I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 22 Pei Yuan
Xie Fei's greatest understanding of Pei Yuan came from what he heard from others.

When he was ten years old, he was taken to the border battlefield by Pei's father, but he didn't accomplish much. He was once frightened by the enemy so much that he wet his pants. He felt dizzy when he mounted a horse and shook when he touched the sword. He was a coward who could not be helped.

After Pei's father died for his country, Pei Yuan was brought back to the capital and behaved like a dandy boy.

He is flirting with a girl from Red Street today and being jealous of a girl from Prostitute Lane tomorrow. He is the laughing stock of the whole capital.

As Xie Fei was thinking, the old lady had already brought her into the house, but she stopped in front of the screen and said, "Xie Xiaoniang, please go in and see the master."

As soon as Xie Fei stepped in, he smelled a strong fragrance that was like flowers and leaves rotting in the soil, which was so strong that it made people unable to open their eyes.

On a square bed that can accommodate at least four or five people, although it is covered with curtains and gauze, one can still see the extremely entangled figures on the bed.

Xie Fei's heart was pounding, and he subconsciously touched the spots on his face and his soft nose.

No flaws.

If she had known she would meet Pei Yuan today, she should have made herself even uglier.

The room was hot, and Xie Fei could not stay any longer. She knelt down and said, "I am Xie, and I am here to serve the master at the order of the old lady."

The people on the bed were startled. The woman screamed and quickly grabbed the thin quilt to cover her body, while the man put on his clothes in a mess and angrily lifted the veil.

"Who the hell is this? Who is disturbing my good time?"

Xie Fei raised his head and met Pei Yuan's eyes.

This was the first time she really saw Pei Yuan's appearance.

It was an extremely handsome face, with a complexion like a jade crown, eyebrows like ink paintings, and extremely beautiful facial features.

However, his expression was too exaggerated and ferocious, making his face look wretched, and due to his long-term indulgence in alcohol and sex, his eye bags were very heavy. He looked like a gambler and prostitute with kidney deficiency, and a playboy who was about to die in bed.

Xie Fei's heart sank.

If she wanted to be deeply involved with such a man, she would first have to poke out her own eyes and then seal her heart and lock away her love, or she would have to take this playboy to hell with her.

Fortunately, Pei Yuan looked at her carefully and vomited directly, just like on the wedding night.

"Ugh~Ugh! You are so damn ugly! Why did the Xie family send something as ugly as you? Ugh~"

Xie Fei was secretly delighted and said quickly: "I look like a nobody. I have polluted the eyes of my master. I deserve to die!"

Pei Yuan quickly shrank back into bed, pulled aside the quilt and pulled out his beautiful concubine. He looked at her for a few times before calming down.

He refused to even look at Xie Fei, and scolded him, "Don't come here again. I will become weak immediately when I see you!"

Xie Fei wanted nothing more than to leave the room pretending to be sad.

In Huiming Hall, Xiao Shirong knelt unwillingly.

The old lady said in a cold voice: "I gave you the power to manage the Pei Mansion, but you indulged my son in a life of debauchery and slaughtered concubines and servants in the backyard. Is this also the rule of the Xiao family?"

Xiao Shirong said angrily: "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. You taught your son to be a piece of crap, and you still want me to marry him!"

The old lady turned around and slapped Xiao Shirong hard on the face, intimidating him without even getting angry. "How insolent!"

Xiao Shirong had never been beaten like this since she was a child. Her eyes were wide open and her fingernails were digging deep into her flesh, but she didn't dare to talk back.

The old lady said coldly, "It was you who offended the queen because of your arrogance that caused you to give up the position of Crown Princess. If you want to blame someone, you should blame the royal family."

Xiao Shirong understood this truth, but no matter how much hatred she felt in her heart, she did not dare to vent it on the queen.

The hall was silent for a moment. The Buddha statue, illuminated by the firelight, looked holy and majestic, inviolable.

The old lady clasped her hands together and bowed deeply to the Buddha statue, and then said: "I turned a blind eye to your past misdeeds and let you do whatever you want. But you must not cause any death, or else the news will spread and tarnish the reputation of the Xiao family."

Xiao Shirong gritted her teeth in dissatisfaction, but had to say, "Yes, aunt."

In the middle of the night, the carriage left Pei Mansion and headed for a farm in the suburbs.

Fu Yu chirped, "Oh my goodness, girl, I found out that the old lady is actually the eldest lady's aunt!"

Simply put, Xiao Shirong's mother is the old lady's sister, so Pei Yuan and Xiao Shirong are cousins. Fu Yu had heard Xie Fei talk about the dangers of inbreeding since she was a child, and she exclaimed, "This is really terrible, girl. If this happens, if Master Pei and Madam have a child, won't it be easy for them to have a sickly child?"

Xie Fei said faintly, "I can't have children."

"Ah? Infertility? So serious?" Fu Yu thought that it was because close relatives couldn't have children.

Xie Fei was still thinking about Pei Yuan.

With Xiao Shirong's arrogant and complacent attitude, she would definitely look down on a dissolute young man like Pei Yuan, so how could she even think of having a child with him?

However, Pei Yuan has been back in Beijing for several years. His wife is unwilling to sleep with him, and his concubines are forced to drink safflower soup, which makes it clear that he has no offspring to inherit the family business.

Pei Yuan was greedy for pleasure and ignored such matters, but the old lady was not in a hurry to offer incense and let her son do whatever he wanted?
What a strange family.

Xie Fei asked again: "What did you find out at the mansion?"

Fu Yu was about to speak when the carriage suddenly shook and then stopped.

The driver jumped off the rickshaw, looked at the rear wheel, and said, "Don't panic, little lady Xie. It hit a rock. It will be fine soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, the car curtain was lifted, and Yuan San nimbly flipped in from the roof of the car and winked at Xie Fei.

He has always been elusive, and Xie Fei and Fu Yu are used to it, so they don't make a fuss.

After the carriage started again, Fu Yu lowered his voice and mysteriously told the two what he had heard.

"To talk about the origin of the Pei Mansion, we have to start from the grudges long ago."

The ancestors of the Pei family were royal family, and they were blood-related to the current emperor, and were once on par with super-class princes.

But later, because of their crimes, the Pei family was stripped of their power and their titles were abolished. They were gradually kicked out of the royal family and became idle nobles. The family began to decline.

It was not until Pei Yuan's grandfather, now Marquis of Anyuan, led his people to fight at the border and defeated countless enemies that he regained the title of marquis and gained real power.

Anyuan Hou had five children. Pei Yuan's father was the fourth son. He was appointed general and was stationed at the border all year round.

For some unknown reason, General Pei was not close to Marquis Anyuan, and there was a deep rift between the father and son.

The general's wife also hated General Pei. Ever since she gave birth to Pei Yuan, she has ignored her husband and her only child, and would rather live in a Buddhist temple than get involved.

When Pei Yuan was ten years old, General Pei took him to the border, where he stayed for several years. He made great contributions and was promoted to a higher position.

Unfortunately, something happened at the border later and General Pei died in battle. Without the restraint of his father and the lack of discipline from his mother, Pei Yuan became more and more dissolute.

After Fu Yu finished speaking, Yuan San sighed, "How pitiful! He has made great achievements, but he has suffered such a disaster and has not had a good ending."

Xie Fei couldn't tell whether he was talking about General Pei or Pei Yuan. Judging from his expression, he seemed to be depressed about this and not as cheerful and carefree as before.

Just as I was thinking about what happened earlier, I heard Fu Yu curiously ask, "Miss, what does Master Pei look like? You have seen him now, right?"

Yuan San also looked over and said meaningfully, "I heard that Master Pei is a famous handsome man in the capital. I wonder if you will be attracted to him when you see him?"

"My heart is moved..." Xie Fei almost cursed, and changed the subject abruptly, saying, "It's pretty, but it's a pity that the person is probably useless."

Judging from that slightly swollen and pale face, he will die in a woman's bed sooner or later.

Yuan San asked, "Do you like that face, girl?"

Xie Fei said boredly: "I like beauties, but I don't just like pretty faces. Compared to appearance, inner qualities are more important."

No one knew which words touched Yuan San. He smiled softly and looked at Xie Fei again, unable to take his eyes off him for a long time.

After returning to the farm, several days passed and there was no movement from the Pei Mansion.

Xie Fei's heart finally settled down.

She thought that the general's wife suddenly asked her to go back for something else, but she didn't expect that she was just asked to "meet" Pei Yuan.

Could it be that he was planning to drag her to be buried with Pei Yuan after he died?
Thinking of this possibility, Xie Fei shuddered and said to Yuan San, "I need to make a fake death drug or something. If Pei Yuan dies and I'm taken to be buried with him, remember to dig up the grave and save me."

(End of this chapter)