Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“You!”

Madam Shen (eldest branch) froze. Though she did not want her daughter to marry into the Xue Family and suffer, she had never thought of pushing Shen Jin into it instead. A family like the Xues was of no help to the Shen Family whatsoever. Why would Shen Jin willingly court hardship?

How could Shen Jin not know what Madam Shen (eldest branch) was planning?

But she had plans of her own. Back then, after she had been schemed into an engagement with the Dingbei Marquis Estate, she had returned to the Shen Family to attend Shen Si’s coming-of-age ceremony. It was then that she had met Xue Huaicong and learned that he was not nearly as unbearable as Madam Shen (eldest branch) imagined.

When Vice Minister Xue was alive, he had been widely known for his incorruptibility. Xue Huaicong had inherited his father’s principles. He was upright, brave, and knew how to conduct himself properly.

The reason he had chosen to come to the Shen Family to propose on the day of Shen Si’s coming-of-age ceremony was, first, because that ceremony marked the age at which a girl could be betrothed; and second, because Xue Huaicong’s mother was gravely ill and wished to see him married before she died. Xue Huaicong was deeply filial to his mother and valued promises, which was why he had come to the Shen Family.

If Madam Shen (eldest branch) had been a sensible person, she could have told Xue Huaicong plainly that the childhood betrothal between the two families had only been a verbal agreement and that she did not acknowledge it. Xue Huaicong would not have clung to them and refused to leave.

But Madam Shen (eldest branch) loved her daughter too dearly and insisted on imagining the worst. That was how she came up with such a wretched idea, claiming that Xue Huaicong was a scoundrel who had deliberately come to the Shen Family to force a connection. She then had him beaten and cursed out of the house.

Yet Vice Minister Xue had served as an official for many years. Though he had passed away, he still had relatives, friends, and former colleagues. Seeing Madam Shen (eldest branch) behave so rudely, many of them mocked the Shen Family.

There were even upright officials who could not stand the Shen Family’s snobbery and opportunism, and they found an excuse in court to impeach Shen Zhan. As a result, Shen Zhan’s reputation as an official declined, making his path to promotion even more difficult.

Even Shen Jin had pitied Xue Huaicong’s circumstances that day. Seeing his shabby clothes and guessing that he must have traveled a long, difficult road, she had secretly instructed a servant boy outside the inner gate to give him some loose silver for his journey home.

The next time she saw Xue Huaicong was after she had married into the Dingbei Marquis Estate and become the Marchioness, attending a palace banquet. By then, Xue Huaicong had passed the imperial examinations as a jinshi. Wearing his palace robe and official cap, he was an upright, handsome young man.

Such a clear and honorable man, from such a plain and frugal household-Shen Jin privately felt that instead of staying in the Shen Family and letting others manipulate her, with her own marriage uncertain, she might as well marry Xue Huaicong.

That way, her eldest aunt would not damage the Shen Family’s reputation out of worry over Shen Si’s marriage arrangement, and Shen Jin herself would no longer have to live in constant fear that Madam Shen (eldest branch) might shove her off to become the Old Marquis’s second wife.

After Madam Shen (eldest branch) and Shen Zhan heard her out, they considered it for a moment and also felt that having Shen Jin marry in her place was the best possible solution.

However, Shen Jin’s parents were both dead, so there still had to be a proper pretext for her marriage.

Shen Zhan immediately decided to adopt Shen Jin under Madam Shen (eldest branch)’s name. From then on, he and Madam Shen (eldest branch) would be Shen Jin’s parents. As for her dowry, aside from the property left behind by her birth parents, he and Madam Shen (eldest branch) would add another portion for her as well.

And so, Madam Shen (eldest branch) had someone invite Xue Huaicong inside. Before the hall full of guests, she announced that the Shen Family had double happiness at their door. They found someone to match the birth characters, and the wedding date for Xue Huaicong and Shen Jin was also set for the end of June.

On the same day, Marquis Dingbei, Lu Chenzhou, married Liu Wanrou as his new bride. Many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital went to the Dingbei Marquis Estate for a cup of wedding wine, and even the palace sent down quite a few rewards.

As for Shen Jin’s marriage, because Shen Zhan’s official rank was not prominent and the Xue Family’s status was no longer what it had once been, few people knew about it.

After Lu Chenzhou became busy with his wedding, he paid little attention to the outside world. Once Liu Wanrou entered the household, he focused single-mindedly on maneuvering his way up the official ladder.

Because he knew the outcome three years in advance, when the matter of the Deposed Crown Prince occurred in the ninth month of the First Year of Deguang, two of the four great families that had originally been ennobled for their military achievements fell. Only the Dingbei Marquis Estate and Marquis Pingxi’s Manor remained standing firm.

In the Second Year of Deguang, Marquis Pingxi’s Manor was implicated in factional struggles and dragged into imprisonment. Of the four great marquis households, only the Dingbei Marquis Estate remained.

The current Son of Heaven was the younger full brother of the founding emperor. After the founding emperor’s death, he had ascended the throne under the principle of a younger brother succeeding his elder brother. Back then, the two brothers had both risen to power by relying on the army, and therefore, after the dynasty was founded, what they feared most were meritorious officials who held military forces in their hands.

Now that the four great marquis estates had fallen one after another, the young Marquis Dingbei stood out all the more. He conducted himself impeccably, never formed cliques for private gain, and had even taken the initiative to return his military authority. The Son of Heaven was greatly pleased. He posthumously conferred upon the Old Marquis the title of Duke Dingguo, renamed the Dingbei Marquis Estate as the Dingguo Duke Manor, and promoted Lu Chenzhou to Imperial Censor-in-Chief.

For a time, Lu Chenzhou’s reputation soared. Everyone at court and beyond knew he was a favorite before the throne, and the Dingguo Duke Manor enjoyed unrivaled prestige in the capital.

As the saying went, a man glowed when good fortune came his way. Lu Chenzhou had already been striking in appearance, and now with power added to his person, he seemed all the more refined and noble, as though wealth and rank had been cultivated into his very bones.

After the spring examinations were over, someone as young as he was actually came to have protégés and old connections of his own.

One day, after court was dismissed, several subordinate colleagues from the Censorate considered that the next day was a rest day and they had nothing else to do, so they arranged to go out to the suburbs to visit a garden and drink to their hearts’ content. They also invited the newly appointed Investigating Censors of that year, treating it as a welcome banquet.

Most of the Investigating Censors were delighted to have the chance to associate with their superiors and seniors. Only one declined to attend.

When Lu Chenzhou heard of it, curiosity stirred in him, and he asked who it was. As it happened, one of the men had studied under the same teacher as that person and had passed the examination in the same year. He replied, “Xue Huaicong’s elderly mother has suffered from a stubborn illness for many years. He fears the household will not care for her properly, so he usually does not attend banquets or drinking parties.”

Xue Huaicong? The name sounded somewhat familiar. Lu Chenzhou thought back through both this life and the last, then suddenly asked, “Is he the son of the late Vice Minister of Revenue, Xue Yi?”

The others laughed. “Lord Censor-in-Chief has an excellent memory. Xue Huaicong is indeed Xue Yi’s son. He has only just reached twenty this year and already passed the imperial examination. That should be enough to comfort Vice Minister Xue’s spirit in heaven.”

Lu Chenzhou nodded. Xue Yi’s incorruptibility had once been known throughout the court. When Lu Chenzhou’s father was still alive, he had often praised Xue Yi, saying that although he served in the Ministry of Revenue, he possessed the spirit of a remonstrating official. His son, one imagined, could not be too poor a man.

Only just twenty, and already successful in the examinations-he could be counted as a young prodigy. If such a talent could be joined in marriage to his younger sister, he might well become a right-hand man for Lu Chenzhou in the future.

Thus, he probed for details about Xue Huaicong. The others said, “Speaking of it, Brother Xue’s life has been rather difficult, but in the end he was blessed by fortune. I heard that last year, when his mother’s illness grew severe and it looked as though she might not make it, she wanted Brother Xue to marry a wife before she passed. Ever since Vice Minister Xue died, the Xue Family had declined for many years, and Brother Xue had no official post to his name at the time. Everyone thought the matter of his marriage would come to nothing. Who would have expected that while Vice Minister Xue was alive, he had actually arranged a childhood betrothal with the Wuxing Shen Clan? When Brother Xue went to propose the marriage, the Shen Family agreed without a word and married their daughter over to him. That very year, Madame Xue recovered more than half her health. Then, at the beginning of this year, Brother Xue passed the imperial examination, and Madame Xue’s condition improved even further. Only the chronic ailment in her chest still requires constant medicine and careful tending.”

The Wuxing Shen Clan was all too familiar to Lu Chenzhou. Hearing that Xue Huaicong had married a woman née Shen, he calculated for a moment, then said, “Then the one betrothed to Xue Huaicong must have been the Fourth Miss of the Shen Family.”

When the others heard this, they shook their heads. “I don’t think it was the Fourth Miss. I remember Brother Xue mentioning once that his wife ranked third among the Shen Family sisters.”

Third Miss Shen? The one Xue Huaicong had married was Shen Jin?

How was that possible? Across two lifetimes, he had never once heard that Shen Jin and Xue Huaicong had ever had a marriage agreement, much less a childhood betrothal.

“You did not mishear? The one Xue Huaicong married was the Third Miss of the Shen Family?” he pressed.

The other man nodded with certainty. “I did not mishear. There is no possible way to confuse third and fourth.”

Lu Chenzhou’s eyes widened slightly. Very well, Third Miss Shen. Very well, Wuxing Shen Clan. They actually dared to scheme against him when she already had an engagement! Who did they take Lu Chenzhou for?

“Go. Find someone to send word to Xue Huaicong. Tell him that tomorrow, this Marquis will hold a banquet at home and has specially invited him to attend!”