Chapter 62
Chapter 62
“Weiwei understands. On what day am I to go to Princess Jin’an’s residence?” Xing Shuwei asked.
Lady Pei froze. She had expected Xing Shuwei to refuse.
“Return and prepare for now. Once an imperial physician has examined you and confirmed that you have fully recovered, someone from Princess Jin’an’s residence will come to collect you,” Lady Pei said evenly.
“Yes.” Xing Shuwei obediently agreed.
Lady Pei found her an eyesore and waved her away.
Xing Shuwei had only just left Panlin Court when she encountered Matron Xing from Dowager Lady Pei’s side.
Smiling broadly, Matron Xing said, “Miss Xing, this servant has been waiting here especially for you.
“Dowager Lady Pei has longed day and night for you to recover, and at last you have.
“She has been so worried about you these past few days that she could not even sleep.”
After speaking, Matron Xing gestured invitingly toward Mingshou Court.
Xing Shuwei nodded slightly and followed her there.
Dowager Lady Pei waited beneath the veranda. Seeing Xing Shuwei enter the courtyard from afar, she called affectionately, “Weiwei.”
A smile rose on Xing Shuwei’s face as well. Playing along politely, she greeted, “Dowager Lady Pei.”
“At last, you have survived your hardships and made something of yourself. If you had told me earlier that Jing’er had feelings for you, wouldn’t your Great-Aunt have known what to do?” Dowager Lady Pei took her hand and led her inside.
“I have something for you.”
She seated Xing Shuwei before a sandalwood dressing table and pulled two land deeds from a drawer.
“This is the deed to your family’s old residence in Qizhou, and this is the deed to the tea estate.
“I was only keeping them safe for you before. Now that you are about to settle down, I am returning them to you.”
Xing Shuwei accepted them and opened them for inspection.
They were indeed the deeds belonging to her family.
In an ordinary household, these two deeds could keep three generations fed and clothed without worry.
But compared with the Xing family’s vast holdings, they were no more than a drop in the ocean.
Dowager Lady Pei wanted to use them to erase everything she had done before.
Yet she did not mention the remaining property or the dowry Xing Shuwei’s mother had left her.
“You have gone to such trouble on my behalf, Dowager Lady Pei.” Xing Shuwei tucked the deeds into her clothes.
“You have something else to say to Weiwei, don’t you? Please speak plainly.”
Dowager Lady Pei looked at her lovingly. “This is why Weiwei is so endearing. No matter whose side you are at, you are as comforting as a warm little coat.
“No wonder Jing’er is smitten with you. Never mind a high-ranking concubine-I believe you are fit even to be his principal wife.”
Only after showering her with compliments did she finally reach the point. “Weiwei, for the sake of family, secure an official post for your Fourth Uncle!”
She had long wanted to obtain an official position for her own son.
Pei Congxian favored some brothers over others, providing ample help to his other two brothers.
Yet he ignored his fourth brother, who shared his father but not his mother.
She had emptied even her savings for burial expenses into Panlin Court, but still failed to obtain so much as a minor office for her own son.
Heaven had taken pity on them. At last, the Xing family had produced someone as capable as Xing Shuwei.
In only four years, she had firmly secured the most formidable man in the Pei family in her grasp.
Dowager Lady Pei felt that after bowing her head all her life, she could finally hold it high.
“Weiwei is terrified.” Xing Shuwei raised her eyes, the smile disappearing from her face. “How could Weiwei possess such ability?”
Dowager Lady Pei paused, then smiled. “It would take only a word from Jing’er. All you need to do is whisper in his ear when you share his pillow. He treasures you like the apple of his eye now.”
“If anyone else heard those words, Dowager Lady Pei, they could bring disaster upon the entire Duke’s estate.”
Only then did Dowager Lady Pei realize that this little wretch was putting on airs with her!
She cursed inwardly but did not dare reveal the slightest displeasure.
Xing Shuwei changed tack. “Speaking of family, Weiwei’s parents died young. Now that Weiwei is to marry, I can only rely on Dowager Lady Pei for my dowry.”
This time, Dowager Lady Pei truly struggled to maintain her expression.
The money used to distribute porridge and purchase medicine for the refugees in Xing Shuwei’s name had all passed through her hands.
Although it had belonged to the siblings to begin with, Dowager Lady Pei was still heartsick because it had not been spent on herself.
How had she never realized that this little wretch was so greedy for wealth and profit?
Forget it. What could matter more than her son’s future?
Once he held office, taking a wife would become easier, and he would no longer need to eye that twice-married woman of the Zhang clan who had been repudiated and sent home.
“Of course I have thought of it. I regard you as my own granddaughter,” Dowager Lady Pei said, forcing a smile once more.
Xing Shuwei pressed, “Then how much dowry has my dear Great-Aunt prepared for me?”
Dowager Lady Pei raised one finger. “A full thousand taels.”
Xing Shuwei’s eyes curved with her smile.
Seeing her expression, Dowager Lady Pei assumed she was pleased and immediately ordered Matron Xing to fetch the banknotes.
Xing Shuwei stopped her and said bluntly, “You may keep everything else as a gift of thanks from us siblings.
“But the dowry my mother left me is my only keepsake of her.
“If Dowager Lady Pei wishes to obtain what she wants, then return every item of my mother’s dowry to me.”
“Surely Weiwei does not need to write another copy of the dowry inventory for you?”
Dowager Lady Pei’s mouth fell open, but she could not produce a single word for a long while.
Xing Shuwei had no intention of staying. “Weiwei is in no hurry. I will wait patiently for your answer.
“I will take my leave.”
Xing Shuwei had only been back at Qianchen Pavilion for a short while when Gao Li came to summon her.
At Qiansheng Pavilion, Pei Xianjing had already changed into a moon-white robe and sat in the study with its doors open.
“Brother Jing.” She stepped inside. “Why did you return so early?”
Pei Xianjing turned and beckoned. She immediately nestled into his arms.
He wrapped one arm around Xing Shuwei’s waist and raised the other to caress her cheek.
She did not evade him in the slightest.
Feeling her compliance, Pei Xianjing narrowed his eyes slightly.
She had never behaved this way before.
This was what Pei Xianjing had always wanted, yet now that she truly behaved this way, unease stirred in his heart instead.
“What? Were you hoping I would be delayed outside a while longer so you could enjoy some peace?” Pei Xianjing looked down at her.
“Of course not.” Xing Shuwei tilted her head against his shoulder. “I was afraid the Emperor would make things difficult for you, suspend your duties, and confine you at home.”
Pei Xianjing crooked a finger and brushed it down the bridge of her straight nose. “Such a minor matter would not lead to that.”
“I will have Gao Li pack your things. Move here tonight, all right?” he asked.
Xing Shuwei blinked. “Will there not even be a ceremony to take me as a concubine? Won’t you choose an auspicious day?
“Brother Jing said he would not wrong me. Is this what you mean by not wronging me?”
Her coy complaint delighted Pei Xianjing. He lowered his head and kissed her tender cheek. “All right, all right. I was too impatient.”
Xing Shuwei said nothing.
She wondered inwardly whether complying with him at every turn might finally make him lower his guard around her.
Pei Xianjing continued, “We’ll do as you say and choose an auspicious day for the ceremony. I will seek good fortune with you.
“But tonight, you will sleep here. All right?”