The affairs of the Pei household—Pei Yue had helped her mother manage them since she was very young. Two days prior, when the edict of betrothal arrived at the Pei residence, her mother had fallen ill from anger, which was why Pei Lei had come to deliver the message to Pei Yue.
Pei Yue removed the face cloth from her face, her thoughts drifting for a moment. She had no particular impression of the Zhang family that Pei Lei mentioned; she only remembered that someone had come to propose a match some time ago, but she hadn't even met them before her father had refused. She later learned that the suitor was the son of a sixth-rank record keeper.
"What unspeakable thing did they say that they need to come to the Pei family to beg for a way out?" Pei Yue's skin was fair and smooth, and her long, slender brows furrowed in slight confusion.
Pei Lei did not conceal anything and told her everything he had uncovered. "Yesterday, a servant from Princess Jing'an's estate dragged Zhang Qianyuan to the authorities and reported him. He had spoken such treasonous words that he was immediately locked up by the prefectural office, and Old Master Zhang was also detained in the imperial prison, awaiting the Emperor's judgment."
Pei Yue listened carefully to Pei Lei's words, but instead of getting angry, she let out a light chuckle. "Publicly mocking the Crown Prince—that's spitting in the face of the imperial family. Not even the Jade Emperor himself could save the Zhang family. You said Old Master Zhang is in custody, so the Zhang estate must be surrounded. Yet Madam Zhang managed to escape and come to our residence—she must have slipped out. Go back and tell her that she's come to the wrong place. The Pei family doesn't have the ability to save anyone."
Pei Lei nodded in agreement and, after leaving the room, quickened his pace considerably.
Bizhu watched Pei Lei's retreating figure from the doorway and muttered indignantly, "Miss, the Zhang family is utterly shameless. It would already be generous of the Pei family not to kick them while they're down, yet they still have the nerve to come begging for help."
Pei Yue pressed lip balm to her lips before the mirror, the peach-red color making her skin appear even fairer. Having come to some clarity the night before, she wasn't affected by the Zhang family's troubles and smiled lightly. "Madam Zhang knows that if she just sat at home waiting, Zhang Qianyuan would surely die, and Old Master Zhang would fall along with him. So she might as well take a gamble. But the prefectural magistrate sent people to surround the Zhang estate, and yet Madam Zhang still managed to slip out—someone must have let her through. Have Uncle Linfeng follow Madam Zhang. This matter is probably not so simple."
Bizhu was startled, but her mistress was never wrong, so she hurried out to arrange it.
Meanwhile, in the main hall, when Madam Zhang heard that the Pei family was unwilling to help and that Pei Lei was asking her to leave, her smile immediately turned to fury.
"I thought you were decent, honorable people! I never imagined you were cold-hearted vipers!" Madam Zhang's hair was slightly disheveled, dark circles under her eyes, and she refused to leave so easily. "Regardless, my Qianyuan was guided by Lord Pei—a teacher is half a father. If you refuse to help him in his time of need, aren't you afraid that in the dead of night, my son will come to the Pei residence to demand your lives?"
Pei Lei's hands trembled with anger. It was the Zhang family who had spoken recklessly. Even if the Pei family was displeased with the betrothal, that was a matter kept within their own hearts—outwardly, the Crown Prince was the Pei family's future son-in-law. Zhang Qianyuan's insults against the Crown Prince had also dragged the Pei family into public ridicule. Not only did the Zhang family show no remorse, but they had the audacity to come and act arrogant at the Pei residence. Pei Lei's brows knitted tightly as he turned to call for servants to throw Madam Zhang out.
Madam Zhang came from a minor official's family and had grown up in the marketplace, carrying a streak of shrewish boldness in her bones. Seeing two maids approaching, she shoved them aside and burst into earth-shaking wails. "My poor, ill-fated son…"
"Madam Zhang, you'd best stop your shouting." A sharp rebuke cut off Madam Zhang's hysterics.
Pei Yue, fearing that Lady Zhang would not leave easily, decided to go check on things. To her surprise, her prediction proved correct. "Now that the Zhang residence is surrounded by the prefectural office, yet you managed to slip out—if the Pei family were not being lenient, you would already have been sent to the authorities by now. If you are wise, you should hurry back, lest the Zhang family incur yet another charge."
When Pei Yue was not smiling, her natural authority was enough to intimidate. Though Lady Zhang was older than Pei Yue, she felt a chill in her heart when meeting Pei Yue's gaze. But for the sake of her son, Lady Zhang still wanted to speak of how deeply her son cared for Pei Yue. Yet the moment she opened her mouth, Pei Yue ordered someone to report her to the authorities, and Lady Zhang fled in fright.
After Lady Zhang left, Pei Lei said in frustration, "Miss, since you knew Lady Zhang had slipped out secretly, why did you let her go?"
"I want to see who let her out of the Zhang residence," Pei Yue said.
Pei Lei suddenly understood. Seeing how composed and unruffled his young mistress was, he could not help but admire her. Then he felt a pang of regret—if only the Crown Prince had been a bit more capable, his young mistress would have been more than qualified to be Crown Princess.
In fact, Pei Yue's guess was exactly right.
After leaving the Pei residence, Lady Zhang did not return to the Zhang household. Instead, she went to meet someone else.
Lin Feng was a veteran shadow guard of the Pei family. With his face covered, he immediately seized two people, interrogated them separately to obtain results, then dumped Lady Zhang back at the Zhang residence and brought the person who had met with Lady Zhang back to the Pei household.
After finding his young mistress, Lin Feng immediately reported what he had uncovered.
It turned out that Prince Shou had been instigating Lady Zhang from behind the scenes, promising that if she entangled Pei Yue, he would help Zhang Qianyuan escape his predicament. Prince Shou's goal was also clear—to ruin Pei Yue's reputation. Ideally, he would add fuel to the fire by claiming that Pei Yue and Zhang Qianyuan had long been involved, then leak the news to the emperor, and the betrothal between Pei Yue and the Crown Prince would most likely be called off.
But in doing so, Pei Yue would be utterly disgraced, and no one in the capital would dare marry her. Then Prince Shou would come to the Pei residence to express his affections, proving his deep love for Pei Yue, and thereby win her hand.
"Despicable scoundrel!" Bizhu's eyes blazed with fury. "And to think I once praised Prince Shou—I never imagined he could be such a person. Isn't he just pushing our young mistress into a pit?"
Lin Feng's expression turned grave as he nodded in agreement. "Miss, this matter should be reported to the master, shouldn't it?" After all, since it involved Prince Shou, it was a serious affair.
"It should be reported," Pei Yue said. But thinking of how Prince Shou had schemed against her, she felt deeply aggrieved. What did he take her for? If open means failed, he resorted to underhanded tricks—truly unscrupulous. "But Father is still at court, so it will be evening before I can speak with him. I cannot hold in this anger for that long. Prince Shou prides himself on being noble and upright, praised by all—so let's just send this man you captured directly to the Eastern Palace."
The Prefect of the capital was a man of the Pei family. If the man were sent to the prefectural office, the Prefect investigating Prince Shou would be the same as the Pei family investigating him. And since the Pei family had never involved themselves in the struggle for succession, acting rashly would only bring trouble upon them.
Lin Feng hesitated. "Is sending him to the Eastern Palace feasible?"
Pei Yue said thoughtfully, "Deliver him quietly without anyone knowing. Bring the man's confession along, and let's see how the Crown Prince handles it."
The two strategies her parents had discussed last night were still echoing in Pei Yue's mind. At this point, she wasn't trying to test the Crown Prince—she was simply… displeased. If it weren't for the Crown Prince, why would she have so many troubles? So she thought she'd toss the problem back to him. Besides, she wanted to see his reaction. His own younger brother trying to cuckold him—even a clay figurine would have some temper.
For a task like this, Lin Feng was more than capable. He immediately hoisted the man onto his shoulder and headed out of the estate toward the Eastern Palace.
Not long after Lin Feng dumped the man at the Eastern Palace, someone discovered him.
Tingshu grabbed the confession and hurried to find his master. The moment he entered the study, he fumed, "Your Highness, Prince Shou is trying to steal from under your nose again!"
Li Chang'an was holding a policy essay, reading at a critical moment. Startled by Tingshu's outburst, he furrowed his long brows, a trace of irritation flickering across his cool, handsome face. But after reading the confession, a faint ripple stirred his dark brows, and he said with a half-smile, "This Miss Pei—she truly is an interesting one."