Yu Tang seemed to be unaware that the Pei family was about to marry the Yu family. He thanked Mrs. Pei gracefully and retreated with Aunt Ji.

Aunt Chen personally saw her off, and when she came back she praised Yu Tang to Old Man Pei: "You are so calm despite your young age, a bit like you when you were young."

Pei Laoan snorted coldly and said, "You are taking advantage of Xia Guang, right?"

He looked quite indifferent, but he didn't look really angry.

Aunt Chen knew that what she said was right, and she hurriedly pretended to be indignant: "I don't agree with you saying that to me! Although I support the Third Elder, it's because the Third Elder treats you the best!"

The corners of Pei Laoan's mouth curled up involuntarily, and he gently instructed Aunt Chen: "What was the name of the person who served her last time? Willow Catkins or Willow Branches? You arrange it, and he should serve her again this time."

After all, the Yu family had such a great family background that it was impossible for them to send many maids over. Even if they did, they could not be as familiar with the rules of the family as these maids and old women who grew up in their family.

If those maids were smart, they would be transferred to Pei Yan's house to work after Yu Tang got married.

Aunt Chen understood, and thinking of Aunt Ji's request, she said, "Aunt Ji has a man called Leizhi by her side. I think he's quite good. How about sending Leizhi to work for Miss Yu? I'm afraid we can't survive with just a few catkins."

Liu Xu was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but she was still working as a third-class maid in the guest room, which showed that her abilities were limited.

Mr. Pei trusted Aunt Chen very much, and said, "You arrange it." Then he talked about some trivial matters of going to the villa to escape the summer heat.

As for Yu Tang, she followed Aunt Ji to the guest room that was set up for her, and met Liu Xu and the others. Because she was still in mourning for her old lady, the fact that Pei Yan asked to marry Yu Tang was known only to a few close friends around Old Lady Pei, and then to Second Master Pei Xuan and Second Madam. Even the First Madam didn't know about it, not to mention the other people in the family. Liu Xu and the others were still as nice to Yu Tang as before, chatting and laughing with each other, and quickly helped Shuang Tao pack Yu Tang's luggage. Yu Tang changed his clothes again, and took Shuang Tao to the Fifth Miss.

When Aunt Ji saw that everything was ready, she went to report to Mr. Pei.

Pei Laoan immediately asked her, "How is it?"

Apparently he had been waiting for a long time.

Aunt Ji was close to Mr. Pei and was half an insider, so she naturally knew who Mr. Pei was asking about. She smiled and said, "It's still the same as before." Then she took out a small purse and opened it to show Mr. Pei, "Look, it's the same as last year."

When Mr. Pei saw it, he saw it was a pair of five-cent silver ingots with the words "May everything go well for you."

Pei Laoan finally felt relieved and couldn't help but confess to them, "I was worried that she would become arrogant, but I was even more afraid that she would shrink back. This is good, at least half of it has been accomplished."

Aunt Ji knew that Mr. Pei liked Mr. Pei the most, so she said hurriedly, "You should trust Mr. Pei's judgment. The person he chooses will not be wrong."

Mr. Pei nodded with a smile and rewarded Aunt Chen and Aunt Ji with a bag of gold beans each.

Aunt Chen and Aunt Ji were just standing by and saying, "Hey, we old Ans are so eager to drink the daughter-in-law tea that even we, the servants, are also enjoying it."

"Whose daughter-in-law tea do you want to drink, mother?" The gentle voice of the eldest wife suddenly came from outside the door.

How did this person get in?

Are all the people on duty outside dead?

And there's the title "mother"... She's been married to the Pei family for almost twenty years, but she still hasn't changed her way of addressing them and insists on calling her "mother". She feels uncomfortable just hearing that.

Pei Laoan looked a little unhappy.

Aunt Chen hurriedly lifted the curtain and said with a smile, "The eldest lady is here! Please come in quickly. Old An is just talking about you. She said that the weather is particularly hot this year and she will go to the mountains to escape the heat. You are the only one left in the mansion. You will have to take care of the eldest young master's marriage."

Pei Laoan rolled his eyes when he heard this.

——

At this time, Yu Tang also arrived at the Fifth Miss's residence. As soon as she entered the yard, she heard a burst of cheerful laughter coming from the Fifth Miss's room.

She immediately smiled and asked Ah Shan who came to greet her, "Why is it so lively? Are the Miss Peis here?"

Ah Shan smiled and nodded, saying, "In addition to the Miss Peis, the eldest daughter of the Yang family is here too." Afraid that she didn't know, she said, "She is the step-sister of the Second Aunt. She came back from the capital and, on the orders of the elders of the family, came to give some local offerings to the Second Miss. The Second Miss brought her here to pay her respects to the Second Madam."

Yu Tang nodded and was led by Asan into the fifth lady's chamber.

When everyone saw her, their eyes lit up.

Yu Tang today is more beautiful than they remember.

She wore a plain lake green jacket, white South Pearl earrings, and a very simple and elegant jasmine flower. However, she had a rosy face and black hair. Her eyes, which were originally black and white, were like gems immersed in mercury. They sparkled as she looked around, like a polished diamond, emitting dazzling light.

The fifth lady was the first to shout, "Sister Atang, what did you eat? Or did you apply something? How come your complexion has suddenly become so good? You must tell us, don't keep it secret."

Yu Tang was stunned, and touched his face suspiciously, saying, "I have been doing nothing during this period of time, just like usual. The perfume I applied was the one you recommended last time. When Miss Xu and I went to Hangzhou City, we saw some for sale, and we both bought some. Could it be because of the perfume?"

The fourth young lady said jealously, "We also use those ointments, why do they work so well for Sister Yu? Sister Yu, no, you have to treat us! If we hadn't recommended them to you, you wouldn't have used such a good ointment. Are you going to treat us to food?"

Yu Tang smiled cheerfully and said, "Okay, whatever you want to eat, I'll treat you!"

The young ladies of the Pei residence have been accompanied by a large group of maids and old women since they were young. They are particular about food and health preservation, so they are not allowed to eat anything they want. When they get married, they marry into families of equal status. There are some things that they may never see in their entire lives, so the food they can ask for is actually very limited.

The fourth young lady rolled her eyes for a long time, but couldn't think of what to ask Yu Tang to treat her to. However, she was unwilling to give up the opportunity to have fun, so she pulled a round-faced stranger next to her and said, "Sister Yang, do you have any good ideas?"

Yu Tang guessed that this little girl was the eldest daughter of the Yang family, and nodded at her with a smile.

Miss Yang was also a lively person. She introduced herself to Yu Tang as soon as she saw him.

The Third Miss glared at the Fourth Miss, thinking that they should have introduced Miss Yang to Yu Tang when Yu Tang came in. It was very rude to let the guest introduce herself.

The fourth young lady stuck out her tongue embarrassedly.

Yu Tang didn't care about these things. She followed Miss Yang's order of seniority. She was two years older than Miss Yang and became the elder sister.

Miss Yang suggested: "How about we wait until we get to the villa. I heard there is a small river in the villa, we can go fishing and grill the fish!"

Yu Tang didn't expect that Miss Yang would go up the mountain with them.

The third young lady whispered to her, "Young Miss Yang wants to borrow our villa for a blind date. The person she is with is a cousin of my grandmother's."

This is a close relationship.

However, there are only a few notable aristocratic families in Jiangnan, and they are all connected by marriage in some way, so the relationships are quite complicated.

She smiled, and the second lady blushed and asked Yu Tang to sit down beside her, and talked about the Ku'an Temple: "Miss Yang thought it was very good when she knew about it, and she also wanted to help. I said that this matter was initiated by you, so I have to ask you."

When Miss Yang heard the Second Miss mention her, she smiled at Yu Tang.

When doing good deeds, of course the more people participate, the better.

Yu Tang naturally welcomed it.

Miss Yang thanked Yu Tang, and Miss Two sighed, "It's a pity that Sister Gu can't go up the mountain with us this time."

Everyone started talking about Gu Xi again.

"I never thought Sister Gu would marry into our family. This shows that Sister Gu and our family have a strong affinity."

"Aunt said she would not go to the villa for summer vacation. She would most likely stay at home to prepare for the wedding of Sister Gu and Cousin Tong. So will Sister Gu marry into our family soon?"

"I heard that my aunt wants to buy a house in Hangzhou for my cousin Tong. I wonder if my aunt will give her own house in Hangzhou to my cousin Tong?"

Everyone was talking at once, and Yu Tang just listened with a smile. However, Miss Yang, who was sitting opposite her, had a slightly changed expression and hesitated several times to speak.

Yu Tang thought of how this Miss Yang was said to have grown up with her parents in the capital. She guessed that either Miss Yang knew the niece from the eldest lady's family who was Pei Tong's childhood sweetheart, or she knew that Pei Tong almost married that Miss Yang.

After paying her respects to the Second Madam, she stayed in the Fifth Miss's room for dinner with Miss Yang and several other young ladies from the Pei family before returning to her own residence.

Unexpectedly, the place where she lived was brightly lit. Qing Yuan was instructing Liu Xu and a few others to change the furnishings in the hall.

"Where did you find that vase? It's a design that's over ten years old. I immediately replaced it with the new one I added last year. And this cushion, didn't you see that the red color is tinged with purple? Take the key to my warehouse and go find a scarlet red one..."

The catkins were so nervous that they dared not even breathe.

Seeing Yu Tang coming back, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and called out "Ms. Yu" for help.

Yu Tang guessed that Qing Yuan might have come here on Pei Yan's orders. This guy was the only one who would not accept any grievance.

She didn't intend to go to great lengths, but she couldn't let Qing Yuan down.

Yu Tang tried to smooth things over: "It's customary to entertain guests in the guest room. Even if you want them to open a back door for me, they can't do anything without rice. As for me, I only wanted to stay for one night, so I didn't care about these things. It's a pity that you guys are so anxious."

Although Qing Yuan didn't know that Pei Yan and Yu Tang were about to get engaged, she knew from Pei Yan's attitude towards Yu Tang that Pei Yan cared very much about Yu Tang, which was enough for her to know what attitude she should use towards Yu Tang.

She smiled and respectfully bowed to Yu Tang, saying, "The Third Elder heard that there were female guests at home, and was afraid that you would have to entertain them, so he asked me to decorate your room."

Yu Tang stroked his forehead.