The first wife replied respectfully, "Yes," and said to the second wife with a smile, "It's all my fault for not being in good health. Thanks to my second brother and his wife."

The second wife, however, remained unmoved, smiling as gently and peacefully as ever, and said, "We are one family, so we should not gossip about each other. You are too polite, sister-in-law." She then personally brought an embroidered cushion to the first wife, saying, "Sister-in-law, please sit down and talk."

The first wife smiled at the second wife. Her smile was gentle, yet a little weak, which made people's eyes fall on her thin body.

Yu Tang was even more puzzled.

The eldest grandfather passed away before the old lady. If you say that the eldest lady was missing her late husband, she looked a little sad at that time, but not like now... as if she was showing weakness...

She frowned almost imperceptibly.

Mrs. Shen also felt a little strange. But she was not surprised why the first wife suddenly became like this. After all, anyone would have a period of discomfort when she changed from a third-rank official's wife and a future clan wife to a widowed woman. She was surprised by the way Old An looked at her.

What does the appearance of the first wife have to do with her?

She had a bad relationship with the Shen family, and it was not her turn to attend social events among relatives. She didn't know whether the eldest wife was related to the Shen family by marriage, but the eldest wife was definitely not related to her family by marriage. Could it be possible that the eldest wife, in her current state, could have anything to do with her?

These thoughts flashed through her mind for a moment, and she politely exchanged a few words with the first wife.

The eldest wife's answer was polite without sounding distant or enthusiastic, and she struck the right balance.

Mrs. Shen secretly praised in her heart and couldn't help but pay attention to the first wife.

When she noticed this, she found that the eldest wife looked dressed in plain clothes, but upon closer inspection, she found them to be rather shabby.

The shoes had become somewhat white from washing, the outer jacket was made of white silk, but the lining was made of fine cloth.

Mrs. Shen felt a little depressed.

She knows that she has a straightforward personality and often says things that make people uncomfortable, but she thinks that this is the attitude that people should have.

Could it be that after the eldest master died, the Pei family treated the eldest wife harshly, and Mrs. An was afraid that she would find out and yelled at them?

It's not impossible.

Especially in the end, the position of the head of the Pei family was passed to the third elder instead of the eldest grandson and the second elder.

You know, the third elder of the Pei family is the apple of the eye of the old lady and Mr. An.

Thinking back to the time when he burned down Mr. Song's new house, Old An was reluctant to let his youngest son even say a word of compensation.

This matter has spread among relatives and noble families.

Mrs. Shen lowered her head and drank her tea.

Gu Xi, on the other hand, was very interested in the first wife. Not only did she greet the first wife warmly, she also asked about her daily life with concern. And her questions were not just ordinary socializing. Because her topic quickly shifted from copying Buddhist scriptures to writing, and she also said that although she imitated Yan Zhenqing when she was enlightened, she finally practiced Madam Wei, which made the first wife's eyes light up and she spoke more energetically.

Yu Tang guessed that the eldest wife must have a beautiful handwriting.

She suddenly felt a little depressed.

It seems that Gu Xi really came here to marry Pei Yan, otherwise she wouldn't know everyone in the Pei family so well.

The atmosphere gradually warmed up because of Gu Xi, and even the Second Miss slowly joined the conversation between Gu Xi and the First Madam. Mrs. Shen even looked at the First Madam differently, and she even began to praise the First Madam as a truly talented woman.

The eldest wife said modestly: "No, it's just that our ancestor likes to write, and we, the grandchildren, benefit from it."

Mrs. Shen thought that the eldest wife's father was the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, and recalled that Shen Shanyan had refused to teach at the Imperial College but stayed in Lin'an City. She felt very uncomfortable and revealed her feelings without any concealment.

The eldest wife quickly dropped the topic and asked about the homework of several Miss Pei and who Yu Tang was.

Several Miss Peis answered the eldest lady's questions one by one in turn, and the fourth lady also enthusiastically introduced who Yu Tang was.

Yu Tang made a special trip to greet the first wife again.

The eldest wife felt inside her sleeves and said rather embarrassedly, "I didn't expect there would be so many guests at home, and I didn't bring anything with me. I'll make it up to you next time."

Yu Tang thanked him respectfully.

The eldest wife now tried to establish a relationship with Gu Xi: "Since you are a girl from the Gu family in Hangzhou, do you know a great-aunt named 'Liu Shen'? She married into our family, and I want to call her my cousin."

Gu Xi laughed and said, "Is it our great aunt from the fourth room? She had already married before I was born. However, some people still say that she is the most beautiful girl in our Gu family. It's a pity that I have no chance to meet her. I don't know if it's true?"

The eldest wife smiled, her eyes and eyebrows sparkling, full of charm.

Yu Tang suddenly understood why the eldest master and his wife were so loving.

Anyone who has a wife like this would feel more compassion, right?

The two of them talked about this great aunt of the Gu family, and they became more and more intimate.

Mrs. Shen frowned.

She felt that the eldest lady had changed the topic because of her. She wanted to explain a few words, but the Miss Peis were chattering, making it difficult for her to interrupt. She wanted to explain again, but she couldn't find a suitable opportunity.

She always felt that she had to find a suitable opportunity to explain a few things to the First Wife, lest the First Wife misunderstand her as being cold to her. Wouldn't that make her the kind of person who bullies the First Wife as she is a widow?

Yu Tang, however, observed Lao Anren and the Second Wife calmly.

Unfortunately, both Old Anren and the Second Wife had experienced a lot, so if they didn't want others to notice, no one would be able to notice. One of them sat there drinking tea with an expressionless face, unable to tell whether she was happy or not, while the other one looked at the First Wife and Gu Xi with a smile on her face, as if she was listening attentively.

What on earth is the eldest lady doing here?

Are you just here to say hello to Mr. An?

Then why was she in the other courtyard?

Yu Tang felt that his brain was not enough, so he should just be an honest person and not fight with masters, otherwise he would not even know how he died.

She sighed secretly in her heart.

Even though the atmosphere in the room looked quite warm, it no longer had the genuine joy it had before, and it still made people feel a little tired.

Fortunately, the eldest wife did not sit for long. She only said that for the sake of peace and quiet, she had been living in the mountains since the beginning of autumn, in Qiu Shuang Zhai, which was across the courtyard from the west. She asked them, mainly Mrs. Shen and Gu Xi, to go to her place and sit when they had nothing to do. When she was alone, she would copy scriptures and chant Buddhist scriptures, which was quite leisurely and comfortable. Then she got up and said goodbye.

Mrs. Shen and Gu Xi both responded with a smile.

The eldest wife seemed to have remembered Yu Tang and reminded him again, saying, "When it snows over there, the scenery is pretty nice. You can come over and play with your sisters."

Yu Tang agreed with a smile.

Except for Old An, everyone stood up and saw the first wife out.

The eldest wife walked to the door and refused to let the crowd see her off. She said, "It's cold outside. Aunt Chen will be enough."

The second wife also smiled and followed the first wife to stop everyone, but she personally escorted the second wife out of Lao An's yard before returning.

After this incident, the atmosphere could never go back to the same as before. Everyone sat for a while and then stood up and said goodbye.

Old An nodded and did not keep them, and everyone went back to their rooms.

Shuang Tao followed Yu Tang into the inner room and closed the door.

Yu Tang thought she was going to help him change his clothes, but she smiled and took out an oil-paper bag from her bosom, opened it and handed it to Yu Tang: "Miss, do you want to eat something?"

The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes immediately filled the inner room, causing Yu Tang to swallow his saliva: "Where did you get it from?"

Because Yu Tang only brought Shuang Tao with him, Lao An assigned a maid named Liu Xu to serve Yu Tang's food and daily life. Yu Tang was afraid that Shuang Tao would be rude, so she asked Shuang Tao to follow Liu Xu to watch and learn more. During dinner and tea, she was served by Liu Xu, while Shuang Tao waited in the tea room with several of Miss Pei's second-class maids, and took the opportunity to get to know people.

Shuangtao knew that Yu Tang liked to eat roasted sweet potatoes and fried chestnuts in winter, so she smiled and said, "It was roasted by the maid next to the second young lady, and we each got one." Then she smiled and said, "I think the young ladies of the Pei family are worthy of their family background. Not only are they kind to others, but the maids and servants who serve them are also very nice. The maid next to the third young lady also told me a lot of the rules of the Pei Mansion, and said that if I don't understand anything, I can ask her."

That's good!

Yu Tang smiled and nodded, pointing at the sweet potato in her hand and said, "Didn't we say one for each person? Why don't you keep it for yourself? Would I be left with less food in front of Old An? If you encounter something like this again in the future, just take care of yourself first."

Shuang Tao agreed with a smile, and still left half of the sweet potato for Yu Tang, saying that Yu Tang could eat it when he wanted.

Yu Tang didn't say anything, but he was very grateful to her in his heart.

I know that she was worried that I wouldn't eat well in front of Old Lady An when I first arrived at the mansion, so she saved it for me.

The next morning, when they got up, they saw water marks on the hair of the little maid who brought in hot water. Only then did they realize that it had snowed heavily in the middle of the night.

This is the first snow in Lin'an City this year.

Yu Tang and Shuang Tao pushed open the window in surprise.

It was white outside, with large flakes of snow still falling like cotton wool. The leaves were already covered with snow, and from time to time the branches could not bear the weight of the snow, causing the snow on them to slide off the leaves, making a "plop" sound.

Neither Yutang nor Shuangtao expected it to snow so heavily.

Shuang Tao smiled and said, "Now we can build a snowman!"

As soon as the words fell, a gust of cold wind blew in, making both of them shiver. However, because they had stayed in the house with the heating on last night, their bodies were still warm and they did not feel cold. However, they still closed the windows immediately.

Shuang Tao asked Yu Tang: "Do you want to build a snowman today?"

If we were at Yu's house and encountered such heavy snow, we would definitely make a snowman.

Yu Tang hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's see how the situation develops!"

If no one in the Pei family had such a habit, she wouldn't have piled up such things.

In fact, in her previous life, she had never made a snowman since she married into the Li family.