Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In my eighteenth year, my marriage was finally settled.

To everyone’s surprise, Father betrothed me to the Xu family, the Marquis of Huaiyi, who resided in the remote region of Bizhou.

To the noble families of Chang’an, a fallen provincial marquis was no different from a commoner.

When my three elder sisters were wed, Mother had always been the one to deliver the news. This time, however, it was Father who summoned me to his study.

Inside the study, Father was staring blankly at a blank scroll, his brush untouched.

I waited quietly. It was only after half a quarter of an hour that he finally turned around.

“Of all my daughters, you are the only one whose temperament truly resembles mine.”

I kept my hands at my sides and remained silent, allowing his scrutinizing gaze to linger on me.

After a long while, he shook his head, his tone sounding like a sigh.

“If you were a man, you would surely have achieved great things.”

I lifted my eyes to look at that empty scroll.

“Though your daughter is confined to the inner chambers, I know that true breadth of mind is never restricted by the space one occupies.”

A sharp glint flashed in Father’s eyes, and he suddenly burst into laughter.

“Good! That is my daughter.”

As his laughter subsided, his tone turned heavy.

“Bizhou is remote and lacks the prestige of Chang’an. If you are unwilling to go…”

“No,” I interrupted.

“Since your daughter has enjoyed the wealth and status of this family, I must shoulder the responsibility of maintaining it.”

Father let out a long sigh. His fingers rubbed the jade ring on his thumb as he slowly revealed his deeper intentions.

“The Emperor intends to prune the branches of the great families this year. I have no choice but to… sever one of my own limbs first.”

Father closed his eyes, his voice tinged with exhaustion.

“I have stood in the imperial court for thirty years, and I understand best of all: when the birds are gone, the good bow is put away.”

He opened his eyes. “Do you understand?”

A jolt went through my heart.

I suddenly remembered the way Mother had hesitated to speak five years ago.

Perhaps even then, Father had already intended to marry me off to the provinces.

Though Bizhou was remote, it was the throat of the water transport routes. The Marquis of Huaiyi commanded five thousand elite troops; he was inconspicuous enough to avoid notice, yet positioned to play a crucial role at a critical moment.

If the Imperial Consort’s son ever sought to fight for the throne, the Marquis of Huaiyi would be a vital fallback.

If he hadn’t spelled it out today, I would never have grasped the depth of his painstaking effort.

Leaving the study, I headed to Mother’s courtyard. She was currently organizing the list for my dowry.

When she saw me enter, a trace of grief appeared on her habitually elegant face.

“Once you are married, this courtyard will truly be empty.”

The emerald bracelet on her wrist struck the table, making a crisp clinking sound.

“The night before Ruzhang entered the palace, your father stood alone in the ancestral hall for half the night.”

“The day Xianghui returned to visit after her wedding, he broke his precepts and drank himself into a stupor.”

“When Yunzhu was gravely ill, he spent his days on disaster relief and his nights personally questioning the doctors to revise her prescriptions.”

“He ordered a thorough investigation into the backgrounds of commoner scholars across the nine provinces for three generations before he finally selected the Marquis of Huaiyi…”

Mother’s voice remained dignified, yet it carried a nearly imperceptible sob.

“Do not blame your father. He has already done everything in his power to plan for all of you.”

I reached out and hugged Mother, just as she used to hold me lovingly in her arms when I was a child.

“I understand everything.”

Mother leaned gently into my embrace, her sobbing growing slightly louder.

“You are all flesh of my flesh. Seeing any of you suffer is like carving out my own heart.”

At this moment, she was no longer the high-and-mighty mistress of the Chancellor’s Mansion, but simply a mother about to send her daughter away.

After only a brief moment, she gently pushed me away and regained her usual poised demeanor.

In the chess game of the great families, even love must be hidden this obscurely.

In the future, I would become someone just like her-someone who even had to measure her own sorrow with calculated restraint.