Chen Shi thought carefully and realized it truly was as Yu Tang said. When she saw Third Madam Yang the next day, she was even more enthusiastic than usual, smiling as she asked: “Did you sleep well last night? I heard from my daughter that Miss Xu has trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds. Is she feeling better?”

One couldn’t see anything different from usual on Third Madam Yang’s face. Her smile remained gentle and polite, her voice still soft and pleasant: “Fortunately your daughter gave us half a bottle of scented water, otherwise it would have been quite uncomfortable.”

The two women talked about scented water.

For a time, they were quite harmonious.

Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

She felt her mother had finally made a friend and hoped her mother could be happy during her time at Zhaoming Temple.

Miss Xu kept smiling at her from behind, and on the way to pay respects to Old Madam Pei, she quietly said: “Now isn’t the time to talk. We’ll chat later.”

It seemed something had happened after they left yesterday!

Yu Tang’s heart stirred with curiosity. Even when following Old Madam Pei and the others to the great hall, she kept thinking about this matter. It wasn’t until she stood in the great hall and the guest monk brought a tray to collect the boxes containing birth dates and times that Yu Tang finally concentrated her mind, not daring to let her thoughts wander anymore. Together with Miss Xu and several others, she knelt on the west side of the great hall, listening to the great monk perform the ceremony.

The entire morning passed this way.

After the ceremony ended, even someone like Yu Tang needed to be helped up by her maid, let alone Old Madam Pei and the others.

Wuneng personally accompanied Old Madam Pei to the meditation rooms in the back.

Miss Xu took the opportunity to walk together with Yu Tang and whispered: “How come we didn’t see the other people?”

Only the Pei family women who had sat in the flower hall yesterday, Mother and Daughter Chen, Miss Xu, and Third Madam Yang had participated in today’s ceremony.

Yu Tang nodded, inexplicably feeling suddenly closer to the Pei family, as if she too had become a friend and relative of the Pei family.

Miss Xu then said to her: “Come play at my place this afternoon. You can pick a few bottles of scented water while you’re there.”

礼尚往来—courtesy demands reciprocity.

Yu Tang smiled at her.

The two said no more. After having lunch in the meditation room and sitting with the elders and Master Wuneng for a while, everyone returned to their rooms for an afternoon rest.

Earlier in the great hall, Yu Tang hadn’t been able to say anything. Upon returning to the side room, she knelt down to examine her mother’s knees.

Fortunately, they had bound cotton padding on their knees beforehand, so they were only a bit stiff, with no other problems.

Chen Shi smiled and said: “I originally thought I could handle it! I didn’t expect my arms and legs to already be old—I have no choice but to admit it. I wonder how Old Madam Pei managed? If only I could still have this body when I reach her age.”

Chen Pozi was getting Chen Shi’s change of clothes from the trunk. Hearing this, she laughed and said: “Perhaps when the Old Madam returns, she’ll also be like you, urgently massaging her legs!”

Both Yu Tang and Chen Shi laughed.

Chen Shi then had Yu Tang roll up her pant legs to show her.

Because of her own experiences, Yu Tang was especially devout and had knelt until her knees were completely red.

Chen Shi was terribly distressed. She quickly had Chen Pozi take her to the west room to apply medicine, also saying: “Have dinner at your place tonight. Rest well on the bed. Don’t go anywhere this afternoon.”

Yu Tang wanted to keep her appointment with Miss Xu. She shook her mother’s arm: “I’ll just sit there for a bit and come right back.”

Chen Shi thought for a moment and had Chen Pozi prepare a gift of snacks for visiting, instructing her: “Don’t run around everywhere. Sleep your afternoon nap first before going. There’s still the sutra lecture tomorrow!”

Yu Tang smiled and agreed. She went back to sleep her afternoon nap, then rose to change and fix her hair, had Shuang Tao take the snacks, and went to Miss Xu’s place.

Who knew that just as she stepped into the courtyard where Miss Xu was staying, she saw Miss Xu hurrying out with A’Fu.

Yu Tang thought Miss Xu had heard the commotion and come to greet her.

But Miss Xu was startled to see her. Yu Tang knew she had come at an inopportune time—Miss Xu probably had something to go out for. Then she saw Miss Xu laugh sheepishly a couple of times, her eyes rolling, before she grabbed her and pulled her under the straight ginkgo tree outside the gate, saying in a low voice: “Do you know Zhou Zijin? The one who passed as top scholar and excels at painting beauties!”

Yu Tang naturally remembered him.

He had previously stayed in Lin’an for a while, inseparable from Pei Yan every day. When she had diarrhea in Hangzhou, Zhou Zijin had even sent someone to visit her.

She asked in confusion: “Why are you asking about him?”

Miss Xu said with dancing eyebrows: “He’s also come to Zhaoming Temple. I need to go see what he looks like!”

“That’s not appropriate!” Yu Tang said hesitantly.

Miss Xu didn’t think anything of it and said: “I heard people say he’s even more dashing and elegant than Pei Xiaguang! Come with me to see!”

Yu Tang frowned.

In her heart, although Pei Yan was aloof with people, his conduct was extremely principled. Unlike Zhou Zijin, whose words and actions always carried a hint of frivolity—she didn’t much like him.

“How can Zhou Zijin compare to Third Master Pei!” Without thinking, Yu Tang blurted out.

“You’ve actually seen Zhou Zijin!” Miss Xu said in surprise, looking her up and down. “I was wondering why you weren’t curious! So you’ve not only seen Pei Xiaguang but also Zhou Zijin!”

Yu Tang’s heart panicked, and she said: “I’m from Jiangnan. I naturally have more opportunities to see them than you do. Moreover, Zhou Zijin previously came to Lin’an. I’m not the only person in Lin’an who’s seen both of them. What’s there to discuss?”

Miss Xu stamped her feet: “Among the famous scholars of our time, I’ve only not seen Pei Xiaguang and Zhou Zijin. Pei Xiaguang has already retired from office. If I don’t see him this time, I’m afraid I’ll never see him again. Zhou Zijin is even harder to see—he’s not only retired but his whereabouts are unpredictable. I’m only lucky to have run into him this time. I must see him!”

Yu Tang didn’t understand such persistence.

Miss Xu said aggrievedly: “Yin Mingyuan and I are compiling a record of imperial scholars. We want to collect the examination papers of the top ten from recent examination classes, write out scholar genealogies, and paint scholar portraits. Now we’re only missing Zhou Zijin.”

Yu Tang was stunned, then felt ashamed.

She had thought Miss Xu was just fooling around out of boredom.

“Then I’ll go with you!” Because the Zhaoming Temple sutra lecture was approaching, the Pei family, fearing incidents, had sent guards to surround Zhaoming Temple. In Yu Tang’s mind, Zhaoming Temple was as safe as the Pei family’s back courtyard, so she immediately agreed.

Miss Xu was extremely happy. Pulling her along as they ran, she said: “You’ll have to point him out to me when the time comes.”

Yu Tang stumbled along being dragged by her. It took quite a while before she could match her pace.

“Where is Zhou Zijin?” she asked Miss Xu breathlessly. “How will we see him? Did he come to attend Zhaoming Temple’s sutra lecture?”

A string of questions left Miss Xu not knowing which to answer. She only said: “Just follow me.”

The two ran all the way until they stopped in a small grove.

Miss Xu said: “We just need to wait here. This is the only path from Pei Xiaguang’s place. Since Zhou Zijin has come to Zhaoming Temple, he’ll definitely visit Pei Xiaguang…”

Before she finished speaking, Yu Tang saw Gu Chaoyang, dressed in a sapphire blue plain silk robe, fair-skinned and refined in bearing, walking toward them along the path surrounded by four or five attendants.

“How can Gu Chaoyang be here?” Yu Tang said in astonishment. “Shouldn’t he be in the capital?”

Miss Xu also seemed startled, but she quickly calmed down. After pondering for a moment, she murmured: “Could the newly dispatched censor to Jiangnan Circuit be Gu Chaoyang?”

“What do you mean?” Yu Tang pressed.

Miss Xu took a deep breath and said: “Before I left the capital, everyone was saying there were problems with the waterways at Gaoyou. The Emperor had the Censorate dispatch a censor to investigate Gaoyou. It looks like this censor is Gu Chaoyang!”

Yu Tang said: “Then he should be in Gaoyou! How can he be here?”

“He has wandered quite far.” Miss Xu said, her expression somewhat grave.

Yu Tang asked: “Can the censor for Jiangnan Circuit move about freely?”

“If they’re investigating a case, of course they can move about freely.” Miss Xu’s eyes were fixed on the path. After a moment of silence, she said in a low voice: “I just don’t know if this matter has any connection to the two Imperial Princes?”

How did this get connected to Imperial family affairs?

Yu Tang gasped.

Miss Xu quickly laughed it off awkwardly, saying: “I’m just speculating randomly—everyone says the silver allocated by the Ministry of Works to repair the waterways at Gaoyou was all embezzled. That’s why I said that. Whether it’s true or not, we won’t know until after the investigation!”

The more she explained, the more uneasy Yu Tang felt.

“What does this have to do with the Pei family?” she asked anxiously.

Miss Xu pondered for a long while before saying quietly: “These elite families in your Jiangnan may seem to be in fierce internal conflict, but at critical moments they’re also quite united. No one can say when they might turn against each other or when they might reconcile. Zhou Zijin appearing here might all be connected to this matter!”

Yu Tang didn’t want to think the worst. She said thoughtfully: “Perhaps he came for Miss Gu and the Pei family’s eldest young master’s marriage?”

“Let’s hope so!” Miss Xu stroked her chin in a boyish gesture and said: “The alliance between the Gu and Pei families was quite sudden to begin with. There are probably still some conditions they haven’t agreed upon. It’s possible he came in person for this. First, to confirm the marriage alliance between the two families, and second, to support his sister. The Gu family’s second branch really doesn’t measure up.” After speaking, she asked Yu Tang: “How come we haven’t seen the Pei family’s First Madam these past few days? She should have come to the temple with everyone, right?”

“I don’t know,” Yu Tang said. “I didn’t pay attention.”

She truly hadn’t paid attention.

Miss Xu said “Oh,” and was about to say something more when Yu Tang saw that Gu Chaoyang was getting closer and closer to them. She hurriedly said: “Should we hide behind the big tree? Standing here like this, we’ll easily be discovered by Gu Chaoyang.”

After pondering for a moment, Miss Xu pulled Yu Tang’s hand to walk out: “We should take the initiative rather than standing here looking suspicious. Let’s go meet them head-on. If he stops us to ask questions, we’ll say we came to request an audience with Pei Xiaguang. If he gives way to us, we’ll act as if we didn’t see him. What do you think?”

Yu Tang had always been timid and cautious. Normally, she might have felt this wasn’t appropriate, but now she wanted to know why Gu Chaoyang had come. Did the Gaoyou matter have any connection to the Pei family?

She decided to go take a look together with Miss Xu.