Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Let the Ugly Girl Handle the Estate Affairs! "Calm yourself, Madam. This old servant is still investigating. We can't even get through the door, so it's very difficult to determine who's behind this!" "This is outrageous!" Madam Pei never expected that in just a few days of not playing mahjong, her estate would be forcibly occupied. This was right under the emperor's nose—was there no law anymore? The steward also found the matter suspicious. How could a perfectly good estate be seized by someone out of nowhere? And the key issue was that the identity of the culprit was still unknown. Who would dare to lay a hand on the Pei family's property? Though the Pei family was no longer as prosperous as in its heyday, it was still a distinguished clan. As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse—the Pei family was not comparable to those petty households. "This old servant is investigating, but our belongings have all been smashed to pieces. Madam, you may not be able to visit the estate for the time being." "Steward, investigate this immediately. That estate was a gift from Jia Qingcheng. How could something go wrong with it?" Jia Qingcheng... That's right, why hadn't she thought of that! "Steward!" "At your command, Madam." "Send someone to the Jia residence at once to inform Jia Qingcheng and ask her what this is all about. Why has the estate she gifted me been seized by someone? Tell her to go there immediately and resolve this matter. If she fails to handle it properly, don't blame me for being angry with her. In the future, if she still wishes to marry my son as a widow, I will have to reconsider the matter." Madam Pei naturally held no fondness for the ugly girl Jia Qingcheng. If it weren't for the fact that she pestered her son relentlessly, and that her son was too kind-hearted to abandon his betrothed, she wouldn't even want to give Jia Qingcheng the position of a concubine. She was too ugly. Bringing her out would disgrace the family's reputation. Even relatives and friends mocked the matter behind their backs, and she had to endure such humiliation. However, considering that Jia Qingcheng was the daughter of the Jia family and would bring countless secret formulas and wealth as her dowry, she turned a blind eye to it. If Jia Qingcheng were utterly useless and couldn't bring glory and benefits to the Pei family, she would never allow such an ugly widow to enter their doors. The Pei family might not be as prosperous as before, but it was still a distinguished clan, and her son was the legitimate heir. Even for a concubine, they would choose a woman from a respectable family with a comely appearance. That Jia Qingcheng could marry her son as a concubine was already a blessing accumulated by her ancestors. "This old servant will see to it at once." Just as the steward was about to turn and leave, he caught sight of the young master returning. Pei Wuliang had just reprimanded Jia Qingcheng and was in a foul mood. Now seeing the steward in such a hurry, what was going on? "The young master has returned." "Steward, what's the matter?" "Young master, you'd best ask Madam about this. It's quite a mess." After the steward hurried away, Pei Wuliang quickly walked to Madam Pei's side. "Mother, I'm back." "Wuliang, you're back. Why do you look so pale? Haven't you been resting well?" Madam Pei was deeply concerned for her son and immediately instructed the matron to prepare ginseng soup. "Go bring the young master the freshly made ginseng soup to restore his vitality." "Mother, I don't want any. The steward just rushed in—what happened?" It would have been better if he hadn't asked. At the mention of it, Madam Pei let out a cold snort. "Don't even get me started. For some unknown reason, someone broke into my estate outside the city, threw out everything we had stored there, and smashed it all to pieces!" "Mother, that's impossible. That estate was a gift from Qingcheng. How could outsiders have broken in? I'll go at once and see who dares to cause trouble for the Pei family!" With that, Pei Wuliang prepared to leave the residence and personally go to the outskirts of the city to see who was so audacious as to seize their estate. When he caught those people, he would show no mercy! "Wuliang, come back. There's no need for you to trouble yourself over such a trivial matter. I've already instructed the steward to have that ugly girl handle it." Ugly girl... Pei Wuliang rubbed his nose. "Mother, don't call her that. She's going to be my concubine in the future. She has a name!" "Qingcheng, is it? Master and Madam Jia are truly strange. Why would they name her 'Qingcheng' when she's so ugly? Isn't that just inviting ridicule? In what way does their precious daughter possess the beauty to topple a city?" "Alright, Mother. You can mutter these words to yourself, but don't let them spread." "What's there to fear? Isn't it that Jia Qingcheng who insists on marrying you? This time, if you hadn't arranged for her to marry Prince Chu, she probably wouldn't have agreed." That much was true. Pei Wuliang knew that Jia Qingcheng had always loved him. Over the years, the two of them could be said to have grown up together as childhood sweethearts. Although he didn't love Jia Qingcheng, he enjoyed her devotion and affection. He still enjoyed it now, but recently, Qingcheng had been acting more and more strangely. This irritated him somewhat. "Jia Qingcheng will only ever love me. As for Prince Chu..." Pei Wuliang sneered. "He's nothing but a dying man. Prince Chu should have only a few days left. I've already reached an agreement with Noble Consort. As long as Qingcheng marries into his household, the Chu Wangfu will ensure my smooth entry into officialdom. It's just that..." "But he had to find a way to become an Imperial Physician. After all, when he had made the deal with the Noble Consort, he had sworn with confidence that he was already an Imperial Physician. But now, having missed out on the position, if he couldn't secure it, the things the Noble Consort had promised would never come to pass. So, he absolutely had to get Jia Qingcheng to help him win the position of Imperial Physician. "Son, what do you mean 'but'? Could it be that girl Jia Qingcheng isn't willing to go and put in a good word for you with Lord Hu?" Even Mother Pei knew that Lord Hu was fond of Jia Qingcheng and treated her like his own granddaughter. And Lord Hu held great authority in the Imperial Medical Institute. As for her son's failure to be selected, she always felt that Jia Qingcheng had been the one pulling strings behind the scenes. But her son refused to believe that this was true. "How could that be? This time, something must have gone wrong—even Jia Qingcheng didn't see it coming." Madam Pei, however, had her own concerns. "Regardless, you need to coax her for now. Don't try to outdo her at every turn. Once everything is taken care of, she'll have no one to rely on, and in the end, won't she have no choice but to depend on the Pei household to get by?" Pei Wuliang naturally understood his mother's meaning. "Mother is right. Your son understands." "There's one more thing you must promise me." Pei Wuliang frowned. "Mother, what promise?" "Jiaojiao's infertility—did you truly cure it?" Pei Wuliang: "..." "Mother, can you not trust your own son? Of course I cured it. I took Jiaojiao's pulse myself. She's young and beautiful—if she were to be with me, she'd surely give you a big, healthy grandson. When that time comes, you'll just be waiting to hold your eldest grandson." "It had better be so!" "Rest assured, Jiaojiao can bear a son." Madam Pei thought for a moment, then something suddenly occurred to her. "Son, there's one more thing you need to keep an eye out for." "Mother, please instruct me." An inexplicable unease welled up in Madam Pei's heart. The estate outside the city had suddenly run into trouble today, and for some reason, she couldn't quite shake her misgivings about Jia Qingcheng. "Are you certain that after Prince Chu's death, Jia Qingcheng will truly be willing to become a concubine and bring all her wealth back to the Pei household?"