On the day Yu Tang’s ship arrived at the dock, snowflakes began falling early in the morning.

By the time Gu Xi arrived at the dock with everyone else, the road was already covered in a blanket of white.

Nanny Jin held up a tung oil paper umbrella painted with red plum blossoms as she helped Second Madam down from the carriage.

Second Madam said, “This snow is really coming down heavily. Won’t we have to spend another night in Tongzhou tonight?”

If it continued snowing like this, they truly might have to stay overnight in Tongzhou.

Gu Xi, who had gotten off the carriage behind Second Madam, couldn’t help but say, “Good thing we didn’t bring Brother Yuan along.”

Otherwise he would surely catch cold.

Second Madam nodded repeatedly.

Nanny Jin said, “Spending an extra night here isn’t so bad. We have enough charcoal to burn, and Old Madam has also come to the capital. Second Master, Fifth Miss, and Third Young Master are all here with us—it’s more lively than New Year’s.”

Second Madam thought about it and realized these words made quite good sense.

She laughed and pointed to one of the three-masted ships, saying to Gu Xi, “Look! That’s our family’s ship.”

Gu Xi looked over in that direction.

It was actually a sand ship.

The several-zhang-tall sails rose high and straight, appearing quite imposing and martial.

Gu Xi couldn’t help asking, “Did our family change ships?”

She remembered that the Pei family’s original ship had been a fu ship, but now they had changed to a sand ship that was more suitable for sailing on lakes. Moreover, the Peng family specialized in building fu ships while the Wu family specialized in building sand ships.

She wondered if there was any connection in all this.

Gu Xi’s mind was in turmoil.

How would Second Madam know such things? She laughed and said, “The old fu ship our family had was bought when Great-Great-Grandfather was still alive, so it was getting rather worn. Your Third Uncle replaced it with this sand ship a few years ago. He said it was more suitable for our family. I don’t really understand these things. I just think the new ship is prettier than the old one, and the interior decorations are nicer too.”

After speaking, she even chuckled a few times.

Gu Xi also laughed along.

Pei Hong, wearing a silver fox fur cloak, came running over and said, “Mother, Father asked me to accompany you onto the ship.”

Second Madam craned her neck to look for Pei Xuan: “Where is your father?”

“Two cousin brothers are keeping him company!” Pei Hong said as he stepped forward to support his mother. “Father said he was worried you might slip and fall.”

Second Madam smiled with gratification.

Nanny Jin quickly chimed in from the side, “You see, Third Young Master is so filial!”

“Indeed!” Second Madam looked at her son with praise.

Pei Hong used to be somewhat mischievous, but ever since he heard Pei Xuan mention that his third uncle’s six-year-old son Pei Jiang had already finished the “Three Character Classic” and could understand the “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art,” he had panicked and not only began studying seriously but also became much more docile toward his parents.

Second Madam couldn’t help saying, “Your fourth and fifth brothers have also come to the capital this time. As their elder brother, you should be magnanimous and tolerant, and accommodate them more.”

Her words made Pei Hong’s face turn red. He muttered in a low voice, “Mother, how old am I now? Are you still worried I’ll get into fights with my two younger brothers?”

“Fighting wouldn’t be likely.” Second Madam couldn’t suppress her laughter. “You’ve always been the youngest in our family, with everyone accommodating you. I’m just worried you won’t be used to it.”

Pei Hong protested in a small voice, “No matter how dissatisfied I am, I wouldn’t stoop to quibbling with two brothers still wearing their hair in tufts, would I?”

That’s good then!

Second Madam quickly apologized: “It’s Mother’s fault. Mother should have more faith in you!”

“I know!” Pei Hong responded softly, his expression indeed much improved.

With her son accompanying her, Second Madam went to find her daughter.

She saw that Pei Dan, Xu Xuan, and the others had gotten off their carriages, all wearing cloaks with their respective maids holding umbrellas, gathered together chatting.

She walked over.

“Mother!”

“Second Madam!”

Pei Dan and the others called out in a chorus of voices.

Second Madam felt somewhat distressed and quickly said, “With such heavy snow, the ship’s gangway is bound to be slippery, and we still need to pay respects to Old Madam later. You girls should just stay in the carriages. Old Madam loves the younger generation most—the fact that you came in person to receive her already makes her very happy. She doesn’t care about these empty formalities.”

Xu Xuan and the others hesitated.

Pei Dan called out to Gu Xi: “Sister-in-law should stay behind with us too! Having my brother accompany Mother onto the ship is enough. If too many people go and something unfortunate happens, that would be worse.”

Gu Xi saw Pei Tong and Yin Mingyuan standing by the carriage talking. Hearing Pei Dan say this, she immediately felt quite displeased.

Pei Xuan and Second Madam were only her cousins-in-law by marriage, but Old Madam Pei was Pei Tong’s own grandmother. He wasn’t fighting for the chance to accompany Pei Xuan onto the ship to pay respects to Old Madam Pei, but instead had let this opportunity go to Pei Chan and Pei Bo. No wonder after all these years, when it came to critical moments, he still couldn’t step up to the task.

She was considering whether to find an excuse to accompany Second Madam onto the ship anyway, but once Pei Dan said this, Second Madam also realized and patted Gu Xi’s hand comfortingly, saying, “I wasn’t being thoughtful enough. The ship’s gangway is slippery—you’ll be safer on shore.” She added, “Just stay here with Adan and the others, won’t you? With this snow, we should come back down from the ship quite soon.”

Otherwise, if the snow kept falling heavier, the gangway would become increasingly slippery.

With Pei Hong standing nearby, Gu Xi naturally couldn’t insist. She smiled and reminded Second Madam several times to “be careful,” watching as Second Madam boarded the ship.

Pei Dan asked her, “Are you cold? Do you want to go sit in the carriage for a while?”

There were braziers in the carriages, warmer than standing outside.

Gu Xi wanted to have a few words with Pei Tong, to urge him that if he got a chance later, he should still try his best to stay by Pei Xuan’s side. So she smiled and politely declined Pei Dan: “You all go take shelter in the carriage! Riding in carriages makes me a bit dizzy—I’d like to get some fresh air.”

Pei Dan, perhaps chilled or for some other reason, didn’t insist and climbed back into the carriage with Xu Xuan and the others.

Miss Zhang lowered her voice and said to Pei Dan, “This eldest cousin sister-in-law of yours seems quite close to Second Madam.”

Pei Dan didn’t much like discussing Gu Xi and just smiled and nodded.

Pei Chan’s wife, Yang Shi, and Miss Zhang’s in-laws—specifically Grand Secretary Yang Chunhe of the Hanlin Academy—were from the same clan. Her father was the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shaanxi. Pei Chan’s marriage had been arranged by Miss Xu, so she was quite familiar with all these people.

Seeing this, she tugged at Miss Zhang’s sleeve and changed the subject: “I’ve only heard you all mention Third Aunt, but today is the first time I’m seeing her. How do I look? I’m so afraid of leaving a bad impression on the elders.”

Yang Shi had married Pei Chan after he passed the imperial examinations, so none of the people from the Pei family’s ancestral home had met her.

Xu Xuan also didn’t want to discuss Gu Xi much. Hearing this, she clapped her hands and said, “With me here, you can relax. She’ll definitely like you.”

Yang Shi said nothing more, just smiled with pursed lips while listening to Xu Xuan and Miss Zhang banter back and forth.

Just as they were about to add more charcoal, the old woman outside began calling out: “Second Master is helping Old Madam off the ship.”

Everyone quickly got out of the carriages. Yang Shi saw Gu Xi standing close to Pei Tong. The two had apparently been talking about something—Pei Tong’s expression looked somewhat unpleasant while Gu Xi wore a face full of smiles. She left Pei Tong behind and strode quickly toward the sand ship moored at the shore.

Yang Shi shook her head, feeling that Gu Xi was being too eager.

Pei Dan and Second Madam were the proper mother and daughter—what did it mean for her to always insert herself beside Second Madam like this?

Gu Xi was furious at this moment.

Pei Tong thought what she said made sense, but he stubbornly refused to act on it, saying something like “I was the one who wanted to split from the main family branch back then. If I now shamelessly push my way back in, how will people view me?”

In this world, the bold ones stuff themselves while the timid ones starve. If you constantly worry about saving face in everything, then you shouldn’t expect to accomplish anything at all.

She had no choice but to go herself.

She rushed to the front to greet Pei Xuan and Old Madam Pei.

Old Madam Pei had grown old after all.

The jet-black lustrous hair Gu Xi remembered was now half black and half white, bound up in her headband. There were obvious wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Though her complexion was rosy, she now had the appearance of a grandmother, looking like an elderly person.

Old Madam Pei treated her quite warmly, greeting her first and saying, “This must be Atong’s wife, isn’t it? Still the same as before, you haven’t changed much!”

Gu Xi immediately stepped forward to pay her respects, and even pulled Pei Tong along—after all, he was the eldest grandson, so why should he be relegated to the back of the group?

Perhaps having heard Gu Xi’s words, though he felt somewhat awkward, he still smiled and stepped forward.

Old Madam Pei seemed to have lost some of her former severity. Seeing Pei Tong, her eyes suddenly grew moist. She gazed at Pei Tong for a long while, as if trying to find someone else’s reflection in him.

Pei Tong felt the emotion and looked at Old Madam Pei with eyes full of filial affection.

Old Madam Pei sighed deeply in her heart and said to Pei Tong, “No need for excessive formalities. I hear you’ve been extremely diligent lately. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask your second uncle or third uncle. Your third uncle has been holed up in the countryside these past few years, but he’s managed to teach quite a few good students.”

Pei Tong wiped his tears and assented.

Gu Xi’s gaze had long since moved past Old Madam Pei to fall on those behind her.

Unfortunately, she didn’t see Yu Tang. Instead, she saw Pei Yan and a group of unfamiliar men.

Gu Xi’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Among that group of men, the oldest appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, while the younger ones looked only fifteen or sixteen. Though some wore silk and satin while others wore fine cotton cloth, they were all dressed as scholars.

Who were all these people?

Gu Xi pondered this silently and saw Yin Mingyuan walk over.

He first paid his respects to Old Madam Pei, then greeted Pei Yan.

Pei Yan remained as indifferent as before.

He nodded slightly toward Yin Mingyuan and began introducing those scholars to him: “This is Shen Fang, nephew of County Magistrate Shen. This is Zhang Hui, a recommended scholar from our Lin’an. This is Fu Xiaoxiao…”

They were all coming to participate in the spring metropolitan examinations this time. Knowing that Pei Yan was going to the capital, they had hitched a ride on the Pei family’s ship to come to the capital together.

Yin Mingyuan exchanged greetings and pleasantries with each one.

Gu Xi kept one ear listening, wanting to know who Wei Xiaochuan was, while making eyes at Pei Tong, signaling him to make connections with these people.

Who knew that Pei Tong’s entire attention was focused on Old Madam Pei? He had taken Pei Xuan’s place in supporting Old Madam Pei and was asking her in a low voice about the journey, completely unable to receive her eye signals.

Gu Xi had no choice but to redirect her attention back to that group of scholars.

The scholar who appeared youngest was Wei Xiaochuan.

Gu Xi looked at him a few more times.

Wei Xiaochuan’s personality seemed very introverted. When Pei Yan introduced him to Yin Mingyuan, he blushed and hid behind Pei Yan, mumbling a few words to Yin Mingyuan, which drew laughter from everyone.

Being an official was like being a person—it wasn’t just about knowing how to read books.

Gu Xi didn’t think much of him and turned her gaze back to Pei Tong.

Pei Xuan was talking to Pei Tong with a face full of gratification, while Old Madam Pei watched from the side, nodding continuously.

The atmosphere seemed quite good.

Gu Xi thought for a moment, then walked over.