Chapter 164 – Surprise
The one who came to deliver the letter to Yu Tang was Ah Cam.
Upon seeing Yu Tang, he hurriedly greeted her and bowed low, saying ”Miss, it was young master who asked me to come. He said that he has received your letter and will do as you say. He mentioned that everything is fine at home, so there’s no need to worry, and that the deals have all been finalized. When you return, we can celebrate together.” After saying that, he pulled out a letter from his pocket.
Yu Tang nodded with a smile as she opened the letter and immediately started reading it.
In addition to what Ah Cam said, Yu Yuan also praised the ten paintings Gentleman Zhang did, saying that the merchant was very satisfied and wanted to offer ten taels of silver each to buy the paintings. Yu Yuan wrote to her with two goals in mind. First, the buyer was in the embroidery business, and he came to their store to buy boxes and cages in order to make his store more complete, so that his embroidery business can grow. Therefore, there was no conflict between their two businesses and they could also shar mutually benefits. Second, it was to discuss with her, if the paintings were to be sold to that merchant, should they give a portion of the silver to the Zhang family? How much silver would be suitable?
This matter has to be decided before the merchant leaves Lin’an, so as soon as he received Yu Tang’s letter, he quickly sent a letter to her for her response.
Yu Tang covered the letter as she thought for a while before sending a reply to Yu Yuan.
Selling of the paintings was possible, and the silver can be divided in half with the Zhang family, but they should make a contract with the buyer, that these ten paintings were their Yu family’s exclusive paintings, so the buyer can only use them for works commissioned from their family’s store and were not for transfer or sale. If he wanted to sell those works, he had to inform the Yu family in writing and get the approval of the Yu family, and there would also be a usage fee.
As it was getting late, it would take at least an hour and a half to travel back to Lin’an city. As soon as Ah Cam received the letter, he immediately got up to say goodbye and returned to the Yu family.
Pei Yan knew that apart from Yu Tang who was staying in the guest courtyard, Mrs. Shen and Gu Xi were also staying in the other guest courtyard. Therefore it was inconvenient for him to head directly to Grand Madam to greet her, so he returned to the courtyard where he lived, and after freshening up and changing, he sent someone to ask Grand Madam when it would be convenient for her to meet him.
However, before the person could return with a reply, he heard that someone from the Yu family had arrived again with a letter for Yu Tang.
He could not help but feel worried.
Yu Tang’s letter had only just been delivered, and her family immediately wrote back and they couldn’t even wait a day for her response. It couldn’t be that something had happened at home, could it?
Pei Yan thought of Mrs. Yu’s illness, and thought of the 30 acres of good land …… that the Yu family had bought from Li Duan’s family.
He called Hu Xing over, who was serving Grand Madam, asking “What happened on Lady Yu’s side?”
Over the past few days, Hu Xing worked diligently in the courtyard helping Grand Madam with various duties. He even knew which dishes were popular and which dishes weren’t with the several young ladies and guests every day, and he hadn’t heard of anything happening at Lady Yu’s side.
He was instantly confused.
Pei Yan was originally dissatisfied with his work, and it was only because he saw that he cared for Grand Madam quite well, plus his mother also needed someone who was obedient and helpful, so he cast a blind eye and allowed him to continue in the position of third chief steward. Now seeing him like this, Pei Yan was all the more dissatisfied, and this dissatisfaction was directly displayed on his face.
He snapped, “What? Were you not aware of this?”
Only a few days ago, Third Master had all the male servants over the age of 5 who had served the Grand Elder for many years beaten to death, and sold off all the women and children. The entire household was trembling with fear and trepidation, all privately discussing that third master was not as benevolent and generous as Grand Elder had been nor was he as tolerant. He was completely unlike the people of the Pei family. There were also people who envied Hu Xing for being blessed by the misfortune, having been sent to serve at Grand Madam’s place ahead of time.
Upon hearing this, Hu Xing was undeniably grateful, yet also terrified. Therefore when Pei Yan asked him such a question, he quivered, and his legs softened and he nearly fell to his knees, and it took quite some time before he was able to find his voice. He stammered, “Lady Yu and the other young ladies have been enjoying their time together, waking up bright and early and going to bed early, and occasionally taking a stroll along Ming Mountain Lake, and she had just gone to view the plum-blossom trees at the Plum-blossom Grove with the other young ladies …” He was on the verge of tears as he continued, “Really, I really didn’t find anything amiss…” Afterwards, he instinctively added with barely mustered courage, “Besides, Lady Yu is only an unwed lady of the inner courtyard, even if I wanted to find out more, she wouldn’t tell me either!”
Pei Yan’s expression cleared slightly.
Hu Xing secretly wiped away beads of cold sweat on his forehead, and had a feeling that he had just escaped death.
However, immediately after, he started contemplating why he would say that he had no way to get close to Lady Yu and also why Pei Yan would lighten up because of these words……
For a moment, he felt as though he was let in on an extraordinary secret.
When Hu Xing gazed at Pei Yan again, his expression was different.
Pei Yan didn’t look Hu Xing in the eyes, so naturally, he didn’t pay attention to those tiny changes in his expression.
He thought for a moment and asked, “Are Lady Yu and the others still enjoying the plum-blossoms in the Plum Grove?”
Hu Xing hurriedly replied, “Yes, and they are also composing poems.”
Finally, he was able to give a proper answer to his question with a few sentences, which proved he was somewhat useful!
Pei Yan glanced at Hu Xing and said expressionlessly, “Quietly send a message to Lady Yu telling her to wait for me by the plum-blossom grove for a while, I have something to ask her.”
This was going against the rules of propriety, wasn’t it?
Why did Pei Yan want him to do it?
Hu Xing’s heart felt bitter, but he didn’t dare to show it, not only did he have to respectfully bow his head and agree, but he also had to act as if he was ecstatic with this assignment, and replied loudly, “I’ll go now!”
Pei Yan coldly hummed.
After receiving the letter, Yu Tang didn’t think much of it. She whispered to Grand Madam her reasons and found an excuse to leave the warm pavilion.
Fifth Young Miss just happened to have completed a six-sentence poem, and seeing her leave, she couldn’t help but ask, “Where is Sister Yu heading off to do?”
Several of them were composing poems at the same time. Gu Xi was the first one to complete it, Third Miss was second, the third was Yu Tang, with Second Miss and Fifth Miss following closely behind, while Fourth Miss was still there with her head bent as she wrote the poem.
Once everyone was done, they would take them together to Grand Madam, Mrs. Shen, and Second Madam for critique.
Grand Madam didn’t think much of Yu Tang’s call to leave.
Since Yu Tang was aware of the oddity regarding the Li family’s land sale, Pei Yan must have known about it as well.
She then guessed that Pei Yan should be looking for Yu Tang to ask about this matter.
However, this was not something young girls should know, so she skimmed over it, saying with a smile, “Which family doesn’t have things they have to do? Dear child, sometimes the situation calls for you to feint ignorance and at other times, it may require you to speak frankly. You still need some practice on this before you can leave home.” After speaking, she glanced at Second Madam.
Second Madam laughed and responded, “Don’t worry, I will teach her well.”
Grand Madam hummed in reply, and the matter was thus closed.
However, Gu Xi’s heart was in a state of turmoil.
The Yu family’s servant coming to find Yu Tang clearly shows that there’s something, but when Yu Tang came back, she only said it was her family who asked her some things about the store, and she even kept it secret from Grand Madam. Now that she’s boldly stepping away from the poetry gathering, clearly there was something going on and it wasn’t a simple matter.
For Hexiang, her thoughts were even more complicated than Gu Xi’s.
She sought an opportunity to approach Gu Xi and whispered, “Miss, Third Master arrived.”
Gu Xi raised an eyebrow.
Hexiang knew that she wanted more details, so she quickly said, “I just went to inquire about Lady Yu and found out that Third Master hasn’t come to greet Grand Madam yet, and I overheard that he would come over after the evening meal.”
Then what is Yu Tang up to?
Gu Xi felt vaguely uneasy in her heart.
Second Miss has yet to find out how Yu Tang suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
She gave a signal to Hexiang.
Hexiang understood and quietly left the warm pavilion.
Not long after, Fourth Miss finished her poem.
Second Miss teased Fourth Miss, saying “We were all waiting for you!”
Fourth Miss bristled with dissatisfaction, “Didn’t I say I wanted to grill meat? It’s you all who wanted to compose poems, I wasn’t prepared at all.”
“How would you prepare?” Third Miss poked a little fun at Fourth Miss, saying “Familiarizing yourself with Bai and Li before you come?”
Bai meaning Bai Juyi, Li means Li Bai.(TL: Famous Literary figures in China)
Fourth Miss retorted weakly, “That’s a good way right?”
Everyone laughed.
Grand Madam said, “Then let’s look at Fourth Miss’s poem first.”
Fourth Miss twisted and squirmed before letting her serving maid beside her hand over the poem.
Gu Xi, however, asked, “Aren’t we going to wait for Lady Yu?”
Grand Madam laughed, “It’s getting late, don’t you all want to eat roasted meat later? Let’s not wait for her.”
Gu Xi pursed her lips and smiled as she went to watch the poem recital by fourth young miss, but her thoughts were already elsewhere as she paid close attention to when He Xiang would return.
It was a short time later when He Xiang silently reappeared in the warm pavilion.
This time, Hexiang didn’t need to find an opportunity to speak with her as Gu Xi straight-forwardedly said that she had to go to the washroom, and led Hexiang away to a corner in the uninhabited plum blossom grove.
He Xiang’s face looked grave.
She said, “Miss, that Lady Yu, she didn’t have anything to do, instead she went to see Third Master!”
Gu Xi was stunned, but in her heart, she inexplicably felt a sense of solidity once the truth was finally out.
She said in a low voice, “What exactly was the matter?”
“I don’t know the specifics.” He Xiang whispered, “Once I came out of the Warm Pavilion and slowly followed the direction that Lady Yu went, I realized that the path led to the pavilion next to the Ming Mountain Lake. In the pavilion, besides Lady Yu, there was also a young man wearing a white cloak. I wanted to go closer to have a look, but I realized that there were seven or eight guards standing in the shadows around the area. I was frightened, and said that I was your personal maid, and that you had asked me to return to the room to get something, but I got lost, and that’s how I managed to escape. After that, I met Chief Steward Hu again, and after testing the waters, I learned that the young man was the Pei family’s Third Master.”
Gu Xi was silent for a long time and asked, “How does Third Master look like?”
Hexiang blushed and said quietly, “He is very handsome and has a refined temperament…. Out of all the people I’ve seen, it is only Eldest Master that can compete with him.”
Gu Chang was widely known to be the most handsome man in Hangzhou city.
Gu Xi’s face also turned red.
But as she thought of Yu Tang, she couldn’t help but frown.
What was Pei Yan up to?
He was meeting with Lady Yu in private, did Grand Madam not know about this? Or did she know but gave the two of them permission?
And in what capacity did Lady Yu appear before Pei Yan?
After all was said and done, she and her brother were still too careless and hadn’t thought that there were other women like Lady Yu in Lin’an City.
Should she leave Lady Yu alone? Or should she find a way to make Lady Yu disappear from Pei Yan’s sight?
Gu Xi was a little indecisive in that moment.
She said to Hexiang, ”See if you can find a way to determine the relationship between Lady Yu and Third Master Pei. Especially if Grand Madam knows about it ……”
If Grand Madam was aware of it, then what was the Pei family’s intention?
That was what she should pay attention to and be concerned about.
Gu Xi let out a long breath.
Been really busy these past few days. But hope you enjoy this new chappie~
Chapter 164 – Surprise
The one who came to deliver the letter to Yu Tang was Ah Cam.
Upon seeing Yu Tang, he hurriedly greeted her and bowed low, saying ”Miss, it was young master who asked me to come. He said that he has received your letter and will do as you say. He mentioned that everything is fine at home, so there’s no need to worry, and that the deals have all been finalized. When you return, we can celebrate together.” After saying that, he pulled out a letter from his pocket.
Yu Tang nodded with a smile as she opened the letter and immediately started reading it.
In addition to what Ah Cam said, Yu Yuan also praised the ten paintings Gentleman Zhang did, saying that the merchant was very satisfied and wanted to offer ten taels of silver each to buy the paintings. Yu Yuan wrote to her with two goals in mind. First, the buyer was in the embroidery business, and he came to their store to buy boxes and cages in order to make his store more complete, so that his embroidery business can grow. Therefore, there was no conflict between their two businesses and they could also shar mutually benefits. Second, it was to discuss with her, if the paintings were to be sold to that merchant, should they give a portion of the silver to the Zhang family? How much silver would be suitable?
This matter has to be decided before the merchant leaves Lin’an, so as soon as he received Yu Tang’s letter, he quickly sent a letter to her for her response.
Yu Tang covered the letter as she thought for a while before sending a reply to Yu Yuan.
Selling of the paintings was possible, and the silver can be divided in half with the Zhang family, but they should make a contract with the buyer, that these ten paintings were their Yu family’s exclusive paintings, so the buyer can only use them for works commissioned from their family’s store and were not for transfer or sale. If he wanted to sell those works, he had to inform the Yu family in writing and get the approval of the Yu family, and there would also be a usage fee.
As it was getting late, it would take at least an hour and a half to travel back to Lin’an city. As soon as Ah Cam received the letter, he immediately got up to say goodbye and returned to the Yu family.
Pei Yan knew that apart from Yu Tang who was staying in the guest courtyard, Mrs. Shen and Gu Xi were also staying in the other guest courtyard. Therefore it was inconvenient for him to head directly to Grand Madam to greet her, so he returned to the courtyard where he lived, and after freshening up and changing, he sent someone to ask Grand Madam when it would be convenient for her to meet him.
However, before the person could return with a reply, he heard that someone from the Yu family had arrived again with a letter for Yu Tang.
He could not help but feel worried.
Yu Tang’s letter had only just been delivered, and her family immediately wrote back and they couldn’t even wait a day for her response. It couldn’t be that something had happened at home, could it?
Pei Yan thought of Mrs. Yu’s illness, and thought of the 30 acres of good land …… that the Yu family had bought from Li Duan’s family.
He called Hu Xing over, who was serving Grand Madam, asking “What happened on Lady Yu’s side?”
Over the past few days, Hu Xing worked diligently in the courtyard helping Grand Madam with various duties. He even knew which dishes were popular and which dishes weren’t with the several young ladies and guests every day, and he hadn’t heard of anything happening at Lady Yu’s side.
He was instantly confused.
Pei Yan was originally dissatisfied with his work, and it was only because he saw that he cared for Grand Madam quite well, plus his mother also needed someone who was obedient and helpful, so he cast a blind eye and allowed him to continue in the position of third chief steward. Now seeing him like this, Pei Yan was all the more dissatisfied, and this dissatisfaction was directly displayed on his face.
He snapped, “What? Were you not aware of this?”
Only a few days ago, Third Master had all the male servants over the age of 5 who had served the Grand Elder for many years beaten to death, and sold off all the women and children. The entire household was trembling with fear and trepidation, all privately discussing that third master was not as benevolent and generous as Grand Elder had been nor was he as tolerant. He was completely unlike the people of the Pei family. There were also people who envied Hu Xing for being blessed by the misfortune, having been sent to serve at Grand Madam’s place ahead of time.
Upon hearing this, Hu Xing was undeniably grateful, yet also terrified. Therefore when Pei Yan asked him such a question, he quivered, and his legs softened and he nearly fell to his knees, and it took quite some time before he was able to find his voice. He stammered, “Lady Yu and the other young ladies have been enjoying their time together, waking up bright and early and going to bed early, and occasionally taking a stroll along Ming Mountain Lake, and she had just gone to view the plum-blossom trees at the Plum-blossom Grove with the other young ladies …” He was on the verge of tears as he continued, “Really, I really didn’t find anything amiss…” Afterwards, he instinctively added with barely mustered courage, “Besides, Lady Yu is only an unwed lady of the inner courtyard, even if I wanted to find out more, she wouldn’t tell me either!”
Pei Yan’s expression cleared slightly.
Hu Xing secretly wiped away beads of cold sweat on his forehead, and had a feeling that he had just escaped death.
However, immediately after, he started contemplating why he would say that he had no way to get close to Lady Yu and also why Pei Yan would lighten up because of these words……
For a moment, he felt as though he was let in on an extraordinary secret.
When Hu Xing gazed at Pei Yan again, his expression was different.
Pei Yan didn’t look Hu Xing in the eyes, so naturally, he didn’t pay attention to those tiny changes in his expression.
He thought for a moment and asked, “Are Lady Yu and the others still enjoying the plum-blossoms in the Plum Grove?”
Hu Xing hurriedly replied, “Yes, and they are also composing poems.”
Finally, he was able to give a proper answer to his question with a few sentences, which proved he was somewhat useful!
Pei Yan glanced at Hu Xing and said expressionlessly, “Quietly send a message to Lady Yu telling her to wait for me by the plum-blossom grove for a while, I have something to ask her.”
This was going against the rules of propriety, wasn’t it?
Why did Pei Yan want him to do it?
Hu Xing’s heart felt bitter, but he didn’t dare to show it, not only did he have to respectfully bow his head and agree, but he also had to act as if he was ecstatic with this assignment, and replied loudly, “I’ll go now!”
Pei Yan coldly hummed.
After receiving the letter, Yu Tang didn’t think much of it. She whispered to Grand Madam her reasons and found an excuse to leave the warm pavilion.
Fifth Young Miss just happened to have completed a six-sentence poem, and seeing her leave, she couldn’t help but ask, “Where is Sister Yu heading off to do?”
Several of them were composing poems at the same time. Gu Xi was the first one to complete it, Third Miss was second, the third was Yu Tang, with Second Miss and Fifth Miss following closely behind, while Fourth Miss was still there with her head bent as she wrote the poem.
Once everyone was done, they would take them together to Grand Madam, Mrs. Shen, and Second Madam for critique.
Grand Madam didn’t think much of Yu Tang’s call to leave.
Since Yu Tang was aware of the oddity regarding the Li family’s land sale, Pei Yan must have known about it as well.
She then guessed that Pei Yan should be looking for Yu Tang to ask about this matter.
However, this was not something young girls should know, so she skimmed over it, saying with a smile, “Which family doesn’t have things they have to do? Dear child, sometimes the situation calls for you to feint ignorance and at other times, it may require you to speak frankly. You still need some practice on this before you can leave home.” After speaking, she glanced at Second Madam.
Second Madam laughed and responded, “Don’t worry, I will teach her well.”
Grand Madam hummed in reply, and the matter was thus closed.
However, Gu Xi’s heart was in a state of turmoil.
The Yu family’s servant coming to find Yu Tang clearly shows that there’s something, but when Yu Tang came back, she only said it was her family who asked her some things about the store, and she even kept it secret from Grand Madam. Now that she’s boldly stepping away from the poetry gathering, clearly there was something going on and it wasn’t a simple matter.
For Hexiang, her thoughts were even more complicated than Gu Xi’s.
She sought an opportunity to approach Gu Xi and whispered, “Miss, Third Master arrived.”
Gu Xi raised an eyebrow.
Hexiang knew that she wanted more details, so she quickly said, “I just went to inquire about Lady Yu and found out that Third Master hasn’t come to greet Grand Madam yet, and I overheard that he would come over after the evening meal.”
Then what is Yu Tang up to?
Gu Xi felt vaguely uneasy in her heart.
Second Miss has yet to find out how Yu Tang suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
She gave a signal to Hexiang.
Hexiang understood and quietly left the warm pavilion.
Not long after, Fourth Miss finished her poem.
Second Miss teased Fourth Miss, saying “We were all waiting for you!”
Fourth Miss bristled with dissatisfaction, “Didn’t I say I wanted to grill meat? It’s you all who wanted to compose poems, I wasn’t prepared at all.”
“How would you prepare?” Third Miss poked a little fun at Fourth Miss, saying “Familiarizing yourself with Bai and Li before you come?”
Bai meaning Bai Juyi, Li means Li Bai.(TL: Famous Literary figures in China)
Fourth Miss retorted weakly, “That’s a good way right?”
Everyone laughed.
Grand Madam said, “Then let’s look at Fourth Miss’s poem first.”
Fourth Miss twisted and squirmed before letting her serving maid beside her hand over the poem.
Gu Xi, however, asked, “Aren’t we going to wait for Lady Yu?”
Grand Madam laughed, “It’s getting late, don’t you all want to eat roasted meat later? Let’s not wait for her.”
Gu Xi pursed her lips and smiled as she went to watch the poem recital by fourth young miss, but her thoughts were already elsewhere as she paid close attention to when He Xiang would return.
It was a short time later when He Xiang silently reappeared in the warm pavilion.
This time, Hexiang didn’t need to find an opportunity to speak with her as Gu Xi straight-forwardedly said that she had to go to the washroom, and led Hexiang away to a corner in the uninhabited plum blossom grove.
He Xiang’s face looked grave.
She said, “Miss, that Lady Yu, she didn’t have anything to do, instead she went to see Third Master!”
Gu Xi was stunned, but in her heart, she inexplicably felt a sense of solidity once the truth was finally out.
She said in a low voice, “What exactly was the matter?”
“I don’t know the specifics.” He Xiang whispered, “Once I came out of the Warm Pavilion and slowly followed the direction that Lady Yu went, I realized that the path led to the pavilion next to the Ming Mountain Lake. In the pavilion, besides Lady Yu, there was also a young man wearing a white cloak. I wanted to go closer to have a look, but I realized that there were seven or eight guards standing in the shadows around the area. I was frightened, and said that I was your personal maid, and that you had asked me to return to the room to get something, but I got lost, and that’s how I managed to escape. After that, I met Chief Steward Hu again, and after testing the waters, I learned that the young man was the Pei family’s Third Master.”
Gu Xi was silent for a long time and asked, “How does Third Master look like?”
Hexiang blushed and said quietly, “He is very handsome and has a refined temperament…. Out of all the people I’ve seen, it is only Eldest Master that can compete with him.”
Gu Chang was widely known to be the most handsome man in Hangzhou city.
Gu Xi’s face also turned red.
But as she thought of Yu Tang, she couldn’t help but frown.
What was Pei Yan up to?
He was meeting with Lady Yu in private, did Grand Madam not know about this? Or did she know but gave the two of them permission?
And in what capacity did Lady Yu appear before Pei Yan?
After all was said and done, she and her brother were still too careless and hadn’t thought that there were other women like Lady Yu in Lin’an City.
Should she leave Lady Yu alone? Or should she find a way to make Lady Yu disappear from Pei Yan’s sight?
Gu Xi was a little indecisive in that moment.
She said to Hexiang, ”See if you can find a way to determine the relationship between Lady Yu and Third Master Pei. Especially if Grand Madam knows about it ……”
If Grand Madam was aware of it, then what was the Pei family’s intention?
That was what she should pay attention to and be concerned about.
Gu Xi let out a long breath.
Been really busy these past few days. But hope you enjoy this new chappie~
