When Old An heard this, he started laughing.

Most ordinary families would have such considerations.

The Yu family are all honest people.

"I didn't think it through." Old An said, "It's cold in the mountains. I'll go back home in a few days."

Sure enough, Lao An didn’t go up the mountain for no reason.

But this is none of her business, and she doesn't want to ask.

Old An told Yu Tang about the Li family selling the land: "How did you think the Li family did it on purpose?"

Yu Tang couldn't say that she knew about the Li family's financial situation because of her past life experience, so she could only say: "I know that Madam Li's family is a big merchant in Fujian, and I haven't heard that the Lin family has fallen on hard times!"

The implication is that, given the relationship between the Li and Lin families, if the Li family really needs money, the Lin family will not sit idly by!

Old Mrs. An nodded and was about to say something when a maid came in and said that the second wife and the fifth lady were here.

"Let them in quickly." Old An listened with a smile in his eyes, and it was obvious that he liked the Second Wife and the Fifth Miss very much.

I wonder what the relationship between the first wife and Mr. An is like?

Yu Tang had never seen the first wife at Old An's place before.

The Second Madam and the Fifth Miss saw that Yu Tang was also there. The Second Madam was fine, she smiled reservedly and nodded to Yu Tang, but the Fifth Miss ran over like a stream of smoke, shouted loudly "Sister Yu", and asked her happily: "Are you going to our house to celebrate the New Year too? Then do you want to make lanterns with me later? Amber and others are going to teach me how to make lanterns."

also?!

Who else?

Yu Tang was surprised.

The Pei family obviously had no intention of keeping it a secret from her. The second wife smiled and said, "Something happened at Miss Gu's home. She will spend the New Year at our house this year."

What could happen in her family?

Yu Tang sneered in his heart.

Because of her stepmother, Gu Xi had a very bad relationship with her father and half-siblings. She could even be described as not caring about their lives. Moreover, she had never heard of anything going on in her family in her previous life...

Could it be that the Gu and Pei families really had plans for an alliance, so Gu Xi found an excuse and Old An followed suit and kept Gu Xi? !

She really wanted to know what happened to the Gu family.

If she were in her previous life, she might have asked in private. But in her new life, she knew her own limitations. Instead of playing tricks on people like Old An, it would be better to ask directly. If they were willing to tell her, she would listen. If they were not willing to tell her, she would give up her curiosity. So she did not hesitate, but said directly: "What happened to Miss Gu's family? Why can't she go back for the New Year?"

Both Old Anren and the Second Wife were surprised, and then they exchanged glances.

Don't look at anything inappropriate, don't say anything inappropriate. When it comes to other people's privacy, most people won't ask. Miss Yu is educated, so she should pretend not to know. I didn't expect her to ask so bluntly.

Is this Miss Yu sensible or not?

Old An suppressed his confusion and rejected Yu Tang directly: "We can't say too much about the Gu family. I just received a letter from Miss Gu's brother, asking us to keep her here for the New Year. You will also meet Miss Gu later. You are of similar age, so you should get along well with each other."

Yu Tang smiled and responded respectfully, but in his heart he wondered if his arrival had anything to do with Gu Xi staying over to celebrate the New Year.

She chatted with Old Anren and the Second Wife for a while, and then Old Anren sent her away to rest: "You just arrived today and have been sitting in the sedan chair for half a day. Take a good rest in the house in the afternoon and come over to have dinner together in the evening."

Yu Tang agreed with a smile.

Miss Wu held Yu Tang's hand and begged Old An, "I'll go help Sister Yu pack her things."

The Second Wife laughed and scolded the Fifth Miss: "Don't be naughty. Let Miss Yu go to rest first."

Yu Tang liked the Fifth Miss very much, and she was new to a place, so she felt safer with a familiar person around. She smiled and said to the Second Wife, "Please let her go back to the guest room with me! With her, I can have company."

The Fifth Lady hurriedly hugged Yu Tang's arm and said to the Second Lady, "Mother, look, Sister Yu also wants to keep me company."

The second wife was about to stop him, but Old An said, "Then you can go with Sister Yu. But don't be naughty. If you are naughty, don't expect us to allow you to run away casually in the future."

The fifth young lady was delighted and nodded repeatedly.

Yu Tang was also very happy. He smiled and took the Fifth Miss's hand, then said goodbye to Old Anren and the Second Madam.

The second wife could not help but complain, and said to Old An: "Mother, you must not spoil her like this anymore. Look at the third girl from the third room. She is so well-mannered at such a young age, and looks like a lady from a noble family..."

Old An interrupted the second wife and said, "But look at the fourth girl again!"

The second wife stopped talking.

But Old An continued, "Was Fifth Girl this lively and active before? Mourning is hard enough, and she finally met someone she can talk to. As a mother, don't you hope that she can be happy? How many years can a girl stay at home? Once she gets married, we don't know what her life will be like. I don't care about others, but I can't bear to see our precious daughter suffer."

The second wife hurriedly said, "How can that be possible! With you watching over her, she won't suffer even if we are negligent!"

Old An snorted softly and said nothing more.

In the east chamber where Yu Tang lived, she and the Fifth Miss sat on the Luohan bed in the inner room, drinking tea while watching Shuang Tao instructing several maids and old women from the Pei residence to clean up the inner room.

Originally, these people were very alert when they were assigned to Yu Tang. Now, in front of the Fifth Miss, they acted even more efficiently and carefully.

The Fifth Miss was very interested in the half-finished silk flower in the embroidery basket that Yu Tang brought.

She asked Yu Tang: "Can I learn it too?"

Yu Tang smiled and said, "As long as you are willing."

The fifth young lady was delighted and whispered to her: "My grandmother's birthday is coming soon, and I want to give her something different. Sister Yu, please teach me how to make a silk flower for my grandmother... I'll ask Aunt Chen for some date-red Zhang velvet. I don't know if it's enough. When Sister Yu has a good rest, I'll ask the maids to bring it to you... The three sisters will come over later... Mrs. Shen and Miss Gu also went up the mountain with us... They live in the yard next to yours, which is a little bigger. Aunt Chen said that Mrs. Shen is Mr. Shen's wife after all, so it's better to arrange for them to live there... But the three sisters live here with us..."

Yu Tang listened with a smile and did not ask about the Gu family's affairs anymore.

In her opinion, since Old An was unwilling to tell her, she should not ask about it under any circumstances. Although she was extremely curious.

But she was still surprised that several other young ladies from the Pei family would also come.

She asked, "Why are the Second Miss and the others here too?"

The Fifth Miss's mind was completely focused on the silk flowers in the embroidery basket. While carefully flipping through the various utensils in the embroidery basket, she said absentmindedly, "My Third Sister is going to be discussed with a husband soon. My Third Uncle Grandmother said that we should see the person first. That family wanted to take the opportunity to come and pay respects to Old An to let my Third Sister see the person. It's almost the New Year, and the Pei family mansion is bustling with people. My Third Uncle Grandmother came to discuss it with Grandmother, and Grandmother agreed."

That makes sense.

But why invite her too?

She is not from the Pei family!

Yu Tang still hasn't thought it through.

But before she could think about it carefully, Gu Xi suddenly came over.

Following her was He Xiang, her maid from her previous life. She was holding a basket in her hand, but no one knew what was in it.

"I didn't expect to meet Miss Yu here again." Gu Xi smiled, raised her chin slightly, her tone was gentle but her expression was arrogant, exactly the same as when they first met in their previous life. Yu Tang was in a trance for a moment and almost couldn't tell the difference between her past life and this life.

She wondered, could it be that Gu Xi knew her identity, and that was why he treated her like that?

But Gu Xi was obviously much more sincere and friendly to the Fifth Miss. She said to the Fifth Miss, "The Buddhist incense I made a few days ago was ready. I was going to give you a box to try. But when I went to your room, I found out that you were here with Miss Yu. Mrs. Shen caught a cold again. I had to take care of her. It was not good for me to wait in your room for a long time, so I ran over."

As she spoke, He Xiang took out a black lacquered box with inlaid ornaments.

The Fifth Miss's personal maid, Asan, quickly took the box.

"Thank you, Miss Gu." Miss Five said with a shy smile that looked a bit childish. She didn't say much and was no longer as lively and active as before.

Yu Tang's heart moved slightly, as if he was thinking about something.

Gu Xi seemed to be used to this kind of Fifth Miss. She smiled apologetically at Yu Tang and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know Miss Yu was coming. I brought a box of potpourri. It's the best to use when reading or writing."

In his previous life, Gu Xi liked to make incense, and the incense he made was very famous in Lin'an. Many wives of rural nobles and scholars in Lin'an were honored to get the incense made by Gu Xi. Yu Tang also got this flower fragrance in her previous life. It smelled really fragrant and refreshing. It was especially good. Unfortunately, she only got one box. Before she finished using it, Lin took away the remaining incense on the grounds that she was a widow and should not play with extravagant things.

Later, she adapted to the fresh air and became less fond of burning incense.

But she still accepted it with a smile - it would be nice to give it as a gift to someone who likes to use incense.

Gu Xi went to visit the place where Yu Tang lived.

The furniture, curtains, etc. all belong to the Pei family, but the hanging screens, vases, and teacups should be the ones that each person is used to at home.

The hanging screens were four black lacquer and gold-painted plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. The production, materials and patterns were all very ordinary. The vase was a cloisonné vase that could be seen everywhere. The teacup was a set of white porcelain without any patterns or colors. When she first moved in, there was also such a set of tea sets on the round table. The little maid of the Pei family who was assigned to serve her in the room told her that it was just for show. When the newcomers changed to the tea sets they brought with them, they would naturally put them away.

Yu Tang's residence had clearly been furnished, but the tea set was still on the table. Either she didn't know the Pei family's rules, or she didn't bring her usual things with her up the mountain.

If a rich lady goes to stay at someone else's house but doesn't bring her usual things, is she still a rich lady?