When Gu Xi was packing her luggage, several young ladies from the Pei family kept asking for food for her, as if they had not noticed that Old Pei was tactfully asking her to go home early, which made Gu Xi feel much better and less embarrassed. But she didn't think she had the guts to say goodbye, so she pretended to know nothing and ate and drank with the young ladies from the Pei family.
Yu Tang had no intention of pretending in front of Gu Xi. She understood what Mr. Pei meant and didn't even say a polite word.
This made Gu Xi secretly wonder if Yu Tang knew something?
But no matter what, Gu Xi was leaving, but she was still unwilling to leave. She thought that she should go to Pei Laoan alone to say goodbye. If she could find out what Pei Laoan said and why she urged her to go home, that would be the best; if there was no chance, she could have a few words with Pei Laoan alone. No matter which family she married into in the future, she would have no intersection with the Pei family. Moreover, during the few days she was at the Pei family, she was able to play with several young ladies of the Pei family. The young ladies of the Pei family were not the kind of people who had many thoughts, and they were people worth getting along with.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but think of the second young lady's marriage.
The Yang family had also caught the eye of the Gu family, but the only girls of the same age as Mr. Yang were his concubines, so marriage was out of the question. Her stepmother even felt sorry that the age difference between her half-sisters and Mr. Yang was too big. Mr. Yang was the eldest son, so he was afraid that he would not want to marry a wife who was too young.
The marriage that the third young lady arranged is also a good one.
Although they were cousins, the third young lady's mother's family was also a serious scholar family, with officials for generations, and a Jinshi degree was born every one or two generations. At this generation, the highest-ranking official in the family, the governor of Jiangxi, was the third young lady's cousin's uncle. If the third young lady's cousin was also a scholar, with the support of two families, his career in the government would be a foregone conclusion.
This is the foundation of a wealthy family.
But her father is not up to the task. If he is continued to be instigated by her stepmother and only knows how to suppress his uncles who were born out of wedlock, I am afraid that their second branch will not be able to hold on for long even with the support of her brother.
Gu Xi let out a long sigh.
He Xiang walked in with a somewhat panicked look and whispered in her ear, "Miss, the eldest lady, the eldest lady of the Pei Mansion, sent a maid over here, saying that she heard that you were going back to Hangzhou City, and sent two pots of Jianlan as a ceremonial gift."
Gu Xi hesitated for a while.
She didn't want to wade into the Pei family's muddy water, and as for the first wife... She regretted going all out to make friends with the first wife. Originally, she just wanted to let Pei Laoan and Pei Yan see her social skills, but now it gave the first wife an excuse to get close to her.
Although she knew it was wrong, she suddenly felt happy when the eldest wife sent orchids.
You think that I have stayed in your house for too long and lack the manners and self-awareness of a guest. Then I will just give up and become a person who knows nothing.
Besides, the Yang family is not easy to mess with.
Even though it was a little weak in the past, this generation has produced three officials from the capital, and it can prosper for at least another 20 years. Why should she push the Yang family out?
Gu Xi smiled and said, "Invite the maid to come in and give her some change. Tell her that I accept the flowers and thank the first lady for her kindness. If the first lady has the opportunity to go to Hangzhou, please ask her to come to our house. Our lady is also a hospitable person. When she comes to our house, she will not say anything else, but she will be given enough wine to drink."
Her stepmother had a wine shop as a dowry, and ever since she married into the Gu family, she particularly liked to use the wine produced by her own wine shop to entertain guests and promote her own wine shop. She used to be annoyed by this, but now she thinks her stepmother is not bad.
He Xiang brought in the eldest lady's maid.
On the other side, Mrs. Pei was talking to Mrs. Yi in private: "I thought that since she was a daughter of an aristocratic family, she would be calm and aware of her own behavior. She does have her own ideas, but her temperament... So, a person's character cannot be judged entirely by their background. The most difficult thing for a woman is to know when to be smart and when to play dumb."
Old Lady Yi used to be a heroine, but she had been taking care of the ailing Old Lady Yi for more than ten or twenty years, and as she got older, she became more tolerant and more tolerant. She laughed and said, "Why are you still chasing her away? I think the girl is very embarrassed and angry. I'm afraid she will become obsessed with our family and make enemies for the young people for no reason."
Pei Laoan snorted disapprovingly and said, "The girls we raise are not flowers in a greenhouse that can only be admired but not used. If they can't even avoid such a small trick, how can they get along with the older and more experienced sisters-in-law and aunts in the family?"
Old Yian laughed and said, "I think that little girl is not bad. Maybe she doesn't have anyone to teach her, but she is a smart one."
It was unclear whether Pei Laoan looked down on the Gu family or Gu Xi, and said: "Those who grew up with their stepmother, few are good. If you don't have this skill, then just hide your talent! Look at the little girl from the Yu family, she is honest and well-behaved, and doesn't act smart. I think she is pretty good. If you don't have this talent, don't try to do porcelain work!"
"You!" Old Man Yi shook his head with a smile, "What's wrong with you again? You want to anger someone else's little girl." Then he pointed in the direction of the greenhouse, "Is it still that thing?"
Pei Laoan immediately frowned and said, "What sin have I committed? When he was alive, he was disobedient and insisted on marrying into the Yang family. Now that he is gone, he has left me such a big mess. The old man in our family is the same. He didn't know what to do, so he threw the pot to the third son. What can the third son do? On one side is his widowed sister-in-law, and on the other side is his orphaned nephew. Everything he does is wrong! I looked at it and if you say that the eldest son is unfilial, it is because he is like the old man. When he did something wrong, he had no choice but to give up and let others clean up for him. Only the third son in our family is the most pitiful. But who made him have a temper like me? He hopes that everyone in the family will be fine and he will suffer a little loss..."
Old Man Yi couldn't help but burst out laughing and said, "Are you feeling sorry for your third child? Or are you praising yourself?"
Pei Laoan thought about it and laughed out loud.
The depressed atmosphere in the room was swept away and became cheerful.
Mr. Pei and Mr. Yi wanted to discuss the second lady's marriage with the Yang family, but Gu Xi never found a chance to say goodbye to Mr. Pei alone.
The marriage between the second young lady and the Yang family was quickly arranged. Since the second young lady was the granddaughter of the third branch, although she had not yet married, she only needed to observe mourning for nine months. Several young ladies continued to dress simply, out of respect for the deceased old lady Pei from the clan branch. The Yang family also had this idea, thinking that the two families would make a small engagement first, and only invited close relatives to watch the ceremony, and then wait until the Pei family clan branch was done with mourning, and then formally make an engagement, and welcome the second young lady into the family with fanfare.
Mrs. Pei thought that it was not necessary and that she should just remember the teachings of Mrs. Pei. Mrs. Yi, however, was very persistent and felt that the Yang family's idea was very much to her liking, so she sent someone to tell the second young lady's parents, and the matter was settled.
At this time, Gu Xi had been escorted back to Hangzhou City by people sent by the Pei family, and Yu Tang thought that he should go home as well.
She went to say goodbye to Pei Laoan.
Mrs. Pei did not keep her, but filled two cars with silks, satins, herbs, dried goods, and snacks. Several young ladies from the Pei family held her hands and were reluctant to leave: "When the time comes, you must come to our house to wish the two old Ans a happy new year!"
Yu Tang didn't know whether it would be appropriate to go into the mansion at that time, but if there was a chance, she still wanted to come and wish the two old Ans a happy new year.
She nodded repeatedly and said many reluctant words to several young ladies of the Pei family. Then she got on the Pei family's sedan chair and returned to the Yu family.
Two mules and something.
As soon as Yu Tang entered Qingzhu Lane, she was surrounded by neighbors. Some asked where Yu Tang had been, and some asked where the things in the car came from. Yu Tang had no intention of publicizing her relationship with the Pei family, so she answered vaguely. But Mrs. Chen, who had been paying attention to when Yu Tang would come back, heard the commotion and ran over to send the neighbors away in a few words. Yu Tang then entered the gate smoothly.
Chen was holding Yu Tang in her arms, but before she could speak, tears started to fall: "My son, let me take a closer look. Since you left for more than half a month, I haven't had a good sleep for a single day. Are you living well in the Pei family? Are the young ladies in the Pei family getting along well? Have they made things difficult for you?"
But before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Yu Wen who was waiting beside her: "What are you talking about? Didn't you see that Atang looks much better than when she left home? She even brought back two carts of things, which shows that Mr. Pei likes her very much. Right? Atang!"
Having said that, Yu Wen's anxious tone and the way he looked her up and down revealed his concern and worry.
Yu Tang replied "yes", tears falling with his mother: "Well, everyone in the Pei family was very kind to me. I even went to Ku'an Temple with them. I was fine and almost didn't want to come back."
"You kid!" The eldest aunt and Xiang Shi, who were standing under the eaves watching their family reunion, came over at some point. The eldest aunt smiled and said, gently patting Yu Tang's shoulder, whispering, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Your mother has been talking about you every day since she knew you were coming back the day before yesterday, buying meat and fish, and making a lot of snacks that you like. Even we enjoyed the good fortune and got most of the food."
Yu Tang laughed, tears still hanging in the corners of his eyes.
Xiang took out her handkerchief and handed it to her, saying with a smile, "Glad you're back. We can prepare the New Year's Eve dinner together."
Yu Tang nodded repeatedly and found that Xiangshi's belly was bulging.
"Oh my!" She looked at Xiang with awe and envy, "Your belly is so big, have you asked a doctor to take a look in advance? Should you decide on a midwife in advance?"
"You!" The aunt looked at Yu Tang lovingly and smiled, "No wonder your mother thought about you every day. You are just a little kid who can't even stand on your own, but you care about your sister-in-law. Your aunt loves you for a reason."
Yu Tang lowered his head in embarrassment.
My aunt and her mother are both experienced people, so it is not her turn to ask about these matters.
But the whole family laughed, even the uncle who was always a little reserved in front of Yu Tang did not hide his joy and laughed happily with everyone else.