Fu Tinghan pulled Zhao Hanzhang forward to pay respects, then the three entered the main hall together. Wang Shi had already moved to sit beside Princess Hongnong. In front of them were over a dozen boxes. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, Wang Shi’s eyes immediately lit up as she beckoned: “Sanniang, come quickly. The Princess and I are selecting accessories for your wedding day.”
Princess Hongnong looked at Zhao Hanzhang with a smile. This was her second time carefully observing her.
The atmosphere in the room was beyond Zhao Hanzhang’s expectations. She was only stunned for a moment before breaking into a smile and respectfully coming forward.
Fu Xuan took one look and immediately pulled Fu Tinghan outside: “Come, let’s go out and admire the plum tree again.”
What was there to admire about a plum tree?
But Fu Tinghan glanced at Zhao Hanzhang and still followed him out.
Zhao Hanzhang removed her cold-weather cloak and handed it to Ting He, then turned to Zhao Yunxin who had followed in: “You go attend to your duties. I’ll send someone to call you if needed.”
Zhao Yunxin acknowledged, then bowed to Wang Shi and Princess Hongnong before withdrawing.
Princess Hongnong saw she was wearing official robes and asked: “This is a female official?”
“Yes,” Zhao Hanzhang smiled. “She’s my Secretary in the Palace Secretariat.”
Princess Hongnong was dazed for a moment. Although she had known long ago that times were different now—when she was in Shu, she often heard that there were many female officials in court now—seeing one in person still shocked her. “How many female officials are there in court now?”
Zhao Hanzhang: “When the Princess asks like that, I can’t answer immediately. For this matter, you’d have to ask Tinghan and Ji Yuan to know. Over these years, we’ve recruited female officials through examinations, plus those sent from schools and those recommended—if not a hundred, there must be seventy or eighty?”
Princess Hongnong was stunned: “So many?”
“Officials have high and low ranks. Most officials are only ninth rank or unranked female clerks, but I believe that as long as they’re willing to work, someday they can have a place in court.”
“Oh my, I called you here to try on jewelry, but why are you talking about court affairs again?” Wang Shi interrupted their conversation, having Qinggu escort her over. “First try the ear ornaments. The Princess and I have selected five pairs for you.”
Princess Hongnong came back to herself, glanced at the happy Wang Shi, and after an hour of enthusiastic chatting this morning, she had already figured out Wang Shi’s personality and temperament. Someone like Zhao Hanzhang absolutely couldn’t have been raised and educated by her, so…
She looked at Zhao Hanzhang sitting cross-legged across from her.
Just as she sat down, Wang Shi reached out and patted her twice: “Sit properly!”
Zhao Hanzhang obediently pushed up, changing from cross-legged to kneeling, sitting docilely beside Wang Shi.
Wang Shi held up a pair of jade ear ornaments near her ear: “Oh my, your ear piercings have almost closed up. Ting He, how long has it been since you put ear ornaments on Sanniang?”
Ting He meekly apologized: “This servant is guilty.”
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand: “Mother, I often ride horses out and occasionally have to go to the military camp to train troops. Wearing ear ornaments isn’t convenient—I’m the one who told her not to wear them.”
Wang Shi touched her earlobe: “Try them on today. If they won’t go in anymore, we need to pierce them again quickly. Even if you don’t wear long ear ornaments, short ones are fine. I’ll have someone find some pearls to make them for you—they’ll just sit against the earlobe and won’t be cumbersome.”
Zhao Hanzhang always agreed first to what adults said, but whether she actually did it depended on her mood and decisions—her specialty was appearing to comply while acting contrary. Therefore, she obediently agreed.
Princess Hongnong looked at the effect and shook her head: “These jade ones aren’t suitable. Try these ruby ones.”
Zhao Hanzhang was bright and imposing, suitable for brilliant colors.
Wang Shi took the ear ornaments and held them near her ear. She heard Princess Hongnong ask: “Did the Great General grow up at Lord Zhao’s side?”
Wang Shi said: “Princess, just call her Sanniang. Calling her Great General is too formal.” Then she smiled: “Her grandfather had no time to raise her, but when she was young, she liked to go to her grandfather’s study to look for books. She just liked following her grandfather around.”
Speaking of this, Wang Shi sighed: “This child has loved learning since she was small. Her grandfather hired civil and martial teachers for Erlang, but in the end, Erlang didn’t learn much—she learned quite a bit instead. I thought at the time that her learning these things was useless, but I never expected they would all become life-saving skills in the end.”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled at Wang Shi: “How about it? Girls studying and practicing martial arts are still useful, right?”
“Useful, useful, very useful,” Wang Shi smiled. “Much more useful than your brother. Speaking of which, where is Erlang? I haven’t seen him these past two days. Today is Little New Year’s Eve, and aren’t your offices on rest days? Where has he run off to play now? During the big holiday, he’s not even coming home—his skin is getting thicker and thicker.”
Zhao Hanzhang coughed lightly and explained softly on his behalf: “Theoretically we’re on rest days, but in reality, there’s still much work to do in the offices, so everyone is working overtime.”
Seeing Wang Shi quietly looking at her, Zhao Hanzhang immediately said: “I also went out to work overtime today.”
Even she, the Great General, couldn’t take time off, so naturally everyone had to work overtime.
Wang Shi snorted lightly: “Your wedding date is approaching, yet you’re not paying any attention. By rights, you should have stayed home half a month early, but with only two days until the wedding date, you’re still running around outside. Look at the house inside and out—where is there any sign that we’re about to hold a joyous event?”
“How is there no sign? Look at the red paper pasted on those windows, the red cloth hung in the courtyard, and outside on the streets and alleys, every household has pasted red paper and hung red lanterns. The whole city is almost filled with red—isn’t that festive?”
Zhao Hanzhang hugged her arm and smiled: “Mother, this wedding is already very grand. I even think it’s extravagant.”
“Your expenses have been cut again and again, and this is still extravagant?” Wang Shi said, wiping her eyes and choking up: “Your expenses aren’t even a third of what your grandfather prepared for you back then. Not to mention the dowry—I recounted the dowry today and compared it with the list your grandfather prepared for you back then. I discovered it doesn’t even reach a tenth. This is too unfair to you.”
Zhao Hanzhang looked embarrassed. The dowry Grandfather had prepared for her, including the betrothal gifts prepared for Zhao Erlang—she had spent it all.
Princess Hongnong on the side was also somewhat embarrassed, because the betrothal gifts the Fu family prepared weren’t much either. She felt that the Zhao family’s dowry wasn’t much, most likely because of the betrothal gifts.
According to custom, the dowry should correspond to the betrothal gifts. If the betrothal gifts were small but the dowry large, it would actually be an insult to the Fu family.
Princess Hongnong felt uneasy and was about to grit her teeth and prepare to go back to find someone to borrow money, to give more betrothal gifts first and repay later…
Before she could decide, she heard Zhao Hanzhang coax Wang Shi: “Mother, betrothal gifts and dowry are just superficial glory, good to look at, but not practical. We ourselves know that Tinghan and I have many properties not on the list, but those properties are still our assets. That’s the substance.”
“Substance is much more important than appearance.”
Wang Shi: “You can have both substance and appearance. Write them on the list—wouldn’t that look good?”
Zhao Hanzhang shook her head repeatedly, saying helplessly: “Mother, the great war just ended. The next five years will definitely be an explosive period for marriages among the people. Those above influence those below—only if I’m frugal will the common people’s customs be frugal. This can actually promote marriage rates and promote population development.”
“If I’m too extravagant, the common people will definitely imitate. Year after year it will become more serious. People who are clearly suitable won’t be able to marry because the wedding costs are too high. Isn’t that damaging the foundation of the nation?”
Wang Shi: “…Is it that serious?”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded solemnly: “It is that serious, so we must be careful.”
After coaxing Wang Shi, Zhao Hanzhang quickly picked up the three remaining pairs of ear ornaments from the box and held them near her ear: “Look, look again, take a final look—which looks best?”
Wang Shi: …
—