Chen Shi and Wang Shi’s worries were not without reason.
Soon, there was a rumor that “the Yu family daughter relies on her looks and doesn’t know her place, wanting to take in a scholar as son-in-law.” By the time this rumor reached Chen Shi and Yu Tang’s ears, it had already spread throughout Lin’an city—few didn’t know of it.
Chen Shi was so angry she trembled, unable to speak for a long while.
Yu Tang feared something might happen to her and hurriedly had A’Tiao fetch a doctor.
Chen Shi grabbed Yu Tang’s hand. Her eyes immediately moistened as she said, “A’Tang, go ask your first aunt to come over. I have something to tell her.”
Hearing this, Yu Tang began pondering in her heart.
If she continued pretending to be a little girl, the family probably wouldn’t consult her about any major matters. Yet she knew the outcomes of many things, and if she wanted her parents to trust her, she needed to demonstrate capability—to make her parents feel she was capable and insightful enough to help the family resolve difficulties.
“Mother!” Having made up her mind, Yu Tang not only didn’t go ask for First Aunt but sat at Chen Shi’s bedside and said directly, “Is this about those rumors outside?”
Chen Shi didn’t want to trouble her daughter and said, “Don’t worry about adult matters. Just go ask your first aunt to come over as I told you. Be obedient!”
Yu Tang smiled and said, “Mother, I’ve already grown up. For some matters, you can try discussing them with me. If what I say isn’t right, it won’t be too late to find First Aunt then.”
Chen Shi was stunned.
Yu Tang then said, “If you’re looking for First Aunt about something else, I’ll go ask her right now. But if it’s about those rumors outside concerning my marriage, I actually have an idea. You might as well listen.”
Seeing her daughter’s confident appearance, Chen Shi couldn’t help hesitating somewhat.
Yu Tang smiled and said, “Actually, this matter isn’t difficult. You just need to invite an official matchmaker to the house, then give her some silver and tell her what kind of son-in-law our family wants to take in!”
Chen Shi said hurriedly, “How can that work? Official matchmakers are usually unreliable.”
Yu Tang smiled and said, “We’re not actually asking the official matchmaker to matchmake. What does it matter if she’s reliable or not?”
Chen Shi was so startled she sat up straight and hurriedly said, “What do you mean?”
Yu Tang explained in detail to her mother: “Think about it—those rumors and gossip, we don’t know where they came from. Even if we wanted to investigate, we couldn’t find anything. And even if we somehow did find out, people could just say ‘I was only speaking casually’ and we’d have no recourse against them. To deal with this kind of thing, the best method is for us to spread word as well. Don’t those people say I don’t know my place and want to take in a scholar as son-in-law? We’ll simply announce the conditions for taking in a son-in-law publicly, let those rumors collapse on their own—won’t that resolve the matter?”
Chen Shi still couldn’t quite wrap her head around it and said, “Surely we can’t just take in any random son-in-law? Those who’ve studied and those who haven’t are different. When granaries are full, people know propriety; when food and clothing are sufficient, they know honor and shame. If the family foundation is too thin and they can’t even eat their fill, where would there be room for propriety? Even if they came to our family, they’d covet this today and scheme for that tomorrow—making trouble even where there was none. If in the future the children are influenced by their father… what good days would you have?”
“How could we randomly find just anyone?” Yu Tang smiled and said, “You’re overthinking it.”
Chen Shi frowned.
Yu Tang said slowly, “A scholar doesn’t equal having official rank!”
Chen Shi suddenly understood and gripped her daughter’s hand tightly in return, saying repeatedly, “How could I be so muddled, how could I be so muddled!”
Yu Tang smiled with pursed lips.
Chen Shi said excitedly, “Those with official rank naturally wouldn’t be willing to marry in, and even if they did marry in, there would be trouble later. We should seek someone from a suitable family—someone who’s studied for a few years, is honest and kind, can read and calculate, can help manage household affairs. In the future when we have grandchildren, the bloodline from the father’s side won’t be poor, so they certainly won’t be stupid. Then have your father carefully teach them for a few years—who knows, our family might produce a recommended man or even a presented scholar!” The more she spoke, the more feasible she felt it was. “For such a family, the parents definitely wouldn’t be the type who can’t move when they see things. In the future we can visit each other like relatives—if you encounter any trouble, that side could help. We can also promise them that after three generations they can return to their ancestral clan, and the third son’s family can take their surname.”
Having spoken to this point, Chen Shi’s gloom was completely swept away and she couldn’t sit still.
She called Chen Pozi in, grabbed a handful of copper coins for Chen Pozi, and had her invite official matchmakers to the house, saying, “Invite several. Since we’re going to spread this matter, the more people the better.”
Seeing that Yu Tang’s matter had a solution, Chen Pozi was also happy and left cheerfully.
Chen Shi chuckled and turned to take her daughter’s hand and look her up and down.
Yu Tang thought about how she was indeed different from before and couldn’t help feeling somewhat uncertain. She said uncomfortably, “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“I’m looking at how our A’Tang has truly grown into a young lady.” Chen Shi’s eyes and brows were full of joy. “In the past, your father and I were wrong to always think you were just making trouble. But look at what you’ve done these days—though quite bold, it’s all well-reasoned and your decisions are very sound.” As she spoke, she sighed deeply and said with relief, “Before, we didn’t insist on keeping you at home because we feared you couldn’t support this household. Now it seems your father and I were confused by our concern—we didn’t realize our A’Tang has backbone and is a good girl with her own opinions and sense of responsibility!”
You weren’t mistaken!
It’s Heaven who gave me another chance, allowing me to shoulder this responsibility when I should be taking on this burden for the family.
Yu Tang’s eyes reddened slightly as she hugged her mother tightly, murmuring with both guilt and heartache, “Mother, don’t say that. It’s me, it’s my fault…”
“Look at you, talking nonsense again.” Chen Shi couldn’t guess Yu Tang’s thoughts and thought her daughter didn’t know what to say. She smiled and pushed Yu Tang away, seeing Yu Tang’s face full of tears. She said curiously, “What’s wrong with you now?”
Her mother knew nothing, yet this made Yu Tang feel both grounded and secure.
She wiped her tears and smiled, “I, I’m fine. It’s just been a long time since Mother praised me like this!”
“You child!” Chen Shi showed an expression of not knowing whether to laugh or cry and said, “Have you finished embroidering the shoe uppers I asked you to do? If we truly find a suitable family, we’ll need to arrange your wedding soon. Don’t let it come to the point where you even have to buy shoes from the shop.”
According to Jiangnan customs, when the new bride recognized relatives on the second day, she had to give her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and other relatives shoes and socks she’d made with her own hands.
Yu Tang had liked movement over stillness since childhood, and being pampered by her parents, her needlework was naturally quite ordinary. Later, after marrying into the Li family and seeing Lin Shi treat her unkindly, she was even less willing to do needlework for anyone—she couldn’t even embroider flower petals well. With Chen Shi insisting, how could she dare say more? She ran off in a flash.
Chen Shi looked at her daughter’s retreating figure and laughed so hard she couldn’t straighten up, only to be caught by Yu Wen rushing back from Changxing Street.
He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “What’s making you so happy? I just ran into A’Tiao, who said you weren’t feeling well and wanted to fetch a doctor…”
Chen Shi smiled and told Yu Wen what had just happened, saying, “With A’Tang’s idea, how could my illness not immediately improve?”
“There’s such a thing?!” Yu Wen exclaimed, “After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes. I truly didn’t expect this.”
“Exactly!”
The couple sighed with emotion for quite a while.
Yu Wen called Yu Tang to the study and praised her thoroughly, even giving her a bean-paste green clay inkstone that had been passed down in the Yu family.
Yu Tang held the inkstone and complained to her mother, “Such a precious inkstone—if I use it, Father will definitely wail. What kind of reward is this? It’s just keeping it in a different place for him.”
Chen Shi smiled and tapped Yu Tang’s forehead, saying, “Isn’t it prestigious enough to use as part of your trousseau?”
Yu Tang giggled.
Chen Shi doted on her daughter and didn’t want her disappointed. She went to the silver shop and ordered a pearl headband and a pair of pearl hair ornaments for Yu Tang, saying, “When Sister Ma marries out, you can wear them to the wedding feast.”
Yu Tang said with delight, “Sister Ma’s wedding date is set?”
Chen Shi nodded with a smile and said, “It’s set for the sixth day of the ninth month. Have you prepared the trousseau gifts? If not, hurry and order them from the shops. I’ll pay for them.”
As for her daughter’s needlework, she had no expectations.
Yu Tang wanted to give Ma Xiuniang more things, so naturally the more silver the better.
She acted coquettishly and got another five taels of silver from Chen Shi, went to the silver shop and ordered a pair of silver bracelets and an emerald-inlaid hairpin for Ma Xiuniang.
Soon, the official matchmakers widely proclaimed the Yu family’s conditions for taking in a son-in-law and even explained: “It’s not that those young gentlemen from those families aren’t good—they just don’t meet the Yu family’s conditions. This can’t be helped.”
Everyone found this reasonable, and the rumors about Yu Tang “being arrogant and wanting to take in a scholar as son-in-law” gradually dispersed.
However, Yu Tang’s marriage also became a matter on many people’s minds.
This day, after Yu Wen returned from delivering Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to Manager Tong, he was very happy. Slightly tipsy, he said to Chen Shi, “Manager Tong says he wants to matchmake for our A’Tang!”
Chen Shi brought sobering soup to Yu Wen while saying happily, “Measuring matchmakers. Manager Tong is such a good person—any match he suggests must be reliable. Sit down and tell me in detail.”
Yu Wen drank the sobering soup in one gulp and said to Chen Shi by lamplight, “Manager Tong says he has a good friend surnamed Wei—both husband and wife are straightforward people. The family has an oil press, over two hundred mu of land, and a mountain with over three hundred osmanthus trees planted. The family has five sons, all of whom have been taught to read—he watched them grow up. The eldest son must certainly stay home to inherit the family business, but the other sons should be able to marry in. If I think it’s acceptable, he’ll sound them out and have someone come for us to see. If it works out, we’ll have our A’Tang make him a pair of shoes. If not, we’ll just consider him an adopted nephew.”
“Five sons?” Chen Shi smiled and said, “That would be wonderful. If this match succeeds, we’d also have relatives to lend a hand. Look at you, a scholar having to personally manage shop affairs. If the family had more children, you and First Uncle wouldn’t need to work so hard.”
Yu Wen was happy that Yu Tang’s marriage had prospects and joked, “When you think about it, it’s all the Pei family’s fault. If the Pei family didn’t sponsor so many students every year, how could Lin’an Prefecture produce so many scholars? Look at other places—how valuable scholars are. Then look at our Lin’an—it really makes you die of envy comparing yourself to others!”
“Alright, alright, say less.” Chen Shi smiled reproachfully, “You talk nonsense when you drink. The Pei family does good deeds—does that interfere with you? I think the less valuable Lin’an Prefecture scholars are, the better. How impressive it sounds when spoken outside! Those doing business elsewhere won’t be casually bullied either.”