Even so, Pei Yan was still very angry, and continued to complain to Yu Tang about Zhang Ying: "He is also an old man in the world. Since he can't completely retire, he should arrange a good future for the people around him. If he can't, he should completely retire and not care about worldly affairs. Thirty years in the east and thirty years in the west, who can stand at the top and never come down? When reading history books, everyone knows more than the other, but when it comes to themselves, everyone is more unwilling than the other, and everyone thinks that they will be an exception. In the past, the most powerful family in the capital was the Xu family. How did the Zhang family get to the top? It was by stepping on the Xu family. Did the Xu family say that they wanted to find a way to bring the Zhang family down? Who is the first and who is the second? It has always been a circle. They should find a way to stand in the first echelon, instead of always thinking about getting the first place."
Yu Tang listened quietly, pondering slowly in his heart. The more he pondered, the more he felt that Pei Yan's words made sense.
It is not easy to get in, and it is not easy to get out.
It is exactly like the saying “Every family has its own problems”.
It can be seen that every wealthy family has its own difficulties.
Pei Yan just muttered a few words in front of Yu Tang. He usually had a cold face, which made Mr. Chen feel cold in his heart. He had many questions to ask Pei Yan but he didn't dare to ask, which made Pei Yan idle all of a sudden.
When this person is idle, he can't help thinking about all sorts of things. Fortunately, Pei Yan had prepared in advance. Every day, he and Yu Tang "read books" and "painted" in the cabin, and they were as happy as gods. The shy Yu Tang was so upset that he turned a blind eye to it, pretending that nothing had happened. When he saw the second wife, he tried to calm down and even discussed with the second wife whether Pei Yan, Yu Tang and others should stay in Liaocheng for a few more days since the second master had sent someone to pick them up.
According to Pei Yan, there was nothing to see, but the Second Wife wanted Yu Tang to stay for a few days, and said, "After this separation, I don't know when we can see each other again."
If Pei Xuan's career was good, he would be named a "capable official" after three years and might be transferred to the capital. If his career was bad, he might be transferred to a more distant place after his nine-year term. No matter where they went, as long as Pei Xuan did not retire, they would have few opportunities to meet each other.
Although Yu Tang was reluctant to leave the Second Wife and the Fifth Miss, he was more obedient to Pei Yan.
However, Gu Xi really wanted to get off the boat and take a look.
Although they traveled by boat, they would stay on the boat for a month, and with Pei Yan, an elder, on board, she spent eight or nine out of ten times of her time in the cabin, which was really boring.
She asked Pei Tong: "You often visit your third uncle these days. How does your third uncle treat you?"
Pei Tong was a little embarrassed.
Pei Yan was not close to him. When his father was alive, Pei Yan lived in his hometown. When Pei Yan passed the imperial examination and was admitted to the capital, he moved out of the Pei family's old house in the capital. Later, when his father passed away, the position of the head of their family was handed over to Pei Yan... He didn't know Pei Yan very well.
Over the past month, Pei Yan made him feel as if he had come to the wrong place.
Pei Yan liked to take Yu Tang with him very much. He taught Yu Tang how to copy calligraphy, paint, and go fishing. He would even take Yu Tang for a stroll on the deck in the evening.
As a nephew, it was naturally difficult for him to go forward.
As a result, although he often looked for opportunities to meet Pei Yan, in reality, even if they met, they seldom had the chance to say anything.
He felt that this was Pei Yan's way of politely rejecting his intimacy.
But he was too embarrassed to tell his wife, as it seemed that he was incompetent and couldn't even handle such a small matter.
Pei Tong said vaguely: "It's okay."
Gu Xi sat over and said to him expectantly, "Why don't you talk to your third uncle? We will stay in Liaocheng for two days, and you and your second uncle can have a good talk. We don't know when we will meet again after this meeting! As for the fear of delaying the trip, why not add some silver and let the boatmen travel faster for a few nights."
Pei Xuan was still very nice to Pei Tong.
Pei Tong was a little hesitant.
But before he could figure out how to tell Pei Yan about this, the ship had already docked at Liaocheng Pier. They did not wait for Pei Xuan to pick up the second wife, but instead waited for an aide that Pei Xuan brought to Liaocheng.
"Third Master." He bowed respectfully to Pei Yan, handed Pei Xuan the letter, and said, "Second Master said he is waiting for you in the capital."
Pei Yan was very surprised. After reading the letter, he found out that Pei Xuan had just received the official seal of Shandong Provincial Governor when the imperial edict came from the capital, transferring Pei Xuan to be the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and requiring him to come to the capital for the appointment within 15 days. Pei Xuan had not yet secured the official seal of the Provincial Governor, but he handed it over and rushed to the capital overnight.
This is a promotion!
Everyone on the boat was so happy that they couldn't stop smiling, and some of them even ran to ask the second wife for a reward.
The second wife happily opened the box and took out silver beans to reward everyone.
Pei Yan frowned, took Pei Xuan's staff on board, and set off overnight, heading straight for the capital.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the boat left the dock, it was stopped by the Liaocheng prefect who had heard the news and rushed over. He insisted on seeing Pei Yan off and even brought up his relationship with the Fei family: "Fei Zhiwen is my uncle."
Pei Xuan's staff also whispered beside Pei Yan: "She is the cousin of Master Fei's father who is not yet three generations old."
Pei Yan had no choice but to get off the boat to socialize.
Gu Xi poked Pei Tong and said, "You can come with me!"
Pei Yan didn't call Pei Tong, and Pei Tong was a little hesitant.
Gu Xi encouraged him: "Opportunities are created by people, and they will be given to those who actively use them."
Pei Tong shamelessly followed.
The prefect of Liaocheng was naturally very enthusiastic, and Pei Yan did not chase him away. He breathed a sigh of relief, slowly relaxed his socializing with those people in the Liaocheng officialdom, and gradually felt the pleasure of being like a fish in water.
Pei Yan did not stop him, but created some opportunities for him.
Pei Tong returned to the boat and looked at Gu Xi again. She felt that she was worthy of being Gu Chang's sister and some of her words made sense.
He took advantage of his drunkenness to tentatively discuss with Gu Xi: "Let's return to the capital and live in the old house!"
Before he left, his eldest wife asked him to go back to live with his grandfather, but he secretly made up his mind to live in his own house.
Gu Xi asked curiously, "Were you planning to live at my grandfather's house? Didn't we agree on this before?"
Pei Tong blushed and stammered, "I'm afraid you won't get used to it. I see you've been staying in the cabin these days..."
Gu Xi interrupted him forcefully and said, "It's okay to be unaccustomed to it, but you can't do things that displease the elders and make others laugh at you just because you're not used to it. We followed our third uncle back to Beijing and lived in the old house of the Pei family. It's our duty to serve the elders. Who can find fault with us?"
She knew that her mother-in-law was more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything, so she simply took the opportunity to give Pei Tong a few beatings.
Pei Tong hummed a few times and stopped talking. It seemed that she agreed with what Gu Xi said.
Gu Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
They traveled day and night and finally arrived in the capital before the Buddha's Birthday.
Mr. Shu and Zhou Zijin came to Tongzhou Wharf to pick them up, and they were accompanied by the third son of the Zhang family, Mr. Xiao Zhang.
As soon as Pei Yan got off the boat, Zhou Zijin gave him a bear hug.
Master Xiao Zhang was watching and laughing, and said to Pei Yan, "Welcome to the capital. Your second brother has been summoned to the palace by the emperor, so he can't come to pick you up today. When he returns to the capital tomorrow, we will welcome you at Laishun Tower."
"Goodbye." Pei Yan pushed Zhou Zijin aside, greeted Master Xiao Zhang, and said with a smile, "Just have a quick meal at our house tomorrow, and then I can go visit my mentor."
The situation in the capital was complicated now, so Lord Zhang did not force it. He smiled and agreed. Instead of going to the post station, they stayed in the largest inn in Tongzhou City.
Mr. Zhang also brought his wife over.
Specially made a trip to receive the female members of the Pei family.
The third wife of the Zhang family was born into a wealthy family in the north. She was tall and strong, with plump and fair skin, and had the boldness and enthusiasm unique to northerners.
"I've heard that Xiaguang married a peerless beauty. Today, I see that she is indeed as beautiful as her reputation has been." Mrs. Zhang said to Yu Tang with a laugh, "Since you are in the capital, you should take a good walk around the capital. You should go to Tanzhe Temple, Hongluo Temple, and Chang'an Street."
Yu Tang really liked such straightforward people and thanked him repeatedly.
It was also the first time that the Second Wife and Mrs. Zhang San met each other. They exchanged greetings and had dinner in the back hall of the rented courtyard accompanied by Mrs. Zhang San. They rested for a night and changed carriages to rush to the capital the next day.
It was the first time in Yu Tang's life that he rode in a horse-drawn carriage. He felt that although the carriage was more impressive than a mule, it was also more bumpy.
The second wife endured it all the way, but vomited as soon as she got off the carriage.
Before Yu Tang had time to take a close look at the Pei family's old house, he hurriedly helped the second wife to the house arranged for her.
Fortunately, Pei Xuan had already finished his job at the government office and had been waiting at home. Seeing that the Second Madam's face had turned pale from vomiting, he hurried forward to take over the Second Madam and helped serve her by serving tea and water.
Seeing this, Yu Tang immediately retreated and returned to the yard where he lived.
Qing Yuan had already begun instructing the maids and old women to arrange the living quarters, while the nanny in charge of the inner courtyard was respectfully waiting outside for Yu Tang to summon her.
Yu Tang was also very tired. She didn't want to force herself, so she said something to the housekeeper named Min and asked everyone to leave. Qing Yuan served her, and she washed and changed her clothes. She went to the flower hall in the inner house which was specially used to entertain female guests, to entertain Mrs. Zhang San.
Mrs. Zhang San learned that the second wife was too sick to have dinner with them, so she blamed herself and said, "I thought you guys wouldn't be used to it, but I didn't expect it to be so severe. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone back with them. Anyway, we don't eat with them."'
"No one expected this." Yu Tang was polite to her, and brought the Fifth Miss and Gu Xi to entertain Mrs. Zhang San on behalf of the Pei family.
After Zhang San's wife returned home, she kept praising Yu Tang in front of the old lady of the Zhang family: "She is so beautiful! Even if we put all the women in our families together, none of them is prettier than her. No wonder Xia Guang didn't want to marry a girl from the Li family."
Old Madam Zhang didn't care much about this, and asked Fifth Miss Pei Dan: "How is that little girl?"
Mrs. Zhang San hesitated and said, "She hasn't grown up yet, but she looks like Mrs. Pei Er. She also looks very gentle..."
It's not bad to marry a young girl like this as the second daughter-in-law. But to marry her as the eldest daughter-in-law... is a bit inappropriate. Not to mention that she is five or six years younger than him.
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