month." Qingyao stroked her chin and nodded to herself.
Pei Jue glanced at him, then leisurely sipped his tea to sober up a bit: "Disrespectful to elders. How many times have I told you, you should call me cousin."
"Are you really going to take someone from the Zhou family as a concubine?" Qingyao pursed her lips, ignoring the previous sentence, and casually asked, "That girl you met last time, did you break up with her?"
Pei Jue remained noncommittal, staring intently at the wine glass in front of him as if lost in thought. He had heard that she had made plum wine by hand some time ago, and wondered when he would be able to drink it.
—
"Miss, the doctor has left, leaving behind a prescription for nourishing the body. We've already instructed someone to prepare it."
Lingdang blew on the still-wet ink stains, her eyes showing concern: "Although it's nothing serious, we still need to be careful. In the next few days, I'll make some nourishing soups for you to replenish your strength."
Mei Sheng mumbled a half-hearted "Mmm".
"Girl, are you really not bothered by the rumors circulating on the street?" Tang Yun placed the fruit dish near the girl, saying that eating a piece of fruit later would help to reduce the bitterness of her medicine.
Mei Sheng leaned back on the couch, gazing intently at a landscape painting. Having slept poorly the previous night, she was now extremely tired: "What's on your mind?"
Tang Yun clenched her small fists and looked at Mei Sheng with disappointment: "There are rumors outside that the master will be taking a concubine soon. Miss, you should be more careful."
Mei Sheng wasn't worried, but Tang Yun was sweating with anxiety. However, the girl on the bed seemed deaf, still asking in a daze, "What heart?"
With a determined look, Tang Yun moved the landscape painting from Mei Sheng's hand, looked directly into Mei Sheng's eyes, and said sternly, "Master is going to take a concubine!"
"What? Who are you referring to?" Mei Sheng finally snapped out of his reverie, jolted awake, and asked in return.
Tang Yun nodded excitedly. It seemed that the girl still cared about the old man.
She wrinkled her little face, sniffed, and sighed: "She is a young lady who recently returned to the Zhou family. I heard that she has never left the manor, and no one has seen what she looks like. Everyone guesses that she must be plain-looking."
"It's hateful that the Zhou family took the old master's joke seriously when he was still alive and forced the young master to take her as a concubine. Alas, it's just a pity for the girl."
Tang Yun looked at the girl with concern, afraid that saying too much would upset her, and quickly comforted her: "Don't worry, young lady, the old man has you in his heart."
"Oh, that's so sad." Mei Sheng paused for a moment, then sighed and told Tang Yun to leave first, as she wanted to grieve alone for a while.
Tang Yun closed the door, her heart filled with worry. Why hadn't the master given the girl a proper title yet? She had to fight for her.
Seeing that no one was in the room, Mei Sheng simply pulled out the plum blossom jade pendant attached to the red thread. She had a premonition that last night's dream was definitely related to it.
Last night, Mei Sheng had a similar dream again. Just like the plum wine dream last time, the painting skills she had long forgotten kept repeating in her mind until she remembered them completely.
At noon, before Mei Sheng could figure out what was going on, Tang Yun walked into the house carrying a food box, followed by a familiar-looking person.
After some time, Lingdang's face only had slight bruises, and it looked like it was almost healed. She lowered her head, carefully approached, and was about to bow again.
Mei Sheng helped her up and made her sit down, but Lingdang quickly took two steps back, avoiding him, not wanting to have any more contact with Mei Sheng.
Mei Sheng fell silent for a moment, then said apologetically, "If it weren't for me that day..."
Before she could finish speaking, Lingdang looked up, tears welling in her eyes, and quickly interrupted her: "Qingrou, it's not your fault, I was too foolish."
Although she said that, a fleeting look of jealousy or resentment crossed her face: "I recently heard from the manor that you've been taken as a concubine by the master, Qingrou. Congratulations."
However, Lingdang quickly composed herself. She sniffed, handed over the purse in her hand, and unexpectedly knelt down and kowtowed: "Qingrou, please help me."
Upon seeing this, Mei Sheng quickly stopped her and asked what had happened.
Lingdang stepped aside, her eyes pleading: "You've already been taken into the master's household, and you're destined for great wealth and honor. Could you please beg the master to release me from the manor?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Sheng paused for a moment while holding her hand. She had heard similar things many times in the past few days, and since explaining was useless, she stopped doing it.
"Lingdang, this is not something I can decide." Mei Sheng sighed, feeling troubled. The maids and servants in the manor all said that she was favored by the master, but only she knew that this was just an outward appearance.
In Pei Jue's heart, she was nothing more than a plaything that could be discarded at will, so why would he listen to her opinions?
After a long while, the bell still wouldn't ring. Seeing this, Mei Sheng felt a little angry. Although they had gone through hardships together, was he going to force her now?
"This is my savings for the year." Seeing that she remained unmoved, Lingdang grew anxious and remembered the few taels of silver in the purse.
Mei Sheng felt somewhat helpless and frowned, saying, "Get up first, let me think about this some more."
Over this period of time, Mei Sheng realized that Pei Jue was capricious and had a habit of controlling everything. If she were to get involved in the personnel changes within the household, would it...?
Lingdang was pulled to her feet, and something suddenly came to mind. She hurriedly said, "That day I heard you say that you went to the market to look for Qingmei, right?"
Mei Sheng didn't argue. That day, she had only made up a story to confuse Mei Sheng's purpose in leaving the mansion. Who cared whether that person liked to eat it or not?
"In the year since I came to your residence, I have met a traveling merchant from the north. He is from Anhe County in the north and likes to travel all over the country. That's how he got some inside information about out-of-season fresh fruits."
"If you still want some, I'll go find him tomorrow and have him send some more over, okay?"
Lingdang clenched her fists, her heart heavy. Ever since she first met the master at the manor, she had been captivated by his appearance, and since then, she had harbored a hope that she dared not even dream of.
After that incident, she lost all face in this household. However, the Pei family had asked her distant grandmother to recommend her for a three-year contract. Now that she wanted to break the contract and return home, she shouldn't trouble her grandmother any further.
After a long while, the woman opposite remained silent. Lingdang, looking dejected, let go of her hand and was about to leave when Mei Sheng's voice suddenly came, asking in confusion, "Is the traveling merchant you know from the north, from Anhe County?"
The bell paused for a moment, then hummed in agreement.
Mei Sheng took the purse from her hand with great sincerity: "I do have feelings for you, Master, but I don't know how to do things that you like. You've heard that there are rumors in the mansion that you want to take a concubine. I... I also want to compete for it."
After a pause, Mei Sheng continued, "Since this traveling merchant has such good connections, I would like to find an opportunity to chat with him. However, there is something on my mind that I cannot name. Would you be willing to help me invite him into the mansion for a talk?"
Overjoyed, Lingdang said with concern, "This person is a man; he probably won't be able to enter the mansion."
Mei Sheng's mind raced: "How about we say he's your family member, here to take you home? I'll escort you for a while, and we can chat at the side gate, how about that?"
"Alright, I'll go find him now."
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