MBSB C5

Chapter 5 — Third-Day Return

The thirteenth of the second month was the day of the third-day return. Lu Li did not want Du Siqing tossed back and forth and worn down, but Du Siqing was set on going. He said he would hold the field for him, so no one would bully him again.

The carriage was lined with soft cushions. Sitting down, one sank in. Lu Li twisted a while before he sat steady, unused to it.

Du Siqing watched the small movements. A smile hung on his face without his noticing.

Lu Li stole a glance, then dropped his head in embarrassment. Half his chin buried in the fur collar. His cheeks faintly pink.

Lu Yan came home and found his wife Liu Jinhua at ease cracking melon seeds. Anger rose at once. “Why haven’t you prepared anything?”

“Prepare what?” Liu Jinhua had been a widow. After Lu Li’s mother died she was brought in, and she brought her dead husband’s child—Lu Guo.

“Today is A-Li’s third-day return. Where has Xiao Guo run off to again?”

“He went to a poetry gathering. What’s there to prepare? That mute may already be dead in the Du house.” Liu Jinhua was in a poor temper. Then her eyes lit. “If he really is dead, we could still fish up a sum, couldn’t we? No. I have to go ask around. A good child can’t die with no one knowing how.”

“You stay right there!” Lu Yan caught Liu Jinhua and evened his voice. “Just now the Du house sent word. The eldest young master is coming with him. Hurry and prepare something.”

“What? What’s that sick seedling coming for? Ill luck. Don’t foul our door.” Liu Jinhua’s face was full of distaste.

Lu Yan could not even his tone at all. “When the Dus came to propose, you saw their house and their business and agreed in one breath, and took their betrothal money on the spot! Why aren’t you licking up to them now?”

Liu Jinhua jumped up. “How was I to know he was a cripple? Our Xiao Guo has never suffered that kind of grievance from childhood. Tied to a man like that, a whole life is thrown away. If he could bear a child it would be something, but whether that body can even do a man’s work is unknown! And the switch was your idea. You said the Dus hadn’t seen the little mute and wouldn’t find out for a while, that once they entered the wedding chamber it would all fall into place, and even if they wanted to back out they couldn’t. Don’t push it all onto me!”

“If you hadn’t agreed to the match first, why would I have done it!”

“That dead mute with a fate that kills father, mother, and husband didn’t even kill the Du eldest. Otherwise we could have bitten down and who would have known? That dead mute can’t talk.” Liu Jinhua spat viciously.

“Don’t drag this east and west. That the Dus aren’t making trouble for us is already good. Hurry and buy food and cook. Face must be kept.”

Liu Jinhua took the money and still muttered, unwilling. “It’s nearly noon. There’s no time to cook.”

“If there’s no time, buy a table of dishes.”

“How much would that cost! These months the clinic’s income hasn’t been high. Can face fill a belly?” Liu Jinhua’s eyes went round. Her face struggled.

Lu Yan looked at the tender, birdlike childhood sweetheart of former days and felt a deep helplessness. “I don’t care what method you use. You will get a proper table of dishes. Otherwise don’t think of aiding your natal family again.”

“You!” Liu Jinhua flung the curtain aside in a temper and saw Lu Li’s fine, pale, palm-sized face. The fire found an outlet at once. “You dead mute standing in the doorway—who are you trying to scare to death!”

She reached to pinch Lu Li’s cheek. Du Siqing pulled Lu Li behind him, glanced at the finger ready for mischief, and said, light and shallow, “Father-in-law, Mother-in-law.”

Lu Yan hurried forward, pulled Liu Jinhua aside, and put on a smiling face. “When did you arrive?”

“Not long ago. We were about to lift the curtain.”

“Oh, oh.” Lu Yan let out a breath. “Come in, come in. It’s cold out.”

“These are gifts for Father-in-law and Mother-in-law. I hope you will not find them wanting.” Du Siqing had Mo Qi carry in two or three things.

In truth Du Siqing had taken this third-day return very seriously. He had prepared a good deal—not gold and jade, but good things all the same, some scraped from Wang Yingmei until she bled, all so that Lu Li would have face. Who would have thought this family was of such a sort. Lu Li had not had a single good day in the Lu house. Then they did not deserve these good things. He would rather burn them than give them to this rotten-hearted household.

“Young Master Du is too kind. Only the clinic is busy. The meal is not ready. We must trouble you to wait.” Lu Yan said.

The gifts were ordinary, the courtesies complete, only much poorer beside the betrothal gifts. Liu Jinhua could not help pursing her mouth. She found Lu Li still more an eyesore, shoved him twice, and ordered, “Go cook.”

Lu Yan showed nothing wrong. He only welcomed Du Siqing.

But Du Siqing’s brows drew tighter and tighter. He caught Lu Li in one pull. “I do not understand Lu family rules. A newly married boy sent home to cook.”

Lu Yan caught on. “No, no, what talk is that. This wife of mine is muddled. Hurry and go cook.”

They wanted to laugh it off. Du Siqing was not a man easily laughed off. “Lu family rules are large. The other day we sent someone to invite Father-in-law and Mother-in-law for a word and they had no time.”

Lu Yan’s heart thudded. “It is we who failed in teaching. It is all A-Li’s fault. He took the chance, put on the veil, climbed into the bridal chair, and stole his brother’s marriage. We will certainly speak to him properly!” In a few words he turned black and white, and did not forget to glare at Lu Li. The warning needed no saying.

Lu Li shook his head at Du Siqing, then felt such a defense was weak and pale. He lowered his head and twisted the hem of his jacket tight.

Du Siqing saw it all. He patted Lu Li’s hand gently. “A-Li, I want the white-jade cakes from the street. Buy some for me. Have Mo Qi hitch the carriage and take you.”

After Lu Li left, Du Siqing stopped pretending. He still did not look full of spirit. Between the brows was all the air of illness. In presence he was not weak.

His gaze swept the room and stopped on Lu Yan. “A-Li cannot speak. That does not mean he has no heart, that he cannot be hurt. How the switch was done, you and I both know. Witnesses and evidence are there. How Lu Li conducts himself day to day is plain to all. That I do not speak this matter open is to spare the Lu family’s face. The marriage papers in black and white name Lu Guo and Du Siqing. The one I have married is not Lu Guo. Father-in-law ought also to return the betrothal money.”

“This… how can it be returned! You did marry a boy of our house. It would not do to… for nothing…” Lu Yan swallowed the word “whore.” “It would not do. What would it look like to outsiders.”

“In that case I will hand the betrothal papers to the yamen and let them decide. The name on the papers is Lu Guo. When the yamen investigates they will take Lu Guo back to the Du house.” Du Siqing made as if to turn and go.

“That will not do!” Liu Jinhua treasured Lu Guo beyond measure. She had seen with her own eyes this half-dead look of Du Siqing’s. How could she bear to let her precious boy marry such a man. “The matter is already settled. Once Lu Li entered the Du house he was a Du. You want both boys of our Lu house?!”

“In that case, return the betrothal money and change the papers. In this the Lus broke the pact first. For the sake of the two houses’ good alliance, besides the betrothal money we will take nothing else.”

“This… you…” Lu Yan stammered, unwilling to part with the wealth, and Liu Jinhua was crying and making a scene at his side until his heart was a mess. Besides the betrothal money there were silks and jewels enough, but the betrothal money itself was no small sum.

Du Siqing went on. “This way is to keep the Lu family’s face. The money returned, a written proof made, and the clan elders asked to change the papers. I am young and do not know the world. Otherwise I would have Father come and discuss it with Father-in-law and Mother-in-law.”

“Good! Then let him come. I want to ask what kind of teaching the Du house has. You have been given Lu Li, used him up, and now send him back. There is no such principle under heaven!” Liu Jinhua’s temper rushed to the crown of her head. She spoke with no care at all.

“Used him up” was unbearably harsh, still worse used of Lu Li. A fierce look crossed Du Siqing’s face. “If Mother-in-law insists, then this son-in-law can do nothing. We will wait for Father to settle it. Only Father’s first thought was to report it to the officials. This is no small matter. Best left to the yamen. When we face each other in court and the thing is spread, whether it is the Lus who lose face or the Dus—Father-in-law is a clever man. I think he knows.”

Lu Yan set great store by his face. Still less could he bear to see the clinic’s years of name and standing ruined in a day. He pulled Liu Jinhua aside and said, mild, “Aiya, your mother-in-law is speaking in anger. A family’s affairs are best settled behind closed doors. Why wound the harmony? In the end this is the Lus’ fault. To handle it so is only right.”

The white-jade cakes were some distance from the Lu house. The shop sold well. There was a line. By the time Lu Li came back with them, Du Siqing was sitting at ease in the main hall drinking tea. Liu Jinhua was busy in the kitchen. The meal was not yet out.

Lu Li set the cakes before Du Siqing. The pastry was dear—three wen a piece. Before, he had only seen Lu Guo eat it. He himself had not even been allowed the smell.

“You eat.” Du Siqing pushed them back. “I drank too much tea just now. I can’t eat.”

Lu Li bit into a white-jade cake. Sweet and soft beyond measure, melting on the tongue, leaving a faint milk scent that made one want another piece. He glanced at Du Siqing in secret.

Du Siqing found him fatally cute and smiled. “A-Li, eat my share too.”

In the end he coaxed Lu Li into three pieces. The thing was cloying. One could not eat more, or it sat heavy.

Lu Yan watched it all. He understood now that this Du eldest was not without feeling for their boy. Otherwise he would not have gone to such lengths for money and for name. His mind grew lively again. He pulled Lu Li over.

He did not even offer a word of concern. He only asked whether Lu Li had shared a bed with Du Siqing. Lu Li was dull and mute. Lu Yan hated iron that would not become steel. “While Young Master Du is still infatuated with your looks, you must cling to him and get a child. Best if the first is a boy. Even if Young Master Du dies later you can stand firm in the Du house, and in time you can help the Lus a little. We can be your backing, so no one bullies you.”