Chapter 62: The Brother and Sister Discuss the Marriage Storm

  "Brother said that this girl is not an ordinary person? Then if we take her in, won't we invite trouble?" Daiyu hastily asked Lin Zhixuan.

  Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait until I see her before we talk. The Pei family is of imperial envoy descent, and judging from the girl's clothes and demeanor, she's probably the daughter of Lord Pei. However, I just sent someone to inquire, and it turns out that there are five young ladies in the Pei household, two of whom are legitimate daughters - I don't know which one has come to our house."

  Daiyu turned to face Yanqiu and said: "You take the young master and miss to the inner room to play, and have someone check on that girl's condition. If she's cleaned up, let her come in, I want to meet with Grandfather." After everyone in the central hall had dispersed, Daiyu continued to ask: "Brother, do you know what kind of family the Pei family is? What big event happened that they were completely ruined?"

  Lin Zhiyuan didn't answer, but instead stood up and walked to the door of Xue Qi's room. Seeing the two little ones playing, he made a gesture with his eyes at Yan Rong who was sitting on the couch, then quietly closed the door. Turning back to his seat, he finally spoke: "As for the Pei family matter, I didn't expect it would come so soon either. Little sister, do you still remember that two days ago I went to Lord Tong's place?"

  How could Daiyu forget this matter? On that day, she herself said that she would give her beloved "Shu Su Tie" to her brother to send to Tong Taifu.

  "That day, several students from the Tong Mansion were talking to the adults when suddenly, Taifu was called out by a servant. I ordered Han Sheng to go and find out what happened, only to learn that it was Xianyuan Junzhu's son who had broken Pei's leg. I thought this was just a consequence of the struggle between the Emperor and the King of Zhongshun, but I didn't expect Your Majesty to take action so quickly, punishing Pei within days."

  Daiyu thought for a moment and said: "It seems that in this round, the Emperor has the upper hand?"

  Zhiyuan's face was heavy, and he replied: "Indeed, the King of Zhongshun is old, while the Emperor is in his prime, with many growing princes below him. In contrast, the King of Zhongshun has always had difficulty producing offspring, except for his eldest son, only a few sickly children remain. The Pei family is just the Emperor's first move, and it's likely that more powerful families will be drawn into this conflict in the future."

  "Are you afraid, brother?"

  Lin Zhiyuan grasped the teacup tightly in his hand, gazing intently at a tender bud floating on the water's surface. "It's precisely this chaotic situation that makes it the perfect time to place a bet."

  Although Daiyu was more intelligent and knowledgeable than ordinary women, she still couldn't understand the determination of men who would risk everything on a single throw. "Brother," she was about to persuade him again when Xiangyun led in the new maid they had just bought.

  "Old master, young lady, this is the one from just now, she's been cleaned up from head to toe." Zi Juan pushed the girl with her head lowered in front of Dai Yu and the others.

  A pink silk blouse, a white long skirt. Daiyu spoke up and said: "Lift your head." Upon taking a look, it was indeed a beautiful young woman, the dirt on her face had disappeared, and she looked fresh and clean. It's likely that the Pei family had just been punished, so the women hadn't suffered too much of an impact before being dragged out onto the streets to be sold. Naturally, they still retained their delicate beauty, but if they were truly imprisoned for ten days or half a month, even the most beautiful woman would become disheveled and worn out.

  Zi Juan pulled on the sleeve of a girl from the Pei family, "Quickly go pay respects to our master and mistress."

  The young lady of the Pei family did not hesitate for a moment, and directly knelt on the ground. "Ming Nu, I have seen Master and Mistress, thank you for saving my life." Her hands didn't know where to put them, and her voice was hoarse when she called herself a slave, almost crying out loud.

  Daiyu felt a slight pang of sympathy in her heart and said, "Qingwen, help her up quickly. Although the Lin family is not extremely wealthy or noble, they value poetry and books, and place great importance on etiquette and moral teachings, without being overly demanding of their subordinates. You don't have to address yourself as a slave or servant either. By the way, what was your original name?"

  "My life was saved by the young lady and the master, if it weren't for the two of you, I would have ended up who-knows-where. Please let me take your names, from now on I will cut off all past ties and devote myself to serving the two of you."

  Zhiyuan carelessly used the tea lid to scoop away the floating leaves, "Lord Pei's five precious pearls in the palm of his hand, I wonder which house you come from?"

  The woman of the Pei family lifted her head, her eyes gentle and seemingly without any concealment: "I am the second in line, born to my aunt."

  "Oh? I heard that Lord Pei has taken a concubine, who is the daughter of the old proprietor of Jing Tong Express Bureau?"

  The woman's heart almost jumped into her throat, secretly relieved that she hadn't lied and had acknowledged her identity. Today, she rushed out of the crowd, knowing she couldn't escape far, hoping to find a wealthy family passing by, just to temporarily take shelter. Just as she saw the luxurious carriage with green screens, this must be the vehicle of some wealthy family, so she knelt down in front of it with a desperate idea, and sure enough, the owner was kind-hearted and saved her. As soon as she entered the house, she glanced around casually and saw that the two masters of the Lin family were both young, but how did they immediately point out her identity as soon as they opened their mouths? Her mind was a bit flustered, and she hastily said: "What you said, sir, is indeed my aunt."

  Lin Zhiyuan's voice suddenly rose, "Serving the young lady safely and steadily is your good fortune. The Lin family will not treat you unfairly in the future. If I find out that you have any evil intentions, I suppose you know the consequences." Lin Zhiyuan then said to Daiyu, "Little sister, give her a new name. To outsiders, just say she's a little girl bought from a slave trader, don't mention today's events."

  Daiyu also agreed: "Let's just call her Peilan, then. Zijuan, you arrange for her to live in a room first. By the way, is this dress yours? I seem to have seen it before."

  "Isn't it just the two pieces of fabric that the young lady gave me last year? I haven't worn them much, so I'll lend them to her first. The only problem is that we still don't have a settled place to live, Xueyan and Chunxian are living together, Bidi and Chunrui are sharing one room, and Xiangshan's place can't spare any space either." Zijuan said with concern.

  Baolan is a newcomer, naturally she's an example of the third class, not as good as Xiangshan and the others. If she were to live with these four, there wouldn't be enough space, so they could move to Xueyan's place, but Baolan isn't qualified for that either. It would be annoying to have to promote one of the maids from the third class. Daiyu thought for a moment, "Zijuan, go tell Xiangshan to move to Xueyan's place and from now on, let her take over the second-class allowance, and let Baolan take Xiangshan's position. I think there are still some light-colored fabrics in my trunk, you can find them later and make her a suitable dress to wear, it's not good to always pick on you guys."

  Purple Cuckoo led Peilan, who was full of gratitude, to the side room. Daiyu gazed at her back, lost in thought, "Brother, what kind of person is Peilan, anyway? If you say she's a noble lady, there's something petty about her; if you say she's not, then she has an exceptionally good appearance."

  Lin Zhiyuan burst out laughing: "Sister, what you said doesn't make sense. Is it related to family background? The madam of the Pei family hates concubines and mistresses the most, but Lord Pei has four wives. Because of this, the illegitimate daughters of the Pei family are not easy to marry off. You don't need to be too close to her, just let Yanzhuo assign some tasks for her to do." Zhiyuan thought for a moment and lowered his voice, "Today at the princess's place, were you scared?"

  Daiyu leaned forward slightly and asked hastily: "What's going on? Brother doesn't know, does he, Princess Huiyi?"

  Lin Zhiyuan waved his hand, "As long as you understand, sister. Today's matter, Young Master Hou was furious, and the Long Princess's mansion almost had a big disturbance. I saw that the situation wasn't right, so I hurried back. The Long Princess may still send people over in the next few days, just push everything to me, don't show your face, and I'll also instruct Sheng Yiniang."

  This was clearly a case of "words with hidden meaning", and Lin Daiyu naturally understood that her brother wanted her to keep away from the Rongguo household, but what was the reason?

  Lin Zhiyuan didn't want to hide it from her either. Daiyu was a girl who liked to get to the bottom of things, and if she had something on her mind, she might just sulk and not say anything. It's better to be open and honest about it, so everyone can have a way to deal with it. He told Daiyu: "After you went to the princess's place today, I was summoned by Empress Dowager to the Upper Palace. She kept asking me about your temperament and preferences, and I felt that something was off. Strict Auntie was there at the time, but she couldn't convey any information to me. Later, when something happened at the princess's place, Empress Dowager finally gave up."

  Daiyu felt a chill in her heart and knew that something was amiss, otherwise her brother would not have instructed her so earnestly. She hastily asked: "Does the Princess of Huiyue have any brothers born out of wedlock?"

  Daiyu's question left Zhiyan with a look of surprise on her face, which was soon replaced by loud laughter. "Sister, you are indeed gifted with exceptional intelligence! If you were a man, you would surely become a pillar of the state!"

  "Brother, you're still teasing me at a time like this, I'm going to die of anxiety," Daiyu said with a pout, "Quickly, tell me, is it or not?"

  "Not bad," Lin Zhiyuan suppressed the smile that had just appeared and said seriously, "I didn't think about it at first, but later I heard that the county lord's daughter was beaten by her half-brother. That's when I started to suspect that the Empress Dowager is looking for a relative for her illegitimate child due to internal conflicts in the palace."

  Lin Daiyu's pretty face turned pale with fright, and Zhiyuan hastily consoled her: "This is just our speculation, it may not necessarily come true. Even if Princess Long really had that idea, sister only needs to be at ease, brother has already thought of a plan, and will definitely not let sister suffer any injustice."

  "What good way can Brother have?" Daiyu said sorrowfully, "The Empress Dowager is very majestic and is also the Emperor's most beloved sister. If she wants to do something, who in the world can stop her? Brother must not act rashly, lest you ruin your future."

  "Little sister, don't worry too much. Just listen to my plan and you'll understand. From today on, our family will close its doors and decline all visitors, saying that I need to focus on my studies. Our family is still in the mourning period, so even if the Empress Dowager has such thoughts, she won't bring it up before next spring. By then, the imperial exams will be approaching, and if I can achieve a good ranking, the Empress Dowager will be constrained by this and absolutely won't make you marry her illegitimate son."

  It's come to this, I can only listen to brother's words and take things one step at a time.