Denghuaxiao

Chapter 247 Father and Son
Lu Tong and Pei Yunying's marriage went smoothly.

The Daliang wedding has six rituals: accepting the betrothal gifts, asking for the bride's name, accepting the good news, accepting the betrothal gifts, asking for the date, and welcoming the bride.

Because Lu Tong and Pei Yunying's parents were no longer around, Pei Yunshu took charge and invited a matchmaker to come to their house to exchange engagement cards. She also asked He Xiazi from West Street to calculate their horoscopes, who said they were a perfect match made in heaven, so they began discussing the marriage and selecting an auspicious date.

These days, Pei Yunshu and Pei Yunying have been busy preparing a list of betrothal gifts.

Qing Feng accidentally glanced at the betrothal gift list and couldn't help but be secretly shocked after reading it. Although his master's family was wealthy, he had never seen such a betrothal gift. What was the difference between this and packing up the Pei Mansion and giving it away?
Pei Yunying didn't care. He waved his hand and added another farm to the gift list.

Qing Feng: “…”

Forget it, as long as he is happy.

The days passed in this busy preparation. At noon one day, Pei Yunying was painting in the room when Chi Jian came in from outside and said, "Sir, the second master Pei wants to see you."

Pei Yunying paused while picking up his pen and looked up.

"He was not giving in outside. He came here twice when you were on duty in the palace a few days ago."

Pei Yunying had once issued an order to the Pei family that anyone who set foot in his and Pei Yunshu's residence should be driven out without being polite. However, now that Pei Di had passed away and the Pei family was in decline, even tit-for-tat seemed to be giving them face.

After a moment of silence, Pei Yunying put down his pen and said, "Let him in."

Pei Yunxiao was brought in quickly.

Duke Zhaoning had three sons. The third son was still young. Although the second son was a concubine's son, he was gentle and handsome in the past. However, after not seeing him for a long time, this elegant young man was not as calm as before. His clothes were wrinkled and there was a hint of anxiety between his eyebrows.

Pei Yunxiao stopped and looked at the people sitting there.

Pei Yunying, his elder brother, sat at the desk with a calm expression. The ascension of the new emperor and the turmoil in the court had no effect on him at all. He was still so glamorous, even more confident than when he was in Pei Mansion.

He is more confident.

"What are you doing here?" The young man looked down at the painting and asked nonchalantly.

"Are you getting married?"

"Master Pei, are you here to reminisce with me?"

Pei Yunxiao endured it and said, "Father has passed away for so long, don't you even go back to take a look?"

Pei Yunying's expression was slightly cold.

Pei Di left.

After the day of the palace coup, news came from the Pei Mansion. When Pei Di heard the news from the palace, he was furious and his anger triggered his old illness. He died of illness within a few days.

And Pei Yunying never went back to take a look from beginning to end.

"What are you going back for?" He laughed, looked up at Pei Yunxiao, and said indifferently, "Are you going to use my name to support the Pei family?"

Pei Yunxiao was speechless.

The Zhaoning Mansion is very close to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince is the loser.

As soon as the long-dormant Prince Ning ascended the throne, he began to ruthlessly purge the old guard. Only the Palace Front Office remained as stable as a mountain.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see why this happened, and the Pei family could naturally see it as well.

If the Pei family could make use of Pei Yunying's relationship now, they might still have a chance of survival.

Thinking of this, Pei Yunxiao's tone softened.

"Brother," he tried to bring up the old friendship, "even if you and father had misunderstandings, after so many years, the knot should have been untied long ago. After you moved out of the Pei Mansion, father talked about you every day in the mansion. He was thinking about you. When he was dying, he kept calling your name..."

"Really?" Pei Yunying interrupted him and laughed sarcastically, "How did he die?"

Pei Yunxiao's face froze.

"You don't really think I'd be stupid enough to believe he died of illness."

Pei Yunxiao suddenly felt guilty, as if his most secret corner had been suddenly revealed.

"Who killed him?"

The young man stared at him calmly and sharply, "Jiang Wan, Aunt Mei, or yourself?"

Pei Yunxiao's head buzzed and he subconsciously took a step back.

"Do not……"

He stammered and was unable to speak.

In fact, before the palace coup, Pei Di had already lost his composure.

The Zhaoning Palace was too closely tied to the Crown Prince, and the third prince was the candidate favored by Emperor Liang Ming. At that time, they did not know that Pei Yunying was a man of Prince Ning, and thought he was working for the third prince. However, once the third prince ascended the throne, the Pei family would inevitably be suppressed.

Who would have thought that while the snipe and the clam quarrel, the fisherman would benefit, and the final winner was King Ning.

King Ning.

Yuan Lang and the former crown prince Yuan Xi had a deep brotherly relationship, but the former crown prince Yuan Xi's death was not innocent. Although the Zhaoning Mansion was not directly involved, it was also an accomplice. The Ning Wang's accession to the throne would have much more serious consequences than the third prince's accession to the throne.

The Pei family is in great trouble.

Pei Di was indeed furious after learning about this and fell ill in bed, but his life was not in danger. On the contrary, Lady Jiang Wan, the wife of Duke Zhaoning, was hurriedly called back to her parents' home by Lord Jiang and did not return until the next day.

She found Pei Yunxiao.

Thinking of what Jiang Wan said in front of him that day, Pei Yunxiao couldn't help but tremble.

"Second Young Master," the always gentle and beautiful stepmother pulled him behind the screen and whispered, "Your father may be implicated in an old case involving the late Crown Prince. The only solution now is to confess your sins and ask for mercy from the current Emperor."

"Blam your own sins?" He was at a loss.

Jiang Wan glanced at her husband who was sleeping on the couch. Her eyes no longer had the gentleness and tenderness they once had. Instead, they were cold and cruel: "Only if he dies can we live."

The third young master Pei Yunrui is still young. Aunt Mei has only known how to be jealous and has not realized the critical situation. The only smart people in the mansion are Jiang Wan and Pei Yunxiao. The two of them are now tied to the same rope. Jiang Wan wants to use this crime to control him, and he can't break free.

He also wants to live.

So he covered his father's head with the quilt.

Pei Yunxiao suddenly shuddered.

Pei Yunying stared at him, and suddenly curled his lips, as if to kill someone, and said word by word: "So, it's you."

"It's not me!" he retorted suddenly, his voice changing with excitement.

not him.

How could it be him?

He was just an ordinary bastard in the Zhaoning mansion. Over the years, he was favored by Pei Di only after Pei Yunying left home. Even so, he still couldn't catch up with Pei Yunying's position in Pei Di's heart. Later, Pei Yunrui came. He was unwilling to waste all his efforts on his brother, but in the end, all his efforts were in vain.

Perhaps he felt a moment of pleasure in revenge when he covered his father's face with the silk blanket.

All members of the Pei family witnessed their father's death together.

This cannot be blamed on him.

Pei Yunying looked at him as if he were looking at a ridiculous struggling ant, with a hint of sarcasm on his lips, "Lord Pei raised his son like a wolf, but he didn't expect that in the end, he really raised a litter of wolves."

"Second Master Pei," he stood up, slowly walked to Pei Yunxiao, and said calmly: "There is no Pei family anymore."

There is no Pei family anymore.

Pei Yunxiao was in a trance for a moment.

The Zhaoning Mansion has already fallen. His elder brother saw the filth and selfishness behind the mansion before him, so he hated it and left. Now that his father is gone, no one will protect the Zhaoning Mansion anymore. Their father's death may save their lives, but in the days to come, they can only live in fear and trembling, waiting for the guillotine that may fall on their heads at some point in the future.

Pei Yunxiao stumbled out of the door.

Pei Yunying looked at his back expressionlessly until a figure gradually moved towards the door. The man raised his head under the sun and looked at him silently.

He was slightly startled.

The person who came was Lu Tong.

As if she had made a mistake, she whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen to you."

Pei Yunying was silent for a moment: "It doesn't matter."

He turned and walked back into the house. For the first time, he failed to force a smile on his face. Lu Tong followed him in.

The guards in the Pei Mansion already knew her. She had been here several times before, but now she was here as if she were in an empty place. Or perhaps Qingfeng did not stop her on purpose, so when she walked to the door, she saw Pei Yunying and the Second Young Master Pei confronting each other.

She had heard about the Pei family from Pei Yunshu, but seeing it with her own eyes was different. Pei Yunshu said that the fighting in the Pei mansion was limited to some minor fights, but now it seemed that this was not the case.

It was almost evening, and the early spring sunset fell into the house through the window, casting a soft red glow. Lu Tong looked at the person in front of the table. Pei Yunying took a cup and poured her tea, but he didn't look into her eyes.

Lu Tong was silent. Pei Yunying had never mentioned anything about himself. In fact, Lu Tong could roughly guess what he had done. If he didn't mention it, she wouldn't ask. Everyone has secrets that cannot be told to outsiders. She understood this feeling better than others. If he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't ask deliberately.

However, today, after he had just responded coldly to his half-brother who had come to visit him, Lu Tong saw a rare glimpse of fragility in his evasive eyes.

She suddenly said, "Pei Yunying, you already know all my secrets, why don't you ever tell me about your own affairs?"

He paused.

The sunset shone through the window obliquely, casting a hint of warmth on the person in front of him. The woman spoke seriously, and her eyes looking at him clearly showed a serious attitude, wanting to listen.

He was silent for a moment, lowered his eyes, and smiled indifferently.

“I feel ashamed.”

"What's embarrassing about that?"

"Father and son killed each other, selfishly, and for his own selfish desires he did not save his first wife from death..." He laughed at himself, "What's the difference between such a background and the Qi family?"

He said calmly, "I hate myself, too."

Lu Tong's heart softened as she had never seen Pei Yunying like this.

"I don't understand," she said.

"Didn't you already guess it?"

Pei Yunying turned to look at her, his eyes full of bitterness, "The real cause of my mother's death."

He began to react after his mother's death.

If the abduction of his mother by the rebel army was just a coincidence, then the successive deaths of his grandfather and his uncle's family were enough to plant a seed of doubt in the young man's heart.

He secretly returned to his grandfather's house and through his grandfather's confidants, he finally found clues in the letters left by his grandfather.

There are many doubts about the death of the former Crown Prince Yuan Xi, and the "accident" in which he died in the autumn hunt may have been caused by Emperor Ming of Liang.

As the late emperor's right-hand men, my grandfather's family secretly investigated an old case and finally brought about a devastating disaster.

Emperor Ming of Liang, he plotted to kill his brother, and personally killed the late emperor. He sharpened his knife and killed all the old people in the court one by one, just like what he did to Prince Ning now.

Lady Zhaoning, his mother might have sensed something, but she was always kind and simple, and she would never have thought that the man beside her had decided to sacrifice her for the sake of imperial power.

That was not a rebellion at all, it was a test of Pei Di by Emperor Ming of Liang. Pei Di performed brilliantly, he made the "right" choice, watched his wife die at the hands of the rebellion, and fulfilled the name of righteousness.

Emperor Ming of Liang accepted the surrender.

The Zhaoning Mansion continued to prosper and prosper.

The Pei family had a new lady, Pei Di had a new son, and his mother was gradually forgotten by everyone. When people mentioned her, she was just a vague shadow in the "righteousness" of the rebellious army. They sighed a few words and then it was over.

He was the only one who felt unfair, angry, and resentful.

No, he's not the only one.

There is also his teacher, and King Ning.

Yuan Lang and Yuan Xi had a deep affection for each other when they were young. The deaths of his brother and father were mysterious. The seemingly docile young Prince Ning asked to offer a perpetual lamp in the National Temple for three years. In fact, he was secretly cultivating and accumulating strength to investigate the death of the prince.

Pei Yunying still remembered the first time Yan Xu brought him to the "idle prince". The young, friendly-looking man sat on a chair, looked at him with a smile and said, "Oh, you are still a half-grown child. You are so young, can you endure hardship?"

Prince Ning reminded: "This road is not easy to walk on."

"Whether it is easy to walk or not, you won't know until you try it," he replied.

Prince Ning smiled, as if he was very satisfied with his ignorance.

"Master Yan, I'll leave this kid to you."

He then found a fellow traveler.

The journey was difficult and dangerous, but fortunately he was not alone. He had teachers, companions, and countless people hiding in the dark who worked hard with him. After years of searching, he finally got a result.

Even though this result came a little late.

"So," Lu Tong looked at him, "the two prescriptions you showed me were the ones used by the late emperor?"

Pei Yunying nodded.

Lu Tong suddenly realized.

Those two prescriptions were originally tonic medicines, which seemed to nourish the body at first glance. However, if they were mixed with gold dust, over time, the body would become weaker and weaker, and eventually the person would die of heart failure.

Gold utensils were all used in the royal family. Emperor Ming of Liang changed the recipe of the medicinal diet and used gold utensils to hold the tonic. The tonic became a death warrant, and he drank it every day. No wonder he died soon.

"I had just joined the Medical Officers' Hospital. One time you sneaked into the hospital warehouse at night. Was it also for this matter?"

"This page was not recorded in the medical records of the previous emperor, but it is still preserved in the medical list of the Medical Officers' Office. I came here to look for the prescription, but I didn't expect to meet you."

Thinking of the scene at that time, Pei Yunying smiled slightly.

At that time, he was looking for the prescription of the late emperor before his death, and she was looking for Qi Yutai's medical records. The two people who were searching hard bumped into each other at that moment, each with their own ulterior motives and thoughts. After a brief confrontation, they tacitly stopped there and did not move forward any further.

I didn't expect that it would be such a long time before we could finally talk it out.

Lu Tong asked: "You have been working for King Ning, what do you do?"

"A lot." Pei Yunying answered, "At first I just went to look for some people and clues, and later I went to the Palace Front Department, the Imperial City, where it would be much more convenient to do things."

"Is it also your plan to protect the emperor at the palace banquet?" Lu Tong asked.

The reason why Pei Yunying was promoted so quickly was because he risked his life to protect Emperor Liang Ming who was attacked during a royal banquet. Because of this, he quickly became the commander of the palace squad, which made many people jealous.

"There are gains and losses." He smiled disapprovingly, "Didn't you say that revenge is always dangerous?"

Lu Tong said nothing, only thinking back to the day when they first met in the ruined temple of Su Nan. Although he looked calm and could threaten her with a dagger, he was actually covered with scars. She remembered that the scar came from her back, and it was deep and long, which was indeed very dangerous.

She asked, "Did you go to Southern Jiangsu for this matter?"

"I'm going to find someone. The death of the former crown prince involves many people. Some people got wind of it and fled, and the emperor wants to kill them to silence them. My mission is to find them and bring them back to Shengjing."

He said it lightly, but Lu Tong could sense some hardship in his words.

She wanted to put him at ease, so she joked, "Is this considered putting order out of chaos?"

Pei Yunying shook his head.

"Actually, I don't have such big ambitions. At the beginning, I just wanted revenge."

He just couldn't accept his mother's death and wanted justice. But the person he had to deal with was the most noble person in the world, so the hope of revenge seemed particularly slim.

Later, he walked forward step by step, and reached a higher place. He implicated more and more people, and the burden on his shoulders became heavier and heavier, and he gradually lost control of himself. If he hadn't met Lu Tong, another self in this world, he would have almost forgotten what he looked like when he first vowed to take back everything.

That's how it is, desperate, determined and crazy.

"Duke Zhaoning is actually right about one thing," he said calmly, "After all, I have my mother's blood in my veins, and the emperor is still suspicious of me. Back then, it was he who single-handedly saved my life."

Admittedly, this protection might be because he was the heir of the Pei family, and Emperor Ming of Liang was very confident in Pei Di after the military rebellion, so he lived so many more years.

Pei Yunying laughed at himself: "He should be very regretful."

The people who protected the Pei family finally left and turned their swords against the Pei family. Pei Di once sacrificed everything for the Pei family, and in the end, his wife and children also sacrificed him for the Pei family. This is the law of reincarnation and cause and effect.

Lu Tong reached out and covered the back of his hand.

He suddenly came back to his senses from his memories.

"You've done very well," she said.

He felt a slight warmth on the back of his hand. Once upon a time, the same hands that had drawn their swords against him would now hold his hands and comfort him gently. He lowered his head, his tone very calm.

"It's not glorious to tell others about my background and my actions, so I don't want to tell you." He took her hand in his palm, "But if you want to listen, I can tell you slowly."

"Okay," Lu Tong turned his head to look at him and said seriously, "In fact, you should have told me a long time ago. You know, I'm good at killing people and burying bodies. If I had known earlier... If I had known that time in Sunan, I would definitely find a way to help you fight back to Shengjing."

Pei Yunying looked at her. She spoke so seriously that he couldn't help laughing.

He thought it was difficult to talk about the embarrassing past, but it turned out to be nothing more than that. The conspiracies, calculations, humiliations and tears of the past seemed to be a long time ago. The hatred became vague, and he could no longer remember the taste of sorrow and hatred from even longer ago. Maybe the scars are still there, but they will always heal.

It's in the past.

"Lu Tong," he lowered his eyes and kissed the forehead of the woman leaning on his side, "I'll take you to meet my mother tomorrow."

Lu Zhuo raised his head.

"Also let me meet your parents and siblings."

They will become each other's new family.

She was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Okay."