On Yu Tang’s side, she sat shoulder to shoulder with Miss Xu before Third Madam Yang, listening to Miss Xu animatedly recount what had just happened.
Third Madam Yang gazed at the two of them with gentle eyes, nodding continuously, even interspersing praise for Miss Xu with phrases like “what you said makes sense,” making Miss Xu speak even more enthusiastically. Third Madam Yang’s indulgence toward Miss Xu was practically overflowing from her eyes.
One could see that the Yin family people were all very fond of Miss Xu.
Yu Tang was quite envious.
So there really were people in this world who had smooth sailing lives like Miss Xu.
She secretly prayed that Miss Xu could continue being this fortunate.
After Miss Xu finished speaking, Third Madam Yang smiled and patted her hand, saying to her and Yu Tang: “You don’t need to worry. The Pei family won’t form a marriage alliance with the Wu family.”
Yu Tang suspected Third Madam Yang knew some inside information. Miss Xu, however, exclaimed joyfully: “I know, I know! Pei Yan doesn’t get along with his second senior brother Jiang Hua.”
Third Madam Yang nodded and continued with a smile: “It’s not entirely that. Putting eggs in different baskets is actually safer. The main thing is that when Lord Pei was alive, he offended too many people. Pei Xiaguang’s temperament is too stubborn, yet somehow this personality of his actually gained the Emperor’s favor. When he was in the Hanlin Academy, the Emperor personally selected him several times to help write auspicious prayers. This is why the Zhang family, Li family, and even the Jiang family all value him so highly. So you see, these Jiangnan aristocratic families both fear the Pei family rising again after Old Master’s mourning period ends, and also fear that when Jiangnan families face trouble, he won’t lend a hand.
“Pei Xiaguang’s marriage is very troublesome.
“Without others intervening, just the Peng family alone probably won’t allow the Wu family to form a marriage alliance with Pei Xiaguang.
“But the other Pei family members aren’t the right age.
“Pei Bo goes without saying—his mother has her own opinions, and his marriage will definitely be deliberated over and over.
“Though we don’t know much about Pei Chan, if he can stand on equal footing with Pei Bo, his parents aren’t muddled people.
“Even if his parents were muddled, doesn’t he still have elders?”
Only then did Yu Tang belatedly ask: “Which branch is Pei Chan from?”
Third Madam Yang said with a smile: “He’s Old Madam Yong’s legitimate second grandson. Pei Chan also has an older brother named Pei Li who also studies quite well. If nothing unexpected happens, passing the imperial examination shouldn’t be a problem—he’s just not as precocious as Pei Chan.”
The image of Old Madam Yong floated into Yu Tang’s mind. She felt that old madam was also a shrewd person.
She couldn’t help but feel admiration for Third Madam Yang.
Third Madam Yang also intended to guide her, saying: “Sometimes we not only need to know what relationships exist between families, but also which outstanding children each family has produced. Moreover, hearing is false, seeing is believing—we must sort out what’s true and false. Not to mention distant examples, just look at the Peng family. Previously their Eleventh Master was also someone who gained literary fame at a young age. But what happened in the end? It’s said that on his way back from taking the autumn examination, he encountered bandits and was disfigured.
“The Peng family is a local power in Fujian. That the Peng family’s most promising child, Eleventh Master, could encounter bandits in Fujian territory—who knows what kind of people Eleventh Master Peng actually encountered?
“What families fear most is this kind of incident.
“You can compete for favor, be jealous, feel unwilling—all of that is acceptable. But you cannot create murder cases.
“What would that turn into?
“Killing at the slightest disagreement!
“Who doesn’t have the silver to hire assassins?
“If they keep fighting like this, and all the ruthless people survive while the tolerant and merciful die, what future does this family have? This isn’t a time of chaos where whoever has the stronger fist holds the power, is it?”
Yu Tang nodded repeatedly, but inwardly guessed that this was probably the Yin family’s technique for judging people, wasn’t it? Knowing which families produced outstanding children—besides understanding opponents, it should also help in selecting sons-in-law. Perhaps this was the secret to the Yin family’s prosperity over so many years?
She smiled with pursed lips.
Miss Xu was there speculating: “The Wu family definitely won’t give up. What do you think—will the Wu family form a marriage alliance with the Peng family?”
Third Madam Yang smiled: “That depends on what the Peng family thinks.”
“If they want to establish connections with Jiang Hua, they’ll definitely be willing to form a marriage alliance with the Wu family.
“The fear is that they’re not on the same path.”
Among the several Grand Secretaries, Jiang Hua had the shallowest foundation, but he was also the most shameless. For profit, he could do anything.
This was also why those aristocratic families didn’t like forming marriage alliances with the Jiang family—they feared not getting the mutton but ending up covered in its smell.
Miss Xu then said: “Then why hasn’t Gu Chaoyang married yet? He’s not young anymore, right? If he doesn’t marry soon, not only will Lord Sun be displeased, but those Grand Secretaries will also think him frivolous.”
Establish a family and career!
People of this era felt that married people were more stable, had more sense of responsibility, and could settle down better to handle affairs.
Third Madam Yang smiled without making a sound.
Yu Tang looked at Third Madam Yang suspiciously.
At this moment, Gu Chaoyang was sitting to the left and right with Pei Yan, talking with Lord Peng and others: “I won’t forget my roots. But everyone also can’t go too far. Although the Gaoyou canal case is a pretext, I’ve made no progress since coming to Jiangnan. At least let me go make a report!”
Lord Peng squinted his eyes, thinking that whether Hangzhou or Suzhou, neither was Peng family territory. The Peng family didn’t care how the Jiangsu and Zhejiang families planned to handle things. He came for the matter of abolishing the Maritime Trade Offices.
The Pei family could deceive others, but not the Peng family.
Now Pei Yan had colluded with Tao Qing, planning to jointly establish a shop in Guangzhou, wanting to monopolize Guangzhou’s maritime trade. When that time came, whether the Maritime Trade Offices in Quanzhou and Ningbo were abolished or not, the Pei family would be invincible.
He had always been puzzled about how the Pei family persuaded the Tao family.
By rights, Guangzhou was Tao family territory. The Pei family was snatching food from the Tao family’s mouth—under no circumstances should the Tao family agree.
To make the Tao family bow their heads, unless… the Pei family had a prince standing behind them.
He just didn’t know whether the prince behind the Pei family was the Second Prince or the Third Prince.
Lord Peng felt somewhat anxious.
The Pei family had been too low-key before. When he sensed something was wrong and wanted to establish connections with the Pei family, he couldn’t find an opportunity no matter what.
This was also why their family could tolerate the Song family for so long.
He glanced sideways at Gu Chaoyang.
Could he make inroads through Gu Chaoyang?
Gu Chaoyang was also a wolf cub. Should he entice him with benefits? Or threaten and suppress him?
Lord Peng lightly tapped the armrest of his chair.
Fourth Master Song, however, felt this was an opportunity. He immediately said: “Whatever you want us to do, why not speak plainly? Who has time to keep guessing? If we guess wrong, it’ll be even more troublesome.”
Lord Wu felt Fourth Master Song made sense. He stared fixedly at Pei Yan, wanting to hear what Pei Yan would say.
Pei Yan didn’t speak.
There were plenty of “capable people” here. He didn’t plan to take the limelight.
Gu Chaoyang had his own calculations.
The Gu family had declined severely in recent years. He also wanted to use this matter to give the Gu family more capital. Moreover, this affair was planned by his mentor. If the truth came out, what face would the Gu family have to establish themselves in Jiangnan?
He thought of Sun Gao’s gaunt face that seemed somewhat harsh. He glanced at Pei Yan and Tao Qing, then looked at Lord Peng before saying in a low voice: “Two years ago, the Second Prince was assassinated. But neither the Embroidered Uniform Guard nor the Eastern and Western Depots could determine who was behind it. The Second Prince only suffered a scare. Combined with the severe drought in the Northwest and the Emperor wanting to rebuild the Great Xiangguo Temple, the court couldn’t spare more manpower. This matter became an unsolved case and was dropped. But some days ago, when Lord Sun was investigating the funds for the Gaoyou canal, he suddenly discovered that someone had used the Gaoyou canal construction as cover to send two hundred thousand taels of silver to the Third Prince’s residence, and found that this silver was transported from Jiangnan to the capital via grain transport. The Emperor was furious and sent me and Wei Sanfu to investigate this matter. As for when Wang Qibao left the capital? For what purpose? Whether it’s related to the case we’re investigating—Wei Sanfu and I have no idea.”
Having said this, everyone’s eyes fell on Pei Yan.
Among those present, he had the best relationship with Wang Qibao.
Because it involved grain transport, Lord Wu was the first who couldn’t sit still. He said urgently: “How do I not know about this matter? Two hundred thousand taels is no small sum. How could it have entered the capital without a sound? Someone must be trying to frame our Wu family. Xiaguang, when are you going to Hangzhou? I’ll cover all your expenses to Hangzhou.”
Fourth Master Song was watching the excitement without fear of escalation. Moreover, he was thinking that if they could establish connections with Wang Qibao through this matter, that would be good. He simply smiled and said: “Since Chaoyang has made things clear, I think we might as well all go to Hangzhou together, or invite Lord Wang to Lin’an. He can conveniently visit Zhaoming Temple and listen to Master Wuneng’s profound teachings.”
Lord Peng’s closed eyes suddenly widened like ox eyes, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he looked toward Tao Qing.
Tao Qing hesitated for a moment, then said to Pei Yan in a low voice: “Xiaguang, this matter isn’t simple. Just as Lord Wu said, two hundred thousand taels in cash is no small sum. How was it transported into the capital via grain transport? I fear from beginning to end this is all a trap, waiting for us to fall into!” As he spoke, he also glanced at Gu Chaoyang.
He suspected this was Sun Gao’s scheme.
Sun Gao came from humble origins and had prejudices against the powerful and wealthy. When he previously served as Prefect of Shuntian, if poor people and rich people had lawsuits, he invariably favored the poor. If powerful people and rich people had lawsuits, he invariably favored the rich. Some people exploited this loophole and deliberately pretended to be poor to file lawsuits.
Just with Gu Chaoyang present, he couldn’t say this plainly.
That Gu Chaoyang could say these things meant he was prepared to break with Sun Gao.
He smiled bitterly: “Scholar Tao need not give me too much credit. I’ve looked at the case files Lord Sun gave me. Lord Sun indeed hasn’t wronged anyone. I’m afraid the Jiangnan families won’t be able to resolve this matter peacefully this time.”
As he spoke, he kept looking at Lord Peng.
Lord Peng’s heart pounded chaotically under his gaze.
The Peng family also wouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket.
The Peng family had children supporting the Second Prince and others supporting the Third Prince.
But in his heart, he leaned more toward the Third Prince.
This had nothing to do with the two men’s virtue or character, but rather because by law, the Second Prince’s succession would be proper and legitimate. Even if these aristocratic families supported the Second Prince, it was only appropriate. Supporting the Third Prince was different.
If the Third Prince ascended the throne, they would have the merit of supporting the dragon.
This could guarantee the Peng family at least three generations of glory.
Who wouldn’t be tempted?
Who wouldn’t covet this?