Chapter 195 — Changes

He had guarded against Gu Yu, against the Third Princess, and had even long since made arrangements regarding Princess Ninghuai—yet he had never expected that Song Sui, that headstrong and unruly creature, would take the path of the eunuch faction. He could not help sneering, "I say he'll end up a sycophantic minister sooner or later!"

Even if he became a sycophant, that would be a matter for later.

Tao Jun could not help muttering to himself.

Right now the Young Marquis has caught you off guard and smoothly entered officialdom; from here on, dealing with the Young Marquis will only grow harder.

He could not help saying, "My Lord, don't you think it's time to consider the Young Marquis's marriage? I hear that ever since the Emperor made that remark, families with daughters of marriageable age have been constantly inviting the Young Marquis to their homes... Only yesterday, the Young Marquis was drinking at the residence of the Marquis of Changxing..."

Had it not been for the business with Wang Yuan, Song Cen would certainly have scoffed at such an idea. But now, before Tao Jun had even finished speaking, he was in a fury.

He had always counted himself a close friend of Shi Chonglan, yet the Shi family had refused his suit. And now they were setting their sights on Song... The Shi family—what shamelessness!

Song Cen could not help asking, "What other families have invited him to drink?"

Tao Jun reeled off a long string of names.

Song Cen drew a sharp breath, her irritation turning to alarm. "Go and make inquiries at once. What sort of character are the young ladies of these households?"

They could not marry a concubine's daughter to Song Yan—that would be too glaring a slight on the surface of things—and still less could they take a legitimate eldest daughter, for then the affairs of the inner quarters would fall wholly into Song Zhi's hands. Best would be a girl whose father and brothers all appeared highly capable, but who was herself meek and yielding, with no mind of her own...

Song Cen turned it over in her mind.

Gu Yu, however, asked Song Yan, "What exactly do you intend to do?"

Somehow, Song Yan suddenly recalled Dou Zhiwei's words.

Perhaps Dou Yan was right.

Since he had no great expectations for a wife, he might as well make family standing the chief consideration.

Song Yan said, "Apart from Princess Yijing, which other consorts have daughters of marriageable age?"

Gu Yu stared at him, dumbfounded. "You—you don't mean to marry a princess, do you?"

Song Yan found it amusing and teased, "If a princess won't do, a commandery princess will serve just as well!"

Gu Yu opened her mouth and for a long while could not get a word out.

Song Dan put an arm around Gu Yu's shoulders. "There, there, I was only joking with you. I've only just joined the Imperial Insignia Guard, and some things are still in disarray; there's no hurry to speak of this now. Let's see how my father reacts first." Then he asked about Gao Yuanhua, the Guard's chief commander. "I hear he's your cousin by marriage—what sort of man is he?"

Gu Yu pursed her lips. "Cousin by marriage, indeed! The connection is so distant you'd need a map to trace it. Still, he's a great one for worming his way in. Last time we were drinking at the Earl of Huichang's, Shen Qing told me he nearly got Wang Yuan to take him as a godson..."

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The Dou family meant to leave the Wei family dangling; and Wei Fan, resenting Dou Ming for souring her friendship with Lady Wang, would have nothing to do with the Dou family either. In the blink of an eye it was the end of the fourth month, the time for sending the Dragon Boat Festival gifts.

Madam Tian was at a loss—should the gifts be sent or not?

"Of course they must be sent," Wei Wan snapped before Wei Fan could speak, and earned herself a glare. "We're about to break off the engagement—what is there to send gifts for? It's the Wang family you should be thinking of. I hear Lady Wang has caught a chill and is poorly; you ought to go and call on her."

Wei Wan's temper had been fierce of late, so he dared not argue and obediently went to the Marquis of Yan'an's house to inquire after the invalid.

Fortunately the two families were always in and out of one another's houses, and the Marquis of Yan'an's household thought nothing of it.

Once out of the Wang family's gate, Wei Fan made a show of buying realgar wine, tea, zongzi, and the like from the shops along the street, and had them delivered to the Hening Temple alley.

Dou Yan had accompanied the Second Madam Dowager on an outing to the Sansheng Nunnery, and Dou Huaiying had been summoned to the palace to expound the classics; neither was at home.

"And where is the Fifth Young Lady?"

If he had come with gifts, surely he ought to make his presence known to the Dou family.

Gao Sheng was rather surprised, but smiled nonetheless. "The Fifth Young Lady has gone with the mistress to the Liuye alley."

Wei Fan was briefly taken aback.

He had heard from Dou Ming that because her mother was displeased that Dou Yan had not called on her maternal grandmother after arriving in the capital, she had complained about it before the old lady; the old lady, vexed, had spoken a few sharp words about Dou Chi in front of outsiders, which had enraged her father. Her mother had now been packed off to the Dou family's estate in Wanping.

"My mother-in-law—has she returned?" he asked Gao Sheng.

After all, Wei Fan was a son-in-law of the Dou family; it was plausible he should know such things.

Gao Sheng thought nothing of it. "Lord Wang has won great merit again in Yunnan, and the Emperor has graciously conferred a hereditary chiliarchy on the Wang family's eldest uncle. The Wangs are holding a great banquet, and the old madam of the Wang family sent word especially inviting the mistress to join the celebration, so the master brought the Seventh Madam back."

So that was it.

Wei Fan said "Oh," and had his attendant hand the gift list to Gao Xing; on the road he repeatedly warned the attendant not to breathe a word of this to Wei Wan, and only then returned to the Marquis of Jining's residence.

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Sisters and brothers, here is the make-up update for the seventh of May.

ps: I've seen your comments saying the plot has been moving too slowly these past few days, and I've reflected on it too—I'll try to pick up the pace. But truly, there's no way to break off the engagement with the sort of domineering flourish you all describe. In the eyes of the world, Dou Yan is, after all, only a girl of a dozen or so years; she cannot simply refuse to marry, so she has no choice but to devise a once-and-for-all solution.

Then there's the question everyone keeps debating: why not have Song Yan or Ji Yong help? Let me offer an analogy. Suppose there is a woman—in ancient times an engagement counted as marriage; even if the family were stripped of its property, a daughter already betrothed was considered another family's, and would not be condemned with them. But let us speak only of modern times. A woman wants to break off her engagement, and she says to a male friend, "I don't want to marry my fiance anymore. Help me—get rid of him for me." I'm confident that nine out of ten men would think, 'Does this woman have her eye on me?' and the tenth would think, 'She's hinting that I should court her, isn't she...' If it were a man saying, "I don't want to marry my fiancee anymore. Help me, get rid of her for me," nine out of ten would think, 'Is this fellow trying to have a foot in two boats?' and the tenth, a woman, would think, 'This man must have fallen for me...'

We truly aren't trying to play at anything ambiguous here.

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