The snow that had stopped earlier began falling again at some unknown time, laying a thin layer across the ground that sparkled with crystalline light under the lanterns. The bone-chilling wind struck her face, bringing a feeling of cold yet also carrying a few traces of freshness.

Calculating the time, she had been at the Pei family’s villa for nearly half a month now. In a few more days, she would return home. She wondered how her parents and elder brother and sister-in-law were doing. Would Old Madam’s anger subside a bit tomorrow? These past few days, she had been making silk flowers with Fifth Miss. Not only was the quantity sufficient for Fifth Miss to use as gifts, but she could also give some to the servants working at the Pei residence. So starting tomorrow, should she begin making a few intimate garments for the baby that her brother and sister-in-law would have next spring?

Yu Tang’s thoughts wandered randomly, but her mind couldn’t help drifting to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan was such a proud person—if the Li family truly broke off the engagement with him, he must have felt terrible inside. She wondered how he endured that time. And the Li family—Pei Yan had both good looks and scholarly talent. Apart from his temper being slightly poor, and this “poor temper” wasn’t violent or cruel but rather impatience from being too intelligent—how could the Li family bear to give up such a golden son-in-law?

Yu Tang couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she tried.

Could it really be as Mrs. Shen said—that Pei Yan wasn’t very satisfied with Miss Li, so he dragged his feet about going to propose marriage? The Li family had no choice; they couldn’t very well humble themselves to ask Pei Yan to marry their daughter, so they found a new husband for their daughter instead?

Or perhaps there was something about Miss Li that made Pei Yan unsatisfied?

Otherwise, why would Old Madam say that Pei Yan’s marriage had to have his own approval before proceeding!

Yu Tang suddenly felt like she had discovered something remarkable.

It must be this way.

Because Pei Yan didn’t agree to the Li family’s marriage proposal, even though the Li family wanted to recruit Pei Yan as their son-in-law, since Pei Yan didn’t agree, the matter fell through.

Thinking this way, she could understand both Mrs. Shen’s words and Old Madam’s anger.

Yu Tang felt satisfied. She closed the window and burrowed back into her bedding, wondering whether she should find an opportunity tomorrow to ask Pei Yan. With such a major incident happening, Pei Yan surely knew about it. Although Mrs. Shen’s words were somewhat presumptuous, soothing Old Madam’s anger was more important. If she could learn why the Pei and Li families failed to become in-laws, that would be even better!

She closed her eyes with a smile.

She was still smiling even in her sleep.

Not far from Yu Tang, in Gu Xi’s inner chamber, Gu Xi suddenly sat up.

Hexiang was badly startled. She quickly moved the lamp over and wrapped a lined jacket around Gu Xi’s shoulders, whispering, “Miss, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Naturally, they had quietly poured the medicine the doctor prescribed into the flower beds out back. But this business of waking suddenly in the middle of the night had only happened when Gu Xi was young. After Elder Brother passed the provincial examination, Gu Xi never had nightmares again.

Gu Xi shook her head and hoarsely instructed Hexiang, “I’m a bit thirsty.”

Hexiang went to pour a cup of tea.

Gu Xi slowly drank a few sips before saying, “The marriage between the Li family and the Pei family—it must be that Pei Xiaguang was unwilling. Moreover, something we don’t know about must have happened because of this matter, which is why the Pei family left his marriage arrangements to him.”

So it was about this matter.

Hexiang hadn’t thought that deeply. She said softly, “It’s late. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? You should rest early so you can handle whatever people and situations come tomorrow.”

Gu Xi handed the teacup to Hexiang and leaned back against the pillow at the head of the bed, but showed no intention of sleeping. She said, “Tomorrow’s matters are easy to handle. I’ll pretend to be ill from beginning to end and won’t leave my room. Whatever happens on Mrs. Shen’s side, we just won’t get involved. What I’m thinking about is Third Master’s situation… Since he can decide his own marriage, and Mrs. Shen has done such things that leave me deeply ashamed as well, could I speak with Third Master and ask him to send a letter to my elder brother, then have someone escort me back to Hangzhou?”

Hexiang immediately understood Gu Xi’s meaning.

Her eyes brightened as she whispered, “Old Madam was so furious—it’s only natural for you to fear her. Asking Third Master to help you send a letter to Elder Brother requesting that he send someone to take you home—no one could say anything against that.”

Gu Xi smiled with pursed lips and said, “Then it’s settled. Once Mrs. Shen leaves, we’ll immediately go ask Third Master to make this decision for me.”

Hexiang nodded repeatedly.

She believed that with their miss’s beauty and talent, if she took the initiative to show goodwill, no man could escape!

Gu Xi went to sleep satisfied.

The next day, she was awakened by the commotion in the courtyard.

She opened her eyes. The room was utterly quiet without a single person, making the noisy disturbance from Mrs. Shen’s side even more disruptive.

Gu Xi thought for a moment, then slipped on her shoes and pushed open the window crack to look outside.

She saw Shen Shanyan wearing an autumn-fragrant colored squirrel-fur cloak, her face iron-blue as she stood outside Mrs. Shen’s quarters. Several stout, coarse-mannered women were rudely moving things about.

Mrs. Shen’s crying came from the inner chamber.

Shen Shanyan laughed coldly and said, “You still have the nerve to cry! If I were you, I’d cover my face and quietly leave through the Pei family’s back gate down the mountain, rush back to Hangzhou overnight, and never set foot in Lin’an again.”

Gu Xi was astonished.

She hadn’t expected that when Old Madam said she would drive someone out, she would act so quickly and notify Shen Shanyan so soon.

She had thought this matter would take a few more days—once everyone’s emotions calmed down a bit, Mrs. Shen would take the initiative to bid farewell, maintaining some surface dignity.

From the looks of it, Old Madam had an even more impatient temper than she had imagined, to the point where she couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in her eye.

This was perfect—Mrs. Shen had lost both face and dignity.

She wondered how Shen Shanyan would deal with Mrs. Shen after returning home.

She had heard from her stepmother before that the Shen family once sent wives and madams who had committed errors to temples, where they stayed for two or three years.

She wondered if Shen Shanyan would do the same.

Gu Xi sighed.

Her heart grew cold.

She truly couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

She turned and lay back down on the bed. Even when Hexiang brought hot water in to attend to her washing and grooming, she still looked listless. Someone who didn’t know better would think she was truly ill.

Yu Tang received the news after Mrs. Shen had already left the villa. Shuang Tao also told her in a low voice, “I heard that Mr. Shen even made a special trip to apologize to Miss Gu, saying that she should rest and recover peacefully, and that he would send someone in a few days to escort Miss Gu back to Hangzhou.”

Inexplicably, Yu Tang’s mood brightened considerably upon hearing this.

She asked Shuang Tao, “Is Old Madam doing well?”

“Should be quite well!” Shuang Tao answered with a somewhat uncertain smile. “They set out breakfast at the usual time. Old Madam ate half a golden silk flower roll, drank half a bowl of mushroom soup, and ate one red bean paste bun. Steward Ji said this was already a good amount for Old Madam to eat.”

Yu Tang knew that Shuang Tao had gone to Steward Ji early in the morning to gather information. She was quite pleased that Shuang Tao could help her so quickly, saying, “Did Steward Ji mention what Old Madam’s plans are for today?”

“She didn’t say.” Shuang Tao replied, “But when Mr. Shen came to bid farewell to Old Madam, she sighed to him, ‘She has wasted your entire life.'”

Yu Tang wasn’t interested in this. She said, “Did Third Master come to pay respects to Old Madam this morning? Did they discuss this matter?”

“I didn’t dare ask about that.” Just as Shuang Tao was responding, Liuxu’s voice came from outside: “Miss Yu, Fifth Miss and Fourth Miss are here.”

These two young ladies were early indeed!

Yu Tang quickly stopped the conversation and went out with a smile, asking the two Pei misses who were entering her courtyard hand in hand, “Why are you here so early? Have you had breakfast?”

After just one night, both young ladies had already recovered their usual composure. Hearing her question, they called out “Sister Yu” in unison and said, “We’ve had breakfast. We wanted to go pay respects to Old Madam together with Sister Yu.”

From their residence to her place, they had to go around half of the main courtyard.

Yu Tang smiled and said, “How did you get here? Where are Second Miss and Third Miss?”

Fifth Miss said, “They went to Great-aunt’s place as soon as they got up today. Mother went to the flower hall to hear the servants’ reports, so the two of us came to find you.”

As she spoke these words, her dark eyes gazed at Yu Tang without blinking, like a little kitten afraid of being abandoned—adorable and pitiful.

Yu Tang quickly placed her hand on Fifth Miss’s shoulder and said, “You’re worried Old Madam’s anger hasn’t subsided, aren’t you? I’m quite frightened too. However, even three cobblers together equal one Zhuge Liang. Let’s go together—we can bolster each other’s courage.”

The two misses cheered up and chattered away, urging Yu Tang to finish breakfast quickly so they could all go pay respects to Old Madam together.

Fourth Miss even suggested inviting Gu Xi along.

Only then did Yu Tang remember that the Pei misses all lived in the same courtyard as Old Madam Pei, so they might not yet know what had happened to Gu Xi. She told the two Pei misses that Gu Xi was ill and that Mrs. Shen had been taken away from the villa by Mr. Shen.

Both Pei misses were dumbstruck. Fifth Miss said with worried sympathy, “Poor Sister Gu, suffering such an undeserved disaster. We should go see her.”

Yu Tang suspected Gu Xi was feigning illness.

In her previous life, she did this too—whenever she wanted to avoid something, she liked to pretend to be sick.

But this was also a common tactic among most inner chamber women. One couldn’t say whether it was good or bad.

She said, “Alright then. We’ll visit her first, then go pay respects to Old Madam.”

Both Pei misses replied “Good” in unison, urging her to have breakfast, and said, “Great-aunt rises very early each day. We’re afraid that if we don’t hurry, we’ll arrive later than them.”

Yu Tang quickly finished breakfast and went with the two Pei misses to first check on Gu Xi’s illness before going to Old Madam’s quarters.

They were indeed a bit late.

Old Madam Yi, Second Miss, and Third Miss had already arrived. Second Madam was personally attending the two old madams with tea. Seeing them, she glared at Fifth Miss but still said in a gentle voice, “Why are you so late? I was just about to send someone to call you!”

Fifth Miss quickly said, “We went to see Miss Gu. She’s fallen ill.”

Second Madam said nothing.

Fifth Miss hurriedly pulled Fourth Miss forward to greet Old Madam Yi. Yu Tang followed after them to pay her respects to Old Madam Yi.