It was not Gao Sheng's turn to comment on this matter. He nodded silently and asked Gu Chang: "What about the Li family?"

Gu Chang said coldly: "We have done so much, if the Li family doesn't know, wouldn't it be like walking in the dark in gorgeous clothes?"

Gao Sheng agreed, and after serving Gu Chang to rest, he went to inquire about Pei Yan's affairs.

By the time Li Duan found out that Li Yi's corruption was a rumor spread by the Peng family and that Li Yi's transfer to Yungui was Gu Chang's doing, the Dragon Boat Festival had already passed.

He looked at the rooftop painted with blue-green ivy leaves, and it seemed as if all the strength in his body had been drained away. He couldn't even move his little finger.

Peng Shiyi felt that he was not obedient enough and wanted to intimidate him, so he spread the word that Li Jun came back to transport the money that his father had embezzled. Gu Xi wanted to cancel the engagement, but did not want others to think it was her fault, so she wanted the Li family to take the initiative to cancel the engagement, so Gu Chang took action and threatened that if they did not cancel the engagement, his father would be transferred to Yungui.

Lin Jue was pacing around in the room like a trapped beast: "We are now attacked from both sides! Ah Duan, you can't be careless! It's easy to talk to Peng Shiyi, doesn't he just want us to bow our heads? We just have to bow our heads! Whatever he says is fine. The most urgent thing is to never let him find out that the Gu family is also dealing with us, otherwise we will really become meat on the chopping board and be slaughtered by the Peng family at will.

"As for the Gu family, if it really doesn't work out, then we can just call off the engagement.

"My aunt tried to hook up with the Gu family before, but I felt it was inappropriate. They are too old to be a good match! And the second branch of the Gu family is very poor. I found out clearly that when the old lady of the Gu family divided the family property, the second branch of the Gu family only got less than 20,000 taels of silver. What's more, the second old man is ignorant of household affairs. How much dowry can Miss Gu have?

"Besides, think about the young lady from the Gu family. She lost her father at a young age, and even her stepmother is jealous of her. It's obvious that she is not an easy person to get along with! The Gu family is just a family with a lot of education. But there are three of the four major surnames in Jiangnan in Hangzhou. Apart from the Gu family, there are still the Shen family, the Lu family, and the Qian family. If that doesn't work, there are still the Zhang family and the Yang family who are a little bit inferior!"

At this point, he sat down on the Zen chair next to Li Duan, crossed his legs and continued, "If it were me, I would find someone who is similar to my own family, or whose brothers are educated, or who has a lot of money as a dowry. In the end, you still have to live your life by yourself. If you find a wife who is always a burden on you, what's the point of living like that?"

Li Duan smiled bitterly.

He never thought of that.

But he didn't do so. When he entered the officialdom, the Li family's background was of no help to him at all.

His father is the best example.

If the Lin family had no background other than money, would his father still be stuck in the fourth-rank official rank without any advancement at this age?

But it’s not appropriate to say this in front of Lin Jue.

He rubbed his temples with a headache and said, "If the Gu family's marriage can be postponed, it is better not to postpone it. I heard from the Wu family that Gu Chang's mentor Sun Gao might be transferred to the Minister of Personnel."

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment, dismissal, rewards and punishments of court officials.

Lin Jue's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Really?"

"Really!" Li Duan said a little tiredly, "The Wu family has a son who is in the same class as me. They sent someone to tell me two days ago."

Lin Jue lowered his eyes and said nothing.

They all knew in their hearts that the young man from the Wu family came to deliver the message because he didn't know that the Gu family wanted to cancel the engagement and wanted to curry favor with Li Duan.

If the news of the two families breaking off the engagement spread out, not only would Li Duan be laughed at, but the Li family would also be abandoned.

After a while, he said sadly: "So what are your plans?"

Li Duan said: "Mother doesn't know about this yet, you help me take care of her first, I will go to Hangzhou in the next two days to meet Miss Gu!"

The person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.

He wanted to find out why Miss Gu was determined to break off the engagement.

Is the Yu family's matter really that important? Besides, he did it for a reason.

Lin Jue laughed and said, "You are well-read and smart. My sister likes to be coquettish. Instead of going to Gu Chang, it is better to go to Miss Gu's family."

After all, Li Duan looked handsome, and every girl would love to be coquettish. The cancellation of the engagement was originally initiated by Gu Xi. If Gu Xi changed her mind and still wanted to marry Li Duan, I believe that the Gu family would not be able to stop her.

Li Duan frowned when he saw Lin Jue speaking in a vulgar way.

Lin Jue thought Li Duan was worried about going to the Gu family, so he smiled and said, "I think you are right. If you want to go, hurry up. I don't think you need to choose an auspicious day. You should set off for the Gu family tomorrow and try to meet Miss Gu. Once you have Miss Gu in your hands, let's see what the people in the Gu family can say!"

Although this idea is vulgar, it is very feasible.

Li Duan secretly made up his mind to find a way to meet Gu Xi, but he said, "I have my own ideas."

Lin Jue was afraid that his stubborn temper would come out again, so he advised him: "Han Xin was able to endure the pain of being fucked, but he still achieved great success. You should learn from him!"

That depends on what you study!

Li Duan secretly complained in his heart that Lin Jue's dog meat was not worthy of being served at a table.

He set a date to go to Hangzhou, and Yu Tang and Yu Yuan finally found an opportunity and took Xiang Shi to Suzhou.

Xiang had never traveled so far in his life.

She felt that she was a very lucky woman who had seen the world because she could make it from Fuyang to Lin'an. She never thought that she would have the opportunity to go to Suzhou.

Sitting in the rented awning boat, she still seemed to be dreaming.

She opened a bag of silk candy, stuffed one into Yu Tang's mouth, and whispered, "Try it. My father brought it back from the capital when I got married."

The small awning boat was divided into two parts by a blue coarse cloth curtain. On one side sat Yu Yuan, Xia Pinggui, Sanmu and two shop assistants, and on the other side sat Yu Tang, Xiang Shi, Shuang Tao and Xiang Shi's maid Xia Lian.

The Yu family's shop needed to get some paint, and Yu Yuan suggested taking Yu Tang and Xiang Shi with them so that they could also get some exposure to the family business.

Yu Bo refused, thinking that the woman would cause trouble. It was Yu Tang who persuaded Yu Wen, and Yu Wen persuaded Yu Bo, and that's how Yu Tang and Xiang Shi made the trip to Suzhou.

Yu Tang was so excited that she didn't sleep well for the past two days. After she got on the boat and sailed for less than half an hour, she began to doze off after the initial novelty wore off.

Yu Tang yawned and held the candy in his mouth, but he didn't feel any better. Instead, he felt more and more sleepy. He leaned on Xiang's shoulder, his eyelids closed as if weighing a thousand pounds, and he mumbled, "Sister-in-law, I'll just take a nap for a while."

Xiang looked at her leaning on his shoulder like a child and couldn't help but smile.

She didn't sleep well yesterday, fearing that she would cause trouble to Yu Yuan if she went, and also fearing that she would not take good care of Yu Tang and make him unhappy. Although she had been married into the Yu family for less than three months, she saw clearly that this cousin from her uncle's family was not only held in the palm of the hand by the second branch of the Yu family, but also loved by her parents-in-law and husband. She didn't want to offend Yu Tang over trivial matters and affect her relationship with her parents-in-law and husband. Moreover, Yu Tang was a good person, and her husband doted on her even more, taking her with him wherever he went. This made Xiang Shi, who had been envious of her stepmother since she was a child, determined to capture her husband's heart no matter what and live a good life with him like now.

She was even more tolerant of Yu Tang.

Just watching Yu Tang fall asleep, she couldn't help but want to sleep too.

"Xia Lian." Xiang Shi whispered to her maid, "I'll take a nap too. If there's any movement from the young master, remember to wake me up."

Xia Lian grew up with Xiang Shi, and she knew Xiang Shi's thoughts best. In the past, she was worried that Xiang Shi would marry into a rich family and become the principal wife, and she would be taken in as a concubine. Now that Xiang Shi married into the Yu family, she was happier than anyone else - a family like the Yu family would not keep a concubine to eat idle meals. Usually, the maids around the wives either married to keep the smart shop assistants in the shop, or married to the shopkeepers in the shop. Regardless of the former or the latter, she felt that if she had that day, she would be truly proud and not in vain.

Xiang wanted to keep Yu Yuan's heart, so she tried harder than anyone else.

She nodded immediately, and not only carefully took a pillow and placed it on her shoulders for Xiangshi to lean on, but also took a thin quilt and handed it to Shuangtao, motioning Shuangtao to put it on Xiangshi and Yutang.

Shuang Tao suddenly felt that she had been a maid for nothing all these years.

She had never taken such careful and proactive care of Yu Tang before.

Usually she would do whatever Yu Tang or Chen told her to do, and occasionally she would hide in the kitchen to take a break.

There is no difference without comparison. Miss, you won’t feel that she is useless in the future, right?

Shuang Tao carefully covered Yu Tang and Xiang Shi with a thin blanket, but she felt a little uneasy.

There is a direct waterway from Hangzhou to Suzhou, which is very convenient. It takes only seven or eight hours to get there by going downstream. Therefore, many people take the night boat, board the boat in the evening, sleep for a night, and arrive the next morning. After finishing their business in Suzhou, they can take the night boat back to Hangzhou. They don't delay things and save a night's accommodation fee.

Yu Tang and his group were no exception. They first took a boat to Hangzhou, then changed boats from Hangzhou, and arrived in Suzhou overnight.

However, they will stay in Suzhou for two nights before going back.

According to Yu Yuan's words, I have to come and see the lacquerware shops here in Suzhou.

Suzhou is so beautiful, Suzhou is so beautiful. Even the nobles in the palace would try to get some Suzhou goods. This may be the reason why, although Hangzhou is closer to Ningbo, Suzhou people are more likely to do maritime business.

After sitting on the boat for a day and a night, Yu Tang and Xiang Shi both felt as limp as boiled beans.

Yu Yuan, the elder brother who had a wife and had forgotten his sister, took the lead in helping Xiang Shi. Looking at Xiang Shi's listless face, he said with concern: "Are you okay? I'll go hire a sedan chair now. You and your sister can go to the inn and rest first. Pinggui and I will go out shopping with you after we buy something."

Xiang Shi had no way to deal with this silly husband. She was afraid that she would hurt her husband's feelings if she let him go, and she was also afraid that she would make her sister-in-law feel uncomfortable if she continued to stay beside her husband. She could only wink at Yu Yuan and said, "I'm not tired. You go and help Ah Mei. I'm fine!"

Yu Yuan then remembered Yu Tang and said "Oh" in a nonchalant tone, but he did not let go of Xiang Shi. Instead, he tilted his head and looked at Yu Tang who was walking behind Xiang Shi, and said, "Are you okay? Do you want me to support you?"