“She refuses to come back?”
Madam Zhou asked.
“Of course.” Master Zhou said irritably, flicking his sleeve as he sat down.
“Then let her be. If she prefers to stay outside, so be it. Young women always want to save face and put on an act.” Madam Zhou said indifferently as she shook open the list in front of her. “Master, I’ve made a list of what needs to be prepared for the marriage negotiations. Take a look…”
Master Zhou looked up, frowned, and interrupted her.
“Did you not hear what I just said?” he said. “She refuses. She says the Qin family won’t do.”
Madam Zhou let out a derisive snort.
“The Qin family won’t do? Who does she think she is?” she said. “Ignore her. Since when does she have a say in marriage matters?”
Master Zhou frowned.
“I think she has truly thought it through,” he said. “And she seems to be quite familiar with the people and customs of the capital.”
When that lady heard about the marriage proposal, she had shown none of the shyness expected of a young lady. Nor had she maintained the indifference and disregard she displayed when they first met. Instead, she had seriously inquired about the family’s background.
“Perhaps she has a better match in mind,” Master Zhou said.
A better match? Could it be her son?
Madam Zhou felt a chill run down her spine.
“Who in this capital could possibly be better than the Qin family?” she said, her brows knitting together. “She’s just putting on airs! She knows that the Qin family isn’t foolish—if she refuses outright, they’ll take offense. So instead, she’s making a show of stepping back to make herself seem blameless. Why bother paying attention to her?”
“If we ignore her, then what? It’s not you or me getting married,” Master Zhou said.
Madam Zhou scoffed. “Stop overthinking these women’s matters. You should focus on doing what an uncle is supposed to do,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Master Zhou asked.
“Go to Jiang-zhou, of course,” Madam Zhou said. “Bring back Jiao Jiao’s birth chart for marriage, and make sure the Cheng family sends over her dowry. And you’d better keep a close watch—aside from every last piece of the dowry her mother originally had, they must also follow the capital’s customs and provide an additional twenty thousand guan.”
“It’s the Qin family, after all. Jiao Jiao’s dowry cannot be lacking—otherwise, she’ll be looked down upon when she gets there.”
These days, wedding expenses were soaring, and the competition over dowries was only getting fiercer. What used to be the standard ten thousand guan in the capital had already risen to twenty thousand just last year. Marrying off a daughter now was practically enough to bankrupt a family.
“Good thing we don’t have too many daughters,” Master Zhou muttered. Then he stood up, furrowed his brows, and thought for a moment before saying, “For such an important matter, I suppose I’ll have to go there myself. The Cheng family won’t be easy to deal with.”
At this moment, by the Yudai Bridge, Zhou Liu-lang stopped in his tracks, gazing at the residence not far ahead.
“Hurry up,” Young Master Qin urged from inside the carriage.
Yet Zhou Liu-lang still didn’t move.
“You… do you look down on her?” he turned back and asked in a muffled voice.
Young Master Qin chuckled.
“It’s she who looks down on me,” he said with a smile. “If I’m not mistaken, she has already refused.”
Zhou Liu-lang let out an “oh,” turned forward, took a step—then hesitated and stepped back.
“Did she refuse first because she already knew you looked down on her?” he turned back again and asked.
Young Master Qin looked at him and let out a sigh.
“No,” he said. Then he pointed at himself, then at Zhou Liu-lang. “Because I am your terrible friend. That alone is enough for her to have no interest in me, let alone anything else. And as for you—she won’t be interested in you either, nor anything else.”
“Zhou Zijian, just relax and go knock on the door!”
Zhou Liu-lang’s face tensed.
“Why would I be uneasy about anything?!” he huffed, then strode forward with heavy steps and called out loudly at the gate.
“Who’s there?”
A servant’s voice came from inside, followed by an eye peeking through the gap in the door. A moment later, there was a startled exclamation—
“Ban Qin! That fierce carriage driver is here again!”
There was no need for Zhou Liu-lang to announce himself now.
He raised a fist and pounded on the door.
“Open up,” he shouted.
Hurried footsteps thudded away from the gate, and before long, they came stomping back. With a loud clang, something was shoved against the door.
Zhou Liu-lang gritted his teeth and kicked the door.
“Sixth Young Master.”
A timid female voice sounded from behind it.
“My mistress… is not home.”
Zhou Liu-lang took a deep breath.
“Where did she go?” he asked.
“I… I do not know,” Ban Qin said softly.
Zhou Liu-lang stood still for a moment, then turned and walked away.
“Wait,” he said as he reached the carriage.
Young Master Qin let out a casual “oh,” reached inside the carriage for a book, and leisurely began to read.
Zhou Liu-lang idly flicked the horsewhip in his hand, watching the flow of people on the street.
Just then, a carriage pulled up in front of Cheng Jiao-niang’s residence. A maid stepped down, and before she even reached the door, it swung open.
Seeing the little servant inside grinning and wagging his head as he eagerly welcomed her, Zhou Liu-lang let out a disdainful snort.
“Who’s that?” Young Master Qin asked curiously.
“Someone from the Chen family,” Zhou Liu-lang replied.
Young Master Qin let out an indifferent “oh” and lowered his head, continuing to read his book.
“This is a spring robe from our madam,” the maid said with a smile, handing over a bundle.
Chen Shi’ba-niang lifted the carriage curtain.
“I also made a pair of shoes,” she added. “I noticed that Lady Cheng prefers to wear only socks at home, so I specially made her a pair of silk slippers.”
Ban Qin hurriedly bowed.
“Thank you,” she said, reaching out to receive them.
Chen Shi’ba-niang nodded and let the curtain fall back down.
The carriage swayed gently as it trundled away, passing closely by a rider on the bustling street.
It was a sturdy black horse, and astride it sat a young man draped in a dark cyan cloak. The lingering chill of spring had him wearing a bright red wind hat, its wide brim concealing his face. But there was no need to see his features—its color alone told passersby that he was from an official’s family.
Suddenly, the young man reined in his horse sharply. He turned his head to glance at the departing carriage, then looked back in the direction it had come from. After a brief pause, he wheeled his horse around.
At once, more than a dozen riders flanking him—before, behind, and to either side—followed suit, adjusting their course and trailing behind the Chen family’s carriage.
“Lady Cheng is not home today, so you may as well take a day to rest,” the maid in the carriage said with a smile. “You have been working too hard.”
Chen Shi’ba-niang shook her head with a gentle smile.
“It’s simply my duty—what hardship is there to speak of?” she replied.
“Then today, at least, you can take it easy at the temple and enjoy yourself,” the maid said. “It’s rare for several ladies to gather together, and with no outsiders around, you can truly relax.”
Chen Shi’ba-niang nodded.
“It’s a rare chance for me to properly admire Lady Cheng’s inscriptions on the temple walls,” she said. “Every time I’ve come before, it’s always been too crowded to take a careful look.”
The maid let out a plaintive sigh.
“Miss, you’re going to write again,” she said. “In the end, there’s no such thing as leisure for you.”
The carriage passed through the city gate and, not long after, arrived at the Qieting Temple. The spring breeze was gentle, and people and horses were bustling about.
After finding a wide area behind the temple to park the carriage, just as it came to a stop, the maid had barely lifted the carriage curtain when a sharp gust of wind rushed in, and an arrow struck the door of the carriage with deadly precision.
The maid let out a terrified scream and fell backward.
The coachman and the servants were thrown into chaos, and their commotion set off a chain reaction, causing a general stir in the surrounding area.
Where had these ruffians come from!?
The young man tucked his bow and arrow away, and a faint, smug smile appeared on the half of his face visible beneath the wind hat.
“Your Highness…” The guards beside him were still recovering from the shock of his sudden action, their hearts still racing.
At this point, the crowd had seen them and began casting angry glares in their direction.
The Duke of Jin’an smiled and raised his hand, twirling the bow on his wrist in a gesture of apology.
“My skills aren’t great,” he said loudly, riding closer. “I meant to shoot the swallow, but instead, I hit someone else.”
In the clear, bustling capital, there was no danger to be found.
The servants of the Chen family breathed a sigh of relief, and the onlookers shook their heads, the tension from earlier melting away.
These wealthy young men prided themselves on the six arts, and especially in the spring, each of them would practice archery by shooting at willows, without truly considering their own abilities.
The Duke of Jin’an’s horse drew closer to the carriage, and he looked at the curtain.
“Sorry for disturbing you,” he said loudly, grinning and showing his white porcelain teeth.
You must have been scared, right? This cold arrow is far more terrifying than a pack of wolves.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and the maid’s face was still pale, shooting the young man a glare tinged with displeasure. But when she met his gaze, she couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
Though half of his face was hidden, that smile was so bright and radiant, it was striking and hard to ignore.
“It’s fine. I hope you’ll be more careful next time,” Chen Shi’ba-niang said, lifting her head to look at him.
In truth, she hadn’t been frightened by the arrow—it hadn’t even been visible to her yet. What had startled her was the maid rushing into the carriage and screaming.
As soon as she finished speaking, before she could even get a clear look at the young man’s appearance, the horse in front of her suddenly leapt forward, as if its rider had abruptly urged it on.
“Ah! That’s scary!”
The Duke of Jin’an exclaimed, one hand clutching his wind hat, his face showing astonishment as he looked at the lady in the carriage.
Who is this?
Oh no, he’s got the wrong person!
The words slipped out of his mouth without thinking, and without a moment’s pause, he turned his horse and galloped away.
The guards quickly followed, rushing to leave just as quickly as they had arrived, leaving the crowd in stunned silence.
What does he mean by “that’s scary”? Is she, Chen Su, so ugly that she can’t even be seen by others anymore?
Chen Shi’ba-niang was even more stunned. She bit her lower lip, feeling both ashamed and angry, and reached up to pull down the carriage curtain.
“Let’s go home,” she said, her voice tinged with irritation.
