Old Master Yan let out a heavy sigh, then waved his hand and dismissed Fang Younian first.
After Fang Younian had gone, Madam Yan said, “For the sake of our Yan family, Husband, please consider Madam Shi’s conditions.”
“Absolutely not.” Old Master Yan spoke in sharp reproach. “I will not push Sixth Girl into a pit of fire.”
“Then will you push our entire Yan family into a pit of fire?” The main door burst open, and Old Madam Yan, supported by a maidservant, stormed in with fury on her face.
Old Madam Yan lived in the south courtyard and devoted herself to Buddhism, rarely involving herself in the major affairs of the Yan household. That she had been stirred to come was something even Old Master Yan had not anticipated. He quickly rose to meet her and tried to take her arm, but she shoved him away forcefully.
Old Madam Yan sat down in a chair, and her cane struck the ground with a heavy thud. “As I see it, Madam Shi meant no harm. If I were in her position, I would not want my son to marry a cripple either. The fact that she came to negotiate with you directly rather than going to the Marshal shows she has no intention of making enemies — yet you refuse her reasonable offer and insist on shielding that girl. You compromised your judgment over Wen Wan once — I turned a blind eye because no great harm was done. But now you would jeopardize our entire family for the sake of her daughter? You’ve lost your senses entirely.”
Old Master Yan frowned and looked at Madam Yan. “Was it you who told Mother?”
Madam Yan’s expression flickered briefly, then she said, “I only did it for the good of this family. At a time like this, if I couldn’t bring Mother in to reason with you, who else could?”
“Don’t blame her. If she hadn’t told me the truth, you would have ruined us.” Old Madam Yan sighed. “Can’t you see? This was a trap that Madam Shi laid long ago. She had Zhao Ziming pose as an ordinary customer and persuade you to purchase medicinal herbs in large quantities. He then turned around and sold those herbs directly to the southwestern warlords. The southwest is barren land that cannot grow such herbs, and once processed, they become military supplies. You are based in northern warlord territory and yet sold medicinal herbs in bulk to the southwestern warlords — if anyone were to investigate, you know perfectly well what kind of crime that would be.”
Old Master Yan lowered his head and said nothing.
“Madam Shi’s demand is not unreasonable. She simply wants you to go before the Marshal and dissolve Sixth Girl’s engagement to Second Young Master Shi. To preserve our Yan family’s dignity, Madam Shi has even proposed that Fifth Girl take Sixth Girl’s place — Fifth Girl is a legitimate daughter, and there would be no disgrace in her marrying into the Shi family. As long as you agree to this condition, Madam Shi will ensure nothing comes to light, and this matter will be behind us. Not only will we have avoided disaster, we will still be joined by marriage to the Shi family. This decision should not require much deliberation — why do you keep saying it cannot be done?”
“Mother.” Old Master Yan’s face was filled with anguish. “It was Sixth Girl who was engaged to the Shi family. Now I am to go to the Shi family to dissolve the engagement and have them take Fifth Girl instead — what will Sixth Girl do with herself after that? She has had lame legs since childhood. This was a distinguished marriage she managed to secure with great difficulty. If the engagement is broken, she will become a laughingstock across the city. In all of Shun Cheng, who would dare to marry her?”
“And should the future of one girl take precedence over the entire Yan family?” Old Madam Yan’s cane struck the ground thunderously. “Second Son, have you lost your reason? After a lifetime in business, can you not do this simple arithmetic? If you do not sacrifice Sixth Girl, you cannot save our Yan family.”
“Sixth Girl is innocent.” Old Master Yan was in anguish. “How will she face the world after this? How will she hold her head up before all of Shun Cheng?”
“That is not what matters.” Old Madam Yan’s voice was sharp. “She may be crippled, but she is still a daughter of the Yan family. Even if her reputation suffers and she cannot marry a man of power and influence, she can still marry an ordinary merchant — she would not be wronged by that. And if all else fails, becoming a concubine in a wealthy household is not beneath her. Her own mother was a concubine once, and she lived in fine style.”
“Mother, enough.” Tears rose in Old Master Yan’s eyes.
Old Madam Yan sighed, and her tone gradually softened. “I understand your difficulty. But I give you my word — I will do my utmost to find Sixth Girl a good family. Second Son, you are the head of this household. What you must do is preserve the whole. I know you have a heart that wants to protect Sixth Girl, but you must protect the dozens of people who make up this Yan household.”
After a long silence, Old Master Yan finally spoke through gritted teeth. “I understand.”
He then walked out, his steps unsteady.
Only after Old Master Yan had left did Old Madam Yan turn to look at Madam Yan, who had been standing to one side. She smiled coldly. “Are you satisfied now?”
“I don’t know what Mother means.” Madam Yan said anxiously and deferentially.
“Sixth Girl will not be marrying Shi Guang — it will be your Fifth Girl instead. Are you not satisfied?”
“I never expected things to turn out this way.” Madam Yan said hurriedly. “Who could have foreseen that something like this would happen in our Yan family? And that Madam Shi would go to such extreme lengths to break the engagement — even the Master was taken in by her scheme.”
Old Madam Yan let out a cold snort. “Go and start preparing. I hear the Shi family is already consulting the calendar. And take that unruly, arrogant daughter of yours in hand — we cannot have her going to the Shi family and shaming us all.”
“Mother, there is the matter of the dowry I wished to discuss with you.” A gleam of delight crossed Madam Yan’s brow, and she paid no mind to the sarcasm in Old Madam Yan’s words.
“The other party is the Marshal’s Mansion — the most powerful household in all of Bei Di. We are a great merchant family and cannot afford to lose face. The dowry must be lavish.”
With Old Madam Yan’s words to reassure her, Madam Yan felt entirely at ease. At the thought of her daughter about to marry into the Marshal’s Mansion — and perhaps one day becoming a woman of the highest prestige — her face bloomed with joy and she walked with a spring in her step.
~
Yan Qing had intended to seek out Old Master Yan, but upon hearing that he had already left the estate, she put aside the thought.
She had expressed her reluctance about the marriage to Shi Guang to Old Master Yan before, but he had always believed it was for her future and refused to yield. Now that the Shi family was pushing to set the wedding date, it was even less likely that Old Master Yan would relent at such a critical moment.
So whether she went to find him or not made no difference.
“Jing Zhi, is my medicine running low?”
“There are still a few days’ worth left.” Because of the news about the marriage, Jing Zhi and Murong were in low spirits, but they did their best to keep Yan Qing’s mood light. “Miss, you can already rock your legs slightly back and forth. I think it won’t be long before you can stand.”
Yan Qing sighed softly. “Let us hope so.”
But right now, she truly had no heart to feel happy about it.
“Let’s go buy the medicine.” Yan Qing looked out the window. “And get some fresh air.”
The three of them — mistress and servants — had barely stepped out when they ran into Yan Qin. This time, Yan Qin was uncharacteristically all smiles as she came forward. “Yan Qing, congratulations — you’re finally getting your wish and marrying into the Shi family.”
Yan Qing had no patience for her. “Is there something else you need?”
“Even though we’ve never gotten along, as long as you behave yourself after you marry into the Shi family and stop seeking out Director Shi, I promise I won’t trouble you anymore — I’ll even give you a generous wedding gift. What do you say?”
“I say no.” Yan Qing replied. “Don’t block the way.”
“Yan Qing, you really don’t know what’s good for you. If you keep clinging to Director Shi, I will not let you off easy.”
Yan Qin’s voice faded behind them. Yan Qing quietly sighed.
“Miss, ahead is the Yan family pharmacy. Shall we go there to pick up the medicine?” Jing Zhi suggested. “It’s newly opened, and they say their stock of medicinal herbs is quite complete.”
The newly opened pharmacy had fresh, clean fittings inside. Chinese and Western medicines were divided into two sections, with Chinese medicine as the primary focus and Western medicine supplementary. The distinctive smell of medicinal herbs permeated the entire shop.
It was close to noon, and there were no other customers in the shop. Two attendants were tallying accounts when a middle-aged man emerged from the back — the shop owner.
He greeted Yan Qing warmly as soon as he saw her. “Guests, what can I help you with today?”
Murong passed over the prescription. The owner glanced at it, told them to wait a moment, and handed it to one of the attendants.
While that attendant went to fill the prescription, the other, an older one, struck up a conversation with the owner.
“I heard the Yan family has run into trouble.” The attendant’s lowered voice still carried to Yan Qing’s ears.
“What kind of trouble?” The owner was clearly in the dark.
The attendant said, “I only just heard about it myself. Last month, Old Master Yan conducted a large transaction in medicinal herbs, and apparently that particular deal has gone wrong. No one knows exactly what happened though.”
“Surely not!” The owner was taken aback.
“If this isn’t handled well, businesses like ours will have to shut down too. Who knows what I’d do if I lost this job.”
“And what is Old Master Yan planning to do now?”
“What else can he do? He’s pulling strings everywhere trying to get help. In any case, this won’t be an easy thing to resolve.”
“But what exactly happened?”
“That, I truly don’t know.”
By the time they had finished talking, the other attendant had already wrapped the medicine into a parcel and handed it over with a smile. “Your prescription is ready.”
Murong took the parcel, paid, and they quickly left.
“Miss, the Master is in trouble.” Once they were outside, Jing Zhi said worriedly. “This must be serious if even the pharmacy attendants already know about it.”
Yan Qing thought of that batch of medicinal herbs, and a heavy feeling settled in her chest.
If the trouble had to do with the medicine, it was most likely connected to warlords from another province. Shun Cheng did not prohibit the buying and selling of medicinal herbs, but if those herbs had been sold to a warlord from a rival province, that would be a catastrophic offense.
“Why didn’t Father tell me?” Yan Qing rubbed her hands together in agitation. “Something this serious has happened to our family.”
“Miss, what should we do?”
“Jing Zhi, go home and find out what you can about what happened. I’ll go with Murong to the Military Police Division.” When it came down to it, the first person Yan Qing could think of was Shi Ting. If anyone would be willing to help her in a moment like this, it could only be him.
She was not sure why, but she had always placed in him a trust and dependence that required no reason.
Jing Zhi took the medicine parcel and headed home, while Murong pushed Yan Qing to the Military Police Division.
Yan Qing did not go inside. Instead, she had a guard go in to relay a message. Before long, Shi Ting walked out of the Military Police Division. In the distance, he saw her sitting beneath a poplar tree at the side of the road — her plain, elegant face touched with a faint melancholy and urgency. He quickened his pace without thinking, covering the distance in long strides until he stood before her.
“You came to find me?” He looked down at her, his gaze impossibly gentle.
Yan Qing raised her head. The moment she saw him, a wave of grievance rose up within her — her eyes reddened and her voice trembled slightly. “Shi Ting, help me.”
—