Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Not Easy
In the capital, Nguyen Gong's back was wet with sweat.
Three quarters of an hour ago, as soon as he entered the capital, he heard about an important event that everyone was talking about.
"I wonder how many good matches the emperor is going to help this autumn?"
During the time of the previous emperor, marriages were only granted to members of the royal family. But when the current emperor ascended the throne, not only members of the royal family and royal relatives were granted marriages, but also all the noble families in the capital, both civil and military officials, were included in the list.
"How can the high-ranking families in the capital arrange marriages casually? They say the marriage is granted by the emperor, but most of the time they have already decided it in private, and then they present it to the emperor in public and ask for the emperor's approval."
Ruan Gong asked the waiter to bring tea, and heard a man sitting in the middle say, "There were only the same nobles in previous years, nothing special. This year is different."
As soon as this was said, someone asked, "Could it be that the Emperor is going to grant that person a marriage this year?"
As soon as "that person" was mentioned, everyone around him became excited.
A young man who had just arrived from outside Beijing was confused and scratched his head and asked, "Who is that person?"
Everyone looked at him as if he was ignorant. "Who else? He is the most distinguished guest at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet every year. He is the marquis who many people long for but cannot reach."
The young man blinked. "Marquis? Marquis Yong, Marquis Yongding, Marquis Lu?"
He finally understood what was going on, and everyone nodded and shook their heads.
The Yongding Army, named after the Yongding Marquis' Mansion, guards the important border town of the imperial court. Concubine Lu and Prince Hui are the most favored by the emperor. Lu Shenru of the Yongding Marquis' Mansion has power in the court that is comparable to that of old civil officials who have experienced ups and downs.
But he never got married.
Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the Emperor grants marriages, people in the court and the country always guess whether Lord Lu will marry into a wealthy family and marry a noble lady this year.
But year after year, Lady Lu never showed up.
Lord Lu is twenty-five years old now.
Someone asked, "Could it be that Madam Lu showed up this year?"
Ruan Gong also knew the reputation of the Yongding Marquis. He listened carefully and heard someone ask, "Did the Yongding Marquis's Mansion send a name card to the Zongrenfu?"
Every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the clan government would submit a list of candidates for marriage as usual. Families who wanted to be arranged a marriage by the emperor had to personally go to the clan government to hand in their name cards.
The man surrounded in the middle waved his hand, "With the prestige of the Yongding Marquisate in front of the emperor, there is no need to go to the clan house to submit a name card. I said that there is Marquis Lu this year, not because of the name card, but because of Jiqingfang. The Marquisate started to renovate the mansion half a year ago. If we calculate the date, it will be completed in autumn. Isn't it just the right time to marry the Marquis' wife?"
Everyone exclaimed, "Ah!" There is some truth to this.
"Whose family is the Marquis' wife from? Why haven't I heard that the Yongding Marquis's Mansion is planning to marry into any family?"
The crowd guessed a few things, but none of them had any evidence. Someone laughed and said, "Could it be that Madam Lu was blocked outside the capital by the rain and hasn't entered the capital yet?"
The whole room burst into laughter.
But these words inexplicably frightened Ruan Gong. His heart was lifted, and he stared at the man in the middle with his ears perked up.
Someone asked the man, "You said this year is different, is that it? No one will believe it without real evidence."
Marquis Lu's marriage was discussed every year, and no matter how well it was said, the final result was that the Marquis's wife never showed up. People no longer believed in the speculation, and they all clamored for the person in the middle to say a Dingmao.
The man in the middle opened his mouth, and everyone looked over, but his mouth was wide open.
"This is a secret that cannot be revealed."
Everyone instantly lost their temper and said it was meaningless, "I believed your nonsense."
Ruan Gong also breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he was overthinking.
The Du family and the Yongding Marquis's residence are not related at all. The wife of Marquis Lu is definitely not a daughter of our family.
The man in the middle felt a little embarrassed, and he raised his voice again, "Then I'll tell you something with real evidence, and it's guaranteed to be no less than Lord Lu's storm."
Marquis Yongding is an important official who can call the shots in the court. He is the younger brother of the imperial concubine and the uncle of Prince Hui. Who could be less troubled than him?
The man shook his head proudly. Someone hesitated for a moment, "You're not talking about the third place winner, are you?"
The third place winner was Shao Boju.
Marquis Yongding is the younger brother of the imperial concubine, while Tanhualang is the nephew of the virtuous concubine; Marquis Lu is the uncle of Prince Hui, while Shao is the cousin of Prince Yong; Lu Shenru is the commander-in-chief of the Yongding Army with great merits and power, while Shao Boju is a new Tanhua who is a graduate of the imperial examination.
One is a military officer and the other is a scholar, both are popular figures loved by the emperor.
The man in the middle just smiled and said nothing, while everyone around him was in an uproar.
"Are you really talking about Shao Tanhua? Which rich family is he going to marry into?!"
This time, the man did not say that the secret must not be revealed. He stroked his beard and said, "If you say we are from a high-class family, we are not that high."
The implication is that they are not a well-known and powerful family in the capital.
When he said this, everyone was even more surprised, and asked him to stop keeping them in suspense, "Tell me quickly, which company is it?"
The man just drank tea and refused to say anything.
Others were not convinced, "Is this another case of using groundless accusations to deceive people?"
"How is it a lie?" The man in the middle was provoked and straightened up. "I'm afraid you won't believe me. You can't guess the name of that house."
Ruan Gong's eyelids twitched for no apparent reason.
He had just thought of this, and now his eyelids jumped again. He thought to himself that he was too nervous today. How could these two dignitaries in the court be related to the girl's affairs?
But the person in the middle slowly turned his head and looked towards Chengqingfang.
"Those who want to marry into the Shao family are in this Chengqingfang."
Everyone looked towards Chengqingfang in a daze, and the man said something with a smile.
"In front of Chengqingfang, there will be a big happy event at the Du family's residence."
... ...
Ruan Gong took out all the money and invited the man to have tea in a private room.
"... ...When was the big happy event of the Du family that you just mentioned?"
The man said it again.
"Within ten days. I say within ten days, the Du family will rise to great heights thanks to this great event!"
Ruan Gong's lips and tongue were dry. "So, the Shao family will ask the palace for a marriage and form an alliance with the Du family?"
"Of course, given Shao's status, this marriage can only be granted. As long as the second master of the Du family submits the name card to the clan house, there will be no mistakes."
Ruan Gong's mouth was bitter, "Then let me ask one more question, which girl from the Du family does Shao like?"
When he asked this question, Ruan Gong already had an idea in his mind.
Indeed, the man said, "There is no one else who can be worthy of the third place winner. It must be the only daughter of the former cabinet minister."
The only daughter of the deceased elder was his eldest daughter, Du Lingjing.
Ruan Gong just felt dizzy.
No wonder the second wife kept her wedding a secret and didn’t want them to know.
It turns out that he didn't dislike the girl's "unlucky" background, but this so-called happy event was actually held for the girl.
The second master arranged a marriage for the girl without telling her!
Ruan Gong thanked the man repeatedly and left the capital in a hurry.
But after he left, the man came out of the private room of the teahouse and walked into a secluded corridor.
In the dim corridor, someone was leaning against the wall, holding a sword and pretending to sleep with his eyes closed. The man stepped forward and said, "Master An, I have said what you said. Manager Ruan left in a hurry."
As soon as he finished speaking, a bag of heavy reward silver fell into his arms.
The man hurriedly accepted it and thanked him. Seeing the man with the sword turned around to leave, he was about to see him off, but the man turned around.
Guard Chong'an asked curiously.
"You know that our mansion is renovating and will be completed in the fall?"
The man chuckled and said, "In our line of work, the most important thing is to be well-informed. But more importantly, it is about knowing what to say and what not to say."
Chong'an nodded slowly, "Not bad, you know your limits."
The man smiled even more. "Thank you, Master An, for your appreciation," he said, lowering his voice. "Then can you tell me if our Marquis is going to marry his wife this year?"
Chongan sighed, "I just said you know your limits..."
The man quickly shrank his neck, but Chong'an just said it with a smile on his face.
"You'll know in a few days."
*
Outside Chongwen Gate in the capital city, there was a lot of noise with people shouting and horses neighing. But once you got through the city gate, it became a lot quieter. Then when you got into Chengqingfang, the noise was blocked outside the walls of the mansions in the capital.
In this area, when Grandpa Du passed the imperial examination, he spent all his family's efforts to buy a small courtyard with two entrances. When Grandpa Du passed the imperial examination and became a cabinet minister, he gradually expanded the courtyard into a large house with three entrances and two corridors and a garden. However, with Grandpa Du's rank as a fourth-rank official, he could not live here.
At this moment, the rain stopped, and the second master of the Du family, Du Zhiqi, stood in the courtyard, directing his servants.
"Prepare a few more sets of these dishes. When we hold a wedding at home, we don't want to appear too small and make fun of ourselves."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and took a look at the teapot, bowls and dishes he had just bought. He immediately frowned, "These are such low-quality things. Where is the manager? Who arranged the purchase?"
Before he finished speaking, someone walked quickly towards him from under the veranda.
The person who came was a girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old. She was wearing a honey-colored cross-collared shirt embroidered with golden osmanthus and an autumn-scented horse-faced skirt. She walked over quickly.
She bowed and called him "Dad" first, then took a look at the dishes and saw that the glaze on the porcelain was not fine enough, and even some corners were not covered with glaze.
She said that she was the one who asked them to buy the things. "Don't blame me, Dad. I was in a hurry to deal with my big sister's affairs. I was withdrawing money from the account frequently, so I didn't pay attention for a while and bought some dishes that were not delicate enough."
She apologized repeatedly, "I also want to give my eldest sister a decent wedding, but I have never experienced such a thing before. And I am thinking that my father wants to buy some dowry for my eldest sister. Money is needed everywhere, and if I take care of everything, I will not care about the details."
She was Du Runqing, the second daughter of the Du family. After her mother, Madam Gu, was seriously injured and bedridden, she took care of all the household chores.
Du Runqing said this and glanced at Du Zhiqi.
My father was not a high-ranking official, so the family did not have much income, but the expenses were considerable. My eldest sister already had a dowry, so if we did not add another dowry to her, we could save a lot of money and make the wedding more respectable for my father.
Whoever is in charge of the household knows how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are.
When Du Zhiqi heard his daughter say this, he suddenly remembered that there is no good thing in the world that can take care of both sides.
He asked someone to replace some decent dishes with some, saying, "Utensils will always be useful when they are purchased." But as for the additional dowry for his niece, he signaled to his daughter, "Forget it. Your uncle bought a lot for her when he was alive, so she should not be short of it."
Seeing that his father still looked gloomy despite what he said, Du Runqing walked down the corridor with his hands behind his back.
Du Runqing followed in small steps.
"Dad, don't blame me for being so talkative. I know what you are thinking."
Du Zhiqi stopped walking, and Du Runqing said softly, "Dad feels that this marriage with the Shao family was arranged without telling my eldest sister, and he must have owed her something, so he wants to give her more dowry as compensation."
These words hit the mark of Du Zhiqi's mind, and he looked at his daughter with a little surprise.
He had never thought about this marriage.
His eldest brother had arranged a marriage for his niece before he died, but unfortunately his uncle died young, so his niece stayed at home to manage the library, and also took care of the general affairs of the Du family, and sent him a lot of money every year. He thought that since she was willing to stay at home, he would let her go.
I didn't expect the Shao family to suddenly marry the Du family.
In the past, the Shao family was not well-known and the two families did not have much contact. Now, the Shao family has produced Shao Boju, the third place in the imperial examination, and the Prince Yong, born to Concubine Shao, is supported by civil officials in the court and is likely to enter the East Palace. The Shao family has immediately become popular.
He returned to Beijing at the beginning of the year to wait for a vacancy, but he has never been able to find a suitable position. If he is sent to those remote and cold places, he will be an incapable official and cannot even become a hall official. He has really had enough of this.
Shao Boju was a popular figure in the eyes of the emperor. He was close to Prince Yong and supported by the ministers. Not to mention that he had a bright future, just the fact that he married his niece and gave his uncle a decent official position was not a problem at all.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that this marriage was a good one. However, his niece was a quiet but opinionated person. She had grown up with the third son of the Jiang family and they were in love. After Jiang Zhuxiu passed away, she had been hiding in a small courtyard in the bamboo forest with only ancient books for company. It was not easy to convince her to remarry.
Unexpectedly, Shao said that she wanted to ask the emperor to grant the marriage during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As long as the imperial decree was finalized, he would not need to persuade his niece. His niece could only and must marry Shao.
He immediately decided to agree to the marriage, but after all, his elder brother and sister-in-law had both passed away, and he had arranged a marriage for his niece without telling her, which made him feel a little uneasy.
Another point is that my niece is getting married for the first time, but she will be a second wife when she gets married.
Shao Boju had a deceased first wife, and this was just his second marriage.
Knowing that his daughter was right, Du Zhiqi raised his hand and pinched his furrowed brows.
Seeing his father like this, Du Runqing spoke directly.
"You shouldn't think like that. How can Daddy be considered to be indebted to Big Sister?"
She said, "After Third Brother Jiang passed away, my elder sister was obsessed with grief, not caring about worldly affairs, and walking alone. For a woman, this is not a long-term solution? On the contrary, my father, as an uncle, cared about her wholeheartedly and arranged this prominent marriage for her. He basically saved her. How can she be ashamed of her uncle's family?"
These words surprised Du Zhiqi.
This marriage was with a favorite of the emperor, and it was granted by the emperor. In the eyes of others, it was impossible to get it. Why should he feel guilty?
His daughter's words made him feel relieved.
At this time, someone came to deliver a message, saying that Gu Jiu, the manager of the second wife's dowry farm, had arrived.
The family had to take care of important matters and needed people everywhere, so they had to borrow Gu Jiu from the Gu family to help take care of the farm. Why did he come to the capital city on a muddy road instead of working on the farm?
Both the father and daughter were surprised and called Gu Jiu over. Unexpectedly, Gu Jiu stepped forward, bowed hastily, and started talking.
"Second Master, Second Miss, the eldest lady is here from Qingzhou."
Just this one sentence shocked Du Zhiqi so much that Du Runqing thought he had misheard.
"Are you sure you mean that my elder sister came to the capital from Qingzhou?"
How could Gu Jiu lie? He told the story of Chang Pu going to the second lady's dowry farm. "... I used the excuse that the road was muddy and difficult to walk on, and wanted to leave the eldest lady at the farm outside the capital. But you never know, what if the eldest lady suddenly decides to come to the capital?"
Du Zhiqi's face turned pale, "Why did Jingniang come here at this time?" He even asked Gu Jiu, "Why did she come to Beijing for no reason?"
"He said he was here to collect the books."
"How could the books be sent all the way to the capital?" Du Zhiqi found it hard to believe.
He originally thought that the Shao family would ask the emperor to grant this marriage, and by then the imperial decree would be finalized, and his niece would have to marry him no matter what, and there would be no need for him to step in.
Who would have thought that my niece would come before the Mid-Autumn Festival. If she made a scene, wouldn't the whole thing be ruined?
Du Zhiqi's frown deepened.
He has been feeling uneasy. Now his niece suddenly comes to Beijing. Could it be God's will?
His mind wandered for a moment, and he heard his daughter suddenly calling him.
"Dad, don't worry. I think, firstly, my eldest sister might not know about this matter when she came to Beijing. Secondly, if dad had handed the nameplate to the clan house earlier, even if my eldest sister knew about it, would she be able to get it back?"
The matter had already been settled, but Du Zhiqi had forgotten about it.
"rational."
Looking at his daughter again, Du Zhiqi's expression softened.
"My son has really grown up, and is always thinking about the family. Your elder sister is eight or nine years older than you, but she is probably not as good as you."
Du Runqing received his father's praise, but he felt ashamed and couldn't accept it, so he kept shaking his head.
"After my mother was injured, I spent a year as the head of the household. I felt that my father had a hard time. I just wanted to share his worries."
Du Zhiqi had been working as an official outside the capital for many years, and had wanted to be an official in Beijing but had not been able to do so. He was very depressed, and what was more, his wife's carriage had an accident last year and she was bedridden and could no longer take care of things. She needed a constant supply of precious medicinal materials to nourish herself.
Only the father and daughter know the sadness in their heart.
At this point, both the father and daughter had tears in their eyes.
Du Zhiqi touched his daughter's hair, which was a rare thing for him to do when she was little. Du Runqing leaned on her father's arm, feeling a sore nose.
This time, the Shao family came to form an alliance with the Du family and wanted to marry Du Lingjing. This was their chance to change their situation. How could they just watch it fall through?
Du Zhiqi stood up and took a deep breath.
He wrote the name card tonight and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will send it to the clan office to finalize the matter. I will definitely get it done!"
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