chapter 4

chapter 4

After Zhao Yuan left, my aunt called me in and told me what had happened with deep apology.

“My dear child, your cousin is destined for great things. He has no room in his heart for romance. In truth… becoming his concubine would have wronged you anyway. Perhaps this is for the best. I will find you a young man who suits you.”

I showed neither disappointment nor resentment. “Thank you for caring for me, Aunt. I will leave everything in your hands.”

Seeing how sensibly I accepted it, she sighed with both admiration and regret and kept me talking for a long while.

Fortunately, she was a decisive woman. She soon cast the old idea aside and began considering possible husbands for me.

My circumstances, however, left me suspended awkwardly between high and low, and she spent no small amount of effort on the matter.

While my own prospects remained uncertain, Zhao Yuan’s marriage star began to rise.

I heard that Minister He of the Ministry of Rites thought highly of him and wished to marry his legitimate granddaughter, He Yueru, to him.

Miss He was celebrated in the capital for her learning, and both Zhao Yuan and the marquis were pleased with the proposed match.

Understanding the unspoken meaning at once, the marchioness arranged a flower-viewing banquet so she could evaluate Miss He, inviting the ladies of every prominent household.

It was the first banquet held since my arrival. The marchioness patiently taught me how to receive guests and explained the web of relationships among the capital’s great families.

I knew she meant to educate me, so I studied earnestly, although I might never have use for such knowledge.

In private, she told me, “When men arrange marriages, all they see is the office held by a girl’s father or brothers. I must examine her myself. She will be the future mistress of this household, and temperament and ability matter. If she cannot shoulder the responsibility, the match will not do.”

Zhao Yuan’s future wife would not only manage the marquis’s estate. Several collateral branches of the Zhao clan looked to this house as well, and the senior daughter-in-law would bear many duties.

I agreed. “Miss He comes from a scholarly family and is widely praised as both learned and virtuous. Surely there can be no problem.”

The marchioness smiled. “I hope so.”

As we spoke, Zhao Yuan arrived to pay his respects.

He seemed to have overheard us before entering, because his gaze was markedly warmer and friendlier than before.

I returned a courteous smile, dipped in a slight bow, and withdrew so mother and son could speak privately.

On the day of the flower banquet, I helped my aunt manage a host of details and scarcely had time to rest my feet.

Once all the guests arrived, I was responsible for gathering the younger ladies in a waterside pavilion and serving them fine tea and fruit.

The occasion also gave me my first look at the woman Zhao Yuan considered suitable wife material—Miss He Yueru.

At sixteen, Miss He was not extraordinarily beautiful. But she was fair and slender, with a cool, aloof manner that held a charm of its own.

I nodded inwardly. Zhao Yuan was fortunate indeed, and I treated the ladies with even greater warmth.

I hoped to build a good relationship with Miss He. If she married into the family and became mistress of the house, I would still rely on this connection and hope for her consideration.

Relatives maintained their bonds through regular contact.

My goodwill, however, received no proper response. Miss He was cold toward me, and her friend Miss Song treated me as though every sight of me offended her.

Miss Song was the daughter of General Wuwei and was said to be forthright by nature.

Yet I could not recall offending either of them. Perhaps they simply despised my humble birth.

After serving tea, I had the maids bring out backgammon, Go, pitch-pot, and other amusements young ladies enjoyed.

Everyone chose a game except Miss He and Miss Song, who sat talking by the railing.

“You haven’t heard? The eldest son of the princess’s household is crying and begging to marry some cousin who came from goodness knows where. How humiliating!”

“And the princess permits such nonsense?”

“What else can she do? That so-called cousin must be formidable indeed, to have bewitched Young Master Xue out of his senses.”

As they discussed gossip from the princess’s household, they placed pointed emphasis on the word cousin, clearly intending me to hear.

I pretended not to notice and continued attending the guests.

When I looked back, Miss He and Miss Song were watching me coldly, their hostility growing ever more obvious.

I had no choice but to approach them with a mild smile. “Is there anything you two would like to do? The weather is pleasant. Would you care to take a boat on the lake?”

Miss He gave an icy, haughty smile. “No need.”

Miss Song said with open mockery, “I hear you are also the heir’s cousin. A cousin may be kin from a thousand miles away, as they say, but how extraordinary that in so great an estate, a young lady lodging here as a guest should presume to act as hostess.”

One of her companions muttered, “Some people truly have no shame.”

I stared at them.

Was this displaced anger?

Or had they heard some old rumor?

Whatever possibility had once existed between Zhao Yuan and me was entirely over. Dragging it up now was hardly clever.

And was Miss He truly wise to let Miss Song serve as her blade while keeping her own hands clean?

It seemed her character and judgment were not nearly as fine as rumor claimed.

I was disappointed. After all Zhao Yuan’s careful choosing, this was the woman he had selected?

Still, it was not my place to comment.

They were guests, and distinguished ones at that. I could not offend them. After composing myself, I said, “You must be teasing me. I could never consider myself the hostess. My aunt merely asked me to lend a hand.”

My retreat did nothing to soften Miss Song. She sneered. “Yueru is too good-natured to quarrel with certain people, but I cannot stand groveling flatterers. Do not think a pretty face gives you license to behave wildly. Even if you enter this household one day, you will only be a concubine who can be sold at a whim!”

Her words were beneath contempt.

If I swallowed that insult, I would be admitting her slander was true.

My face cooled. I enunciated every word. “I do not understand you, Miss Song. Though I am a guest in this estate, I am the daughter of an honorable family and a freeborn woman. No one may sell me at a whim. A woman’s reputation is no small matter. Please take care and do not speak such reckless falsehoods.”

Miss He’s expression tightened, but she remained silent.

Miss Song snorted. “What a sharp tongue!”

Unwilling to continue the argument, I said softly, “There are matters in the kitchen requiring my attention. Please excuse me.”

I stationed a senior maid there to serve them and turned away.

After leaving the pavilion, I slowly exhaled.

In the past, I would have argued both girls into the ground and refused to stop until one side emerged victorious.

But when one lived beneath another’s roof, one had to bow one’s head.

They were daughters of powerful families. I was merely an orphan dependent on others.

What else could I do but endure it?

As I rounded a corner, I unexpectedly encountered Zhao Yuan.

If he was here, he had probably intended to observe Miss He in secret.

With a composed expression, I greeted him, bowed, and moved to leave.

He lightly stopped me. After dismissing the servants around him, he said, “You were wronged just now.”

I smiled faintly. “You needn’t stand on ceremony with me, Cousin. Some matters improve once they are stated clearly.”

If he wanted to marry Miss He, he needed to explain matters to her.

I had done nothing improper. There was no reason I should endure hostility without cause.