Qing Yuan didn’t know either.

By rights, after Pei Yan went out socializing and drank alcohol, he should return to rest. Yet Pei Yan came to Yu Tang’s place instead, and had been visiting Yu Tang for several consecutive days—not only in the evenings but also in the mornings.

Qing Yuan could only help Yu Tang change clothes while smiling, “In any case, Third Master has already come. You can just ask him directly in a bit.”

“Old gentleman”? Though Old Master Pei had passed away, Old Madam Pei was still doing well.

They were far too respectful and in awe of Pei Yan.

Yu Tang grumbled inwardly as she changed into a white silver-striped ru jacket she normally wore and went to the hall.

Perhaps because he had been drinking, Pei Yan’s cheeks carried a slight flush. Though his features still possessed their imposingly handsome quality, they now held a few traces of warmth.

Seeing Yu Tang enter, Pei Yan glanced at her lazily and said, “Have you had dinner? With Miss Xu?”

His voice was normally quite clear and bright. Now, whether from being too relaxed or somewhat languid, his voice was low and carried a hint of huskiness, calling to mind dim lamplight with a faint warmth, falling like a feather upon Yu Tang’s heart.

Yu Tang’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat. She quickly said, “Third Madam Yang returned late, so I had dinner with Miss Xu.”

Pei Yan nodded without speaking, his gaze falling directly upon Yu Tang.

The ru skirt and ru jacket had loose styles, yet made her figure appear even more slender. The night breeze blew gently, like willow branches in spring—supple, light, graceful and pleasing to the eye.

Yu Tang took a seat in the armchair beside him. After the maids served fresh tea and refreshments, she said, “Did Third Master come over for some urgent matter?”

Pei Yan discovered that during this period, whenever he came over, she would ask this question, as if he couldn’t come find her unless there was some matter.

This wasn’t a good sign!

Pei Yan pondered this, though his expression remained calm. Thinking that since the Yu family wanted to recruit a live-in son-in-law and Yu Tang agreed, she must place considerable importance on the Yu family’s business, so he should approach from that angle.

He directly skipped past Yu Tang’s question and chatted with her at his own pace: “The Suzhou Jiangchao business matter—have you mentioned it to your family?”

Yu Tang thought Pei Yan had come specifically to discuss this matter. She had made up her mind that as long as she didn’t interfere, she wouldn’t be breaking her word.

“I haven’t told my family yet.” She smiled warmly, enthusiastic and polite, yet with an unmistakable distance. “My eldest uncle manages the family business. This matter requires his decision. Would it be inappropriate for me to mention it?”

Her implication was that since this business was so important, how could she, a young lady kept in her boudoir, just pass along a message and be done with it? The Pei family should at least send a proper steward to the Yu family to discuss it with the head of household, shouldn’t they?

Pei Yan was a clever person. Previously, he simply hadn’t thought he would harbor special feelings for Yu Tang. Now that he knew, and was setting his mind on Yu Tang, no matter how tactfully she spoke, after careful thought, if he couldn’t understand everything, he could at least grasp seventy or eighty percent.

Hearing this, the corners of his mouth curved up. He found Yu Tang rather interesting—even her teasing carried some scheming. Fortunately, he had his own plans.

Pei Yan said straightforwardly, “All right! Then I’ll send someone to speak with Old Master Yu.”

Now that was more like it!

Yu Tang nodded with a smile and refilled Pei Yan’s teacup.

Pei Yan then asked her, “Your given name contains the character ‘Tang’—which ‘Tang’ is it?”

Yu Tang was startled.

This question was somewhat improper.

Yet he looked so serious, and they had just been discussing very solemn matters, giving her the illusion that Pei Yan’s question wasn’t improper—he was merely curious and wanted to know. There was no other intention.

She didn’t conceal it and said openly, “It’s the ‘Tang’ from ‘Gan Tang.'”

It was indeed the “Tang” character he had guessed.

Pei Yan said, “You could take the courtesy name ‘Xiangyu’ or ‘Junran.'”

Could courtesy names just be casually given by others?

Yu Tang stammered, unable to respond yes or no.

Pei Yan didn’t continue that topic. He suddenly asked about the Buddha incense from Ku’an Temple: “How did that turn out? Have you settled on a plan? Young Steward Tong is quite capable. Putting him in charge shouldn’t cause any major problems.”

After all, this was ultimately a charitable deed of the Pei family. She could participate, but shouldn’t and couldn’t overstep the Pei family’s female relatives to lead the matter.

She smiled and said, “We discussed it with the young ladies beforehand. This matter is entirely entrusted to Young Steward Tong. We’re just helping to recommend it among the women. As for whether we can help Ku’an Temple, it depends on whether the masters and lay practitioners at Ku’an Temple are willing to work hard and have the ability to build it up.”

Pei Yan looked at her expression—indifferent, not very interested.

He switched topics again, bringing up her family’s mountain forest: “How was this year’s sea buckthorn harvest? Have you decided what to do with it?”

This scattered, random questioning left Yu Tang completely confused, unable to figure out what Pei Yan actually wanted. But her family’s mountain forest had become Yu Tang’s heartache. When Pei Yan brought it up, she couldn’t help but perk up: “We only trial-planted those few plants. They say it takes three years to bear fruit. We tried making some candied preserves, but they didn’t taste any better than the ones from the capital.”

It was truly an embarrassing situation.

Back then, she had been the one strongly recommending planting sea buckthorn trees.

The result was that she had not only troubled her father but also her eldest cousin, Pei Yan, and even Teacher Shen, yet they still came away empty-handed.

So the young girl really cares about this matter!

A trace of triumphant laughter flashed in Pei Yan’s eyes, though his face showed nothing. He remained stern as he discussed this with her: “Which Southerner would eat candied preserves? They’re sickeningly sweet. Of course your candied preserves won’t sell well!”

Then how did you sell candied preserves in the previous life?

Yu Tang almost blurted out this sentence.

Pei Yan watched the young girl’s mercurial expression, secretly curling his lips, though his expression grew even more serious: “Why not try planting something else?”

Yu Tang glanced at Pei Yan and said, “Previously, Steward Hu went to our family’s mountain forest on your orders and said nothing was really suitable to plant…”

Could he have forgotten about this?

Of course Pei Yan hadn’t forgotten. His roundabout conversation with Yu Tang ultimately stemmed from thinking Tao Qing’s words made sense.

The reason Fei Zhiwen and his wife were incompatible had much to do with having nothing in common. Whether he and Yu Tang were suitable required more contact to know.

He was now testing what the young girl liked, disliked, and cared about.

Only by prescribing the right medicine could he win the beauty’s heart!

He also needed to delay for time.

Of course Pei Yan couldn’t say he’d forgotten, nor could he make conversation so obviously that this clever little spirit would detect something amiss. Moreover, he was deeply versed in conversational skills, so he answered Yu Tang with complete righteousness: “How could I forget? I just feel that Hu Xing is rather unreliable in handling matters—if what he said was true, why would your family plant sea buckthorn? Clearly I trusted him too much before. I thought that as someone who had served Old Master, and since he didn’t jump out to interfere when I took charge, he should have some real ability. Who knew I misjudged him!”

Yu Tang smiled awkwardly, but her inner self pressed palms together and apologized to Hu Xing.

In this matter, she had wronged Hu Xing.

Actually, Hu Xing was right. It was she who knew about the previous life and had become obsessed, insisting on making sea buckthorn candied preserves like the Pei Yan of the previous life to earn money, causing damage to Hu Xing’s reputation.

Seeing that Yu Tang didn’t follow his lead to complain about Hu Xing’s faults, Pei Yan guessed that Yu Tang was actually quite satisfied with Hu Xing. It was just that because they hadn’t listened to Hu Xing’s advice, they were now in a difficult position.

This was good!

Pei Yan couldn’t help but curl his lips again, then his expression became even more indifferent: “So I’m planning to have Fourth Steward take over Hu Xing’s duties.”

“What?!” Yu Tang was so shocked she nearly jumped up.

The Pei family only had three chief stewards. When out and about, they could almost represent the Pei estate in conducting business. Even the local magistrate of Lin’an would show respect to the Pei estate’s chief stewards and give them some face. If they encountered someone more obsequious, they would respectfully address them as “brothers” and drink at the same table.

She… she had implicated Chief Steward Hu?!

Yu Tang thought of how Chief Steward Hu had conscientiously accompanied Imperial Physician Yang every time to examine her mother, and humbly greeted her father… She felt terrible.

“This, this isn’t quite appropriate, is it?” Yu Tang quickly pleaded on Hu Xing’s behalf. “You yourself said that Chief Steward Hu served Old Master. The mourning period for Old Master hasn’t ended yet, and he hasn’t done anything to wrong you since you took charge… If you do this, what if it attracts criticism?”

Pei Yan suddenly felt that Hu Xing had his merits too.

He said with feigned difficulty, “But Hu Xing’s work is too unreliable. He can’t just occupy a position without doing any work, can he?”

Even if Hu Xing were to be dismissed, it couldn’t be because of their family!

Yu Tang said urgently, “Why don’t you wait a while before deciding? He’s currently…” Hu Xing was currently serving Old Madam Pei.

She suddenly remembered a story Miss Xu had told her a couple of days ago.

When the Empress Dowager moved into Cining Palace, the head eunuch at her side became the chief steward of Cining Palace. Though he no longer had his previous authority, his monthly allowance remained unchanged, and because he served the Empress Dowager, he actually became more respectable.

Her mind raced: “Why don’t you have Chief Steward Hu serve Old Madam exclusively? I see Old Madam has many matters every day, and the stewards are always running around frantically!”

Like this time, when Old Madam had a sudden whim to invite an eminent monk from Fujian to lecture on sutras, three of the seven stewards were busy with this matter. Whenever Old Madam had any needs, it was Chief Steward Hu making the arrangements.

Pei Yan frowned and hesitated: “What you say makes sense. How about this—that mountain forest of yours has become what it is today, and we bear some responsibility. I’ll simply let you borrow Hu Xing for a while. After all, he’s been a Pei family steward for so many years. The great families of Jiangnan will more or less give him some face. I’ll have him help you resolve that mountain forest matter first before we discuss further.”

What if it can’t be resolved?

Yu Tang’s forehead broke out in sweat. She quickly said, “He’s just an ordinary person, not someone who can turn stone into gold. This is too difficult for him.”

Pei Yan remained unmoved: “Do you think being a Pei family chief steward is so easy? If he doesn’t have the ability to turn decay into wonder, he should step aside sooner rather than later.”