Yu Tang could understand flattering the powerful and bullying the weak, but that didn't mean she had to have close contact with such a family. Moreover, Pei Yan and Jiang Hua already had conflicts, so it was enough for the two families to save face.

Therefore, when Yu Tang went to the Jiang family to attend the wedding, he was also indifferent.

Gu Xi, on the other hand, had been visiting the Yang family and Pei You's friends with Pei Tong during this period, and she was tempted to start her own business without offending the Pei family. Unfortunately, she tactfully told her brother Gu Chang about this, and he scolded her and warned her, "Don't move during this period. I'm going to the Hanlin Academy soon, and the president of the Hanlin Academy is Pei Xuan's mentor. Now we can't leave the protection of the Pei family."

Gu Xi was very depressed and felt that Pei Tong had no ambition. Why did her brother seem to have become a different person after marrying her sister-in-law?

She didn't know that Gu Chang was rejected by many people because of Sun Gao's incident. If he wanted to redeem his reputation, he could only rely on the trick of time to reveal people's true colors. However, time to reveal people's true colors required someone to help him flatter and protect him. He and the Yin family were already natural allies. The Yin family would help him in establishing his reputation and morality, but the premise of helping him was that he could establish himself. His performance during his tenure in the Hanlin Academy was particularly important.

Why should he leave the Pei family's connections unused while he struggles silently over there?

Gu Chang had no choice but to remind Gu Xi repeatedly.

Gu Xi felt that he might not be able to help his brother in any way.

The last time Pei Xuan came back, he had dinner with Pei Yan's family and didn't invite them to come over.

But her brother had high hopes for the Pei family, so she couldn't pour cold water on him.

Gu Xi responded absentmindedly, but he never gave up the idea of ​​becoming independent.

This time, she attached great importance to the wedding banquet of the Jiang family. Jiang Hua was a senior official, and he had a powerful mentor like Zhang Ying. When he married, all the people he interacted with were officials of the fourth rank or above, and most of his female relatives were ladies with imperial decrees. This was the most high-level banquet she could attend, and she had to seize the opportunity to show her face in front of these ladies. But she knew the rules of the aristocratic families, and she sent people to find out what kind of clothes Yu Tang, the second wife, and the fifth lady were going to wear and what kind of jewelry they were going to wear when they went out.

Yu Tang followed Pei Yan's advice and chose the moon-white Shu embroidery jacket and a pearl headpiece. However, the pearl headpieces were as big as dove eggs and as small as lotus seeds. They were glittering and extremely graceful. Gu Xi couldn't help but say, "When Third Aunt wears this, she will outshine all the other girls."

What a mistress of the house needs is not glamour but stability.

Gu Xi's words cannot be thought about carefully.

Yu Tang looked at her with a smile.

Today she wore a goose yellow silk plain jacket and a lapis lazuli headpiece. Not only did she look simple and elegant, but it was also particularly suitable for the slightly warm weather in early summer in the capital, making her look very outstanding.

Gu Xi also knew that she was dressed very decently and could withstand criticism. Seeing Yu Tang looking at her with a smile, she smiled back at Yu Tang.

Yu Tang didn't care and urged Qing Yuan beside him: "Go and see why the second wife hasn't come yet?"

Qing Yuan went away in response, but before he walked out of the hall, he saw the Second Wife, who was wearing a royal blue silk jacket with a vase and eight treasures pattern and a gold and jade headdress, and the Fifth Miss, who was wearing a turquoise jacket with embroidered bees and butterflies dancing and a yellow quartz jewelry, appear in front of them one after the other.

"Oh my!" Miss Wu ran over when she saw Yu Tang, took her hand and looked at her jewelry, "These pearls are so big! So beautiful!"

The second wife was quite calm and walked over slowly, saying with a smile: "Your third aunt's pearls are Eastern pearls, which are larger than Southern pearls. I also have a pair. If you like them, I will ask the jewelry store to make you a matching piece of jewelry in a few days."

The butterfly-shaped necklace that Yu Tang wore today had a dove-egg-sized pearl in the middle. It was a new piece of jewelry that Pei Yan gave her not long ago.

After hearing what the second wife said, she didn't take it too seriously and said with a smile, "I still have two unused ones. If you like them, come back and get them from me."

Miss Wu looked at Yu Tang's hair ornaments, which were exactly five dove egg-sized pearls. She thought that since she was still young, three would be enough, so she said, "Aunt Three, just give me one, and I'll make three pearl ornaments like Aunt Three."

Yu Tang smiled and said, "I'll introduce you to the jewelry master as well."

The fifth lady said yes repeatedly.

Gu Xi bit her lip beside her.

She suddenly realized that she had done nothing wrong today, but she had dressed herself up like the Fifth Miss, an insignificant young lady in a prominent family, rather than a housewife who could be the head of the household.

Then, will you still leave a deep impression on others if you go to the Jiang family’s wedding banquet?

She should have worn the ruby ​​headpiece given to her by her sister-in-law Yin.

Gu Xi was hesitating whether she should change her clothes. A servant came in and asked them if they were ready. Pei Yan and the others were already getting ready to go out.

Yu Tang and the others agreed immediately. Gu Xi had no chance to regret and had to get on the sedan chair prepared for the female relatives with Yu Tang and the others. Then he went out and went to Jiang's house with Pei Yan and the others.

The Jiang family's wedding banquet was particularly lively, with more people coming than when they married the eldest daughter-in-law.

The Jiang family did this for a reason.

When marrying the eldest daughter-in-law, her family gave a huge dowry, among which it was specified that a part of it was to support the eldest son of the Jiang family to study. In other words, the eldest son of the Jiang family had the right to control it. This was equivalent to the Wu family giving part of the money to the Jiang family.

Some things are better known than spoken.

Jiang Hua kept a low profile when his eldest son got married.

The reason why he made such a fuss about his youngest son's wedding was not because he particularly liked him or was particularly satisfied with his son's marriage, but because he wanted to enter the cabinet and wanted to take this opportunity to make friends with some officials who were usually difficult to interact with.

Jiang family's eldest daughter-in-law, Wu, also knew about it, but she still felt a little unbalanced.

Isn't the youngest one's luck too good?

She held back her breath and helped her brother-in-law prepare for the wedding. It happened that at this time, her family brought her pretty sister over for the wedding banquet. She also said to her privately: "You should also watch over your sister. She If you can marry in the capital, you will also have a helper."

But if it was so easy to marry into a wealthy family, why would their family spend so much dowry?

This made her extremely curious about Pei Yan's wife.

It was a pity that given Pei Yan's status and position, his wife seemed to be quite introverted. The few times she went out to socialize were with the Li and Zhang family's old friends. She even specifically told her personal maid: "If the third wife of the Pei family comes over, remember to call me."

She really wanted to know what was so special about this Yu that she could defeat her sister and marry into the Pei family.

Miss Wu came here this time with the intention of finding a better in-law family. When she learned that people from the Pei family would also be coming, the first person she thought of was Gu Xi.

Gu Xi was a very pleasant person to speak to. Since she was in the capital, she might as well go visit Gu Xi.

This time, the person she wanted to focus on was Gu Xi.

So when the women of the Pei family arrived, they first attracted the eldest lady of the Jiang family, and then Miss Wu.

Yu Tang also paid close attention to the eldest lady of the Jiang family.

When the two met, Yu Tang felt that he saw Wei Zi and Yao Huang, while Mrs. Jiang felt that she saw a magnolia flower.

The Wei Zi and Yao Huang flowers are rich in beauty, while the magnolia flowers are crystal clear in beauty.

On the one hand, I thought, no wonder this Wu was able to marry into the Jiang family; on the other hand, no wonder this Yu was able to catch Pei Yan's eye.

For a moment, the two of them looked at each other, calmly and politely greeting each other. The eldest lady of the Jiang family personally led them to sit with the other mistresses of the house.

However, Miss Wu found an opportunity to bring a letter to Gu Xi, and the two met in the guest room where Miss Wu lived.

"How have you been lately?" Miss Wu pulled Gu Xi's hand, a little embarrassed but showing the intention to make friends, and said, "I think I will stay in the capital. What about you? Will you accompany your husband after the competition, or will you return to Lin'an with your family elders after a while?"

Gu Xi thought that Miss Wu's so-called "staying in the capital" should mean marrying in the capital, and with the Wu family's vision and ambition, they would definitely not marry her to an ordinary family, and they also wanted to make friends, so he smiled and said, "Then congratulations. As for whether I can stay in the capital, it's hard to say for the time being. It would be great if I could catch up with your wedding."

Miss Wu blushed and changed the subject to ask what happened after Gu Xi left the palace.

When a husband and wife are not harmonious, their neighbors will also bully them.

The same principle can also be applied to making friends.

Of course Gu Xi always said the best of everything.

Miss Wu gradually shifted her focus to Yu Tang: "I didn't expect her mother to be so low-key and give such a large dowry. It's the first in Lin'an City."

Gu Xi didn't want to talk about this, and said calmly: "She is an only child, she is different from us."

Miss Wu recalled something her family had said and said, "Do you know that their business is going to expand to the capital? They say that the Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce has guaranteed her brother from her mother's family, and that her family will be selected to customize the boxes for the Longevity Festival next year. This is quite a big deal."

"There is such a thing!" Gu Xi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Miss Wu said, "It is said that the Peng family and the Tao family did not say anything this time. You know, Fujian and Guangdong lacquerware are both very famous. In the past, the Peng family and the Tao family would recommend one or two families. But this time they did not say anything. It must be because of your Pei family's face. Their family is going to be prosperous!"

Her last words sounded a bit sour.

Gu Xi didn't say anything, but she felt as uncomfortable as if she had swallowed a fly. She endured it again and again and didn't say anything to slander Yu Tang. But when she and Miss Wu walked out of Miss Wu's residence arm in arm, they met Yin who was looking for her. She really couldn't help it. When Miss Wu was dragged away by her family to greet other people, she and Yin complained about Yu Tang.

Yin's expression changed slightly as she listened, but she did not comment.

Gu Xi was angry. He pushed his sister-in-law, who was a few years younger than him, and said, "You said, isn't she afraid that the people of the Pei family will look down on her?"