Hearing Yu Tang's question, Miss Xu raised her eyebrows proudly, but waved her hand nonchalantly, saying, "Ah, we are just an ordinary official family. Our great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather had several capable officials, and now, we just have a few uncles who are just messing around in the court."
This doesn't look like a lazy day!
Yu Tang smiled, thinking that if she asked further questions, she wondered whether Miss Xu would feel offended, so she hesitated for a moment, and there was a brief silence between the two of them.
Miss Xu was still young and could not keep her composure. She was also worried that Old Pei would meet them soon. She did not have the chance to talk to Yu Tang like this again, so she became anxious and said, "Our hometown is in Nanzhili. Actually, we are from the same hometown as the second wife of the Pei Mansion. However, our family moved to the capital during my great-grandfather's generation. Although we know the second wife of the Pei Mansion, we don't have much contact with her."
She thought that after she said this, Yu Tang would definitely be able to guess who their family was.
Because at that time, no matter how high an official you were outside, you had to return to your hometown after retirement, unless you had made great contributions and were granted residence in the capital.
Since the founding of the dynasty, they are the only family with the surname Xu who meet these conditions.
She has already boasted about her family history in a low-key manner.
But Yu Tang was the one who didn't know.
But she was smart and knew that Miss Xu was probably embarrassed to brag about herself, and the words just now had actually told her the origin of the Xu family.
Miss Xu was a rather interesting girl, and Yu Tang quite liked her personality. She thought that even if she had asked her carefully at this time, some things still needed to be explained by someone who knew the family tree. Seeing Miss Xu's excited expression, as if everyone knew what kind of family their Xu family was, she suddenly wanted to tease Miss Xu, pretending that she didn't understand, and said "Oh" without changing her expression, and was surprised: "It's so complicated! Mr. Yang's stepmother is a relative of your family, and your family is a relative of the Li family and the Peng family, and now you are also old acquaintances with the second wife's family... I also heard that Mr. Yang's stepmother is also a relative of Mrs. Pei." She said, looking at Miss Xu with admiration, "If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't even know how to address each other."
Miss Xu's big eyes flickered a few times again.
Shouldn't Sister Yu express some admiration for the Xu family? Why are they suddenly clearing up the relatives' relationships?
Seeing Miss Xu's expression, Yu Tang managed to hold back his laughter and continued to talk nonsense in a serious tone: "Your family is from Nanzhili, which means it is close to Jiangnan. I am not surprised that your family is related to the Yang and Qian families. Why did your cousin marry in Fujian? Did your cousin's family move to Fujian?"
Miss Xu was so anxious that she said hurriedly, "No, no. There are people in the Peng family and our family who serve as officials in the court. My cousin's father-in-law and my second uncle were in the same imperial examination, and later they served as officials in Luoyang together, so they got married."
Yu Tang did not let her continue. He interrupted her immediately after hearing this and said, "I know that the eldest wife of the Pei family is from the Yang family. The second daughter of the Pei family's husband's family is also surnamed Yang. I wonder if the eldest wife's family and the second daughter of the Pei family have any relationship? I heard that the Yang family is also a big family. I guess the eldest wife's family must also be a wealthy family. When the fifth daughter asked me to teach her how to make silk flowers, I thought the second wife's family just had brothers who were officials in Jinling. But from the way the second wife looks, she should not be an ordinary family, right?"
Miss Xu glanced at her sideways when she heard this, with an expression of "Who told you this?" and said, "How can the eldest wife's family be compared with the Tonglu Yang family? The ancestors of the Tonglu Yang family once produced a first-rank official. They are Dingyuan Yang family. The three generations before them were just merchants selling silk, but they pretended to be a scholarly family and became officials in the past two or three generations. It was only because they married into the Pei family and got the support of the Pei family that they could have such a smooth journey!" At this point, she showed that she wanted to gossip with Yu Tang. , and whispered to Yu Tang: "Let me tell you, don't be fooled by the fact that the first wife looks like a lady from a rich family, and she is the daughter of a chief priest. In fact, she is not very good at studying. When she was in the capital, there was a flower viewing party at the Zhang family. She always managed to pass the drinking game without saying anything. Later, she couldn't do it right, and she even pretended to be drunk and was recognized. She was able to marry the eldest master of the Pei family because of her face. So my father doesn't think highly of their eldest master..."
The implication is that the first wife is a bit stupid.
In just two quarters of an hour, Yu Tang knew more than she had known in her two lifetimes combined.
She chuckled, not wanting to comment on the eldest wife, and said, "Everyone has their own preferences. Who can explain such things clearly?"
Yu Tang thought what she said was very reasonable and she couldn't find any fault with it. But as soon as she finished speaking, Miss Xu became even more aggressive and said, "So you know about this, too!"
What's up?!
Yu Tang was a little confused, not knowing what he had done to Miss Xu. Miss Xu was already chattering, "I once heard my mother and Aunt Zhang say that the eldest wife of the Pei family appears to be dignified and solemn on the surface, but in private, she is very coquettish. If she walks a few more steps, she will go back and tell the eldest master of the Pei family that her feet hurt. My mother said that it's no wonder that she can live a smooth life."
But now that her husband is gone, her life has become difficult!
Yu Tang felt that it was a bit too much to say such things at this time, so he just agreed with Miss Xu and said "hmm", but he was thinking about Pei Yan in his heart.
The Li family has come this far, why doesn't Pei Yan agree to the Li family's marriage proposal?
Is it because the young lady of the Li family looks too ordinary? Or is it because she has a bad temper?
But if I can get along well with Miss Xu, it shouldn't be like this.
She couldn't help but ask, "Is the young lady from the Li family pretty?"
Miss Xu didn't react for a moment, and said with a sigh and a helpless tone: "Do you know why my mother said that about the eldest wife of the Pei family? Because my eldest brother is just like the eldest master of the Pei family, he also found a woman who has nothing but a pretty face. My mother was afraid that her two grandsons would be like the sons of the eldest wife of the Pei family, so she raised my two nephews under her own knees... Because of this, my eldest brother has been bullied by my mother and my eldest sister-in-law. My sister-in-law is a branch of the Li family!"
This little girl dares to say anything!
Yu Tang didn't know what to say.
Miss Xu misunderstood that Yu Tang did not understand, and said anxiously: "Do you know that Lord Li was the third place winner of their year? When he took the imperial examination in early spring, he was ranked around 30th. The most famous thing about their Li family is not that they have produced Lord Li, but that they have produced beautiful women!"
Is there such a thing?!
Then why didn’t Pei Yan agree?
If it were someone else, they would definitely think that Pei Yan was out of his mind. However, Yu Tang believed in Pei Yan very much, and she felt that there must be other inside stories about Pei Yan and the Li family.
But she didn't know if she would have the chance to know the inside story.
Thinking of this, Yu Tang felt a little disappointed.
However, Miss Xu knows a lot.
If she wants to know the family tree, maybe she really has to listen to Miss Xu.
Yu Tang straightened his attitude and was about to ask her a few questions when he saw the Second Wife leading Madam Ji to the tea room after seeing off the guests.
This is to invite them to meet Mr. Pei.
The two of them stood up quickly, straightened their clothes, and walked quickly into the tea room.
The Second Wife really came to invite them over for tea. Seeing Yu Tang and Miss Xu coming in from outside, she not only did not doubt them, but also asked them with concern: "Where have you been? I found a few roses planted in the backyard of this yard, and they are blooming quite well. You can go there and take a look when you are free."
Both of them felt quite guilty and dared not say anything more. They just replied "yes" respectfully and followed their elders to go to Mr. Pei Laon.
The windows of the main hall were wide open, and a gentle breeze blew in, making the room cool.
Mr. Pei was leaning against the large pillow of the Luohan bed, his expression was warm, with a smile in his eyes, he looked comfortable and carefree, and there was no sign at all that something had happened here not long ago that had angered the Second Wife and made her run away.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Old Master Pei asked cordially, "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time. Did Aunt Ji make some good tea for you?"
"Not only the tea is good, the snacks are good too." Chen smiled slightly.
She was older than Mrs. Yang San, so Mrs. Yang San humbly let Chen represent them in replying to Mrs. Pei Laoan.
Apart from anything else, just based on this demeanor, one can see that the Yin family is extraordinary.
After everyone chatted for a while, several old ladies, wives, young mistresses and young ladies from the Pei Mansion also came over.
Everyone exchanged greetings again.
Yu Tang saw the eldest wife of the Pei family.
She was supported by a very beautiful maid and was very serious.
The women in the Pei family excluded her, intentionally or unintentionally, and rarely spoke to her.
Yu Tang secretly kept it in mind.
After everyone sat down again, Mr. Pei asked someone to invite the eminent monk Wu Neng from the Southern Shaolin Temple.
He was a dark-skinned, skinny man in his fifties, wearing an ordinary grey coarse cloth monk's robe. He had a serious expression and spoke briefly. His voice was like a loud bell, deafening and frightening to the ears, scaring all the female relatives present.
Yu Tang felt that if he preached, everyone would be able to hear him more clearly.
Wu Neng knew what Pei Laoan was up to before, so he didn't say much. He first told everyone a short story from the Buddhist scriptures, then asked the little nun with him to bring several amulets on a tray for them to choose from, and scheduled the blessing meeting for tomorrow at noon: "It's a small ceremony, which will be completed in an hour and a half. Today, all the ladies need to purify themselves and bathe, abstain from meat and fish, and just eat a fast for a day."
Naturally, everyone said "yes" and took the amulet given by Wu Neng and looked at it carefully.
Wuneng took the little monk and said goodbye.
Everyone started discussing whether to prepare the vegetarian feast themselves or ask Zhaoming Temple to do it tomorrow.
Only then did Yu Tang realize that the women of the Pei Mansion had brought their cooks with them when they went up the mountain.
No wonder the Third Elder wanted them to follow the female members of the Pei Mansion into the temple.
Eating and living are much more convenient!
Yu Tang was glad in his heart.
At this time, people from the Wu family in Huzhou also arrived at Zhaoming Temple, and the women of the Wu family sent a maid to deliver a letter to Mrs. Pei.
Pei Laoan smiled and said, "Don't be so strict about the rules in the temple. Just let them in!"
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