Time passed leisurely in the mountains, and with Pei Yan constantly appearing before her eyes, before she knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival had arrived.

Old Madam Pei and Nanny Chen prepared for the ancestral worship ceremonies.

The abbot of Three Purities Temple, located in the western suburbs of Lin’an City, Daoist Master Qingyuan, came personally to invite Old Madam Pei to attend the “Mid-Autumn Purification Ritual” held at their temple.

Not only did Old Madam Pei gladly agree, but she also gently and softly explained to Yu Tang: “Our Pei Family is among the prominent families in Lin’an City with many members serving as officials elsewhere. People inevitably look to us as their example, so we must be careful in our words and actions. We must attend the temple’s incense gatherings and the Taoist temple’s ritual ceremonies as well.” She then asked her, “Have you been to Three Purities Temple before? Their vegetarian dishes are even better than those at Zhaoming Temple. You might as well come with me this time to experience it.”

Yu Tang had received much guidance from Old Madam Pei during this period, so she naturally smiled and agreed.

Pei Yan clearly preferred going to the Taoist temple. Not only did he encourage Yu Tang to try Three Purities Temple’s vegetarian dishes, but he also encouraged her to stay overnight there: “They’ve planted several night-blooming cereus plants there, and it’s just the season for them to bloom. Let’s go and try our luck.”

Though he said this, he had already sent people to Three Purities Temple early on, instructing them to make sure they could see the night-blooming cereus flowers bloom.

During this time, Yu Tang had followed Pei Yan to the greenhouse several times when she had nothing else to do, and had gained some understanding of rare flowers from various places. Hearing this, she smiled and asked him: “Is it magnolia? The kind of white flower that blooms in Qiongzhou?”

Pei Yan smiled and said: “It’s different from magnolia. Night-blooming cereus is much rarer than magnolia.”

He then took a sheet of rice paper and drew both magnolia and night-blooming cereus, telling her the differences between the two.

The two were talking happily when A’Ming ran in cheerfully, her face full of joy as she called out “Third Master” and said: “Master Zhao and the others have returned.”

Zhao Zhen had gone to the capital with Pei Qi and the others, so returning at this time…

Yu Tang’s heart leaped with joy.

At least Pei Yan would have people to serve him now.

She looked toward Pei Yan.

Pei Yan also seemed very happy, smiling as he said: “Quickly show them in!”

A’Ming went out joyfully.

Yu Tang prepared to withdraw, but Pei Yan kept her there, saying: “They’re not outsiders. You should familiarize yourself with their faces too.”

This meant he was treating her as his closest person!

Yu Tang blushed a little, but still tried to compose herself, standing there with Pei Yan waiting for Zhao Zhen and the others.

Before long, Zhao Zhen and Pei Qi walked in, travel-worn and dusty.

Seeing Yu Tang there, both showed surprised expressions, but quickly collected themselves and paid their respects to Pei Yan.

Pei Yan didn’t avoid Yu Tang either, saying directly: “You’ve all worked hard on the journey. If the matter isn’t urgent, go down first to change clothes, wash up, and rest well. It won’t be too late to tell me about your trip to the capital after that.”

Zhao Zhen remained silent.

Pei Qi said: “Old Master Zhang kept Pei Wu and Master Shu in the capital and had us return first.” As he spoke, he took out two letters from his chest and handed them to Pei Yan, continuing: “These are letters for you from Old Master Zhang and Master Shu. Old Master Zhang said that as soon as you finish your mourning period, you should go to the capital. Scholar Zhou is waiting for you there.”

Pei Yan didn’t rush to read the letters, but instead asked: “How was the Zhang Family matter handled?”

Pei Qi replied: “We all followed Scholar Zhou’s instructions and only helped the Zhang Family with some rough work. The accounting office and protocol office matters were handled by Master Shu.”

Pei Yan nodded, and Pei Qi and Zhao Zhen withdrew.

Only then did Pei Yan sit down in the armchair behind his desk to read the letters.

Yu Tang felt it wasn’t quite appropriate for her to be there.

But Pei Yan smiled and said: “What is there in this household that needs to be hidden from you?”

Yu Tang’s face turned red at his words, but her heart was sweet as honey.

She personally poured tea for Pei Yan.

Pei Yan quickly finished reading both letters and told Yu Tang the important parts: “The Zhang Family matter has far-reaching implications. My mentor needs to restructure his arrangements at court and likely wants Brother Zijin to enter official service. Brother Zijin is accustomed to a carefree life, so he must be feeling quite dejected. My mentor also knows he’s forcing him somewhat, so he wants me to go help him. As for Shu Qing, he explained in detail the whole story of how Tao An came to control Jiangxi Province, mentioning which people I should thank and which I should remember—basically giving me a full account! He’s staying there because Brother Zijin has no one available at the moment, so he’s helping him as an advisor for a while.”

But he didn’t mention whether he himself would go to the capital.

After thinking, Pei Yan said: “Second Brother would be more suitable to go than me.”

But Pei Xuan didn’t have Pei Yan’s level of trust from Zhang Ying.

Pei Yan said: “This can’t be helped. Since I’m managing the Pei Family, I must put the Pei Family first.”

Yu Tang asked worriedly: “Then when Second Master seeks to be reinstated, won’t it be rather troublesome without Old Master Zhang’s support?”

Pei Yan smiled slightly and said: “My second brother has his own mentors and connections. It’s just that he keeps a low profile, has a strong-willed eldest brother and a willful youngest brother, so he usually yields more often.”

In other words, even without Zhang Ying, Pei Xuan had the ability to be reinstated on his own.

Yu Tang didn’t quite believe it, saying: “If Old Master Zhang helped mediate, surely it would be easier?”

“Not necessarily!” Pei Yan said, “The court situation is very complex right now. Sometimes being too close to a powerful figure like my mentor who has students everywhere isn’t necessarily a good thing. On the contrary, my second brother’s mentor honestly serves as Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy, and when it comes to actually helping Second Brother, his influence might not be less than my mentor’s.”

As long as the Pei Family didn’t end up on the wrong side in the end.

Yu Tang could only remind Pei Yan again: “The Second Imperial Prince does have the advantage of age. As for the Third Imperial Prince’s affairs, it’s better to stay less involved.”

Pei Yan thought again of Yu Tang’s dream and by extension thought of Peng Shiyi.

He said curiously: “I wonder what he wants with those Gao siblings? That man surnamed Gao who was a manager resigned from his employer and went to Datong. Why is he supporting a manager? What for?”

On the Datong side, there were border markets.

Besides the horse trade, there was also the fur trade. But neither Fujian nor the Two Guangs were the main distribution areas for horses and furs.

Yu Tang hesitated: “Could the Peng Family be trying to get involved in other businesses?”

Pei Yan neither took them too seriously nor underestimated them, saying: “Let’s have people watch them a bit longer. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Yu Tang tried hard to recall matters from her previous life, but couldn’t find any clues from those past events.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, she first returned home to worship her ancestors, then accompanied Old Madam Pei to Three Purities Temple.

During the day they listened to the Taoist masters recite the “Xuanmen Daily Practice Scripture,” and at night they recited the “Iron Pot Flaming Mouth Almsgiving,” staying overnight at Three Purities Temple.

At midnight, Qing Yuan woke her up, and she and Pei Yan went to see Three Purities Temple’s night-blooming cereus.

Indeed, it was different from magnolia.

Magnolia flowers were as large as plates, with a circle of small flowers surrounding the outside and even smaller flowers dotting the center. The night-blooming cereus had only one bloom, as large as a rice bowl opening, pure white as jade, somewhat resembling a water lily.

Perhaps because she had seen the water lilies Pei Yan cultivated, Yu Tang wasn’t as amazed as she had imagined, but it was still very beautiful.

Pei Yan asked her: “Do you want to move a couple of pots back to cultivate?”

“No need!” Yu Tang shook her head. She preferred the water lilies Pei Yan cultivated—flowers in water with two lively goldfish swimming below, a perfect balance of stillness and movement that gave one a feeling of vibrant life when looking at them.

“Then shall we cultivate a couple of pots of magnolia?” Pei Yan asked her, and the two walked side by side out of the garden where the night-blooming cereus was kept.

Magnolia was relatively easy to cultivate, and Yu Tang thought it was feasible.

Pei Yan then discussed with her what to plant in the greenhouse this year: “We must cultivate more plum blossoms, and also kumquat trees and Buddha’s hand citrons. We’ll use them for purification displays during the Spring Festival.”

What far-sighted thinking.

Pei Yan disagreed, saying: “This is our first year of marriage. The family will most likely host spring guests, and there will certainly be many visitors then. How can we not decorate the house properly?”

The two chatted and laughed, walking around Three Purities Temple once more before returning to their respective rooms.

But unexpectedly, when they woke up early the next morning, the Yu Family had sent A’Tiao to fetch Yu Tang home, even saying: “There’s an urgent matter. You can continue going up the mountain to accompany Old Madam in a couple of days.”

Not only Pei Yan, but even Old Madam Pei was greatly startled and personally summoned A’Tiao for questioning.

A’Tiao didn’t know either, only saying it was suddenly arranged by Yu Wen last night, and Yu Wen was still at home waiting for Yu Tang to return.

Old Madam Pei’s first thought was to suspect whether Chen Shi’s health was failing.

If Chen Shi had some misfortune, and Yu Tang had to observe another three years of mourning, what would happen to the marriage between the two families?

She immediately called for Nanny Chen: “You accompany Miss Yu back together. If anything happens, report to me immediately. Don’t let the Yu Family make decisions on their own.”

What Old Madam Pei feared most now was that the Yu Family couldn’t get a good physician.

Nanny Chen was Old Madam Pei’s confidante and knew what Old Madam Pei was worried about. She immediately said: “I’ll take a few young servants along as well.”

So if anything happened, they could send someone to report.

Old Madam Pei nodded and said: “Take Hu Xing with you too. He’s familiar with both Imperial Physician Yang and Imperial Physician Wang.”

These were the only two decent imperial physicians in Hangzhou.

Nanny Chen agreed, and while having someone go fetch Hu Xing, she went to Yu Tang’s side to help Yu Tang direct her maids and servants in packing, while also comforting Yu Tang: “It’s just going back to stay for a couple of days. If you can’t come up the mountain for a while, I’ll send someone to deliver your usual things back. You don’t need to take so many things with you.”

This would also save time and allow them to leave earlier.

Yu Tang was also feeling somewhat anxious. Hearing Nanny Chen’s suggestion, she only took the things she normally used and left.

As a result, she encountered Pei Yan at the main gate.

He stood by the mule cart holding his horse’s reins, saying in a low voice: “Don’t worry. I’ll accompany you back. I’ve also sent guards from home ahead. We’ll know what happened when we get there.”

Yu Tang’s heart settled greatly, and she let Pei Yan personally help her board the mule cart.

Nanny Chen watched and sighed.

This marriage would probably be impossible to break off no matter what.

She also prayed in her heart that nothing was wrong with the Yu Family, otherwise how disappointed Old Madam Pei would be!

As it turned out, just as Pei Yan had predicted, they encountered the Pei Family guards who had been sent ahead at the Lin’an City gate. The guard said: “Third Master, Old Master Yu didn’t say what the matter was, but Old Master Yu also said it was good news, telling you and Miss not to worry and to take your time traveling. There’s no rush.”

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Tang couldn’t help but complain inwardly—telling her to come back without explaining clearly, she had been on edge the whole time!

When they returned to the Yu Family home, they learned that Jiang Chao had returned, bringing back a whole ship full of spices, gold, and jewels!