She took a look at her outfit, the dress was fine, but her hair was just a ponytail, which was okay when she was with others, but absolutely not acceptable when meeting outsiders. She had to go to Mrs. Cen's room to get a comb, and then she simply styled her hair into a bun, casually inserting a silver pin, and went out to meet Zhang Wulang accompanied by He Zhichong.

  Zhang Wulang sat in the middle hall of the He family, holding a tea cup and looking around at the decorations with a calm and composed expression. This was his first time visiting the He family, and their decorations were not as gaudy and eye-catching as he and his brothers had secretly guessed. Everywhere was gold and silver, but he knew that these half-old pieces of furniture were actually good things, and the incense burner made of sugar crystal and carved with intricate designs was a rare treasure.

  Si Lang and Da Lang sat beside him, seeing him gaze at the fragrant mountain, they enthusiastically told him some old stories about going out to sea to buy spices and some rare spices. Zhang Wu Lang often hung out in Si Lang's shop, so he was somewhat familiar with these spices, but when it came to the finer details, he didn't quite understand. However, he was willing to listen, so the conversation became very lively.

  Until Peony followed He Zhizhong into the hall, several people stopped talking. Zhang Wulang quickly glanced at the person in his heart and stepped forward to greet He Zhizhong with a bow, also wanting to ask Peony to sit down and talk. He Zhizhong supported him with one hand and laughed: "Don't be polite, nephew, sit down and talk."

  The peony nodded at him and smiled, shouting: "Brother Zhang Wu."

  Zhang Wulang saw her smile and felt as if a peony had suddenly bloomed in front of him, he couldn't help but stare at it, forgetting everything else, before finally looking away and responding with a serious tone.

  After the four masters sat down, Si Lang smiled and said: "Today Dan Niang went to my shop and asked me to send apprentices to various temples and Taoist temples to inquire about peony flowers. Later, the apprentices returned to report that without exception, they all said that the good varieties of this autumn's head were all booked by someone at a high price. They couldn't ask for any reason, but it was Wulang who heard about this matter and asked his friends and brothers to think of a way, and only then did they find out some useful information."

  Zhang Wulang's eyes met the peony's gaze, which was as beautiful as autumn water. His heart skipped a beat before he cleared his throat and spoke seriously: "That's right. It just so happens that one of my brothers often visits a monk at Shan Guo Temple in Bu Zheng Fang. Yesterday, when he went to play with the monk, someone offered a high price for those peony heads and mentioned Dan Niang's name."

  He looked at Peony with a serious expression, "Peony, in the past few days, you have been going to Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries to buy peony cuttings. It has already spread among these temples and monasteries. My brother heard someone mention your name, so he paid attention and followed him for a while. As it turned out, that person went to many temples and monasteries, all buying expensive and rare varieties of peony cuttings."

  "Does Fifth Brother know who he is?" Peony asked with a frown, "What did he say?"

  Zhang Wulang said with a hint of pride: "My brother thought it was strange at the time, so he followed him and found out that he lived outside Guanghua Gate, his surname was Cao, his name was Wanrong, and he had a Peony Garden. Every spring, he would make a lot of money from peonies. At the time, he told the people around him that they couldn't let the He family's peonies buy up all the good varieties, otherwise, if she were to rebuild the garden in the future, wouldn't it be like taking away their livelihood?"

  Peony heard that it was Cao Wanjun, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "It's him." She thought this matter was related to the Fangyuan incident, thinking it was a serious event, a formidable figure, but since it was Cao Wanjun, whether he was involved in the competition for the peony or both matters were related to him, neither was frightening.

  Zhang Wulang indignantly rolled up his sleeves and said, "Did Dan Niang offend him before? He's obviously intentionally going against you! A big man like him, how can he argue with a delicate little woman like you? It's simply not manly! Let me go and teach him a lesson, see if he dares to come again!"

  "Thanks to Zhang Wuge first. But to say, same trade, different roads, this is normal. He rushed ahead of me to buy, and offered a high price, no stealing, no robbing, originally there's nothing wrong with that."

  Zhang Wulang thought to himself, I see, Peony is probably not someone who likes to be roughed up at home, this proposal of mine is really terrible. He couldn't help but blush slightly and sat aside playing with his tea cup.

  "Ah, I'm just wondering," said Da Lang with a frown, "how did Cao Wan Rong know that Dan Niang was going to build a garden? The garden hasn't even been built yet, and he already knows that Dan Niang is building it to steal his thunder? This guy is being overly cautious."

  "Big Brother has never seen that person. That person is indeed very astute, he originally wanted to compete with me to buy a peony, and later somehow found out who I was. On the day when I went to his garden with Fifth Brother and Fifth Sister-in-law to see the peonies, we happened to meet him, and he came over to make friends, wanting me to sell flowers to him. I didn't agree, and he said to exchange, but at that time Fifth Sister-in-law was not feeling well, so we were in a hurry to go home, and I told him to wait for another day, as a result, he almost turned his face away."

  These days, I've been running around temples and Taoist temples, inquiring about good varieties everywhere, paying money to book in advance. He's always paying attention to such news, how can he not notice? Moreover, our family is originally a business family, and with a little thought, we can also guess that I'm probably going to build a peony garden. Since he has the intention of making a name for himself in this field, it's natural that he would want to."

  He Zhizhong had originally heard Peony mention the matter of Cao Wenyong snatching her away, and he was deeply impressed. He said, "This is normal, we're all doing business like this, aren't we? It's just that this person seems to have a bad temper, Dan Niang should be more careful when going out in the future." Then he asked Peony to bow to Zhang Wulang to thank him, and then turned his head to smile at Zhang Wulang: "Wulang, why don't you stay for dinner? We'll drink a cup together."

  Zhang Wu Lang reluctantly forced himself to shift his gaze away from Peony's back, and smiled: "I've troubled you, Uncle."

  He Zhizhong smiled and said, "What's the politeness for?" He ordered someone to prepare wine and food, invited Zhang Wulang to join him, and asked, "Not long ago I heard that you opened a rice shop. How is the business now?"

  Zhang Wulang's face turned red, and he muttered: "Wulang is not the material for doing business, it has already been closed."

  He Zhitong let out an "oh" and knew that he was probably going to do the same old thing again, so he stroked his beard and said: "If you want to make a name for yourself, why not go join the army?" As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Wulang with a slanted gaze, seeing that although he didn't show any signs of dislike, he also didn't seem particularly interested. He then asked: "Or do you have some other plan in mind?"

  Zhang Wulang's palms were sweating, and he opened his mouth to say: "I'm still thinking about what to do." These days, he had been taking his brothers to various places to help people stabilize the scene and draw a commission, and he also tried to raise fighting chickens. His days passed comfortably, and he made enough money. The only thing was that he always wanted to see Peony, otherwise, it would be fine.

  He Zhizhong didn't ask any more questions and just said: "Actually doing business, people who are new to the industry still need to be introduced."

  Zhang Wulang heard this and seemed to sense something, immediately raising his eyes to look at He Zhizhong. He Zhizhong did not evade or yield, but instead raised his cup with a smile and said: "You also know that Dan Niang is like this, idle and always wanting to do something. We can't follow her all the time, Wulang knows many chivalrous scholars, so we have to trouble you to spread the word everywhere, don't let her be bullied by others. My husband and I are extremely grateful to you."

  Zhang Wulang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before standing up and saying: "Uncle, rest assured, I've been friends with Fourth Brother for many years, and Dan Niang is like my own sister. I'll definitely take good care of her. As for doing business..." He fell silent for a moment, "I think I'm not cut out for it. But I can still provide for my wife and children."

  He Zhizhong was somewhat surprised that he had refused his good intentions, but seeing his expression was clearly not very happy, thinking of his own meaning, he roughly understood it, and skipped this topic to talk about other things. At the right time, Fourth Son went forward with Big Brother to toast Zhang Wulang, calling him brother and younger brother, getting Zhang Wulang excited again, before sending someone to send him back.

  Dalong asked He Zhizhong: "Does Father want to lure him into the sea?"

  He Zhitong said calmly, "This kind of person can't be offended. He helped Dan Niang twice and may help our family again sometime in the future. What he wants I couldn't give him, except for making money, anyway there's not just one person on that ship. If he has the guts, I'd dare to take him out to sea. If his luck is good and he makes some money, then that's what he deserves. But he still has a lot of pride and refuses to go with me."

  Fourth Son escorted Zhang Wu Lang back home and upon hearing this looked at He Zhizhong: "Father is referring to Zhang Wu Lang, isn't he?"

  He Zhitong sighed and said, "I've seen the way he looks at Peony several times, I figured it out early on. But my Dan Niang is not someone I'm willing to give to him, and I'm afraid she wouldn't be willing either." He doesn't have a proper job, just hangs out with those people every day, causing trouble in the streets and having a bad reputation. A person like that, even his parents wouldn't be willing to give their precious only daughter to him.

  "He's not a man without tact, he's just bold and straightforward, but he hasn't done anything wrong either. Besides, didn't he mention it before? I think he understands your meaning tonight too, and won't make any mistakes."

  He Zhizhong said, "He is indeed still very genuine and straightforward, but he's not suitable for Dan Niang. Beauty fades with age." The parents who raise daughters are really suffering, when their daughter has no one to take care of her, they worry; when she is taken care of by unsuitable people or there are too many people taking care of her, they worry even more.

  Peony herself didn't know that He Zhitong had already taken care of something for her in advance. After a good night's rest, she got up early and let Feng Dama and Yuhe follow her, instructing two strong and capable house servants to take gifts and visit the neighbors of Fangyuan according to the content written on the paper.