Seeing Yu Tang’s outfit and appearance, Pei Yan felt a headache coming on.

He said: “Can’t you dress properly when you come to see me?”

Was she not dressed properly?

Yu Tang looked down at herself. Seeing the coarse brown cloth clothes on her body, she couldn’t help smiling with pressed lips: “Third Master, I had no choice! Though it’s self-deception, if I didn’t make this show of it, people would inevitably gossip.”

“And do you think dressed like this, people won’t gossip?” Pei Yan couldn’t understand Yu Tang’s thinking. “Like this, everyone can tell at a glance you’re a woman in men’s clothing.”

“Exactly!” Yu Tang smiled, her smile sweet. “But everyone also knows I’m trying to conceal it. Those with kind intentions will pretend not to notice. Those who love to gossip will gossip no matter how I dress. Rather than make those kind-hearted people feel uneasy, better to just let those gossips talk.”

What kind of twisted logic was this!

Pei Yan felt his headache worsen.

He said: “Next time you come, dress properly and arrive in a sedan chair.”

In other words, if she came seeking an audience with Pei Yan again, he’d still be willing to see her!

Yu Tang was overjoyed, her eyes filled with undisguised delight: “I’ll follow Third Master’s instructions completely.”

Since she was asking favors of others, naturally she should follow their rules.

Only then did Pei Yan feel somewhat better inside. He said: “What brings you to see me? Does your father know?”

Yu Tang smiled awkwardly: “I came to find you about my own matter—my father doesn’t know yet!” Then she added: “Mainly because this matter is difficult to discuss with my father, so I came directly to you!”

Pei Yan was somewhat surprised, saying: “What matter is it?”

Since Yu Tang had already come seeking him out, she had no intention of beating around the bush anymore. She asked directly: “Do the Pei family and the Fu’an Peng family have any grudges?”

“Why would you ask that?” Pei Yan was startled. “Is it about the maritime trade? Though our two families can’t be said to have close relations, we also have no rifts. If there were any major matters, we could still communicate with each other.”

In other words, the Pei and Peng families only became at odds after this point.

Yu Tang deliberated, then told Pei Yan about Lu Xin selling the fake painting. Of course, she said nothing about her previous life—she only said that at the time her heart had grown suspicious, so out of curiosity she’d investigated.

As Pei Yan listened, his brows furrowed. The more he heard, the deeper his frown became. By the end, even his expression had soured.

He said: “You’re saying you felt something was off about the Li family’s determination to seek marriage with you, so you investigated?”

As Pei Yan said this, he couldn’t help scrutinizing Yu Tang carefully.

Not tall, but with long legs that made her appear taller than she actually was. Snow-white skin, delicate yet tinged with rosy color, making her look full of vitality and spirit. A pair of eyes both large and bright—when looking at people, they sparkled with a hint of curiosity, giving her expression a somewhat mischievous air. But her eyebrows were thick and dark, her nose bridge straight, her lips full. Unlike other girls who’d just come of age, who no matter how beautiful still showed some immaturity, she appeared poised and graceful, gentle yet with a touch of charm—very dignified, yet also revealing a hint of restlessness.

This kind of girl was undoubtedly very attractive.

How could she think the Li family’s determination to marry her was suspicious?

Of course, many girls were raised in the inner quarters, unaware of their own beauty. But clearly this eldest Miss Yu was not one of them.

At Zhaoming Temple, she’d very clearly known how to use her advantages, known how to attract others’ attention—especially that of young men.

Moreover, he felt that with her hair in a falling horse bun and wearing a large flower or similar adornment would suit her better. Those double spiral buns and such diluted the subtle wildness in her bones, lacking that distinctive brilliance that caught the eye.

Yu Tang had no idea that in this brief instant, the man before her had thought so much. She said: “Yes! I’m not some devastating beauty, and my family isn’t some prominent household—who would insist on having only me? Lady Lin even said it was because the Li family’s second young master had coincidentally seen me once. I thought, how could there be such a coincidence? One day I heard the Li family’s second young master and others were having a gathering at Zhaoming Temple, so I deliberately went to run into him. Turns out he didn’t recognize me at all…”

Tsk!

This was yet another misunderstanding.

Pei Yan felt his throat uncomfortable, as if someone had squeezed it.

Could it be that these past days, with autumn flowers blooming, there were too many flower fluffs and pollen in the air?

Generations of Pei family heads had loved flowering trees—the courtyards were planted everywhere with various flowers, grass, and trees. If he hadn’t had people pull up some, the household would have flowers year-round, pollen fragrance everywhere, making people sneeze all day long—it would drive him mad.

He couldn’t help coughing twice. Only then did his throat feel a bit better. “So you’re saying your visit to Zhaoming Temple that day was intentional?”

As soon as Yu Tang saw Pei Yan, she’d become “eyes observing in all directions, ears hearing from all sides.” Hearing Pei Yan say this now, she couldn’t help blinking: “You knew I went to Zhaoming Temple that day?”

Of course he knew.

Pei Yan gazed at Yu Tang.

He saw her face full of confusion, her bright eyes starting to speak again, as if asking him “were you there at the time?”

Inexplicably, he felt somewhat restless.

However, he immediately felt at ease.

Throughout his life he’d been upright and aboveboard—everything he did could be spoken of openly. That day at Zhaoming Temple, though he’d clearly seen the Yu family’s eldest miss, he’d acted as if he hadn’t and stood on the second floor of the scripture library watching the whole show.

Of course there’d been nothing wrong with what he did then.

They hadn’t known each other at that time.

But admitting it now made him feel very uncomfortable. Perhaps because he’d gradually become familiar with the Yu family’s eldest miss, admitting it so bluntly would make him seem somewhat cold?

Pei Yan thought this in his heart, vaguely glossing over the topic: “Are you now suspecting the Peng family instigated the Li family to scheme for the maritime map in Lu Xin’s hands?” Speaking of this, he smiled at Yu Tang.

It was the kind of smile where he pulled at the corners of his mouth.

A bit of a smile that didn’t reach the eyes.

Yet his eyes held light.

A light of perceiving worldly affairs.

Making his appearance very attractive.

And giving her a feeling of having nowhere to hide.

Yu Tang felt her face heating up. She said quietly: “I, I was just afraid of the flood washing away the Dragon King Temple—family not recognizing family! I want the Li family to suffer misfortune, but what if it implicates the Pei family? That would truly be an enormous sin!”

This young lady was truly very interesting.

Clearly her heart held a thousand schemes, yet the words she spoke were righteous and proper, her face full of integrity—who knew where she got such confidence.

Pei Yan suddenly felt a bit too lazy to make things difficult for her. He said: “Rest assured, our two families have no business relationship. If we truly came into conflict, they wouldn’t show our family any mercy, and our family wouldn’t exercise patience or yield to them either.”

That was good then!

Yu Tang patted her chest.

Every place had its local power. Lin’an City’s local power was the Pei family. The Peng family extending their reach into Lin’an City—in both reason and sentiment, she should come inform Pei Yan.

Fortunately she hadn’t misjudged the situation!

Pei Yan asked her: “So when your whole family went to Hangzhou, it was to have someone examine that painting?”

Though she knew it couldn’t be hidden from him, he’d connected all these causes and effects without even thinking. Only now did Yu Tang feel her coming to tip off the Pei family had been somewhat rash.

Fortunately, seeing her face show hesitation, Pei Yan didn’t press the question. Instead he pondered: “Do you still remember that map? Could you describe it to me?”

Yu Tang’s mind raced.

Their family had held that map for so long, trying every method without making heads or tails of it. But the Li family was different—they were after all a scholarly family, more experienced and knowledgeable than the Yu family. Perhaps they could soon research the map thoroughly. Even if their family couldn’t figure it out, they could hand the map to the Peng family to study. The Peng family had even more scholars, even more people who’d seen the world. If like in her previous life, once this map fell into Peng family hands, the Li and Lin families used it to conduct maritime trade with the Peng family, made their fortune—what meaning would there be in telling the Pei family?

She wanted revenge on the Li family—should she wait until the Li family had grown powerful before striking?

That would be foolish, wouldn’t it?

Yu Tang gritted her teeth and said straightforwardly: “That map—our family’s people don’t recognize it either. However, fearing we couldn’t explain things clearly later, we had someone make a copy. If you’re interested, I’ll go home right now and bring it to you.”

Hearing this, Pei Yan became interested.

This Miss Yu truly had many tricks up her sleeve!

He said: “You really kept a card up your sleeve early on. However, when the Lu family came demanding the relic from your family, why didn’t you think to give them a fake map?”

Of course there were many reasons.

Only speak three parts truth to any person—don’t pour out your whole heart.

She certainly couldn’t tell Pei Yan everything!

Yu Tang assumed an honest appearance and said: “First, we didn’t know if they recognized this map—we feared being discovered. Second, we feared our family didn’t have the ability to stop them. If they took this map and organized a fleet with others, sailing out to sea following a fake map, many people might die—though our family has a grudge against the Li family, we can’t knowingly do wrong and harm others’ lives. The best method is to spread this map around, making it worthless. This way, the Li family might not be able to hook up with the Peng family vessel.”

The Li family’s dream of getting rich would shatter.

This was much better than giving them a fake painting.

Of course, even if she’d wanted to give them a fake painting, she’d have needed to find someone capable of forgery at that time!

She couldn’t drag Master Qian into the water again!

Besides, Master Qian was no longer in Hangzhou City.

Hearing this, Pei Yan’s expression became serious.

Ordinary people would make a fake map for the Li family, but the Yu family had taken a path opposite to everyone else.

Was the Yu family too kind? Or too foolish?

Pei Yan found himself momentarily speechless.

Yet in his heart, he somewhat admired the Yu family’s integrity, gaining new respect for them.

Yu Tang, however, felt she’d thrown off a huge burden.

If the Pei family also had such a map, they could compete with the Peng family on equal footing.

Even if the Pei family didn’t want to compete with the Peng family, they could give this map to the Peng family’s competitors.

If the Pei family was interested in this painting, even better.

She could give the painting to the Pei family and repay some of their kindness.

In any case, as long as the map the Li family held wasn’t the only copy, their family wouldn’t be so important to the Peng family.

The Li family still dared to secretly collude with outsiders behind the Pei family’s back? Hmph, just the Pei family’s anger would be enough for them to drink their fill.

But this still wasn’t the grand gift Yu Tang wanted to give the Li family.

She wanted to give the Li family another present.

But first she needed to handle the map matter properly.

Yu Tang said: “Third Master, I’ll go home right now and bring the map to you.”

But Pei Yan stopped her, saying: “This matter isn’t urgent. I actually have an idea—would you like to hear it?”