Chapter 223 — Remedying the Situation

Dou Bingheng waved his hand. "I have my own plans!"

The Fifth Madam asked no more. She alighted from the carriage at the entrance of their home, respectfully watched the carriage drive out of Huai Tree Alley, and only then turned and went back inside the residence.

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Old Master Ji lay half-asleep in his reclining chair, mulling over Dou Huaiying's failure to keep their appointment without a word of notice.

His invitation to Dou Huaiying had been nothing more than an attempt to cultivate a connection with him. Yet the man had rebuffed him bluntly, and there could be only one explanation: the Dou family had relayed the Ji family's intentions to him, and he was deeply displeased with the match.

Jianming was a man of striking appearance and accomplishment, a rising star in his youth—by any measure the finest of prospective bridegrooms. What could Dou Wanyuan possibly find objectionable?

Perhaps he would send another invitation tomorrow, and if the man still failed to appear, he would call on him in person at Longhua Temple Alley.

A man fears a face-to-face encounter.

Surely he would not have the nerve to refuse the marriage to his face?

At this thought, he called out loudly to the young servant attending him: "Has the Sixteenth Young Master returned yet?"

Ji Yong ranked sixteenth among the household's sons.

Old Master Ji felt as though he had not laid eyes on Ji Yong for several days.

The servant hurried to reply, "This humble one will go and summon the Sixteenth Young Master at once."

Old Master Ji gave a grunt of assent, and a servant came in to announce: "Old Master, Grand Secretary Dou of Huai Tree Alley has arrived."

Old Master Ji was taken aback. He repeatedly ordered the servant to show Dou Bingheng into the flower hall, changed into a set of clothes suitable for receiving guests, and went to the flower hall.

Dou Bingheng came straight to the point, and with a face full of shame said, "When all is said and done, this matter is entirely my fault. I never imagined that after my fifth niece married out, my seventh brother, fearing my fourth niece would never find a husband, would hastily arrange a match with the Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate without a word to the rest of us..."

Even one as seasoned as Old Master Ji could not help showing his astonishment: "How could that be?"

A child's marriage was no trifling purchase of cabbages and radishes, to be bought on the spot.

And where had this Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate suddenly sprung from?

The Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate was no Jining Marquis's Estate. It was a true house of high officials and cap and tassel, favored by imperial grace for generations, illustrious and unflagging in its prosperity.

To say nothing of a petty Dou Wanyuan—even he himself could never have commanded the Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate to put on a show with him!

Old Master Ji could not help saying in a low voice, "Are you quite certain? It is truly the Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate?"

Dou Bingheng had not expected such a question, but he reflected that among the betrothal gifts there had been a "surplus year after year" carved from a single slab of Shoushan stone the size of a washbasin, and brocades and Shu embroideries as radiant as cloud brocade—how could the Ying Hereditary Prince's Estate be a counterfeit?

He said tactfully, "This afternoon the Song family carried one hundred and twenty-four loads of betrothal gifts to Longhua Temple Alley, and only then did I learn of it. By the time I hurried over, it was already too late. The two families had not only signed the marriage contract but even fixed the wedding for the twenty-fourth day of the eighth month."

Old Master Ji could not help but give a derisive laugh.

He truly was growing more useless with age, to have said such a thing.

Gazing at the earnest-faced Dou Bingheng before him, his mind raced.

"Jianming's uncle has served in the Ministry of Works all these years and has always wanted to repair the waterways of Yixing, but if the work were privately funded it would smack of seeking vainglory under false pretenses. Better that the government take the lead and our Ji family follow along..."

To hold office in a place is to bring benefit to that place.

Yet to bring benefit to one's native district is to win lasting fame and to enrich one's descendants.

Yixing was but a small county—how could it ever catch the Emperor's eye? Especially when the court had spent the past two years dredging the Grand Canal and the old course of the Yellow River.

Dou Bingheng smiled bitterly to himself.

The Ji family was asking him for compensation.

Debts must be paid; that was only right and proper. Could he refuse?

"This is a fine thing," Dou Huaiying said with a smile. "Whatever Minister Ji needs my help with, he has only to say the word!"

Old Master Ji sent Dou Huaiying off well satisfied.

Ji Yong had returned.

His face was wreathed in smiles, his spirits high. At the sight, Old Master Ji's heart sank, and he did not know what to say; for a moment he was tongue-tied.

It was Ji Yong who spoke first, asking with a smile, "What did you want to see me about?"—with the air of one who would leave if the old man did not speak up.

Old Master Ji thought for a moment, then countered: "What have you been up to? These past days you have been rushing about, and I have not seen hide nor hair of you."

Ji Yong said with a smile, "Nothing much—just went out for a few cups with friends." Then he yawned and said, "Can we talk about it another day? I am dead on my feet."

With that, paying no heed to what Old Master Ji might say, he walked straight out of the old man's room, leaving Old Master Ji fuming and blowing at his beard.

Yet inwardly Ji Yong was gloating.

Having joined He Yu in giving Wei Fan a sound drubbing, he felt much better.

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o(n_n)o~

Brothers and sisters, it is the end of the month—please vote your pink tickets to keep me afloat!

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