The second wife was tidying up the east side of the house where she lived these days. When she saw Yu Tang coming, she hurriedly pulled her to see: "What do you think of the tidying up? Do you want to add anything else?"

After discussion, the brothers Pei Xuan and Pei Yan decided to have Pei Laoan live here after he came to Beijing.

The walls were repainted, the flowers and trees in the yard were re-pruned, and some yellow pear furniture and rosewood and wenge screens were added. All that was left was to hang up tents and lay out cushions before people moved in.

Yu Tang smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, second sister-in-law. I see that the furnishings here are similar to where my mother-in-law lives in her hometown. I'm sure my mother-in-law will be satisfied."

The second wife was relieved and said with a smile, "I was just worried that she wouldn't be able to get used to living here. The climate in the north is very different from that in the south."

Indeed, it was already winter when Lao An arrived in Beijing.

"Then order more charcoal this year." Yu Tang helped to give advice.

The two chatted for a while before Yu Tang mentioned his purpose.

The second wife was naturally happy to hear this. She smiled and said, "I was afraid that the second master's official career in the capital would block the careers of other brothers. Now a cousin has come to the capital to serve as an official. It's great that we can take care of each other." Then she asked if the accommodation had been arranged and whether she wanted help to rent a house. "After all, we have come from a long way, so some things are not convenient."

Yu Tang smiled and said, "Xia Guang said that the housekeeper there will arrive a few days in advance, and Mr. Shu has been arranged to help with the reception. I guess we don't need to worry about these things."

The second wife's expression changed slightly when she heard this, and she asked, "Are you going to Tongzhou to pick someone up when the time comes?"

Yu Tang asked, "What do you want?"

"No, no." The second wife smiled, "I just thought that the weather is nice and clear, and we have almost finished all the things we need to do at home. If you go to Tongzhou, I will go with you and stay in your new house for a few days to get some fresh air."

Yu Tang laughed loudly and said, "There are too many people giving gifts, and Second Uncle doesn't allow you to accept them. You are afraid of offending people, so why don't you just hide away?"

As the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, Pei Xuan was in charge of the review of the salt and lead. Although Pei Yan had long stated that official business would not be discussed at home, the Pei family had been in the south of the Yangtze River for hundreds of years and had too many old friends. Recently, the number of guests who came to visit the Pei family was almost breaking down the threshold.

The second wife smiled awkwardly.

Yu Tang also became interested and said, "How about I discuss with Xia Guang and we go to Tongzhou a few days in advance?"

The second wife smiled and said, "I will take Ah Dan and Ah Hong with me when the time comes."

Yu Tang agreed readily and sent a manager to Tongzhou in advance to arrange relevant matters.

Mrs. Song brought Mrs. Wu to visit Yu Tang.

When Yu Tang received the visiting card, he couldn't believe it and asked the servant who came to report it: "Did you hear clearly that the fourth wife of the Song family is here to visit me?"

During this period, most people came to visit the second wife.

The servant hurriedly said respectfully, "I have asked clearly, and they said that I am here to deliver the invitation to you and the Second Madam."

Yu Tang suddenly realized.

During this period of time, I was so busy with trivial matters at home that I forgot about Miss Wu's marriage.

She invited Mrs. Song to come in.

Miss Wu is not the daughter of the eldest son, but the one who came to the capital to handle her departure from the royal family was the Wu family's matriarch, Mrs. Wu, who was also the mother of the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family.

Mrs. Wu was also an extremely beautiful woman, as she was able to give birth to a beauty like the eldest lady of the Jiang family. Mrs. Song introduced Mrs. Wu to Yu Tang.

Mrs. Wu kept praising Yu Tang for her beauty and did not neglect Yu Tang just because she was about the same age as Yu Tang's mother. This shows that she is a very good woman.

The two of them greeted each other politely, and after the guests sat down, Mrs. Wu personally handed the wedding invitation to Yu Tang.

Mrs. Song said flatteringly, "I said I would come to deliver the wedding invitation and visit your home. But Mrs. Wu thought it was disrespectful and insisted on coming in person. I thought that since we will see each other every day in the future, it would be good to come and recognize each other. So I came with her."

Seeing that Miss Wu's wedding date was set for September 22, Yu Tang first said "Congratulations" to Mrs. Wu, and then took over Mrs. Song's words: "Thank you very much. I came to Beijing a few months earlier. Although I am not very familiar with the capital, the housekeepers in the family should be familiar with it. If you need any help, just send someone to tell me and I will ask the housekeepers to go over and help."

It was impossible to ask her to help.

Mrs. Wu didn't know if she had heard what she hadn't said yet. She smiled and expressed her gratitude, and asked Pei Tong: "I heard that they moved out. We are unfamiliar with the place, and we don't know where they moved to. I was afraid that I couldn't find the place, so I had to send the steward to deliver the wedding invitations."

How is it possible that I don’t know where I moved to?

Mrs. Wu said this to ask Yu Tang in a tactful way whether Pei Tong and the Pei family would still be one family in the future. If they were one family, then the Wu family would only need to send one wedding invitation to the Pei family. If they were two families, they would send another wedding invitation to Pei Tong. However, after Pei Tong left the Pei family, they would become an ordinary scholar family, so Mrs. Wu would not be able to send them wedding invitations in person.

Yu Tang thought about what Pei You had done and Pei Yan's intention of letting Pei Tong split the clan. She took this opportunity to explain things to those who were talking about their family behind their backs.

"They moved to the old address." Yu Tang smiled, "I haven't seen them for a while, I wonder if they have any other plans. If your housekeeper is not available, I will let my housekeeper take over your housekeeper's job."

Before she finished speaking, the expressions of Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Song changed subtly. Mrs. Wu forced a smile and said, "That's what they do. Why should we trouble your housekeeper to run errands for them? Since we know where they moved to, I'll let the housekeeper run a trip."

Yu Tang nodded with a smile, chatted with the two of them for a long time, and finally invited them to have lunch.

The two of them didn't know whether they were really busy or just pretending to be busy. They used the excuse that they had to send wedding invitations to families like Zhang and Li, politely declined the lunch invitation, and agreed to visit Yu Tang next time when they were free.

Yu Tang didn't force them and personally saw them off.

But on the way, everyone met the second wife who came to look for Yu Tang.

Mrs. Song was overjoyed and introduced Mrs. Wu to Mrs. Second.

During this period, the Second Wife seemed to see everyone who came to ask her for business, so she couldn't help but be a little alert. She said a few words to Mrs. Wu, and knowing that she was there to deliver the wedding invitation, she promised that she would go with Yu Tang when the time came, and then accompanied Yu Tang to see the two of them out the door.

Yu Tang couldn't help but laugh when he saw the Second Wife looking as if she was facing a powerful enemy.

The second wife complained to her: "You don't know how cunning those people are when sending gifts - I received a box of mooncakes yesterday, and they said they were brought from Guangdong. I didn't think much about it and thought about giving you a few to try. Who knew that when I opened it, I saw a box of banknotes. I was scared to death and quickly handed it to your second uncle to deal with. Alas, I don't know when this life will end!"

Yu Tang teased her, "Others can't even think of it, but you're still worried. This is really easy to talk without any pain in your waist."

The second wife smiled and pinched Yu Tang's face.

The two of them went to the inner house laughing.

Mrs. Song, who had already boarded the carriage, asked Mrs. Wu in confusion, "Why did you stop me from telling Mrs. Pei? We will start sending grain to the nine border areas after the autumn harvest. Neither of our families is in this business, but the Peng family bought several farms in Jiangxi with the Pei family, and today is a bumper year."

When grain was delivered to the Nine Borders, it had to be exchanged for salt permits. If one wanted to obtain salt with the salt permits, they had to be registered with the Ministry of Households.

Mrs. Song couldn't help but complain: "I don't know who came up with this idea. Isn't the Salt Transport Bureau just a decoration?"

Mrs. Wu Da smiled and said, "That's because something went wrong with the Lianghuai Salt Transport. Going to the Ministry of Revenue to check is just a temporary measure. I don't think Mrs. Pei likes to stir up trouble. She might get upset if she does. Why bother? The Peng family is not what we imagined. They must have a way to solve this matter. Let's not make things worse."

She said this, but she was a little annoyed by the ugly way Mrs. Song ate.

However, if it were someone else, they would probably eat even uglier than her.

Jiang Chao has emerged in Suzhou these days and has taken away a lot of business from the Song family. But no one knows who is behind Jiang Chao, and the government has turned a blind eye. The two brothers of the Pei family are in the capital, so the Song family went to the Pei family, but there was no one in charge. So the Song family had no choice but to follow the path of the Peng family.

The Pei family should know it by now.

I wonder what the Pei family will do?

The Wu family never puts all their eggs in one basket and intends to follow the Pei family's path.

Her visit to the Pei family to deliver wedding invitations was a small matter, her meeting with the third wife of Pei was a big matter, and meeting the second wife of Pei was an even greater unexpected gain.

I just don't know whether the person sent to contact the Pei family has been able to do so.

Mrs. Wu was thinking about something, and she was a little absent-minded when talking to Mrs. Song. "When the Peng family gets married, I also want to invite the two Mrs. Pei to come and show their support. It won't be too late to visit them then."

Mrs. Song was more concerned about the marriage that the Wu family had previously introduced to Miss Song.

It is definitely not as good as the Peng family, but the eldest uncle of that family is an official in Jiangsu, and the current official is not as good as the current manager. But whether it will work or not, she still has to go back and discuss it with the fourth master.

The two of them returned to the new house that the Wu family had bought in the capital, each with their own thoughts.

The couple, Manager Gao, who were sent by the Peng family to assist the Wu family, were already waiting at the second gate.

Shopkeeper Gao was standing a little far away, while Madam Gao came over to help the maid accompanying the carriage to lift the curtain and helped Madam Wu get off the carriage.

Mrs. Wu has been flattered by this Madam Gao these past two days, and since she was sent by the Peng family, she was given a lot of face. She smiled and asked Madam Gao, "What's the matter?"

Madam Gao said hurriedly, "Nothing, I just came to see if there's anything we can do here."

Mrs. Wu recalled that she had vaguely heard that after Manager Gao came to the capital, he helped the Peng family get a batch of salt guides.

The Wu family started out by making money from ships. If they could get salt permits, they would make more money than other families.

She paused for a moment and said to Madam Gao with a smile, "You helping us every day won't interfere with your work, right?"

Madam Gao was very good at speaking. She smiled and said, "This is our main business!"

Mrs. Wu laughed and said, "You don't have to say nice things in front of me. I heard that the Peng family was able to get the salt guide smoothly before, all thanks to your family. Don't fool around in front of me!"