Pei Yan insisted on following his assignment.

He said to his second wife, "After all, I am a retired official. I came to the capital only to visit my mentor. Going out and coming in with my second brother inevitably makes people wary. They think I want to re-enter the government, which is not good for my second brother's career."

There is a system of family avoidance in the officialdom.

Pei Xuan thought about it and didn't force Pei Yan anymore.

This is how the arrangements at home were settled.

Yu Tang asked Pei Yan: "Then let's eat in three places!"

Pei Yan nodded and said, "Let's eat in three places for now. If Second Sister-in-law needs your help or if Atong is too busy to come, we can talk about it later."

Anyway, his wife can't go and work for those people. Even if she has to work, she has to make them know how to be grateful.

Yu Tang didn't think so much. She just felt uncomfortable being asked to take care of Gu Xi's affairs. This arrangement was just right. She could also take good care of Pei Yan's food, clothing, housing and transportation.

When she was in Lin'an, he was the one who took care of her and protected her from the wind and rain.

She asked him in the evening what he was going to do the next day.

Pei Yan was leaning against the bed, flipping through a book he didn't know what it was. Hearing this, he lazily shifted his gaze from the book to Yu Tang and said with a smile, "What are you doing? Do you want to go out for a walk?"

Yu Tang secretly said "Pah", thinking that this guy would talk nonsense when he was in a good mood.

She simply dropped the previous question and asked, "Why are you in such a good mood today?"

There's no way he would be so happy just because he got a house.

Pei Yan did not answer, but asked her: "Why did you think of asking about my whereabouts today?"

The first thing he did when he returned to the capital was to see Zhang Ying. He went alone without bringing Yu Tang, nor did he meet the women of the Zhang family.

Yu Tang sat over and rubbed the ointment on his hands while saying, "The weather in the capital is too dry. I've only been here for a few days, and you see, I've got blisters on the corners of my mouth. I thought I'd make you some soup."

Pei Yan followed suit and leaned forward, saying "Let me see how big the blister is", but his hands were across Yu Tang's waist, holding him in his arms and kissing him fiercely...

Yu Tang didn't find out Pei Yan's preferences, but she was so exhausted that she had to work until noon. When she got up, she was still cursing Pei Yan in her heart, thinking that it was not that she didn't want to serve him, but that he didn't want her to serve him. If he dared to complain to her in the future, saying that he had never drunk a sip of her water since she married him, she would smear Pei Yan's face with the sole of her shoe.

It must be interesting to think about that scene.

Yu Tang smiled to himself.

Qing Yuan and the others pretended not to see anything.

Ever since Pei Yan and Yu Tang got married, the two of them often laughed for no apparent reason, and they were no longer surprised by it.

After breakfast, Yu Tang called the housekeeper over and told her about Gu Xi's situation, asking her to pass on a message: "If she has anything, just ask her to come to you. For food, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, etc., just provide her with a quarter of the silver from the second master."

Although the three families lived their own lives, the money in the inner court was controlled by Yu Tang.

Gu Xi was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and then asked the maid who came to deliver the message: "Are the houses in the capital always like this?"

The housekeeper was a little confused.

Gu Xi explained: "Isn't the money of each house managed by the stewards?"

The housekeeper explained, "The money of each room is indeed managed by the housekeepers. That was the rule when Old An was in charge. Old An didn't like to manage the accounts, so he left the accounts to the housekeepers. Now that the Third Elder is in charge, he has taken back the power. The housekeeper of the outer courtyard is responsible for transferring money, and the money is managed by the Third Madam." At this point, the housekeeper hesitated for a moment, and said to Gu Xi in a rather sincere manner, "I heard from the people in the accounting office that the Third Elder only told the people in the accounting office to transfer the money to the Third Madam, and didn't tell them to check the accounts with the Third Madam."

In other words, the accountant of the outer courtyard only needs to give the money to Yu Tang. As for how Yu Tang uses the money, that is her business, and she doesn't even need to tell the accountant of the outer courtyard.

Gu Xi's heart was pounding, and she couldn't help but lower her voice and asked, "What does Madam mean?"

The nanny in charge didn't beat around the bush and said bluntly, "The eldest master has been kind to our family. These few words are all I can say to repay him. What I mean is, no matter how much money the third wife gives you, don't worry about it."

Because it's useless to calculate.

It's just a mess.

Gu Xi understood immediately. She had not expected that there were still people from the eldest master in the mansion in the capital. She hurriedly thanked him respectfully.

The nanny waved her hands, smiled bitterly, and left Gu Xi's place.

Gu Xi drank tea and pondered this matter in his mind.

This nanny had good intentions in every way, but she didn't understand. Pei Yan was a very resourceful man, so how could he let this nanny go? Was she a fish that slipped through the net? Or was this nanny hiding too deeply? Or, did this nanny have other intentions?

As she was thinking, He Xiang came in with her sleeves rolled up and said to her, "The cooking of the maid here is very ordinary. Do you think we should hire a cook ourselves?"

Gu Xi was very satisfied with where she was living now, which could be considered a courtyard within a courtyard. She murmured, "I'd better use it first! I'll talk about it after I get familiar with everything here. It's better to be still than to move."

He Xiang nodded and said with a smile, "Everything has been packed up, do you want to go take a look?"

Gu Xi was still very relieved that she was doing the job. She smiled and said, "What are you looking at? Let's go and pay our respects to my third aunt. I'm going to visit my sister-in-law. Since we live in the same courtyard, it's better to say hello to her."

By the way, I'll ask her for this month's salary from the public school to see if Yu Tang will deduct any from her and how much money he can give her.

He Xiang agreed, helped Gu Xi change her clothes, and went to Yu Tang's place.

They didn't expect to meet Xu Xuan here.

She was leaning on the beauty couch under the tree with her big belly, eating an apple while talking to Yu Tang about chefs in the capital: "I suggest you bring one from Jiangnan. The chefs here cook Shandong cuisine over and over again. But they still think it's delicious. As long as you ask for a good chef, they will definitely recommend you a Shandong chef, which will make you laugh and cry."

Yu Tang was still as attentive to Xu Xuan as before. Even though she was already the mistress of the Pei residence, she still personally handed Xu Xuan a warm handkerchief.

Gu Xi curled his lips and noticed that there was a girl with an extremely outstanding temperament sitting next to Xu Xuan.

Feeling someone was looking at her, the girl raised her head, smiled and nodded at Gu Xi, then whispered something to Xu Xuan.

Xu Xuan looked at her with sharp and cold eyes.

Gu Xi was stunned.

She blinked and looked over again. Xu Xuan's eyes were gentle and clear, as if the chillness at that moment was an illusion.

Gu Xi calmed himself down.

Maybe I saw it wrong.

As she was thinking, she saw Xu Xuan waving at her and said loudly, "I wanted to go see you later, but I didn't expect you to come first. Have you been to Yang's house? When I went to Li's house to drink the full moon wine a few days ago, I ran into Mrs. Yang. She didn't tell me anything, and I thought you didn't go to Beijing with her."

Gu Xi knew that Xu Xuan had disliked her when she was in Lin'an, and Xu Xuan would definitely have nothing good to say to her when she met her. However, she did not expect that she would meet Xu Xuan when she came to see Yu Tang. She thought to herself, "Unlucky!", but with a smile on her face, she said, "I have been busy cleaning the house these days and have not had time to go to my uncle's house. You met my aunt, how is she? Is she in good health?"

Xu Xuan briefly spoke to her and introduced the woman next to her to her: "This is the eldest daughter of the Zhang family."

Gu Xi and the eldest daughter of the Zhang family exchanged greetings, and everyone sat down again.

After a few pleasantries, Xu Xuan became impatient and asked Gu Xi, "When are you going to visit your sister-in-law? Bring something for her when you get there."

We all live in the capital, why should she bring things to Yin?

Gu Xi smiled and said, "My sister-in-law arrived in the capital a few days ago. Why? You haven't been to my sister-in-law yet? You want me to bring something to my sister-in-law? Okay! I'm going to go there tomorrow. Shall I send someone to your house to pick it up tonight?"

Xu Xuan asked, "When will you go there tomorrow?"

When visiting someone else's house, it's not that early. You go to have lunch around 9:00 p.m. or dinner around 5:00 p.m. Yin is Gu Xi's biological sister-in-law. When she got married, Yin gave her a portion of her dowry as a subsidy. She must have had a few more words with her sister-in-law from her natal family. She left around 5:00 p.m.

But Xu Xuan looked like she was going to make things difficult for her, and Gu Xi didn't mind fighting back.

"I'll go there at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow morning," she said with a smile, "I plan to stay there all day."

If there is anything that someone has brought over, please send someone to deliver it yourself.

Who knew that Xu Xuan smiled and said, "That's great. It's settled. I'll come early tomorrow morning."

Not only Gu Xi, but also Yu Tang and Miss Zhang were quite surprised.

Xu Xuan's eyes flashed with pride, and she said, "I have already made an agreement with Yin Mingyuan that he will send me to your place when he goes to the government office. This way, I can tell you some interesting stories about the capital, and you can spend more time with me. This will save you from being completely in the dark when the Jiang family marries a daughter-in-law."

Everyone was stunned.

Gu Xi asked, "The Jiang family is getting married? Is it the family of Lord Jiang, the Grand Academician of Dongge and Minister of Works? Who in their family is getting married?"

She didn't get an invitation.

Xu Xuan said, "The youngest son of their family is ten years old this year and married the daughter of the prefect of Shanyin. Lord Jiang and his father-in-law are of the same age and are said to have a very good relationship."

Otherwise, my children wouldn't have become in-laws.

Yu Tang was thinking about the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family and the eldest daughter of the Wu family.

Gu Xi was worried whether he could get an invitation by then.

As for Xu Xuan, Gu Xi was in a very good mood after the tattoo. She said to Miss Zhang, "Speaking of which, the Third Madam and we are not outsiders. You can come visit us more often when you are free. She just arrived in the capital and is not familiar with many places in the capital. Tomorrow, they want to buy some lilies from the grower I introduced to them."

Miss Zhang received instructions from the elders of the Zhang family, so she naturally had to praise Yu Tang. She wondered, "Why did the Third Madam think of asking for lilies? There are quite a lot of these flowers. Do you need any other flowers? Although our family has acquaintances with flower growers in Fengtai, they are not as good as the Yin family. My cousin has liked to grow flowers since he was a child, and all the florists in the capital know about it. As long as they say that it is my cousin's family that wants to buy flowers, no one dares to neglect them, for fear that he will complain about them in his "Collection of Flowers". "