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

Chapter 220 Who do you like?

Pei Yuan was very satisfied. He stared at the painting and said leisurely, "If we can grasp A Fei's charm and temperament a little bit, it will be a masterpiece."

Xie Fei snatched it away angrily, rolled it into a ball and threw it under the table.

"With so many things happening recently, you seem to be so relaxed. His Majesty may have become suspicious. Don't you have any other solutions?"

Even though Xie Fei was busy handling internal affairs, he could still hear some rumors.

Just after Pei Yuan inherited the title, Emperor Xuan finally realized that he suspected that the current Pei Yuan was a completely different person from the chess piece he had planted before.

But now the Anyuan Marquis's Mansion was as tightly guarded as an iron barrel, and not a single word of news could get out, so Emperor Xuan was unsure of what was going on for a moment.

The more times like this happen, the more dangerous it is. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.

Pei Yuan was still absorbed in painting, and seemed to have no sense of crisis at all.

After collecting the writing brushes and ink on the table, Pei Yuan said casually, "Take it one step at a time. As the old saying goes, we should counter the opponent's moves."

Although Xie Fei felt that Emperor Xuan was a narrow-minded and dark person, he had never gotten along with him and had no idea of ​​the behavior of this superior.

She asked, "What do you think he's going to do next?"

Pei Yuan just smiled and said nothing.

The next day, an imperial edict came from the palace, requiring Pei Yuan to enter the palace.

Xie Fei was only a concubine, not a marquise, and had no right to go with him, so she waited for news in the mansion.

Fu Yu bit her finger and said nervously, "Miss, will His Majesty kill the man directly?"

Xie Fei asked in surprise: "Is the emperor so cruel in your eyes?"

Fu Yu said worriedly, "The emperor is afraid of Yuan... My Lord, isn't the safest way to kill him with a knife?"

Xie Fei laughed and shook his head.

"If the emperor wants to kill someone, he must have a reason. Our master follows the rules and cannot be faulted. How can he kill him? Besides," Xie Fei paused and continued, "The power of Anyuan Marquis's Mansion is probably beyond your and my imagination."

What made the emperor so fearful was not only his prestige, but also his military power and the huge force that had been rooted in this land since the founding of Dajing.

Even though successive emperors had more or less eliminated it over the past few hundred years, its influence still remained. In addition, the old marquis and General Pei had made great achievements and their prestige in the court and among the people was extremely high.

Sometimes Xie Fei would think, no matter how low-key and cautious the Anyuan Marquisate was, with this force around, how could Emperor Xuan not be afraid?
Another two hours passed before Pei Yuan returned.

Xie Fei would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, and immediately asked, "Does His Majesty suspect you?"

Pei Yuan said with great joy: "I have inherited your true teachings and my acting skills are superb. The emperor has tried to test me many times, but I have always fooled him with my wit."

Xie Fei breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "You were gone for so long, is there something important?"

"When the emperor learned about Xiao Shirong's situation, he asked me to choose a good man from the ladies in the capital and get married today." Pei Yuan had anticipated this early on.

Xie Fei made him some tea and asked curiously, "Whose poor girl are you planning to plant as cannon fodder?"

Pei Yuan had also been thinking about this question, and said, "Most likely they are from the Queen's lineage, looking for someone who seems noble but not outstanding and smart, preferably someone who can muddy the waters of the Anyuan Marquis's Mansion like Xiao Shirong, and serve as a spy."

Xie Fei felt a headache after listening to this, and said: "Although I let you choose, you have little choice. In this case, you might as well pick someone you like. Who knows, you might fall in love with him after a long time, and instigate him to turn against you, and anger the emperor to death."

Pei Yuan stared at her, his eyes gentle and restrained.

"Hasn't A Fei ever thought that this Marquis's wife is none other than you?"

"Me? I'm a concubine, it's hard to be promoted to the first wife."

"You are a noble concubine with a clean status, and your father and brother are officials in the court."

Xie Fei was very self-aware. "If you were still that idle person, it wouldn't be considered high-class for me to be your legal wife. But now that you are the Marquis of Anyuan, I am no longer worthy of you." It's not that she feels humble, but that she is in power and attaches great importance to status.

The concubine's daughter of a fifth-rank official could only become a concubine after being granted marriage. Wouldn't it be a joke for her to want to be the wife of a super-rank military marquis?
So from the beginning, she didn't think she had that chance.

Pei Yuan asked again, "Don't you want to fight for it?"

Xie Fei looked at him and said deeply: "No matter how unwilling a woman is to fight for something, she will never be willing to be a concubine."

Everyone would fight for the chance to become the legal wife, but Xie Fei knew that fighting was in vain.

From the day she became a concubine, she no longer dared to have any illusions about many things.

Pei Yuan stopped forcing him and simply closed his eyes to rest. Xie Fei did not disturb him and just read quietly beside him.

The next day, portraits of many ladies were sent to the palace.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to look at them, so he handed the pile of portraits to Xie Fei to choose from, and watched the fun from the side.

Xie Fei also wanted to choose a mistress who was easy to get along with, so he paid special attention to it.

"The legitimate daughter of Duke Zhou? This Duke doesn't seem to be in the capital, and left the center of power long ago. I really don't know much about his daughter not being in the capital."

Since you don’t understand his character, just forget it.

Picking up another one, Xie Fei's eyes lit up, "This is really a great beauty, so dazzling and bright, and she is also the daughter of an important official. It is said in the capital that she is virtuous and gentle, and she is also a famous talented woman."

Seeing that she seemed to be about to knock on the coffin to make her final decision, Pei Yuan's expression changed slightly, but before his eyes touched the person in the painting, Xie Fei rolled up the portrait and put it aside.

"Forget it, you don't deserve it."

Pei Yuan: “…”

A whole morning passed, and after looking at half of the portraits, I didn't even find a candidate.

Fu Yu brought another pile and said, "Miss, don't you even look down on one?"

Xie Fei tapped her head with the scroll, "What nonsense are you talking about? It's not that I look down on you, but our master's character is not worthy of these virtuous beauties."

Fu Yu's lips moved but no words came out.

She thought to herself, it was okay in the past, but now Pei Yuan is a real marquis, handsome and young, how can he not be worthy of her?
But seeing that Xie Fei looked strange, she didn't dare to say it out loud.

Throughout the day, Xie Fei rejected all the portraits.

She said to Pei Yuan seriously, "Ask the palace to send some more, don't ruin the daughter of a good family."

Pei Yuan asked meaningfully: "You don't like any of them?"

Xie Fei said: "It's not that I don't like it. After all, in the future, I will definitely spend more time with the mistress than you two will spend with each other."

Rather than finding a wife for Pei Yuan, he focused more on finding a good leader for himself.

Pei Yuan raised his hand slightly, signaling his servants to put away all the scrolls.

He looked at Xie Fei and said with a half-smile: "A Fei, you've been tired all day. Thank you for your hard work. But I already have a candidate in mind, so you don't need to bother the palace anymore."

The smile on Xie Fei's lips faded slightly.

"Who do you... like?"

Pei Yuan just smiled and hooked a strand of black hair on her shoulder behind her ear.

"Of course it is." Facing Xie Fei's complicated gaze, he paused deliberately and said with a smile: "Secret."

(End of this chapter)