Yu Tang was really afraid that the past would repeat itself and she would be involved with the Li family again. She didn't want to spoil Ma Xiuniang's interest, so she quietly told Ah Tiao, "Go back and tell my mother that Madam Li lied. Before I go home, you must not agree to anything with the Li family no matter what."
Ah Tiao was a little confused, but Yu Tang came here to visit the second young master of the Li family today, and he had just talked to the second young master of the Li family. Yu Tang couldn't wait to get home and asked him to report the news. Thinking that this matter must be very important, he hurriedly agreed and ran down the mountain in a flash.
Yu Tang felt slightly relieved, and was in the mood to accompany Ma Xiuniang to Xibiquan.
Ma Xiuniang began to feel suspicious and asked, "Did the second young master of the Li family say something inappropriate? I just heard them making a fuss!"
In her mind, the character of a man like this is absolutely not acceptable, and she would not agree to marry him no matter how rich his family background is or how handsome he is.
In his two lives, Li Jun had never done anything to let Yu Tang down, and Yu Tang could not wrongly accuse him just because he was a member of the Li family.
She said, "Not really. It's just that I don't like to look like him."
Ma Xiuniang felt a little sorry and said, "Then there is nothing we can do. It's like vegetables and radishes, everyone has their own preferences. You can't force it."
The more Yu Tang got along with Ma Xiuniang, the more he felt that she was thoughtful and considerate, a rare person to befriend.
She smiled and took Ma Xiuniang's arm, called her "sister" affectionately, and talked about the topic that interested her: "Have you and Mr. Zhang set a date for your wedding? By then, you still have to make furniture, order wedding cakes, and invite all the lucky people. Will it be in time?"
"There's still time!" Ma Xiuniang's attention was diverted. She happily talked about her own affairs. "As for furniture, my mother made two camphorwood boxes for me a long time ago. As for the rest, I'll stick to the Zhang family first. I'll take whatever I can..."
As the two were talking, they soon arrived at the Pencil Washing Spring.
Xibi Spring is a small spring. Below the spring is a small pit that is half hidden in the rocks and half exposed. It is no wider than three feet and no deeper than the knees. The water is clear and you can see the bottom. Beside it are two trees as thick as bowls. I don’t know what kind they are, but their crowns are like umbrellas, covering the pit low. There are also unknown grass leaves falling on the water.
Seven or eight women were gathering around the hut to fetch water.
Zhang Hui and her servant stood at a distance beside a large bluestone lying horizontally. When they saw them, their eyes lit up.
Ma Xiuniang pursed her lips and smiled.
Neither of them said a word, but their eyes were filled with joy, which made people feel happy just by looking at them.
Seeing that the mountain road leading to Xibi Spring continued to wind upwards, as if it could go up, Yu Tang couldn't help but smile and whispered to Ma Xiuniang, "Do you want to go hiking? Xi Que and I will rest here for a while and drink some water before we go on."
Ma Xiuniang blushed and whispered, "Why don't you go hiking with us?"
Yu Tang shook his head repeatedly and said, "I'm tired, I need to rest here for a while!"
Ma Xiuniang naturally couldn't just leave her alone, and was about to say something, but Yu Tang said, "I just met the second young master of the Li family. I want to calm down for a while and think about what to do in the future."
Ma Xiuniang thought about it and decided not to persuade her any more. She gave Xi Que a few instructions and watched as fewer and fewer people came to fetch water. Then she gave Zhang Hui a look and went up the mountain first.
Zhang Hui didn't know what was going on. She looked at Yu Tang curiously, and waited until Ma Xiuniang walked some distance before following her.
Yu Tang was really thinking about what to do in the future.
The affairs of the Li family must be investigated thoroughly, otherwise even if she married a son-in-law to live in the family, it would be easy for the Li family to deal with them.
She had seen the Li family's methods in her previous life.
For some reason, Yu Tang suddenly thought of Master Pei San.
She suddenly realized that what she thought was not entirely right.
If they asked the Pei family for protection, the Li family would definitely not dare to deal with them at will.
The problem lies with the word "casual".
Why would the Pei family go against the Li family for their family?
How important is what the Lin family wants to the Li family? Would the Li family rather confront the Pei family because of this?
Thinking of this, Yu Tang became a little irritated.
Why must their family rely on the Pei family or obey the Li family?
After all, their family is not strong enough.
But their family is small, and it is too late to let my eldest cousin go to school now!
After all, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
Is there any other way?
Continue doing business and move out of Lin'an?
There are more dignitaries in Hangzhou Prefecture, and they are outsiders, so it is difficult for them to get protection from the aristocratic families. It would be better for them to stay in Lin'an, at least they are surrounded by villagers who know each other well. The Yu family has always been kind to others, and if their family has any problems, the neighbors are willing to help.
In her previous life, after her parents passed away, she received a lot of help from them.
Why!
It’s really difficult to do it left or right.
If Master Pei San encountered such a thing, I wonder how he would get out of it?
Yu Tang was holding his chin with his hands, looking worried.
Seeing that she had been sitting there quietly for nearly two quarters of an hour without saying a word, Magpie felt a little bored, so he broke off some branches and made a flower crown for fun from a place where he could see her at a glance.
Someone else came to fetch water.
Yu Tang glanced at it casually.
He was a boy of twelve or thirteen years old, with horns combed into his hair, wearing a lotus-colored silk Taoist robe, holding a small wooden barrel in his arms. He had a chubby, rosy face and looked very cute.
Noticing Yu Tang's gaze, he looked at Yu Tang curiously, then showed a surprised expression and did not move his eyes away for a long time.
Seeing that there was no one around and that the boy was very cute, Yu Tang smiled and teased him, "Do you know me?"
The boy shook his head as if frightened, not daring to look at her again, and turned around to fetch water.
Yu Tang found it funny and his mood became brighter.
While the boy was fetching water, he secretly spied on her, as if she was a big tiger that could eat him with its mouth open. It was really fun.
Yu Tang asked, "What are you going to do?"
The wooden bucket in the boy's arms was small, but it seemed that it could hold four or five pounds of water. The boy was still young, so it was fine for a short time, but if he walked a long way, he might not be able to carry it. Moreover, the boy was dressed like a rich man, but he was doing the work of a servant. He must be a servant kept by a gentleman, and this family was not only very wealthy, but also very friendly to the servants around them, otherwise the boy's expression would not be so lively.
She thought that the boy was most likely here to play in the temple with his master.
The boy thought for a moment and said shyly, "It's the abbot who wants to make tea. My master asked me to fetch water."
It was normal for a servant in the house to be personally received by the abbot of Zhaoming Temple, considering that he was dressed like this.
Yu Tang smiled and said, "I only heard that drinking this spring water can improve eyesight and clear lungs, but I didn't know it can also be used to make tea. Is it delicious to make tea?"
The boy laughed and said, "It doesn't taste good! But the abbot said that drinking tea is to show one's intentions. Our master hates others pretending to be cultured like this. I don't want to argue with him, so I just let him do what he wants. Anyway, our master doesn't drink it."
Yu Tang was stunned when she heard this. He actually evaluated the abbot of Zhaoming Temple in this way... She thought the old man of this boy's family was very interesting and laughed.
The boy looked at him and started laughing, as if he felt closer to Yu Tang.
He placed the half-filled wooden bucket on the bluestone beside him and said half complainingly and half proudly, "It's true! Our old man said that the best spring in the world and the aged snow water were all made up by idle scholars to fool people. No matter what kind of water it is, it can be used the same after it has been settled for a few days. Our old man also said that he had a senior brother who bought a boat, stopped in the middle of the river in the middle of the night, dived three feet into the river, drew a bucket of water and made tea. He didn't even distinguish between spring, summer, autumn and winter. People in the world followed suit and it became popular. They are all crazy people."
Yu Tang laughed loudly, gave the boy a thumbs up, and said, "Your master is a true celebrity, with the character of Wei Jin."
The boy showed an expression of pride when he heard this, picked up the small wooden bucket and said, "The host master and our master are still waiting for my water, I'll leave first."
Yu Tang waved at him and said, "Slow down, be careful not to fall."
The boy nodded obediently and asked her, "Why are you here alone? How about I send the water back and tell our master, I will stay with you until your family comes over?"
"No need!" Yu Tang pointed at the magpie in the distance, "I'm just taking a break here!"
The boy looked relieved, said goodbye to her with a smile, and left with the small wooden barrel.
Yu Tang continued to think about the Li family.
How can I get rid of the Li family without relying on others?
What people or things can the Li family use?
She slowly recalled what happened after she married into the Li family in her previous life.
The Li family later made their fortune by doing maritime business. Unlike the people in Lin'an Prefecture, who did maritime business by finding connections in Hangzhou, the Li family found connections in Fujian, and it was Lin's family that got them involved. The Li family started to act cruelly after they became rich, when they had money as their courage and official positions as their umbrella. These were things that had not happened yet and could not be used as a handle.
Of course, there is another thing that can be used, which is Li Duan's coveting of her.
But this is disgusting.
She would rather die than take advantage of this.
Thinking of this, her eyes lit up.
What about Li Jun?
What if we use Li Jun?
For example, Li Jun died unexpectedly in his previous life.
What if she saved Li Jun and asked for a reward by asking Li Jun to swear not to marry her and not to become an enemy of the Yu family?
The more Yu Tang thought about it, the more he felt that this was feasible.
The biggest problem was to discourage Li Jun from showing her interest.
Then she had to reject Li Jun clearly first, or arrange a marriage as quickly as possible. Then she could arrange for her fiancé to save Li Jun.
He is definitely not going to bully his friend’s wife!
Yu Tang felt that the depression he had been feeling for the past few days was gone, and his mood became better.
However, in the end, you still have to be self-reliant.
But she had no idea now and could only think about it slowly.
Yu Tang made up his mind and went to find Xi Que to make a few flower crowns with her.
When Ma Xiuniang and Zhang Hui came back, she gave a few flower crowns to Ma Xiuniang.
In order to avoid Li Jun and others, they did not eat vegetarian food in Zhaoming Temple. Instead, they bought a few boxes of vegetarian snacks unique to Zhaoming Temple, rented a secluded corner in a roadside restaurant in Mituo Village, ate the dry food they brought with them, and waited for A Tao to come and pick them up. Then they went home.