chapter 3
chapter 3
After Zhao Yuan left, I watched his retreating figure and sighed.
Feng’er poked his head out from around a corner.
“So the coward finally dares to show himself?” I planted my hands on my hips and looked askance at him.
Instead of joking back as he usually did, Feng’er lowered his voice. “Cousin Yan, if Brother doesn’t want to marry you, I will. I’m not the heir, so you could be my lawful wife.”
What a precocious little imp.
My heart warmed, though mostly I wanted to laugh. “They say a wife three years older brings riches, but I’m seven years older than you. Wouldn’t marrying me be repaying kindness with cruelty?”
A household like this had no need for a child bridegroom.
Feng’er drooped. “But I don’t want you to leave…”
The marquis’s family was small. When Feng’er was born, Zhao Yuan had already entered the palace as the crown prince’s study companion, so the boy had always been rather lonely.
After I arrived, the two of us often played together.
Thinking of that, I pinched his little cheek and said gently, “Don’t be sad. I’m your cousin, and we’ll always be able to see each other. You don’t have to marry me. When I marry someone else, if his family bullies me, you can be the brother from my maiden family who comes to my defense. All right?”
Feng’er nodded solemnly. “No problem!”
The next day, I went to pay my respects to the marchioness.
Just as I reached the door, I heard her speaking with Zhao Yuan inside.
“What is wrong with Yan’er? She is clever, devoted, and naturally beautiful. If not for her family’s misfortune, making her your concubine would be an insult to her.”
My aunt truly was good to me. Unfortunately, even she could not make Zhao Yuan’s decisions for him.
He replied unhurriedly, “Mother, I had scarcely returned before I heard every servant in the estate praising Cousin Yan for being capable and devoted.”
“Yes. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“With her beauty, her background, and such calculated ways, if I truly took her as a concubine, where would that leave my future wife?”
“…”
For a moment, my aunt was speechless.
Zhao Yuan continued, “The lawful wife manages the women of a household. Cousin Yan does not seem the sort to bow her head and make herself small. If wife and concubine ever clashed, her kinship to us would compel you to protect her. How could my future wife live with that? Disorder in the inner household is a grave danger.”
After a pause, my aunt said, “Your cousin is not that kind of person…”
I did not stay to hear the rest. Silently, I stepped back, turned around, and left.
Truthfully, Zhao Yuan had made me see him in an entirely new light.
What man in this world did not dream of beauties on both arms, enjoying the blessings of several wives? Zhao Yuan even possessed the status and wealth to make it happen.
Yet he was considerate enough to think about his future wife’s position. He was certainly no ordinary, worldly man.
Though he looked down on me, I found myself respecting him.
I had never been eager to become his concubine in the first place. I had only considered it because of my aunt’s kindness.
If he did not want me, there was no reason for disappointment.
At worst, I was pretty, clever, and wealthy. If my aunt was willing to sponsor my marriage, I could surely find a good man who wanted me and build a decent life.