The daily life of a cold and aloof general raising his wife

Pei Zixuan cupped his hands in greeting, "Your son knows what to do."

Seeing that he understood, Old Master Pei let him leave.

Thinking that none of his beloved children and grandchildren were any of their good qualities, Old Master Pei felt a stomachache from anger. If he had known that Pei Lingyi and Xie Huai'an would have such good fortune, he would never have been so ruthless as to kick them out of the house.

Fine, no matter how much Pei Lingyi doesn't want to admit it, she still has the blood of the Pei family flowing through her veins!

Pei Zixuan came out of the old man's room and saw his sister walking in from outside.

Pei Lingyao bears a slight resemblance to Pei Shi, but her ostentatious jewelry makes her look incredibly vulgar.

Pei Lingyao looked displeased. "That old woman is dead, so why did you call me here?"

"She is, after all, the legal mother of the family. You should at least pretend to be one."

Pei Zixuan grew increasingly disliked his older sister.

"No way, dead people are bad luck. I'll be going now if there's nothing else."

After Pei Lingyao finished speaking, she turned to leave.

"stop!"

Pei Zixuan called out to her.

"what happened again?"

Pei Lingyao was getting impatient.

Pei Zixuan glanced at her and said, "Come with me."

Pei Lingyao followed him unwillingly.

Only the siblings remained in the study.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say, I have an appointment to play cards with Lady Hui'an and a few others later."

Pei Lingyao knew that her younger brother was mediocre, so she didn't take him seriously at all.

Seeing his sister look down on him like this, Pei Zixuan was very displeased and said in a bad tone, "Stop thinking about playing cards all day long, go and send a letter to the General's Mansion."

"General's Mansion? Which General's Mansion?" Pei Lingyao didn't know which one he was referring to.

"At the residence of Princess Yongning."

Pei Lingyao said angrily, "Brother, are you dreaming? What kind of status does Princess Yongning have? She can't possibly see me!"

Pei Lingyao felt that he was deliberately humiliating her.

“Pei Lingyi is now Princess Yongning’s mother-in-law, so you are her aunt.”

Pei Lingyao exclaimed in surprise, "Who!? Did I hear that right? You mean Pei Lingyi? Wasn't she kicked out of the family more than ten years ago? Isn't she long dead?"

"She didn't die. Her son, Xie Huai'an, is now a General of the Cavalry and has married Princess Yongning."

"what!"

Pei Lingyao couldn't accept it.

Pei Zixuan glanced at her. He hadn't expected this either. Thinking about how the two siblings had bullied Pei Lingyi before, he felt ashamed that they were now trying to curry favor with her.

Pei Lingyao didn't believe it and said, "Zixuan must have seen wrong."

“I didn’t see it. My father told me that our family has sent people over.”

Pei Zixuan dared not offend his own family; he still needed to rely on them.

Pei Lingyao knew that no matter how outrageous Pei Zixuan was, he wouldn't make up such nonsense.

The thought of Pei Lingyi's current success made Pei Lingyao grit her teeth in anger.

Pei Lingyao didn't emerge from the study until the siblings had been discussing things for an hour.

**

Although Jiang Shuwan and Xie Huai'an were at home, they kept a close eye on the murder of the Xie family. Although they knew it was the work of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, they had no evidence. On the other hand, the Duke of Dingguo's mansion wanted to frame the General's mansion, but they couldn't produce any evidence either, so the case was shelved.

After all, the deaths of the Xie family members were of little importance to the capital.

Xie Changfu has disappeared and no one has found him yet.

On the day of Old Madam Pei's funeral, Madam Pei and Xie Huai'an paid their respects from afar, quietly and without anyone noticing.

More than a month passed in the blink of an eye. The Emperor returned from the Summer Palace, and Xie Huai'an was released from confinement. He went to court early in the morning.

During this period, Pei Lingyao sent invitations to the General's Mansion several times, but Jiang Shuwan rejected them all.

Last year, many places experienced floods, turning many people into refugees. This year, most areas are experiencing drought, resulting in a complete crop failure for most people and a surge in grain prices.

Knowing that the Empress had returned from the Summer Palace, Jiang Shuwan made a special trip to pay her respects.

Jiang Shuwan bowed and said, "Shuwan greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings."

The Empress herself helped her up.

"Get up quickly, there's no need for formalities since it's just the two of us here." After saying that, the Empress looked her over carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that she hadn't lost weight.

"I'm relieved to see that you look well."

Jiang Shuwan smiled and said, "I'm fine, Your Majesty, you don't need to worry."

The Empress pulled her hand and sat her down, looking at her with affection. "His Majesty has already lifted General Xie's ban. This matter is over. His Majesty is not really angry with him. He did all this to show the Duke of Dingguo."

"Shu Wan knows."

The Queen gently patted her hand, "Good child."

"Your Majesty has heard that many places in the north are experiencing drought and have suffered crop failures."

The Empress looked distressed when this matter was mentioned.

"Yes, His Majesty has been troubled by this matter recently. Many refugees have come to the capital recently, and His Majesty has issued an edict to prohibit these refugees from entering the capital."

Emperor Mingde feared that if a large number of refugees entered the capital, chaos would ensue.

"I've heard a little about this matter. Although I'm just a nobody, I'd like to do my part."

The Empress looked at her, "Shu Wan, do you have any good ideas?"

“I want to rent a place to take in these elderly, weak, sick and disabled people, and let those who can work work and earn money, so that they don’t have to keep running around.”

This was Jiang Shuwan's main purpose in coming to see the Empress.

The Empress's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "Your idea is excellent."

In fact, Emperor Mingde had already been cooking porridge and distributing it outside the city, but this time the number of people was too large, and doing so every day would not be feasible.

Seeing that the Empress was interested in this, Jiang Shuwan told her about her thoughts.

After listening to Jiang Shuwan's idea, the Empress thought it was very good and let her get started. As for the money, the Empress did not want Jiang Shuwan to pay for it all herself. She invited the wives of the court officials to the palace, and each of them contributed a little money, which would amount to a considerable sum.

This money wasn't given away for nothing. There were signs listing who contributed how much and who contributed, so the people knew who had done them a favor. Emperor Mingde used this method to get his stingy ministers to willingly part with their money when he distributed porridge outside the capital.

Soon, Anjifang, run by Jiang Shuwan, opened its doors.

Anjifang only takes in the elderly, women, children, and young children. As for the strong and healthy, Jiang Shuwan registers them and arranges for them to stay on the estate, or sends the older and clever ones to do business.

The last time I inspired Jiang Shuwan in Panlong Town, she was busy with household affairs after returning home, so the caravan business was put on hold.

The social hierarchy is scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant, and merchant, with merchants ranked last. However, Jiang Shuwan does not look down on these merchants because of this. Recently, she discovered an interesting person.

Juxianlou

Jiang Shuwan sat in the side room, sipping tea and listening to a storyteller.

Feiyue pushed open the door and came in with a woman behind her.

The woman wore a long, lake-blue silk dress, her long, black hair was styled in an updo, and she wore simple jewelry. Her skin was fair, and her features were well-proportioned, giving her a dignified and elegant appearance.

The woman stopped and bowed calmly.

"This humble subject, Dai Yingying, pays her respects to Princess Yongning."

Jiang Shuwan said calmly, "Miss Dai, please rise."