Miss Xu rubbed her hands together eagerly, feeling incredibly fortunate.

She had wanted to see Pei Yan ever since arriving in Lin’an, but there had been no opportunity. Although she had asked Yu Tang for help, even when Yu Tang sent someone to relay a message, there was no response. She vaguely knew Pei Yan was busy with something, and truly felt it would be inappropriate to disturb him at such a time.

But Zhou Zijing was different.

Her family had some connection with Zhou Zijing—one of her male cousins had taken the imperial examinations in the same year as Zhou Zijing. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to obtain copies of Zhou Zijing’s examination papers from that year’s spring examination and palace examination.

However, Zhou Zijing had retired early and returned to his hometown, and moreover, he enjoyed traveling everywhere. Yin Mingyuan had asked people to arrange meetings several times without success. Who would have expected to encounter him at Pei Yan’s place? If this wasn’t fate, what was?

Miss Xu immediately linked arms with Yu Tang and pulled her toward Pei Yan’s study, whispering to her: “Don’t worry, I won’t put you in a difficult position. When we get to Pei Xiaguang’s place, we’ll first ask someone to announce us. It’s just that this person has a somewhat peculiar temperament—he doesn’t respond to either soft or hard approaches, so I’m not quite certain whether he’ll see me. However, you never know with these things. Do you know why Zhou Zijing excels at painting beauties? It’s because he loves beautiful women. Don’t misunderstand—he’s not that kind of base person. Rather, it’s like appreciating vessels or fresh flowers; he enjoys admiring beautiful women. If Pei Xiaguang sees us, that’s fine. But if he doesn’t, Zhou Zijing will surely feel sympathy when he learns of it and mediate on our behalf, offering us a few words of comfort. The only problem is that this way we won’t get to see Pei Xiaguang, which would be rather regrettable. I’m afraid in the end I’ll still need your help with this matter.”

Yu Tang hadn’t previously known that she and Yin Mingyuan were compiling such a book. Now that she knew, she couldn’t help but have her own little calculations.

She said: “You mentioned only including the top ten candidates from each imperial examination’s golden list, so Pei Family’s Third Master definitely won’t be among them. Will you continue to include others in the future?”

At this time, a complete set of the Four Books and Five Classics was something many families couldn’t afford to purchase, let alone examination papers from the great competitions.

Upon hearing this, Miss Xu laughed and said: “What are you planning?”

Yu Tang’s face reddened as she said in a voice barely above a whisper: “If it’s compiled, could you give me a set?”

Such books were priceless treasures; she simply didn’t dare mention buying one.

Miss Xu’s eyes rolled around as she said: “Then you absolutely must find a way to help me meet Pei Xiaguang.”

This was her agreement.

Yu Tang felt grateful and thanked her repeatedly. She even wanted to request a set for Pei Yan as well, saying: “If Third Master Pei asks, may I mention that you’re compiling this book?”

Miss Xu smiled with pursed lips, finding Yu Tang quite interesting—a thoroughly considerate person.

“Yes, yes, you may.” She agreed repeatedly, though inwardly she thought that it seemed the relationship between the Yu and Pei families was much better than she had imagined. Otherwise, Yu Tang wouldn’t be making decisions on Pei Yan’s behalf. If Pei Yan knew why Yu Tang had sold him out… what she really wanted to see now was what expression Pei Yan would have.

Miss Xu was in high spirits when she encountered Gu Chang coming toward them.

From a distance, Gu Chang saw two young ladies approaching with their personal maidservants. One wore a plain goose-yellow beizi jacket, the other a plain honey-colored beizi jacket. Both were about seventeen or eighteen years old, with flower-like appearances. However, his gaze lingered several extra moments on the young lady wearing the plain honey-colored beizi jacket.

Honestly, he had seen quite a few people wear honey-colored clothing. That neither-yellow-nor-white color, regardless of the fabric, made people look old and dull when worn. Only this young lady before him somehow made the plain honey color set off her snow-white skin, bright eyes, and white teeth, making her brilliantly beautiful in an incomparable way, arousing his curiosity irresistibly.

When they drew closer, he was even more astonished.

Not only was this young lady beautiful, but her every gesture and movement was generous and graceful, her bearing elegant and swaying.

No matter how plainly she dressed, it couldn’t conceal her naturally beautiful qualities.

Gu Chang secretly admired her in his heart and couldn’t help looking a few more times.

With these looks, he felt the young lady seemed familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

He looked again.

Yu Tang had actually seen Gu Chang in her previous life, but only from afar a few times. This was the first time in this life she had been so close to him. She had originally intended to pretend not to recognize him and pass by, but Gu Chang’s solemn expression and his sharp, penetrating gaze made her heart uneasy, and she couldn’t help but glance at him.

This one glance happened to meet Gu Chang’s line of sight.

Gu Chang saw a pair of almond-shaped eyes that seemed to contain water.

He couldn’t help but smile at Yu Tang.

Yu Tang could only return a smile as well, nodding at him before hurrying along with Miss Xu.

Gu Chang’s brow furrowed together without him even being aware of it.

He considered himself fairly refined and courteous—why did this young lady seem so afraid of him?

Or perhaps it was because she had been raised in the inner chambers all her life?

With this thought, his brow smoothed out again. He smiled to himself and continued walking forward with his attendants.

But after a few steps, he suddenly asked the person beside him: “Do you know whose young lady that was who just passed by? Why do I find her somewhat familiar?”

His trusted attendant was called Gao Sheng. Upon hearing this, he immediately said: “I’ll go investigate right away.”

Gu Chang nodded.

Gao Sheng, however, was inwardly astonished.

Gu Chang had never become engaged because his teacher Sun Gao had taken a liking to him, yet for some unknown reason, Gu Chang kept making excuses and avoiding the matter. As for this Zhaoming Temple scripture lecture gathering, they had happened upon it by chance. Only after arriving did they discover that several prestigious families had sent people, particularly the Peng and Tao families—one rushing over from Fujian, the other from Guangzhou. This made one think deeply. But undeniably, the young ladies from these families were all quite fine. If they could select a mistress from among these families, she wouldn’t be inferior to Miss Sun’s family.

With this thought, he felt he needed to be more attentive to this matter.

After all, their young master never inquired about the backgrounds of those women.

Gao Sheng went to investigate Yu Tang and Miss Xu’s identities.

Miss Xu, meanwhile, quietly criticized Yu Tang: “Why are you hiding? With me here, what can Gu Chaoyang possibly do to you? Though this person is formidable, he’s still being suppressed by Sun Gao. My father has long found Sun Gao displeasing. People like them who accomplish great things certainly wouldn’t create trouble for Sun Gao over people like us. Just be bold and act as if he doesn’t exist.”

Yu Tang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Didn’t I just see him? It was only a nod.”

“You don’t even need to nod at him.” Miss Xu huffed. “This person may appear dignified and noble, but he has plenty of schemes. Even Yin Mingyuan nearly fell for his tricks, so we’re even less a match for him. The best approach is to keep our distance.”

Yu Tang very much wanted to know what had happened between Gu Chang and Yin Mingyuan, but seeing Miss Xu’s unwillingness to say more, she refrained from pressing further.

The two soon arrived at the courtyard where Pei Yan’s study was located.

The study’s screen doors stood open on four sides, and inside one could vaguely see several men either seated or leaning against various chairs, drinking tea and conversing.

Miss Xu stood on tiptoe to look and whispered to Yu Tang: “Quick, help me see which one is Pei Xiaguang.”

Yu Tang smiled but didn’t respond to her. Instead, she instructed Shuang Tao: “Go find A’Ming and tell him I’m accompanying Miss Xu and we’d like to pay our respects to Third Master and Scholar Zhou.”

Shuang Tao went off with a smile.

Yu Tang pulled Miss Xu aside, saying: “You’ll attract even more attention this way. You should calm down! If we do get to see Scholar Zhou and Third Master Pei, have you thought about what to say?”

Miss Xu raised her eyebrows at Yu Tang and said proudly: “This is when we make use of Second Brother Yin!”

Yu Tang didn’t understand.

Miss Xu kept her in suspense: “Just wait and see.” Then, worried that Pei Yan might blame Yu Tang, she added: “If Pei Xiaguang asks later, just say I made you bring me here, that I told you I had urgent business, which is why you brought me over.”

Yu Tang agreed, though inwardly she thought she needed to find an opportunity to tell Pei Yan everything truthfully.

She felt that the current situation at Zhaoming Temple was complicated. If she concealed anything and caused Pei Yan to misjudge the situation, what if the Pei family suffered as a result? Of course, her words might not be of much use to the Pei family, but she also couldn’t presume to be clever and withhold information from Pei Yan.

She had tremendous faith in Pei Yan’s judgment.

After waiting about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Pei Yan and Zhou Zijing arrived together.

“Ah, this must be Mingyuan’s little fiancée?” Zhou Zijing, waving the gold-painted folding fan he carried year-round, immediately began teasing Miss Xu upon seeing the two of them. “Your cousin has written me several letters, but we kept missing each other. You just want a small portrait from me, don’t you? You should have said so earlier! I could have painted one for you myself. When it comes to portraits, I believe I can rank in the top three in the current dynasty. You’d better not paint carelessly and damage my heroic image! Although Mingyuan is also skilled at painting, I think his flowers and birds are slightly better than mine, but his portraits are far inferior to mine.

When will that book of yours be completed?

I think before publication, I need to review it carefully first.

Don’t turn the other scholars into caricatures.”

This made Miss Xu, who had only had eyes for Pei Yan at first sight, glare at him directly.

Zhou Zijing laughed heartily and said: “The people in your Xu family really do look alike. Your ninth brother’s eldest daughter looks exactly like you—like sisters.”

Miss Xu no longer wanted to speak with Zhou Zijing.

Pei Yan, however, twisted the knife from the side, his expression cold and indifferent as he said: “What urgent matter does Miss Xu have in seeking us out? Since Brother Yin sent you here, did you bring his letter? Perfect timing—Master Tao just arrived at Zhaoming Temple as well. In a few days he’ll be going to Huai’an, so I’ll have him help me deliver a reply to Brother Yin.”

His manner suggested that if she were lying, he would see how to deal with her. He looked as stern as could be, leaving Yu Tang dumbstruck. It took her a long while to recover, and upon recovering, she felt that Pei Yan had always treated her quite well. Despite all the trouble she had caused him, he had never treated her this way.

Miss Xu was also dumbfounded.

But she was bold and clever. After a brief moment of panic, she quickly regained her composure.

Second Brother Yin had treated her like a younger sister since childhood. Even if she had lied, Second Brother Yin could help her cover for it. What did she have to fear?

However, Pei Yan’s divine countenance could no longer salvage his image in Miss Xu’s heart.

She smiled and said: “It’s nothing urgent really. Second Uncle Yin asked me to relay a message to you, suggesting that when you have time, you might host a gathering in Hangzhou Prefecture. Sweet and sour fish and Dongpo pork are the real delicacies—Gaoyou only produces salted duck eggs, after all.”

Yu Tang sensed that after hearing these words, Pei Yan’s gaze toward Miss Xu became ice-cold and sharp.