The purple-gold four-legged unicorn incense burner emitted a reassuring sandalwood scent. Madam Peng looked at her son through the layers of smoke. After thinking it over again and again, she nodded gently to her son: "Since you have learned to think this way, there are some things that your mother does not want to hide from you. Please sit down."
Peng Caichen sat down as he was told and slowly raised his head to look at his mother.
Mrs. Peng held a cup of tea in her pale hands, watching the tea leaves floating in the cup. After a while, she spoke softly, "Did you know that my family had a business in Yunnan?"
Of course Peng Caichen knew.
It was not an easy business to do - providing weapons to the mob was a serious crime, but it was because of this that the Peng family was able to get close to the King of Chu.
As a result, with the support and secret help of the King of Chu, he returned to the officialdom relying on the King of Chu's connections.
The fact that Peng Huai can become the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is closely related to this point.
Because of this, the Peng family invested a lot, and there were many things that the King of Chu was not convenient to take action on, so people from the Peng family had to step forward to deal with the officials and mobs in Yunnan.
A while ago, something happened to the King of Chu, and blood was flowing everywhere. The smell of blood in Caishikou lasted for a full half month. In fact, the Peng family was already in a precarious situation, and people were in unrest.
My father didn't dare to close his eyes at that time. When Qiu Chuying got into trouble, the whole family prayed for Buddha...
He still remembered that one day his father and second uncle went out late at night and did not come back until dawn. His mother also did not sleep all night. After all, the Peng family was not implicated...
He nodded in confusion: "Our family is working for the King of Chu."
The bulk of the business naturally went to the King of Chu, but the Peng family also made a lot of money. Madam Peng smiled, thinking about how scared she was when the incident happened. Now, for some reason, she could still laugh. After a moment, she sorted out her thoughts and nodded: "You are right, and you are not. Our family works for the King of Chu, but you forgot that your aunt is the current Concubine De... What about another aunt? She is the current Concubine Yu of the King of Linjiang."
Peng Caichen naturally knew it. He understood what his mother meant. He looked at his mother suspiciously and slowly tightened the fan in his hand.
Madam Peng saw that her son seemed to understand, so she stopped beating around the bush and stared straight into his eyes, "Your grandfather died because his title was taken away. Our Jing'an Marquisate has been loyal for generations, but because of a small mistake, he was stripped of his title and demoted. Your grandfather could not rest in peace until his death, and your father...he has always been brooding over it."
Peng Caichen also knew this.
Since he was a child, he had heard his father talk about how glorious his ancestors were, and he was well aware of his father's resentment and unwillingness.
And Peng De is not the kind of person who would just give in.
He was the most adaptable person of his generation. Fortunately, the old man taught him well, and each of his sons were taught to be cast in the same mold - all of them knew only that they wanted to restore the family reputation. The whole family worked together for one goal, to get their own title back and to make the Peng family stand at the forefront among the aristocratic families again.
Peng De was not just a talker, he had been trying to gain connections at a very early age.
Needless to say, the boys in the family must be carefully disciplined, and there must not be a useless and prodigal son in the family. The girls also have their own uses - marriage and relationship building are the best.
Concubine De and Concubine Yu both left in this way.
These are the ones who will be able to come to the fore in the end. The Peng family has given away countless of those who cannot come to the fore but can bring benefits, both the side branches and the direct branches, at different prices.
Peng Caichen pursed his lips.
He is now almost the same as his aunts.
Madam Peng saw what he was thinking and sighed in astonishment: "Cai Chen, don't blame your father. Your father was a filial son. The thing he was most unwilling to accept in his life was that he couldn't let your grandfather see the sign of Jing'an Marquis Mansion being hung again in our house before he died. For this, he was willing to sacrifice his own life."
Peng Caichen listened quietly, he knew that his mother had more to say.
As expected, Madam Peng put the cup on the table and continued the topic just now: "Our family spent a lot of effort to suppress the previous incident in Yunnan. It has already cost a lot to plug that hole. And this is not the only hole our family needs to plug. Your father used to think about casting a wide net and catching more fish. But now that Concubine De has given birth to an heir, your father and your uncles have started to reconsider..."
Peng Caichen seemed to understand what he said, but not quite.
Madam Peng explained the matter to him in detail, hoping that he would understand it better: "We had to ask Lord Qin to suppress the matter. But now, if we want to put our trust in the queen, we have to deal with other troubles first - the Yunnan matter, there are still people who are using the original matter to ask for money from our family. Your father meant that if we become relatives, then that handle that can blackmail us is no longer a handle."
That group of people always threatened to inform the descendants of the Ming family, saying that it was their Peng family who forged the secret letter that imitated the Ming family's collusion with foreign enemies, and that it was the Peng family and the King of Chu who privately opened the iron mine, not the Ming family.
But once the Peng family and Old Lady Wei's granddaughter become in-laws, that group of people will naturally no longer need to use money to silence them, nor will they need to use threats or inducements, and they will naturally shut up - they are relatives now, what else can they say
"That's why your father and I forced you to marry Wei Qi. This is just one of the reasons." Madam Peng leaned against the pillow, adjusted her sitting position, and said softly, "Also, your father is now working in the Ministry of War. In order to fill the pit of King Chu, our family... ... left a big hidden danger anyway. If you marry Wei Qi, no matter whether it is King Zheng or Wei Yangqing, they will become grasshoppers on the same boat with our family, and they will always help cover it up. Do you understand?"
Peng Caichen was horrified.
Mother said that it was up to Prince Zheng and Wei Yangqing to resolve these hidden dangers, and she also said something about the Ministry of War... What was it
But Madam Peng had no intention of saying anything more. He frowned and finally understood why his parents attached so much importance to Wei Qi. He suppressed all his reluctance and agreed very seriously.
Not only did he agree, he also decided to do things better. When his sister invited Wei An and the others to visit their home, he gave his sister some advice and even found the house's house house and had it cleaned so that Wei An and the others could use it for boating on the lake that day.
Mrs. Peng breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Peng Caichen was obedient in the past, he was still somewhat unwilling. Sometimes it was this unwillingness that could lead to bad things. When facing a smart man like Wei An, one cannot show any unwillingness at all.
Peng Caichen's willingness to take this trouble is at least a good start.
After all, it is not excessive to be more attentive to people like the Wei family and King Zheng who can pull the Peng family out of the quagmire.