“I pay my respects to my adoptive father.”
Zhao Su, straightening his newly tailored blue robe, prostrated himself in the study of the rear residence of the Prefect’s residence.
Having passed the Imperial Academy examination and then cleared a further selection by the Ministry of Personnel, he had been assigned a county magistrate’s post. The court had always been generous toward its officials; newly appointed officials were permitted a certain number of days of leave — the length varying depending on the distance between their post and their home — to attend to personal affairs such as visiting family before proceeding to their duties.
Zhao Su had a great many things to arrange. From the moment he received his appointment letter at the Ministry of Personnel, he had been occupied without a moment’s pause. First he took his leave of the teachers and fellow students he had come to know in the capital, then he called on the Zheng Marquis’s residence and other such houses to inform them of his impending departure. Of particular importance was informing the Zheng Marquis’s residence that he was setting out for his post — so that if news from his adoptive father arrived slowly in future, it should not be taken as deliberate neglect.
The Ministry of Personnel had assigned him to a lower-rank county magistracy: not a high grade, but one that gave him independent authority at the local level. This almost certainly reflected the good graces of his adoptive father.
Zhao Su would not have dreamed of dallying on his way out of the capital; he traveled quickly, and his first stop was the prefectural city of Wuzhou. This place had formerly been the seat of Nanfu Prefecture, and Zhao Su had passed through it several times in his youth. Many of the places he remembered had changed; the transformation here, like that in Fulu County, everywhere displayed an air of “becoming something better.”
Nurturing the private hope of if only the territory I govern could someday be as thoroughly transformed, Zhao Su arrived at the Prefect’s residence. He had not yet gone home, and so had not yet seen how things stood in Fulu County.
Word had already reached the residence that he was coming, and preparations had been made well in advance. It was now mid-fifth month, and the south was already insufferably hot. Zhao Su had spent several years in the capital and found himself slightly unprepared for the climate of his home region; by the time he walked from the entrance to the study, the fresh garments he had just put on were already faintly damp with perspiration.
Hou Wu led the way in front, and Zhao Su exchanged a few light words with him in passing, asking after his health. “Ever so much more comfortable than before!” said Hou Wu.
Zhao Su said, as though in passing, “The residence has more people than it used to — and seems more orderly too.”
“Hmph — don’t mention it in front of the Prefect,” said Hou Wu. “Isn’t that all because of that ungrateful wretch!”
Zhao Su’s expression darkened. “Which one?”
Hou Wu dropped his voice and told him the story of Shi Tou. Zhao Su said, “I see. Don’t let it bother you — he brought it on himself.”
The two of them had exchanged only a few words when they arrived before Zhù Ying.
Zhù Ying looked at Zhao Su — he had added yet another layer of confident vitality since last year — and smiled. “Not bad.”
After completing his obeisance, Zhao Su said, “It is all owing to my adoptive father’s blessing.”
“You still need your own ability to make something of it,” said Zhù Ying. She had him rise, then sent for Su Zhe, Lang Rui, and Zhù Lian to be brought in.
Su Zhe was supposed to call him maternal uncle, but could barely remember she had such a person. Beside her, Lang Rui was even more at a loss. Zhao Su was patient with all three of them; he exchanged a few brief words with Su Zhe about goings-on back at the Asu Family village, and was especially cordial with Lang Rui, asking whether Lang Kunwu was still going around bare-chested. He had considerably more to say to Zhù Lian; one person from Zhù Lian’s side was absent, and though Zhao Su did not ask about it, he asked Zhù Lian which point his studies had reached.
“Why didn’t you ask about my studies, Uncle?” Su Zhe asked.
Zhao Su replied with effortless lightness, “Your studies? I just need to ask your mother.”
Su Zhe made a face at him; Zhao Su did not comment on her lack of decorum. The two of them had a surprising degree of tacit understanding.
Zhao Su then asked after Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da. “They are getting on in years,” said Zhù Ying. “I sent them into the mountains to escape the summer heat.”
“To be sure, avoiding the heat is one of the mountains’ virtues,” said Zhao Su. “As your son, I also need to return home to pay my respects to family — I wonder whether the two elders are at—”
“At the estate,” said Zhù Ying. “They will be back in a few days in time to see you off.”
“It should be I who goes to pay my respects — I would not presume to trouble elders to make a special trip.”
“Your leave time — save what you have of it. You will have plenty to keep you busy when you get home.”
Zhao Su was the first person from Fulu County in dozens of years to have been properly appointed as principal administrator of a county. He did not linger long at the Prefect’s residence before taking his leave to return home and visit his family. Zhù Ying asked him to bring Su Zhe along on the journey; Zhao Su had good tidings to celebrate, and perhaps a marriage as well — Su Zhe needed to be there for it.
…
Zhao Su returned to Fulu County in great style, though his situation was quite different from that of Gu Tong. Gu Tong had always been entirely and wholly a son of Fulu; Zhao Su had previously been counted only as half of one. Now, amid the smiling welcome of the village elders, he found a measure of the “respect” he had longed for in his youth — though that respect now seemed somehow less important than it once had.
He handed Su Zhe over to his mother first. Zhao Niangzi drew the great-niece by marriage into her arms, then looked at her son, her eyes brimming with warmth. The affection in her gaze smoothed over some of the sadness of Zhao Su’s childhood. His father, Zhao Feng, was even more jubilant — he let off a long string of firecrackers, made offerings at the ancestral shrine, and announced a banquet was to be held.
Zhao Su raised no objection; back in his home village, a bit of festivity was perfectly welcome.
Zhao Niangzi took Su Zhe off to join in the celebration, chattering away about arrangements to have her son meet his aunt and his cousin by her side. Zhao Su said, “After the ancestor offerings, I also want to light incense for my maternal uncle.” Even now, he had no wish to wonder whether his uncle’s affection for him in those years had served some ulterior purpose — in childhood, his uncle had genuinely given him a great deal of love.
Zhao Feng then asked, “Have you paid your respects to your adoptive father?”
“Little Sister is here because I brought her,” said Zhao Su.
Zhao Feng slapped his forehead. “Oh, of course, of course!” He was beside himself with delight, and went on to tell his son about the gentry of the county who wished to host dinners in his honor, then reminded Zhao Su to seek more guidance from his adoptive father before leaving, and then brought up the matter of Zhao Su’s marriage.
Zhao Su set everything else aside for the moment. Seeing his mother had taken Su Zhe away, he asked his father, “You said something about a marriage arrangement for me? Has something already been decided?”
“We consulted your adoptive father,” said Zhao Feng. “He said it is like fish knowing whether the water is warm or cold for themselves. What about you — what do you think?”
“What do Father and Mother think?” asked Zhao Su.
Zhao Feng said, “Your mother still hopes you’ll marry a girl from the mountain villages — says there are some who have come down and are studying at the Foreign Studies Academy. My own feeling is that it would be better for you to marry a woman from our home region. What do you say?”
“I would like to ask for the hand of Instructor Qi’s daughter,” said Zhao Su.
Zhao Feng stroked his chin. “What? Qi… ” Qi Tai — a man who was… hard to describe charitably. His daughter, admittedly, seemed to be a capable and efficient young woman. But her father was truly no great example; he had gotten where he was purely through good fortune, stumbling into the path of the Prefect, who had brought him along and placed him in office. What use was that?
“I’ve seen a great deal in the capital these years,” said Zhao Su. “For a man of letters seeking a wife, there are essentially only two paths: marry a woman from your home region to consolidate your roots, or marry into a prominent family in the capital to advance your career. Our family is situated in a land of frontier barbarians, and eligible young women of suitable standing are difficult to find here. I have no other exceptional qualities — seeking to marry into a distinguished family and leap ahead in one bound is equally difficult. Trying to build a career through marriage alone is unlikely to succeed; better to think of marriage simply, as just marriage, and not seek my career path through it. I will follow the example of my adoptive father — put in the work myself. And I still have my adoptive father; I am in no rush to find a powerful patron.”
He had been thinking about his marriage for a long time, and had observed a great deal during his years in the capital. This matter of alliance marriages — both sides had to be getting something out of it. As a newcomer to officialdom, the woman he married would signal which circle he was gravitating toward, and this was not something he could afford to treat carelessly. As a young man from a remote backwater, what could he offer any prospective in-law family? Either they were not thinking clearly, or they were not worth cultivating. Better instead to find a practical wife and build a genuine record of accomplishment through hard work. The Zhao family’s circumstances were also somewhat unusual; since Zhao Su had begun his official career, there were few “families of officials” he had actually formed connections with. In his estimation, seeking to marry Instructor Qi’s daughter was a sound choice.
“Fulu has its own refined young women too,” said Zhao Feng. “It was harder to say so before, but that may not be the case anymore! There are already several families of officials here, and now you yourself are a county magistrate — surely you would not be demeaning any family’s daughter. For in-law families to support each other would be no bad thing either.”
Zhao Su still shook his head. “It is still better to have someone educated and literate. She is from the capital, so her Mandarin is also excellent. And she is familiar with my adoptive father’s household. Marrying her is not so different from marrying a woman of Fulu.”
Zhao Feng said softly, “I had thought your adoptive father might arrange a marriage for you. If he were to act as matchmaker, the match would certainly be far better.”
Zhao Su smiled slightly. “He himself hasn’t settled things yet.”
Unable to persuade his official son, Zhao Feng said, “If you’ve made up your mind, let us go and propose. If we can ask your adoptive father to act as the matchmaker, that would be best of all!”
Father and son murmured together in low voices, while Zhao Niangzi spoke with Su Zhe. Zhao Niangzi was delighted that her nephew’s granddaughter had also received recognition, and asked Su Zhe what she had been learning. “Grand-Uncle just took me up the mountain to farm,” said Su Zhe.
Zhao Niangzi was alarmed. “What? You? Farming what? I thought you were there to learn skills! How could they have you farming?”
Su Zhe did not find it hard at all; she laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Grand-Aunt — Grand-Uncle says I need to know what farming people are like before I can keep from becoming foolish later.”
Zhù Ying had taken her group, together with Xiang Yu, up to the mountain estate to stay for nearly half a month. The farming was genuine, not a novelty performance. All the young ones had been so tired they collapsed the moment they lay down; Xiang Yu in particular had been mocked by Xiang An for falling asleep with drool on his face. It had indeed been exhausting.
Others might not have understood it, but Su Zhe had dimly grasped something.
“Hmph,” said Zhao Niangzi. “You weren’t born to be a farmer! I shall have a word with your grand-uncle about this…”
Both groups were chattering away. Zhao Feng and his son finished their discussion first and then told Zhao Niangzi of their decision. Zhao Niangzi had originally hoped her son would marry a mountain village girl, since they would be easy to get along with. Now hearing it was to be Instructor Qi’s daughter, she was somewhat displeased. “This is for our son’s future,” said Zhao Feng. Zhao Su added, “She is familiar with the Prefect’s household, and she has also lived in Fulu before — she knows the situation here. That is not so different from marrying a local woman of Fulu.”
“Let me think it over,” said Zhao Niangzi. In private, however, she asked Su Zhe what this Instructor Qi’s daughter was like. Being a sly little creature, Su Zhe had a small inkling the moment her grand-aunt asked. She had not had much to do with Instructor Qi’s daughter, but Zhang Xiangu had said she was “a person who puts family first,” and Huajie and the others had praised her as “steady and reliable.”
Su Zhe said quietly, “Uncle isn’t stupid…” She did not have a deep bond with this uncle, but she had her own perceptions.
Zhao Niangzi felt a pang of something she could not quite name, and said, “No, he isn’t.” She finally agreed to the proposal.
While the family was occupying their minds with matters of the marriage, Gu Weng sent a man over with a card, inviting father and son of the Zhao family to a gathering.
…
Father and son Zhao, dressed in fine and smart attire, accepted Gu Weng’s invitation.
When Zhao Su arrived in the county seat, he had not yet paid his introductory call on Shang Peiji. Instead, Gu Weng had summoned him to his own home first. He arrived and saw that the assembled company was really rather a lot of people.
Not long after settling in Wuzhou, Zhù Ying had had all the families of any standing in the county move to the county town to reside. After her promotion, the two administrators, Guan and Mo, who succeeded her in managing Fulu County had been less effective than she had been — and one by one the families had drifted back to their home villages. Even so, having passed through Zhù Ying’s hands, the number of gentry still residing in the county town remained considerable.
The assembly today looked as though Zhù Ying had summoned them all to a meeting.
The local gentry had always maintained a certain distance from him, the “son of a barbarian woman,” and had never been this cordial toward him before. Though there were many of them present, Zhao Su did not attribute it to his having become an official. He was now a county magistrate, true, but he had no authority over this county, and besides, there were several fellow students who had also acquired official posts. The village elders could hardly be this deferential toward him purely on account of official rank. There must be another reason entirely.
Zhao Su raised his guard and graciously yielded the seat of honor to Gu Weng, then invited Zhao Feng to sit at his own place of precedence, and finally sat down himself. He then courteously asked Gu Weng to explain what the occasion was for.
“Eldest Son,” said Gu Weng, “have you seen our new county magistrate yet?”
“Not yet — I returned home first to visit family, and one ought to greet one’s parents and elders before calling on the county magistrate, otherwise it would seem rather… ahem. Is the new magistrate easy to get along with?”
“That’s quite a tale to tell,” said Gu Weng. “Even though the man has only been here two months, the things he’s done! Your honored father knows as well.”
“Ahem, yes,” said Zhao Feng. “This new magistrate has shown a rather poor sense of occasion.”
Zhao Su humbly asked, “What has he done?”
Gu Weng started it off: “He interferes in everything!”
Zhao Feng added: “He puts on enormous airs!”
And then a number of the elder gentry opened the floodgates and poured out all manner of complaints about Shang Peiji’s various “outrages.” Zhao Su listened patiently to the end, and then asked, “Has all of this been reported to my adoptive father?”
Gu Weng said, “We did think of it, but…”
He trailed off meaningfully. Zhao Su understood and continued the thought for him: “But you also feel that, on the surface, there is nothing you can actually point to as a clear fault in what the new magistrate is doing.”
Gu Weng said, “That’s not to say there’s nothing wrong with it, exactly—”
“What is it you have in mind, then?” asked Zhao Su.
“Among the younger generation,” Gu Weng said, “you are the most capable, the one who has been in the capital longest, and now you hold the highest rank. We have asked you here today to think over a strategy together — is it appropriate to speak of this matter to the Prefect?”
Zhao Weng said, “We’ve been deliberating for several days now…”
Gu Weng shot him a look, and Zhao Weng fell silent. From the moment they first came face to face with Shang Peiji, they had felt the friction. This magistrate’s manner and airs were extravagant and false in the extreme. Less than half a month had passed before they all felt the growing sense that something was truly off. On the surface, Shang Peiji really did not seem to be doing anything blatantly wrong. But put him side by side with Zhù Ying and the contrast was impossible — after Zhù Ying, Shang Peiji was a painful disappointment.
“I have been away from home all these years,” said Zhao Su, “and know nothing of what has happened here. If you elders will not tell me what has been going on, I could hardly presume to rashly take a position.”
Gu Weng could only say vaguely: “He goes much too far! Talking about ritual and propriety, about separating the sexes — that’s one thing. But why does he have to meddle in everything?”
When Shang Peiji had first spoken of wanting a measure of “ritual propriety” and “proper separation,” they had actually been pleased. Yes, a bit of order was exactly right. But Shang Peiji’s idea of “order” had turned out to interfere with far too much. He did not just manage barefoot laborers and ill-mannered women; within a few days, he had started managing them as well.
Old Lin Weng, who had aged considerably, spoke with a weary, dejected air: “At first we thought he was like the Prefect — he summoned us, and we all came to the yamen. But the orders that came down were nothing alike at all. He does not even know the planting seasons! And the way he speaks—” Shang Peiji’s Mandarin was excellent; he knew no local dialect, and was requiring the gentry to learn more refined Mandarin as well. But their Mandarin was already perfectly good! Was he simply finding fault with nothing?
Once the floodgates opened, everyone took a turn denouncing Shang Peiji’s faults. After Gu Weng finished praising “ritual and propriety,” he himself said in the next breath: “You can talk about ritual and propriety, but people still need to live, don’t they? Oh, no hiring female workers? How are people supposed to survive? The workshops are going to shut down! I told him the workshops don’t have enough workers, and he said to conscript labor instead. Conscript what kind of labor?”
Excessive and prolonged labor conscription was a universal problem throughout the realm, but Zhù Ying had kept it in strict order for ten years — the local conscription had always been by the rules. Shang Peiji had arrived and immediately added this on top of everything else. The workshops were short of female workers? Then use male workers.
But some trades were simply not suited to male workers, and some families’ men were simply not adequate providers. There were those who still gambled in secret, and those who even when given wages drank every last coin. For families like that, the wife and children went hungry; and the clan could not stand by and watch the family starve. Everyone seated here had kinsmen in the county, and maintaining human decency required resources. Ordinarily, with a woman earning wages in the workshop, she could feed herself, and the clan was spared the burden. Once Shang Peiji started meddling, trouble multiplied for everyone.
Then there was the matter of efficiency. Some tasks simply played to different strengths — women generally had less physical strength, but their efficiency with delicate work was higher. And most importantly, their wages were cheaper.
Wang Weng said, “Following his stipulations, monthly labor costs would go up by thirty percent!”
“And not just wages! He also asked me what I was growing in my fields — and told me I cannot plant sugarcane! I… I am not leaving good farmland fallow! I’m still growing grain as well!”
“And the guild hall! The rent we pay, doesn’t it go to the county yamen? Let him collect the rent — but why is he also interfering in how we run the business? And he can’t even manage it properly! He says you can’t charge for this, you can’t charge for that — what am I supposed to pay rent to him with? Whoever was currently overseeing the Fulu guild hall was also deeply unhappy.”
“Oh, and the sugar mills too — he wants to manage those as well! Demanding we produce more sugar! What is this for?”
In short, he was creating chaos. And the Fulu gentry had no desire to hand over more money to him.
The consensus was forming: “Why don’t we jointly petition the Prefect?”
Zhao Su had heard enough to understand their meaning. He said slowly, “Dear elders — do you know no other way than running to complain to my adoptive father?”
Gu Weng did not much like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”
“Minor matters like these — we settle them ourselves. Why trouble my adoptive father?”
“A man who comes from the capital — he may be very difficult to handle.”
“Think about it, elders,” said Zhao Su. “This is a new county magistrate — he is not my adoptive father! I have been in the capital all these years without seeing anyone more capable than my adoptive father. Why deflate ourselves before we even begin? Set aside the question of doing something for his benefit — when you run to him for every little thing, it simply makes us look feeble. Minor matters like these, let us deal with them ourselves. When something truly serious comes up, then we turn to him — that is soon enough.”
“You think that’s feasible?” said Zhao Feng.
Wang Weng also said, “Just us? The magistrate throws a tantrum and we end up in chains and fetters. We can’t exactly hope he’ll be as decent as the Prefect.”
Zhao Su smiled. “Are you frightened? Dear elders — my adoptive father spent ten years here. Was it purely for his own official achievements and career advancement? The fine clothes you wear, the right to stand without bowing before officials — where do those come from?”
Everyone looked at one another, and the realization dawned.
Yes, of course!
When Zhù Ying had first arrived in Fulu County, they had been “gentry” in name only — country squires at best. Now, genuinely and substantively, several among them were official families in every real sense. An ordinary village squire — even a wealthy one — was technically classed as a commoner on paper. Anyone could beat you, and there was nothing to be done about it. But a true “gentleman with official connections” was a person of standing. Strike one of those and you owed an explanation.
Of those present, the one with the highest rank was Zhao Su himself — he was a county magistrate. But Zhù Ying had also produced a dozen or so former students, each now holding some official post. From county assistant magistrates to county captains — no insignificant thing.
Gu Weng shed tears of genuine emotion. “How good the Prefect has been to us! Giving us positions, giving us resources, giving us a path forward — and all the while treating us with such courtesy and respect! Parents love their children — and plan for their long-term good! The Prefect has planned our long-term good! From now on we need not fear these officials who throw their weight around.”
The Lei family father and son had once suffered under Zhù Ying’s discipline, but comparing her to Shang Peiji, whatever lingering resentment they had harbored toward Zhù Ying vanished entirely. “Prefect Zhù was a strict parent,” said one of them. “A strict parent will discipline the children under their care when they make mistakes — but will also genuinely protect them. Even the strictest father makes provision for his children’s future. This interloper who barges in from outside and wants to take food out of everyone’s mouths — who does this Shang fellow think he is?”
Everyone vented their resentment at length, and then all eyes turned to Zhao Su. “You’re the youngest among us, and the one who’s seen the most of the world, and who holds the highest office. We have called you here today to think through a plan with us — how should this situation best be handled?”
Knock knock — the door panel sounded.
Gu Weng said warily, “Who is it?”
“Elder Gu — County Captain Tong is here…”
The people inside exchanged glances. Gu Weng said, “Please invite him in!”
Tong Li’s expression was also far from good as he walked in. He clasped his hands to the room in a general greeting, and Gu Weng said, “Sit down quickly.”
Tong Li sat and immediately cursed under his breath, then said, “What kind of inhuman creature is this new arrival?”
“How so?”
“He still wants to have a word with all of you — says the spirit of commerce will too easily corrupt local customs, and intends to continue regulating it. Gentlemen, those citrus fruits and similar items you have — no more selling them yourselves.”
The room erupted in outrage: “What? We have not been neglecting our grain cultivation!”
“And anyone who has been planting too much sugarcane — you would do well to switch back to grain crops while you still can. He is going to go through the old records. Any land that was under grain cultivation five years ago, before the sugar mills opened — it must still be under grain today. Oh, and grain — there will be a supplemental tax of one-tenth added.”
“What?”
Tong Li was a little embarrassed, because the additional tenth was meant to subsidize the yamen. “He says… preparations are also needed for certain public works expenditures. Some of you are exempt from tax, and some are not — make arrangements early.”
He then noticed Zhao Su, and the two exchanged courtesies. Tong Li said, “What a relief that you’ve come, sir! We were just wondering how we were going to explain this to the Prefect…”
Zhao Su reiterated what he had just said earlier; Tong Li considered for a moment. “He speaks no local dialect, he loves to put on an air of authority, and he thinks none of us can read. He speaks and acts without any real discretion.” In the entire county yamen, everyone could read; the literary compositions might leave something to be desired, but they all knew the characters — a thousand, two thousand characters was no problem. The workers who served tea could often be caught stealing a glance.
Tong Li also shared an additional piece of information with Zhao Su: “On the one hand he looks down on the tribal peoples, and on the other hand he wants to make a fresh go at ‘civilizing the barbarians.’ Watch out he doesn’t rope you in to serve his agenda.”
The deep-seated contempt that had been sitting suppressed in the pit of his stomach was stirred awake. Zhao Su said, “Thank you for the warning.”
Everyone gathered together and the chatter began in earnest. “I’ll handle the Xiang family,” Zhao Su said.
Gu Weng said, “All of us here must stand together and move as one — I refuse to believe we cannot deal with him! He’s only been here a few days!”
Zhao Su said, “Then let Little Tong keep watch on the county yamen. I’ll go and contact Eldest Son Xiang and ask him to manage the guild hall in the capital and reduce the output of sugar. All the elder gentry who live back in their home villages — go back and make sure word flows freely between you all. Gu Weng stays in the county town; whatever he tries to do, a few of you go and meet with him. For the Asu County side, I will also go and handle it…”
Zhao Su settled the arrangements; the task for Gu Weng and the rest was simply to cause Shang Peiji endless friction and see how he would dare lay a hand on families with official connections. For Asu County and the neighboring territories, Zhao Su would handle the contacts — they could simply ignore Shang Peiji. The capital guild hall would reduce its sugar output; if the buyers asked, the answer was that Shang Peiji had stopped them from selling.
Drive all the sugar mills to close down, and not allow the sugarcane to be planted either. If someone asks about the workers? All fled.
He even composed a little ditty — “big name, small results, squander the whole foundation” — and had it spread everywhere, including the guild hall in the capital.
Then it was a matter of grinding Shang Peiji down through sheer attrition: whatever he says, simply do not understand. Why not learn a bit of the local dialect? Issue orders, and they drag their feet, grind along, barely functioning. The goal was not to drive him out, but to render him deaf and blind — unable to accomplish anything at all.
All of this — not only did Shang Peiji, still waiting in Fulu County for a reply from the capital, know nothing of it, but Zhù Ying herself was completely unaware as well. No one in Fulu County had told her. Everyone felt they could handle it themselves and there was no need to involve her.
With the plan decided, Zhao Su sent word to Su Mingluan, and then accompanied his parents to Wuzhou City — he still had a wife to marry.
…—
Marrying sight unseen — though not entirely so, there was at least some prior acquaintance — a good half of what they said about it was true.
Zhao Su and the Qi family father and daughter had known each other somewhat before, so he was not going in completely blind; he had also come prepared, with generous gifts. He first made a private call on Qi Tai himself, had a good conversation with him, and only after things looked promising did he plan to speak with Zhù Ying — to avoid any impression of “pressuring someone by invoking a powerful patron.”
Qi Tai had no airs of a prospective father-in-law about him whatsoever. The major and minor affairs of the Qi family had always been managed single-handedly by Instructor Qi’s daughter; even her own dowry she had accumulated by herself. Seeing that she was not getting any younger, she had grown somewhat anxious. Originally she had saved a sum of money and planned to take her father with her, resign her work, and return to the capital to live — but then Prefect Zhù had arranged an official post for her father. That change in their circumstances altered the marriage plans as well.
Fortunately, her dowry had been put aside before she had any prospective husband, so she did not need to worry about finding a husband of comparable new standing.
Qi Tai had never for a moment imagined Zhao Su would want to be his son-in-law, and stood frozen for a moment. “What? Why on earth do you want to marry her?”
In the inner room, Instructor Qi’s daughter stamped her foot. What kind of father is this?
But Qi Tai arrived at his conclusion quickly. “Fine.”
Just like that, he agreed? What kind of father is this?
Qi Tai’s accounting was simple: Zhao Su was now an official, so his daughter, once married, would be a lady of rank. The Zhao family was well-off; they had known Zhao Su for several years and he seemed reliable. And Zhao Su was also Zhù Ying’s adoptive son — he had always treated his adoptive father with respect, and if anything came up, the Prefect would see to it fairly. What more was there to look for in a son-in-law?
All right — it was settled.
The two families informed Zhù Ying of the match. The matchmaker for the groom’s family was Zhù Ying; the matchmaker for the bride’s family was Huajie. The match guarantor was Gu Weng, and the witness was Deputy Prefect Zhang Jiong.
Zhang Xiangu was also eager to give Instructor Qi’s daughter a supplemental gift of dowry goods, and the residence buzzed with activity. The Zhù household had already prepared a wedding gift for Zhao Su and was also preparing an additional dowry contribution for Instructor Qi’s daughter.
Zhao Su, however, was in the study, kneeling on the floor. “Adoptive Father — your son has taken matters into his own hands and wants to send word to the guild hall in the capital…”
“Oh?”
Zhao Su recounted in full how Magistrate Shang had been conducting himself, then laid out his own proposed countermeasures. When he had finished, he said, “This is merely your son’s humble perspective; if I have made an error, I ask Adoptive Father to reprimand me.”
“Now that you are setting off for your post like this,” said Zhù Ying, “I can rest easy.”