“Ah!” Yu Tang’s face lit up with delight. “Really? Our peanut brittle was sent to the rear courtyard?”

That meant not only did Pei Yan find it delicious, but he also let the family members taste it.

Yu Wen nodded, his eyes and brows full of smiles as he said: “That clever little A’Tiao even made special inquiries. Apparently, since Third Master Pei took charge of the household, this is the first time he’s sent food to the rear courtyard.”

Yu Tang said: “Does that mean from now on we can always include peanut brittle whenever we send things to the Pei household?”

That way, it would save some mental effort.

Sending things to the Pei household had to be both novel and sincere—it was really too difficult.

“Yes!” Yu Wen was also very pleased and said: “This truly is a case of the student surpassing the master. I knew your mother was good at making pastries, but I didn’t expect that learning from her, you’ve also become so skilled at making them.”

Yu Tang smiled with pursed lips, not intending to explain to her father the origins of this peanut brittle.

She’d just let him mistakenly believe her mother had taught her well.

Yu Wen sighed: “Your mother’s health is getting better and better, and our family is becoming more and more proper.”

Yu Tang smiled and agreed with a “yes,” then picked up Jiang Chao’s gift list again and said: “Our two families are different. The women of our family have received many favors from the Pei household, so we’re following the path of intimate family friendship. Master Jiang is asking favors from the Pei family, following the path of recommending worthy talent, so the gifts he sends will certainly be quite different. If you ask me to advise Master Jiang, I might turn a good thing into a bad thing! I think what gifts to send should still be left for Master Jiang to decide himself. However, looking at this gift list, it covers all bases. Even if I were to draft one, I couldn’t come up with a better gift list than this.”

From Yu Wen’s perspective, this gift list had no faults to pick. It was just that Jiang Chao had entrusted him with this, and he worried there might be some oversight, which was why he brought it over for Yu Tang to look at.

“Then I’ll tell him exactly that.” Yu Wen took the gift list and went to Jiang Chao’s quarters.

When Jiang Chao heard this, he smiled and thanked Yu Wen, but in his heart he pondered that the Yu family was following the path of intimate family friendship with the Pei family—no wonder they sent small items like food. It was clear the Yu family’s relationship with the Pei family was exceptional; otherwise they wouldn’t have thought of, nor would it be possible to think of, following the path of intimate family friendship with the Pei family.

He couldn’t help but feel fortunate that initially, thinking Yu Wen was a scholar who didn’t value money as much as Old Master Wu, he had chosen to stay at the Yu household rather than the Wu household…

But when he actually met Pei Yan, it was already late August.

He had waited nearly half a month for Pei Yan.

When Pei Yan received him, there was still some fatigue in his expression. It could be seen that when Pei Yan said he would see him as soon as he returned, he had indeed seen him at the first opportunity.

Jiang Chao’s regard for the Yu family rose another notch.

Pei Yan liked to speak frankly and directly, and besides, Jiang Chao wasn’t important enough to warrant circumlocution.

After Jiang Chao paid his respects to Pei Yan, the two sat down as host and guest. Pei Yan immediately said: “I heard you wanted to see me. Is it about the Wang family case in Ningbo Prefecture? I’ve already sent people to inquire about this case. The Wang family’s son did indeed commit a crime and wasn’t wrongly accused. Although when the people don’t report it, the officials don’t investigate, this case has already been transferred to the Court of Judicial Review. Overturning the verdict probably won’t be easy. You’ve come to find me, but I don’t have many options either.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chao smiled bitterly in his heart.

It probably wasn’t that there were no options, but rather that he, Jiang Chao, wasn’t worth the Pei family expending such great effort to help overturn the case, right?

But in his life, he had received far more cold shoulders than others could imagine, and Pei Yan’s indifference was nothing worth mentioning to him.

He said respectfully: “Regarding Boss Wang’s case, I’ve also made careful inquiries and know the fault lies with the Wang family. I wouldn’t dare ask Master Pei to help with something that confounds right and wrong. I’ve come to see Master Pei because I have other matters to request.”

Pei Yan raised his eyebrows, looking at Jiang Chao with a few more degrees of seriousness.

To tell the truth, he really had inquired about the Wang family case in Ningbo Prefecture. When the Ningbo prefect learned this matter was related to the Pei family, he immediately smiled bitterly, saying he had no way to overturn the case at the Court of Judicial Review, but if Pei Yan could send the case back for retrial, he would be willing to retry it.

Pei Yan felt that sending it back for retrial wasn’t difficult. The important thing was that the Wang family was also at fault.

He wasn’t willing to help the Wang family overturn the case.

He had even thought that at worst, he would privately compensate the Yu family for those six thousand taels of silver.

It was just that matters in Hangzhou Prefecture had held him back, preventing him from handling this matter in time.

He hadn’t expected this Jiang Chao to actually have some capability.

Regardless of what he wanted to do next, at least this approach had caught his attention, which made him a decent talent.

Right now, what he lacked most was people.

Seeing that his opening hadn’t gone wrong, Jiang Chao’s heart settled slightly, and he continued with a smile: “Third Master must know that I do maritime trade. I dare to do this business for two reasons: first, my family has run ships for generations; second, these past years I’ve been doing business in Ningbo Prefecture and am very familiar with maritime trade. I’ve even personally made a trip to Sulu, and I know the routes, the docks, and even when we’ll encounter sea winds and where to seek shelter if we do—I know it all clearly.”

Pei Yan had already guessed what he was going to say.

He couldn’t help but sit up straighter.

This was getting interesting.

This Jiang Chao had lost everything himself, yet could still come before him neither servile nor overbearing to try to convince him.

He was a talent!

No wonder Yu Wen and Old Master Wu, having met him only once, were immediately moved by him, investing silver and, even after he lost everything, still willing to continue helping him.

Pei Yan leaned forward slightly, a trace of amusement flashing in his eyes as he said: “What do you want to say?”

Jiang Chao gritted his teeth and said: “I want Third Master Pei to support me in doing a maritime trade deal. This season is when the seas are at their calmest. If we delay any longer, we’ll have to wait until next year. Since you know about the Ningbo Prefecture matter, you surely also know that Boss Wang wasn’t unwilling to do this business—it’s because our capital was too small and couldn’t withstand setbacks. But you’re different! You not only manage the Pei household, but you also have substantial private assets under your own name. Even without using the Pei family name, with your own means, you can afford to do maritime trade.”

He had even found out clearly about his private assets.

Pei Yan smiled and said: “Then do you know that our Pei family and the Song family are related by marriage? Why should I help you?”

Yu Wen was also extremely curious. As he refilled Jiang Chao’s tea, he asked: “How did you answer at the time? And how did you know the Song family and Pei family weren’t on good terms?”

At this moment, Jiang Chao had already returned from the Pei household.

His back was covered in sweat, his damp shirt extremely uncomfortable.

But as soon as he entered the door, he was pulled into the study by Yu Wen, who had been waiting in the courtyard, and questioned before he even had time to change clothes. He could only endure it first and said: “Brother Yu knows the Pei family and Song family are related by marriage but doesn’t know what rift exists between them?”

Yu Wen truly didn’t know.

He stammered for a long while without producing any coherent answer.

Jiang Chao couldn’t help but question the relationship between the Yu family and the Pei family. He was pondering whether to tell Yu Wen when he saw Shuang Tao come in to serve tea. His heart stirred, and he observed Shuang Tao’s movements.

After serving the tea, Shuang Tao put away the tea tray and stood quietly behind the floor screen. Someone not paying attention wouldn’t even notice she was in the room.

Jiang Chao understood this was Miss Yu having Shuang Tao come gather information.

His heart stirred, and he said: “Brother Yu is from Lin’an, so I assumed you all knew. I didn’t expect that you would have to hear about the lawsuit between the Song family and Pei family from me.”

Yu Wen laughed awkwardly.

Jiang Chao adopted an appearance of speaking without reservation: “Old Lady Song and Old Lady Pei were daughters of the Qian family who married rather well, so when Old Lady Pei first married into Lin’an, the two families were fairly close. However, at that time the Song family had four or five sons serving as officials away from home, while the Pei family only had Master Wang who had passed the jinshi examination. By comparison, the Pei family naturally wasn’t as distinguished as the Song family. Add to that the Song family being in Suzhou Prefecture and the Pei family in Lin’an—as time went on, the Song family would inevitably be somewhat negligent toward the Pei family at times.

“The discord between the two families supposedly began at the wedding of the eldest master of the Song family.

“Old Lady Pei brought the three masters of the Pei family to Suzhou Prefecture for the wedding feast. First Master Pei got into an argument with several of First Master Song’s classmates over an essay, and later somehow it escalated to physical violence. One of them was even beaten by Second Master Pei.”

Yu Wen was dumbstruck.

Jiang Chao continued: “Originally this wasn’t really a big matter. Everyone was seventeen or eighteen years old—saying someone was beaten, it was just a few punches. The adults would each scold them and it would pass. But First Master Song was protective of his own and thought highly of himself. He brought several attendants and cornered Second Master Pei in an alleyway and beat him. After Second Master Pei suffered this injustice, Third Master Pei led several guards the Pei family had brought along and smashed First Master Song’s bridal chamber.

“At that point, things couldn’t be easily resolved.

“As it turned out, Old Lady Pei wasn’t someone to be trifled with either, and was even more protective than the Song family. She threw down two thousand taels in silver notes to the Song family, didn’t even drink the wedding wine, and that very day took her three sons back to Lin’an. When the Song family sent people to argue about it, Old Lady Pei protected her three sons tightly, not only refusing to apologize but even declaring that if the Song family didn’t hand over the attendants who had beaten people, the Song and Pei families needn’t associate anymore.”

Yu Tang’s almond eyes widened as she asked Shuang Tao: “The one who beat people was Second Master Pei, not Third Master Pei?”

Shuang Tao said: “I heard clearly. The one who beat people was Second Master Pei. The one who smashed the bridal chamber was Third Master Pei.”

Then why did everyone say Second Master Pei was an honest, loyal, filial, and proper person?

Shuang Tao continued: “The Song family and Pei family had no dealings after that. Later, when all three masters of the Pei family passed the jinshi examination while the Song family declined day by day, when Second Master Pei married, Old Lady Song personally came to Lin’an to congratulate the Pei family, and this matter was finally put to rest.”

“So Jiang Chao exploited this point and petitioned Third Master Pei?” Yu Tang murmured. “And even got Third Master Pei to agree to provide silver to invest in Jiang Chao, letting him buy a new ship to run the maritime trade from Ningbo to Sulu?”

Shuang Tao: “Third Master Pei hasn’t agreed yet. He only said he would think about it.”

Even just saying he would think about it, Jiang Chao was already quite impressive. Previously, Pei Yan had said he wouldn’t do maritime trade. What reason had made him change his mind?

From what she understood of Pei Yan, he wasn’t someone who easily changed his mind.

Yu Tang thought of Gu Chang’s previous visit and Pei Yan’s late return… Could it be that some change had occurred in the Pei family?

Yu Tang felt somewhat worried and pondered whether she should go see Pei Yan.

After all, Pei Yan had helped her greatly. She at least had the experience of her previous life. If she could be of any help to Pei Yan, that would be wonderful.