Chapter 176: The Candidate
Gu Jinchao spoke slowly, "You've met our cousin, haven't you? That Miss Cheng."
Gu Dezhao had only a vague impression of this person.
After thinking for a moment, he asked Gu Jinchao, "What does this have to do with my remarriage?"
Jinchao sighed. Her father's temperament was truly straightforward—someone like him really wasn't suited to be the Vice Minister of Revenue. Even if he were promoted, he likely wouldn't hold the position for long. She replied coolly, "Do you think a relative who hasn't been in contact for over a decade would suddenly travel thousands of miles just to visit Grandmother? Does Grandmother have such a kind nature to treat a poor relative so well, even going so far as to personally introduce her to you? Think back to the day you met her—Cousin was meticulously dressed, even wearing a Kingfisher Feather Gilded Hairpin on her head. That hairpin was something from Grandmother's own collection."
Only then did Gu Dezhao understand his eldest daughter's meaning, and he was utterly astonished. "You're saying Mother intends to arrange Miss Cheng for me? How is that possible... I've never even met her before!" During that meeting, he hadn't even gotten a clear look at Cheng Baozhi's face. He knew nothing about her family background or her character. How could Madam Feng just casually assign someone to him like this?
Jinchao grew even more exasperated upon hearing this and asked him, "When Grandmother brings it up, is this how you plan to respond?"
Gu Dezhao fell silent. He had never been adept at dealing with Madam Feng—usually, whatever she said, he simply went along with it.
He paced back and forth in the study, his expression deeply troubled. "I don’t want to remarry... Bringing someone into the household would only complicate things. It’s better not to marry at all!" He stood before the lattice window of the study, gazing at the tender new leaves of the willow branches outside, remembering the day Madam Ji had married him.
On that spring day, her dowry had been carried into the newly prepared courtyard in load after load. He had worn a bright red right-closure round-collar robe, so nervous he didn’t know what to do. All he remembered was the overwhelming sea of red and the immense joy in his heart—her dowry had been brought into his courtyard, and from then on, they would be family. An intimate closeness. When he lifted her veil, the well-wisher beside them recited many auspicious words, and there was clamor outside. But all he noticed was Madam Ji secretly slipping a date into her mouth.
He chuckled softly and asked her about it later that night. Madam Ji complained in a whisper, "...To marry you, I hadn’t eaten all day! Can’t you let me have just one date?"
She had only been sixteen then, still somewhat childish. She pinched his arm.
It had hurt a little, but there was also a tingling sensation. He found he couldn’t even muster the thought of being angry. Such a wonderful person had married him—he didn’t dare be upset. He would have gladly let her pinch him a few more times if it meant she wouldn’t truly be cross with him.
And yet, in the end, he had treated her like that...
Gu Dezhao turned back and murmured to Gu Jinchao, "Chaojie, I’ll go tell your grandmother—I won’t remarry! After all, you have a younger brother now... Even if I don’t marry again, it doesn’t matter..."
Gu Jinchao didn’t believe him. She continued, "Father, I’m telling you this in advance so you’ll be prepared when Grandmother brings it up. Don’t just agree with everything she says. Even if you do remarry, Cousin is not a suitable choice..."
She knew her father was consumed by guilt—that was why he spoke of observing mourning for her mother for the rest of his life.If possible, she wouldn’t want her father to remarry either, but that thought was truly selfish. Someone had to manage her father’s affairs. Right now, she was still in the household and could help oversee things, but what about after she married? Who would take care of Gu Jinrong, Gu Yi, and Gu Xi? In another year, Gu Yi would be married—without a proper authority figure in the fourth branch, who would handle these matters? Relying on Madam Feng was certainly not an option.
Madam Feng would likely use this very reasoning to persuade her father.
Gu Dezhao remained silent for a long time.
Over in Tongzhou, Ji Wu Shi had just received Gu Jinzhao’s letter. She stared at it, lost in thought for quite some time.
Mama Song had just entered and, noticing the pine-oil lamp wasn’t very bright, quietly took out a hairpin to trim the wick. She asked softly, “What has Tai Furen so preoccupied? You didn’t even notice the wick burning down.”
Ji Wu Shi set the letter aside and sighed before asking, “Did you check on the eldest daughter-in-law’s place? Has the child gone to sleep? Is he still crying all day for Madam Zhao?”
Mama Song replied, “He drank a bowl of red bean sweet soup. Ge Yu has already settled down. The eldest madam found two little maids to play cat’s cradle with him today—he was so happy he forgot everything else. He slept with the eldest madam tonight and even insisted on sharing the same quilt.”
The child’s milk name was Qier—common folk had the custom of giving casual nicknames, fearing that a grander name might make it harder for the child to survive. Ji Wu Shi had disliked it immensely and forced Ji Yao to give the child a proper courtesy name.
He had been unwilling. After hearing her demand, he left without a word and only sent a servant days later with a slip of paper bearing a single character: ‘Yu.’
Ji Wu Shi thought of the child’s face, momentarily lost in thought, before asking, “Has Ji Yao still not gone to see him?”
Mama Song answered, “The second young master returns to the estate and heads straight to Immortal Crossing Pavilion. He never visits the eldest madam’s quarters.”
Ji Yao still resented the child—or perhaps, more than the child, he resented himself.
Ji Wu Shi said, “Never mind him. Even I feel uneasy looking at that child—it always reminds me of Chaojie… But he is still Ji family’s flesh and blood. We can’t let him drift outside. Fortunately, Madam Zhao has been obedient, staying quietly at the villa without causing trouble.”
Mama Song smiled. “You’ll grow accustomed in time. I see this letter is from your niece, isn’t it? She’s quite filial, writing to you twice a month without fail, even with Madam Feng watching her like a hawk.”
Ji Wu Shi said, “This letter isn’t just to greet me… Madam Feng wants Gu Dezhao to remarry and has proposed her own cousin’s daughter. Chaojie is asking if I know of a better candidate. If Gu Dezhao must remarry, he absolutely cannot marry someone connected to Madam Feng. I’m considering who might be suitable—someone too low in status won’t do, as they wouldn’t be able to suppress Madam Feng. But someone too high in status—why would they ever want to marry Gu Dezhao?”
Mama Song poured tea for Ji Wu Shi. “Does Tai Furen have anyone in mind?”Ji Wu Shi nodded: "I do have an idea, and a good one at that. Do you remember Madam Xu who came to propose a match for Ge Can? Her daughter secretly asked Qiaoxin about Gu Dezhao last time. Qiaoxin told me afterward, but I didn't pay it much mind then... Now that I think about it, Miss Xu might very well be interested. Luo Tai recently got involved in a fatal incident there... The Xu family no longer dares to arrange a marriage with the Luo family, and now they're so desperate they've started inquiring about the son of some poor provincial scholar from Xianghe. I think Miss Xu the Third might be suitable, but I should write to Chaojie first."
The son of a poor provincial scholar... That's far too mismatched!
Mama Song clicked her tongue in astonishment. After all, the Xu family patriarch was a third-rank Transmission Commissioner—how could his legitimate daughter end up with the son of some obscure poor scholar?
She nodded: "This servant also thinks it's quite suitable... Since you've already made up your mind, there's no need to hesitate..."
Ji Wu Shi sighed: "It's just that I thought of Han'er and felt heartbroken... I wish Gu Dezhao would suffer some disgrace to ease the resentment in my heart! But he's also Chaojie's father—their fates are intertwined..."
She had Mama Song fetch paper and brushes and bring over the pine-oil lamp, but after writing a few lines, she paused.
Frowning, Ji Wu Shi asked Mama Song: "Do you remember when Chaojie fell into the water all those years ago?"
Mama Song nodded. The incident had caused quite a stir, so of course she remembered.
When Gu Jinzhao was thirteen, she came to the Ji family to escape the summer heat and play. She sneaked out to pick lotus seed pods but accidentally fell into the water. The young maid accompanying her came back babbling incoherently to report, and by the time they rushed over, Gu Jinzhao had already been rescued and was lying in a pavilion, murmuring deliriously.
The little maid said a strange man had told her to go call for help, saying he would keep watch here. It must have been that man who rescued Gu Jinzhao, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Ji Wu Shi carried Gu Jinzhao back, her face dark with anger. She flew into a rage and banished all the young maids from Gu Jinzhao's quarters to the kitchen, declaring that anyone who spoke of this would die.
For Gu Jinzhao to be rescued by a strange man was a matter that could ruin her reputation. She could marry no one else but that man.
Ji Wu Shi questioned the maid about the stranger's appearance, but the description she gave didn't match anyone in the entire household.
Ji Wu Shi guessed the rescuer didn't want trouble either, which was why he left quietly. So she kept the matter secret, and very few people knew about it.
It wasn't until today, when she read Gu Jinzhao's letter, that she began to vaguely understand.
Gu Jinzhao wrote that as her father was being promoted, they should pay special attention to matters from above, and asked whether Third Master Chen had frequent dealings with the Ji family.
There was a time when Third Master Chen interacted often with the Ji family—back when the two families jointly built temples in Baoding...
On the day Gu Jinzhao fell into the water, she remembered Third Master Chen had come. Because the eldest master's attendant came to ask her to prepare a fine meal, then shortly after came back to say it wasn't necessary as Third Master Chen had already left first.
She had thought it strange at the time, but she never connected the two incidents—after all, when the attendant came to tell her, she didn't yet know Gu Jinzhao had fallen into the water.
Ji Wu Shi's expression turned grave: "...It's very likely that the person who rescued Chaojie that day was Third Master Chen."Mama Song nearly dropped the pine oil lamp in her hands, her eyes widening. "The Third Master Chen you mentioned... is now the Grand Secretariat elder and Minister of Revenue, Lord Chen?"
How could this be!
Ji Wu Shi said, "...Back then, he was merely a Junior Supervisor of the Office of the Directorate of Instruction." But even she found it absurd—one was a powerful minister of the court, the other a sheltered young woman. If Third Master Chen hadn't left back then and had instead acknowledged the matter...
Ji Wu Shi drew a sharp breath and only spoke again after a long pause. "...It's no wonder Third Master Chen rose from Junior Supervisor to Grand Secretariat elder in just two years." With his iron will, decisive nature, and formidable intellect... it would have been impossible for him not to rise to prominence!
After much hesitation, she still wrote this matter into the letter.
Though it might not amount to much, perhaps Gu Jinzhao would find it useful.
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