Miss Wu wore a bright red brocade jacket embroidered with gold throughout, adorned with a red gold phoenix hairpin holding pearls that swayed as she moved. She was radiant and dazzling, like the most luxurious peony in the world. Gu Xi wore a water-green brocade jacket with subtle patterns of broken branch flowers, decorated with South Sea pearl hairpins the size of lotus seeds. She stood gracefully elegant, like a lotus reflected in water, pure and serene.

The two stood side by side, as bright and beautiful as spring itself, like the lady figures in Zhou Zijin’s paintings.

Compared to them, Yu Tang lying on the soft sedan chair was like a weed beside luminous pearls.

But what right did they have to stand here so bright and beautiful?

Pei Yan clenched his fists.

His nails dug into his palms, causing sharp pain.

This immediately sobered him, yet plunged him into even deeper irritation and even rage.

Reason told him he should endure at this moment, but emotion made him feel that if he had to endure even at times like this, what was the point of the power, status, fame, and wealth he pursued?

Left and right, cold and hot, these two emotions collided within him, forming a storm.

Yet his face showed nothing. The gaze he directed at Miss Wu and Gu Xi was ice-cold, heartless, deep and indifferent.

Miss Wu involuntarily took a step back, inexplicably panicked, and began to slander Yu Tang in misdirected anger.

“Look!” she whispered in Gu Xi’s ear, turning around as if hiding behind Gu Xi. “If Miss Yu hadn’t fainted like this, how could Third Master Pei have rushed over? Perhaps she’s been waiting for this opportunity all along!”

Pei Yan and Yu Tang?!

Impossible!

Gu Xi instinctively shook her head, her voice tight with tension. “That shouldn’t be! What is Miss Yu’s background? Besides, Third Master Pei and Old Master Yu are friends of the same generation—they’re separated by generational rank!”

Miss Wu seemed to draw strength from slandering others, saying dismissively, “That’s because you’ve experienced too little, Miss Gu. Miss Yu may have low birth, but she can’t help being beautiful. Men, no matter how upright and gentlemanly, ultimately still prefer beautiful women. Otherwise, who would all those Yangzhou slender horses be sent to? What does generational difference matter? It’s not even the same surname. I’ve seen plenty of such families. As long as they can marry into wealthy families, what does generational rank matter? They can throw away propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame. Just wait and see—that Miss Yu definitely won’t be satisfied with merely being a companion to Old Madam Pei!”

Gu Xi’s first reaction was “absolutely not.”

Even if what Miss Wu said was true, it still couldn’t happen!

She would marry Pei Tong in the future, and Pei Yan’s wife would be her aunt-in-law.

Any woman present could become her aunt-in-law, even the utterly foolish Sixth Miss Song.

But not Yu Tang!

This woman constantly opposed her, and their temperaments clashed—nothing good ever happened when the two were together.

Just thinking that Yu Tang might one day be positioned above her made Gu Xi’s scalp tingle.

Even if Yu Tang became Pei Yan’s concubine.

Yu Tang would still be Pei Yan’s pillow companion.

This made her particularly dissatisfied.

She suddenly remembered her first direct encounter with Pei Yan.

Watching the two from afar, she had sensed that Pei Yan was entirely gentle, refined, and harmless, which gave her the courage to approach.

But then Yu Tang arrived, and she saw a Pei Yan completely different from her impression.

Now, hearing Miss Wu’s words and thinking carefully, she hadn’t misjudged him—clearly, Pei Yan simply had two completely different attitudes toward different people and situations.

Gu Xi felt unsettled, realizing this matter couldn’t continue like this. She had to find a way to stop it!

Who should she turn to?

Her mind raced, and she thought of First Madam Pei, who still hadn’t appeared at the sutra lecture.

Pei Tong had once told her that his father and the abbot of Zhaoming Temple were close friends beyond worldly concerns. Therefore, he and his mother enjoyed his father’s protective blessings—the abbot of Zhaoming Temple showed them special favor. Not only had the abbot personally introduced the renowned Master Wuneng to First Madam Pei, but Master Wuneng had even conducted a special Buddhist service for their deceased father out of respect.

If First Madam Pei could receive such courtesy from Zhaoming Temple, surely she could help at this moment.

At the very least, she couldn’t let Yu Tang achieve her heart’s desire!

Gu Xi quickly made up her mind. She smiled at Miss Wu and said, “After all, the Yu and Pei families are close friends. The First Madam couldn’t attend today’s sutra lecture due to her health, so she probably knows nothing about what’s happened here. I need to send someone to inform the First Madam, so she can decide whether to visit in person or send someone to inquire. That way she’ll have a proper plan.”

Miss Wu watched Gu Xi and sneered inwardly.

Miss Gu really couldn’t stand Miss Yu and opposed her at every turn.

Her casual remark had made Miss Gu reveal her hand.

Miss Gu thought she could use her, but who knew that with just a few words, she’d jump into the pit herself.

For now they were still allies, so it was best not to break the façade if possible.

Miss Wu quickly whispered, “Then hurry!”

She wondered whether to go forward and greet Pei Yan—after all, having seen him, not greeting would be impolite. But Pei Yan’s gaze was too cold, and she feared that approaching now would invite humiliation.

Of course, if Gu Xi weren’t present, inviting humiliation wouldn’t matter.

After all, years ago, the eldest son of the Jiang family had looked down on her elder sister the same way, but in the end, hadn’t he been utterly entranced and married her!

The thought flashed by, and the opportunity vanished with it.

Before Miss Wu could make a decision, Pei Yan had already lifted his foot and headed toward the meditation room.

Gu Xi was stunned and couldn’t help asking Miss Wu, “Can you tell me—is Third Master Pei going to the meditation room? Does that path lead anywhere else?”

Miss Wu was equally confused.

Looking at the direction Pei Yan went, nine times out of ten he was heading to the meditation room.

What was he doing? The sutra lecture was about to begin, and a large group of aristocratic families and old friends sat in the dharma hall. Was he really going to ignore them all?

Pei Yan had frequented Zhaoming Temple with his father since childhood. In terms of relationships, the one truly close to the head abbot wasn’t his elder brother Pei You, but his father, Old Master Pei.

He was as familiar with Zhaoming Temple as his own backyard.

He knew that from here, passing through a bamboo grove, then turning west and going through a narrow alley, he could reach the meditation room behind the dharma hall, concealing himself from both those in the dharma hall and people in the temple.

But when he saw the probing gazes of Gu Xi and Miss Wu, he curled his lip disdainfully and went straight to the meditation room, not even bothering to make perfunctory appearances in the dharma hall.

They were just two insignificant inner chamber women. If he had to fear, consider, and avoid even such people, how could he manage the century-old Pei family or protect all the clan’s elders and youngsters?

Since they wanted to overthink things, let them overthink. Better yet, let everyone know how much he valued Miss Yu, so in the future people would keep their distance from her when things came up.

But Miss Yu was usually healthy and robust—how could she suddenly faint?

Could she really have been frightened by Peng Eleven?

She was someone who dared hire ruffians to frighten her father’s friends—how could she fear a mere Peng Eleven?

Pei Yan couldn’t figure it out at all as he strode swiftly to the meditation room.

Here, Second Madam Pei and Chen Shi had just settled Yu Tang and hadn’t yet had time to help straighten her clothing when they heard that Pei Yan had rushed over.

The so-called meditation room was a place for the temple’s senior monks to contemplate in solitude. Meditation rooms varied in size. This one behind the dharma hall was mostly used as temporary quarters during lectures for visiting eminent monks. It was just a small room—aside from a daybed, one side held a table with two high-backed chairs, the other side a mirror stand with a copper basin. Opening the door revealed the entire room at a glance.

Second Madam Pei felt this was improper and was about to order the servants to borrow a screen to provide some privacy when unexpectedly Pei Yan walked in.

She quickly rose and blocked Yu Tang from view, saying hastily, “Why has Third Uncle come? The family’s attending physician will be here shortly. Miss Yu hasn’t yet awakened.”

Pei Yan was feeling irritable at the moment, so his face showed no expression. In the eyes of Second Madam Pei and Chen Shi, who weren’t very familiar with him, this appeared as mature stability, composure, and reassuring reliability.

“It’s fine,” he said coldly, as if comforting them. “I’ll take her pulse!”

No matter how strict inner chambers were, they were quite tolerant of outsiders and physicians.

Second Madam Pei and Chen Shi didn’t think much of it and immediately made way.

Pei Yan examined Yu Tang carefully, noticing her slightly furrowed brows, beads of sweat, and pained expression. Compared to earlier, she looked more like someone suffering heatstroke.

However, having nightmares looked the same!

Pei Yan showed no emotion as he sat on the edge of the bed, took Yu Tang’s hand, and placed three fingers on her cun, guan, and chi pulse points.

Second Madam Pei and Chen Shi didn’t dare breathe.

The pulse was rapid, slow and intermittent.

This was clearly shock and fright!

Pei Yan looked at Yu Tang incredulously, took a deep breath, calmed his mind and spirit, and switched to her other hand.

Second Madam Pei and Chen Shi’s hearts pounded wildly as they stared at Pei Yan, even more afraid to make a sound.

Still the rapid pulse.

Pei Yan’s expression grew even darker.

Chen Shi couldn’t bear it and asked timidly, choking up, “Th-Third Master, how is our young miss?”

Pei Yan glanced at the deeply worried Chen Shi, then at his anxious second sister-in-law, and decided Miss Yu’s condition should wait for the physician’s diagnosis.

If the physician diagnosed the same as him…

Then it must be kept strictly secret—fainting from fright and disrupting the entire order of the sutra lecture, not to mention anything else, just the female relatives in the dharma hall’s east hall alone could chew this over for twenty or thirty years.

He had no intention of letting Miss Yu become others’ after-dinner gossip!

Pei Yan couldn’t understand why Yu Tang would be frightened. He said, “It’s better to wait for the physician to see what he says!”

Hearing this, Chen Shi immediately thought of how those physicians had spoken to Yu Wen during the years she was ill.

Her head buzzed, and before she could speak, she fainted first.

“Madam Yu, Madam Yu!” This time even the capable Second Madam Pei panicked, quickly calling the attending servants to help.

Everyone talked at once—some saying to place Madam Yu beside Miss Yu, others suggesting the temple monks bring another daybed. The room descended into chaos.

Pei Yan’s face darkened as he made a decisive decision. “Isn’t this close to where the Wu and Wei families are resting? Take Madam Yu there first and ask Madam Wu and Madam Wei to help watch over her. After the physician sees Miss Yu, have him go there to prescribe some calming pills for Madam Yu.”

This was the best solution.

They didn’t know why Miss Yu had fainted, but Madam Yu had clearly fainted from anxiety over her daughter’s condition. One cause was unknown, the other had clear reasons—naturally they should prioritize the one with unknown causes.