Pei Yan and his wife Yu Tang had a lot of fun and laughter over this private money. Pei Yan thought that they would have to spend a night in Tongzhou, so it would be good to take Yu Tang with him. He could also go for a walk around the area with Yu Tang before coming back. He simply discussed with Yu Tang and decided to stay in Tongzhou for a few more days.

It’s good to be able to go out and play.

Yu Tang happily agreed.

The two of them immediately made it seem like they were going on a picnic, and on the day of departure they even asked the kitchen to prepare a number of snacks for them to take along on the journey.

Yu Yuan also had some chrysanthemum cakes, but he commented, "The rice cakes in our hometown are still better." Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of Xiang Shi: "I'm not at home, she's pregnant, and has to take care of the child. I don't know how she is doing now?" He also thanked Yu Tang, "She always liked the hair ornaments you made. She must be very happy to see the box of hair ornaments."

Yu Tang pursed his lips and smiled.

When she had nothing to do, she made hair flowers and gave them to a few of her close friends.

In addition to Xiang Shi, she also brought some food and toys for Ma Xiuniang and the children.

Gu Xi took advantage of Yu Tang's absence and moved all the things to the old house that Pei You had previously bought.

Gu Chang came to take a look as usual and asked Pei Tong: "Have you booked a time for the greenhouse?"

He went to Pei's house that day, but did not wait for Pei Tong.

Master Yang went directly to the old house, and Pei Tong invited Master Yang to have a meal outside. When he came back, it was almost curfew. Gu Chang couldn't wait any longer and left first.

The two have not spoken yet.

Seeing Gu Chang asking, Pei Tong hurriedly said: "I am just about to discuss with you to set a good date." As he spoke, he took out the date that he had previously requested from the White Horse Temple and gave it to Gu Chang to choose.

Gu Chang said nothing, "It's easy for me to talk to you. I will come even if I have to take a leave. Go ask your second uncle first, so as not to conflict with his affairs."

Let those who speculate that Pei Tong be kicked out of the Pei family see that Pei Xuan is still on Pei Tong's side and will still help Pei Tong if something happens.

After hearing what he said, Pei Tong decided to go to Pei Mansion later.

Gu Chang asked him, "Why did Mr. Yang come to see you that day? What did he talk to you about?"

Pei Tong did not hide it from him and said, "Ask me if the money from Pei's house has been received. Then tell me some trivial matters at home."

He did not tell Gu Chang what it was specifically.

In fact, the reason why Mr. Yang came to see him that day was mainly to talk about the letter that Pei You left with him.

According to Master Yang, since the Pei family didn't mention it, there was no need for them to rush to curry favor with the Pei family. They could just wait until the Pei family came to talk about it.

Pei Tong could vaguely understand what his uncle meant.

In the final analysis, he just doesn't want to return it to the Pei family and wants to use it as a handle.

He was a little unhappy at the time and reminded Mr. Yang: "If someone else takes it or sees it, it will be troublesome."

Mr. Yang never mentioned the matter of safekeeping, but only told him not to worry, that such a thing would never happen.

Pei Tong knew that this letter might not be returned.

Later, Master Yang discussed with him that he wanted to wait until his mother came to the capital before warming the house, and he also said something like "good food is never too late": "This is the only way to make the family reunited and complete."

If it were in the past, even if he thought too much, he would find a way to suppress it himself, but now, when he heard what Master Yang said, he could only guess whether he had some plans for their family again.

Maybe this is why he no longer trusts his outside family, so he becomes cautious about whatever they do?

So he was not going to listen to Master Yang this time.

He decided to invite relatives and friends to warm up the house after everything was in order, which was also a tactful way to tell those who knew about their separation that he would set up his own family from now on and support the family. Otherwise, when his mother came, she would insist on sitting at the main table, and others would still treat him as a child who had to rely on his mother. If there was anything, he would go to discuss with his mother first, and his mother would go to ask his uncles for their opinions first, and then treat him like a puppet.

A single tree cannot make a forest.

Then he would have to ask other people for help.

For example, his uncle Gu Chang.

He thought it was better than asking the Yang family for help.

However, his father's letter was of great importance, and he had not yet decided whether to tell Gu Chang, so he concealed part of the conversation with Master Yang. Gu Xi would not tell Gu Chang about Pei You, so Gu Chang felt that his sister and brother-in-law were hiding something from him, and he was very unhappy. He stayed at Pei Tong's house for dinner, but still could not get Pei Tong to say anything, which shows that Pei Tong is still closer to the people of the Yang family.

Although Gu Chang didn't walk away in anger, his expression was very unhappy.

Pei Tong could vaguely sense that after pondering for a long time alone in the study, she still couldn't come up with a decision. Thinking that there were still a lot of things to do at home, it was not necessary to tell Gu Chang about this matter now, so she kept putting it off until the day of the greenhouse.

The Yang family must be unhappy.

Mrs. Pei has not come to the capital yet.

But Pei Tong's invitations had already been sent out, so they couldn't not come.

Mrs. Yang Da gave a set of yellow pear wood furniture to Pei Tong and his wife, while Mrs. Yang Er and Mrs. Yang San were listless. One of them gave a set of tea sets and the other gave a set of bowls and plates.

Old Madam Yang was unhappy. Before she even went home, she sat in the pavilion in the back garden of Pei Tong's house and began to criticize the eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Yang: "Even if her career was not going well for a while, she didn't fall to this level. They are ignorant, and you are not ignorant either? Look at the second wife of the Pei family, she gave two paintings and calligraphy from the previous dynasty, and the third wife gave antiques. If you let the people of the Yin family and the Gu family know about this, how will they look at us?"

Mrs. Yang felt very aggrieved and whispered, "When I discussed it with them before, they didn't say that."

Madam Yang felt so embarrassed that she refused to give in, saying, "What do they say? What do you do? Besides, we are counting on the Pei family to help us get the second and third sons back quickly. Aren't you slapping the Pei family in the face by doing this? How can we say anything?"

When Master Yang Er and Master Yang San got into trouble, they lost a lot of money. At that time, they only thought about saving people and didn't share the profit with you. Now that the matter has been settled, the second and third families are penniless, and the old lady and the old man don't support them. They can't let her take out her own dowry to support the second and third rooms, right?

Mrs. Yang lowered her head and said nothing.

Pei Yan and Yu Tang spent two days in Tongzhou, and bought a small house with three entrances by the water. Yu Tang liked to decorate the house, and took Qing Yuan to tidy it up for several days. She was still thinking that she didn't know whether they would be in the capital next year, and she wanted to plant a few pomegranate trees in the house. Who should she ask? Or if there was an old nanny or old steward of the Pei family who wanted to be raised, they could be placed in the house and help look after the house. When they come to the capital in the future, they don't have to stay in the inn in Tongzhou. Her eldest cousin Yu Yuan will come to the capital often in the future, and the warehouses from the canal are all in Tongzhou. Her house can also help to store goods. She didn't pay attention to what the Yang family sent when Pei Tong was warming up the house.

The second wife was thinking about preparing dowry for Pei Dan all day long. At the end of summer, the eldest son Qin returned to his hometown to take part in the imperial examination at the order of his father. The second wife was also thinking about making some clothes for their aunt, buying some good pens and finding some good inkstones, so she had no time to care about Pei Tong.

The two sisters-in-law each had their own things to do, and Fourth Mrs. Song suddenly came to the capital.

Yu Tang and Qing Yuan were in the courtyard where Pei Tong used to live. They were talking to the maids around them about what flowers to plant to replace the peonies that had been dug up. When they heard the maid on duty come to report, they pointed at themselves in astonishment and said, "Fourth Madam Song wants to see me?"

"That's not the case." The old woman also came from Lin'an. She smiled and said, "The head wife of the Song family came to visit our family. You must have gone to meet her. I came directly to report to you."

Yu Tang couldn't help feeling embarrassed after hearing this.

She has been busy enjoying herself during this period and has not fulfilled her responsibilities as a clan wife.

She hurriedly washed and dressed again and went to the flower hall.

Mrs. Song Si did not come alone, she also brought Miss Song Qi with her.

The two families exchanged greetings and sat down as host and guest. When the maid brought tea and snacks, the maid beside Mrs. Song handed over the gift list.

"The journey is too long, and some things are hard to bring," Mrs. Song said politely. "Since you have been living in the capital for a while, I brought some local specialties to satisfy your hunger."

Qing Yuan, who was standing behind Yu Tang, took the gift list. Yu Tang also smiled and greeted her: "Thank you very much. Everything in the capital is good, but the food is a little unfamiliar. Now that you are here, we are also lucky enough to enjoy it."

Fourth Madam Song chatted with Yu Tang with a smile, and Yu Tang then realized that Fourth Madam Song was there to attend Miss Wu's wedding.

Yu Tang couldn't help feeling a little strange.

She, a Jiangnan person living in the capital, didn't know about Miss Wu's marriage. Mrs. Song, who was far away in Jiangsu, not only knew about it, but also came here to attend Miss Wu's wedding... She couldn't help but ask who Miss Wu married into.

Mrs. Song laughed and said, "What do you usually do? You don't even know about this? Miss Wu married into the Peng family and became the second daughter-in-law of Master Peng Jiu."

The Peng family?

Yu Tang thought that Peng Yu and Mr. Peng Jiu were brothers, and Miss Sun also married into the Peng family.

There is also Jiang Hua’s eldest daughter-in-law, the eldest daughter of the Wu family.

In this way, the Jiang family and the Peng family are also in-laws.

Yu Tang felt very nervous.

"I'm a slouch, so I really didn't pay attention to these things." Yu Tang talked to Mrs. Song absentmindedly, "Is the Wu family going to marry a girl in the capital? Did you come all the way here just to marry the Wu family's daughter?"

"Not entirely." Mrs. Song smiled, glanced at Miss Song Qi, and said, "Look, the girls in the family are all grown up. We always stay in Suzhou, always going back and forth to those families to propose marriage. It's time to go out and see the world."

In other words, the Wu family showed the Song family another possibility. The Song family was ready to follow the Wu family's example and use the marriage of their children to gain benefits for their own family.

Yu Tang didn't want to say much about this matter. At this moment, she just wanted to see Pei Yan as soon as possible and tell him about it.

She pretended not to understand and said perfunctorily, "We should go out for a walk. Although the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is the best in the world, the capital also has its advantages." She added, "The news that the Wu family is going to marry the Peng family has not been spread yet, right? We haven't received the invitation yet. I wonder when the two families have set the wedding date?"