Chapter 260: Pei Family: One

Pei Family: One

As a death soldier, the first rule is obedience. So hearing Nie Jinxuan say she was going to the Pei residence, Shui Yun was puzzled in her heart but didn't ask anything more.

Leaving the palace, Nie Jinxuan headed straight for the Pei residence. This was Nie Jinxuan's first time coming to the Pei residence, so the people in the residence naturally didn't recognize Nie Jinxuan. However, as the residence of the richest man in Dongling, the servants were also carefully trained. Therefore, when the servant guarding the gate saw Nie Jinxuan's extraordinary appearance and noble aura, he didn't wait for Nie Jinxuan to speak and took the initiative to step forward and ask:

"May I ask, Madam, who are you looking for?"

The servant guarding the gate was a young man in his early twenties, tall and sturdy, looking quite spirited. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan smiled slightly and said slowly:

"My surname is Nie. I have come to your residence today to visit Old Master Pei. I wonder if Old Master Pei is in the residence today?"

Nie Jinxuan's words were gentle, but hearing this, the servant guarding the gate couldn't help but be stunned.

After all, in this capital, there were not many families with the surname Nie! The only famous one was the former Prime Minister's residence. It's just that everyone in Dongling knew that the old Prime Minister, Nie Wenhao, was a treacherous official who had been a hypocrite his whole life and finally colluded with Empress Dowager Duan to rebel. But in the end, he failed, and afterward, Nie Wenhao and Empress Dowager Duan ran away, and the Nie family, which had been powerful in the capital for a time, collapsed!

However, although the Nie family collapsed, there was one exception. And that person was the Third Miss of the Nie family back then! And speaking of this Third Miss of the Nie family, she was a legendary figure, could it be...

Thinking of this, the young man guarding the gate couldn't help but be startled. He couldn't help but look at Nie Jinxuan up and down, then hurriedly said:

"Uh... alright, alright, Madam, please wait a moment, the Old Master is in the residence today, I will go and pass the word for you..."

Clearly, this young man guarding the gate was also a clever one. After his voice fell, he turned and ran into the residence.

The young man ran fast, and after a moment, he arrived at a room in the backyard of the Pei residence, then pushed the door and ran in:

"Old Master, Old Master, a guest has come outside..."

The young man couldn't help but shout loudly. At this moment, Pei Baiwan, who was leaning on a soft couch, leisurely drinking tea, humming a little tune, and closing his eyes, was startled by the young man's shout, and his slightly round body nearly fell off the soft couch.

Pei Baiwan was over fifty years old this year, not tall, with average features, and because he was getting older, his figure was a bit round and plump. At this moment, Pei Baiwan opened his eyes and saw that the person who came was Little Lizi, who guarded the gate. Pei Baiwan was instantly furious:

"What are you shouting for?! What are you shouting for?! You kid, are you looking to see if I live a long life?!"

Pei Baiwan shouted angrily, and while speaking, Pei Baiwan straightened his body and sat back on the soft couch.

At this moment, being roared at by Pei Baiwan, the young man guarding the gate... that is, Little Lizi, shrank his body, but thinking of the person at the gate, Little Lizi hurriedly explained:

"It's not that, Old Master, it's just that, it's really because the person who came..."

Little Lizi was anxious. But afterward, before he could finish his sentence, he was instantly interrupted by Pei Baiwan:

"A guest?! What about a guest?! Don't say a guest, even if a god came, they would have to follow the rules!"

"Hmph~! Fidgety, what kind of habit is this?! I've warned you many times, our Pei family is different now, do you still think we are the merchant family from before?! Tell you, now we are the residence of a Third-Rank official of the imperial court, you know?! So even if you are a servant, when you come out and go in, talk and walk, you must have some rules, you can't be like the Shen family next door, they are not presentable..."

The Shen family that Pei Baiwan spoke of was the famous wealthy man in the capital, Shen Sanyuan. The Shen family and the Pei family were sworn brothers for generations, and later did business together, but later, after each became successful, they had a conflict over something and started fighting. Since then, the Shen family and the Pei family began to be hostile to each other, and not only squeezed each other in the business field, but also competed with each other in every other aspect!

At the beginning, the Shen family and the Pei family were evenly matched. But starting from Pei Baiwan's generation, because Pei Baiwan had a good business mind, in just a few years, the Pei family directly left the Shen family far behind and transformed into the richest man in Dongling. Although the Shen family didn't fail, and was also firmly in the top few among merchants in Dongling, compared to the Pei family, they were a head shorter!

Moreover, besides the Shen family not being as good as the Pei family in the business field, ever since the eldest son of the Pei family, Pei Yaoguang, passed the imperial examination and entered the government as an official, the Pei family was even more like adding flowers to a brocade. Added to the fact that the two families had been competing since their ancestors, so from childhood, Old Master Pei and Old Master Shen began to oppose each other. Therefore, to this day, whenever something was mentioned, Old Master Pei would bring up the Shen family, making the Shen family members grind their teeth with anger.

So at this very moment, Pei Baiwan habitually brought up the Shen family again. Being talked about by him like this, Little Lizi, who was originally anxious, instantly stopped talking and lowered his head, no longer speaking.

Then Pei Baiwan began to habitually talk about the various bumpkins of the Shen family and the various differences of the Pei family. After talking enough, Pei Baiwan coughed lightly and looked at Little Lizi:

"Hmm, I'll teach you all properly later... Alright, tell me now, who is the guest?"

"It's a young Madam..."

"Nonsense, I'm asking you, who is she?"

"That Madam didn't say who she was, only that her surname is Nie..."

"Surname Nie?!"

Hearing that the guest was a woman and had the surname Nie, Pei Baiwan couldn't help but frown, thought about it in his mind, and then shouted:

"A young Madam with the surname Nie? I don't know her, what is she doing looking for me?"

Pei Baiwan had a special talent. That was that his memory was particularly good, especially in recognizing people. As long as he had seen someone once, no matter how many years passed, he would never forget. And it was precisely because of this point that he was able to be invincible in the business field.

And having traveled north and south for so many years, although Pei Baiwan knew quite a few people with the surname Nie, most of them were men, and counting them up, they were all getting on in years, so he didn't know any young Madam with the surname Nie at all!

Pei Baiwan was very puzzled. But in the blink of an eye, Pei Baiwan seemed to have remembered something, suddenly jumped off the soft couch, grabbed Little Lizi, and asked:

"You tell me, what does that young Madam look like?"

"Uh... very beautiful, pregnant, but you can tell at a glance that she is a noble person with an extraordinary background..."

Clearly, Pei Baiwan had already thought of who the other party was! Little Lizi was startled by his master's reaction. But even so, Little Lizi still told him everything one by one. Upon hearing Little Lizi say this, Pei Baiwan's eyes instantly widened, and he couldn't help but shout:

"You idiot! Why didn't you say so earlier!"

He couldn't help but curse Little Lizi, then turned and ran toward the gate of the residence... But just as he ran to the gate, Pei Baiwan suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and ordered Little Lizi:

"Go, hurry and call the Madams, and all of you come to the gate to welcome the distinguished guest!"

Oh my goodness, if it really was the one he thought of, that would truly be a distinguished guest! After all, that was the designated mother of the nation, the imperial clan...

Just thinking about it, Pei Baiwan's heart was filled with joy! After all, in ancient times, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—merchants belonged to the lower nine classes. Even if they had more silver, they were still not in the mainstream. And it was precisely because of this that the Pei family would try every means to let the eldest son, Pei Yaoguang, enter the government, just to let the Pei family get rid of the status of merchants and become a true noble family!

And now, not only that, but someone from the imperial clan had actually come, how could this not make Pei Baiwan overjoyed!

But at this very moment, watching Pei Baiwan's excited yet nervous appearance, Little Lizi was a bit confused and couldn't help but ask:

"Uh... Old Master, which Madam are you talking about?"

There were many Madams in the Pei family. Just in the Old Master's first branch, there were nine. And there were three branches in the Pei family; the Second Old Master's second branch had eight, and the Third Old Master's third branch was considered few, but there were still five... So, calling for the Madams, who exactly should he call?

Little Lizi was clever, but he couldn't grasp Pei Baiwan's thoughts. Hearing this, Pei Baiwan roared without even thinking:

"Nonsense! Call them all, of course! That's right, besides them, call all the young masters and misses of the residence, and have Old Zhou immediately order people to clean up the front hall, hurry!"

Ordering loudly, Pei Baiwan left immediately. Hearing this, Little Lizi didn't dare to delay and ran down to pass the word!

……

The head of the Pei family had spoken, and the entire Pei family was instantly in chaos.

And at this moment, Shui Yun, who had been standing at the gate accompanying Nie Jinxuan, watched for a long time and saw no one coming out of the Pei residence, so she couldn't help but frown:

"Princess, it's been quite a while, why hasn't anyone come out of the Pei residence?"

Shui Yun was a patient person; let alone waiting for a while, she could wait for a whole day. It was just that Shui Yun was worried about Nie Jinxuan. After all, Nie Jinxuan was pregnant now; if she got tired and moved the fetus, then even if she died ten thousand times, she wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility.

But at this moment, regarding Shui Yun's worry, Nie Jinxuan smiled slightly:

"I reckon there must be something going on, it's fine, anyway, I have nothing to do, waiting for a while doesn't matter."

Nie Jinxuan responded with a smile, and hearing this, Shui Yun couldn't say anything. But even so, Shui Yun still had the little maid behind her bring over the small stool she carried with the carriage, and let Nie Jinxuan sit down.

In early winter, the air was a bit cool, but there was sun, so it was still warm. And Nie Jinxuan sat on the small stool, basking in the sun while waiting. Then, after waiting for a good while, Nie Jinxuan suddenly heard movement inside the Pei residence, so she stood up and had the little maid behind her put away the small stool.

And after Nie Jinxuan finished tidying up, she saw the vermilion gate of the Pei residence slowly open from the inside. But the moment the gate opened, Nie Jinxuan, who was standing at the gate, was instantly stunned!

It turned out that behind the vermilion gate of the Pei residence, a group of people was standing there!

Yes, exactly a group, at least twenty or thirty people. And among them, most were women, and each one was dressed in colorful and gorgeous clothes!

And in the center of that group, a middle-aged man who was not tall and had a round figure was smiling at her. Fortunately, he had a kind face, and with his round body and round face, he looked like a Maitreya Buddha when he smiled, which made people feel relieved!

But even so, suddenly seeing such a large formation in front of her, even Nie Jinxuan was startled, and even Shui Yun on the side couldn't help but be dumbfounded for a moment.

But after a brief shock, Nie Jinxuan immediately came to her senses. At this moment, Pei Baiwan, who was smiling like a Maitreya Buddha, stepped forward and said repeatedly:

"Hehe~, I reckon this must be the Princess Consort of Anguo. I, Pei Baiwan, have failed to welcome you from afar and have kept you waiting for so long, I hope the Princess will forgive me."

Actually, Pei Baiwan had thought for a long time about how to address Nie Jinxuan. You couldn't call her Madam, that was definitely wrong; calling her Miss Nie was also wrong; calling her Empress?! She hadn't been appointed Empress yet, so finally, reminded by the person next to him, Pei Baiwan suddenly remembered that Nie Jinxuan was a Princess Consort bestowed by the late Emperor, so calling her Princess Consort was definitely correct!

At the same time, Pei Baiwan also lowered his own status. And as soon as his words came out, the little maid who followed Nie Jinxuan and Shui Yun couldn't help but laugh. But fortunately, Nie Jinxuan had strong composure, and she responded:

"Old Master Pei is too polite. I am familiar with Magistrate Pei, and Old Master Pei is Magistrate Pei's father, an elder, so please don't call yourself a commoner anymore!"

"Uh... this... then alright, then Pei will respectfully obey! Princess, please~!"

Pei Baiwan looked kind and gentle on the surface, but he was a man of the world; he could tell at a glance when the other party was speaking the truth and when they were speaking lies. So hearing Nie Jinxuan be so easygoing and sincere, he couldn't be humble anymore and invited Nie Jinxuan to the front hall.

Nie Jinxuan didn't stand on ceremony, and then the group went to the front hall of the Pei residence in a grand manner.

And as if knowing there were many people in his own family, the Pei residence had built the front hall quite large. So originally Nie Jinxuan was worried that if so many people came, they would have to stand in the courtyard?! But who would have thought that after everyone took their seats, not only did they all sit down, but there were even a few seats left over.

From this, one could see that the Pei family's financial resources were not just a name. And seeing everything in her eyes, although Nie Jinxuan didn't show it on the surface, she already had a plan in her heart.

And at this moment, after everyone took their seats, Pei Baiwan began to introduce everyone in the Pei residence to Nie Jinxuan! From the principal wife and concubines, from the young masters to the young misses, from the first branch to the third branch... Pei Baiwan spoke happily, and Nie Jinxuan tried her best to remember, but there were few people in the world who had the talent like Pei Baiwan, so Nie Jinxuan just remembered a rough idea.

There will be another update later. ===== CHAPTER 261 =====