On the other side, while giving Yejing Hall a few days off, Pei Xiangjun began to prepare for various matters related to making Yejing Hall "return to the ancestral clan and enter the ancestral temple."
The Honghua Building was large in scale, with branches spread across the country. It was initially an organization formed by the alliance of several shipping gangs. The Pei family served as the person in charge. After it evolved into the "Honghua Building," the branch where the Pei family was located was called the "Azure Dragon Hall."
The capital city was the core of all trade exchanges in the Great Wei. The Honghua Building couldn't be without someone to take charge in the capital. Therefore, when the country was founded, the Pei family took the opportunity to move the Azure Dragon Hall to the capital.
However, as a martial arts family in the martial arts world, the Pei family, having taken root at the foot of the Son of Heaven, didn't dare to swagger around in the open with their martial arts identity. They had always been hidden among the common people and made arrangements secretly.
At noon, in the living room of the Pei family's mansion, three incense masters who had come from afar were seated at the table, two men and one woman.
The two men were elderly, named Li Sanwen and Wang Ren, and the woman was Lady Huang Zhu. They were all incense masters of the Azure Dragon Hall.
Pei Xiangjun and Aunt Zhang, the wife of her eldest uncle, were seated below the central hall, listening to Lady Huang Zhu's complaint:
"It's one thing for the Zhou family to come to the wharf to snatch business, but even a second-rate faction like the Baoyuan Sect is trying to get a share of the pie. If it weren't for considering the overall situation, I would have gone to Baoyuan Mountain myself to reason with them..."
Incense Master Li Sanwen was the oldest and currently the most senior "uncle" in the Azure Dragon Hall. Even Pei Xiangjun had to address him as an elder. At this moment, holding a teacup, he shook his head and said:
"Li Hunyuan's 'Baoyuan Strength' is superb. He is a renowned grandmaster in the entire Yunzhou. As a mere incense master, what can you use to reason with him?"
These words seemed to imply that Lady Huang Zhu didn't know her place, but the underlying meaning was dissatisfaction with Pei Xiangjun's inability to suppress the people in the martial arts world.
Lady Huang Zhu retorted, "My business has been snatched. Can't I even say something? You're an elder in the family. You should have stepped in for this matter. Instead of taking the lead, you're sitting here making sarcastic remarks..."
Slap—
Li Sanwen slapped the table.
Pei Xiangjun raised her hand to stop the two from arguing:
"Stop arguing. I called you here this time to introduce someone to you. Yuan Feng left an adopted son named Yejing Hall. He came to the capital a few days ago, and he's a nice person..."
"How old is Yejing Hall this year?"
"Eighteen. He's a bit young..."
Li Sanwen had a straightforward temper and directly said:
"At eighteen, he hasn't even laid a solid foundation. What can he do? The building owner has gone to great lengths to call back all the incense masters from outside. Could it be that she's planning to throw in the towel and just find a Pei family member to take over? If that's the case, it would be better to let Pei Luo be the building owner..."
Aunt Zhang said dissatisfiedly, "Luo'er isn't a person in the martial arts world, and he shouldn't be involved in martial arts matters. Moreover, with Luo'er's idle nature, if he knew how much money our family has, it would be a disaster. He could even buy the Baima Academy tomorrow and become a teacher himself..."
Pei Xiangjun knew that the incense masters didn't trust young people, so she said again:
"Although Jingtang is young, he is methodical in dealing with people and things. His martial arts aren't extremely high, but he can still be regarded as a first-class master. You'll know the details when you meet him. You definitely won't be disappointed."
When the three incense masters heard this, their expressions became serious.
In the rumors in the market about the martial arts world, it always starts with the eight great grandmasters. First-class and second-class masters are somewhat looked down upon, but the truth is far from that.
With the large scale of the Honghua Building, only three people are respected as grandmasters by outsiders; even those as powerful as She Long and Shang Jianli are considered "the shame of grandmasters." One can imagine how high the threshold for a first-class master is.
Wang Ren's eyes showed a hint of doubt, but since they hadn't met the person yet, it wasn't appropriate to refute. So he nodded and said:
"Since the building owner has such high hopes, when all the incense masters have arrived, bring the person here for us to meet. If he's really as the building owner said, it will be a fortunate thing for our Azure Dragon Hall and even the Honghua Building."
Li Sanwen pondered for a moment: "The building owner called us all here. Could it be that she's planning to directly appoint Yejing Hall as the young master?"
"I indeed have this intention."
"How can this be? Now the Honghua Building is facing both internal and external troubles. The White Tiger Hall has its eyes on the position of the helmsman. Once the building owner appoints a young master and can't convince the crowd..."
Pei Xiangjun said seriously: "I have the confidence to make this decision. Once you meet Jingtang, you won't think I'm being too hasty."
Seeing that Pei Xiangjun had made up her mind, Li Sanwen said unhappily:
"Alright then. I really want to see what kind of young person can make the building owner so determined. If I give the younger generation a hard time then, please forgive me, building owner."
To make the subordinates submit, just relying on the praise from the leader isn't enough. One needs to rely on one's own abilities. Pei Xiangjun didn't say anything more.
After chatting for a while, Wang Ren brought up another difficulty:
"Last time I went to the Zhou family, I only met a steward and didn't even see the uncles of the Zhou family's second branch. They really have no regard for feelings. The business at Qingjiang Wharf is declining day by day. If we don't negotiate with the Zhou family and draw a clear line..."
"The old master of the Zhou family is about to celebrate his birthday. I'll visit to offer my congratulations then and talk about this matter by the way. The Zhou family doesn't give you face, but if I go in person, they have to think twice."
The three incense masters clearly had objections to this. After all, in the martial arts world's noble families, there was no precedent for the leader to personally go to another family to discuss small business matters.
Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit oppressive, Lady Huang Zhu stepped in to smooth things over:
"The old master of the Zhou family is a famous swordsmith. He has forged no less than a thousand weapons for people in his life. For his eightieth birthday, all the famous martial arts figures in Zezhou will come to offer their congratulations. It is said that even the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect will be present. It won't be a disgrace for the building owner to go..."
Pei Xiangjun also didn't want to talk about troublesome matters, so she changed the subject:
"I've never met the Goddess of the Moon Palace. I heard that she was once the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world..."
Aunt Zhang smiled: "You're at a disadvantage because as the helmsman of the Honghua Building, you can't show your face. If you dress up beautifully and visit, and then sit next to the Goddess of the Moon Palace, the title of the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world might fall to our Honghua Building in the future."
"Sigh~" Pei Xiangjun shook her head: "As the helmsman of the Honghua Building, if I become famous just because of my appearance, I'm afraid no one will take the Honghua Building seriously if it spreads out..."
----
The next morning.
After the rain had just stopped and the weather cleared up, the common people successively stepped out of their homes. Along Tianshui Bridge, there were crowds of people, and the cries of vendors were endless.
Yejing Hall had taken a few days off and had been wandering around with Luo Ning all day. He almost "forgot his aunt" and left Third Aunt behind.
This morning, as soon as he got up, Yang Chao suddenly ran over and said that Third Aunt had something to talk to him about, and then he remembered that he still had to go to work.
Although he had only been here for a few days, the things he had done were not trivial. Basically, everyone near Tianshui Bridge knew him. Along the way, he could hear the greetings from various shops:
"Master Ye."
"The young master is here..."
...
After greeting them, Yejing Hall came outside the Pei family's mansion deep in the alley.
Third Aunt was wearing a goose-yellow knee-length ruqun dress. She stood at the door with her maid Xiuhe, looking into the distance. Her gentle and demure appearance was like that of a gentle young woman waiting for her lover to return.
"Third Aunt, why are you waiting outside the door again?"
"Chirp!"
Pei Xiangjun had been nagged at by the incense masters for a long time yesterday and had a bit of resentment in her heart. She hugged the bird that flew over, furrowed her brows, and looked like a wronged young wife:
"I gave you a few days off, hoping that you would regard the Pei family as your own family. But look at you. You don't show up unless there's something important, and even the bird doesn't fly back. You really treat the Pei family as outsiders. Sigh~..."
"Chirp."
The bird also looked aggrieved, indicating its innocence.
Yejing Hall felt a bit ashamed. He entered the house with Pei Xiangjun and explained:
"I got a token from Prince Jing. Since I had nothing to do these two days, I went to the Black Yamen to get on good terms with them and build relationships. I helped with some errands."
"You really have great abilities. You even managed to capture the Wingless Owl. It seems I have to raise your salary. Otherwise, in the future, if you take on a case casually, you might earn more than you do in half a year at the Pei family, and you'll be even less likely to come home."
"Handling cases is a dangerous job, risking my life. It's not as stable as working for Third Aunt. There's no need to raise my salary. I already feel like I'm taking advantage... like I'm freeloading..."
While chatting, the three of them turned around the corridor and directly entered the latticed door.
Beyond the latticed door was the inner courtyard. Since the young master Pei Luo wasn't there, it was occupied by Aunt Zhang, Pei Luo's concubine, the maids, and other women.
As a man, Yejing Hall felt it wasn't appropriate to enter and said:
"Third Aunt, you called me here. Is there something?"
Pei Xiangjun stroked the bird and said unhappily:
"Can't I call you here for a chat if there's nothing important?"
"..."
Yejing Hall had no way to refute. He could only keep his eyes straight ahead as they walked past the lotus pond beside the koi pond and came to the main courtyard where the eldest branch lived.
Yejing Hall originally thought that Third Aunt would take him to the tea pavilion to sit, but as they walked, he realized that the direction was wrong—Third Aunt walked gracefully and stopped outside the bedroom. She also ordered:
"Xiuhe, go and take a rest first."
Xiuhe, who was following behind, quickly ran away.
"..."
Yejing Hall scanned the empty courtyard and the charming back of the mature and beautiful woman in front of him. It was only natural that he had some improper thoughts, and he hesitated to speak:
"Third Aunt, you..."
"Come in."
Creak—
The door opened, and Third Aunt entered the elegant bedroom. She even turned around and glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention.
?
What was she going to do?
Looking at Third Aunt, who seemed to be preparing for an affair, Yejing Hall felt really strange in his heart and asked:
"This is Third Aunt's boudoir. Isn't it inappropriate for me to enter?"
Pei Xiangjun retracted her gaze and saw that Yejing Hall had misunderstood, but she didn't explain:
"Come in. I just want to talk to you about something. Besides, no one saw us."
Yejing Hall hesitated for a moment, but finally entered the bedroom.
Click.
After Yejing Hall entered the room, Pei Xiangjun threw the bird out the door and then closed the door. There were only a man and a woman left in the boudoir.
"Chirp?!"
Yejing Hall turned around, his eyes full of surprise, and looked at Third Aunt, who was charming and graceful:
"Uh..."
Pei Xiangjun came to the bed and sat down, with an elegant posture. She patted the space beside her:
"Jingtang, come and sit down."
"Third Aunt, what are you..."
"Sit down quickly! Stop having improper thoughts!"
?
She's already on the bed, and she's telling me not to have improper thoughts?
Seeing that Third Aunt had slightly furrowed her brows and looked a bit unhappy, Yejing Hall had no choice but to sit down beside her:
"I... Oh my god!"
As soon as Yejing Hall sat down on the bed, he felt that there was nothing underneath, and the bed board collapsed. He fell backward directly.
Thud—
In the blink of an eye, the two of them landed in the pitch-black underground. The bed above them closed, and there was no more light.
Yejing Hall really didn't expect this to happen. With lingering fear, he looked around:
"Third Aunt? What are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing?"
"Uh..."
Yejing Hall thought that Pei Xiangjun was going to do something to him and explained:
"I thought Third Aunt was going to introduce the family's property to me. I didn't expect that it would be introduced in such a place... Where is this?"
"Hmph~"
Sizzle...
The sound of a fire starter being ignited rang out. The faint firelight illuminated their faces.
Pei Xiangjun brought the fire starter close to an oil lamp beside the stone wall. The oil lamp lit up, and then one by one, the lamps spread forward. A door appeared at the front of the tunnel.
Pei Xiangjun put away her gentle and weak demeanor, tidied up her clothes a bit, and walked along the tunnel towards the door in the underground.
The improper thoughts that Yejing Hall had just suppressed rose again—after all, a bedroom, a secret passage, and a basement were very likely to make people think of some improper things...
"What is this place?"
Creak—
As he spoke, the door opened, and a brightly lit hall appeared in front of them...