Since Pei Yi knew that Pei Yan was about to marry Miss Yu, the other branches of the Pei family also knew about it.

Out of trust in Old An Pei, although everyone was a little surprised that Pei Yan's marriage was settled so quickly, they were not too surprised. When Old Lady Yi talked about it with Old An Yi, Old An Yi even teased Old An Pei with a smile: "She just likes pretty girls and boys. Look at the two daughters-in-law she married, which one of them is not one in a hundred?"

Old Master Yi laughed and did not discuss the matter of the royal family with his wife. Instead, he went to the study and began to practice calligraphy, determined to make sure that Pei Yan's wedding invitation would be praised by everyone.

Yi Laoan smiled and shook his head, then went to visit Laoan to discuss Pei Yan's marriage.

However, it was already the next day when Mrs. Pei heard the news.

She sat there in a daze for a long time, feeling a little uncomfortable.

In the past, everyone thought she was marrying above her station, and she was neither left nor right. But Pei You always stood by her, and was gentle and considerate to her, which made her very proud. But she didn't expect that now that she was a widow and lived in seclusion, Pei Yan was even more outrageous than Pei You, and married a woman who was inferior to her in terms of birth and family background.

The disciple is better than the master!

Mrs. Pei sneered.

In the future, when people talk about the daughters-in-law of the Pei family, I'm afraid the first person they mention will be Yu.

Being able to break through so many barriers to marry into the Pei family and become the head wife of the Pei family, I wonder how many women are envious, admired and jealous of her!

She called her beloved nanny and asked, "When will the Second Madam leave for the capital? Have you found out?"

The nanny lowered her head and whispered, "The Second Madam will attend the Third Elder's wedding before leaving, but the Second Elder will leave early tomorrow morning."

This is to promote the second wife and make her the most blessed person!

The first wife sneered again and said, "The relationship between the second and third wives is quite good."

The nanny didn't dare to say anything.

The first wife said again: "Let the two young masters come to my place."

The nanny felt as if she had been pardoned, and hurriedly invited Pei Tong and Pei Fei in.

The eldest wife then told her two sons: "Your second uncle will leave for Beijing soon. He will definitely talk to you before he leaves. You two must listen to your second uncle."

The two of them answered in unison, but they waited for a whole day and Pei Xuan did not come to call them. It was not until the next morning when Pei Xuan was about to leave that they patted Pei Tong and Pei Fei who came to see him off, and secretly sighed in their hearts, asking them to be filial to the eldest wife and listen carefully to Pei Yan's words, and looking forward to hearing the news of Pei Tong's success as soon as possible.

Pei Tong was fine, but Pei Fei was gritting his teeth in hatred, thinking that Pei Xuan must have been influenced by Pei Yan, who bullied their eldest branch, which had lost its status as a royal branch and also lost its father. Under his brother's stern gaze, he reluctantly lowered his head and saluted Pei Xuan.

Pei Xuan felt a little sorry for his brother, and said, "Originally I should have stayed and waited for you to get married before leaving, but my master wanted me to stay urgently..."

Pei Yan waved his hand, interrupting his brother's words, and said, "Brother, don't worry about me. Didn't my second sister-in-law stay? Just take care of your own things. Don't give up what you should fight for. You are the only one in the clan who is pursuing an official career. I don't know how long it will take for the next generation to be able to stand on their own!"

Pei Xuan understood what A'di meant.

Although there are people in the Pei family who are officials, if the main branch is not as good as the side branches, the main branch will inevitably lose its authority. How can it command other branches?

This is a very dangerous thing.

Pei Xuan smiled without saying anything, but held A'di's hand tightly, then turned around and touched his son's head. He reminded his daughter to be filial to her mother, nodded slightly to the second wife, and got on the boat.

The Pei family members stood at the dock and watched Pei Xuan's boat go away.

Pei Xuan's son Pei Hong began to sob softly.

The second wife embraced her son and smiled with tears in her eyes, saying, "Silly child, we will be able to see your father in a few months. Why are you crying?"

Mrs. Pei had already told her tactfully that after Pei Xuan was reinstated, they would be allowed to follow him to his new post as before.

For this reason alone, the second wife was deeply grateful to her mother-in-law and would never forget it for the rest of her life.

The fifth young lady grew up with the second wife and was taught by her to read and write. She is not as emotionally dependent on her father as her younger brother. She is even more curious about how Yu Tang became her third aunt.

Her eyes rolled around as she looked at Pei Yan, then at Pei Tong, and finally decided to gossip about this with Miss Second and Miss Third Pei.

When Miss Pei Er and Miss Pei San found out about this, their jaws almost dropped. Miss Pei San said after realizing it, "No wonder my great-aunt didn't want Sister Yu to play with us. It turns out that she wanted Sister Yu to be my third uncle's daughter-in-law."

The large desk was filled with foot-high account books, which she still remembers vividly.

The second young lady was worried about the change in their identities. She felt uncomfortable when she thought about calling Yu Tang "Auntie" in the future. Not only that, she also felt uncomfortable for Gu Xi, saying, "We are fine. Lu Lu will get married one after another. What about Sister Gu? She will be suppressed by Miss Yu for the rest of her life. Sister Gu is older than Miss Yu."

When she said this, the fourth young lady also received the letter and came to gossip with her cousins. Upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Generation has nothing to do with age. There are many examples of youngest children becoming the eldest. But how did Sister Yu win the favor of my great-aunt? Why didn't I see it before?"

The three sisters huddled together and chatted for a long time, then waited for the fifth young lady to arrive.

The Fifth Miss guessed, "Could it be because of the Ku'an Temple incident? I remember that my grandmother was very appreciative at the time and even asked Xiao Tong, the shopkeeper, to help us with this matter!"

"When did that happen?" Miss Three was stunned. "Could it be that at that time, my great-aunt had an idea in her mind?"

"My great-aunt is not an ordinary woman," said the fourth young lady. "If my great-aunt had such thoughts at that time, we would definitely not have noticed it!"

Several people were chattering like a house full of sparrows.

Gu Xi soon found out too.

She did not get the news from the Pei family, but from her wet nurse - the Yu family in Hangzhou City prepared a large dowry for Yu Tang.

"She said she wanted to marry into the Pei family, to the Third Elder, the head of the Pei family." Her nurse said anxiously, "Everyone is talking about it in private. Miss, can you send someone to ask the Pei family?"

If Miss Yu really became Gu Xi's aunt, Gu Xi would have to show respect to her as a younger generation whenever he met Miss Yu in the future. The thought of this made Gu Xi's wet nurse feel unwilling.

Gu Xi was shocked, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. He sent someone to ask the Pei family, and comforted his wet nurse, "People in the market are saying all kinds of things, but it's not confirmed yet, and you're panicking first. Let's wait for the news from the Pei family before we talk."

The wet nurse was worried, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about this matter anymore. She talked about Yu Tang's dowry: "They bought more than a hundred pieces of cloth for clothes for all four seasons, plus shoes, socks, bedding, and curtains. They almost emptied out several satin shops in Hangzhou. However, the person who bought the dowry was quite smart. They ordered newly woven cloth this year. Those satin shops wanted to sell them the patterns from previous years, but they were refused. People in Hangzhou are saying that the fabric for next year's spring clothes will probably go up in price."

Winter is the time to make spring clothes.

Gu Xi didn't believe it.

The wet nurse said, "I didn't believe it before, but I heard that the Yu family was very low-key before, and they didn't say anything when they invested in maritime trade. If it weren't for Miss Yu marrying Master Pei San this time, they wouldn't have prepared Miss Yu's dowry in such a grand manner."

Gu Xi said calmly: "Even if that's the case, the Yu family has only been doing maritime business for a few years, and it's impossible for them to buy a dowry for their daughter like this!"

When he was at the Pei family villa, Yu Tang was obviously quite shabby.

The wet nurse said, "I said so too. But they said that the Yu family has spent all their wealth this time. After all, there is only one chance to marry a girl. Even if there is more money in the future, it will have nothing to do with Miss Yu."

Gu Xi was a little distracted.

Because of her dowry, her brother stopped talking to her father. In order to punish her brother, her father called her brother to question and scold him every day in the name of "filial piety". Fortunately, she saw that the situation was not right and quietly asked her uncle for help. Even so, her stepmother still gave her a dowry to save face for the eldest house every few days and made sarcastic remarks at home.

If you think about it this way, although Yu Tang was not as well-born as her, he is happier than her.

Gu Xi's eyes were slightly moist.

Gu Chang smiled bitterly when he heard the news of the marriage between the Pei and Yu families.

Pei Yan, as bold as he expected, married Miss Yu.

Only a gifted man like him would do such a thing, right?

Yu Tang's charming face appeared in Gu Chang's mind.

He immediately suppressed this face in his heart.

He hated people like his father the most in his life. He was getting married soon, so he should treat his bride wholeheartedly. If he had two hearts, what difference would he make from his father?

The Gu brothers and sisters each had their own thoughts, but Lin, who lived in Hangzhou City, was furious.

Ever since Li Yi was imprisoned, nothing has gone smoothly at home.

They just rented a house in the city to live temporarily, and no one knows who spread their family secrets. The firewoman who had just worked in his house for a few days was unwilling to work for them and threatened to quit. Li Duan wanted to increase her salary, but she couldn't swallow it and fired her directly. As a result, the next people who came to work were worse than the last. One of them even stole their rice and she refused to admit it when she caught him.

Lin was so angry that she could hardly speak, but the old woman was still talking back: "You have been an official's wife, why are you so stingy? I just took a handful of rice from your family, why are you so unwilling to give it up? If you are reluctant to give it up, why invite anyone? Just cook it yourself!"

Lin wanted to tear her mouth apart, but Li Duan came back, stopped Lin, added ten cents, and sent the firewood maid away.

"It's so unlucky that even drinking cold water will get food stuck in my teeth." Lin was complaining but Li Duan didn't say anything.

He had a vague feeling that someone was targeting their family.

He didn't want to guess that it was Pei Yan who did it, but apart from Pei Yan, no one else had the ability and means to do so.

Li Duan was thinking about whether he should meet Pei Yan.

Some things are better said out loud.

Beg for mercy when you should, and apologize when you should. He doesn't believe that Pei Yan has such a small heart.