Pei Jinyu cried for quite a while before finally stopping. Pei Jingchuan briefly recounted the events to the Duchess of Guo and Xu Qingyan.
“Thank goodness nothing happened. Today was truly a stroke of luck within misfortune!” The Duchess of Guo said with a lingering sense of fear after listening to Pei Jingchuan’s account.
“This man is so despicable and shameless. Since he failed this time, there’s no telling what methods he might use to harm Jinyu next. We must not let our guard down.” After speaking, Pei Jingchuan discreetly glanced at Xu Qingyan.
He wanted to hear her inner thoughts again, to see what tricks Lin Yanbang might still have up his sleeve. The Duchess of Guo felt the same and pricked up her ears to listen to Xu Qingyan’s thoughts.
【Haha! Lin Yanbang actually failed again this time! He’s failed twice now, and I wonder what scheme he’ll come up with next. He’s not the type to give up easily.】Xu Qingyan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly after hearing Pei Jingchuan’s words.
The Duchess of Guo and Pei Jingchuan were both surprised to hear that she didn’t know what would happen next either.
So they waited a bit longer, but when they didn’t hear Xu Qingyan say anything more, a look of disappointment appeared on both their faces. This, in turn, made Xu Qingyan notice their strange behavior.
“Mother, Young Lord, is something the matter?” Xu Qingyan looked at them with confusion.
Pei Jingchuan coughed awkwardly at her question. “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about something else.”
Pei Jinyu could tell from her mother’s and eldest brother’s expressions that they were worried about her and had been trying to glean some information from Xu Qingyan.
Pei Jinyu also felt guilty about what had happened due to her poor judgment in choosing friends. So she linked her arm through Xu Qingyan’s and assured them, “Mother, eldest brother, don’t worry. I promise to listen to sister-in-law from now on!”
When the Duchess of Guo heard Pei Jinyu say this, a gratified smile spread across her face. She said softly, “I’m glad you understand. From now on, you must listen to your sister-in-law’s words.”
The Duchess of Guo was now extremely pleased with Xu Qingyan. After all, if not for her, her daughter would have already fallen into that bottomless abyss by now.
Xu Qingyan, meanwhile, looked at the arm linked through hers and muttered under her breath, “Since when did we become so close?”
Pei Jinyu simply smiled at Xu Qingyan in response.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Yanbang was naturally unwilling to give up Pei Jinyu as his patron after his plan had failed. He was just a poor scholar, and his hometown was in a remote mountainous area. Although his family had some assets, those assets were nothing to speak of here in the capital.
Moreover, he knew that with his level of learning, he could barely scrape by to pass the metropolitan examination. His official career would be a long and arduous road. If he could attach himself to the Duke’s Estate, his future would surely be one of meteoric rise.
So, after he came out of the pigpen, he immediately went to find Xu Qingyue and asked her to go explain things on his behalf before Pei Jinyu.
Xu Qingyue was initially unwilling, but Lin Yanbang told her that if he could marry Pei Jinyu, once he rose through the ranks, he would definitely work to advance her and Pei Jingyuan’s interests.
Xu Qingyue thought about Lin Yanbang’s words and reasoned that it was better to have a friend than an enemy. If she refused her cousin’s request this time, she would likely incur his resentment. Besides, it would only take a few words of effort. So she agreed.
Thus, Xu Qingyue brought the gifts Lin Yanbang had sent and went to Pei Jinyu’s courtyard.
“Bring me that jade and white jade hairpin, that white jade hair ornament inlaid with red coral, and the peony white jade comb that Aunt Princess gave me. Oh, and also bring out that Floating Light Brocade I just acquired.”
Xu Qingyue had just reached Pei Jinyu’s courtyard when she heard her voice. She stopped in her tracks at the words, thinking to herself, “Those are some fine things! Every year on her birthday, Pei Jinyu gives me something. Could it be that everything she just mentioned is for me!”
With this thought, Xu Qingyue’s joy was written all over her face. She walked in with a smile and said, “Jinyu, sister is here to see you.”
Pei Jinyu didn’t even notice her and continued searching for her things in the room.
When Xu Qingyue saw that Pei Jinyu was ignoring her, her expression instantly changed. But when she lowered her gaze and saw the Floating Light Brocade shimmering under the light, a hint of desire crept into her eyes.
She reached out and touched the Floating Light Brocade, then smiled again. “Jinyu, this fabric of yours is absolutely gorgeous!”
This time, Pei Jinyu did hear her voice. Seeing her still touching the Floating Light Brocade, she quickly stepped forward, snatched it from her hands, and carefully put it away. “Sister Qingyue, please don’t touch it anymore. You might damage it. This Floating Light Brocade is meant as a gift for my sister-in-law.”
“What? You’re giving it to Xu Qingyan?” Xu Qingyue couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
She looked at Pei Jinyu in disbelief and asked, “Sister Jinyu, isn’t this meant for me?”
Hearing Xu Qingyue’s words, Pei Jinyu said with some displeasure, “Sister Qingyue, you must be joking. This was always meant to be a gift for my sister-in-law.”
Xu Qingyue felt as if she had been struck on the head, her mind buzzing, and the emotions in her heart surged up uncontrollably.
Standing nearby, Pei Jinyu saw the gloomy expression on Xu Qingyue’s face after hearing her words—it was the first time she had ever seen such a look. She couldn’t help but say, “Sister Qingyue, perhaps you should head back for now. I’m not in a position to entertain you today.”
Hearing Pei Jinyu’s words, Xu Qingyue immediately understood that she was being dismissed.
Unwilling to give up, Xu Qingyue spoke directly, “Sister Jinyu, didn’t you used to dislike her quite a bit? What happened to make you treat her so well?”
“What happened before was all a misunderstanding on my part. My sister-in-law is a good person. This time, I really owe her—if not for her, I would have been in serious trouble,” Pei Jinyu answered seriously.
Owe her? Hearing this, Xu Qingyue thought to herself, could it be that Xu Qingyan had interfered and caused her cousin’s plan to fail? With that thought, she became even more determined to help Lin Yanbang.
So Xu Qingyue began to explain to Pei Jinyu, “Sister Jinyu, this time you’ve truly misunderstood my cousin. He genuinely likes you. The wife he has at home was forced upon him by his parents. He doesn’t like her, and that child of hers isn’t even his. My cousin is a good man.”
“Sister Qingyue, I saw all of this with my own eyes. How can you still speak up for him?” Pei Jinyu asked in disbelief after hearing Xu Qingyue’s words.
“I originally thought this was all Lin Yanbang’s doing alone, and that Xu Qingyue had no knowledge of it. But now it seems, since Xu Qingyue came here to speak for him, she must know something,” Pei Jinyu thought to herself, beginning to doubt her own judgment.
“Sister Jinyu, sometimes what you see with your own eyes isn’t necessarily the truth…” Xu Qingyue tried to explain further, but Pei Jinyu couldn’t bear to listen anymore. Seeing Xu Qingyue like this, she found her somewhat detestable and had her thrown out.
Pei Jinyu couldn’t help but recall what her sister-in-law had said earlier about Xu Qingyue deceiving her—it seemed to be true.
This was the first time Xu Qingyue had been treated this way by Pei Jinyu. She stormed out of Pei Jinyu’s courtyard, cursing Xu Qingyan in her heart. On her way back, she unexpectedly ran into Xu Qingyan, who was coming from the other end of the corridor.
Xu Qingyan naturally saw Xu Qingyue as well. She muttered to herself about the bad luck and planned to ignore her and walk away. But who would have thought that as she passed by Xu Qingyue, the latter would stick out her foot to trip her, and then try to push her into the lake beneath the corridor.
Xu Qingyan noticed Xu Qingyue’s little scheme and thought to herself, “Oh, so you still want to harm me, do you? I’m not the pushover I used to be! You’ve miscalculated.”
With a cry of “Ah!” from Xu Qingyan, at the moment she was about to fall into the lake, she reached out and grabbed Xu Qingyue’s foot, dragging her down into the water as well.