The next morning Xu Xuan came running over early.

Yu Tang was helping Pei Yan get dressed as he was about to go out. Hearing this, he was startled and asked the maid who came to report, "Did Madam Yin say anything important?"

The little maid shook her head and said, "Mrs. Yin didn't say anything."

Yu Tang asked the maid to take Xu Xuan to the flower hall to sit first, and continued to help Pei Yan tidy up his clothes.

Pei Yan snorted unabashedly and said, "I'll be back early this afternoon and I'll go to the street with you."

There will be a dragon boat race in the capital during the Dragon Boat Festival. He plans to accompany Yu Tang to watch the race. He will go to Zhang's house in advance today to say hello. He will not go to greet Mr. Zhang on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Yu Tang wanted to laugh when she thought of Pei Yan's complaints last night about how she had learned bad things from Xu Xuan, but considering Pei Yan's bottom line, she had to hold back her laughter and said with a smile, "I know! I'll prepare in advance."

Pei Yan nodded with satisfaction, but when he met Xu Xuan on his way out, he still passed by her with a cold face.

Xu Xuan scratched her head and looked at Pei Yan's back in confusion, then looked at Yu Tang and said, "What's wrong with him? Did you have a fight?" Before she finished speaking, she denied it again, "No, you didn't have a fight. Pei Xiaguang, if he had a fight with you, would definitely be furious. He doesn't look angry now, but like he doesn't like me. How did I offend him?" Then, she began to complain about Pei Yan to Yu Tang, "I'm not saying anything bad about your Pei Xiaguang, he has a really bad temper. It's only because you have a good temper that you can live with him. In my opinion, if he continues to be like this, you might as well leave him alone in the capital..."

Yu Tang laughed, took the loquats washed by the maid and handed them to her, saying, "Try it. They were just sent from Fujian a few days ago."

Jin Cancan's loquats whetted Xu Xuan's appetite, and she didn't care about Pei Yan's cold face anymore.

Yu Tang asked her, "You came here so early, is there something going on?"

Xu Xuan quickly swallowed the loquat in her mouth and said, "There really is something going on."

Yu Tang listened attentively.

Xu Xuan said, "I asked Yin Mingyuan for you last night. It is said that the eldest son of the Qin family is good-looking, has good character, and is talented. If it is a marriage, he is a good candidate. But I am afraid of mistakes, so I asked Yin Mingyuan to find out more carefully. I also asked my fourth sister-in-law from my mother's family. She likes to visit relatives and friends, so she will definitely be able to find out about the Qin family."

This will be a great help to the Pei family.

Yu Tang was very grateful and decided to wait until he was more certain about the news from Xu Xuan before asking the second wife to come over and have a good talk with Xu Xuan.

The topic of their conversation unknowingly shifted to Fei Zhiwen.

Xu Xuan told Yu Tang: "Old Madam Fei will arrive in the capital in the next two days. It is probably related to Fei Zhiwen's marriage. You should also make a decision whether your family wants to marry into the Qin family."

For families like theirs, sometimes it is not enough to arrange a marriage just because the children are good; it mainly depends on the political stance of the parents.

Yu Tang smiled and said, "Then let's wait until the Fei and Qin families' marriage is finalized."

Xu Xuan was in high spirits and told Yu Tang many anecdotes about Beijing. She also made an appointment with the two families to go watch the dragon boat race together.

Yu Tang looked at her big belly and said hesitantly, "Is this okay for you?"

"Oh, let's talk about it later." Xu Xuan waved her hand nonchalantly, "I'll leave this matter to Yin Mingyuan."

Speaking of which, Yin Mingyuan's temperament is indeed very gentle.

In the afternoon, Pei Yan came back early as expected. Xu Xuan understood what he meant and got up early to go home.

Yu Tang felt a little sorry for Xu Xuan, so he asked someone to bring a large basket of cherries for Xu Xuan to take home.

Xu Xuan refused and said, "I can't eat them even if I take them back. If you really want to help me, let me store these cherries with you, and you can ask the maid to wash a plate every time I come."

Seeing how sincere she was, Yu Tang had no choice but to agree.

Pei Yan said sneerily, "Don't we still have Yin Mingyuan? If he can't even help you eat a few cherries, what kind of good husband is he?" Then he ordered the servant, "Help Mrs. Yin move the cherries to the car!" He added, "Don't worry, when you come to our house, you can eat as many cherries as you want. I guarantee you won't be able to stop eating them."

This is what was said.

Xu Xuan was immediately unhappy and said, "Are you saying that our Mingyuan is not as capable as you? You are just relying on our Atang's good temper."

Pei Yan's eyes were icy cold.

Xu Xuan raised her head and sneered, saying: "I don't want to embarrass Atang."

The implication is that you dare to be so willful because you don't take Yu Tang seriously.

Pei Yan was so angry that his face turned blue.

Xu Xuan quietly squeezed Yu Tang's hand, apologized in a low voice, and said: "I really can't stand seeing him like this, so I have no choice but to ask you to come forward to coax him." Then she ran away.

Yu Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and comforted Pei Yan: "She has good intentions, just treat her as a child."

Pei Yan asked, "If she were a child, would she be able to talk about this and that in front of you every day?"

Yu Tang smiled and said, "Don't they say it takes two hands to tango? I also like to hear her say that!"

Pei Yan was furious.

Yu Tang had no choice but to continue coaxing him: "Didn't you say you would go out with me? If we keep talking like this at home, I'm afraid we'll have to close the shop."

The shops in the capital closed earlier than those in Lin'an. Usually they closed one after another in the evening, but most of the shops in Lin'an were open until dusk.

Yu Tang talked about this with Pei Yan in the carriage.

Pei Yan said: "It's because of the climate. It's cold in the north, especially at night. Everyone goes back to the house. Who would go out for a walk?"

His temper comes and goes quickly.

The two chatted and laughed. In addition to getting to know the century-old shop, they also bought a lot of food and small ornaments that had nothing to do with the Dragon Boat Festival.

Qing Yuan smiled as she helped Yu Tang pack up her things, and Gu Xi came over.

Yu Tang was a little surprised.

Although she lived in Pei's house, Yu Tang didn't like to have contact with her, so he exempted her from visiting him morning and evening, and the two of them didn't see each other very often.

Yu Tang invited Gu Xi in.

Gu Xi's eyes wandered over the cluttered small objects on the table, then he smiled and sat on the armchair next to him, and explained the purpose of his visit: "...My aunt asked me to ask you if there is anything you don't eat, so that she can tell the kitchen to pay attention to it."

Is this to make Yu Tang the host and the guest?

Yu Tang thought that the head of the Yang family invited the second wife.

Yu Tang simply told Gu Xi his decision: "Something happened here temporarily, I'm afraid I can't go to the Yang family as a guest. Since you are here, why don't you help me bring a letter to the Yang family."

She said, and smiled apologetically.

In fact, I was thinking, since you like to look for trouble, then just give you something to do.

Gu Xi was very surprised. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Is it because Madam Fei is coming to the capital?"

Yu Tang couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

I didn't expect Gu Xi to be so well-informed.

Gu Xi saw it clearly, but he thought Yu Tang's raised eyebrows were a sign of surprise. He simply stopped trying to hide his pride and pretended to be indifferent: "I heard it from the third young lady of the Li family. She is about the same age as me, and her ancestral home is Tonglu. She is from the same hometown as our second young lady's in-laws."

The second daughter of the Pei family married into Tonglu.

Just like in his previous life, Gu Xi likes to make friends with the mistresses of these wealthy and powerful families.

She even said in a self-righteous manner: "Are you preparing to visit the Fei family? Is Second Aunt going? Should I also prepare?"

"We haven't received the invitation from the Fei family yet." Yu Tang said, "We didn't decline the invitation from the Yang family because we wanted to go to the Fei family. We had something else to do."

Is there anything more important than the old lady of the Fei family coming to the capital during this period?

The so-called not getting the invitation just means that you haven't considered whether to take her there or not, right?

Thinking about it this way, her distancing herself from Yu Tang has both advantages and disadvantages.

But is it possible to let her curry favor with Yu Tang?

Gu Xi felt that he had seen through this matter, and responded with a smile, and said with a smile that made Yu Tang embarrassed: "If the Yang family insists, what should I say? I can't say that our family will go to greet Madam Fei when the time comes, okay?"

Yu Tang felt that Gu Xi had made the same mistake as in her previous life and was forcing her to embarrass herself.

She immediately felt dissatisfied, thinking that in her past life, she had difficulty refutation because of her status as a widow and sister-in-law. But now I am your aunt, what do you have to say?

"Then it's up to you to decide." Yu Tang smiled calmly, "If you think this excuse is appropriate, then use it!"

When the time comes, who will be embarrassed, me, the mistress of the house, or you, the niece-in-law who represents the Pei family?

Gu Xi reacted immediately.

If she said that, people would not say that the Pei family was snobbish, but would only say that she was incapable of doing things and could not even speak.

Gu Xi was a little depressed, but when she looked up, she saw Yu Tang smiling at her.

Did she do that on purpose?

Gu Xi's first thought was to stand up and scold Yu Tang, but the words rolled over her tongue and she swallowed them back.

After all, Yu Tang is her elder. Even if she wins, others will blame her. And when Yu Tang embarrasses her, they will think she is disrespectful.

This is her natural disadvantage in her relationship with Yu Tang, a gap that she cannot get rid of.

Gu Xi cursed in her heart. But when she met the people from the Yang family, she had to swallow her anger and make excuses for Yu Tang's decision, filling in the gaps: "It's not that I don't want to visit the Yang family, it's really that something suddenly delayed me and I can't come."

Pei Tong's grandmother, Madam Yang, was so angry that veins on her forehead jumped. She sneered and questioned Gu Xi: "You are Atong's daughter-in-law. Tell me the truth. Is she really in trouble or is she teasing our Yang family?"

The two ladies of the Pei family were invited to be guests, especially since Pei Xuan is now the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue and is in charge of the seal for salt permits. There is no telling how many people would like to establish a relationship with him. Naturally, the Yang family would not miss such an opportunity. In addition to their own relatives, they also invited some mistresses from officials' families who were on good terms with the family. If Yu Tang said she would not come, then she would not come. It would be fine to deal with the prepared banquet, but what about those mistresses in charge?

Isn't this just trampling on the Yang family's reputation?

This Yu family is going too far!

Old Madam Yang slammed her hand on the tea table and shot a glare at Gu Xi: "You kid, why are you interfering in this adult matter? You are so ignorant!"