Yu Tang returned home and immediately wrote a letter, sending A’Tiao on an errand to the Zhang family.

Ma Xiuniang received Yu Tang’s letter and began urging Zhang Hui to paint—that matter need not be mentioned further. On Yu Tang’s end, however, she was troubled about the next day’s meeting with Pei Yan.

The case from Rizhao definitely couldn’t be mentioned, or else she would have no way to explain how she knew about it. That left only the fifty acres of permanent estate land to work with.

Fortunately, the Li family had left plenty of loose ends.

The next day, Yu Tang changed into a newly-made dark green silk jacket embroidered with silver-pink Four Seasons Auspicious Flower patterns, and wore a newly-made pale yellow magnolia silk flower ornament before heading to the Pei residence.

Pei Yan looked weary, his expression somewhat listless, though this did nothing to diminish his handsomeness. Instead, without his usual reserved nobility, he seemed more approachable, giving off a warm and intimate feeling.

“What’s so urgent that you’re looking for me?” He leaned casually against the arhat couch in the warm pavilion, gesturing to the fruit platter a young maid had brought over. “Try some—fubing from Fujian. Everyone says they’re quite delicious.”

Fubing from Fujian were a type of persimmon cake made in that region. With their bright, vibrant red-orange color, they were sweet without being cloying when eaten, and had the effect of clearing heat, moistening the lungs, and soothing coughs. They made excellent snacks and were even good steeped in water, earning them the name “fubing.”

However, fubing typically came to market during the twelfth lunar month, so right now… it was far too early.

Where on earth did he get these from?

Yu Tang couldn’t help but ask: “I heard you went to sell tangerines? How did the selling go? Were they tasty?”

Hearing this, Pei Yan raised his eyebrows, his gaze landing on Yu Tang with distinct displeasure: “Sell tangerines? Who told you I went to sell tangerines?”

Yu Tang immediately knew this was going badly. She had no idea how the story had transformed into “selling tangerines” by the time it reached her. Regardless of who had garbled the tale, with Pei Yan’s temperament, if he got upset he might actually investigate this matter. Wouldn’t that cause everyone endless trouble?

With the attitude of keeping peace, she quickly said: “I misspoke! What I meant was, I heard that the tangerines from your estate’s farm in Ji’an came to market, and you went to inspect them. I was also making assumptions—since you’re harvesting tangerines so early, you must have already arranged sales channels. One thing led to another in conversation, and didn’t it just become ‘selling tangerines’?”

Yu Tang felt she’d given Pei Yan enough face-saving room, but who would have thought Pei Yan would deliberately needle her? He raised his eyebrows again and said: “Who told you I wasn’t selling tangerines? Five thousand jin of tangerines total, all sold to Shanglin Garden, plus five thousand tree saplings.”

If it weren’t for him, would the people at Shanglin Garden have been so honest—one hand exchanging money, the other exchanging goods?

Would their tangerines have made it to the capital?

Yu Tang’s jaw dropped: “Shanglin Garden buys tangerines?”

She was incredibly envious.

How come her family didn’t have such connections?

But even if it was for the palace residents’ consumption, that would be the business of the eunuchs in the Twenty-Four Offices. When would it be the turn of Shanglin Garden, which grows trees and flowers for the imperial family?

“Now you don’t understand, do you?” Pei Yan said calmly. “If the imperial gardens have income, wouldn’t His Majesty be pleased too? Especially with tangerines that fruit so early.”

In other words, Shanglin Garden was falsifying records!

Yu Tang stammered: “They, they’re not afraid of being discovered? What if His Majesty wants to go see the tangerine trees?”

“His Majesty is busy with his alchemical practices—how would he have time to care about how many tangerine trees Shanglin Garden has planted!” Pei Yan said dismissively. “If he really wants to go, we’ll just find a way to transplant a few tangerine trees from my family’s orchard in Tongzhou. Otherwise, why would Shanglin Garden buy tangerines from us? It’s precisely because our Tongzhou estate also grows tangerines. Though they’re not as tasty as the ones here.”

Yu Tang was completely bewildered by this operation. In her view, this was utterly wasteful and harmful to the people. But government offices had done plenty of such wasteful things—it wasn’t just one or two cases. She had no intention of criticizing or saying more.

She hadn’t realized the Pei family also had an estate in Tongzhou!

Where didn’t the Pei family have estates?

Yu Tang grumbled internally, then changed the subject: “These fubing couldn’t also be from your estate, could they?”

When Yu Tang had entered, Pei Yan had already noticed her rosy complexion. Thinking of what Pei Man had told him—that she had not only won his mother’s favor but also gotten along quite well with his several nieces. At their first meeting, they had chattered away for ages discussing what style of clothing to make, and she’d even received rewards from his mother.

One should know, his mother was no ordinary woman and didn’t favor just anyone.

He had originally only wanted her to come to the residence to amuse his mother and make her happy. He hadn’t expected this task would be like a fish taking to water for her.

Looking at her now, while he’d been busy in Ji’an with his feet barely touching the ground, she had apparently been quite leisurely at his home.

Inexplicably, Pei Yan felt somewhat emotional and wanted to tease Yu Tang, not wanting her to appear so completely content before him.

Hearing her words, he couldn’t help but curl his lips: “My family’s reach isn’t as long as you imagine. Fujian is the territory of the Peng, Yin, and Li families. I’m not prepared to make enemies of all these families at once. This fubing was sent over by the Li family. Supposedly it’s made for their own family to eat and quite different from what’s sold on the market. You can taste it and see what’s different.”

Hearing his tone, Yu Tang gathered he didn’t particularly enjoy these sweets, so where had all the peanut brittle she’d made gone?

Had it all been for show before?

She couldn’t help but say: “Then what do you like to eat? If my mother knows how to make it, next time I’ll have her make some and send it to you.”

Pei Yan looked completely indifferent: “I don’t have anything I particularly like or dislike eating. If there’s something novel, I’ll try it. I don’t like fubing mainly because the Old Mistress heard from somewhere that eating more fubing could cure coughs, so from when I was small she made me drink persimmon cake water every day without fail. Just smelling that scent makes me uncomfortable.”

Yu Tang immediately felt she’d found a kindred spirit and quickly said: “Then I’m just like you! My mother always felt children had poor digestion and needed to eat porridge. From when I was little, my mother liked making me drink porridge. After I grew up, I couldn’t bear to pick up a bowl when I saw porridge.”

Grew up?

How old was she? No matter how much she’d grown, it was only a matter of ten-some years.

Pei Yan found her words amusing and was quite pleased, chatting with Yu Tang in a leisurely back-and-forth. It wasn’t until Chen Qi brought account books over for Pei Yan to review that Pei Yan finally remembered and asked Yu Tang seriously: “What did you come to see me about?”

Chen Qi on the side gave Yu Tang several extra looks.

The Third Master was most impatient with idle chatter—how was he chatting so happily with this young lady today?

However, though this young lady was quite young, she spoke and handled matters with impressive composure. Could it be that the Third Master had taken a fancy to this young lady?

He left the study to inquire about Yu Tang’s background.

Yu Tang’s companionship to the Old Mistress wasn’t any secret. Though it hadn’t been widely publicized, it also hadn’t been deliberately concealed, so Chen Qi quickly learned all the circumstances of her entering the residence.

Everything was fine—it was just that her family background was a bit low.

Chen Qi pondered this in his heart.

Neither Yu Tang nor Pei Yan had thought so much. Yu Tang explained to Pei Yan the reason for this visit: “Last time you told me the Li family urgently needed silver for activities in the capital. At the time I thought the Li family was being too hasty—if it was a temporary need, given the Li family’s reputation, even if they took an empty chest sealed with paper to a pawnshop for a short-term pawn, surely some pawnshop would be willing to do the Li family this favor. Why would they need to sell these fifty acres of permanent estate land? However, a few days ago I heard news that what Li Jun transported back from Rizhao on his father’s orders really did press the cart ruts three inches into the earth. These past few days at home with nothing to do, I’ve been thinking about this matter. What do you think—could this be a diversionary tactic? Others might not know how much wealth the Li family has, but the people of Lin’an City watched them make their fortune with their own eyes. If Li Yi really embezzled silver in Rizhao, he’d need to find a way to launder it, wouldn’t he?”

As Pei Yan listened, the lightness on his face gradually disappeared. By the time Yu Tang finished speaking, Pei Yan had sat up straight, looking at Yu Tang with a solemn expression: “What are you implying with these words? You want to grind Li Duan into the mud and trample him thoroughly?”

Yu Tang’s face flushed at these words.

She did indeed have this intention.

But Pei Yan had stated it far too bluntly.

If others heard, they’d think the two of them were conspiring about murder and robbery!

She blinked and said: “I heard the Li family is about to move to Hangzhou City, and Li Duan is preparing to go to the capital to study with his father. If they really leave Lin’an City, won’t Second Young Master Wei’s great revenge go unavenged?”

Pei Yan didn’t quite understand: “Li Duan has already worn mourning for Second Young Master Wei, and Li Duan’s engagement to the Gu family has also fallen through. Don’t you think that’s enough?”

He felt Yu Tang was being too obsessive.

She and that Second Young Master Wei had only met for a potential marriage arrangement—they hadn’t even formalized an engagement.

Could it be that Miss Yu had taken a fancy to Second Young Master Wei?

Pei Yan stroked his chin.

But Yu Tang said: “If one repays injury with kindness, with what shall one repay kindness? Even if I hated someone deeply, at most I’d just curse them to die badly in private. The Li family could unhesitatingly harm Second Young Master Wei for their own benefit, which shows they’re no good either! As for our family, if it weren’t for your protection this time, who knows—we might have ended up in the same situation as Second Young Master Wei, possibly even with our family destroyed! Why should I let such a family off?”

Pei Yan looked at her indignant little face and suddenly remembered when he was young and suffered bullying from jealous classmates. He not only fought back but also kicked them when they were down, ensuring that not only would those who bullied him never dare provoke him again, but even the bystanders wouldn’t dare easily cross him. Yet his father felt he lacked magnanimity and severely reprimanded him for it… Thinking of this, he felt Yu Tang’s actions seemed perfectly reasonable.

Yu Wen was, after all, just a minor scholar. If they could pull down an official-scholarly family like the Li family, others would definitely not dare casually bully their family in the future.

“Speak! How do you want me to help you?” Pei Yan said readily. “I still need to reconcile accounts with the accounting office in a bit.”

The implication being: don’t waste his time.

Yu Tang smiled sheepishly and said: “Could you help me investigate what Li Duan’s father did during his term as magistrate in Rizhao? Ordinary people couldn’t possibly send back so many things just from being a magistrate, could they?”

Actually, she also wanted to ask why, given that it was all the same land, only the Li family’s two hundred acres of permanent estate land could grow jade-stalk rice? If he was interested, she could offer the thirty acres her family had obtained for the Pei family to research—perhaps the Pei family’s land could also grow jade-stalk rice.

However, since Pei Yan had just spoken those words, if she immediately brought this up, it would easily make people think she was trying to exchange conditions with the Pei family, which would betray Pei Yan’s kind intentions.