Although Yu Tang’s words sounded confident and forceful, ringing with conviction, she felt very apologetic in her heart.

Using the Pei family as a pretext was her fault.

But aside from this method, she had no other options.

She secretly thought that once this matter passed, she would definitely go to the temple to pray for Old Master Pei’s blessings, to thank the Pei family for their protection of her family and the neighbors all these years. If there was an opportunity to do something within her power for the Pei family, she would definitely do her utmost without any ambiguity.

Lu Xin half-believed and half-doubted Yu Tang’s words.

But with such matters, it wasn’t the ten thousand possibilities one feared, but the one in ten thousand.

The Yu family didn’t have much interaction with the Pei family, but just the other day he had personally acted as intermediary, requesting imperial physicians from the Pei family to examine Yu Chen Shi’s illness. Yu Wen had said he wanted to personally go to the Pei family to thank Old Master Pei. Who knew what they had discussed?

Thinking of this, he regretted it so much he wanted to stamp his feet.

If he had known it would come to this, he wouldn’t have bothered with the Yu family’s affairs.

But if he hadn’t bothered with the Yu family’s affairs, how would Yu Wen have easily spent two hundred taels of silver to buy that painting?

Lu Xin struggled, “I want to see your father! I have the merit of saving his wife for him, yet he treats me this way!”

Yu Tang looked down at him condescendingly and said, “Do you think I would dare do this without my father’s permission? My father just doesn’t want to see his best friend’s shameless scoundrel face.” As she spoke, she gave A’Tiao a look and said, “First send him to Manager Tong’s place. We’ll reason with him tomorrow.”

A’Tiao loudly responded, “Yes.”

Lu Xin panicked all at once, speaking with outward strength but inner weakness, “What do you want to do? Aren’t you afraid of ruining your reputation so you can never marry in the future?”

Yu Tang said indifferently, “Our family has been ruined and destroyed by your deception. Do you think I could marry into a good family anyway?”

The two engaged in verbal sparring for a while. Lu Xin ultimately feared the Pei family and said, “I have no silver—I’ve already spent fifty taels.”

Yu Tang had A’Tiao search him and found one hundred eighty taels in banknotes.

She spat at Lu Xin and on the spot wrote a document requiring Lu Xin to put his seal on it: “Let’s make things clear. You voluntarily sold this reproduction of ‘Fishing in Seclusion on Pine Creek’ to our family for twenty taels of silver. This stands as evidence, and there shall be no further entanglement in the future. Additionally, I’m giving you thirty taels of silver for travel expenses, and this matter is considered settled.”

How could Lu Xin be willing?

Yu Tang threatened him, “I heard quite a few people burned to death on Changxing Street. If I hide you here, who knows when you’d be discovered.”

Lu Xin stared at Yu Tang like a poisonous snake filled with resentment.

In her previous life, Yu Tang had encountered even more awkward situations. How could she waver because of Lu Xin’s gaze?

She pressed Lu Xin’s hand to make his seal as if no one else was present, put away the document, threw thirty taels in banknotes to Lu Xin, and told him to get lost.

Lu Xin left resentfully.

Yu Tang then took out twenty taels of silver to thank the women who had helped, sent those women away, and the large stone in her heart temporarily settled to the ground.

A’Tiao worried, “Young Miss, won’t Scholar Lu go to the master to complain?”

Yu Tang patted the pouch at her waist containing the document and said, “If he has that kind of face, let him go.”

A’Tiao felt relieved and began to feel sorry about those thirty taels of silver. “Then why did you still give him so much silver?”

Yu Tang said nonchalantly, “The barefoot aren’t afraid of those who wear shoes. Isn’t he eager to go to the capital? If we don’t give him a single coin and cut off his hope, what if he takes desperate measures harmful to our family? Consider these thirty taels of silver as buying peace.”

She hoped Lu Xin would go to the capital like in her previous life and never return again.

A’Tiao agreed with a smile.

Yu Tang also felt she had vented her anger.

But unexpectedly, when she turned around, she discovered a pair of dark eyes in the shadows of the broken wall opposite, quietly staring at her.

Yu Tang was scared half to death.

Could it be the ghost of someone burned to death in the Changxing Street fire?

She wanted to run, but who knew her legs felt as if filled with lead, unable to lift at all.

Yu Tang trembled with fear, almost clinging together with A’Tiao.

The owner of those eyes soundlessly walked out from the shadows of the broken wall.

Bright white moonlight shone on his face.

Twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with refined brows and handsome eyes yet a face like a cold pond, a face like jade yet with an imposing bearing.

It was actually the blue-robed man she had encountered at the pawnshop.

At this moment, he walked out as leisurely as strolling in a garden, as if the ruined Changxing Street had become his back garden.

Yu Tang’s eyes widened.

How could he be here?

Yu Tang quickly looked behind him.

There was a shadow!

She breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he was a living person, not some ghost!

Yu Tang gently patted her chest, calming her spirit. Thinking of this person’s attitude toward her at the pawnshop, she hesitated about how to greet him, but the blue-robed man raised his eyebrows at her and said, “The Pei family? You’re very familiar with Manager Tong of the Pei family pawnshop? Manager Tong vouched for you saying this painting is a reproduction?”

His voice was flat and cold. To Yu Tang it sounded like her face flushed red with acute embarrassment.

The most absurd things she had done in her life—one was going to the Pei family shop to pawn the painting, the second was pulling out the Pei family’s banner to suppress Lu Xin.

And both of these things had been witnessed by the man before her.

He definitely thought she was a fraud and swindler, a person of base character.

As this thought crossed her mind, Yu Tang felt uncomfortable all over. She quickly said, “No, no! Let me explain, this is the person who sold me the painting…”

“If I hadn’t seen that you were also a victim, do you think you would have had the opportunity to pull out the Pei family’s banner and spout nonsense there?” The man said sternly, not wanting to hear her explanation at all, unceremoniously interrupting her words. “Considering you’re young in years and only wanted to recover the property you were cheated of, I won’t pursue this matter with you. If there’s a next time, I definitely won’t be lenient!”

So he had seen everything!

Fortunately, he hadn’t exposed her on the spot.

Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

However, with that tone, he was either someone from the Pei family or related to the Pei family.

If it were her who saw someone using such false pretenses, she would have jumped up in anxiety long ago. How could he just scold a couple of times and be done with it?

Yu Tang lowered her head to admit her mistake.

The man had no intention of talking more with her and strode toward Flower Alley.

Yu Tang hesitated about whether to chase after him to ask who he was, so that later she could ask her father to personally call at his door to thank him. But the man, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, glanced back at her.

That look was like the edge of a sharp blade cutting through the sky and landing on her.

Yu Tang immediately lost her courage.

Although there were reasons for what happened, doing something wrong was doing something wrong. Looking at him like that, he clearly didn’t want to have any association with her. How could she have the face to pester him further?

The man strode away.

Seven or eight men with agile movements emerged from the darkness, clustering around him.

So there were this many people hidden in the darkness?

Yu Tang was shocked.

She hadn’t noticed them at all.

That man and those around him quickly disappeared into the night.

Yu Tang shivered.

A’Tiao, as if crawling out from an ice cave, his upper and lower teeth chattering, said, “Y-Young Miss, who is this person? Why does he look so frightening? He won’t go to the Pei family to report us, will he?”

Yu Tang smiled bitterly. “He probably won’t!”

Others simply didn’t take them seriously at all.

Who would bother with unrelated people?

Yu Tang’s mood was complex, becoming even more curious about this man.

She instructed A’Tiao, “Go ask Manager Tong to find out who this person is.”

A’Tiao was somewhat afraid, but thinking of the things that had happened at home these days, still steeled himself and agreed.

Yu Tang took those one hundred thirty taels of silver home and handed them to Yu Wen, frankly telling Yu Wen everything that had happened.

Yu Wen was greatly shocked, so frightened he broke out in a cold sweat, and blamed his daughter, “How could you be so bold? A young lady, actually running to that kind of place? If something happened to you, what would your mother and I do? And A’Tiao—he’s gone too far, actually encouraging you to go to Flower Alley to hire women to humiliate Lu Xin! If that Lu Xin had more hot blood and shamelessly dragged you down with him, what were you prepared to do?” He also sighed about the blue-robed man’s good cultivation.

“This matter was my fault!” Yu Tang said, then spoke of Manager Tong’s righteousness. “Because I didn’t know whether that painting was real or fake, and didn’t have extra silver on hand, I used the excuse of going to the pawnshop to pawn something, when actually I should have asked Manager Tong to help appraise it. For Manager Tong’s place, I ask Father to prepare some substantial gifts to thank him.”

After all, she was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young lady. For such a serious matter, it was proper for the family’s elders to come forward.

“As it should be!” Yu Wen nodded repeatedly and said, “If we could know who that blue-robed man is, that would be even better—we should also apologize to him.”

Yu Tang nodded and raised the painting in her hand, saying, “Then how should we handle this painting?”

Yu Wen sighed and said, “Keep it as a memento! Consider it buying a lesson. Your Uncle Lu made such a big fool of himself. Most likely he won’t return to Lin’an.”

This was best!

So he wouldn’t keep encouraging her father to do this and that every other day.

Yu Tang said “Mm” and brought up Old Master Pei again, saying, “Father, when you go to the Pei family, ask how Old Master Pei’s illness has been these past few days! Our family owes their family such a great debt of gratitude. If there’s anything we can help with, we should help.”

Yu Wen glared at her and said, “What doesn’t the Pei family have? Would they need our help?”

Yu Tang smiled with pursed lips.

Yu Wen was grateful to the Pei family. When going to the Pei family to express thanks, he really did carefully ask about Old Master Pei’s condition.

The Pei family’s head steward, because Old Master Pei had requested the two imperial physicians Yang and Wang to examine Chen Shi’s illness, and because Yu Wen’s attitude was sincere, didn’t hide it from him, saying, “There’s really nothing serious. He’s just unhappy in his heart, so he called both the second and third masters back home. Third Master can’t sit still, but Second Master has always been quiet. These past few days he’s kept Old Master company drinking tea and talking. With several famous physicians in residence, Old Master’s complexion is visibly getting better day by day.”

As for who the blue-robed man was, the Pei family’s head steward was vague and didn’t explain clearly.

Yu Wen thought this must be someone from the Pei family. Since the Pei family people didn’t say, presumably they didn’t take this matter to heart. He also shouldn’t ask too much—just remember this kindness.

He returned home to scold Yu Tang, “If you dare act so recklessly again, I’ll break your legs!”

Yu Tang obediently stepped forward to massage her father’s shoulders.

Yu Wen had no way to deal with such a daughter and sighed helplessly.

The next day he brought some pastries, tea, and wine to personally apologize to Senior Manager Tong.

Senior Manager Tong, upon learning the whole story, laughed heartily. Not only did he not blame Yu Tang, he even praised her for having courage and had Yu Wen bring back a package of osmanthus cakes for Yu Tang as snacks.

He just similarly didn’t tell Yu Wen who the blue-robed man was.

Yu Tang’s impression of Senior Manager Tong became even better.

Because of this incident, Yu Wen and Chen Shi, afraid Yu Tang would go out and cause more trouble, discussed it and confined her to the house to do needlework.

A’Tiao inquired for a long time but couldn’t find out the identity of the man from the pawnshop that day.

What matters in Lin’an Prefecture could be hidden from the Pei family people?

Clearly others simply didn’t want to see her.

Yu Tang gradually gave up hope. But at night when sleeping alone in bed, sometimes she would toss and turn unable to sleep, thinking of the way that man looked at her, feeling uneasy in her heart.