TGP Chapter 39: Pei Family

“The Pei family receives guests.”

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The two of them went straight from the palace to the Pei residence.

According to the rules, a newlywed bride should go and serve tea to her in-laws early in the morning the next day, but because Li Rong was a princess, Li Ming entertained a crowd of officials at the morning banquet in the imperial court to show how much he doted on her. Therefore, the formal visit to the Pei family to pay respects was delayed until the afternoon.

After discussing court affairs in the carriage, the two of them wanted to get some sleep for themselves, but they had already arrived before they could even think about it. Pei Wenxuan helped Li Rong down from the carriage. As they entered through the gates, he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice: “Do you still remember the people in my family?”

“I remember.”

Li Rong was quick to follow up and said: “Your second uncle, Pei Lixian is a smiling tiger, and your third uncle, Pei Liwen is like a straw bag. You have three older paternal male cousins and many younger female cousins. The way to distinguish between those three is that the eldest is a highly envious green-eyed monster, the second is lacking in all sorts of virtues, and the third is a Rabbit Lord. And your mother…”^[1]

“That will do.” Pei Wenxuan was afraid she would scold his entire family from top to bottom if she kept talking, so he quickly interrupted Li Rong, “I know you remember it all very well, so I won’t give any introductions. With the exception of my mother, you are free to do as you please.”

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[1] Quick Guide

Smiling tiger — big smile, bad intentions

Straw bag — clumsy, good for nothing

Green-eyed monster — personification of jealousy (taken from Shakespeare)

Lacking in all seven virtues — Righteousness (義) Respect (礼) Courage (勇) Honour (名誉) Benevolence (仁) Sincerity (真) Loyalty (忠義)

Rabbit Lord — folk name for male prostitutes or gay men (likely the former)

Note: LR really slapped every person with an idiom there is, throwing it out there like flashcards for learning Chinese sayings. Hence, PWX fears for his mother’s turn.

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Li Rong lifted her head and glanced over at him. Pei Wenxuan saw her sidelong glance and hastily gave a smile of someone seeking to curry favor: “I’ll rub your shoulders when we get back.”

“Then Bengong will give Pei daren some face.”

Li Rong immediately laughed after hearing Pei Wenxuan’s quip in response.

The two were led into the main hall by the servants. As soon as they entered, Li Rong was greeted with the sight of a growing gathering of people. These people stood up, following Pei Liwen’s lead to pay their respects to Li Rong. Li Rong nodded and had everyone rise afterwards. Guided by the attendant beside her, she finally took a seat in the chair in the first row, below the main seat on the left.

Pei Wenxuan sat down next to Li Rong. Pei Lixian took a seat across from Li Rong while Pei Wenxuan’s mother and his grandfather sat to the left and right of them. Lady Wen’s chair was placed slightly towards the door to distinguish between her and Pei Wenxuan’s grandfather’s status, Pei Xuanqing.

This kind of occasion did not suit her, so it was clear that it made her a bit uncomfortable. Li Rong sat beside her, and while she had not done anything, Lady Wen felt an unseen oppressive aura spreading to her. She brought her eyes up and looked over at Pei Wenxuan for help, and Pei Wenxuan hurriedly said: “Mother, this is Her Highness the Princess. You don’t have to be so cautious. It’s just a family dinner today, you can just talk as usual with Her Highness.”

Lady Wen eased up a little after hearing this. Li Rong smiled but said nothing, leaving it to everyone’s open and covert scrutiny alike.

She was accustomed to these kinds of gazes, but the Pei family seemed to be overdoing it a bit. From top to bottom, even the servants of the inner courtyards came in full, squeezing in from every nook and cranny to steal a glance at Li Rong.

Pei Wenxuan was a little embarrassed. In fact, the situation in his previous life was almost no different. He remembered that Li Rong had also teased him a little about it at the time. He hastily turned his head to look outside and said in a low voice: “Have the courtyard cleared, how can anyone just come here at will?”

When the servants beside him heard his words, they subconsciously looked to Pei Lixian. Pei Lixian gave a slight cough, and the steward by his side went out to clear everyone out of the courtyard.

Li Rong gave Pei Wenxuan a glance before turning towards Pei Lixian and saying: “Ah, so it seems Pei daren here is in charge of the household.”

“My elder brother is no longer here,” Pei Lixian respectfully answered, “Eldest sister-in-law is usually not in good health, and so that is why I help manage the household.”

“So that’s how it is.” Li Rong nodded, “That must be really hard on you.”

Pei Lixian’s expression did not waver as he courteously said: “It is what ought to be done.”

While the two of them discussed this matter, everyone in the room was a little afraid. It was just that they were afraid that Li Rong would not be sensible and ask about Pei Wenxuan’s right as the head of household.

It was impossible to let Pei Wenxuan have control of the household, but then again, Li Rong was a princess, and there will inevitably be a conflict of interests when the time comes.

Pei Xuanqing also saw the signs of where this was heading and gave a slight cough, looking at Li Rong as he said, “Is my granddaughter-in-law doing well today? It must have been tiring yesterday, isn’t that right?”

Pei Xuanqing was no longer a part of the imperial court, but he was once a minister in court in those days. Although he could not be compared to Pei Lizhi, he was still considered a high-ranking official, and because of his advanced age, he took initiative in taking away from the untouchable identity of Princess Li Rong and spoke to her as if it was just a family dinner.

Li Rong smiled with satisfaction and slightly nodded, only saying: “Still doing fine.”

Such succinct words made it a bit difficult for people to follow along with. Everyone came to the realization that Li Rong was not like a good crop that could be easily harvested and feared that she was not a docile one. After being at a loss at what to do for a moment, Pei Lixian laughed aloud upon seeing this: “How about serving tea first? You were just married yesterday and had to go to a banquet in the palace today. Your Highness must be very tired. Wenxuan,” Pei Lixian looked over at Pei Wenxuan, “You need to be more sensible and take greater care of the princess.”

Pei Lixian’s words made Li Rong quite happy. She glanced at Pei Wenxuan, and Pei Wenxuan smiled, stood up and led Li Rong up to the front of the room to perform the tea ceremony  for Pei Xuanqing and Lady Wen.

Li Rong did not need to kneel when serving tea in the process of the tea ceremony as long as it was served, but in her last life, Li Rong was afraid that the Pei family would be overly cautious given her identity and felt that she was abusing her authority, and that there would be a rift forming between her and Pei Wenxuan in the future, so she softened her temperament and knelt down to offer Lady Wen and Pei Xuanqing tea in the same way an ordinary newlywed bride would.

Looking back now, she felt that she was so naive in her youth that it was laughable.

When it comes to people like the Pei family, if you show a sign of weakness, they will think that you are easy to take advantage of. For one to be standing high, there is no need to bow down, and to have power but not fight back, that would make you a fool.

After Li Rong served tea, Lady Wen and Pei Xuanqing gave Li Rong red envelopes, then Pei Wenxuan took Li Rong around and introduced everyone one by one.

Li Rong’s imposing grandeur was too much to behold that when she stood before the members of the Pei family, they were at a loss for words. They were in a rush to give out red envelopes, say a few auspicious words and hurriedly let Li Rong be on her way.

Consequently, the whole process took place very quickly. After making an entire round, everyone who was here was silent, and no one dared to idly chat. Li Rong took a sip of tea and turned to Pei Wenxuan, “Is there anything else left?”

Pei Wenxuan turned to look at Pei Lixian: “Second Uncle, are there any other ceremonies?”

“That was all.”

“Then let’s go,” Li Rong lazily drawled, “Bengong is exhausted.”

These words were rather casual as if she had gone to just about any family, any house to do them the honor of joining them for a meal. The faces of the members of the Pei family did not look very good. Pei Wenxuan’s face did not change. He came forward to support Li Rong, turned his head and said to Pei Xuanqing, “Grandfather.” Then, he turned to look at Lady Wen once more, “Mother, I will retire first.”

Pei Xuanqing’s face did not look too good, and Lady Wen was stunned. Li Rong slightly nodded towards the crowd, then she walked straight out.

Only then did Lady Wen react. She quickly got up and asked, “Won’t…won’t you be staying here at home?”

The way Lady Wen saw it, even if it was a matter of honoring a princess as a wife, she would live in the Princess’s mansion in the future anyways. When coming to pay a formal visit to the Pei residence, she had to at least stay for the evening.

After all, although Pei Wenxuan had married a princess, he could not just go live with his wife because he must still want some face.

Lady Wen did not have the courage to say these things in the first place, but it was the madams of the second and third branches that prodded her, making her feel that if the two of them were to leave like this, some face would be lost. So now, when she saw Li Rong leading Pei Wenxuan to leave, Lady Wen could not help it.

Li Rong stopped and looked at Pei Wenxuan.

She understood Lady Wen’s temperament. What she wanted was to save face. She promised Pei Wenxuan that she would give Lady Wen some face, so she did not speak bluntly. She looked to Pei Wenxuan before turning to Lady Wen, then laughed and said: “It’s not as if that is impossible, I will follow Wenxuan’s lead.”

Hearing this, Lady Wen immediately let out a sigh and looked up at Pei Wenxuan, “Wenxuan, in that case…”

“Mother,” Pei Wenxuan knew from Li Rong’s words that if he dared to stay, she would have his hide, so Pei Wenxuan smiled and said, “There are many arrangements to be made in the Princess’s mansion. I will come back another day to accompany you. Once these busy days have passed, I will come and visit you again with the princess.”

Lady Wen’s face was a little stiff, but when it came down to this, there was nothing else Lady Wen could say, so she could only stammer: “Then…then, you all should quickly be on your way.”

Pei Wenxuan exchanged salutations with everyone else, then he left with Li Rong.

After getting onto the carriage, Li Rong yawned and said, “Finally, I can rest.”

After saying that, she brought her eyes up to look at Pei Wenxuan, who was sitting opposite of her, thinking about something and asked him, “What are you thinking about? What, do you think I dealt a blow to your face?”

“No.” Pei Wenxuan reacted and smiled, “Wasn’t it something that had to be done?”

“Oh?” Li Rong was a bit curious and propped her chin up on her hand and said, “You don’t feel that you lost face.”

“You have your own life,” Pei Wenxuan poured tea and said in a mild tone, “You can’t just always be unfair to yourself because you married me. You can live as you please, they can’t just do whatever they want to you.”

“So your mother…”

“I’ll say it myself—you married me, not her.”

“I just suddenly found out that…” Having spoken with Pei Wenxuan, Li Rong pondered over it and said, “Actually, it’s quite comfortable to be married to you. You said that if I wanted to marry Lu Yu, those people in the family, they are those hailing from prestigious noble houses with many rules and etiquette that must be followed. Even if my husband tolerates me, the elders of these great noble families cannot tolerate me. I’m afraid they would submit a memorial to the throne, reporting to my Father Emperor…”

Before she finished her sentence, Li Rong suddenly remembered something: “Wait, Pei Lixian won’t submit a memorial to the throne tomorrow, right?”

“Submit a memorial about what?” Pei Wenxuan laughed, “Saying that you left after serving tea?”

“What you said is also true.”

Li Rong nodded, “I already gave them face, it’s just that they couldn’t simply accept it.”

Speaking of this, they both couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Just the thought of Li Rong standing in front of those relatives of his, with everyone so afraid that they wanted Li Rong to quickly be on her way, the two of them felt a little happier.

Li Rong waved her fan and cheerfully said: “There is finally something to soothe the mind and soul today. But this Pei family,” Li Rong turned her gaze to him, “When do you plan to take it back?”

“When it’s time to take it back,” Pei Wenxuan picked up a cup of tea with both hands and flatly said, “We will take it back.”

Li Rong responded with a hum of acknowledgment.

The two chatted all the way on their way back to the Princess’s mansion. When they returned, they went back to the room together, instructed the servants not to disturb them and went back inside to have a good night’s sleep.

Pei Wenxuan wanted to lay out some mattress pads on the floor, but there was only one extra mattress pad in the room. When he instructed someone to get him another mattress pad, the servant returned the question with a blank face: “Does the Prince Consort feel that cold? Why do you need so many mattress pads?”

Pei Wenxuan couldn’t say anything for the moment, so he didn’t ask for it anymore and went straight back into the room.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw that Li Rong had taken off her makeup and let down her hair as well as removed her outer robes and was about to get under the covers. Li Rong slept on the innermost side, and on the outer half of the bed was the pile of blankets that he had taken out last night, neatly folded and set aside by a servant.

Li Rong saw him coming in and looked up at him, “What? You didn’t get the mattress pads?”

“They asked me if I was cold.”

Pei Wenxuan was somewhat helpless. He walked over to the basin of water to wash his hands, “I didn’t know how to answer that, so I went back.”

“Then let’s just sleep,” Li Rong was laying on her side, resting her head in the palm of her hand as she lifted the other hand and lightly patted her own thigh, gently saying, “In any case, I believe Pei daren is a true gentleman, the very reincarnation of Liu Xiahui. I don’t mind anyways, so why would Pei daren mind it?”

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[2] Liu Xiahui — common nickname for Zhan Huo, governor of the District of Luxia (柳下) in the Lu State. Though it sounds like a real name, the translation is closer to “Hui of Liuxia,” since his posthumous name was Hui (惠).

A man of eminent virtue – in some stories, he is said to have let a woman into his lodging on a cold night. Fearing that she would freeze to death outside, he let her sit in his arms with clothes draped over her until the next morning, never wavering in the slightest.

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“You’re just…” Pei Wenxuan was a little helpless, “Can’t you…”

“Can’t you be more reserved?” Li Rong turned over on her side and drawled out, “Can’t you say something else for a change? And whether I am reserved or not, shouldn’t you know this?”

“Li Rong!”

Pei Wenxuan shouted in a low warning tone. Li Rong also stopped playing around and laid back down on the bed: “Alright, there will be many long days ahead in life. Can you keep sleeping on the cold hard floor day after day? The bedding will have to be sent out to be washed every day, and you will still have to tidy them up early in the morning, doesn’t that make you tired?”

Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a while. Li Rong closed her eyes and said: “Alright, go to sleep. It’s not like the two of us haven’t slept together before. Pei daren does not need to seek trouble for himself.”

After Li Rong had spoken, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a moment, then he removed his outer robes and walked over. He sat on the edge of the bed, hesitating for a moment, then he laid down on the bed. He thought about it for some time and then said, “You can rest assured, I have no interest in you.”

Li Rong had her back turned to him. A “pfft” of laughter escaped, and Pei Wenxuan frowned: “What are you laughing at?”

Li Rong turned around. She and Pei Wenxuan each had a blanket of their own. She rested her head on her hand, brightly smiling as she said: “You are not interested in me, but what is to be done if I am interested in you?”

“What nonsense.” Pei Wenxuan immediately blushed and turned over on his side: “You’re not being serious and just teasing me again.”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong propped her head up and looked at him, “I’m just finding out in this life that you can easily get shy.”

“Is there anyone like you?” Pei Wenxuan closed his eyes, “No sense of embarrassment, nor shame.”

“All people have desires. Why must I be ashamed of that?” Li Rong said in a rather open and magnanimous manner. Pei Wenxuan covered his ears, urging her: “Go to sleep.”

Li Rong smiled and continued to look at him. Seeing him with his back to her, she had a beaming smile for a while. She didn’t know what happened either, only finding it very interesting to tease Pei Wenxuan like this.

She looked on for a while but also felt sleepy, so she closed her eyes and laid back down.

Pei Wenxuan slowly opened his eyes. He stared straight ahead and kept reminding himself.

Li Rong is someone who likes to play around and cannot be taken seriously.

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…so, I disappeared for a while. I’m very sorry. Moving ended up being a longer transitional period that I expected. I have a lot to catch up on and derailed plans to follow up on.

Disclaimer — future chapters may not be thoroughly edited.

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2021-11-27T09:00:00

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Chapter 40.1: Gambling House

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