"Um...yes." Xiao Juyuan chuckled hesitantly.
Yuan'er looked at Murong Xiao. He had a chubby face when he was a child, but he never expected that he would grow up to be such a handsome man.
“Yes, Juyuan, it’s been so many years since we last met.” Murong Hui also approached and looked at her closely, making Xiao Juyuan feel a little awkward.
“You’re much kinder than you were when you were little. You used to bully my sister all the time. I hit you once and my mom gave me a good spanking. So I swore I would never hit a woman in this life,” Murong Xiao said with a smile.
Xiao Yuan couldn't help but laugh, thankfully the mask covered her face. Yes, she had even gloated when she saw him get beaten. Her mother had originally been choosing a husband for her between him and Pei Junwu, but unexpectedly, Pei Junwu was chosen instead…
"Is that so?" Xiao Juyuan's smile was somewhat cold. "I can't quite remember."
Nangong Zhan smiled leisurely, "Aunt Xiao was right to choose him. Otherwise, you would have spent your life with a womanizer."
"Nangong Zhan, I'm going to get angry if you talk like that! I'm not a womanizer! I don't just want their bodies, I want their hearts too!"
"elder brother!"
Yan Minyu laughed non-stop and nudged Yi Chunjun with her elbow, "With mountains and water, you and him are really evenly matched. Luckily you only like men, otherwise you two would have been fighting over each other."
Upon hearing this, Murong Xiao jumped up dramatically from the stool, took a step back, and looked at Yi Chunjun with fear: "You like men?"
Yi Chunjun readily admitted, "Yes, but don't worry, I already have someone I'm pursuing, he is..."
"Yi Chunjun!" Pei Junwu's brows furrowed with anger, and he snapped at him, unable to contain himself any longer.
Murong Xiao sighed repeatedly, shaking his head as he looked at Yi Chunjun: "You really don't know how to enjoy life."
"elder brother!"
Yi Chunjun looked at him calmly and said, "I'm enjoying it."
"Yi Chunjun!"
When Nangong Zhan smiled, his elegance was so captivating that it made one's heart flutter. "Interesting. Just meeting you all made my trip worthwhile."
"Give me a cup of chrysanthemum tea." Another young man walked in. He was handsome and had a dashing and heroic air about him.
Nangong Zhan looked at him and smiled: "Hang Yisu, you're here too."
Yan Minyu stared at him intently, "My trip wasn't in vain..."
Chapter 21 of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer": Master Pei
Jinyun Mountain, with its ever-changing clouds and rosy hues, verdant trees and beautiful flowers, is known as "Little Emei" and naturally possesses a blend of sanctity and elegance.
The bluestone path leading to Peijiazhuang was bustling with people, almost shoulder to shoulder. Standing at the foot of the mountain and looking up, the throng of visitors formed a winding line of people, disrupting the tranquility and serenity of the mountain scenery.
Xiao Yuan stared indifferently at the majestic gate of Pei Family Village, which was faintly visible halfway up the mountain. If it weren't for his father's generous help to his two sworn brothers, how could the Pei family have such power today?
Dominating the martial arts world of the Central Plains? She glanced at Pei Junwu, whose face was cold and stern. Idiot, a whole family of idiots! They've mistaken a quail for a phoenix, willingly being deceived by a little girl from a farming family for so many years!
She glanced at Xiao Juyuan, who was walking at the back, and sneered. She had been impersonating her for ten years, receiving the best education in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and manners, but what she lacked was poise!
She was flanked by Nangong Zhan and Murong Xiao, with Hang Yisu following silently behind them, his eyes never leaving her. And she... though she pretended to be calm and composed, her eyes were filled with vain smugness.
Superficial! That's the feeling I had from the first moment I saw her. Superficial! Her coldness, her arrogance, even her constant talk of devotion and focus, were nothing more than a candle flame in the middle of the night, which would be extinguished with a gentle breath!
She probably still thinks it's her beauty that brought all this prosperity. Even Pei Junwu, if she weren't a daughter of the Xiao family, would he have married and loved her? How ridiculous! She, Li Yuan'er, is a pure and genuine daughter of the Xiao family, with unparalleled beauty, but... once she took the surname Li, everything changed!
She almost maliciously wanted to see Pei Junwu laugh. She wondered what he thought after ten years of companionship, seeing this scene. Did he feel proud as he chased away the swarms of suitors around her?
A group of burly servants went down the mountain against the flow of people, and the guests politely gave way, which only made them seem more arrogant and haughty.
"Young Master, Miss!" They approached and quickly stepped forward, bowing with their hands clasped.
"Hmm." Pei Junwu gestured with his hand, indicating that there was no need for formalities.
The servants carried several sedan chairs out from a small courtyard at the foot of the mountain and knelt on the ground to wait for the female guests to get in. Xiao Juyuan's sedan chair was more exquisite and spacious than the others, and her expression when she got in was arrogant to the point of being haughty.
Yan Minyu and Xiao Yuan both gave a cold snort.
The sedan chairs were carried in single file through the gates of Pei Family Manor, where well-trained servants and guards stood solemnly around the huge bluestone courtyard in front of the main hall. Having accompanied his master in and out of the Western Xia Palace since childhood, Yuan'er had to admit that Pei Junwu had trained his servants quite well, their bearing no less imposing than that of royalty in the palace.
As soon as he stepped out of the sedan chair, a well-dressed old man, well past fifty, hurried out to greet him. "Young Master, you're finally back! Miss, did you have a safe journey?" He appeared to be the head steward of the Pei family.
"Is everything alright at home?" Pei Junwu glanced indifferently at the busy scene of giving and receiving gifts, his face showing no joy whatsoever.
"All the guest rooms are full, and all the available rooms are also full. We've had to borrow several rooms from Jinyun Temple and Dingyun Nunnery," Pei Sheng said anxiously. "Young Master..."
"No need to worry." Pei Junwu smiled coldly. "The more people who come, the better."
"Wu'er! Wu'er!" A loud voice called out all the way from the hall, arrogant and unrestrained. "You're finally back!" The person also came out of the hall.
Yuan'er looked at him closely. Pei Fuchong, her "uncle." He was nearly fifty, yet he still carried the impetuousness of a naive young man. His exaggerated movements and crude words and actions made it hard to imagine how he could have created such a magnificent Pei Family Village without Pei Junwu.
She looked at him, wanting to laugh, but feeling a bit helpless. He gestured wildly, shouting orders at the servants as they passed by, greeting guests with alternating fawning and arrogant manners, and even spitting out a thick wad of phlegm when agitated. He thought he was the master of Pei Family Manor, he thought he was rising to fame in the martial arts world; he was smug, he was presumptuous. In truth, everyone knew who the real master was, except for him.
Pei Fuchong and Xiao Juyuan are actually the same kind of people.
"These are your junior brothers and sisters?" Pei Fuchong's attention quickly turned to the young people. He patted Tuoba Yuanxun on the shoulder, stared intently at Yi Chunjun for a long time, and then pinched each of the girls' pink cheeks. His rough hands were inaccurate, and Yuan'er was a little hurt by his pinches, afraid that he would remove her mask.
"I'm especially happy today! Let's have a few drinks tonight!" He grinned and chuckled a few more times, glancing at Murong Xiao without any elder-like manners. "Are you still so lecherous? You're so thin, always chasing women, aren't you feeling weak?"
The girls present all blushed, Xiao Juyuan was especially embarrassed, and Pei Junwu let out a soft sigh of relief, feeling helpless.
Yuan'er really couldn't understand why her mother had chosen Pei Junwu in the first place. If he hadn't received the careful guidance of Master Zhu, what kind of person would Pei Junwu have become?