Yu Tang listened attentively to what Ma Xiuniang said. Someone came over to greet Chen: "You are a rare guest! It's so hot, I thought you wouldn't go out. I didn't expect you to come to pay respect to the old lady."

Mrs. Chen and Ma Xiucai's wife both stood up and greeted the visitor politely: "Mrs. Tang, you are here to pay your respects to the old lady as well!"

Yu Tang looked up and saw a woman's face full of shrewd calculations.

Her eyes turned cold.

Mrs. Tang, the wife of Mr. Tang, a scholar in this city.

That is to say, in her previous life, she was entrusted by the Li family to tell her privately that if she agreed to the marriage proposal from the Li family, the Li family would be willing to lend five thousand taels of silver to the Yu family.

In her previous life, she regarded Mrs. Tang as her benefactor and thought she was kind-hearted.

Later, as she gained more experience, she realized that Mrs. Tang had ulterior motives and was harboring evil intentions, as she had persuaded a young girl like her to secretly agree to a marriage with the Li family without the permission of her aunt.

Mrs. Tang, Mrs. Chen, and Mrs. Ma returned the gift, took out a handkerchief to wipe the non-existent tears from the corners of their eyes, and said with a bit of sadness, "That's right! The old lady is gone, but it's a big event in our Lin'an City! The wife of the prefect is here too. Look, I have been accompanying her to rest in the small courtyard over there, and didn't notice that you guys are here too."

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma did not want to deal with this Mrs. Tang because this Mrs. Tang not only loved socializing and making friends with the rich and powerful, but also loved bragging and showing off.

Because Magistrate Tang and Scholar Tang had the same surname, she somehow made Magistrate Tang, who was two years younger than Scholar Tang, become Scholar Tang's uncle. She fawned on Madam Tang all day long, and her enthusiasm was so great that Madam Tang could not stand it sometimes.

Hearing that she was showing off here again, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma, who didn't like her very much, said a few dry words to her and prepared to send her away.

Who would have thought that Mrs. Tang, who usually saw no one else in her eyes, was like she had taken the wrong medicine today. Not only did she not leave, she also looked at Yu Tang and Ma Xiuniang with a smile and said, "It's only been a few days since I last saw them, and the young ladies of the Yu family and the Ma family have grown into big girls. They are beautiful and gentle. If I ran into them on the street, I would definitely not recognize them."

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma had no choice but to let their daughter pay respect to Mrs. Tang and say a few humble words.

Mrs. Tang seemed to be oblivious to Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma's perfunctory attitude, and said affectionately, "How could I tell Mrs. Tang that you two are the most virtuous and kind among all the scholars and wives in the city, and you don't even let anyone look at such a pretty girl at home. If I had a daughter who was so handsome, I would have taken her everywhere."

The two didn't want to say more to her and just responded with a "yes".

She didn't know if Yu Tang was overthinking it, but she always felt that Mrs. Tang seemed to be sizing up her and Ma Xiuniang on the surface, but in fact she was paying more attention to her.

She quietly hid behind her mother.

Mrs. Tang smiled and pulled Ma Xiuniang's hand, who was sitting next to her, and asked Mrs. Ma, "I remember that your young lady came of age last March. Has she been engaged? We have such an outstanding young lady, we can't just marry her off to anyone."

Ma Xiuniang lowered her head in shame.

Mrs. Ma frowned.

It was very rude of Mrs. Tang to speak so bluntly about Ma Xiuniang's marriage in front of everyone.

Mrs. Ma said unhappily, "Mrs. Tang remembered it wrongly. The young lady from the Yu family came of age in March, and our daughter came of age in May."

"Oh! Look at my memory!" Mrs. Tang smiled, looked at the mother and daughter of the Chen family, and said, "Has the young lady of the Yu family found a marriage? Do you want me to help take care of her? Guess who I just met? Mrs. Yang, the sister-in-law of the eldest lady of the Pei family. Mrs. Yang came alone this time, she brought her nephew with her! And I heard that Mrs. Yang's husband is the Minister of Public Administration in the Ministry of Public Administration! A legitimate third-rank official. Otherwise, why would Mrs. Tang be there with him all the time!"

What do you mean by saying this?

What does the person that Madam Yang brought here have to do with them, Yu Tang?

Do you want to use the Yang family's power to whet the Yu family's appetite?

Chen was slightly annoyed and said stiffly, "Then we won't delay Mrs. Tang's socializing. We'll keep our daughter to look for a husband."

Mrs. Tang was stunned.

Chen's frail body lay in front of her daughter, not moving at all.

Mrs. Tang forced a smile and said, "Then I won't bother you anymore. I'll go over there to accompany Mrs. Yang first. I'll come to visit you when I'm free."

"No need to see you off!" Chen said indifferently.

Mrs. Tang left somewhat angrily.

Mrs. Ma took a long breath, not disguising her dislike for Mrs. Tang, and said, "Fortunately, she left. If she had said a few more words, I would have lost my patience." After that, she asked Yu Tang and Ma Xiuniang to sit down, and said to them with a stern face, "Young girls, if you encounter such things in the future, you should ignore them and avoid them. Do you understand?"

Ma Xiuniang cried out in grievance, "It's not what I want to hear..."

"Children should listen to what the adults are saying." Mrs. Ma interrupted her before she finished speaking, then ignored her daughter and turned to talk to Mrs. Chen, "What do you think Mrs. Tang is thinking? Whether it's Mrs. Tang or Mrs. Yang, no matter how good other people are, they are still other people. She climbed up the ladder like this, but she didn't see any good in the end!"

Benefits?!

Yu Tang was stunned.

Chen agreed and whispered to Madam Ma about Madam Tang. Ma Xiuniang also pulled Yu Tang aside and whispered, "I'm telling you, someone has come to our house to propose marriage to me. But that family doesn't have a mother, and there are still several brothers and sisters. My mother is still hesitant, so she didn't let anyone know."

Discuss marriage?

Is this when the marriage proposal begins?

Is he the student named Zhang from the previous life?

Yu Tang was attracted by Ma Xiuniang's words and didn't think about Mrs. Tang's words. He curiously asked about the person who went to Ma Xiuniang's family to propose marriage.

Ma Xiuniang said shyly but couldn't help showing off: "It's Brother Zhang who studied with my father. He is a very good person, honest and upright. He never goes out to drink with those people and studies very hard. My father said that he will definitely pass the exam and become a scholar. If this marriage is settled, I'm afraid he will get married right away."

Yu Tang felt a little guilty after listening to this.

In her previous life, Ma Xiuniang cared about her very much. She was immersed in the grief of losing her parents and didn't pay much attention to Ma Xiuniang. She didn't know when Ma Xiuniang and Zhang Tongsheng got engaged or when she got married. If it weren't for the five-liang silver bracelet, she probably wouldn't have any impression of Ma Xiuniang.

She did not treat Ma Xiuniang as purely and attentively as Ma Xiuniang treated her.

"Then you have to take care of yourself!" Yu Tang didn't know whether she was living a good life after getting married, so he could only give her this bland blessing.

Ma Xiuniang nodded vigorously, as if Yu Tang's blessing was enough for her.

Yu Tang held Ma Xiuniang's hand tightly.

The dishes started to be served in the hall.

Yu Tang thought of her mother-in-law Lin in her previous life.

Her father-in-law Li Yi in her previous life was the prefect of Rizhao, Shandong. Lin always boasted that her family was a family of officials, and she didn't care about ordinary people at all. In her eyes, those scholars were "poor and sour, even the mud legs have not been washed clean". Usually, when she met them, she would turn her nose up and pretend not to see them. This is why Yu Tang was not afraid of bumping into her even though they were all from the same village.

Looking across the entire Lin'an Prefecture, there are really not many wives of Jinshi.

As a result, Mrs. Tang and Mrs. Lin often visited each other and had a good relationship.

Since Madam Yang will be accompanied by Madam Tang when she comes, then Madam Lin must be among them as well.

Mrs. Tang inexplicably came over to greet them. Could she have also inexplicably met Mrs. Lin?

Yu Tang lowered her head to eat, and decided to avoid those noble ladies - she was not afraid of Lin, she was afraid that she would not be able to control herself and splash tea on her face without a reasonable explanation, which would embarrass her mother.

But sometimes the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it is to happen.

Yu Tang had a vegetarian meal peacefully at Pei's house. As the sun was getting hotter, everyone felt sleepy. Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma took their daughter and prepared to go home. When they left the living room, they ran into Mrs. Tang and Mrs. Lin, Yu Tang's mother-in-law in her previous life.

Lin still annoyed Yu Tang as she did in her previous life. Her dark black hair was neatly tied into a bun, she wore two white camellia flowers, a moon-white silk jacket, a black horse-faced skirt, and she had a stern face, a serious expression, and a bit of arrogance.

From a distance, Yu Tang could feel her eyes on him. When Mrs. Tang whispered something to her, she looked at Yu Tang even more intently.

What does this mean?

Yu Tang knew that she was pretty and was often noticed because of her good looks, but she was not so arrogant as to think that Lin was so sarcastic and would pay attention to her or even pay attention to her just because she was pretty.

Something vaguely flashed through her mind, and she wanted to grasp it, but it suddenly disappeared.

"Mrs. Yu, Mrs. Ma!" Mrs. Tang came over with a loud laugh and said, "This is really a fate." As she spoke, she introduced Mrs. Lin beside her to Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma, "This is Mrs. Li from the Li Mansion in the south of the city. She is the wife of Mr. Li, who is the prefect of Rizhao and is the same age as the second master."

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma had no choice but to stop and greet them.

Lin looked at Yu Tang several times.

Yu Tang was now certain that his intuition was correct.

Whether it was Mrs. Tang or Mrs. Lin, they all came for her.

But what was there about her that deserved their attention?

At this time, Li Jun had never met her!

Mrs. Lin greeted Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma gracefully, and spoke to them affectionately and tenderly: "I have heard of your names for a long time, but due to coincidence, I have never had the opportunity to meet you. Today, I am lucky enough to meet you here."

Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ma both said they dared not.

Lin's eyes were always looking at Yu Tang intentionally or unintentionally.

Yu Tang sneered in his heart and let her watch.

Although her skin was very white, smooth and flawless, her cheeks were like those of a child, always a little fat, and her body was round and plump, not like many of the ladies of today who were so thin that their bones could be seen when they stretched out their hands. For this reason, Lin often complained that she was fat, saying that the only thing that was good about her was her skin color.

In her previous life, she had a period of time when she was very inferior and didn't dare to eat too much.

It was not until her elder sister-in-law in her previous life, Li Duan's wife, Gu, enviously said that her appearance was suitable for bearing children that she realized that Lin was finding fault with her. She thought that she was the one who brought about the death of Li Jun and that she just hated her.