Neither Pei Laoan nor Yi Laoan showed any surprise. Pei Laoan even laughed and said, "Your third uncle is in charge of the family now. Of course he knows everything about the family!"
The Third Miss, the Fourth Miss, and the Fifth Miss all widened their eyes and turned to glare at Pei Yan.
This also includes Yu Tang.
Pei Yan saw Yu Tang at first sight.
Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Yu Tang for some time.
She wore the white mink brocade cape with aqua green woven phoenix-tail pattern that he had given her. The furry collar set off her face, which was as white and clean as fresh snow. Her eyes, which had already looked particularly lively because of the distinct black and white, were now wide open, as if reflecting his reflection, and looked even clearer.
Girls really change a lot when they grow up.
Miss Yu's eyebrows and eyes gradually grew more beautiful and she became more beautiful.
He took a few steps forward, ready to say hello to Yu Tang, but in the blink of an eye he saw Gu Xi walking to the side of Old An Pei, as if to help Old An. He frowned slightly, and suddenly decided not to say hello to Yu Tang first. Instead, he bowed to Old An Pei and said, "Mother, you've been traveling all the way. Is your body still holding up?" He also bowed to Old An Yi and said, "Auntie!"
The two old An people nodded in unison.
Mrs. Pei smiled and said, "What can happen to me? But you, I heard that you were angry again yesterday? If you have anything to say, just take your time. It's useless to lose your temper. It will only make you feel bad and ruin your body. Your father and your brother are gone. If you...if anything happens to you and your second brother again, how are you going to let an old woman like me live?" At this point, Mrs. Pei's smile disappeared and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"I understand, Mom." Pei Yan whispered, stepped forward and kissed Pei Laoan, saying, "Although I have been very naughty since I was a child, I have never made mistakes in major matters. Mom, just believe me. My second brother and I will be fine."
"I hope so!" Pei Laoan answered, but his expression showed a bit of fatigue.
Gu Xi didn't know when he got in between Pei Laoan and Yi Laoan, supporting Pei Laoan with his left and right side, like a perfect couple.
Mrs. Yi looked at Gu Xi deeply, but Gu Xi didn't realize that all her energy was focused on Pei Yan.
Mrs. Shen was sent down the mountain. She sent someone to inquire about the situation, and Mr. Shen sent Mrs. Shen back to her parents' home overnight.
He doesn't care about the relationship between husband and wife at all.
It was said that Mrs. Shen would be sent back to the Wang family's ancestral temple to meditate in silence.
How is this different from divorce?
Gu Xi didn't know whether the Pei family knew the news, but since Shen Shanyan punished Mrs. Shen in this way, it was most likely to give an explanation to the Pei family, and the news should reach the Pei Mansion soon.
By then, she, who came to visit the Pei family with Mrs. Shen, would no longer be able to stay in the Pei family.
She doesn't have much time left.
Whether or not he could leave a deep impression on Pei Yan depended on this one move.
Unfortunately, she knew too little about Pei Yan, and she made no progress in finding out more about him. She didn't know what Pei Yan's personality was like, nor did she know how he viewed people. She didn't know whether she should greet Pei Yan openly or pretend to be a victim and shed a few tears of grievance in front of Pei Yan.
Gu Xi lowered her eyelids and was hesitating when several young ladies from the Pei family came forward to greet Pei Yan.
Even though she is my niece and there is a gap in generation between us, I still have to avoid her when I should, and be more reserved when I should.
Pei Yan nodded slightly, and said with a somewhat cold expression: "The two old Ans are old, you come to the temple to play, don't run around, don't let the two old Ans worry."
Yu Tang followed the other young ladies from the Pei family and knelt down to greet them.
Pei Yan glanced at Yu Tang, and seeing that he seemed to have a peaceful smile and indifferent eyes, he finally let go of his heart that had been inexplicably hanging in the air, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The crowd exchanged a few words with the temple's abbot, and then the two old An people were accompanied by the abbot to the main hall where Guanyin Bodhisattva was enshrined.
On the way, Pei Yan calmly let go of Pei Laoan and walked behind Pei Laoan and Yi Laoan, and gradually walked together with Yu Tang, the third lady, the fourth lady, and the fifth lady who were walking behind the two Laoan.
The second young lady supported Mr. Yi and looked back at Pei Yan with a hesitant look on her face.
Pei Yan remained calm, walked even slower, and stood between the Third Miss and the Fourth Miss.
The fourth young lady didn't know whether she was afraid of getting separated from the third young lady or afraid of walking side by side with Pei Yan, so she glanced at Pei Yan secretly. Seeing that Pei Yan seemed to be looking at the bare pomegranate tree beside the aisle, she took two steps at a time, walked past Pei Yan, walked to the side of the third young lady, and took the third young lady's hand.
The third young lady looked at her strangely.
She winked at the Third Miss.
The third young lady glanced at Pei Yan quickly again, and seeing that Pei Yan did not notice them, she pulled the fourth young lady and walked forward a few steps quickly, following closely behind Pei Laoanren and Yi Laoanren, and keeping a distance from Pei Yan.
Pei Yan found it funny, but he couldn't help looking at Yu Tang and the Fifth Miss out of the corner of his eye.
Neither Yu Tang nor the Fifth Miss looked at him, but were concentrating on whispering.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he looked at the distant mountains and forests for a while, not noticing that Yu Tang raised his eyes and glanced at him quickly.
"Really not!" Yu Tang sighed in his heart, looked at Pei Yan again, and explained helplessly to the fifth lady, "Your third uncle is a cold-faced but warm-hearted person. You are the younger generation, and you yourself said that you had never seen your third uncle before you were five years old. How can you judge that your third uncle is a very strict person? Besides, even if he is a strict person, if you have not done anything wrong, why would he punish you? Don't listen to hearsay. Your third uncle will be sad if he knows."
The Fifth Miss stuck out her tongue slightly, looked at Pei Yan bravely, and then whispered: "But what if he..."
Yu Tang felt that everyone else had corrupted Pei Yan.
He is obviously such a good person.
Because of his serious expression, people thought he was a bad person.
She felt very uncomfortable.
He interrupted Miss Five with a decisive tone: "No! Do you believe me or those who gossip about you?"
The Fifth Miss nodded immediately and said, "Of course I believe Sister Yu."
"Well!" Yu Tang said immediately without giving her a chance to say more, "A horse's strength can only be known over a long journey, and a person's heart can only be known over time. Then you should try to follow my instructions. Take the initiative to talk to your third uncle and say hello to him. If someone slanders him, you should immediately jump out to defend him. You can see if he is the kind of person you say he is!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Fifth Miss continued nodding her head like crazy.
Yu Tang didn't realize that his voice was getting louder and louder, and of course he didn't notice the smile that Pei Yan couldn't stop making.
Soon, everyone arrived at the main hall.
The host master personally led the two old men and the crowd to burn incense.
The two old Ans lost fifty taels of silver each for incense money, and several young people in Yu Tang, including Gu Xi, lost three taels of silver each.
There are more than ten acres of vegetable garden and bamboo forest behind Ku'an Temple, and they can harvest some winter and spring bamboo shoots every year. Although there are not many outsiders offering incense, the 100 taels of silver incense money is enough for the temple to eat and drink for a year. Moreover, the two old Ans also brought some rice and oil.
The two reception masters happily helped the servants of Pei Mansion move things with a few lay Buddhists, and the head master invited them to the private room for tea.
Yu Tang stood on tiptoe and looked carefully, but did not see her aunt's cousin.
Are you going to rest or are you busy with something else?
Yu Tang thought about it, took the tea tray from the little sister, and helped the little sister to serve the tea.
The head monk talked to the two old Ans about the temple: "A few days ago, the old An from the fifth room, Yong, came and donated fifty taels of silver for incense. Together with the wives and grandmothers from other rooms, the temple has received about one hundred and eighty taels of silver for incense. But last year, seven lay Buddhists came to live in our temple for a long time, so we led everyone to the mountains to dig winter bamboo shoots. In addition to giving some to each family and keeping some in the temple, we also sold more than thirty taels of silver..."
This is telling the two old An people what happened in the temple.
Yu Tang didn't listen very carefully.
The abbot is still the same abbot. Her stinginess cannot be changed, and the austerity of the temple cannot be changed either.
But no matter what, Ku'an Temple can provide many desperate women with a hiding place and a place to settle down, so she should be grateful for the years of dedication of the abbot.
All she could think about was why Pei Yan lost his temper. She even made Old An think that his anger was harmful to his health.
Did something happen that she didn't know about?
Yu Tang went to look for Pei Yan.
Perhaps it was because the compartment was full of female relatives, and Pei Yan was here just now, but now no one knew where he had gone.
She whispered to the Fifth Miss: "Have you seen your Third Uncle?"
"I didn't notice it either," the Fifth Miss listened to the host master's words very carefully, and answered Yu Tang absentmindedly, "Is he in the yard outside? Or has he run to a private room and hid? It's so cold, who would be stupid enough to stand in the yard? You can ask someone to look for him!"
Yu Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Looking at the second young lady and the others, they were also listening with their ears perked up.
Yu Tang didn't understand.
In her opinion, Pei Yan is much more important than this account.
She couldn't help but ask Miss Five, "Why are you listening to all this? Have you started to learn how to be a housekeeper?"
"Not yet." Miss Five whispered, "My mother told me that being well-informed about worldly affairs is also a learning. When I came here, she reminded me to listen carefully to the temple's expenses. In the future, even if we want to offer sacrifices to the family temple, we can't let others squander our kindness at will. We must be aware of it."
Yu Tang looked at the Second Wife with admiration, thinking that he had to find an opportunity to ask Pei Yan if he had encountered anything he didn't like.
Soon, she had her chance.
After lunch, the two old Ans decided to take a nap and then meet with the lay Buddhists practicing in the temple in the afternoon to see if there was anything they could do to help.
The temple arranged a private room for each of them to take a nap.
Yu Tang asked Shuang Tao to find Ah Ming and ask Ah Ming to pass the message for her.