The little person in Yu Tang’s heart was dancing.

She hadn’t expected Pei Yan to be so easy to talk to. She’d made up a few sentences that even she didn’t believe, yet Pei Yan hadn’t questioned anything and simply told her the information she wanted to know.

Back when he’d misunderstood her scheme at the pawn shop, when he discovered her using the Pei family’s banner to threaten Lu Xin, he’d only given her a light reprimand. And at the Yu family’s old residence, when those thugs were chasing her, he’d saved her. Seeing the Yu family had arrived, he’d left without a word. Clearly this person only appeared cold on the outside but was actually quite willing to help people.

However, Yu Tang felt she could understand Pei Yan quite well.

He represented the Pei family—his status and position were extraordinary. If he were warm and approachable to everyone, wouldn’t people swarm him with requests? Would he help or not? Some people knew gratitude and would remember the Pei family’s kindness in their hearts, like her family. But more people, seeing you readily agree to help, would think it was merely a small effort on your part. Success would be taken for granted, while failure would leave much resentment.

In her previous life, she’d seen this kind of thing countless times.

Pei Yan needed some means of self-protection.

Previously Yu Tang had felt Pei Yan was too aloof toward the common people who respected him, but now she didn’t think so anymore.

Full of gratitude, she quickly said: “Alright, alright. I’ve remembered it all.”

Looking at her bright eyes gazing at him, her face practically glowing, Pei Yan felt like he was seeing the little white dog his mother kept—every time it saw him, it would gaze at him with such trust and anticipation… Pei Yan couldn’t help twitching the corners of his mouth.

Hearing the things Yu Wen said about her, wasn’t she quite clever? How was it that she believed whatever he said? With those eyes of hers, Yu Wen probably couldn’t refuse her either—no wonder he let her run around outside.

Pei Yan frowned, feeling he needed to help Yu Wen manage this young lady.

He said: “Is your family planning to invest in a fleet with Old Master Wu? Have you decided which fleet? How much silver do you plan to invest? Or will you invest with goods?”

Listening to him, Yu Tang was ready to kowtow to Pei Yan.

This was information she’d tried many methods to discover but couldn’t. From Pei Yan’s tone, he was very familiar with all this?

Opportunity knocks but once!

Yu Tang couldn’t care about much else and hurriedly said: “We haven’t decided whether to invest with Old Master Wu yet—we’ve just heard about this business. You might not know, but our family does lacquerware business and knows nothing about maritime trade. My elder brother said we need to investigate thoroughly first.” Then she very calculatingly added: “I don’t know if my brother will be able to find out anything? In Hangzhou City, besides Young Manager Tong, we’re not really familiar with anyone.”

If you want to ask him, just ask—why make up so many reasons!

Pei Yan glanced sideways at Yu Tang.

His displeasure was written all over his face.

Yu Tang suddenly had an epiphany, thinking back to their conversation just now.

Could it be Pei Yan preferred directness?

This was very likely!

He dealt with so many people every day—his time was precious. If everyone was this “tactful” before him, he’d go bald just from guessing people’s intentions.

Thinking this, Yu Tang couldn’t help looking up toward the top of Pei Yan’s head.

Pei Yan’s hair was thick and black, and the roots stood stubbornly upright—clearly his hair was both coarse and stiff. According to those old women, people like this usually had bad tempers. In her experience, people with bad tempers were usually kind-hearted.

These thoughts flashed through Yu Tang’s mind in an instant. She’d already opened her mouth following her intuition: “If Third Master isn’t in a hurry to return, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask—in Hangzhou City, do you have any recommended fleets or merchants?”

Investing in maritime trade took many forms. Some directly took silver to find fleets, while others invested through large merchant shops, which usually traded goods for goods.

Pei Yan’s expression softened slightly.

He truly didn’t want to waste time on such trivial matters.

It was best that Yu Tang could state her requests clearly.

He said: “Those merchants in Hangzhou City pride themselves on being in Jiangnan’s foremost city and are quite arrogant. They all take pride in earning court funds. Maritime trade is just a sideline for them, done casually. If your family is serious about this business, go to Suzhou City. Many people there do this business. Several larger shops—like Sihai Silk Shop, Yipin Xiang Spice Shop, Jingde Porcelain House—all have dealings with Ningbo fleets. However, I’m not very clear on the specifics. If you want to ask about recent sailing fleets, just have your brother ask Pei Man later.”

This truly came without effort!

If not for their inappropriate relationship and timing, she would kowtow to Pei Yan.

“Alright, alright!” Yu Tang thought Pei Yan had helped her so much, nodding and bowing obsequiously like a lapdog, hoping there might be some way to repay Pei Yan so she could feel at ease.

Seeing her obediently accept his teaching, Pei Yan felt quite comfortable inside. He instructed her a few more things like “I’ll let Pei Man know, you can just go find him directly when the time comes,” then boarded the sedan chair that came to fetch him and returned to the residence.

Manager Tong immediately came over with concern, saying: “What did you just discuss with Third Master? I saw Third Master’s expression was quite good!”

Yu Tang immediately praised Pei Yan thoroughly and told Manager Tong the information she’d learned from Pei Yan.

Manager Tong was very surprised.

Pei Yan truly wasn’t an easy person to talk to. That he could treat Miss Yu this way showed he greatly respected Yu Wen and valued the Yu family considerably.

“That’s good then!” Manager Tong, fearing Yu Tang didn’t know better, told her: “Third Master followed Old Master traveling everywhere since childhood, and at a young age passed the palace examination to become a Hanlin compiler. His vision and insight are extraordinary. Since he said so, remember to tell your brother to go find Chief Steward Man as soon as possible.”

“I’ve remembered!” Yu Tang thanked Manager Tong repeatedly and returned home overjoyed.

Learning that Yu Tang had encountered Pei Yan by chance and asked him for guidance on their family business, Yu Yuan was happy but also somewhat anxious. After giving himself a pep talk for quite a while, he finally went to find Pei Man.

Having received Pei Yan’s instructions, Pei Man naturally spoke freely and held nothing back. He gave Yu Yuan a general understanding of merchants in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and even knew quite a bit about fleets in Fujian and Guangzhou.

After returning home, he kept sighing to Yu Tang: “Previously I wasn’t convinced—why could other families do such big business while our family couldn’t? Now it seems our family is truly a hundred thousand miles away from these established families. I won’t set such high goals anymore. If in this lifetime I can find a way to let your nephews and nieces all study, expand the business to Hangzhou City, and let your nephews advance one more step on my shoulders, my life will be complete.”

Newborn calves don’t fear tigers.

Old masters are all quite timid.

Yu Tang smiled with pressed lips and asked Yu Yuan: “Elder Brother, should we invest with Old Master Wu or not?”

Yu Yuan said: “Not only can we not invest, we also need to tell Old Master Wu.” At this point, he lowered his voice: “This Ningbo fleet, it’s said, was hastily assembled to compete with Suzhou’s Sihai Silk Shop. According to Chief Steward Pei’s meaning, we should be cautious.”

Sihai Silk Shop? When Pei Yan first mentioned this name, Yu Tang had felt it was very familiar.

She thought carefully and said: “Is Sihai Silk Shop that imperial merchant?”

They had many branch shops. Their Hangzhou branch was right next to the Pei family pawn shop—Yu Tang had some impression of it.

In her previous life, their fleet had always been Jiangnan’s best fleet. Only after the Jiang family rose did they decline. Before that, merchants who competed with them never had good endings.

“That’s the one.” Yu Yuan also had an impression. He nodded: “Sihai Silk Shop is one of Suzhou’s largest merchants. They’ve organized several consecutive fleets that all returned safely. They’ve made a fortune, making many old merchants quite envious. That’s why they banded together to organize this fleet.”

“Then we must tell Old Master Wu.” Yu Tang said nervously. “Old Master Wu has treated our family well, helping us several times. We can’t just watch his silver go down the drain.”

Yu Yuan felt the same way. He left the Yu residence and went to the Wu household.

Old Master Wu had been persuaded by his cousin and couldn’t be convinced by Yu Yuan’s few words. But Pei Yan’s reputation still made him more cautious. Originally planning to invest five thousand taels, he changed it to one thousand taels.

His cousin was very dissatisfied. But ultimately the fleet departed never to return, and this cousin lost everything and fell into ruin. This left Wu in a cold sweat. From then on, Old Master Wu listened to everything Pei Yan said, becoming Pei Yan’s most loyal supporter in Lin’an City—something no one had anticipated.

On Yu Yuan’s side, he really did make a trip to Suzhou City to investigate maritime business and see if the Yu family had opportunities to invest. As for Yu Tang, she had someone investigate news about the Fujian Peng family. She compared it with things she knew from her previous life and felt the people behind the Li family were most likely the Peng family.

This reminded Yu Tang of something.

After Li Duan married Gu Xi and she bore a son, Lin Shi felt this grandson’s status was rather illustrious. Once she even wanted Li Duan’s eldest son to marry a legitimate daughter of the Peng family. Gu Xi felt the child was still too young—his character couldn’t yet be determined, so it wasn’t a good time for such a match. She also advised Lin Shi: “The Peng and Pei families don’t drink from the same pot. If we do this, the Pei family will likely be unhappy. How about I find an opportunity to visit Old Madam Pei and see what the Pei family thinks first?”

Later this matter came to nothing.

She didn’t know if Gu Xi used this matter as an excuse to dissuade Lin Shi’s idea, or if the Pei family had expressed disapproval.

But one thing was certainly true.

The Peng and Pei families were at odds.

Were they already at odds now? Or did something happen later that created a rift? Yu Tang didn’t know.

The simplest method was to directly ask Pei Yan.

But would Pei Yan tell her?

Yu Tang was somewhat hesitant.

She thought again of those events from her previous life.

In her previous life, hadn’t she initially thought she’d have to grow old in the Li household? But she hadn’t accepted it, hadn’t resigned herself, had actively resisted, fought for herself, schemed—hadn’t she still walked out of the Li household with dignity?

Just turning things over and over in her mind without trying anything wouldn’t accomplish anything!

This time Yu Tang again wore servant’s clothes and went to request an audience with Pei Yan.