Chapter 118 – Rumors

At first, that sounded fine. However, what sort of person was Pei Yan? How could he possibly hesitate before answering her?

Yu Tang grew suspicious and it seemed as if he was saying this to pacify her and her father.

But before she could ponder further, Pei Yan continued, “What were you doing at the local school?”

The suspicion in Yu Tang’s heart deepened.

Pei Yan did not seem like a person who cared about such mundane matters.

By asking this question, he was diverting the topic.

Then just what was amiss about Gu Chang’s visit with Shen Shanyan?

Yu Tang was intrigued. However, Pei Yan was unlikely to answer her doubts, so Yu Tang did not press the issue and spoke about why she had gone to the local school, and made a point of mentioning Li Jun, “I didn’t expect him to be back in Lin’an City too.”

Rizhao was quite far from Lin’an, and it took at least three months for a two-way trip, and even fewer people returned as quickly as Li Jun did, not mentioning the fact that he was supposedly going there to study.

Pei Yan visibly froze.

This made Yu Tang’s curiosity grow even more.

The Gu family called Li Duan over to teach him a lesson, and Gu Chang and Li Jun appeared in Lin’an City one after the other, to say that there was no correlation between the two incidents was impossible in Yu Tang’s mind. Judging from Pei Yan’s reaction, it was obvious that something was going on.

She remembered that Pei Yan had a penchant for people to speak frankly, so she wondered if she should ask Pei Yan right now or ask him about it secretly without her father’s knowledge, when she saw Ah Ming run in to report, “Third Master, Master Gu and Mr. Shen came to visit you!”

They arrived so quickly!

Not only Yu Tang, but Yu Wen, was also a little taken aback.

In contrast, Pei Yan, as though he had predicted this, nodded impassively and said in an apologetic tone, “Please excuse me, I have to meet them. I shall return shortly.”

Yu Wen and Yu Tang quickly stood up and said their goodbyes, “It’s rare for Master Gu to visit Lin’an City. Furthermore, it’s not like we have anything important, so we’ll visit again another time.”

Pei Yan did not insist for them to stay and asked Pei Man to see them off, as he went to see Gu Chang and Shen Shan Yan.

On the way back, Yu Wen whispered to Yu Tang, “I don’t think it’s just a simple meeting of acquaintances between Third Master Pei and the eldest young master of the Gu family. What do you think? Could it be that I’m just paranoid?”

Yu Tang couldn’t help but mentally approve of her father’s intuition.

Furthermore, not only did she had the same feeling, she also had the impression that Pei Yan had something troubling him.

However, she felt that Pei Yan’s struggles and pain were not something that ordinary people like her could relate to, so it was better to remain oblivious rather than snoop around and cause needless trouble.

“I don’t think so.” Yu Tang smiled and coaxed her father, “Perhaps it’s because both of them achieved great merit during their youth and thus were always compared to each other. Therefore, although they may not have been familiar with each other or have any familial ties, but they are still acquainted with each other. “

It was merely her speculation, and she did not expect to convince her father with her words.

Yu Wen nodded his head and said, “You have a point.” He left the matter aside and asked about when Yu Tang and Yu Yuan were planning to visit their family’s countryside estate. “The weather is getting warmer, so you might as well stay at the countryside for a couple more days. I don’t expect you to learn everything about cultivating crops, but you should at least be aware of the things affecting the harvest, so no one will be able to trick you once you officially take over.”

Yu Tang pursed her lips and smiled, saying, “I’ll be there in the next two days.”

As for staying at the countryside estate for a few days, it also depends on her elder brother!

Yu Yuan had just gotten married, so of course he didn’t want to leave Lady Xiang at home by herself while he went to spend a few days at the countryside. Yu Tang encouraged him to take Lady Xiang with him, saying “Sister-in-law grew up in the countryside, so perhaps she is more familiar with these matters than we are, and we can also ask her for advice when the time comes.”

Yu Yuan’s eyes lit up as he listened and immediately used this as an excuse to take Lady Xiang with him when he goes to the countryside.

Although Madam Wang was perceptive, it was mostly towards outsiders rather than family members, so she agreed to this deeply flawed excuse without the slightest suspicion. Not only that, she also urged Lady Xiang to take good care of Yu Tang, saying “You are her big sister-in-law!”

Lady Xiang clearly understood why she was coming along with Yu Yuan, and she found it both amusing and endearing. Not only did she respectfully comply to her mother-in-law’s wishes, but also prepared a lot of food early in the morning and kept asking Yu Tang to eat while on road.

Yu Tang smilingly took Lady Xiang’s arm and sought her advice on management of the fields.

Lady Xiang didn’t hide anything from her but told her everything she knew and said, “You don’t have to worry so much. If you encounter any problems in the future, you can always come and ask me directly.”

Yu Tang nodded repeatedly, and when Lady Xiang had settled down at the Yu family’s countryside home, she and Yu Yuan went to the mountain forest to see the sea buckthorn trees that had been moved from the Pei family.

The trees were growing well and looked like they had survived, but they were originally expected to bear fruit, but there weren’t any signs yet. The worker caring for the land muttered, “It doesn’t look like it will bear fruit. I think young master and young lady have been duped!”

Yu Tang was uncertain as to whether the trees will bear fruit. The only reason why she made this decision was because of Pei Yan’s success in her previous life. Therefore, even though she obtained negative feedback, she wasn’t discouraged. She and Yu Yuan circled around the land and went to look at the fields and spoke to the experienced old farmers before returning.

Lady Xiang had instructed the accompanying maids to prepare the lunch. After eating, Yu Yuan brought them to fish in the small stream nearby…… For the few days they spent at Yu family’s countryside residence, it was as if they went to play and enjoy instead of doing proper work. When they returned to the city, they even loaded a half cart worth of fresh cherries, ducks, rice and other goods.

Madam Chen laughingly scolded them for being “naughty” and asked Old Aunty Chen to help them unload the cart.

Yu Tang pointed to one of the bamboo baskets and said, “This is for the Pei family, so don’t mix them with the others in the kitchen.”

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Madam Chen lifted the blue floral cloth that was covering the bamboo basket and peered inside, saying, “These are wild duck eggs, aren’t they? It’s a waste to send them over like this, why don’t we make preserved salted eggs and then send them over. These type of wild duck eggs taste best when salted.”

Yu Tang wasn’t familiar with these things, so she naturally let Madam Chen do as she pleased.

Lady Xiang had not even been married for three months, so it was the perfect time to impress her in-laws. She smiled and said she would stay and help Madam Chen. “My Aunt’s family kept many ducks, and we used to make many salted eggs.”

Madam Chen was only too happy to let her new daughter-in-law show her talents and smilingly agreed, even praising Lady Xiang, saying “That’s really nice of you to offer your help. I’ll ask old Aunty Chen to inform your mother-in-law that you will be having your lunch here before you return.”

Yu Yuan was concerned for his wife’s wellbeing and wanted her to return home quickly and rest, but Yu Tang gave him a look, so he could only squeeze Lady Xiang’s hand comfortingly before following Yu Tang to the study. As soon as he stepped into the study, he asked impatiently, “What did you want to say? Why didn’t you mention it on the way home?”

Really, once he had a wife he forgot all about his sister!

Yu Tang pulled a face at Yu Yuan and lowered her voice, saying “Brother, let’s arrange a time to visit Suzhou City. I want to inquire about the maritime business.”

For some reason, there were more people doing maritime business in Suzhou than in Hangzhou.

Yu Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. Thinking that this sister of his was up to her tricks again, he said tensely, “You, why are you asking about that? Didn’t we agree that our family would not join in? At that time, Third Master Pei even introduced us to the Song family. Didn’t you refuse?”

Yu Tang wanted to take advantage of this time to join the Jiang family’s shipping business.

She whispered, “I’m not interested in doing maritime trading, I just want to invest a little and earn some returns, using my personal funds. It would likely require a lot of silver to get that mountain forest of ours in good condition.”

If she took silver directly from Yu Bo, then how could that be considered as being independent and self-reliant?

More importantly, Yu Wen treated everyone equally and gave both her and Yu Yuan 2,000 taels of silver each for their own personal use from the auction proceeds.

These words struck a chord with Yu Yuan.

After thinking about it, he replied, “I’ll go home and discuss it with your sister-in-law.”

Was this also something that had to be discussed with Lady Xiang?

Yu Tang was dumbfounded.

Yu Yuan bashfully added, “It’s rare for us to have the chance to go to Suzhou City, so we should have your sister-in-law come along and experience it too.”

Very well.

In her elder brother’s heart, sister-in-law was the greatest.

As Yu Tang glowered at Yu Yuan, a tinge of envy crept into her heart.

In the afternoon, Lady Xiang helped Madam Chen make some salted eggs, and Madam Wang came over to join in.

They spent the afternoon in the veranda, mixing wood ashes.

Madam Wang and Madam Chen chatted, “Do you think Old Master Li would be transferred or promoted? The Li patriarchal house had already split from Li Duan’s family. I wonder if they will regret their decision.”

Only then did Yu Tang learn that Li Duan’s father, Li Yi, had completed his three-year term and gone back to the capital to report to the Ministry of Officials. The new governor of Rizhao had already taken up his post, so would Li Yi stay in the capital or would he be transferred to another post? Would he be promoted to a higher rank or be transferred to a same position? There was a lot of discussion in Lin’an these days about this and everyone was closely watching movements of the Li residence. The reason why Li Jun returned was also to bring back some of Li Yi’s belongings from his previous tenure in Rizhao.

Everyone was commenting snidely, “What belongings? I’m afraid they should be the silver he embezzled during his tenure, right? Isn’t it said that for a three-year governorship, 100,000 silver taels were paid? Master Li is the governor, and has been the governor of several areas in the past as well!”

Madam Chen didn’t care much about this, but it would be better for the Yu family if the Li family could continue with their status quo.

She laughed unconcernedly as she mixed the wood ashes, “I think the Li family’s methods are a little suspicious. In Lin’an City, it’s not like nobody has worked as an official before, but has anyone’s family been rumoured to have returned with so much silver like theirs?”

Li Duan was greatly upset by the rumors.

He lashed out at Li Jun. “I merely asked you to send some things back, how did word get out that our family had sent 100,000 taels of silver back from Rizhao? Who spread the rumors? What kind of people did you hire?”

Li Jun lowered his head and did not say a word.

He was clearly three years younger than Li Duan, but his expression was wooden, appearing as if he was two or three years older than Li Duan. People who were unaware of this would think that Li Jun was the older brother and Li Duan was the younger one.

Li Duan could not help but curse in his heart as he observed.

Ever since the Wei Xiaoshan’s incident, Li Jun had not been able to recover from the blow he received, and lost much of his vigor.

He paced around the room a few times irritably, his anger was suppressed in his heart and as he stopped to have a proper lecture with Li Jun, Lin Jue barged in.

Li Duan was greatly annoyed.

This was the Li family, not the Lin family, but Lin Jue entered their inner rooms as if he was taking a stroll along a smooth road that no one had ever thought to block his way.

However, before he could show that bit of displeasure on his face, Lin Jue already spoke up in a deep voice, “Ah Duan, I have investigated the matter clearly, it was Eleventh Master Peng who started the rumor.”

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