This nanny wasn’t wrong in what she said.

Although the Song family was an aristocratic clan in Jiangnan, they hadn’t produced any officials of third rank or above in recent years, nor did they have any scholars who caught people’s attention. In the eyes of top-tier official families like the Xu residence, they could be considered declining and didn’t need much effort devoted to cultivating relations with them for the time being. Moreover, the Song residence was in Jiangnan, so they were already quite distant from each other. Since Madam Song the Fourth had come to the capital without proactively visiting Xu Xuan, the Yin residence could simply say “we didn’t know she’d come to the capital” and gloss over it.

It wasn’t any unforgivable mistake.

It was just that since Yu Tang had specifically asked about it now, Xu Xuan felt obliged to give her an explanation.

Yu Tang understood immediately upon hearing this.

It wasn’t that Madam Song the Fourth didn’t want to proactively visit the Xu family, but rather her status and position weren’t yet high enough to send visiting cards to others’ homes as soon as she arrived in the capital. Most likely for this reason she also hadn’t visited Xu Xuan, otherwise the Yin residence wouldn’t have been so discourteous.

If she made an issue of it now, this steward nanny would certainly face questioning.

That wouldn’t be good.

Yu Tang quickly said to Xu Xuan, “Madam Song the Fourth came to visit our home a few days ago. I thought she would come to your home for the celebration.”

Xu Xuan knew Yu Tang wasn’t very familiar with some of the capital’s social conventions. Since today was also her eldest son’s auspicious day, hearing Yu Tang say this, she didn’t question the steward nanny further. She waved her hand to dismiss her and said, “Why did Madam Song the Fourth suddenly come to the capital? She sought you out? Is there something she needs your help with?”

Yu Tang thought about it and felt that if there was someone around her whom she could completely trust and speak her heart to, Xu Xuan counted as one. So she didn’t hide anything and told Xu Xuan about how Madam Song the Fourth wanted to arrange a marriage for Miss Song the Seventh that would benefit the Song family.

Xu Xuan listened with a curled lip and said, “This really proves that old saying—those near vermillion turn red, those near ink turn black. If they want to learn from the Wu family, they need to be willing to put out that much silver as dowry for their daughter!”

But the Song family was better than the Wu family, right?

The Song family was at least a scholarly household.

Yu Tang smiled without speaking and pulled Xu Xuan to go see the child.

Xu Xuan took her to the warm pavilion that had been specially prepared to avoid disturbing the child.

Yu Tang was very fond of him and held the child, looking at him constantly.

Xu Xuan sat smiling on the imperial concubine couch beside them and said, “If you like children so much, just have one yourself!”

Yu Tang immediately felt a bit deflated. Seeing the child’s eyelids drooping with a look of wanting to sleep, she returned the child to the wet nurse and sat down beside Xu Xuan, saying wistfully, “I want to! But I just haven’t! I want to find a physician to look at me, but Xianguang won’t agree. He says some women don’t conceive for three years, and I’m just unnecessarily worrying myself. I think, do I really have to wait until three years have passed with no child before finding a physician? By that time I don’t even know if I’ll still be in the capital. The capital’s physicians are more skilled, aren’t they? I could even request an imperial physician.”

She told Xu Xuan about Pei Yan wanting to take her to climb Mount Tai.

Xu Xuan laughed heartily and said, “Since Pei Xianguang isn’t anxious, why are you anxious? Perhaps Pei Xianguang thinks it’s just right that you don’t have children—you husband and wife can travel around and see things. Once you have children, if you leave them behind you’ll worry, but if you don’t leave them behind, bringing them along is inconvenient.” Then she spoke of herself: “I used to think, having children is just having children—with so many people in the household watching them, surely I wouldn’t need to lift a finger. Only after the child was born did I realize that I don’t feel at ease with anyone watching him, not even my mother. If I can’t see him for even a moment, my heart feels empty, like something’s missing. It’s nothing like what I imagined before…”

The two talked intimately until a steward nanny came in to say that Madam Li and Madam Zhang had arrived. Since Xu Xuan needed to receive the guests, they finally came out of the warm room.

Even so, Xu Xuan consoled her: “You don’t need to worry about the Wu and Peng families’ marriage alliance. You still have Pei Xianguang! And if that’s not enough, there’s still Pei Qiming. Rest assured, they’re much more sensitive to matters of officialdom than we are. The things you’re worried about won’t happen.”

Yu Tang nodded. When she came out from the Yin residence, Pei Yan was still drinking in the outer courtyard. She waited a while before Pei Yan appeared.

However, Pei Yan’s expression was normal, and only when he drew near could she smell a faint scent of alcohol, showing he hadn’t drunk much. But she still stepped forward with concern to support Pei Yan, saying, “Are you all right?”

Pei Yan must have been in a good mood—taking advantage of being close to her, he quickly kissed her forehead and said with a low laugh, “I’m fine. Sorry to keep you waiting. Just as I was leaving, Yin Mingyuan pulled me aside to discuss something.”

Yu Tang didn’t ask what it was.

If Pei Yan wanted to tell her, he would naturally tell her.

She and Pei Yan got into the carriage.

That evening, after dismissing the servants in the room, Yu Tang pillowed her head on Pei Yan’s shoulder. Pei Yan told her about this matter: “Yin Mingyuan received a letter from Yin Hao and thinks the Wu and Peng families’ marriage alliance may be related to the sea chart we sold them last time. The Wu family has sailors, the Song family can build ships, and the Peng family has captains who can sail ships. If these three families join forces, it’s indeed somewhat troublesome.”

Yu Tang couldn’t help gripping Pei Yan’s arm tightly.

Pei Yan then cupped her face and kissed her several times with smacking sounds, saying, “What’s there to worry about? He has his stratagems, I have my countermeasures. Who’s afraid of whom?”

Yu Tang didn’t understand.

Pei Yan then whispered to her, “Our family’s Old Master Yi has a cousin who’s currently serving as an official in Xi’an Prefecture. Yin Mingyuan and I have discussed it—in a few days we’ll transfer him to the capital. Second Brother is in the Ministry of Finance, so it’s not good for him to go there, but there should be no problem with him going to the Ministry of Justice or the Censorate.”

Yu Tang’s spirits lifted upon hearing this, though she was somewhat concerned about this Pei family cousin’s abilities.

After all, the Peng family had invested considerable effort in the Censorate.

Pei Yan gently patted her back and said with a smile, “This cousin of mine lost his father at a young age and grew up in our household from childhood. It’s just that the Pei family has many people with many watching eyes, so after this cousin entered officialdom, there hasn’t been much open interaction. He and Yin Hao were in the same examination class, and Yin Hao praises his abilities and character effusively. After Second Brother took office in the Ministry of Finance, I already wrote a letter to this cousin asking if he was willing to come to the capital, and he quickly replied to my letter. But previously there were too many matters to handle and no particularly suitable position in the capital, so this matter was temporarily set aside. Now it’s perfect timing—isn’t the Peng family forming marriage ties with the Wu family? We’ll place someone in the Ministry of Justice or the Censorate. Best would be the Censorate, so he can deal directly with Peng Yu.”

Yu Tang felt this was a good method.

She rested at ease.

After the Ghost Festival passed, letters also arrived from Lin’an.

First was from Old Master Yi. In his letter he scolded Pei Yan, saying Pei Yan shouldn’t have divided the ancestral lineage with Pei Tong. But what was done was done. After scolding him, he began instructing Pei Yan on how to settle Pei Tong.

The old master not only opposed dividing Old Master Pei’s private property equally with Pei Tong, but also wrote a separate letter to Pei Xuan and severely scolded him as well.

Because Yu Tang worried that the elders back home would misunderstand Pei Yan and blame the division of the ancestral lineage on Pei Yan’s head, when she learned letters had come from Lin’an, she asked to see them.

As a result, she discovered that although Old Master Yi’s words were stern, regarding how to settle Pei Tong, he was much harsher than the Pei brothers, rather conveying the meaning that since he was no longer a Pei family member, they didn’t need to be too concerned.

Yu Tang was quite surprised.

Pei Yan smiled and said, “Although elders like having many children and grandchildren, they hope even more for brothers to be united.”

Yu Tang nodded.

But Pei Yan looked at the letter a few more times.

Old Master Yi was also an extremely shrewd and capable person. When his father had passed away, Old Master Yi had called the two brothers over several times to ask exactly how their father had died. The two brothers really had no face to speak of their eldest brother’s behavior, which was why they hadn’t left any evidence behind. But later when their father’s mourning period ended, Old Master Yi kept sighing as he looked at the two brothers. Pei Yan vaguely felt that Old Master Yi must have learned something.

Therefore, regarding Pei Tong’s division from the lineage, the old master only lightly scolded him a few sentences in the letter, then worried he might still consider brotherly affection and be too lenient with Pei Tong, cutting the grass without removing the roots and leaving behind trouble.

These things he didn’t plan to tell Yu Tang.

Ever since the Wu and Peng families formed their marriage alliance, though Yu Tang hadn’t said anything in front of him, he could sense that Yu Tang’s nerves had been constantly taut. This wasn’t good for Yu Tang. He could only try his best to comfort her and help her calm down.

He took Old Madam Pei’s letter and gave it to Yu Tang, saying, “Mother is also somewhat sad. She wants us to return soon. As for Eldest Sister-in-law, she says she’ll have people send them to the capital as quickly as possible.”

Brothers at odds with each other.

The one most heartbroken was the mother.

Yu Tang had been worried about Old Madam Pei all along. Upon hearing this, she immediately took the letter.

Old Madam Pei’s tone was quite calm, but one could guess her feelings.

Yu Tang sighed and discussed with Pei Yan: “The Zhang family matter is also just about settled. Now that Pei Tong and his family have separated out, Old Madam must feel lonely besides feeling sad. If you really can’t get away, how about I go back first?”

Pei Yan thought about it and said, “How about having Mother come to the capital instead? If people back home ask, we’ll just say she wants to see Pei Tong. Then we’ll go directly from the capital to climb Mount Tai.”

Yu Tang’s eyes brightened as she said, “We can accompany her to relax and clear her mind—that would be good.” She urged Pei Yan to quickly write a letter to Old Madam Pei. “I just don’t know if she’ll be willing to travel together with First Madam?”

Pei Yan said dismissively, “The journey takes two months. I’m afraid Mother might fall ill from anger before even arriving.”

These words were too harsh.

Yu Tang nudged Pei Yan.

Pei Yan stopped talking and had someone send a letter to Pei Tong’s side to tell him approximately when First Madam would arrive in the capital.

Yu Tang then calculated where Old Madam Pei would stay after arriving.

The Second Madam and Pei Xuan were also very happy to learn of this. The couple even made time to come over and discuss with the Pei Yan couple about having Old Madam Pei stay in the capital for some time. They would negotiate with the Qin family to reschedule Pei Dan’s wedding date and wait until Pei Dan married out before returning.

Time passed leisurely until August.

The osmanthus trees Yu Tang was raising were gradually opening their small yellow buds one after another. The entire eastern courtyard of the Pei residence was permeated with the rich fragrance of osmanthus flowers.

Whenever Yu Tang went there, when she returned she had to wash her hair and bathe and change her clothes, afraid of overwhelming Pei Yan with the scent.

Pei Yan hadn’t noticed. He just happily told Yu Tang: “Our family’s cousin has been transferred to the Censorate as Assistant Censor-in-Chief. Although his rank hasn’t increased, he’s been transferred to the capital. He’ll be bringing his family to the capital in the next few days. I’ve sent people to Tongzhou to meet him, and I’d like to invite him to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with our family. What do you think?”

Since they were all in the same boat, naturally the closer the better.

Yu Tang readily agreed and took the initiative to say, “I’ll go discuss with Second Sister-in-law about how to receive their whole family when the time comes.”

Pei Yan smiled and nodded.