After all, the Li family's clan was in charge of the Li family's affairs and had to set an example for the entire clan. Although they had separated from Li Duan's family, they could not add insult to injury at this time and cause criticism. Knowing that Li Duan had accompanied Lin back to his hometown, the clan leader took his eldest son to visit the Li family in person.
Without the help of the Li family, the servants of Li Duan's family who had ulterior motives had already run away with the Li family's property. The ones who stayed were all loyal servants. But such people were a minority after all. The pavilions and towers that were once exquisite and magnificent were now covered with dust, showing a dilapidated scene.
The head of the Li family stood in the yard and couldn't help but sigh softly.
It takes several generations of hard work for a family to prosper, but it only takes the blink of an eye to fall into decline.
He asked Li Duan, "Is there anything we can help you with?"
Li Duan didn't have the nerve to ask the clan for help. Moreover, the division of the clan and his family was strange. He always suspected that someone was causing trouble, but he was thinking about the things in the capital later and didn't have the opportunity to verify it. But at this time, it was even more difficult for him to verify it - his family had already fallen. If it was confirmed that it was someone from his clan, it would be hard to guarantee that they would not stir up trouble and cause those who had no good intentions towards their family to take advantage of the situation, putting their family in a more difficult situation. If it was someone from outside, it would be just those few families. Even when their family was at its peak, they avoided those families, not to mention now when their family could hardly even protect themselves.
Just as his father said, now is not the time to settle accounts. Only if he studies hard and revive the family business can these accounts be settled properly.
Li Duan bowed respectfully to the eldest master of the clan and whispered, "I can handle the family affairs for now. If there are any difficulties, I will ask you for help. We are very grateful that you can come to see us at this time."
After all, he is a wealthy man, maybe he will become rich one day.
The eldest master of the clan comforted Li Duan and handed him a piece of silver: "This is a small gift from me. Please accept it. When you have money in the future, you can return it to me."
Li Duan was indeed short of money, and he was sure that the Li clan must have done something wrong to his family, so he accepted the money after a few polite words.
The eldest master of the Li family's main branch took his son and said goodbye.
Lin walked out of the hall with the help of her maid and said, "Everything valuable in the house has been stolen. There are also some things that our ancestors left behind for our well-being. I have already taken them out and packed them up."
The evening sun shone on her face, making the wrinkles around her eyes and eyebrows more obvious. Compared to when she left Lin'an, she looked more than ten years older. She no longer stood straight.
Li Duan stepped forward to help Lin with some distress, and said softly: "Mom, you don't have to worry about these, I will take care of it. You should have a good rest tonight, and we will leave at dawn tomorrow."
They won’t let more Lin’an people know that they have been back.
Lin didn't want to stay even a quarter of an hour longer, and said, "We'll leave tonight and spend the night on the boat. Have you arranged everything at home? Whatever needs to be thrown away should be thrown away, don't be reluctant to throw it away. When faced with a disaster, money is just an external thing, and you can earn it back naturally if you are still alive."
Her expression was even more severe than before.
Li Duan nodded and said, "I've entrusted everything to Li Si. When something happened to our family, he even sent someone to bring 20 taels of silver to our family."
Li Si was a member of the Li family, a bastard's son. After the family was separated, he became a pawnbroker by chance. The Li family would go to him for pawning and selling.
Lin nodded and said harshly, "Your uncle is really cruel. He didn't know how much good he had done to our family in the past. This time he watched our family suffer misfortune and just stood by and watched. If you become rich in the future, don't associate with them."
Li Duan hesitated for a moment and nodded in response, but this caused Lin's dissatisfaction: "Did you hear what I said? I'm not saying this to you in anger, but you shouldn't have any contact with people like this, especially your uncle's family. They come over when there's something good to do, and run away when there's trouble. If I find out that you're still associating with them, be careful or I'll disown you as my son."
"I understand." Li Duan answered, but he felt a little uneasy.
At first, he took a large sum of money from the Peng family and did some shady things for them...
However, they lived in seclusion in Hangzhou, which was where several major surnames in the south of the Yangtze River had lived for generations, so the Pengs certainly wouldn't dare to mess around.
Li Duan agreed with Lin's decision: "Then we will leave tonight."
Lin nodded.
The mother and son packed up all the things they needed and loaded them into the moped. They quietly headed for Tiaoxi Wharf before the curfew in Lin'an City.
However, you will pass Qingzhu Lane when going to Tiaoxi Wharf.
In the quiet alleys, green bamboos can be seen on the pink and white walls of every house.
Li Duan couldn't help but look at it twice more.
Then they saw two sedan chairs with green curtains parked in the back alley of Qingzhu Lane. The curtains were opened, and Pei Yan and Yu Tang got out of the sedan chairs one after another.
Li Duan tightened his hands and leaned against the car window.
Pei Yan pulled Yu Tang's hand and said something to her. Yu Tang was already shy and lowered her head. Pei Yan seemed unsatisfied and gently smoothed Yu Tang's messy temples.
Not only was Yu Tang not angry, he even raised his head and glared at Pei Yan with a coquettish and angry look.
Li Duan fell down in the mule car.
Lin asked with concern: "What's wrong?"
Li Duan shook his head and remained silent for a long while.
Pei Yan and Yu Tang...many things that puzzled him suddenly became clear.
He shuddered.
No wonder people say that the mouth of a bamboo snake is as poisonous as the sting of a wasp, but the most poisonous thing is a woman's heart.
Is she trying to avenge that kid from the Wei family?
Li Duan's mind was in a mess, recalling what happened after he met Yu Tang. He didn't know what he had done wrong, or where he had gone wrong, leading to the situation today.
If he regrets, is it too late?
When should we start to correct it?
Li Duan didn't even know this.
Seeing that he suddenly turned pale, Lin did not believe him at all. Instead, she thought for a moment and told the driver to hurry up, "Turn around. I want to see what has made you so upset."
The last sentence was asked to Li Duan.
Li Duan said hurriedly, "Nothing, I just remembered something. Don't bother with that. Let's get out of the city and go back to Hangzhou! We've been walking for such a long time, and there are a lot of things waiting for us in Hangzhou. We don't need to waste time in Lin'an."
But the one who was rushing in was Lin's confidant, and Lin spoke harshly, so how could he dare not listen.
Then Lin saw Pei Yan sending Yu Tang to the sedan chair. Pei Yan also squeezed Yu Tang's hand. After Yu Tang's sedan chair disappeared into the back alley of Qingzhu Lane, Pei Yan sat in the sedan chair and left Qingzhu Lane.
"Bitch!" Lin gritted her teeth and said, "No wonder your father is in jail! I'm going to kill her!"
Li Duan said nothing.
Lin twisted Li Duan's arm with a sly look on her face, and roared in a low voice: "Did you hear me? I want that bastard to die! Did you hear me?"
Li Duan felt pain but remained calm and responded with a low "OK".
The Li family's mule slowly arrived at the Tiaoxi Pier.
Li Duan helped Lin onto the hired boat.
Pei Yan got the news immediately.
"Did they return to Hangzhou?" He put down the pen in his hand and asked Pei Qi, "Didn't they say that all the properties in Hangzhou were sold? Where do they live? Who helped them?"
"It's Mr. Shen." Pei Qi frowned and said, "Mr. Shen rented a two-room riverside house for the Li family not far from Xiaohe Street in his own name."
Pei Yan sneered, took the handkerchief handed over by the servant, wiped his hands, and said: "In other words, Shen Shanyan still hopes that Li Duan will study and become an official to revive the family business? Has he been a little free recently? Go and call Hu Xing over."
Let Hu Xing find something for him to do, so he won't have time to meddle in other people's affairs.
Pei Qi left immediately, and Pei Yan no longer had any interest in writing a plan.
This summer, when he was in Lin'an, in addition to handling the Pei family's miscellaneous affairs, he also stayed in the Yu family's shop. Not only did he understand the craft of red lacquer, but he also helped the Yu family improve many inappropriate places. Not only did he help the Yu family make new molds smoothly, he also prepared to write these into a booklet for the Yu family's people to refer to. With this book, the Yu family can attract some skilled people nearby to come and join them. In this way, the production capacity of the Yu family's workshop will be greatly improved, and they will be able to receive more orders.
He opened the window, took a few deep breaths, and felt that he had to ask for credit in front of Yu Tang, otherwise the little girl would definitely forget about him.
She has been gone for two days, but she hasn't brought me any letter.
It seems that it is better for them to get married earlier.
Gu Chang's wedding date is September 26th, so they decided to get married on October 6th. After offering sacrifices to the ancestors, she will get married. They can still have a good New Year, how wonderful!
The more Pei Yan thought about it, the better it seemed, so he simply looked up the almanac himself.
But he hadn't read a few pages of the almanac when Hu Xing arrived.
Pei Yan sent away the servants around him and planned the affairs of the Li family with Hu Xing: "The new prefect Wu is from Sichuan, and he should not have any friendship with Lord Shen, but you should also check it out. Didn't a daughter-in-law kill her mother-in-law in Xinqiao Town recently? Lord Shen is a great scholar of the time and a teacher of the county school. He should also take the responsibility of educating the people. The affairs of the county school can be put aside. As for the Li family, don't the neighbors care about being neighbors with the son of a corrupt official? And the Li family's house in Lin'an is so big, and it's a time of hardship. The feng shui is not very good. It should not be easy to sell, right?"
Hu Xing understood and left with a smile.
Pei Yan took out the unfinished book and read it again. He didn't find anything wrong. He went back to his room to change his clothes and wash up, and then went to see Pei Laoan.
Mr. Pei had just returned home and was listening to the steward reporting on the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts.
Pei Yan asked: "Why didn't you keep Miss Yu to help you?"
Old Pei An was so embarrassed that he slapped his son with the book in his hand and said, "I've seen people who are partial, but I've never seen anyone as partial as you. I taught her about the Dragon Boat Festival gifts, so how could she not know how to do it?"
Pei Yan said shamelessly: "Isn't the Mid-Autumn Festival a good time for her to practice? You don't have to worry about these things during the Spring Festival. Just eat melon seeds and chat with Aunt Yi. How leisurely it is!"