Chapter 201 — Agreeing

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The Dou family actually dared to threaten her!

She went straight to the Yan'an Marquis's residence and said to the matchmaker, the Marchioness of Yan'an, "Since when does the bride's family set the date? These days all seem ordinary to me. Better to ask the Imperial Observatory to pick a few new ones."

The Marchioness of Yan'an replied tactfully, "The groom's family asks the bride's family to set the date precisely to draw the two households close, and besides, I think the days the Imperial Observatory chose are all quite good. Your father has been gone several years now, and your mother is all alone—surely she hopes to hold a grandchild sooner rather than later. Some matters, I think, need only be roughly right." Then, half in earnest and half in jest, she added, "Now all the capital says you have set your sights on our Qingyuan—they even describe exactly what tea I served you when you came to call. Fortunately I am the Jining Marquis's matchmaker; on any ordinary day, our household would be hard-pressed to wash itself clean even by leaping into the Yellow River."

The Wang and Wei families had been friends for generations and were close besides. When Wei Wan came to their house to visit, and word even spread through the capital that Wei Wan had taken a fancy to her daughter Wang Qingyuan, the Marchioness of Yan'an had paid it no mind, thinking it only the idle chatter of people with nothing better to do after their meals. But when the Dou family sent Mrs. Cai to discuss breaking off the Dou-Wei engagement, she grew alert, sent someone to make inquiries, and was startled to discover how peculiar the rumor was. She reasoned that the Dou family would never blacken its own name, and recalling how every time Wei Wan visited he would obliquely inquire about Qingyuan's marriage prospects, she concluded that even if it was a rumor, the rumor held some truth. She flew into a rage and meant to decline the Wei family's request that she act as matchmaker, but feared people would say she had "a guilty conscience." Yet the Dou-Wei engagement dragged on and on, and she was so anxious she could neither eat nor sleep, wondering how to proceed if her daughter—already somewhat old for marriage—had her prospects ruined by this affair. It was this that made her press Wei Wan to hurry and settle Wei Fan's marriage.

Wei Wan did not know whether the Marchioness of Yan'an was aware that she herself had spread the rumor, and at these words her face flushed red and pale by turns.

The Marchioness of Yan'an casually pointed to the nearest date and said, "Once the Mid-Autumn Festival is past, the weather turns cool. I think we should set it for the fourth day of the eighth month. The new bride will enter the household, and it will be just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The whole family reunited—your father's spirit in heaven will surely rejoice to see it."

Wei Wan still wanted to put it off.

But the Marchioness of Yan'an said, "I am old, and I must help Qingyuan prepare for her wedding. If the Dou marriage still needs discussion, then I think we might ask the Second Madam of your household to carry messages between the two sides—how would that be?"

Wei Wan knew the Marchioness of Yan'an was warning her. Though helpless in her heart, she still said, "Then I will go back and speak with Mother, and let her decide."

"That would be best." The Marchioness of Yan'an smiled and took up her tea, her manner far colder than before.

Wei Wan swallowed her anger and went to the Jining Marquis's residence, where she happened upon Mrs. Cai.

Mrs. Cai was speaking with Madam Tian: "...whether it is or isn't so, you must make up your mind, madam. It is not as though the Dou family must ally itself with yours; it is only that our elders made a pact, and it would not do to set it aside lightly. Whether the Wei family acknowledges this marriage or not, you must give us an answer. If you still acknowledge it, then the Dou family's Fourth Miss has already waited four years for your Marquis. Will your household set a wedding date or not? If you do not acknowledge it," and here she rapped the thick stack of betrothal gift lists on the tea table, "then since it is your family that refuses, the betrothal gifts the Dou family sent need not be returned—but the gifts the Dou family gave your household, you must return twofold. And if some of those things have been used for other purposes and cannot be returned, their value in silver will do just as well!"

Catching sight of Wei Wan entering, Mrs. Cai gave a startled "Aiya" and broke off. Smiling, she stepped forward and curtsied. "How fortunate that the eldest young madam has returned. You are a clear-headed person—whatever the state of your family's engagement with the Dou family, you must at least give us a word. At present the Grand Secretary Dou still knows nothing of the Wang family's business, and so everything may still be discussed; but if time drags on, it will not hold. If the Grand Secretary Dou learns of it, this marriage will no longer be for the Fifth Madam to decide—if it is to be broken, it will be broken..."

Madam Tian, as though relieved of a great weight, hastily called out, "Zhen'er."

Wei Wan first smiled at Madam Tian as if to soothe her, then her face darkened and she said with displeasure, "Who has been wagging tongues here?"

"We do not know who has been wagging tongues," said Mrs. Cai, all smiles, though her words could pierce a person through. "The note the Jining Marquis wrote to the Dou family's Fifth Miss is still in the Fifth Madam's hands. We meant to say nothing of it, since the two families were to be joined in marriage, but now that the engagement is to be broken, there is no need for scruples..."

Wei Wan thought that if such a thing got out, it was the woman's side that would bear the shame, and she had counted on the Dou family keeping silent. Furious at Wei Fan's recklessness, she had given him a stinging slap and had been in no mood to question him closely about the particulars. Now, hearing that Wei Fan's note was still in the hands of the Dou family's Fifth Madam, she was so enraged that her vision swam. But before she could collect herself, Madam Tian, who doted on her son, said in a hurried voice, "I think the wedding should be set for the fourth day of the eighth month..."

"Mother!" Wei Wan cried out in both anger and alarm at her mother, but then she saw that her mother's face was ashen, and her gentle eyes brimmed with terror, and she was struck dumb.

Madam Tian had already said, "Zhen'er, say no more. I have decided this matter; the date is set for the fourth day of the eighth month." Then, turning to Mrs. Cai with an apologetic nod, she said, "I must trouble Mrs. Cai to put in a good word for us before the other family."

Seeing her aim achieved, Mrs. Cai was delighted. Glancing at Wei Wan, who stood dark-faced to one side, and remembering how Wei Wan had repeatedly spoiled matters, she pressed her advantage without mercy: "The old madam is easy to speak with, but I wonder what the eldest young madam of your esteemed household has to say? The eldest young madam is a capable person—she not only manages the Jingzhen Ducal household, but has a say in your family's affairs as well. I would not want to report back to the Dou family's Fifth Madam only to have your young madam change her mind again, making my trip wasted..."

"You!" Wei Wan was both ashamed and furious at these words and wanted to retort, but Madam Tian, eager to smooth things over, stepped in before her: "How could an elder sister not care for her own younger brother? What happened before had its reasons. Now that it is settled, let us not speak of the past. We will send a matchmaker with the formal cards this very day."