Miss Xu’s collection of perfume bottles were each crystal clear and translucent. The large ones were the size of wine cups, the small ones the size of fingernails. Light or dark golden liquid flowed within the small bottles, appearing radiant and magnificent, like rare worldly treasures.

Miss Xu pulled Yu Tang to sit on the bed and pointed at those perfumes: “Want to try them?”

Yu Tang didn’t stand on ceremony with her either. She picked them up one by one to smell, and asked: “Which one do you think smells best?”

Miss Xu selected one and handed it to her, saying: “Lily fragrance—I think it smells the best.”

Yu Tang, however, preferred the osmanthus fragrance.

Miss Xu generously gave her both bottles, saying: “I’m planning to give the others as gifts to the young ladies of the Pei family.”

Yu Tang naturally agreed.

Miss Xu then had Ah Fu wrap up all the other perfumes.

Yu Tang found it interesting and wrapped perfumes together with Ah Fu.

Miss Xu also helped from the side. While wrapping perfumes, she chatted with her: “Are you planning to stay in the side room all day today? If you don’t have anything else to do, come keep me company. I heard you’re very skilled at making silk flowers—can you teach me? Then I can also make a few silk flowers to please my mother.”

Yu Tang had originally planned to copy Buddhist scriptures.

Miss Xu probably just wanted to pull her in for company. Feeling this was also acceptable, she said: “Then let’s copy a few pages of Buddhist scriptures together. I’m idle with nothing to do anyway.”

Yu Tang smiled with pursed lips.

Miss Xu then sent Ah Fu to deliver the perfumes, then closed the door and drew close to her side, asking in a low voice: “What’s the deal between you and Pei Xiaguang? I can see you two are quite familiar with each other!”

Yu Tang glanced at Miss Xu.

So she’d been holding onto her and not letting her leave because there was a trap waiting for her here.

She said: “Our two families can be considered old family friends. We’ve known each other for a long time—what’s so strange about that?”

Though “family friends” referred to the Yu family’s one-sided acquaintance with the Pei family, and “known each other for a long time” had to count the time from her previous life.

Miss Xu’s eyeballs started rolling again. She said: “But your relationship seems too good, doesn’t it? Didn’t you see what Pei Xiaguang looked like after you left? Tsk tsk tsk, it was like he’d suddenly ripped off a mask. Not only did all his emotions show on his face, but he also ungracefully kicked that old camphor tree—like some hot-tempered foot soldier, truly unworthy of his reputation as a refined gentleman elegant as jade trees in the wind.”

Yu Tang looked at Miss Xu warily: “Where did you see me and Third Master? Third Master kicked the camphor tree? That can’t be possible, right?”

In her mind, she wasn’t worth Third Master Pei getting angry over.

Back when she had used the Pei family’s reputation as a raft, Pei Yan had only lectured her before tossing the matter aside.

Was Miss Xu talking about yesterday afternoon?

Where had Miss Xu seen them? How could she have been there too? If she was there, why didn’t she greet them?

Miss Xu’s face showed neither embarrassment nor guilt, without a hint of shame about eavesdropping. She said: “Yesterday didn’t I want to go find you to remind you about something? I didn’t expect to run into you and Pei Xiaguang talking. I was just hesitating about whether to greet you two when you started arguing. It became even more awkward for me to appear. I could only stand to the side and wait. Then you and Pei Xiaguang parted on bad terms. Pei Xiaguang walked off in a fury, and you slammed the door with a ‘bang.’ Even if I wanted to find you, there was no way! I could only ask you today!”

She sounded quite aggrieved.

In reality, yesterday as soon as she saw Pei Yan and Yu Tang standing together talking, she had hidden off to the side…

Yu Tang looked at Miss Xu suspiciously.

Miss Xu loudly protested her innocence, saying: “I’m not a gossip. What’s there to talk about if I saw you two arguing?”

Yu Tang didn’t believe her one bit.

Miss Xu’s curiosity was extremely strong. In order to see with her own eyes what Pei Yan looked like, she could even follow Third Madam Yang to Zhaoming Temple. How much more so if she saw herself and Pei Yan quarreling?!

Yu Tang definitely wouldn’t tell her!

But she felt she still needed to see Pei Yan again as soon as possible to tell him which prince ultimately won.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find an excuse to remind him.

Yu Tang felt disappointed.

Miss Xu, however, was still fixated on the matter of Pei Yan and Yu Tang arguing. She whispered into Yu Tang’s ear: “Tell me the truth—is your relationship with Pei Xiaguang especially good? Don’t blame me for being nosy, but this person is very cold and ruthless. If he did something to wrong you, you absolutely don’t need to endure it. The more you endure, the more someone like him will look down on you. You should confront him face to face and make things clear…”

Yu Tang interrupted her: “What exactly are you trying to say? Third Master has shown kindness to our family, and he’s my elder. Of course I should listen when he speaks. How could I talk back to him like you’re suggesting?” At this point, she suddenly understood: “You couldn’t be misunderstanding that Third Master and I have some kind of private relationship, could you?”

The so-called “private relationship” was a euphemistic way of saying private affection.

Miss Xu really was thinking this.

However, she felt Yu Tang’s family background was too weak. Even if Pei Yan liked Yu Tang, if Yu Tang married into the Pei family she would suffer—it wouldn’t be a good match.

Moreover, Pei Yan might not necessarily have any intention of marrying Yu Tang.

She couldn’t help but say earnestly: “I think Pei Yan is not a good person. Does your family insist that you take in a live-in son-in-law? Actually, both our Xu family and the Yang family have boys around your age. If you could marry out, I could speak to Third Madam about it. She just loves being a matchmaker!”

Yu Tang’s face flushed bright red. She spat: “I’m not discussing this nonsense with you. Are you copying Buddhist scriptures or not? If you’re not copying scriptures, I’m going back. I was planning to finish copying the second volume, third section of the Amitabha Sutra today.”

Miss Xu became anxious upon hearing this and grabbed Yu Tang’s sleeve, saying: “Sister Yu, I really like you. I think your character is open and straightforward, and you’re honest—not like other girls. That’s why I’m willing to tell you these things. One’s own days are lived by oneself—you can’t rely on anyone else, not even your parents. For some things, if you should fight for them, you must fight for them. Pies won’t fall from the sky.”

This statement wasn’t just about Yu Tang being able to fight to marry out, but also about her relationship with Pei Yan—if Pei Yan wasn’t sincere toward her, she could very well fight for a result she wanted.

These were her sincere words.

“Of course, regarding my marriage with Yin Mingyuan, my family all thought it was good.” Miss Xu said earnestly, “At first I was unwilling and single-mindedly wanted to break off the engagement. Later I discovered Yin Mingyuan was genuinely good to me, and felt marrying him wouldn’t be bad. Then my mother thought it wasn’t good and nitpicked in every way. At first I was also influenced, but later I realized what my mother wanted wasn’t what I wanted, so I persisted and exchanged betrothal gifts with Yin Mingyuan. I know children should be filial to their parents, but one can’t be foolishly filial. They want you to take in a live-in son-in-law only because they fear the family business will have no one to inherit it and they’ll have no one to care for them in old age. If you want to stay home, that’s another matter, but if you don’t want to stay home, you can very well find ways to solve these two issues—you don’t necessarily have to listen to your parents.

“Also, with some matters, many people like to discuss them in terms of being ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy,’ but in my view, whether ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy,’ the first question is whether I want it or not. If it’s what I want, I can’t refuse to fight for it just because I’m ‘unworthy.’ But while fighting for it, I also can’t disregard others’ feelings just because I want to fight for it. Otherwise it’s too much of a grievance to myself and too difficult for others!

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Miss Xu was so anxious sweat appeared on her forehead, as if she desperately wanted to carve these words into Yu Tang’s mind.

This was the first time Yu Tang had heard such reasoning.

She thought of Third Madam Yang openly and honestly feigning illness.

Did all noble family daughters have this kind of confidence?

Yu Tang looked at Miss Xu.

Miss Xu’s pair of phoenix eyes widened as much as they could—though they didn’t actually look much bigger. Her gaze revealed some anxiety and restlessness, clearly showing her concern was direct and candid.

No.

Gu Xi wasn’t this kind of person.

Miss Xu and Third Madam Yang were different types of noble family daughters.

Yu Tang’s heart warmed. She couldn’t help but smile, saying: “This is the first time I’ve heard someone say this. But don’t worry—I’ll think carefully about your words.”

Miss Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

She treated people with genuine sincerity, but sometimes others didn’t necessarily need such sincerity.

That Yu Tang could understand her goodwill made her feel very heartened.

She spoke brazenly again: “As long as you don’t force yourself, that’s fine. If by any chance your marriage doesn’t go smoothly, you can write to me and I’ll help you find a suitable family.”

With Miss Xu looking like a matchmaker, Yu Tang laughed heartily.

Miss Xu became embarrassed and angry, reaching to tickle Yu Tang’s armpits: “Let’s see if you’ll still laugh at me!”

Yu Tang couldn’t dodge and could only get up and run outside.

How could Miss Xu let her go? She chased after her, calling out: “You’d better not let me catch you, or I’ll punish you by making you copy three pages of Buddhist scriptures for me.”

The two of them ran into the courtyard while playing around, but came face to face with a group of dumbstruck female guests.

Yu Tang’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly cleared her throat and assumed a demure appearance, standing still in place. She even elegantly straightened her lapels and hair at her temples, while inwardly criticizing: Where did this group come from? When visiting someone else’s home, they don’t send a visiting card in advance or have their maids or servants announce them—they just barge straight in. How lacking in manners!

On the other side, Miss Xu frowned.

Like Yu Tang, she quickly straightened her lapels, but her gaze rapidly swept over the arrivals.

The leader was her clan sister, Second Young Madam Peng. Following behind her, besides the two young ladies from the Song family and one young lady from the Peng family, there were two others she didn’t recognize.

One was about her age, wearing a sky-blue jacket with a pearl flower hairpin, beautiful and dignified with an outstanding bearing. The other was about Yu Tang’s age, wearing a blue-green jacket with gold patterns everywhere, adorned with kingfisher feather hairpins, magnificent and splendid, graceful like a peony blossom, extraordinarily radiant.

Miss Xu stepped forward several paces to stand shoulder to shoulder with Yu Tang, saying: “Cousin, why did you come over? Why didn’t you have a maid or servant tell me in advance so I could prepare some tea and refreshments to receive you all!”

There was rather a sense of reproaching her for coming uninvited.

Second Young Madam Peng’s face turned somewhat pale with anger. She said without courtesy: “I heard my sister was ill, so I rushed over to visit you. I didn’t expect you to recover so quickly—not only can you walk and jump, but you can even frolic with friends. Had I known, I would have stayed to serve the old ladies and madams instead.”

Why bother coming to see Xu Xuan’s face?

But now that people had come, she could hardly drive them all away.

Miss Xu also didn’t want to quarrel with her cousin here and provide entertainment for others. She called loudly to another maid: “Quickly go prepare tea and refreshments.”