"It's saved, it's saved!" Yu Wen smiled and touched his daughter's head, teasing, "To reward you for your generosity, this fifty-liang piece of silver will be given to you as your personal money. Go and buy whatever you want!"
Previously, in order to prepare for Yu Yuan's engagement, Chen gave some of the cloth and other items she had saved up to Wang as Yu Yuan's betrothal gift.
This is truly a windfall!
Yu Tang smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into crescents. She quickly put the silver ingot in her arms and went to Chen's place with Yu Wen.
Yu Wen and Yu Tang had deliberately concealed some things from Chen. Chen naturally didn't know that the silver was obtained by Yu's father and daughter from the Lu family. She thought that Yu Wen had done a good deed and received a thank-you gift from the Lu family. She was naturally overjoyed to see the silver, but after knowing that Yu Wen gave Yu Tang fifty taels of silver, she couldn't help but blame her husband: "She is so young, what does she need? Are we still holding her captive? How could you give her so much silver in one go?"
Yu Wen has always been generous, and at this moment he did not regard Yu Tang as a little girl who was raised in seclusion and did not know the world. Hearing this, he hurriedly said, "She is not young anymore. She has money in her hands and is not worried. You don't have to worry about it."
Seeing Yu Tang guarding the fifty taels of silver tightly, Chen thought that she couldn't get it back even if she tried, so she simply closed her eyes and pretended that she didn't see anything. She didn't mention the silver anymore and told Yu Tang about Ma Xiuniang: "She just presided over the sacrifice ceremony of her husband's family. From what Madam Ma said, her husband's family was very satisfied with her. She also wanted to take this opportunity to establish her authority and wanted to invite you to her home. When you go, remember to dress up and don't embarrass Xiuniang."
Yu Tang agreed and prepared to visit Ma Xiu's parents' home.
However, another major event occurred in Lin'an City.
The Li family's main branch wants to split up with Li Duan's branch!
The Li clan also wanted to invite Pei Yan to act as a middleman to preside over the division of the clan together with Governor Tang.
Everyone's jaw dropped when they heard the news.
The division of the sect has not happened in Lin'an City for many years.
In Yu Wen's words: "It happened once to your great-grandfather when I was a kid."
Chen asked hurriedly: "What impact will that have?"
Yu Wen thought for a moment and said, "It's nothing actually. It's just that the two families don't worship together. But what I can't understand is the Li family's main branch. Li Duan's branch is thriving, so why are they willing to split up with Li Duan's branch?"
Yu Tang was concerned about something else. She asked, "Dad, has Master Pei agreed to be the middleman for the Li family?"
Yu Wen didn't know either, and thought: "I think they will agree! The Li family is a well-known family in Lin'an City."
Yu Tang listened and took a sip of tea.
In his previous life, Pei Yan was much more mysterious than he is now, and he would not show up to do anything easily. Now, he has just taken over as the head of the Pei family for less than a year, and he has already presided over two disputes. I wonder if it is because he has indeed been more involved in the world in this life? Or is it because she has more contact with Pei Yan in this life and knows more about him?
When Master Wu came to gossip about this with Yu Wen, Yu Wen couldn't help but ask about this: "Will Master Pei San act as a middleman when the time comes?"
"It is said that the Third Elder is not in Lin'an City." Elder Wu whispered, "The Li family clan and Li Duan went to invite him several times but he said he was not at home. We thought that Third Elder Pei did not want to get involved in this matter, but we found out two days ago that Third Elder Pei went to Hangzhou City and has not returned yet! I heard from Shen, the instructor of the county school, that it seems that Yu Shi came to Hangzhou City. Yu Shi is the same age as Third Elder Pei, and the governor of Zhejiang invited Third Elder Pei to accompany guests."
Yu Wen shook his head and said, "Master Pei San is still in mourning!"
"But we can't just care about the dead and ignore the ones who are still here." Master Wu disagreed, saying, "After the funeral, the eldest master of the Pei family is gone, and the two young masters of the eldest house are still young and have no achievements. The third master Pei returns home to inherit the family business, so it is very important for the second master of the Pei family to be revived. Even if the third master of the Pei family does not do it for himself, he must consider it for the Pei family!"
Yu Tang tried hard to recall that it seemed that the second elder of the Pei family had held a high position after his restoration. She could not remember what the position was specifically, but the Li family was quite cautious when it came to this.
Yu Wen said: "Then the Li family will wait for Master Pei San to come back before dividing the clan?"
Master Wu looked around and saw that only Yu Tang was preparing tea and snacks in the room, so he didn't take it seriously. He lowered his voice and said, "You don't know yet? The Li family's main branch had a big fight with Li Duan. The details of the fight were not leaked, but it is probably related to your family's affairs."
Yu Wen was puzzled and asked, "It has something to do with our family's affairs?"
"Hmm!" Old Master Wu nodded and said, "Think about it. Before Li Duan's branch became prominent, the Li family's main branch also helped them a lot. When Li Duan's branch became prosperous, what good did the main branch get except tax exemption? But when Li Duan's branch got into trouble, they also dragged their main branch into trouble. Now, doesn't the Li family's main branch have a scholar? With this scholar, they can be exempted from taxes forever. Think about it carefully. Li Duan's branch is so cruel. Instead of being dragged down by Li Duan's branch, it is better to take this opportunity to split the branch and cut off ties with Li Duan's branch, so that everyone can live their own lives."
This was something neither Yu Wen nor Yu Tang had expected.
Their family had a quarrel with Li Duan's family, and it led to such a result.
Yu Wen still felt that it was too risky for the Li family to do this, and said, "But Mr. Li is already in his forties this year, what if..."
If he passed away, the Li family would have to pay taxes again. This was not a small amount of money. It would affect the entire Li family. If things went wrong, it would cause resentment among the Li family members and they would change the clan branch.
Master Wu said cunningly: "Can't you see this? There must be someone behind this supporting the Li family! Otherwise, how could the Li family be so bold!"
Yu Wen still didn't understand.
Mr. Wu shook his head and said with a smile, "You are really a simple man with simple luck. It doesn't matter if you can't see it. I came here today to ask you for something else. I want you to help me make a decision."
Yu Wen was not the kind of person who would get entangled. When he couldn't figure it out, he put the matter behind him and asked Mr. Wu why he came.
Mr. Wu said, "I have a business I want to ask if you are interested in. I have a nephew who does business in Ningbo. There is a fleet there that is about to go to sea. He wants to buy some porcelain as a share. I just renovated the oil mill at home a few days ago. I don't have that much money on hand. Do you want to invest with me?"
Yu Wen had never thought about doing business with his neighbors, let alone the maritime business, which he knew nothing about.
Mr. Wu also knew this and said, "You don't have to reply to me right now. You can discuss it with your family first. If you think there is a risk and you have extra money at home, you can lend it to me. I will give you 5% interest."
Yu Wen really couldn't make up his mind for a moment. After exchanging a few words with Mr. Wu, Mr. Wu stood up and said goodbye.
Yu Tang was thinking about this.
In her previous life, she sold the house for her parents' funeral, and it was the attic of her great uncle's house. Although she was no longer a neighbor of Mr. Wu, she still heard some things about Mr. Wu's family - the Wu family was not in decline, and Mr. Wu had never been involved in the maritime business.
What went wrong in this life that caused things to change so drastically?
Could it be the two hundred taels of silver that he got from the Lu family?
Without the experience of his previous life, Yu Tang found it difficult to judge whether this was feasible or not.
This made her a little depressed.
When Yu Wen asked her opinion, she said, "Can we first ask someone to find out what kind of fleet it is?"
If she had any impression, she might have known the good and bad of this fleet.
As long as the fleet can return safely, it can make a lot of money.
It was not easy to go out to sea in the previous life. She might not know which ships returned safely, but if something happened, there would be some rumors spreading.
Yu Wen had his own opinion. He said, "I don't like this kind of business. In my opinion, I don't think about others, and others don't think about me. If Mr. Wu is really determined to do this business, our family will lend him the money. If he can't pay it back, we will just think that our family didn't get the two hundred taels of silver from the Lu family for nothing!"
Yu Tang pursed his lips and smiled.
That's just the kind of person her father is.
"Why not call my brother over to discuss this?" Yu Tang believed in Yu Yuan's judgment. "My brother has been helping my uncle run the shop these days, so he must have heard and seen more than us."
Yu Wen thought it made sense and asked Yu Yuan to come over and talk.
Yu Yuan was against this.
He said, "Since I went to Hangzhou last time, I have been paying attention to the business in Hangzhou. I heard that the overseas business is very complicated. If we really want to invest, we must find out all these things in advance. Different industries are like different mountains. We can't be jealous when we see others making money."
Yu Tang agreed with Yu Yuan's opinion.
But out of friendship, Yu Wen still lent 100 taels of silver to Mr. Wu.
After knowing this, Yu Tang couldn't help but look up to the sky.
She felt that her family would never be rich.
Soon, the division of the Li family's main branch and the Li Duan family came to a conclusion.
The main branch of the Li family was a little impatient, and without waiting for Li Yi to write back to say whether he agreed or not, they forcibly separated from Li Duan's family.
Everyone felt that the Li family's main branch was a bit anxious, but the Li family's main branch spread the word that Li Duan's branch had violated the ancestral teachings and was unwilling to be controlled by the main branch. Instead of making everyone unhappy, it would be better for them to separate and live their own lives.
The Li family kidnapped Yu Tang because their marriage proposal was rejected, and the matter of the family servant taking the initiative to instigate refugees to kill people was brought up and discussed by the people in Lin'an City.
There are all kinds of opinions.
But in general, I still think that the Lin family is too cruel and the Li family tradition is not good.
Li Duan was so anxious that bubbles appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Lin was furious at home: "Who are the people gossiping? Ah Duan, we can't just let this go! We were thinking about the clan, but they didn't appreciate our concessions. It's better to split up the clan. You two brothers should study hard. In a few years, you may become the second Pei family."
How can it be so simple?
Li Duan didn't want to complain to his mother. Just as he was about to smile and agree, he heard a man say in a taunting tone, "Aunt, what are you angry about? Thanks to your filial piety, your cousin always goes along with you in everything. If it were me, I would have argued with my mother a long time ago."