Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 847

Chapter 847: Unfortunate Circumstances

The Pei family’s main house, Pei Yu’s study.

An early autumn night, a cool breeze blowing. Pei Yu stood by the window, fanning himself with a folding fan.

“Master, only two of our men sent to the outskirts of the capital survived,” the servant said, head bowed. “Liang Chen’s case is closed, but Fourth Master did not confront the Xu family; instead, he wiped out our gambling den.”

Pei Yu was ambitious, so he needed money to support himself, and the gambling den was the fastest way to make money.

He had painstakingly built his gambling den over several years, only to have it destroyed by Pei Que. It was impossible not to feel heartbroken.

Fortunately, after so many years of accumulation, Pei Yu had gathered considerable resources and connections; otherwise, he would not have dared to confront Pei Que.

In the battle on the outskirts of the capital, Pei Yu was fifty percent confident of defeating Pei Que, but fate had not smiled upon him, so he had to make other plans.

“That old bastard Xu Rong, despite his immense ambition, is so cautious; it’s truly detestable.” Pei Yu’s eyes flashed with a fierce light. “The Xu family is hosting a banquet recently, are they not? Sneak in and send Xu Rong to meet his maker.”

Pei Yu gave the orders to the assassin, and the next day, An Zhi was also to attend the banquet at the Xu family mansion.

The Xu family had invited half of the prominent families in the capital to this banquet, all in an effort to cultivate relationships.

An Zhi was not particularly enthusiastic about such banquets, so she chose a slightly late time. After arriving at the Xu Mansion, she greeted Madam of Xu, and then went to find her cousin and sister-in-law.

Huiping and Li Sihui arrived first and sat together. Many noble ladies and women were surrounding them, all hoping to curry favor.

Huiping saw An Zhi first, called out loudly, and then led Li Sihui away from the pavilion. The others had to make way.

“Zhi’er, you’ve finally arrived! These ladies have been chattering away; I do not even know their names, yet they all come to greet us.” Huiping, always direct, glanced behind An Zhi and asked, “Why did Madam of Zhang not come with you?”

An Zhi whispered in Huiping’s ear, “Madam of Zhang is pregnant, but her pregnancy is still in its early stages, so it’s not advisable for her to attend this kind of gathering.”

Huiping exclaimed with delight, “That’s wonderful news! I do not find this banquet very interesting. Shall we leave early and go see Madam of Zhang together?”

“Do not be impatient, sister-in-law. You can go whenever you want. Today is the Xu family’s day, so we should give them some face,” An Zhi said, adding that Xu Rong was somewhat sensible and suggested An Zhi stay at the Xu family’s house a little longer.

“Then let’s go tomorrow.” Huiping led An Zhi and the other woman to a secluded spot on higher ground. After reaching a pavilion, the view opened up considerably, and they could even see a corner of the men’s quarters. Huiping’s gaze swept around the area before she frowned. “Huh, why is Pei Yu here?”

An Zhi followed the sound and indeed saw Pei Yu.

Li Sihui whispered, “Pei Yu holds no official position, yet he’s here at this kind of event. Does he have a good relationship with the Xu family?”

Just as she finished speaking, the three saw Pei Yu talking to the third young master of the Xu family. The two seemed to be getting along quite well, chatting and laughing.

Huiping’s face fell. “The Xu family is so tactless! They’ve already invited the Pei family, yet they invited Pei Yu as well. If they clash with Pei Que, would that not be deliberately making things awkward?”

An Zhi also felt uncomfortable, not because she was afraid of clashing with Pei Yu, but simply because it was unnecessary. The Pei family’s affairs had not been long ago; anyone with a bit of reputation in the capital knew about them.

Now that she thought about it, Xu Rong was not very clever.

In fact, it was not Xu Rong who invited Pei Yu, but rather Xu Zhijie, who casually mentioned it while drinking with Pei Yu.

Seeing Pei Yu arrive, Xu Zhijie also felt awkward for a moment. He had indeed said it himself and afterwards thought Pei Yu probably would not come, so there was no need to remind him further.

But unexpectedly, Pei Yu actually came.

Since he was already there, Xu Zhijie could not just turn him away; after all, he was his friend. He could only lead Pei Yu to a quieter place.

But Xu Zhijie did not expect his luck to be so bad. Just as he was leading Pei Yu towards the garden, they ran into Pei Que and his father walking towards them.

Xu Rong had no private dealings with Pei Yu and did not understand why his youngest son and Pei Yu were so close. He was already somewhat intimidated by Pei Que, and now, seeing Pei Yu walking towards them, his face immediately fell.

Pei Yu, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, respectfully bowing to Pei Que and Xu Rong, “Minister Xu, Fourth Uncle.”

Upon hearing the address “Fourth Uncle,” everyone present dared not breathe loudly.

Everyone knew that Pei Yu’s lineage had been expelled from the Pei family, knew why Pei Yu’s father had died, and knew that Pei Que and Pei Yu were irreconcilable enemies. Many people, while marveling at the Xu family’s audacity, speculated whether Xu Rong was trying to intimidate Pei Que.

However, Xu Rong, at this moment wishing he could throw his youngest son into the river, could only pretend not to see Pei Yu and turn to Pei Que to change the subject, “I was just saying I have a fine inkstone in my study; let’s go take a look together.”

Pei Que had already noticed the unease on Xu Rong’s face. Although this matter might not have had anything to do with Xu Rong, it was definitely related to Xu Zhijie. He smiled and refused, “Minister Xu’s inkstone must be the best; I do not need to see it. We have many guests today, Minister Xu; please attend to the others. I will be fine on my own.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Rong knew Pei Que was angry, but Pei Que was still smiling, which meant he was already holding back. With so many people watching, he could not say anything more and could only lead the others away while also calling his youngest son away.

With the Xu family father and son gone, many people dispersed, but Pei Que did not leave. Instead, he remained in place, staring intently at Pei Yu. With Pei Que present, no one dared to approach Pei Yu, leaving him standing alone, looking rather awkward.

After a while, Pei Yu finally spoke again, “Fourth Uncle, what a coincidence.”

“No coincidence, you did it on purpose,” Pei Que said directly.

It was a very blunt remark, making everyone around feel uncomfortable, but Pei Yu acted as if nothing was wrong.

“Fourth Uncle is being so direct; it seems you’re not too keen on seeing me.”

Pei Que sneered, “Do you not know whether I want to see you or not? Pei Yu, you did not come all this way to the Xu family just to spout this nonsense, did you?”

“Of course not.” Pei Yu took two steps forward, lowering his voice. “I’ve prepared a good show for Fourth Uncle.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a scream came from a house not far away.

Pei Que frowned and glared at Pei Yu. “What have you done?”

Pei Yu smiled without answering. A moment later, someone came out to summon the doctor, saying that Xu Rong and several officials had been poisoned.

By this point, Pei Que understood everything; it was all Pei Yu’s doing.

However, he had already sent people to keep an eye on Pei Yu, so he knew when Pei Yu left today.

“Pei Yu, do you think you can kill someone in the Xu Mansion and give me a warning?” Pei Que suddenly laughed. “But unfortunately, your fourth uncle has been around for a few more years than you. Even if you sent assassins, they probably did not die this time.”