Chapter 193 — A Direct Strike
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Ji Yong was taken aback. "Surely that will not work?"
His great-grandson, at last, was beginning to show some trace of youth.
"It will work, it will work. It will work," Old Master Ji said with a smile. "And then?"
"What?"
"I mean, after the Dou and Wei families break off the engagement—what then?"
Ji Yong scratched his head.
Truly, no gold is wholly pure. No man is wholly perfect!
Old Master Ji sighed. "Dou Yan is young. She cannot simply shut herself away at home and never marry again just because an engagement was broken. And even if she did—what of you? One day you will take a wife, and then you cannot go running to the Dou house every day, seeing Dou Yan whenever the whim takes you, as you do now."
Ji Yong's eyes went wide, and he said dismissively, "Then I shall marry her myself!"
The moment the words left his lips, thunder crashed and rolled through his head.
Was this—was this truly what lay in his heart?
He stared at Old Master Ji, his eyes growing wider still.
Old Master Ji burst out laughing. "At last the penny has dropped. Otherwise all that flailing about before would have been for nothing. Now do you know what you must do?"
"What else is there to do?" Ji Yong was still sunk in the shock of the moment, and had not yet caught up.
"Fool!" Old Master Ji pulled a book from his sleeve and smacked his great-grandson over the head with it. "You want to marry her, but does that mean she must be willing to marry you? Besides, there's still a betrothal between the Dou and Wei families. A betrothal is not something you can simply call off. You always boast that your wit is unmatched, that no one can compare with you. So how is it that at a time like this your head has turned to wood?"
Ji Yong's mind finally cleared, and he said at once, "Now that Dou Chi is willing to marry Wei Fan, with her temper she certainly won't agree to it. The Dou family wants Dou Yan to marry him now, only because they fear that if the business with Dou Ming comes to light it will ruin the good name of the Dou clan. So long as Wei Fan voluntarily withdraws from the betrothal, the Dou family can give Outsiders an explanation, and the marriage will naturally fall through. I'll go to Wei Fan at once and think of a way to delay the wedding date a while. Heaven only knows how many things happen in the capital every day. In a little while there will be fresh gossip for everyone to chew over. It won't be too late to withdraw from the betrothal then..."
Old Master Ji would have liked to take an axe and split Ji Yong's skull open. "And what is Wei Fan? If you can scheme against him, do you think others can't scheme against him just as easily? What use is it whether he agrees to withdraw or not? How did I teach you, from the time you were small? To catch the bandits, first catch their leader. Never mind these petty details; you must seize hold of the people and the things that can sway the whole situation. Reflect properly on this business. First you acted without understanding what was truly in your own heart; and after you acted, you still failed to see clearly who it was could affect the course of events. And now your head is still a pot of paste. Since you schemed to bring Wei Fan and Dou Ming together, and Dou Chi will not marry Wei Fan, the Dou family has been forced to accept this match merely to cover up the Dou Ming affair; and the Wei family, fearing the Dou family will call them to account for Wei Fan's misconduct, had no choice but to send a matchmaker and hastily fix a date. Everything is ready, and only the east wind is lacking. Yet instead of following the momentum of events and profiting by it, you go running about looking for someone to lean on. Truly, rotten wood cannot be carved! Even as he spoke, Old Master Ji sprang to his feet and shot Ji Yong a fierce glare. "Come, and see how I settle this matter for you!" Then he grumbled, "And mind you learn something from it!"
Ji Yong was left open-mouthed and tongue-tied.