Mrs. Song's smile was a little more proud. She said, "Yes! The wedding date hasn't been set yet, but the Wu family sent me a letter, wanting me to come and help them. I thought I had never been to the capital in my life, so I came here shamelessly." After she finished speaking, she picked up a piece of melon from the plate at hand and forked it into her mouth, "This melon is really delicious. It's sweeter than the ones we have."
Yu Tang spoke a few perfunctorily to her and invited Mrs. Song to stay at home for dinner.
Mrs. Song Si agreed happily without hesitation.
Yu Tang had no choice but to ask someone to invite the second wife to accompany him.
As soon as the fourth wife Song saw the second wife, she happily pulled her hand and asked with concern: "I heard that the fifth lady is going to marry into the Qin family? How is it? Is the wedding dress ready? Has the wedding date been set? Is there anything I can do to help?" She sighed, "I really didn't expect it. When Mr. Qin was the governor of Zhejiang, I told the first wife privately that the eldest son Qin is first-class in both character and knowledge, and Mrs. Qin is also kind and gentle. I don't know which daughter has such a blessing to marry into the Qin family and become the eldest lady. I didn't expect that the fifth lady would marry into the Qin family. You really chose a good son-in-law!"
This is what the second wife likes to hear the most.
She immediately started talking to Mrs. Song Si about Pei Dan's marriage.
Miss Song Qi quietly walked to Yu Tang's side, smiled softly and said to her: "Third Madam, I haven't seen you since we parted at Zhaoming Temple. Are you okay?"
She looked shy, like a frightened little animal, and was very lovable.
I guess she knew very well the purpose of her coming to the capital. As for what kind of husband she could marry, it was not based on talent or ability but on whether he was beneficial to the Song family. She must be worried in her heart!
Yu Tang sighed in her heart, and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Miss Song Qi. She smiled softly and said, "It's been a long time since we last met! Miss Six is okay?"
Among the young ladies, Miss Wu's marriage was already arranged. No matter what, Mr. Peng Jiu's son was of the same age as Miss Wu. Gu Xi was already married, and Pei Tong was considered a rich son-in-law in many people's eyes. Now she had moved out to start her own family. If she managed her business well, she might have a good future.
Miss Song Qi looked a little sad, and said, "Sixth sister is also married. She married to a man far away in Shuzhong. That family is in the medicine business. Our family's medicine shop in Suzhou had some problems a few days ago, and Sixth sister-in-law's family helped a lot."
In other words, Miss Song Liu also married for the sake of family interests.
Yu Tang could only comfort her: "That's good too. After all, we've done business together before, so we know the basics."
Miss Song Qi smiled bitterly and whispered, "Because of the herbal medicine shop, our family and Sixth Sister-in-law's family actually had a very unpleasant quarrel. Sixth Sister married into their family to compensate that family - that family no longer does business in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, but instead does business with people in Jiangxi and Hunan."
Could it be that the Song family has done something wrong to other families?
Yu Tang did not ask too many questions for the moment, but Miss Song Qi seemed to have some feelings, as if she had finally had a chance to confide in the many things she had suppressed in her heart. She continued in a low voice with some indifference: "Sixth brother-in-law married a wife before and had three sons and a daughter. Sixth sister did not want to marry, but her family said that Sixth sister had a bad temper and that if she stayed, she would only become an enemy. It would be better for her to marry like this..."
When she said this, her eyes became moist and she looked straight at Yu Tang, as if this matter had something to do with Yu Tang.
Yu Tang was stunned and wanted to ask her what she meant, but suddenly the second wife took his arm and heard her smiling voice: "The main reason is that we are quite far from the Jiang family. The eldest son and his family just moved out, and there are still some things left in this yard that have not been cleaned up. If there is no division of the clan, we can just send someone to tell him. Now that the clan has been divided, we will tell them again. Those who know will think that we want to make room for you, and those who don't know will think that we are finding an excuse to make them move out quickly. It's really a dilemma!"
"It depends on what you said!" Mrs. Song said with a smile, with no grudges on her face. "We are guests of the Wu family. The Wu family is well-known for its generosity among the families in Jiangnan. We must take advantage of them!"
Yu Tang finally understood that Fourth Madam Song had tactfully told Second Madam that she wanted to live in Pei's house while she was in Beijing, but Second Madam had equally tactfully refused.
She felt that the second wife was absolutely right.
Judging from Pei Yan's tone, the Pei and Song families were bound to fall out sooner or later. If that's the case, there's no need to get too close. Otherwise, when the time comes, it would be neither right to help nor wrong to help.
The Second Wife didn't know about these things. She rejected the Fourth Wife Song simply because she thought that the Fourth Wife Song was eating from the bowl while looking at the pot.
After sending away Fourth Madam Song and Seventh Miss Song, she said to Yu Tang, "You are so excited when you talk about the Wu family, why don't you go find the Wu family? You are taking advantage of our family and not even saying a word of praise, what's wrong with you!"
Yu Tang gave her a thumbs up and said, "Second sister-in-law is really thoughtful. I didn't expect them to come up with this idea. However, if it were me, I wouldn't like them living in our house either."
The second wife nodded repeatedly.
After Yu Tang broke up with her at the fork in the road, he did not return to his own house, but went to Pei Yan's study.
He was discussing the matter of salt with Shu Qing.
The grain harvest in the farms in Jiangxi should be good this year. They plan to transport the grain to Jiubian together with the Yin family to exchange for salt permits.
Originally this plan was good, but unfortunately Pei Xuan became the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. No matter from which perspective, the Pei family should avoid the government office where Pei Xuan was an official. As a result, the Pei family's salt business became more difficult to operate.
Shu Qing suggested that they bring the grain directly back to Jiangsu and Zhejiang for sale.
In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, grain prices have always been relatively high.
But it certainly isn't as profitable as the salt-water business.
Pei Yan was hesitating when he saw Yu Tang. He changed the subject and decided to talk about this with Shu Qing tomorrow.
Shu Qing smiled, said hello to Yu Tang and left.
Yu Tang nodded to Shu Qing modestly at first, but as soon as Shu Qing left the study, she immediately ran to Pei Yan's side, grabbed Pei Yan's sleeve, and said anxiously: "Xia Guang, I want to tell you something. Miss Wu is going to marry into the Peng family. Both families have kept this a secret. If Fourth Madam Song hadn't come to visit us today, I wouldn't have known about it. Do you know about this?"
Pei Yan was obviously surprised as well, frowning and saying, "I know the Wu family is looking for in-laws, but I didn't expect the Peng family to agree. The fourth wife Song has already arrived in the capital, so this matter must have been planned for a long time."
Yu Tang's heart suddenly lifted up, and he asked, "Didn't you hear the rumors before?"
Pei Yan said: "I heard before that the Wu family is interested in marrying into the Li family, but the Li family does not have a child of the right age."
So I chose the Peng family.
Yu Tang hesitated and said, "That's not right! It should be the other family that chooses the Wu family instead of the Wu family choosing the other family, right?"
Why would the Peng family agree to marry the girl from the Wu family?
Yu Tang guessed: "Is it because the Wu family's dowry is generous?"
Pei Yan looked at her nervous expression and became playful. He couldn't help but scratch Yu Tang's nose and said, "It's not entirely about dowry. It's probably some kind of cooperation."
Yu Tang was worried and didn't care about making trouble with Pei Yan. He said anxiously, "The marriage between the two families must be for some kind of cooperation. I'm afraid it will have some impact on our family. Lord Jiang is not on good terms with you, and now the Wu family is marrying the Peng family."
She still remembered how they used "Songxi Diaoyintu" to intercept the Peng family's financial resources.
Pei Yan didn't take it seriously and smiled, "Isn't this better? As it is now, we have a rift with the Peng family, but we still have to pretend to be close. It's still very annoying."
That's true.
Yu Tang reminded Pei Yan: "Be careful! I always have a bad feeling."
"Don't worry!" Pei Yan hugged Yu Tang with a smile, "I have a family now, I dare not do anything rash. Otherwise, what will you do?"
Yu Tang's face was burning, but his heart was sweet. He felt that anything he said would ruin the atmosphere. He was also so excited that he didn't know where to put all his strength.
She hugged Pei Yan's waist vigorously...
Within two days, the news of the marriage between the Peng and Wu families spread throughout the capital.
When Yu Tang went to the Yin family to attend the 100-day banquet for Xu Xuan's eldest son, many people pulled her aside to ask, "Is it the girl from the Wu family who married into the Jiang family?"
"Yes!" Yu Tang replied with a smile.
Most of those who knew about it looked indifferent, and some even said contemptuously: "Marrying a daughter into a family like theirs is not easy at all."
It can be seen that the Wu family did not gain any good reputation from this.
Even Xu Xuan, who was forced by many aunts of the Yin family to rest at home, told Yu Tang about this privately: "I heard that Miss Wu's dowry this time is 100,000 taels of silver. Master Peng Jiu is a playboy and is often short of money. He is the only one who would agree to this marriage."
Isn’t it because the Peng family has Peng Yu, a rising star in the official career?
Xu Xuan sneered: "The Peng family probably prefers to marry Miss Sun rather than Miss Wu. It's too obvious and will easily lead to gossip."
Yu Tang didn't know what happened, so he couldn't comment on it. He changed the subject and talked about Mrs. Song Si: "Did you send her a message?"
Xu Xuan didn't remember, so she asked the maid in charge to come over and ask, then said to Yu Tang, "I wrote the invitations for you, Miss Zhang, and A Dan myself, so the others should ask." She was surprised, "Why are you asking this?"
Since the Song family intends to marry Miss Song Qi to a family that can help the Song family, they will definitely find a way to get in on such an occasion.
Yu Tang was just asking casually.
She felt that as a woman in the inner court, she had failed in her duty by not finding out about the marriage between the Wu and Peng families.
She also began to pay more attention to the Song family's movements.
"I just didn't see her. Ask her." Yu Tang was embarrassed to tell Xu Xuan about his dereliction of duty, so he responded to her vaguely.
Fortunately, Xu Xuan didn't ask any more questions.
After a while, the housekeeper came over and said anxiously, "We didn't send them invitations because the eldest lady didn't specifically tell us to." She then defended herself, "Although the Song family is a Jiangnan family, the highest rank is only the fourth rank. The Song family's house in the capital has also been sold. The fourth wife of the Song family is now living in the Wu family, so we didn't send them invitations."
The implication is that the Song family is not qualified to attend their eldest master's hundred-day banquet.