Chapter 1018: Scandalous

The lady shook her head in disappointment.

Her companion also sighed. “It’s a pity.” Unfortunately, such a beautiful girl did not have the right birth qualifications. Although birthplace did not determine everything in the upper class, it determined the value of a person, especially that of a girl.

The two of them sighed.

The breeze blew gently and the scent of flowers wafted around in the pavilion not far away. Pei Jingyu was wearing a light white pearl silk dress, and her long silky hair was styled with utmost care. She was elegantly sitting with her cousin Pei Jingshan. The two of them were sitting beside their Grandpa Pei Zhenyuan and were chatting with his friends while sipping tea.

Grandpa’s friend was surnamed Xiao. He was in his 60s and was a tycoon of the jewelry business. At that moment, he was looking affectionately at the two young girls. He said, “Jingyu and Jingmei are really getting more and more beautiful. What a pity, my grandson is already engaged. Otherwise, I would really want to marry such vivid girls into my family.”

The two sisters bowed their heads and smiled.

Pei Zhenyuan laughed. “Old Xiao, if you really want to claim kinship with my family, it’s the same to just marry Meng Yu over.”

Old Master Xiao also laughed and said half-jokingly, “Sure, I’ve taken a fancy on your grandnephew Ziheng, would you let him marry her? Out of all the young men, Ziheng is the most outstanding. He’s a young and promising man.”

“Wow, Old Xiao, you have such a wicked eye.” Pei Zhenyuan was also half-joking. “Out of my family, Zida and Zijian, which one of them isn’t a talent? Why are you so hung up over Ziheng? The girls who want to marry Ziheng are lined up all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, this boy just can’t get the point and doesn’t put any thought into it. I’m still worrying over it.”

Old Master Xiao smiled. “Young people take their careers seriously, that’s a good thing.” His grandson had gotten engaged last year. This time he’d come to the flower banquet to find a good family for his granddaughter. Thus, his actual reason for coming here to chat with Pei Zhenyuan was not for the two ladies in front of him, but Pei Ziheng instead.

In the young generation of tycoons, Pei Ziheng was recognized as the best.

Numerous debutante young ladies were all trying to obtain him, and their parents were also eager to matchmake them together.

It was a pity that Pei Ziheng’s mind was simply not on this. Ever since he’d inherited the family business two years ago, he had not come to the flower banquet at all. It was extremely difficult to see him, and he was only able to make a breakthrough by talking to Old Master Pei Zhenyuan.

How could Pei Zhenyuan not know the intentions of Old Master Xiao? However, he really could not make a decision for his grandnephew. His grandnephew’s temper was extremely crabby, and he probably already had an idea of when and who he wanted to marry. Hence, the opinions of other people were only a reference at best and could not play a decisive role.

However, his grandnephew’s judgment was not bad.

Hence, even if he had his own plan, Pei Zhenyuan trusted that he would make the most favorable choice for his family.

Just when he’d thought of this, he heard Pei Jingshan say in shock, “Look, isn’t that Big Cousin?” Following her line of sight, they saw Pei Ziheng wearing a finely stitched formal suit and standing in the crowd. He looked gentle and elegant as he talked to people, and holding onto his arm was a beautiful little girl.

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“Big Cousin? Why is he here?” Pei Jingyu was also surprised.

Old Master Xiao looked over. First, he was happy to realize that his granddaughter Meng Yu was also there. Finally, the two children could have a conversation… However, it was followed by doubt. Who was that little girl behind Pei Ziheng? He could see that he was very protective of her. His body would intentionally or unconsciously face toward her in a protective stance.

He voiced out his doubts.

Pei Zhenyuan frowned. He had a faint guess in his heart and glanced at Pei Jingyu.

Pei Jingyu understood his meaning and said to the two elderly in compliance, “The girl beside Big Cousin is called Xia Ling. She was adopted by him a few days ago when he went to the orphanage to do charity. Big Cousin is just so kind he couldn’t help but take pity on this poor child.” Her voice was tactful, taking on the tone that a noble young lady should have, but her heart was full of shock and anger—not long ago, she had laughed at Xia Ling for not having the qualifications to come to the banquet, but now she was here! Wasn’t this slapping her in the face directly!

Pei Zhenyuan knew that Pei Ziheng had adopted a little girl, and had also listened to his granddaughter’s grievances about how arrogant and despotic the girl was that she had even injured her and the other sisters by pouring hot tea on them. Hence, he already had a prejudice against Xia Ling. Now that he was seeing her in reality, his first reaction was not that she was beautiful. But…

“Where have his rules gone to, how could he bring her to attend this banquet,” Pei Zhenyuan said unhappily.

Once Old Master Xiao found out about her identity, he was relieved and said happily, “As expected, Ziheng is so benevolent. It’s good to bring the little girl out to see the world too.” As long as the girl was not a lady from another family, and would not fight with his precious granddaughter over her marriage partner, then he did not care about whether or not she was adopted.

An adopted child had no status. So, Old Master Xiao directly disregarded Xia Ling.

He said to Pei Zhenyuan and the two young ladies, “I haven’t seen Ziheng in a long while, I’ll bring Meng Yu over to say hello. Brother Zhenyuan, I’ll get going first,” he said and bid farewell to them before leaving.

Pei Zhenyuan sent Old Master Xiao away with a smile before his expression turned gloomy. “What a scandal!”

Pei Jingyu knew that he was scolding Pei Ziheng and Xia Ling. She said gently, “Grandpa, calm down. Big Cousin wasn’t like this last time. But ever since he’s adopted that wild brat, he has changed a lot. He doesn’t care about the rules and even ignores the kinship between brothers and sisters now. Grandpa, it’s all because that wild brat has confused Big Cousin. If you want to blame anyone, it’s that wild brat.”

“Humph!” Pei Zhenyuan huffed coldly.

Although he did not say it out loud, he secretly agreed with Pei Jingyu. What was good about a wild brat? At first, when Pei Ziheng had brought her home, he had not put it to heart because he had thought of Xia Ling as an insignificant person. However, this insignificant person had not only bullied his own dear granddaughter but was now making it no secret of trying to attain a higher level by attending this kind of a social event. How could he not be angry?

Furthermore, there were so many granddaughters in the Pei family that he could only bring out two of three of them every year!

The invitation to the flower banquet was limited, and this time, they’d given the Pei family three invitations—to Pei Zhenyuan, who was the family’s most important Chairman and elder, to the young patriarch Pei Ziheng, as well as to Pei Jingyu, who had won the title of the banquet’s “Midsummer Lady”. Each invitation could only be accompanied by a companion. Pei Zhenyuan had gone through layer by layer of the family to select the best to bring and had finally brought along Pei Jingshan, who had good temperament and appearance and whose parents and brothers were in rather decent positions. He had given her a chance to show her face.

Pei Jingshan had been ecstatic. The meaning of the flower banquet was extraordinary, and it was in itself a symbol of status in the family to be brought here. If a family wanted to marry a lady from the Pei family, then they would be more willing to marry someone who had shown their face at the banquet and had received recognition from the family, rather than a random lady.

The Pei family was a huge family with many girls. Hence, such an opportunity was rare to come by.