It's all ruined, who cares about the chastity arch

Young Master Pei frowned and fell into deep thought. After a long while, he still did not give a direct answer.

In the silence, an indescribable pressure quietly spread.

Concubine Pei continued, with a tone of unquestionable determination: "Since the King of Liang has lost his usefulness, why not let your beautiful and talented sister enter the palace and use the royal bloodline to cultivate a new and more obedient puppet for us?"

Her plan was like a carefully laid out chess game, with each step being carefully planned.

Hearing this, Master Pei suddenly understood, clapped his hands and laughed, "Great, this way, my status will also rise, and becoming the king's uncle will be the supreme honor."

His laughter was mixed with infinite longing and ambition for the future.

Concubine Pei had an imperceptible smile on her lips and nodded in agreement: "Your sister is indeed quite pretty, but she is a little dull. You need to give her more advice in private, so that she can learn to hide her shortcomings and wait for the right time. Don't act rashly to avoid unnecessary trouble. As for entering the palace, I will make proper arrangements."

His words reveal his control over the overall situation and confidence.

"Well, Auntie is absolutely right."

The eldest son of the Pei family nodded repeatedly, with a sly look in his eyes, "Then Luo Wenxuan..."

Before he could finish his words, Concubine Pei gently waved her hand to interrupt him. Her movements were gentle but firm, and she said, "He is just a scholar. I have already arranged for people to smooth things over in the Ministry of Rites. You can rest assured that he will fail in the imperial examination and pose no threat to us."

After hearing this, the eldest son of the Pei family felt relieved and could not help but relax. He considerately walked behind Concubine Pei and gently massaged her slightly stiff shoulders, trying to relieve her from the hard work of managing family affairs for a long time.

However, things are unpredictable. Just when they thought they had everything under control, the Ministry of Rites welcomed a new Lord Lu. This man was ruthless and impartial, and strictly prevented cheating in the imperial examinations. Concubine Pei's subordinates tried their best but could not find any opportunity to take advantage of.

On the other side, in a corner of the city, deep in a remote and dark alley in the west city, Zheng Chengyuan, with scars all over his body, walked back to the dilapidated and extremely shabby old house step by step with difficulty.

Seeing her husband in such a miserable state, Pei hurried forward and supported him with trembling hands, her tone anxious and distressed: "Boss, what's going on? Didn't you agree to go to the Su family to collect the debt? Why did you come back like this?"

Her eyes were full of anxiety and worry.

Zheng Chengyuan had a stubborn personality and never mentioned a word about his miserable experiences, especially the humiliation he experienced when he was forced to eat dog food.

He simply responded briefly and coldly: "That woman Su Wanyu was not willing to pay back the money at all. Instead, she ordered her men to beat me out of the door."

His voice was low, with a hint of forbearance and unwillingness.

Hearing this, Pei was furious, her eyes almost spitting fire: "She is so arrogant, she has just stepped out of the house and dared to be so rude to our Zheng family, it's simply too much!"

After saying this, she was about to rush out impulsively, vowing to find Su Wanyu to argue with her.

But Zheng Chengyuan endured the severe pain and held her back: "Forget it, it's futile for you to go. We are in this situation now, how can we fight against those powerful people?"

His voice was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness, and the sadness in his eyes was unbearable to look at.

Pei's face was full of grievance and helplessness: "But how can we live like this? Are we going to hide in this place with wind blowing in from all sides and rain leaking in constantly, relying on dry food to barely survive?"

Her eyes were red and her voice was choked with sobs.

Zheng Chengyuan shook his head painfully, anger and dissatisfaction intertwined in his heart. After a while, he finally spoke with a hint of coldness in his voice: "If you don't want to share the hardships with me, then you can leave now. I won't stop you."

Pei's face turned pale instantly. She couldn't accept being an abandoned woman. She took small steps forward and tightly grasped Zheng Chengyuan's sleeve, her eyes full of pleading: "Master, I was wrong. I was just anxious for a moment and worried about your safety. You are injured now, and the family doesn't have any extra money to treat you."

Zheng Chengyuan paused for a moment, then turned around and stared at his wife, a complex emotion flashing through his eyes: "Otherwise, you can go and ask the Pei family, maybe your father can..."

"My dad..."

Pei's words suddenly stopped, the hand holding her sleeve gradually loosened, a trace of despair and helplessness flashed in her eyes, "I'm afraid my father won't be willing to help..."

Before he finished speaking, a strong smell of alcohol and a staggering figure rushed into the room. It was Zheng Chengyan, the second brother Zheng Chengyan, his face was drunk and his steps were staggering.

Zheng Chengyuan endured the severe pain in his leg and limped towards Zheng Chengyan quickly, with an undisguised anger in his tone: "Second brother, you actually used the last bit of life-saving money in the family to drink!"

Zheng Chengyan's face was flushed, his eyes were hazy with drunkenness, and he muttered: "If I don't have wine, when will I get drunk? When life is good, we should enjoy it to the fullest. Why can't I drink?!"

His attitude seemed particularly indifferent, and he completely ignored the difficulties at home.

Zheng Chengyuan was extremely angry, his chest heaving with excitement. He thought of the humiliation he had suffered for his livelihood, and how his second brother had squandered their scarce funds. The rage in his heart could no longer be contained, and he punched Zheng Chengyan hard in the face.

This punch sobered up the drunken Zheng Chengyan. He covered his burning cheek with his hands, his eyes full of disbelief: "You... you dare to hit me?!"

Zheng Chengyuan's voice was as cold as iron: "I'm going to hit you. As a brother, you don't think about how to improve the family situation. Instead, you are so selfish that you don't care about the life and death of your whole family!"

Every word he said was like a heavy hammer, striking the heart of everyone present.

Zheng Chengyan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and sneered with sarcasm: "Same here, who is more noble than who?"

His words revealed his helplessness towards the current situation and his irony towards the selfishness of human nature.

At this moment, the rift between the brothers seemed to deepen.

Zheng Chengyuan's throat was choked by anger for a moment. The anger in his chest seemed to have no outlet and was still rampant in his body, refusing to calm down.

At this moment, Pei swiftly moved between the two of them. Her figure was like a soft but firm barrier, blocking the conflict that was about to break out. "Wait a minute, both of you calm down. At this moment when the fate of our family hangs on a thread, if we quarrel again, I'm afraid the Zheng family will really be helpless."

Zheng Chengyuan's gesture froze in mid-air, and finally he slowly lowered it, the anger in his eyes still not completely dissipated.

Pei turned her gaze to Zheng Chengyan, a hint of cunning and determination flashing in her eyes: "Wait, I suddenly thought of a way."

"any solution?"

Zheng Chengyuan asked impatiently, with a hint of doubt and impatience in his tone.