Chapter 31: Sowing Discord and Reaping the Consequences, Pei Yuan Rong Gets His Just Deserts

  At this moment, a middle-aged noblewoman wearing a crimson embroidered jacket with auspicious longevity patterns and a dark blue eight-panelled skirt spoke up: "Indeed, it should be the Fourth Miss who receives the ladies attending the banquet. Why must we mention this? How could Concubine Zhang possibly order around the legitimate miss? She was trying to cover for someone out of kindness, but ended up getting blamed instead. It's truly difficult to do good deeds!"

  "Whatever for?" said Zhang Yiniang hastily. "It was originally mine to begin with, and I'll apologize to Fourth Miss!" She bowed her head and made a curtsy.

  At this time, making amends would mean directing the spearhead at Pei Yuansong to repay his grudge.

  Someone next to her snickered, "All the ladies are here, they're all seniors, and the young ladies haven't even paid their respects yet. Fourth Miss is already taking someone away? Madame Shouchang is indeed well-versed in etiquette! But it's no wonder, Madame Shouchang and Madam Zhang are from the same root, so their etiquette is naturally different. So, only the two of you understand your own etiquette, others don't understand! Tomorrow, I'll have to invite my family's Wang Niang to come and learn from the two of you!" She covered her mouth with a handkerchief, laughing so hard that she was shaking all over, and the people next to her couldn't help but chuckle too.

  It was originally the heart disease of Madame Shouchangbo, but now it has been exposed in public, and she can't help trembling with anger.

  Mrs. Shouchangbo? Thinking of the relationship between Shouchangbo's mansion and Pei Zhucheng, Pei Yuange didn't want Mrs. Shouchangbo to be too embarrassed, so she picked up the tea next to her and handed it to Mrs. Shouchangbo, smiling: "Mrs. Li, you've talked for so long, aren't you tired? Quickly drink a cup of tea to soothe your throat and tell me some interesting stories about the border? Father said that the sunset there is particularly big, with yellow sand at the foot of the mountain and white snow on top, is it true or was he just teasing me?" As she spoke, she also gave Pei Yuanchao a wink.

  Pei Yuanchao was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses. He stepped forward and stood between Madame Shouchangbo and Madame Li, smiling as he asked: "Madame Shouchangbo, your embroidered pouch is exquisitely done. How did you embroider it?"

  The two sisters pulled them apart from both sides and each jumped into a conversation, distracting the two of them and covering up what had just happened.

  Pei Yuange's intentions were good, but unfortunately, Shouchang Bo's wife didn't appreciate them. Shouchang Bo was an old subordinate of Pei Zhucheng, and both had similar bold personalities. When he heard that Pei Zhucheng intended to marry Pei Yuange to Fu Junsheng, he didn't decline and went back to tell Shouchang Bo's wife about it. Shouchang Bo's wife, who was originally a concubine but later became the legitimate wife, already felt inferior and when she heard that the other party was Pei Zhucheng's beloved daughter, she felt uneasy, fearing that her future daughter-in-law would bully her after marriage. Therefore, today when they met, she came with a critical mindset, and now seeing Pei Yuange giving Zhang Yun a hard time and trying to curry favor with Li Furen, who was mocking her, made her think even less of this potential daughter-in-law.

  It turned out that Pei Yuanchao was clever and flattering, and she was good at embroidery. She was gentle and obedient, and she was a concubine... The more Madam Shouchang looked at her, the more delighted she became, and her heart moved slightly.

  After a while, when everyone seemed to have forgotten the previous topic, Pei Yuange finally led Pei Yuanqiao to bid farewell to the ladies and took the young misses to the back garden for a stroll. These young misses were mostly legitimate daughters and had always looked down on Pei Yuanrong, a concubine's daughter, only pretending to be polite on the surface. Now that they saw Pei Yuange, who rarely left the house, was so outstanding, they were very curious and surrounded her, chattering non-stop. For a moment, Pei Yuange became the center of attention.

  Seeing this, Pei Yuanyong couldn't help but feel both jealous and resentful. This position of being surrounded by stars and supporting the moon should have been hers, yet it was now snatched away by Pei Yuange!

  Thinking of how to make Pei Yuange lose face, but she had just been punished by her father and Zhang Yun repeatedly reminded her not to take matters into her own hands... Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly saw a girl in a pale green dress on the periphery of the crowd, staring at Pei Yuange with an awkward expression. Her heart skipped a beat, and she squeezed in, shouting loudly: "My fourth sister is definitely better, otherwise how could she win the chess game at Heibai Qi Jianxuan?" Suddenly, as if remembering something, she turned her head to look at the green-dressed girl and shouted, "Miss Yang, I remember you said you would win the chess game at Qi Jianxuan and get the Seven-Colored Luminous Pearl? How about it? Did you lose to my fourth sister after all?"

  That girl was Yang Xiu Xian, and when she heard the three words "Chess Pavilion", her face immediately darkened.

  The Yangning Bo Fu only had this one legitimate daughter, because Yang Xiu Xian was arrogant and overbearing, with a bad temper to boot. The worst part was that she had followed the Yangning Bo in learning martial arts, and her moves were not light or heavy. Once she got angry, she wouldn't care who the other person was, and would first give them a good scolding. But she normally excelled at playing chess, now being surpassed by Pei Yuan Ge, she must be feeling resentful. As long as she was provoked with two sentences, she would turn against Pei Yuan Ge. With Pei Yuan Ge's weak and frail body, he wasn't even half a match for Yang Xiu Xian. When she got beaten until her face was swollen and bruised, let's see if she still dared to be arrogant!

  He couldn't take action himself, but he could make Pei Yuange feel embarrassed. The more Pei Yuanrong thought about it, the smarter she felt, and she deliberately provoked Yang Xiuqin by saying: "Miss Yang, I think from now on, you'd better ask my fourth sister to be your teacher and let her teach you. You'll definitely make progress." Yang Xiuqin was a proud person, how could she tolerate this insult? She would definitely turn against him and take action.

  As expected, Yang Xiu Xian heard the words and rolled up her sleeves to go forward, but was pulled back by her personal maid Autumn Chrysanthemum, shaking her head, indicating that she should not act impulsively.

  As soon as Pei Yuansong praised her, Pei Yuange knew she had other intentions. Looking at the situation now, who wouldn't understand? With a faint smile, she stood up and took Yang Xiu's hand, saying softly: "I've long heard that Sister Yang is highly skilled in chess, and I've been admiring you for a long time. That day at Qiji Xuan, if Sister Yang hadn't hesitated for a moment, who knows who would have won or lost?"

  Yang Xiu Xian was taken aback, on that day at the Chess Pavilion, it was clearly she who arrived first, and Pei Yuan Ge who came later. How could Pei Yuan Ge turn things around like this? Soon, she understood what was happening - Pei Yuan Ge was helping her save face. She had boasted earlier, saying she would definitely win the chess match, but in the end, she lost to Pei Yuan Ge. Because of this, wherever she went these past few days, she couldn't avoid being ridiculed and mocked by others. Now that she heard Pei Yuan Ge covering for her, she felt deeply grateful in her heart. Immediately, she put on a new face and smiled: "Sister Yuan Ge, what are you saying? Your chess skills are so high, even the master of the Chess Pavilion praised you - how could I dare to compare with you?"

  Two people holding hands, you praise me, I praise you, soon become intimate, making everyone look at each other in dismay.

  Everyone knows that Yang Xiu's temper is violent and the most difficult to deal with, but unexpectedly, he also admires and likes Pei Yuange so much? For a moment, everyone looked at Pei Yuange with even more admiration.

  As soon as she saw Pei Yuangong, Yang Xiuqin's heart was calm and peaceful, but immediately heard the provocation in her words. She wanted to use her as a gun? Then let her taste the power of Yang Xiuqin! However, this time at the Pei Mansion, her father had repeatedly instructed her not to provoke Pei Zhoucheng again. After thinking for a moment, she pretended to be careless and walked to Pei Yuangong's side, suddenly "Ah" and pretended to twist her foot, flashing her body and falling onto Pei Yuangong, but secretly giving her a hard punch, causing Pei Yuangong to roll to one side.

  "Third sister be careful—" Pei Yuange exclaimed, rushing forward to support her, but in the darkness, she secretly gave a push, sending Pei Yuanrong out of the pavilion.

  With a loud "splash", accompanied by a shrill cry, Pei Yuanrong fell into the lake...