“Welcome, Lady Yunyang.”
The director placed his left hand over his chest and bowed to Yunyang.
“Lady Yunyang, did you sleep well last night? If there was anything unsatisfactory, please be sure to let us know.”
“I slept very well.” Yunyang hadn’t come here to find fault, so she didn’t continue on that subject. “I came today to ask whether the plants in the botanical garden can be purchased.”
The director looked somewhat taken aback. “You wish to purchase one of the ancient-style plants?”
“Yes.”
The director scratched his head. The fine lines on his face deepened as an expression of difficulty appeared.
“That depends on which ancient-style plant you’re interested in.”
“Rose—” Yunyang instinctively started to say rosemary.
But the moment the word left her lips, she realized that the Federation probably didn’t use the name “rosemary.” The ancient-style plants in the garden were all identified by serial numbers.
And she hadn’t paid attention to rosemary’s number the day before.
Yunyang silently cringed.
Would it be too late to ask her husbands to help her find it now?
As Yunyang hesitated, Fu Shiyi adjusted his silver-framed glasses and gave a serial number that was completely unfamiliar to her.
“Ancient-style plant LZ047.”
The number meant nothing to Yunyang, but the director knew it very well.
His expression grew even more troubled. “I’m sorry, Lady Yunyang, but LZ047 isn’t for sale.”
LZ047 was exceptionally difficult to cultivate. On top of that, it could eliminate the negative effects caused by a male’s contamination level, making it one of the botanical garden’s signature plants.
Yunyang was a little disappointed. It had truly been a long time since she’d eaten a dish made with rosemary.
But since the garden did not sell it to the public, she couldn’t force the matter. All she could do was sigh and nod.
“I understand.”
Her brows lowered, and even her eyes seemed to lose their light.
The director suddenly felt like a terrible person. How could he possibly refuse the esteemed Lady Yunyang?
He gritted his teeth. “Lady Yunyang, if you need it, I can speak with my superiors on your behalf. I’ll be able to give you an answer by this afternoon at the latest.”
Yunyang’s eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
She and the director exchanged their wrist-brain numbers, after which she left the botanical garden with her six husbands.
The director stared at the extra name in his contacts list, still somewhat dazed.
Had he really just added Lady Yunyang as a friend?
·
Pei Wenye had rented an airship in advance. By the time Yunyang walked out of the botanical garden, it was already waiting outside.
Since he was the most familiar with the route to the Pei residence, he naturally took the pilot’s seat.
The other five husbands surrounded Yunyang as they settled into the rear seats.
The airship took off and headed toward the Pei residence at top speed.
At the Pei home, Pei Fangying had already instructed the robot butler to clean the entire villa until it was spotless.
She had also assigned tasks to several of her husbands: purchasing ingredients, buying wine, preparing the menu…
A visit from an S-rank lady was naturally the most important matter of all.
Everyone in the household was busy. Apart from Pei Fangying, not a single person was idle.
After half a morning of frantic preparations, they finally welcomed Yunyang and her family of seven.
When the robot butler announced their arrival, Pei Fangying called a halt to everyone’s work and led her nine husbands outside to greet them.
After the airship came to a stop, the first person to appear in everyone’s line of sight was Pei Wenye.
At the sight of that familiar face, all eight husbands except Pei Wenye’s father changed expressions.
Pei Wenye?
Hadn’t he been expelled from the family? How dare he come back?
Facing the suspicious and disgusted gazes of his uncles, Pei Wenye acted as though he hadn’t noticed them. He turned and walked toward the rear cabin.
He reached out and opened the door. Only after Fu Shiyi and Rong Jin had stepped down did he extend a hand toward Yunyang.
Yunyang graciously placed her hand in his.
“My lady, watch your step.”
Hearing Pei Wenye’s form of address, his eight uncles’ expressions changed once again.
Pei Wenye was actually one of Lady Yunyang’s husbands?
The eight men silently looked toward their own female head of household.
Now that Pei Wenye had such a powerful wife, would she forgive him for what he had done before?
None of the eight husbands cared about the family fortune. Before they had been matched with Pei Fangying, some of them had come from families no less influential than the Pei family.
But Pei Fangying’s attitude toward Pei Wenye would determine how they treated him.
Pei Fangying’s face remained expressionless.
Or rather, she wasn’t surprised in the slightest by Pei Wenye’s appearance.
That made sense. She had already known that Pei Wenye had been matched with Yunyang before he was driven out of the family.
Pei Fangying simply waited until Yunyang appeared before leading her nine husbands forward.
“Lady Yunyang.”
Although she was Pei Wenye’s mother, she didn’t dare to put on the airs of an elder in front of Yunyang.
Yunyang’s expression was calm. “Pei family head, I hope you don’t mind the interruption.”
As she spoke, Fu Shiyi took the gifts they had prepared in advance from his spatial button.
“A small token of our appreciation,” he said succinctly.
The gifts were not particularly expensive, but they were enough to demonstrate Yunyang’s courtesy.
Pei Fangying glanced at one of her husbands.
Wilder—Pei Wenye’s father—hurried forward and accepted the gifts from Fu Shiyi.
Only then did Pei Fangying extend her invitation. “Lady Yunyang, you’re too kind. Please, come inside.”
Since she wasn’t sure why Yunyang had come, she didn’t exchange many pleasantries. Once she had invited them into the house, she entertained them with the highest level of hospitality.
The freshest and most expensive fruits, tea leaves available only from the ancient-style botanical garden—even the tea set was one she had collected many years ago.
Others might not have known the significance of those things, but Pei Wenye understood it all too well.
His mother had kept that tea set in her collection for years without ever using it. Even when Lady Felicity had visited, she hadn’t brought it out.
His mother’s regard for her own wife was plain to see.
Yunyang could sense some of it as well.
To show her appreciation, she took a sip of tea before speaking bluntly.
“Pei family head, I brought A-Ye here today. Do you feel that I’m showing you disrespect?”
A-Ye?
Pei Fangying froze for a moment at the intimate form of address.
At first, after seeing Lady Yunyang’s six husbands, she had assumed that Pei Wenye probably wasn’t particularly favored.
After all, every one of Lady Yunyang’s husbands was exceptionally handsome. If Pei Fangying had been twenty or thirty years younger, she might even have been tempted by them herself.
Besides, it hadn’t been Pei Wenye who had presented the gift on Yunyang’s behalf just now.
But that intimate name was enough to prove that Pei Wenye held considerable importance in Yunyang’s heart.
Even if he wasn’t her most favored husband, he should rank among the top three in Lady Yunyang’s affections.
That was precisely what Yunyang intended.
Pei Fangying didn’t know what Yunyang was thinking, but she now had a clearer understanding of the situation.
She raised a smile. “Lady Yunyang, it is my honor to receive you and your husbands. How could I possibly see it as disrespectful?”
Her words and conduct certainly befitted the head of a great household.
But the more she acted that way, the more Yunyang couldn’t understand.
How could a woman like this have listened to her eldest son’s one-sided account and driven her younger son out of the family?
Yunyang didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about complicated matters.
She asked directly once again, “I heard from A-Ye that he did something wrong in the past and was driven out of the family by you. May I ask what happened?”
