Pei Yan's mind flashed with Yu Tang's eyes, which were clearly black and white and as clear as spring water.

Everything I look at sparkles and is filled with curiosity.

A little girl like this, even if she stays at home, she will be able to do something, right?

Pei Yan threw a piece of peanut crisp into his mouth.

So, since she was not allowed to go out, she made peanut crisps at home.

If he stays at home for a few more days, who knows what she will send him next?

"Ah Ming," he said, "please invite Miss Yu to our house for tea." As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of the guests staying in the guest room at home and immediately changed his mind, "I'd better go to see Miss Yu. You tell them to prepare a regular sedan chair, and we will go quietly and come back quietly."

There was a welcoming banquet in the evening.

Ah Ming left immediately.

Two quarters of an hour later, a small sedan chair with a green curtain quietly left the back door of Pei's mansion.

The Ziqidonglai Pavilion, which is used by the Pei Mansion to entertain guests, is called a pavilion, but in fact it is a winding courtyard. Looking around, there are flower walls and paths everywhere. It is easy to get lost in it.

The eldest master of the Peng family stood in front of the window with the sash wide open. On the left was a bamboo forest and on the right was a Taihu stone rockery. The scenery was picturesque.

"The Pei family is quite interesting." He snorted and said lightly, "If we want to visit them, we might get lost, right?"

He was a man of about fifty years old, tall and slender, with a white face, a long beard, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He had a very elegant temperament, like a scholar who was well-versed in poetry.

Behind him followed a man in his mid-twenties. On his handsome face was a purple-red scar that ran diagonally from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth. Not only did it make his appearance look sinister, but it also added a bit of ferocity to his expression, making people look at him sideways.

"Uncle," he whispered, "then, should we still go visit the Wu family in Huzhou?"

There was a certain gentleness in his voice, but the fierceness in his eyes made it clear that he was very impatient.

The Peng and Wu families once had some business that could not be disclosed to others, so they were easier to approach than other families.

"Of course we have to go." The eldest patriarch of the Peng family turned around and said to the young man, "Pei Yan organized this auction just to make the families kill each other. I heard that the Wu family was the first to come. Given their character, they will definitely jump up and down before the auction to find someone to join forces. At least, they can't let Pei Yan control the price. We can just take a share when the time comes."

The young man hesitated to speak.

The eldest master of the Peng family said, "Eleven, you have to remember that the imperial court wants to withdraw the Maritime Customs. Only by forming alliances can we resist this risk. The auction will start in two days, so you should not show up. Be careful when you go out at night. The Pei family is not simple. If you are discovered, you should think of a good excuse as soon as possible to avoid misunderstandings."

The small courtyard was home to seven or eight wealthy families with complicated relationships among them. They all came for the priceless map. If you wander around the courtyard in the middle of the night without sleeping, it would be easy for people to think you have ulterior motives.

The young man called "Eleven" was exactly "Master Peng Eleven" mentioned by Lin Jue.

He replied "yes" respectfully, then raised his head and said unconvincedly: "No matter how powerful the Pei family is, it only has Pei You. Now he is dead. The remaining Pei Xuan is weak and incompetent, and Pei Yan is arrogant. What's more, Pei Yan is narrow-minded. After taking over the Pei family, he didn't think about how to make the Pei family move to the next level, but how to suppress the eldest branch. I think that even if the Pei family still has a few nails, it is just a rotten ship. Uncle, don't worry about it."

The eldest master of the Peng family frowned.

This nephew was not famous for his literary talent, but he passed the imperial examination at a young age. The Peng family spent a lot of effort to support him, and he and Gu Chang of the Gu family in Hangzhou were called "rivals of the time". Unfortunately, he was disfigured by someone and had no chance of a career in government, so he could only help him with his affairs. Gu Chang, however, had a smooth career and a prosperous official career. His nephew was always unhappy and even began to be cynical. He caused bloodshed on several occasions when things could have been resolved peacefully, which made people hate him.

But his nephew is really smart.

He can do many things that others cannot do very well. It would be a pity to throw them away, but it would be a worry to use them.

Fortunately, he is filial, dedicated to clan affairs, and obedient to clan elders. Even if he disagrees with the clan's decision, he will still follow it once the clan makes a decision.

This is why several elders in the tribe felt that he should be nurtured more.

But he is also really noble.

The world's talented people can be evaluated at will, and no one cares about them.

But times make heroes. No matter what Pei Yan or Pei Xuan is like, they are both successful candidates in the imperial examinations. Even if Eleven is smart, clever, and talented, and has learned both literary and martial arts, he cannot sell them to the emperor. He can only watch others rule the country and leave his name in history. He can only admit defeat and accept his fate!

However, now is not the time to tell him this. I will talk to him about it when we return to Fujian.

Otherwise, he really thinks he can control these people and doesn't know his own limitations!

"This is the Pei family's territory. Even if the Pei family is a rotten ship, you must not be careless." Master Peng warned him, "Don't forget, we also thought that the painting should be easy to get, but what happened?"

There was a gleam of viciousness in Master Peng Shiyi's eyes.

At first, the Peng family was afraid of alarming the Pei family and also afraid of attracting the covetousness of other families, so they decided to find an inconspicuous person to find a way to get the painting. He was one of those who agreed.

"Uncle, I understand." Master Peng Shiyi lowered his head and said, "There will definitely be no mistakes this time."

Mr. Peng nodded.

He felt at ease with his nephew doing the work.

"I'll go meet the Wu family later to see what they think about the auction." He pondered, "Maybe we can join forces with the Wu family."

The part of the map that the Pei family showed them was the same as the one they had in their hands.

Now they couldn't tell what went wrong, or even whether the map they had was real or the one from the Pei family was real. This forced them to participate in the auction.

Old Mrs. Pei was a kind person, but he had heard about Pei Yan's rebelliousness. This was his first time dealing with Pei Yan, and he didn't know how deep Pei Yan was. If Pei Yan was going to use this map as a cash cow, their family would probably bleed a lot.

It's nothing.

Where there is loss, there is gain.

The only fear is that the photos they took are exactly the same as the ones they have, or that the ones the Pei family got are fake...that would be infuriating.

Although Pei Yan knew that the Peng family had bad intentions, he was a person who teased others. The more a family was like the Peng family, the more he wanted to provoke them. No matter what the Peng family wanted to do, he would not treat them as a powerful enemy, so naturally he was too lazy to send people to keep an eye on the Peng family.

Anyway, they have already moved into the Pei family, so there is nothing he wants to know but cannot know.

He had the sedan parked in the alley behind the Yu family's back door.

Usually there are not many people walking around here.

Especially in the afternoon, most of the men in Qingzhu Lane are in their shops, while the women are either resting or doing needlework. It is very quiet.

He warned Ah Ming: "Be careful not to disturb Mrs. Yu. I don't want to visit her."

Ah Ming knew that the third elder in their family didn't like socializing, so he agreed and went to the front door to knock.

The person who answered the door was Mrs. Chen. When she heard Ah Ming say that he was a servant of the Pei family and came to look for Yu Tang, and saw that he was plump and cute, she liked him very much and took him to Yu Tang without asking any questions.

Yu Tang was very surprised to see Ah Ming. When he found out why Ah Ming came, he became even more anxious and it took him a long time to figure out the clue.

She sent Shuangtao to get Ah Ming some peanut cookies and asked Ah Ming in a low voice, "You said the Third Elder wanted to see me and the sedan chair was at the back door of our house?"

Ah Ming nodded repeatedly. Seeing Yu Tang wearing a scarlet silk jacket, which set off his fair face and smiling, he was friendly and amiable. He informed Yu Tang, "The third master is probably here for your family's forest. He asked about it before he came."

Yu Tang had wanted to meet Pei Yan for a long time, so now it was a good opportunity. The sleepy man met someone who was willing to share his pillow with him, which was good for both of them.

"Wait a minute!" Yu Tang was also afraid that Pei Yan would come home. With his personality, no one would feel comfortable in front of him. Moreover, her mother had just taken medicine and lay down to rest. Knowing that Pei Yan was coming, she had to get up and entertain him in person no matter what. "I'll tell my family and go to see the third master now."

Ah Ming left happily holding the peanut cookies given by Shuang Tao. Yu Tang asked Shuang Tao to cover for him and slipped out through the back door to meet Pei Yan.

The weather was getting warmer day by day. Pei Yan wore a moon-white gown made of three-sided fine cloth and a small green seal on his waist. He stood there like a jade tree facing the wind, with unparalleled grace and elegance.

Yu Tang admired it quietly.

I never thought that after meeting him in person, I would have no more thoughts.

"Why are you so slow?" Pei Yan said unhappily, "I'll just ask you a few questions and then I'll leave."

There is no gentlemanly demeanor at all.

Yu Tang secretly complained in his heart.

If she hadn't been dressed "formally" today, she wouldn't have gone out so quickly!

However, thinking about what Ah Ming said about Pei Yan coming here for their family's forest, she felt that she shouldn't be so stingy and shouldn't argue with Pei Yan about these things.

"Third Master, what do you want to talk to me about?" She went straight to the point.

Pei Yan didn't realize that there was anything wrong with his tone. Yu Tang's straightforwardness saved him from beating around the bush and put him in a good mood.

"Have you decided what to plant in your forest?" He said briskly, "Spring ploughing is over. If you don't decide, you'll have to delay another season."

Yu Tang was just trying to find out what Pei Yan was thinking, and this hit the spot. She said, "I've always thought that growing sea buckthorn is a good idea, but everyone told me to grow something else. I just want to ask you, if we sold our forest to you, what would you grow?"

What does she mean?

Do you want to sell the forest to them because it is of no use?

Does he seem like a sucker?

Pei Yan's face darkened. He asked, "You want to sell the forest to our family?"

"No, no." Yu Tang realized that Pei Yan had misunderstood and said hurriedly, "I meant 'if'. If it was you, what would you do?"

This assumption makes no sense.

Pei Yan was unhappy and said, "I haven't thought about it. I don't know." After saying that, he continued as if he was still not satisfied, "Unless your family can't make ends meet and people will die if you don't sell the land, I will help you for the sake of our fellow villagers. I bought the forest on my own initiative, and in order to give an explanation to my family, I can only hold my nose and think of a solution. Then maybe I will think about it carefully."