As Mrs. Pei spoke, many things that she had not thought about carefully before gradually became strange, and she became more and more frightened. In the end, her teeth were chattering and she was unable to speak.

Pei Tong also felt cold all over.

He held his mother's hand tightly, as if by doing so they could both overcome their fears and gain more courage.

"Mother!" Pei Tong whispered. Pei Fei ran in happily with snacks in his hands, calling out "Mother" and "Brother" loudly, and showed the snacks in his hand to the two of them: "They said that this is a vegetarian cake made by the masters of Zhaoming Temple. I ate a piece. There are almonds and walnut kernels in it. It's delicious! You can try it too!"

Adding almonds and walnut kernels to snacks is a favorite filling in Beijing snacks. Pei Tong and Pei Fei both grew up in Beijing. Compared with snacks such as osmanthus cake and green rice dumplings, they prefer snacks with melon seeds, almonds, walnut kernels, etc.

Mrs. Pei forced a smile and gently pulled her son's hand, saying, "I knew you liked it. Mother doesn't want to eat it. It's too late. Mother has already rinsed her mouth. You and your brother can eat it!"

Pei Fei knew his mother's living habits. She would not eat anything after rinsing her mouth at night. He did not force her and gave most of the snacks in his hand to Pei Tong.

Mrs. Pei winked at her eldest son and said, "It's getting late. You and your brother should go back and rest! There will be a lecture tomorrow. You can't go later than the elders and you shouldn't stay up late. If you have anything to say, I will talk to your third uncle during the lecture."

Didn’t Gu Chaoyang say that he would stay in Lin’an for a few days after the seminar? They had to make things clear to Pei Yan while Gu Chaoyang was in Lin’an.

Pei Tong glanced at her brother, smiled and nodded, then took Pei Fei away.

Gu Chang was on his way back to his room at this time. His personal attendant Gao Sheng whispered to him the news he had heard: "...Miss Yu is just the daughter of an ordinary poor scholar. Because of her good character, she was favored by Mr. Pei and often visited the Pei residence." He paused for a moment before continuing, "She is not a girl from a noble family."

Gu Chang was stunned and stopped walking. After a while, he said, "You mean Miss Yu, who is just a daughter of an ordinary scholar family in Lin'an City?"

"Yes!" Gao Sheng did not dare to look into Gu Chang's eyes, and lowered his eyelids and said, "The Yu family was originally an ordinary farmer. Because of their diligence and thrift, they gradually accumulated some wealth, and then opened a lacquerware shop, so they were able to send their children to school. Miss Yu's father was the first person in their family to have a degree. Moreover, their family is very small. Yu Xiucai only has one brother, and Miss Yu only has one cousin."

In other words, there is no one who wants to have someone to watch over each other.

There is no other way!

Gu Chang stroked his forehead, and Yu Tang's bright face appeared in his mind again.

It’s really beautiful!

Probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

pity……

Gu Chang stood under the yellow poplar tree on the roadside for almost an incense stick of time before he calmed down and said in a deep voice, "This matter ends here. Don't spread any bad words."

Gao Sheng nodded and talked about another matter: "The third wife of the Yang family is here this time. She is the former seventh daughter of the Yin family. I heard that there is a girl in the Yin family who is about to reach marriage age. She was ordered by the Yin family's wife to find a suitable marriage for the girl of the Yin family."

Everyone in the court, including the civil and military officials, knew how good the Yin family was at selecting aunts.

It turned out that this was the luck that Gu Chang had only dreamed of all along, but now that the opportunity was right in his hands, he suddenly lost the excitement and excitement he had imagined.

"This kind of thing also depends on fate." He said lightly, "We'll talk about it when we have the chance!"

Gao Sheng didn't dare to say much, and silently accompanied Gu Chang slowly towards his residence.

Pei Yan, however, couldn't sleep. He thought he should talk to his aide Shu Qing, but he intuitively felt that what he was about to say might make Shu Qing despise him, so he simply lay motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

In the dead of night, any occasional sound will be amplified infinitely.

He heard Zhou Zijin playing the lyre and singing there.

Usually at this time, Zhou Zijin would be slightly drunk.

In the past, Pei Yan thought that this was Zhou Zijin's own business and had nothing to do with him, but today, he inexplicably felt that Zhou Zijin was very annoying - why did he have to endure Zhou Zijin drinking and singing in the temple and making everyone restless? He was unhappy here but there was no one to talk to?

He thought about it, put on his clothes and went out.

As expected, Zhou Zijin brought a few servants and sat on the ground beneath the Taihu stone rockery next to the courtyard where they lived, enjoying themselves facing the small lake under the moonlight.

He was filled with anger and quickly stepped forward, kicking away the wine bottles that had fallen beside Zhou Zijin.

Zhou Zijin raised his head, looked at Pei Yan with drunken eyes, and said, "What are you crazy about? Are you not pretending to be decent? Come, come, little brother, don't lose your temper, tell me what happened to you?" As he said that, he pulled Pei Yan's sleeve and pressed him to sit on the straw mat, "The household chores are definitely not difficult for you. What is that matter? You didn't meet a beautiful girl and couldn't get her, did you?" Zhou Zijin laughed at his own words. He said, "No, if you really liked a girl from a certain family, it would only take a word for you to marry her, and you wouldn't get her if you asked for her! Could it be that you are not a good match? Hahaha... Pei Xiaguang, you have come to this day!"

Pei Yan was so angry that his face turned pale. He pushed Zhou Zijin away and shouted at his servant, "Do you know where this is? You actually allowed him to drink and play. Are you afraid that his reputation is too good?"

The servants looked embarrassed and hurried forward, trying to help Zhou Zijin back to his place.

Zhou Zijin waved his hand and pushed the servant away, shouting at Pei Yan: "Xiaguang, don't be shy. Although your brother and I are in the same department, I respect your brother so much for your sake. You are my brother..."

It's getting more and more outrageous.

Pei Yan decided to ignore Zhou Zijin and left angrily.

He went back to the house and lay down again, but he still couldn't fall asleep. He was thinking that tomorrow's lecture would be held in the Dharma Hall. The male guests had tables and chairs facing the podium, while the female guests were arranged in the East Hall with a screen in front. All the female guests would sit together, and if Miss Gu and Miss Yu had a conflict, everyone would see it. No matter who was right or wrong, it would be a disgrace.

The more Pei Yan thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was a bit suspenseful - if Miss Yu listened to his advice, it would be fine. If she didn't listen... or if Miss Gu took the initiative to cause trouble, Miss Yu couldn't just tolerate it blindly, right? Besides, Miss Yu wasn't someone who could tolerate it!

He jumped up from the bed, called Pei Man in, and asked him to arrange for someone to decide the seats for the women overnight: "Mark who will sit where, so that they won't move around. If you want to move forward, just move forward. Miss Yu and her daughter came with Old An, so you can arrange for them to sit with Old An. As for Miss Gu, you can arrange for her to sit with the ladies from the Song and Peng families."

If we separate people, there should be fewer problems.

Pei Man was so shocked that it took him a while to find his voice again. He asked suspiciously, "Now? Decide on a location?"

"Yes!" Pei Yan said firmly, "Go now, just like my mentor's family in Beijing held a wedding last time. Draw a map and clearly indicate how many seats there are and where everyone sits. Then send a map to each family so they know where they sit."

But the last time Lord Zhang held a wedding, not only did the Third Prince and the Second Prince come to congratulate him, they also stayed to listen to opera.

They are just holding a seminar, there is no need to be like this, right?

But Pei Man didn't dare to say this. He seemed to be in a sleepwalking state, and he said "oh" and "oh" twice before he fully reacted and confirmed: "Has everyone's position been decided?"

In other words, they had to determine overnight how many people from each prefecture would go to listen to the lectures.

Including maids and old women who accompany her.

Even if someone is standing, they need to find a place to stand, right?

Pei Yan thought these were trivial matters.

Since the Zhang family can do it, their family can do it too.

"You go and do it!" He felt as if a huge stone had fallen to the ground. He felt sleepy immediately and yawned to indicate that Pei Man could leave.

Pei Man retreated, but could not help complaining in his heart, "The master said one word and the servants ran around. He and several managers would not be able to sleep tonight."

Yu Tang, on the other hand, was sleeping soundly.

Not only did she finish copying the Buddhist scriptures as planned last night, she also learned that the Li family was about to fall into disaster. She was in such a good mood that she was woken up by Shuang Tao before dawn the next day and was still in a good mood. After breakfast, she was preparing to make an appointment with Miss Xu to go and pay her respects to Mr. Pei. When she reached the gate of the courtyard, she remembered that Miss Xu and Mrs. Yang San had decided to pretend to be sick and not attend the lecture.

But she still went in to say hello to Miss Xu and Mrs. Yang San, and then she helped her mother to go to Mr. Pei.

Mrs. Pei got up very early. When they went there, not only Mrs. Yi and Mrs. Yong were there, but also the second wife and several Miss Peis, as well as the wives and young wives of other branches of the Pei family. Mrs. Pei was in a good mood and even played with her second wife's grandson who was not even one year old for a while. When the time was almost up, she led everyone to the Dharma Hall behind the Great Hall.

Since everyone already knew the previous rules, everyone was stunned when they suddenly received the seating chart.

Although everyone can find a seat according to their status in such occasions, there will always be people who squeeze in to sit next to respected elders in order to flatter them. If the elders don't dislike this person, they may even chat with him.

This was the first time they had encountered someone drawing a circle around the maids and old women in a certain family.

Several wives and young mistresses of the Pei family began to whisper to each other.

Pei Man, who hadn't slept all night, had no choice but to trot over to explain: "The lecture will last for nine days. We already know who will come and who won't, so we can arrange some things."

What can be arranged?

Pei Laoan was confused, but since his son was in charge, he could only do what he wanted: "That's fine. Everyone, relax and sit down first! If you're not used to it, you can adjust later."

Everyone smiled and sat down.

Pei Man smiled and had people guard the passage leading to the east hall.

As for the main hall on the west side, some tables, chairs and benches were placed there and were open to the gentry and common people of Lin'an City who came to listen to the lectures.