Pei Yan felt that Yu Tang was safest when kept by his side, where he could see her with his own eyes.

However, Yu Tang’s face flushed with embarrassment at his words about “porcelain” and “rubble,” her heart fluttering. She responded with a quick affirmative and, face burning red, went to ask Qing Yuan if the cherries she’d set aside for Pei Yan had been washed yet.

Pei Yan had been so busy lately that he’d lost track of the days. Hearing this, he laughed and said, “We bought cherries at home?”

By the time Yu Tang returned, her face wasn’t as hot as before. She smiled and said, “We didn’t buy them—Mrs. Yin sent them over. She sent two large baskets. I had some sent to Second Sister-in-law and to the Gu household.”

Being able to refer to Gu Xi as “the Gu household” gave Yu Tang a sense of vindication.

Pei Yan naturally wouldn’t concern himself with such trivial social matters. He picked up a plump cherry and first fed one to Yu Tang before tasting one himself, saying, “The loquats from our family estate should be ripe now. I’ll have them send some over, and you can distribute them to each household.”

Yu Tang agreed. Pei Yan handed the entire glass dish of cherries to Yu Tang, saying, “They’re quite sweet—probably from the Shandong area. You should eat more.”

“Don’t you like them?” Yu Tang quite enjoyed them. If she hadn’t worried about upsetting her stomach, she would have found it hard to stop eating them this afternoon.

“They’re alright,” Pei Yan said with a smile. “I see you really like them. Tomorrow I’ll have the fruit shops send some over to our house.”

He’d just eaten one cherry, while Yu Tang had already eaten two in succession. He rarely saw Yu Tang enjoy any food this much.

Pei Yan made a mental note that tomorrow, besides having someone send cherries over, he should also inform the fruit shops that whenever any fruit came into season, or if there were any rare and unusual fruits available, they should send them over for Yu Tang to try.

Yu Tang smiled sweetly and said, “Let’s wait until after tomorrow to discuss that.”

Pei Yan was puzzled.

Yu Tang laughed, “Mrs. Yin saw how much I liked them and immediately had someone go tell the fruit shop she’s familiar with. From what I could tell, if they don’t send four or five baskets, they’ll at least send two or three. These fruits don’t keep well—it would be a waste.”

Pei Yan’s expression soured.

Yu Tang looked surprised and asked, “Should I not have accepted her gift?”

“No!” Pei Yan answered. Although his expression wasn’t as dark as before, his tone was still somewhat stiff.

That Xu woman was being far too meddlesome.

It wasn’t as if the Pei family couldn’t afford fruit—they didn’t need her fawning.

Pei Yan said, “I’m wondering what Yin Mingyuan is thinking. Is he really planning to have his wife spend every day at our house? Is their own household just for show?”

Yu Tang felt that Pei Yan was nitpicking. She said, “You know perfectly well that those matriarchs in the Yin family even send people to ask how many sips of water she’s had in a day. They absolutely forbid her from touching anything raw or cold…”

Pei Yan grew even more irritated listening to this and said, “She and Yin Mingyuan grew up together since childhood. Doesn’t she know what the Yin family is like? If she finds it unbearable now, what was she doing before? She has her own natal family, doesn’t she? If she’s uncomfortable at the Yin residence, she can return to her natal family!”

The problem was that Xu Xuan’s mother was also terrified that something might go wrong with her first grandchild and didn’t dare cross swords with the Yin family matriarchs!

These subtle concerns and calculations among women would probably be incomprehensible even if explained to Pei Yan.

Yu Tang looked at his suddenly displeased expression and decided that arguing further would be meaningless. She decided to end this dispute early.

She patted her chest and smiled, “I just feel so fortunate to have married well—our family doesn’t have all these messy complications.”

Then she watched as Pei Yan visibly brightened, his mood clearing like clouds parting to reveal a vast, clear sky.

Tsk! Such a delicate creature! Only able to hear good words, not bad ones.

Yu Tang struggled hard to suppress her laughter.

She quickly changed the subject and told him about Yu Yuan’s situation.

Pei Yan laughed heartily upon hearing it.

He thought about how Yu Tang had used the Pei family as her banner—wasn’t Yu Yuan living at the Pei residence also to use the Pei family as his banner?

These two siblings were quite alike.

His heart immediately softened, and he smiled, “Doesn’t he still have Yin Mingyuan’s calling card? If necessary, let him use it.”

After all, he would repay that favor debt himself.

Yu Tang could sense his improved mood and playfully joked with him, “But it should be used wisely! I think using your calling card for ordinary situations is enough.”

Pei Yan’s face darkened slightly. “Is my calling card inferior to Yin Mingyuan’s?”

Yu Tang walked toward the door while saying, “That’s not it at all. It’s just that Yin Mingyuan’s calling cards are rare, while yours are a dime a dozen, aren’t they?”

Only then did Pei Yan realize that Yu Tang was teasing him.

But by the time he came to his senses, Yu Tang had already left the room with a giggling smile, calling out to him, “I’m going to the storeroom to see if I can find some suitable fabric for making children’s clothes!” Then she disappeared in a flash.

Pei Yan stared at the empty door curtain, the fragrance of gardenia flowers lingering around him.

He couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

*

The Peng family, just as Pei Yan had predicted, had only used Manager Gao to contact Yu Yuan as a way to test the waters. Now that this had provoked Pei Yan into investigating Manager Gao, they very graciously and humbly stepped forward, sending Peng Yu’s blood brother, Ninth Master Peng, to pay respects to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan received Ninth Master Peng in the main hall of his residential courtyard.

Ninth Master Peng resembled Eleventh Master Peng quite a bit, though Ninth Master Peng appeared rather frail while Eleventh Master Peng was more handsome.

He didn’t beat around the bush. Upon meeting, he first apologized to Pei Yan, saying that the Peng family had judged a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mindset. Because of the matter involving Eleventh Master Peng, they feared the Pei family harbored resentment toward the Peng family and hadn’t dared to seek help directly, which was why they’d sent Manager Gao—it was the Peng family’s fault, and so on.

While Ninth Master Peng spoke, Pei Yan’s mind kept working. By the time Ninth Master Peng finished speaking, he’d made up his mind and said, “As you know, our Pei family and your Peng family have always coexisted peacefully. But your Eleventh Master Peng overreached. Regardless of what the Li family is like, they’re at least fellow townspeople and neighbors to our Pei family—there was no reason for him to interfere. Now he’s not only interfered but has left the Li family broken and ruined. How will our Pei family conduct ourselves in Lin’an City in the future? If it were your Peng family in this situation, what would you do?”

This indicated he still wasn’t willing to let Eleventh Master Peng off.

Ninth Master Peng felt that Pei Yan was being too aggressive, but what Pei Yan said was indeed reasonable. Moreover, no matter where they went or who they asked to judge, no one could criticize the Pei family for being wrong.

The problem was that Eleventh Master Peng had originally handled this matter under orders from the clan head.

If the Peng family couldn’t handle the situation now and pushed out the clan member who’d been following orders to take the fall, who would dare work for the family in the future? How would the main branch maintain its authority?

Ninth Master Peng recalled what the clan head had instructed him before he left: “Use whatever means necessary to reconcile with the Pei family first. As for next year, we’ll find a way to bring down Second Master Pei.” He sighed deeply in his heart.

What if they couldn’t bring down Second Master Pei? Who was the family planning to make the scapegoat then?

It certainly couldn’t be his elder brother, nor could it be him.

Ninth Master Peng’s mind raced while his expression remained perfectly composed, revealing nothing. He smiled and said, “That’s why our eldest brother in the main branch said to see what would be an appropriate way to compensate you.”

In reality, the Peng family had privately discussed whether to scratch each other’s backs by giving the Pei family some business through the Ministry of Works.

Who knew that Pei Yan would stubbornly fixate on Eleventh Master Peng, demanding that the Peng family guarantee that from now on, Eleventh Master Peng would never appear before the Pei family, especially not in front of his household.

Was he worried that Eleventh Master Peng would disturb the Pei family’s womenfolk?

Ninth Master Peng felt that Pei Yan was being overly anxious.

Without rules, there could be no order. For families like theirs, even if there were grievances, they would never involve the women.

Ninth Master Peng agreed immediately.

Pei Yan didn’t equivocate either and directly had Pei Qi accompany Ninth Master Peng to see Pei Xuan.

The new regulation from the Ministry of Revenue required all salt certificates to bear the Ministry’s seal—this was merely to control the salt certificate business within the Ministry. Additionally, due to certain corrupt practices in officialdom, the petty clerks liked to make things difficult for people conducting business. For families like the Peng family bringing large quantities of salt certificates for stamping, even if Peng Yu greeted people in advance, because they were in different departments, the petty clerks wouldn’t necessarily show respect. Taking out some silver for bribes was a minor matter, but if they deliberately delayed you—today there’s this matter, tomorrow there’s that matter, just refusing to stamp your certificates and dragging it out for a year or so—the Peng family losing face would be minor, but if outsiders mistakenly believed the Peng family had lost influence, that would be serious.

Therefore, although Pei Xuan had greeted people in advance, the Peng family still properly gave the customary silver gratuities according to protocol, and everyone happily completed the matter. By the time Peng Yu found out, Ninth Master Peng had already packed his bags and was preparing to return to Fujian to report the good news to the Peng family’s eldest master.

Peng Yu stamped his feet in frustration and scolded his younger brother, “How could you be so foolish? Why didn’t you consult with me when the Pei family took you to the Ministry of Revenue for the stamps?”

Ninth Master Peng replied indignantly, “Didn’t you say so yourself? This matter needed to be handled quickly. Otherwise people would think our family had a rift with the Pei family, damaging the Peng family’s reputation. Besides, Third Master Pei was quite courteous and immediately had someone take me to the Ministry of Revenue. I could hardly say ‘let’s do it another day,’ could I? We were the ones asking for help, not issuing an imperial decree. It’s us who wait for others, not others who wait for us.”

Peng Yu was furious and said, “Then let me ask you—what about Eleventh Brother?”

The Peng family couldn’t go back on their word after agreeing.

Ninth Master Peng replied bluntly, “That’s your problem! You only asked me to seek Second Master Pei’s help with the stamps and to agree to whatever conditions the Pei family proposed. You can’t pull the rug out from under me—I accomplished the task, and now you think the Pei family’s conditions are too high. I, Peng Jiu, also have to conduct myself in the world. You can’t demand everything when you need me to do something, then slap me in the face once I’ve succeeded.”

This was practically siding with Pei Yan, insisting on punishing Eleventh Master Peng.

Peng Yu was so angry he couldn’t speak.

Ninth Master Peng had nothing more to say to his brother. He took his servant and headed straight for Tongzhou, boarding a boat back to Fujian.

Peng Yu truly didn’t know what to do and threw the matter to the clan head.

The clan head had no choice but to discuss it with Eleventh Master Peng: “You should go hide in the Southwest for now. Your Seventh Brother said he’ll find a way to bring down Second Master Pei. When that happens, we’ll definitely avenge you.”