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  Ming Xuan looked up and saw the anger accumulated in Yang Shi's eyes, somewhat unexpected that as the mistress of the Gong Mansion, she would be so unable to hold back her temper.

  She was secretly amazed, they all said that Pei Xiang was a cunning and treacherous old man, but Yang Shi was foolish and dull-witted. How could Pei Xiang dare to entrust the entire Town Country Public House to her management? Wasn't it said that among the five houses of the Pei family, they were mutually at odds with each other, and no one would submit to anyone else? Not to mention others, with Yang Shi's temperament, how could those aunties who held high official positions be willing to hand over the power to manage household affairs without even a struggle?

  Yang's arrogance and recklessness have led her methods to become unscrupulous, it would be easy to take power out of her hands.

  Pei Jingxuan's large palm completely wrapped around Ming Xuan's jade hand, signaling her to be at ease. A warm smile appeared on the corners of his mouth, and a few shades of pale white were visible on his face. "Madam, may I invite my mother's spirit tablet here? I'll lead my new wife to pay respects and kowtow to it, so as to comfort her spirit in heaven. Filial piety is hard to defy, please grant me this wish!"

  He didn't call Yang's mother, but always referred to her as "Madam".

  Ming Xuan was taken aback for a moment, then followed Pei Jingchen and bowed, "Please, madam!"

  At the tea ceremony for the new bride, the newlywed couple had to kneel down and pay their respects to the late Madame Yang. This was a reasonable request, even though the Pei family had been avoiding mentioning the name of the Princess of Yongjia for years. The princess's spirit tablet was still placed in the ancestral hall, and since she had passed away early, her only bloodline descendant, who had just married a wonderful bride, should naturally be the first to receive the new bride's obeisance before Madame Yang.

  But under the watchful eyes of everyone, Pei Jingchen's request was like a slap in Yang's face, leaving her with mixed emotions. Her expression changed unpredictably, a mix of anger and uncertainty about how to retort.

  The status of the first wife is as solid as a mountain. Even if the second wife is more glamorous, she must still show respect to the first wife's spirit by performing the rites of a concubine!

  Yang was naturally unwilling, since she married in. All the rituals related to Princess Yongjia were handled by maidservants, and she had never attended in person. If it weren't for the need to consider the gossip of others and not let the Empress's reputation be tarnished, she would probably have directly removed Princess Yongjia's spirit tablet from the ancestral hall.

  Even at her wedding ceremony, the Pei family had never asked her to kowtow in front of the county master's spirit tablet. This would naturally be even more impossible now!

  Yang thought to himself, then made a face at the maid in front of him, while continuously knocking his head with his hand, making a very painful expression on his face, as if he had a headache.

  Madam Guan hastily stepped forward to support her. In a voice that everyone in the house could hear, she said, "Oh dear, madam, you've been working hard for half a month to prepare for Master's wedding, and these past few days you haven't had a good night's sleep. This must be your old headache acting up again!"

  She gently massaged the Yang's temples with her hands, "The imperial physician sent by Her Majesty last time said that you absolutely cannot be too worried. Once this illness recurs, you must rest in bed immediately!"

  Even if it's the empress who brings it up to intimidate others, there will naturally be those who are skilled at seeing which way the wind blows and mediating.

  The one sitting closest to Yang was the second lady, Pang. She saw that Yang was pretending to be ill because she didn't want to pay her respects to the late county princess, and Pei Jingchen was pressing her step by step. It was also clear that she didn't want to offer tea to Yang, since the old masters of the house were not around, and these two women didn't get along with each other, so she was happy to act as a peacemaker and give them an excuse to back down.

  She looked at Yang with a concerned expression and said, "Headaches can be big or small, but they can't be taken lightly. Gui's mother, please help the eldest sister to rest in the inner room."

  Yang pretended to be unwilling, struggling to say, "I still want to bring Chen Ge and the new daughter-in-law to pay respects to the county princess's sister, so that she can rest assured in heaven, knowing that Chen Ge is living a good life."

  Pang's heart was somewhat helpless, but the second room had always been close to the main house. Since she had already taken on this matter, if she didn't smooth things over, it would be difficult to do so. She could only sigh and say to Pei Jingzhen, "Jingzhen, big sister is not feeling well, later have second aunt bring you two little ones to pay respects to mother, okay?"

  As she spoke, she stood up and walked a few steps forward to Ming Xuan's side, "Good child, come with your second aunt."

  Pei Jingchen's eyes flashed with disdain, but it was quickly extinguished, and he didn't say anything else. He followed Madame Pang's figure step by step towards the direction of the ancestral hall, with Ming Xuan closely behind him.

  The people in the Ping Sha Hall dispersed, and from a distance came the discussions and scornful laughter of young men and women. No one noticed that the hands of the departing couple were still clasped together, not separating for a moment.

  After finishing paying respects to the memorial tablet of the county lord, Pei Jingxuan and Ming Xuan walked back to the Quiet Willows Institute on foot, with the servants following far behind.

  It's already mid-June, the weather is warm and gentle, it should be summer in the south, but Shengjing City is just at its most pleasant season, with a warm breeze blowing gently, the flowers in the Pei Mansion's rear garden are blooming profusely, looking exquisite.

  Ming Xuan had never been to the Pei's house before, and yesterday she was sent directly to the new room after paying respects in the hall. She hadn't even strolled through the backyard of the Pei's house. Thinking that this would be her home for a while, at least in the short term, it was unlikely that she would have the opportunity to leave, so she slowed down her pace, wanting to get a sense of direction and have a clear idea in mind, so as not to make mistakes in the future.

  She saw that the Pei residence had many pavilions and buildings, and also liked to plant large tracts of trees in the back garden. In such a large place, looking around, there wasn't even a single pond, which made her somewhat curious, asking, "I've been to many nobles' residences, no matter whose house they are, they all like to dig a pool in the back garden, or plant lotus flowers, or plant weeping willows by the shore. This place doesn't have any of those..."

  Pei Jingxuan smiled faintly, with a hint of mockery on his face. "I heard from the old people in the mansion that it used to be there. Just now we passed by that peach forest, originally it was a pond, later..."

  A sneer on his face grew thicker, "I heard that before my mother got married, my father had a concubine brought by the old family who was pregnant. Originally, when my maternal grandfather found out about this news, he wanted to call off the engagement, but in less than two days, that concubine fell into a pond. I'm not quite clear what happened, but since I was aware of things, there has always been an orchard here, never a pond."

  The dark secrets within the grand mansion, the master's thunderous methods were ruthless. Before long, the pond was filled up, peach trees were planted, and those crimes and scandals were also buried along with them?

  Ming Xuan was startled and hastily turned her head to look back, only to see the servants all following at a distance far away. It seemed they couldn't hear their conversation either. Only then did she calm down a bit.

  She said in a low voice, "Walls have ears, these secret things, let's talk about them privately, don't let others hear, it's not good for our situation."

  Pei Jingchen's eyes and eyebrows were all smiling, he nodded, "Alright, let's talk about it privately."

  This ordinary sentence, he didn't know how it came about, but when he heard it, he felt it was especially interesting. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, the distance between them, two strangers, suddenly narrowed, becoming a relationship where they could share secrets together. This kind of closeness made him feel both surprised and very satisfied.

  Dai Mingxuan and Bae Jingchen walked back to the Jingyi Courtyard, where Dan Hong, who had stayed behind to tidy up, heard the commotion and hurried out to greet them. "Master, your attendant Changgeng has returned and is waiting for you in the study!"

  The Pei residence was heavily populated and unlike the Gu's, did not have a separate courtyard for each master.

  So this Jingyi Courtyard was the place where Pei Jingchen's family would live, and in the future, whether it was his mother-in-law or children, they would all have to live within these walls. Fortunately, the courtyard was quite spacious, with four main rooms, east and west wings each having their own roof, and a row of low houses built in the back for the servants to live in. If Pei Jingchen didn't take three wives and four concubines, it would be more than enough.

  The study is located in the east wing, close to the courtyard gate, making it convenient for attendants and servants to report matters.

  Ming Xuan heard that Chang Geng was back, and her heart became tense again. She knew that Gu Yuanjing had some news. This whole morning, although she was entangled by Yang Shi and the matter of knocking heads, she never put down this matter in her heart.

  She opened her bright eyes, with a hint of cautious expectation, "Changgeng should have inquired about my fourth brother's news, I... can I go to the study together and listen to what he said?"

  Bai Jingchen didn't hesitate, "Okay."

  Ming Xuan's heart warmed up, and she even felt a little grateful.

  She knew that at this age, the study was the most important place for a man, where his thoughts and secrets were hidden, even many unknown secrets. Although Pei Jingchen didn't often stay in this courtyard, with his cautiousness, he wouldn't leave any traces in the study that could be grasped by others. However, being allowed to enter there was already the greatest trust a man could give to his unfamiliar wife.

  Changgeng saw Mingxuan behind Pei Jingchen, with a fleeting surprise, but immediately he bowed down to pay his respects. "It's just a false alarm for Master and Madam, Uncle is not fleeing in defeat, but bringing back the victorious news from Xizang to report to the Emperor."

  He smiled and continued, "The Rouran surrendered, issued a letter of surrender for a hundred years without war, and ceded five cities near the border to the Zhou Dynasty. The emperor was overjoyed, not only did he pardon his uncle's crime of trespassing on the imperial hunting grounds that year, but also said he would reward him generously according to his military merit!"

  The Western Xia State was defeated by General Xianyu several years ago. The Western Xia had once sworn an oath of "eternal tribute" and the Garrison of the North had recaptured the territory that had been taken away by the Northern Hu, and even occupied two cities from the enemy. Now the war with the Rouran in the western border has also subsided, and the territory of the Zhou Dynasty will be more vast than before.

  The whole of Zhou Dynasty's northwest had already been thoroughly pacified, and for twenty years those small border states would not be able to recover and rise again.

  Having ascended to the throne for only four years, His Majesty has already continuously expanded the national territory, becoming the king with the largest territory in the history of the Zhou Dynasty. Such glory, the Emperor would naturally be overjoyed.

  Ming Xuan let out a sigh of relief, "Great, brother is fine!"

  "But... " Changgeng's face suddenly turned gloomy, he hesitated for a long time before saying in a low voice, "The Emperor announced the marriage at the Golden Hall, I heard that Uncle... I heard that Uncle disobeyed the imperial edict!"

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