Pei Yan was a decisive person. Since Yu Tang felt there was nothing wrong with giving the clan head position to other branches, he found an opportunity to discuss this matter with Pei Xuan.
Pei Xuan was extremely surprised. He said: “Do the family elders know about this? What does Mother say?”
Pei Yan said: “Don’t worry about what others say. Just tell me what you think.”
Pei Xuan knew his younger brother never played by conventional rules, but to be this willful, he still couldn’t help but admonish him: “How can we not care what others say? This relates to the rise and fall of the Pei clan. You can’t just do whatever you want—we should still consult the family elders…”
Pei Yan knew his older brother would say this. He waved his hand, interrupting Pei Xuan’s words, and said: “Whenever there’s change, there will be those who approve and those who oppose. But right and wrong mostly have nothing to do with numbers. Moreover, solutions always outnumber difficulties. You just need to tell me what you truly think according to your own wishes. Just turn the impossible into possible, and the possible into impossible.”
When he said this, he was extremely confident, his tone decisive and firm, his expression calm and natural, yet it allowed Pei Xuan to read a hint of understated dominance from his expression.
No wonder their father said that in this household, it was truly Pei Yan who could handle matters.
This younger brother of his—since taking over the household affairs, the family fortune had doubled, and their eldest brother’s matter had also passed without a ripple.
Pei Xuan sighed inwardly.
If not for their eldest brother, his third brother’s achievements would surely not stop here.
He said seriously: “I’ll think it over carefully.”
Pei Yan reminded him: “You’re valued by the Emperor and won’t possibly step down for at least ten years. As your legitimate eldest son, Hong, to avoid suspicion, neither the Emperor nor the court will possibly give him important responsibilities. Rather than let him accomplish nothing, it’s better to try another path. Those concerns you have—with me here, they’re not a problem.”
Pei Xuan nodded.
He always felt that compared to his younger brother, he lacked a bit of composure.
But he had to admit, Pei Yan made a lot of sense.
The officialdom originally had an avoidance system for relatives, let alone a father and son like them—even trying to maneuver around it would be nearly impossible.
But this way, with the clan head position falling to their branch, what would the other branches think? How could they avoid offending people? And would Hong even be willing? These all required careful consideration—they couldn’t let this matter harm the harmony among relatives.
When he returned to his room and saw the Second Madam coming forward to greet him, he realized that not only did he have no rejection of Pei Yan’s words, but throughout the journey, he had been considering how to allow Pei Hong to smoothly become the heir apparent.
Clearly in his heart, he agreed with Pei Yan’s approach.
And his younger brother had probably seen through his thoughts long ago, which was why he came to discuss it with him.
Pei Xuan smiled bitterly again. He dismissed the servants attending nearby and quietly told the Second Madam about this matter.
The Second Madam couldn’t close her mouth for a long while, stammering: “Really! Is what you’re saying true? Third Uncle wants to let Hong become the heir apparent—then, then what about Jiang’er and Xi’er? Will they take the imperial examinations? The children are still so young—what if their studies don’t go well? Will we have Hong return the clan head position to Jiang’er or Xi’er’s descendants?”
Pei Xuan looked deeply at the Second Madam and said: “So, if we don’t consider returning the clan head position, you think this is still a good thing?”
The Pei family was not some small household—the clan head controlled no small amount of wealth.
The Second Madam, fearing Pei Xuan would suspect she had greedy thoughts, hurriedly said: “Passing it back and forth certainly isn’t good. The elders from other branches would surely think our main branch has no rules—why should we pass it around like this, one branch dominating everything. But not returning it—this, this is also too…”
Taking too much advantage.
The Second Madam was too embarrassed to even speak the words.
Pei Xuan shook his head and said: “I actually think Xiaguang makes sense.”
No matter what decision was made, someone would be dissatisfied—better to first consider what they themselves wanted.
“As for Jiang’er and Xi’er,” he paused and said, “given Xiaguang’s personality, he surely has already thought things through for them. We needn’t worry about them. It’s just Hong’er… whether he’s willing or not, that’s what’s most important.”
If Pei Hong was unwilling, what would Pei Yan choose?
That was the real headache.
The Second Madam said “Oh” and rushed outside in a fluster: “I’ll have someone summon Hong right away.”
Pei Xuan nodded and instructed the Second Madam: “Don’t tell anyone about this for now. Including Dan. The family elders don’t know yet!”
“I understand!” The Second Madam knew the seriousness of the matter and hurriedly said, “I won’t tell anyone.”
But Yu Tang surely knew.
Going to talk to Yu Tang should be fine, right!
While Pei Xuan was talking with Pei Hong, she hurried off to Yu Tang’s place, hastily pulling Yu Tang, who was talking with Qing Yuan, into the courtyard. She spoke in a low voice about Pei Yan wanting Pei Hong to become the heir apparent, and said: “Did you know about this? What do you think? Our Second Master is currently talking with Hong. If you think it’s inappropriate, I’ll go stop them right away.”
Yu Tang had always felt sorry that Pei Yan was bound by the responsibilities of being Pei clan head. Even Jiang’er had a visible future that left him no choice. If Pei Hong was willing to become the Pei family’s heir apparent, although there was no easy job without work, it would also be relatively much freer.
This might not be a bad thing.
She could also understand the Second Madam’s concerns.
The Second Madam feared she would think Pei Hong was taking Jiang’er and Xi’er’s positions.
She tightly grasped the Second Madam’s hand and said sincerely to her: “Third Master already discussed this with me. I actually feel Hong is being put upon—after all, he’ll have to stay home guarding the family business in the future, and his eldest son won’t be able to enter government service either.”
Hearing this, the Second Madam finally relaxed completely, suddenly thinking of the phrase “one person’s poison is another’s honey.”
For many people, giving their son a visible future was most important, but for some people, this might be a constraint.
She feared Yu Tang would be unhappy, but Yu Tang also feared she would be unhappy!
The Second Madam couldn’t help but embrace Yu Tang’s shoulders, smiling: “No wonder we can be sisters-in-law—we both like to think of others.”
Both fearing the other would be unhappy.
Yu Tang laughed. She returned the Second Madam’s embrace and said: “Then Hong…”
“Oh my!” The Second Madam thought of the father and son still talking in the study and hurriedly said, “I still need to go check. You carry on with what you were doing. I’ll tell you immediately when there’s news.”
Yu Tang nodded with a smile, seeing the Second Madam out.
Old Madam Pei called Yu Tang over and said: “What did Second Daughter-in-law come for?”
Yu Tang didn’t know what to say and vaguely glossed over it.
Old Madam Pei kept this in mind and the next day kept the Second Madam to talk.
The Second Madam didn’t dare hide things from the Old Madam and told her the whole sequence of events in detail.
The Old Madam’s brows furrowed into a “chuan” character. She immediately had someone summon Pei Yan to talk.
Seeing the Old Madam’s expression was off, the Second Madam found an excuse and slipped away, having a servant summon Pei Xuan back.
On the Old Madam’s side, she suppressed her anger and said to Pei Yan: “You and your wife are of one mind—you don’t tell me anything. I’m old now and like to play the doting elder, not asking about anything. But this involves Jiang’er and Xi’er’s interests. Even as their father, you can’t just give it away casually. I don’t agree to this matter!”
The palm and back of the hand are both flesh—how is it that now in her old age, there’s only the palm and no back of the hand!
Pei Yan was quite speechless and tried to guide the Old Madam: “Didn’t you also say Jiang’er is good at studying? Why must we hold him back?”
Old Madam Pei said indignantly: “Jiang’er is good at studying, but Xi’er is still young! Look at him—I raised him in the palm of my hand. Who dares beat their chest and say he’ll definitely pass the imperial examinations? If he can’t pass, where will you secure a future for him?”
Hearing this, Pei Yan grumbled internally.
How strict she had been with them brothers before! Because of their eldest brother’s matter, she couldn’t even show affection to Pei Tong and Pei Fei. Now that she was old, she could say such irresponsible things.
Pei Yan looked at his righteous and confident old mother, deliberated for a moment, then said: “The Pei family was built up through generations of ancestors working one after another—it doesn’t belong to just our branch. We can’t monopolize everything. Back when Eldest Brother violated ancestral rules by entering government service and even caused a great disaster, our main branch still gave me the clan head position. Not only did the various clan elders have no objections, they supported me as clan head and looked to our main branch’s lead in everything. Our main branch cannot be ungrateful. When the eldest son is good at studying, give the clan head position to the second son; when the second son is good at studying, let the eldest son be clan head—wouldn’t that mean there are no rules? And how far can a clan without rules go?
“If Hong were also good at studying, or if Second Brother hadn’t entered the cabinet as Prime Minister, keeping the clan head in my branch would be fine. But now, Hong clearly cannot achieve anything in an official career, and Eldest Brother’s branch has split off. This is the perfect opportunity to return the position to its rightful place—no one will have much to say. If I let my sons take turns being clan head, how is that different from bullying honest people?
“We can’t both eat the meat and drink the soup, leaving others no way to survive!”
How could Old Madam Pei not know this? It was just that Jiang’er and Xi’er had grown up right under her nose, and she was especially reluctant to let go.
The old lady said stubbornly: “What did Hong say?”
“He agreed.” Pei Yan smiled and said, “This child is quite reliable. He said he never thought about helping me manage household affairs. He wants to learn from me for a few days first. If it works out, it won’t be too late for him to take over. If it doesn’t work, we might as well choose from other branches, or wait until Jiang’er and the others grow up.”
Old Madam Pei’s expression softened slightly, and she said: “What the child says also makes sense. You don’t need to make such a hasty decision. Second Son is of the second rank—securing an official position for his son is ready-made.”
The implication being, if Jiang’er’s scholarly career didn’t work out, they could discuss it then—Pei Hong had Pei Xuan to make plans for him.
Pei Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He called out “Mother” and said: “It’s fine if you say this to me, but if Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law heard it, how heartbroken would they be! You can’t ask Hong to look after Jiang’er’s future just because Hong has a father to care for him—that’s not fair. It also easily creates conflict between our two branches.”
Old Madam Pei paid no attention at all, single-mindedly pondering how to ensure Jiang’er and Xi’er’s future.