WSMTATMC C157

Chapter 157

“Marquis Wuping?” Chen Rong lifted her head in shock.

Lin Qiu was no less astonished. Though the two did not have much worldly experience, they knew what status a Marquis held—how could humble commoners like them ever presume to climb so high?

Cao Kun frowned. “Could it be that Marquis Wuping is an elderly man wishing to take Brother Sui as a second wife after widowhood?”

Chen Rong was deeply anxious. “The letter wasn’t clear; it’s unknown what sort of person this Marquis Wuping is. If things turn out badly for our Sui’er again…”

Seeing his mother about to burst into tears, Lin Qiu hastened to comfort her. “Don’t worry. Let Cao Kun make a trip to the prefectural city to sound things out. Cousin and Cousin-in-law are steady people; if this match weren’t good, they wouldn’t have written to us.”

Chen Rong wiped the corners of her eyes. “My heart aches for Sui’er. He has had it far too hard. I’m afraid he’s just escaped a pit of fire only to fall into a mire.”

“He won’t. Please rest assured.”

The baby on her back must have sensed the adults’ unsettled emotions and suddenly began bawling. Ignoring her own distress, Chen Rong unfastened the child and went inside to cook rice gruel.

Lin Qiu said to Cao Kun, “Set out for the prefectural city tomorrow.”

“All right. As it happens, there’s a shipment heading to the prefectural city in a few days; I’ll deliver it myself.”

The husbands settled the plan and began preparing luggage—since the weather was growing cold, they packed several thick garments and more food. Lin Qiu changed his clothes and planned to buy some meat from the shop to cure into jerky for the road.

He hadn’t gone far when he suddenly saw a troop of soldiers running their way, which startled him into pressing against the wall to make way.

The soldiers passed him and halted directly at their door. Seeing this, Lin Qiu hurried back. At the doorstep, he saw the leading soldier speaking with his husband about some matter.

Lin Qiu, nervous, asked, “Officers, what is this about?”

Deputy General Zheng said, “We were sent by Marquis Wuping to escort everyone to the prefectural city.”

“Escort us?”

Deputy General Zheng nodded, wearing a genial smile. “It seems you’ve received the letter from the prefectural city. The Marquis intends to marry your family’s Little Mister Lin as his spouse, so he specially dispatched me to bring you to the prefectural city for negotiations.”

Cao Kun and Lin Qiu looked at each other. The letter had only arrived in the morning, and the escort had arrived by afternoon. Could it be that the Marquis and their cousin had already arranged this?

In fact, before that letter had even been sent, Li Mu had already set things in motion. Seeing that the Chen family had no objection to the match, he directly sent men to escort them to the prefectural city to discuss the marriage.

There was no way not to go to the prefectural city now. Lin Qiu said, “Please wait a moment, officers; we’ll first pack our things.” Once in the prefectural city, they wouldn’t be leaving in just a day or two; they needed to take a change of clothes and food.

Deputy General Zheng said, “No rush. Carriage and horses are all prepared, and there are dry rations on board. Just bring clothing and valuables.”

Lin Qiu and Cao Kun went inside to tell Chen Rong, who still fretted, “How about I go alone, and you two wait here?”

“How could we let you go alone? It’s been so long—we miss Sui’er. Let’s just bring Xiaomai and the baby along; we’ll all go to the prefectural city and see the world!”

“The children are so little—is that all right?” Chen Rong still felt uneasy; after all, the baby was just over three months old, and it would take more than ten days of jolting travel to reach the prefectural city.

Cao Kun said, “The weather is neither too hot nor too cold right now; traveling will certainly be fine. I’ll tell the neighbor to pass word to my mother that we’ve gone to the prefectural city.”

Chen Rong quickly packed clothes for the adults and the children. Lin Qiu took out part of the savings, hid the rest in the stove vent, and after all was made ready, locked the door.

The carriage sent by Marquis Wuping was the one he usually rode in when going out. Not only was it spacious, it had a stove inside for cooking, which made preparing rice gruel for the baby convenient.

The entire family, apprehensive, sat in the carriage and set out for the prefectural city…

—

Back in the prefectural city, no one yet knew that Third Aunt’s family had already set out. Since the time Lin Sui was scalded at the Marquis’s residence, Li Mu had frequently visited under the pretext of calling on him.

In truth, the scald had not been serious. By the time Lin Sui returned home, the pain had subsided; it was only a patch of reddened skin, and after two days’ application of burn ointment, it healed.

Today, Li Mu came again, bringing not only food but also fine tonics—ginseng, lingzhi, deer antler, and the like.

Looking at the box of precious medicinal materials, Lin Sui was at a loss. “Marquis, my scald has long since healed; there’s no need to bring me anything more.”

Li Mu said, “Take them. You’re too thin—nourish yourself well.”

“To accept such costly things without cause is truly embarrassing.”

“You’ve looked after Qing’er for so long; it’s only right to thank you. These were all gifts to my mother—she can’t finish them, and they’ll spoil. I’m merely passing along flowers offered by Buddha.”

Lin Sui couldn’t help but smile and at last accepted them.

“Regarding last time, the Old Madam feels very apologetic and asks when you might come again. This time, no one will dare scald you with tea.”

“It was nothing; I didn’t take it to heart.”

“Such matters are my fault for not keeping strict enough order.”

Lin Sui asked, “Why didn’t Qing’er come with you?”

“She caught a chill yesterday, so I didn’t bring her this morning.”

Hearing that, Lin Sui grew anxious. “Has a physician been called?”

“Yes. It’s nothing serious.”

“Then I’ll come by tomorrow.”

Li Mu raised his brows slightly; as expected, compared to him, the young ge’er cared more for Qing’er. That was enough. He had never been one to be constrained by romantic entanglements. Otherwise, after so many years, how could he have remained alone?

“I’ll send someone to fetch you tomorrow.”

Lin Sui hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Many thanks, Marquis.”

After Li Mu left, Chen Qingyun came over and lightly thumped his shoulder. “He’s already gone far, and you’re still daydreaming~”

“Qingyun.” Lin Sui scolded her playfully.

“Hehe, that future cousin-in-law is really something—every time he comes, he brings so many things.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Nothing’s settled yet. Besides, when has your Young Master Liu ever come empty-handed?”

Chen Qingyun didn’t mind. She had grown familiar with Liu Changyi now and was no longer as shy as before. Gleefully, she said, “I told him many times not to send gifts, but he won’t listen. He even said next time he’ll take me to Qionghua Court to hear opera. Want to go?”

Qionghua House was the famous theater in the prefectural city, performing southern-style opera.

Unlike modern opera, the plays of this era relied more on recitation and singing. The scripts were relatively simple; the most famous was “Autumn Moon in the Han Palace,” and every performance was packed. Without reserving a private box half a month in advance, one could not get a seat.

Lin Sui laughed. “I won’t go. Better let Brother Huai accompany you.”

“Oh come on~” The two entered the courtyard just as Wang Ying came out carrying Yuanbao.

Lin Sui hurried forward and handed over the box of herbs. “The Marquis just brought these. I don’t need them; Brother, please take them for use.”

Wang Ying said, “The Marquis gifted them to you—keep them. Later, send them to Third Aunt to use.”

“All right.”

The next day, Lin Sui went again to the Marquis’s residence. Qing’er had indeed caught a chill, but her spirits were good, which was reassuring.

This time, Lin Sui did not trouble Wang Ying to accompany him; he felt ill at ease always making his brother run around for his own matters.

The Old Madam was even more genial than before, keeping him to chat for quite a while about everyday matters, and on his departure gifted him two bolts of silk.

Lin Sui declined, but the Old Madam said, “I can’t wear such bright colors, and Qing’er’s clothes won’t use them up either. Take them and make yourself two pretty outfits. Young people ought to dress brightly and cheerfully; don’t wear such somber colors.”

Lin Sui looked down at his plain robe. Ever since being harassed by Manager Wei, he had gotten into the habit of wearing such garb.

One bolt was sky-blue, the other apricot-yellow. He planned to make a set of clothes for his brother’s wife, another skirt for Qingyun, and use the remainder to make something for himself.

—

Time slipped to late September.

In the past few days, there had been several light rains, and the temperature had dropped considerably. Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan grew busy, for Qingyun’s wedding was imminent.

The ordered bridal furniture had all been brought back from the carpentry workshop: a canopy bed, camphor chests, a five-drawer cabinet, a dressing table… all kinds of furniture—every piece top quality, rosewood materials that would last a lifetime.

Besides the furniture, there were quilts—six-catty thick quilts, eight sets of bedding, all stuffed with new cotton.

Fourth Aunt had embroidered mandarin-duck pillows for Qingyun, and Madam Li embroidered a dragon-phoenix double-happiness quilt for her daughter; she had embroidered six or seven quilt faces, just in time to finish before the wedding.

The Liu family, too, had not been idle: the betrothal gifts included one hundred taels of gold and five hundred taels of silver.

In addition, there was a shoulder-load of betrothal cakes and eight kinds of seafood products: abalone, dried oysters, dried scallops, dried shrimp, squid, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw. Though all were dried goods, they were expensive—the highest standard in the prefectural city.

The three sacrificial animals: a wild goose, a pig, and a sheep.

The Four Capital Fruits: dried longan, dried lychee, dried walnuts, and peanuts in shell—signifying flourishing descendants and the wish for completeness, abundant blessings, and unending life.

The Four Color Sugars: rock sugar, candied tangerine peel, winter melon candy, and golden sesame confections—conveying sweetness in marriage and growing old together.

These items were delivered to the bride’s family in advance of the appointed day, and on the day the betrothal gifts were sent, crowds gathered in the street to enjoy the lively spectacle.

Everyone looked at chest after chest and murmured in astonishment. “That Liu young master must be truly wealthy!”

“Of course—don’t you know who Master Liu’s uncle is?”

Someone who didn’t know asked, “Who?”

“An important official in the capital, a favorite at His Majesty’s side.”

“No wonder. I just don’t know which young lady is so blessed as to marry into their family.”

“I know. She’s from the Wang family’s ice shop on Yang Street. I’ve seen her a few times—quite a handsome girl!” The speaker was the sesame-oil shop owner, who had long heard of the match between the two families.

“Master Liu is marrying a merchant’s daughter?”

“Not exactly. The ice shop is run by their young husband. The lady’s elder brother and younger brother are both scholars—word is they just sat the provincial exam not long ago.”

“In that case, it’s a good match—truly a door-to-door pairing.” Everyone looked on with envy as the betrothal gifts were carried into the Chen residence.

Madam Liu’s eldest and second paternal aunts both came to deliver the gifts. The two aunts were dignified ladies, and they held Madam Li’s hand, praising Qingyun repeatedly.

Wang Ying accompanied them, seeing to everything. In a warm and harmonious atmosphere, the delivery of the betrothal gifts was completed, and all waited for the auspicious wedding day on the sixth of the tenth month.

After a busy morning and just as the guests had been seen off, Wang Ying was about to go back and rest a while when the front door was suddenly knocked upon again.

The doorman, Xiao Fang, opened the side gate, exchanged a few words, and hurriedly called for Wang Ying.

“Sir, Third Aunt has arrived!”

Wang Ying froze for a moment, thinking that Liu Changyi had only two paternal aunts—where did a Third Aunt come from?

When he reached the door and saw Chen Rong, he cried out in delight, “Third Aunt, how did you all come!”