Chapter 213

That was all they could do for now.

Fu Tingjun saw Lady Chen Shi off with a somewhat dejected air.

When A Sen heard the news, he too looked disheartened.

The atmosphere in the household grew heavy. Kou'er, Zhenzhu, and the others moved about on tiptoe, while Youyou kept casting furtive glances at her mother's expression with her big, almond-shaped eyes.

Seeing this, A Sen took a deep breath and forced a strained smile. "Sister-in-law, didn't you say that man proposes and God disposes? We've done all we could. I have no regrets. Please don't grieve either." He then waved at Youyou. "Come, let Uncle show you how to use a slingshot!"

"Great!" Youyou's expression relaxed at once, a cheerful look flitting across her face. But then, as if remembering something, she sobered slightly and glanced toward Fu Tingjun, as though afraid of being scolded.

Fu Tingjun's heart ached. She forced a smile. "Go on, then! Just be careful not to hit anyone!"

"I'll be a good girl and listen to Uncle," Youyou said, her face breaking into a radiant smile like a blooming flower as she stretched her arms toward A Sen.

A Sen laughed and scooped her up.

The two of them chatted and laughed as they headed to the back courtyard.

Before long, peals of laughter drifted from the back.

"Don't let your hand tremble. Keep your eye on the jujube on the tree, then aim a little lower, and let it fly..."

"Hit it! Hit it!"

"Oh my, the young miss is so skilled!"

"Young miss, hit that red one!"

From the back window came the occasional thud of stones striking their target.

Fu Tingjun couldn't help but smile, her spirits lifting considerably. She made her way to the kitchen.

There, Zheng Sanniang was giving Zhou-shi a piece of her mind: "...Who sold you this mutton? Look at this meat—it's dark red. That's goat meat, don't you know? When Ninth Master returns, are you going to feed him this?!"

Zhou-shi looked at Zheng Sanniang timidly. "It's the same Chen San who always sells mutton to our household..."

Zheng Sanniang snatched up the meat, her expression fierce. "I'm going to have a word with him."

Hearing this, Fu Tingjun stepped aside.

Zheng Sanniang and Zhou-shi filed out through the ornamental gate one after the other.

Fu Tingjun shook her head with a smile.

Turning around, she saw Yuwei leading Kou'er and Zhenzhu in a thorough dusting of the house.

She couldn't help but laugh. "This is almost like preparing for New Year!"

Yuwei disagreed. "Ninth Master is coming home—that's livelier than New Year."

Yanqing hurried in. "Madam, the eldest young mistress of the Chen family is here."

Could it be that something had changed on the Wang family's side?

A faint flicker of hope rose in Fu Tingjun's heart as she went to the ornamental gate.

Lady Chen Shi approached with a hint of smug satisfaction in her eyes and brows.

Fu Tingjun's heart gave a sudden lurch. She quickly took Lady Chen Shi's hand. "Has the other side agreed?"

"Quanhui, really!" Lady Chen Shi feigned a reproachful look. "Coming straight to the point—you won't even let me savor the moment."

Fu Tingjun raised her brows and smiled. "So it's true, then?" She happily led her into the main room to sit. "I thought even if something changed, it would take a few days—I never expected it to be so quick! Do tell me, what exactly happened?"

Lady Chen Shi didn't stand on ceremony. She sat down, took a sip of tea, and said, "When a family seeks a live-in son-in-law, they hope he can hold up the household. But how many men capable of holding up a household would be willing to become a live-in son-in-law? Lord Wang knows this well. Choosing his own nephew to marry into the family was purely a last resort—he saw that his nephew was honest and dependable, and that his daughter surpassed the nephew in both character and looks. Once she married and worked to win him over, even if he couldn't stand on his own, at least he wouldn't run wild and disgrace the Wang family name."

"So when he heard that your family was interested, Lord Wang was even more anxious than you. He said that although he'd intended to take in his nephew, there were still matters left unsettled. At dawn, he sent Madam Wang to seek a firm answer... So I hurried over."

Fu Tingjun couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I had the nerve to ask. Otherwise, this opportunity would have truly slipped away." She paused in thought, then said, "But for A Sen to marry into the family, I still have two conditions. Would you convey them to Madam Wang and see if they're acceptable?"

Lady Chen Shi's expression turned serious. "Go on. I'll pass along the message."

Fu Tingjun considered for a moment, then said, "First, he keeps his surname. A Sen has grown up under Madam Wang's watchful eye—no one knows his character better than she does. In fact, A Sen and the eldest miss of the Wang family could be said to have grown up together as childhood sweethearts. If he hadn't set his heart on the eldest miss, I wouldn't have persisted in asking despite knowing Lord Wang intended to take in his nephew. Second, if they have three sons after marriage, the youngest must take the surname Zhao and carry on A Sen's family line."

Lady Chen Shi suddenly understood and laughed. "I was wondering why you suddenly agreed to let A Sen marry into the family—so you had this scheme in mind all along." She added, "Both of your conditions are reasonable and not beyond negotiation." She rose to her feet. "I'll go give Madam Wang an answer now, so she won't keep fretting over the matter."

Fu Tingjun saw Lady Chen Shi to the door. "I'll leave this matter in your hands, sister. Please do your best to help broker this match—we are sincere in wanting this marriage to go through."

"I know exactly what to say." Lady Chen Shi smiled. "I must earn myself that pair of matchmaker's shoes from you!"

The two chatted and laughed as they walked, when they looked up and saw A Sen approaching with Youyou in his arms.

Fu Tingjun quickly shot Lady Chen Shi a meaningful glance and whispered, "Don't say anything yet."

Lady Chen Shi nodded in understanding, greeted A Sen with a smile, teased Youyou for a moment, and took her leave.

Youyou immediately showed off to her mother: "Mother, I picked lots of jujubes!"

Fu Tingjun took Youyou into her arms and laughed. "Lots—how many is lots?"

Youyou counted on her little fingers for a long while but couldn't figure it out.

Fu Tingjun carried her back to the main room, found an abacus, and taught Youyou how to count.

A Sen stayed by their side the whole time, and only when Youyou cried out that she was thirsty and went off with Mrs. Tong to drink water did he find a chance to ask Fu Tingjun: "What did Eldest Young Mistress Chen come for?"

Fu Tingjun found it secretly amusing and said, "She asked whether I wanted to go to the West Garden to watch the dragon boat races on the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Then—then will you go?" A Sen's eyes went wide with expectation.

"Ninth Master is coming back," Fu Tingjun said. "I don't want to go."

A Sen looked a little crestfallen at this. He played with Youyou listlessly for a while, then made an excuse and returned to his room.

Fu Tingjun, for her part, was privately glad she hadn't told him the real reason Lady Chen Shi had come. If the Wang family called off the marriage because of the two conditions she'd proposed, A Sen would only be more heartbroken. But to have A Sen marry into the Wang family as a live-in son-in-law just like that—Fu Tingjun couldn't bear to part with him that way.

While she wavered between hope and worry, the Wang family's reply came quickly.

They agreed to both conditions, and wanted to wait until Zhao Ling returned to formally settle the matter.

Only then did Fu Tingjun tell A Sen the news.

A Sen couldn't help beaming with joy.

Fu Tingjun, however, felt a touch of melancholy—like a mother whose daughter has just grown up. But watching A Sen walk with a spring in his step, that small pang of emotion soon dissipated like smoke.

By the eighteenth, before dawn had even broken, A Sen had already finished his preparations and harnessed the carriage.

"Sister-in-law, I'll drive today." He urged Fu Tingjun to set off with great vigor. "…We'll take the Xizhi Gate—that's where the water carts pass, and the gate opens at the Chou hour." He even laughed and asked the yawning Youyou, "Do you still remember Ninth Master?"

Youyou nestled in Mrs. Tong's arms, nodded with sleepy eyes, and answered at cross purposes: "I want to go pick up Father."

Xige'er, meanwhile, couldn't be roused no matter how they jostled him.

Fu Tingjun could only sigh.

Once both children were neatly dressed, she was helped into the carriage by Yuwei.

By the time they reached Shilipu, the sky at the horizon was just turning pale, and the wind blowing against them was pleasantly cool.

Fu Tingjun made idle conversation with Yuwei, watching the morning glow gradually spread across the sky, then watching the sun rise and cast its blinding light upon the ground.

"Why haven't they come yet?" She was burning with impatience—every moment felt like a year. In the end, she lifted the curtain and peered outside.

In the distance, an official's sedan chair surrounded by attendants approached, stopping at a pavilion not far from them.

The curtain was lifted, and officials in green and blue court robes stepped out to rest in the pavilion.

A Sen said excitedly, "Those are the people from the Ministry of Rites and the Siyi Guan… Ninth Master and the others should be arriving soon."

Fu Tingjun's spirits lifted.

Youyou, however, lay wilted like blanched vegetables across her mother's lap, while Xige'er, growing restless from being confined, squirmed and fussed in Yuwei's arms.

Yuwei's heart ached for Xige'er. She hesitated, then said, "Perhaps I could take the young master outside for a walk?"

Their carriage was parked in the shade of the trees by the roadside, and from time to time a breeze would blow, setting the leaves rustling.

"Don't wander too far," Fu Tingjun instructed Yuwei. "The sun is too strong."

Yuwei nodded with a smile, carried Xige'er beneath the trees, and let him pluck at the grass.

A Sen went over to join in the fun.

From the west came the sound of hoofbeats.

A group of riders approached.

Fu Tingjun couldn't help craning her neck to look.

Through the swirling dust, silver-white armor flashed with a brilliance as dazzling as the blazing sun.

Fu Tingjun's heart suddenly pounded like a drum.

She couldn't stop herself from jumping down from the carriage.

The mounted party came to a halt before the pavilion.

At the lead was a tall, imposing man. As he swung down from his saddle, the riders behind him dismounted one after another, and the officials resting in the pavilion came out to greet him and exchange pleasantries.

That agile bearing, that composed manner—how many times had they appeared in Fu Tingjun's dreams? She needed only a single glance to pick him out from the crowd.

Her gaze suddenly burned with intensity.

Zhao Ling, Zhao Ling… do you know that I'm here by the carriage, no farther than a bowshot away? Do you know that I've come to meet you?

A gentle breeze blew past, lifting the red tassel on his helmet, yet he kept his face turned to the side, still speaking with the officials.

Fu Tingjun couldn't help feeling a little deflated.

From behind her came Youyou's urgent call: "Mother, Mother…"

Fu Tingjun quickly turned around.

The daughter had somehow crawled out of the carriage and was now lying on the shaft, looking as if she wanted to jump down but didn't dare.

Fu Tingjun smiled softly, picked up Youyou, and pointed at Zhao Ling, who stood out conspicuously among the crowd. She whispered, "That's your father!"

Youyou remained silent, tilting her head to look at Zhao Ling.

Fu Tingjun gave a bitter smile, unsure whether she was comforting herself or Youyou: "Your father has official duties and can't come over..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Zhao Ling suddenly turned around.

A faint smile suddenly rippled at the corners of his mouth, and the gaze he fixed on her was even brighter than the armor he wore.

Fu Tingjun's heart stirred with emotion, and a faint warmth crept into her cheeks.

A glint of light flashed in Zhao Ling's eyes, and the smile on his face deepened.

Fu Tingjun gazed at him, her heart filled with happiness.

She murmured to her daughter, "Youyou, look, your father is looking at us..." Yet her eyes could not tear themselves away from him for even a moment, as if the only thing left in the world was Zhao Ling smiling at her.