Grandmother Pei glanced at the two of them and sneered, "If the title of the Duke's Mansion is passed to you, then this red book and iron certificate may as well be left behind. You act recklessly, and in the future you will ruin the reputation of our ancestors and destroy our ancestral family business. It is better for you to decline from now on."
Pei Shiyuan's face darkened, and he no longer cared about anything else: "Mother, I am the head of the Duke's Mansion now. Without my order, who dares to open the ancestral hall and take out the red book and iron certificate?"
"Well, you finally revealed your wolfish ambitions!" Grandmother Pei stood up, "How did you become the Duke? Do you still remember? What did you say in front of all the ancestors and in front of the spirit tablets of his parents? You forgot, but I still remember that the elders of the Pei family are still alive!"
"…" Pei Shiyuan was silent for a while, "Anyway, the imperial seal cannot be produced, and the elders of the clan will not agree. If you can ask the emperor to withdraw his order and not marry the princess, I can submit a memorial to request that Che'er be made the crown prince."
Grandmother Pei was so angry that she felt dizzy and almost fell backwards. Fortunately, Pei Che held her up.
"Uncle, are you serious about what you said?" Pei Che looked at Pei Shiyuan's smug expression with a serious look. His uncle was probably sure that the emperor would not change his mind.
"A real man's word is his bond, provided you don't use Princess Shang."
"Then Second Uncle, you can go back and write the memorial first."
Pei Shiyuan saw that he was confident, and a moment of doubt flashed through his mind, but no matter how he thought about it, he felt that the emperor would not take back his order.
"Then Second Uncle, I'll be waiting for your good news." He smiled slightly sarcastically and walked out with Li Yijia.
"Grandma, are you okay? Do you want to ask Doctor Li to come and see you?" Pei Che watched them leave, then turned to look at his grandmother who was sitting on the small couch. Grandma Gao was massaging her temples.
"No need, Che'er. Did you think of a solution just now?" Grandmother Pei looked at Pei Che with hope. Bringing out the red seal and iron certificate was the last resort. She also knew that the elders of the clan would not agree, but if that beast really forced them into a desperate situation, it would be better to perish together with them.
"… Grandmother, the late emperor's decree once said that a man who marries a princess cannot inherit the family title, right? Then is there a rule that a man who marries a man cannot inherit the title?" Pei Che originally had no idea about the title, but now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to fight for it.
“That’s not the case… Wait, Che’er, do you mean that you want to receive the second imperial edict?” Grandmother Pei was horrified when she realized what was happening.
Pei Che nodded: "That's right. My second uncle is forcing me like this, and I don't want to do what they want. Although I don't know why the emperor reacted like this, he also gave me another choice. This shouldn't be considered disobeying the emperor's order, right?"
"No! How can you marry a man? If that happens, grandma would rather let you lose this title!" Grandma Pei burst into tears.
"Grandma, I have made up my mind. My second uncle and second aunt have revealed their true colors. If I go to the princess's mansion, grandma and Mu'er will become thorns in their eyes. How can I be at ease? However, this matter still requires the consent of another person. If he doesn't want to, I can't force him."
After saying that, Pei Che walked out. Grandmother Pei looked at his back and felt extremely regretful.
"Tell me, should I not have pushed him so hard? Otherwise, that beast wouldn't have been so desperate as to frame Che'er!"
"Miss, you did the right thing, but they are too cunning and hard to guard against. It would be good to let the young master recognize their true colors as soon as possible."
Grandmother Pei sighed, and suddenly she seemed to have aged a few years.
After Pei Che went out, he rode to Yifeng Street and stopped at the entrance of Bai's yard. Along the way, he thought a lot, including all kinds of coercion and inducement, but when he really got here, he didn't even have the courage to knock on the door.
He hesitated at the door, raising and putting his hand down again. This strange behavior aroused the curiosity of Aunt Liu, who had just returned from a visit. After seeing his appearance clearly, Aunt Liu immediately perked up.
"Handsome young man, who are you looking for?"
Pei Che was startled by the voice behind him. He turned around and saw an old woman with a smile on her face.
"Madam, I'm here to see Jiang Miao." Pei Che felt a little uncomfortable when she looked at him.
"Jiang Miao?" Aunt Liu muttered, then patted her thigh and said happily, "You mean Brother Jiang? He might not be back at this time. But even if he is back, he usually goes in and out through the side door, rarely through the main door. Come with me in and take a look. If he is not back, you can stay at my house first." As she said that, she pushed open the door and called Pei Che to go in.
Pei Che had never been around such a warm old lady before. After hearing her invitation and thanking her, he followed her in somewhat at a loss.
"Brother Jiang? Brother Jiang?" As soon as Aunt Liu entered the yard, she saw Jiang Miao's door was open and called out a few times. Jiang Miao, who was applying medicine in the room, heard her and responded while walking out.
"Auntie Liu, what do you want to talk to me about?" Jiang Miao turned his face to the side, trying not to let Auntie Liu see any clues.
"This handsome young man came to see you. He has been standing at the door. I don't know what he was thinking about. I brought him in. It happens that you are at home now. He probably wants to discuss business with you." Aunt Liu said the last sentence in a low voice.
"Okay, thank you, Auntie. You can go on with your work." Jiang Miao kept smiling until Auntie Liu left, and then he immediately put it away.
"Mr. Pei, do you have anything to do? I'm busy!" Jiang Miao's stall had just been smashed today, and he was feeling unhappy, so naturally his words were a little angry.
Pei Che noticed his unfriendly attitude, touched his nose, and asked awkwardly: "Jiang Miao, can I go in and talk to you?"
Seeing such a good-looking person talking to him with a hint of sadness, Jiang Miao finally softened his heart: "Come in."
When they arrived at the main hall, a smell of medicine wafted out. Pei Che was very familiar with the smell of this kind of medicine for sprains and bruises. He could often smell it on Su Jin.
"It smells like medicine. Are you hurt?" he asked with concern.
Jiang Miao lowered his head and said vaguely: "No, I just bumped into him. Tell me, what are you doing here?"
Pei Che didn't know how to start, so he avoided the question and said, "Have you moved to a new room? I think it wasn't this room you stayed in last time."
"Is that all you want to say?" Jiang Miao turned his head to look at him.
"Of course not... Actually, I'm here to apologize to you." Pei Che said with shame on his face, "I was in a hurry last time and said something I didn't think of. Please forgive me."
"Tell me, what are you here for?" Jiang Miao looked at his empty hands with amusement. He wanted to apologize, but where was the gift
Pei Che noticed his gaze and felt a little embarrassed for a moment. He only wanted to go there to talk about something, but he forgot to bring the things he prepared in the morning.
"I'll accept the apology, but don't say anything without thinking when we have a fight next time. By the way, was what you said that day true? Was that girl really a princess?" Jiang Miao's anger subsided, and he became curious.
“It’s absolutely genuine.”
"What about you? Who are you?" Jiang Miao vaguely remembered that he seemed to have said his name that day, but what happened afterwards was too outrageous, and he didn't remember what he said before.
"My name is Pei Che, and I was born in the Duke Zhong's Mansion."
It was indeed the leader of the four young masters of Liangjing. Jiang Miao looked at his face and suddenly asked, "Do you have a sister?" He still remembered that the uncle had said that Miss Pei of the Duke of Zhongguo's Mansion was the most beautiful woman in Liangjing. He had seen this before, but he didn't know if the lady could live up to this title.
"I only have one younger brother, whom you met last time. His name is Mu'er. I do have a few cousins, but why are you asking this?" Pei Che couldn't keep up with his imagination and felt very puzzled.
"I knew that uncle was unreliable!" Jiang Miao was a little annoyed. He actually believed him. They were not his biological son, so what reference value did Pei Che's face have
He turned his head and found Pei Che looking at him in confusion. He waved his hand and said, "I'm just talking to myself. Master Pei, I apologize and I forgive you. You can go now."
"Wait." Pei Che saw that he was about to send him away and could no longer care about anything else. "I came here today to ask for something. I wonder if you can agree to it?"
"Go ahead." Buying birthday peaches? It's not that he can't spare the time, this thing makes a lot of money. It just so happens that his two carts were smashed and there is no time to repair them.
"Can you marry me?" Pei Che said this uncomfortably.
"Huh?" Jiang Miao was so shocked that he forgot to cover himself for a moment. He turned his head abruptly, revealing his entire face. He couldn't help but pick his ears, thinking that he had just had auditory hallucinations.
"What's wrong with your face?!" Pei Che took a step forward, lifted his chin, and looked at the half of his face that had been turned away. It was bruised and purple, and his cheek was swollen. It was obvious that he had been beaten.
Jiang Miao opened his hand and saw that it was not hidden, so he had to tell the truth: "Someone came to the stall to cause trouble, so I fought with them. I accidentally got hit a few times, it's nothing. By the way, please explain what you just said clearly, did I hear it wrongly?"
"You heard me right. I came here precisely for this matter." Now that he had spoken, Pei Che no longer tried to hide anything. He looked at Jiang Miao and spoke seriously.
Jiang Miao raised his hand and touched his forehead, then put his hand on his head again: "You don't have a fever, why are you talking nonsense?"
Although Pei Che didn't know why he behaved so strangely, he knew exactly what he meant by talking nonsense.
"I am not talking nonsense."
"Okay, let's just assume that what you said is not nonsense. You know I'm a man, right? A real man, not your little princess dressed as a man. What makes you think that two men can get married?" Even modern times are not open, let alone ancient times.
"But the law never said anything against marriage between two men."
"… "
Uh, okay, it seems like there’s really no way around it.
While Jiang Miao was in a daze, Pei Che had already followed the smell of medicine and found the ointment for injuries. He took out the ointment and said, "The most urgent thing is to apply the medicine to you first!"
"No need, I can do it myself." Facing the man who just said he wanted to marry her, Jiang Miao felt a little uncomfortable and didn't want to get so close to him.
"If you can't do it yourself, do you want Xiao Shitou to do it for you?" Pei Che's words stopped Jiang Miao from retreating. If Xiao Shitou saw him covered in injuries, he would definitely be scared.
Pei Che picked up the small stick in the jar, picked up some ointment and applied it to his wounds. After applying it on his face, he asked, "Are there any other injuries on your body?"
"… I can apply the ointment myself on other places." Jiang Miao took back the ointment. "By the way, what did you mean by that just now? You are not a homosexual, right? Why did you suddenly say you want to marry me?"
Pei Che looked into his eyes full of questions, sighed, and told him the whole truth.
"You mean, the emperor forced you to marry the princess, or you would have to marry me?" Jiang Miao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "If you marry a princess, you can't inherit the family business. What kind of rule is that? Besides, anyone with a discerning eye knows that it was just an angry remark. How could the emperor be so unreasonable? It would be better for him to just beat you with a few sticks."
"I'm not kidding. No matter what the emperor decided for, I only have these two choices. But don't worry. If you don't want to, I won't force you."
"Then what are you going to do?" Jiang Miao felt that he would definitely not be willing to do so.
"I will receive the imperial edict first, and then find another vendor who can agree to this matter, and let him cooperate with me in the play. I think it won't take long before the emperor will not pay attention to this matter. Then I will find an excuse to cancel the engagement. I will do my best to make up for the damage to his reputation."
Pei Che had thought of this method before, but it was difficult to find the right person. Ordinary people would be weak when they saw an official. If someone asked them casually, they would be exposed. He felt that Jiang Miao seemed to be born with some courage, and he would not be exposed in front of those people. In fact, if he was not afraid that the emperor would send someone to check his identity, he could also find a subordinate to play this scene.
"What do you mean by compensation?" Jiang Miao's eyes rolled around, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Of course I will compensate you financially. After the deal is done, I will offer you gold, silver, and a shop. The amount must be satisfactory." Pei Che saw that there was a chance, so he tried to increase the stakes.
"You're really not a homosexual, are you?" Jiang Miao looked at him, as if trying to find something to make him angry.
"Of course I am not."
"Okay, it's better to find someone familiar than someone new. I'll help you with this." Jiang Miao said in a fake manner, "But I'm not after your money. I'm doing this for the sake of our friendship and don't want to embarrass you."
After saying that, Jiang Miao remembered that this man seemed to be very straightforward. He was afraid that he really regarded himself as someone who regarded money as dirt, so he immediately added another sentence.
"Of course, you are also an honest person, you certainly can't watch me suffer, right?"
Pei Che suppressed his smile and nodded seriously: "Of course, we can sign a contract. If I don't admit it, you can go to the government to sue me."
(End of this chapter)