As soon as Pei Yan finished speaking, everyone was stunned.

Especially Qingyuan.

She has been serving Pei Yan since he was a child, and no one knows better than her how picky Pei Yan is in his daily life.

Not to mention eating, even if it's for tea, he wouldn't hold the cup if he had nothing else to do.

The Third Elder was going to stay here for dinner, so she had to quickly decide on the dishes, as well as the tableware, towels, tea... all had to be replaced with what the Third Elder was used to... After cleaning up here, Miss Yu didn't bring too many things, most of which were still the original furnishings and utensils in the room. She originally wanted to go to the housekeeper in the mansion to get a booklet and ask what kind of furnishings Miss Yu liked, so that she could also go to the housekeeper to get some things to decorate Miss Yu's room. But now there is a shortage of manpower, and many things need to be done by her personally. In one afternoon, she only had time to tell Yu Tang some of his preferences and get tea and snacks in Yu Tang's room. She didn't have time to discuss the decoration of the room with Yu Tang. The Third Elder must be very dissatisfied.

Should she hurry up and decorate the living room first?

Qing Yuan couldn't make up his mind for a moment, not knowing what to do first and what to do next.

Fortunately, Yu Tang came to his senses quickly.

Pei Yan actually wanted to stay with her for dinner.

She has never had dinner alone with Pei Yan!

Did he have something else important to tell her?

Yu Tang glanced at Pei Yan secretly.

Pei Yan sat there with a calm face, looking like he was waiting for his meal, and he was obviously not aware of the surprise he had just dropped.

Yu Tang couldn't help but sigh quietly.

She really couldn't be so sentimental anymore.

Pei Yan treated her like a closer fellow villager, in a respectful and open manner. On the contrary, she was the one who had many grievances and even misunderstood Pei Yan because of this.

Yu Tang blushed a little, and quickly suppressed all the messy thoughts in his mind. He took a deep breath and said respectfully and intimately as if he were treating his own brother: "You said that Master Gu will also stay here, don't you need to clean up for him?"

As for why she treated Pei Yan like a brother instead of a father, she subconsciously didn't think much about it.

Pei Yan frowned upon hearing this and said unhappily, "I'm afraid I won't be able to eat with him, so I plan to eat first before meeting him."

Gu Chang lives in Pei Yan's private residence. When he comes back and when he goes out, he wants Gu Chang to know. If he doesn't want Gu Chang to know, Gu Chang will never know. Gu Chang actually wants to live in his house. I don't know if it's arrogance or self-confidence?

Pei Yan made no secret of his disdain for Gu Chang, saying, "He is too scheming, which is not a good thing."

Yu Tang's eyes widened in surprise.

Of course she knew what kind of person Gu Chang was, but people have thousands of sides, and she admired the side of Gu Chang towards Gu Xi. But Pei Yan was a typical scholar, proud and self-respecting, so why would he suddenly talk about Gu Chang behind his back?

But Yu Tang vaguely felt that Pei Yan's attitude towards her was very different now than before.

If Pei Yan's behavior in the past was in accordance with the norms of scholars, like wearing a mask, making it difficult for people to see his emotions. Then Pei Yan at this time was like taking off the mask, revealing his true facial features, so that people could easily know his emotions.

Pei Yan, who adheres to the principles of a gentleman, is trustworthy, but Pei Yan, who has his own temper and even shortcomings, makes Yu Tang feel closer, more real, more fond of him, more secure, and more practical.

It was like she could...see into his heart this way.

Yu Tang couldn't help blushing, her heart beating like a drum, and she echoed him, "Then you can have dinner here before going to see Master Gu."

Pei Yan hummed, and was very satisfied with Yu Tang's full trust in him and his support for his actions. Then he said more bluntly: "I will stay in Hangzhou for another ten days or half a month. I think Miss Xu is not a person who will settle down. If she asks you to go shopping, if you can't refuse, remember to tell the fourth steward, and he will arrange for guards to accompany you. If you need to buy something and you don't have money on hand, just ask the people in the shop to deliver the things to the house here, and the fourth steward will pay for it."

Yu Tang said hurriedly: "My father gave me some silver when I came here."

Pei Yan glanced at her and said, "When I was in the capital, I heard that one time when Miss Xu went to the street to buy something, the manager of the Xu family temporarily exchanged 100 taels of gold at the silver shop to pay her bill. Since you were with her, could it be that you were watching her while she was buying things?"

He felt uncomfortable just thinking about it.

Yu Tang was shocked when he heard this and asked, "One hundred taels of gold? What did Miss Xu buy?"

"Who knows what she bought?" Pei Yan said disapprovingly, "She spends a lot every month. Even Yin Mingyuan sometimes worries about whether there will be enough food at home."

Yu Tang was stunned and asked, "Then, why didn't Miss Xu buy more?"

"Maybe Yin Mingyuan was embarrassed to ask her to buy less?" Pei Yan said, "Miss Xu is his wife. If he can't even support his wife, why did he marry her?"

This was the first time Yu Tang heard such words.

She thought of the fifty taels of silver that she had happily hidden in her dressing box, and said honestly, "Well, I'd better stay in the house! I'll avoid running into Peng Shiyi again."

Pei Yan was angry that she didn't fight back, and said unhappily: "What are you afraid of? I didn't ask you to pay back the money. No matter how rich the Xu family is, they are not as rich as our Pei family. What Miss Xu can afford, you can afford too."

This is different!

After all, she is not a member of the Pei family, so why should the Pei family pay her money?

Yu Tang knew that Pei Yan didn't like others contradicting him, and felt that there was no need to make Pei Yan unhappy because of things that hadn't happened yet. She smiled and agreed on the surface, but she made up her mind in her heart that even if she went shopping with Miss Xu, she would not buy anything she couldn't afford.

Everyone's environment is good or bad, but she doesn't think she is worse than others.

Pei Yan's face brightened up, and he wondered whether he should give some personal money to Yu Tang. Qing Yuan came over with a few servants, maids and old women, sweating profusely. They knelt down to greet Pei Yan and asked them where to put the dinner.

"Let's go to the living room," Pei Yan said. "It's brighter here."

Qing Yuan led people to set the table.

Yu Tang saw a small dish of fish with fermented wine lees and a small dish of braised pork in brown sauce among the hot dishes. Thinking that Pei Yan was still in mourning, Qing Yuan, as the head maid in Pei Yan's room, would never make such a mistake. She knew that this was probably prepared for her, and she couldn't help but look up at Pei Yan.

Pei Yan asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

"It's okay, it's okay." Yu Tang said hurriedly, and had dinner quietly with Pei Yan, but did not eat the fermented fish and braised pork.

Qing Yuan led the maids and servants to clean up the table and served them tea.

Yu Tang thought he would go to see Gu Chang, but who knew he actually sent all the servants away and told her about her "dream": "I've thought about what you said again and again. What is the identity of the woman that Peng Shiyi mentioned? Why did Li Duan protect her so much? Why did Peng Shiyi use that woman as a token of his loyalty? Could she be Li Duan's concubine in the future? But from what I heard, this woman has some relationship with Gu Chang? Could it be that Li Duan went to the capital to run around for his father's affairs and took in someone's concubine's daughter? Then who did Li Duan marry?"

He stroked his chin and thought.

Yu Tang was so shocked that he broke out in a sweat.

She knew Pei Yan was very smart. Fortunately, she had told him earlier that it was a dream. It was common to remember things incorrectly or not clearly after waking up from a dream. Otherwise, she really didn't know how to give Pei Yan an explanation.

Yu Tang said reluctantly, "I don't know either. This is all I can remember." Then she changed the subject and asked Pei Yan why he chose this house to live in: "Don't you dislike flowers?"

"Not bad!" Pei Yan seemed to dislike this topic and said, "I am still in mourning and I think it's not good to have so many flowers blooming in my house. It's not that I don't like flowers. I chose to settle here because Wang Qibao likes it. I plan to treat him to a meal here in a few days."

Of course, this was only possible after Gu Chang made up his mind to overthrow his mentor.

Yu Tang said, "The roses here are in full bloom, as are the wisterias. I've made an appointment with Miss Xu to have tea by the rose wall tomorrow!"

"I don't know where the rose wall you mentioned is. However, there is a wine cellar at home. You can take your maids there to play." Pei Yan said, "If you don't think it's fun, let Tong Er, the shopkeeper, invite a female storyteller to your home tomorrow."

Yu Tang found this more interesting.

Pei Yan could see that the little girl liked the hustle and bustle.

He thought about it and decided to give her a suggestion: "Then find a female storyteller to come to the mansion tomorrow. Ask Miss Xu and Madam Yang San what kind of operas they like to listen to tomorrow, and then invite a few actors to come to the mansion to perform in a couple of days."

"No, no." Yu Tang thought that Pei Yan had not yet finished his mourning, and smiled, "I heard from Miss Xu that Prefect Yin will be here soon, and I also want to make a few five-poison sachets in the next few days so that I can give them to people during the Dragon Boat Festival." She also asked Pei Yan: "What kind of fragrance do you like? I will make a few for you when the time comes!"

Pei Yan didn't like any kind of fragrance, but he didn't want to reject Yu Tang's kindness. He decided that if Yu Tang really gave him a sachet, he would hang it on the Xiangfei bamboo outside his study, at least to keep away mosquitoes.

Yu Tang asked about the Dragon Boat Festival: "Are we still holding dragon boat races in Lin'an this year? I heard from my father before that after the Dragon Boat Festival, Mr. Jiang's boat should be back. I don't know how the business is this time? We must make a lot of money this time! Otherwise, my father will definitely feel sorry for Mr. Wu."

Pei Yan felt that Yu Wen's behavior was inappropriate and said, "Mr. Wu is partnering with your family in business, not lending you money! When doing business, there will be losses and gains. If he can't even figure this out, the two families should stop doing business as soon as possible."

A very cold look.

Yu Tang then remembered that he had stolen the sea buckthorn fruits that Pei Yan had grown in his previous life.

Her ears felt hot, and she whispered, "Do you think the sea buckthorn berries in our house can be saved?"

Pei Yan thought for a while and said, "How about making it into preserved fruits and selling it?!"

The tone doesn't sound very certain.