Riding the Long Wind – Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Liu Yuru stood there holding the rouge case for a long time before her mind caught up with what had just happened.

The other young women in the shop were all busy making their selections, and no one had noticed the exchange between her and Gu Jiusi. Yin Hong had picked out a case of her own and came back to find Liu Yuru standing with rouge in hand. “Miss, are you not going to choose another one?”

“Yes.”

Liu Yuru lowered her eyes. With everyone else occupied at the counter, it would look odd if she did not join them. She quietly slipped the case Gu Jiusi had given her up her sleeve, went to the counter, and selected a few more.

The shopkeeper caught her eye with a warm smile. “Miss Liu, Young Master Gu is just that sort of person. Do not take it to heart. He has always had a sharp tongue but a soft one underneath. Someone in your family probably beat him at the gambling tables and he came to take it out on you. Once he has had his fun, he throws money around to make himself feel better about it. You see how it went.”

“You are right.” Liu Yuru let out a quiet sigh. “Thank you for not laughing.”

While Liu Yuru finished her shopping, Gu Jiusi had already gone back to the gambling house to carry on where he left off. But the exchange at the rouge shop had made its way back to the Gu household with surprising speed.

Gu Langhua was in the main hall berating Gu Jiusi in absentia to his wife, his irritation running high. “That ungrateful boy has no idea what I am doing this for. I am trying to get him betrothed before his uncle decides to drag him to the capital and recommend him to the palace. With the way he looks, what if some princess actually takes a fancy to him? Could he stomach that kind of life?”

“There is no use getting so worked up.” Gu Jiusi’s mother, Jiang Rou, sighed. “Jiusi is not entirely wrong. It is his marriage. He should have someone he actually wants. If you just arbitrarily settle him with a girl he cannot stand, that will only cause more trouble in the end.”

“So what would be better? Marrying into the imperial family?”

They were still arguing when the household steward came hurrying in from outside, face flushed with excitement.

“Master! Madam!” he announced happily. “We found her!”

“Found what?” Both of them looked at him in confusion.

“The young master’s sweetheart!”

Jiang Rou was on her feet immediately, voice rising. “Jiusi has a sweetheart? Why has he never said a word to us?”

Gu Langhua was steadier. “How do you know Jiusi has a sweetheart?”

The steward recounted what the household guard had reported, beaming as he spoke. “The young master said it himself, that he would marry no one but this girl. If that is not a sweetheart, what is? Master, I know something of this young lady already, and I have sent someone to find out more. She is from a good family, with an excellent temperament, a little plain in appearance perhaps, but not unpleasant. But they say a good wife is chosen for her virtue, and if the young master is fond of her, that is what matters most.”

“The steward is quite right,” Jiang Rou said, recovering quickly. “Then go and make inquiries at once. If she is a good girl, I will go with the master tomorrow to propose.”

The steward accepted the instruction and withdrew. Gu Langhua sat back and turned the conversation over in his mind. He looked at his wife. “Something about all of this seems strange.”

“It does,” Jiang Rou agreed with a sigh. “Jiusi has always told me everything. If he had a girl he liked, why would he not mention it? And a girl this ordinary, at that. How did they even come to know each other?”

Gu Langhua did not answer right away. He thought it through carefully, then said to Jiang Rou: “Do not say anything to Jiusi about the proposal. He is the one who declared he would marry no one else, so we will get the match settled first, before he has a chance to make a scene and ruin it. This time, we are not giving him room to wriggle out.”

“But not telling him about something as important as a marriage proposal…” Jiang Rou hesitated. “Is that really all right?”

“It will be fine.” Gu Langhua waved it off. “If we wait any longer, your brother will have already suggested sending Jiusi to the capital, and then we will have no grounds to refuse him.”

At that, Jiang Rou understood. And Gu Langhua, for his part, had stopped worrying about why Gu Jiusi had said what he had said. The important thing was that he had said it. That was reason enough.

Liu Yuru was a born-and-raised daughter of Yangzhou, with a plain and unremarkable past, a model well-bred young lady by every measure. The steward came back the following day with a portrait and a brief account of her life. The Gu family couple looked it over and were thoroughly pleased. For a son as unreliable as theirs, they thought, a girl this sensible and capable was the best they could have hoped for.

“There is one rumor, however,” the steward said, hesitating a moment before he spoke. “It seems the Ye family’s old grandmother is very taken with Miss Liu, and the two families may have quietly come to some arrangement.”

Jiang Rou looked up sharply. “Has it already been agreed?”

“No,” the steward said quickly. “It is only a rumor.”

“Then let us do this,” Gu Langhua said, unhurried. “We will go to the Liu household ourselves and get the situation straight. If the two families have already made their agreement, we will not stand in the way of it. If they have not, then it is the Liu family’s choice to make.”

The steward understood, and the following day worked with Jiang Rou to draw up a betrothal gift list. They then went directly to the Liu household.

Liu Yuru was in her mother’s room when Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua arrived. No one had thought to tell her they were coming, so Liu Xuan did not call her out.

The Gu family’s name carried considerable weight in Yangzhou. Both Liu Xuan and Zhang Yue’er were faintly on edge, trying to puzzle out Gu Langhua’s purpose as they made conversation. After a little while, Gu Langhua smiled and said: “I heard recently that your household had something to celebrate. Something about your eldest daughter and the Ye family reaching an understanding. Is that so?”

Liu Xuan and Zhang Yue’er exchanged a look. Zhang Yue’er’s mind moved fast. She understood in an instant exactly why the Gu family had come.

So this was why they had appeared today. They were here for Liu Yuru.

Liu Yuru was Su Wan’s daughter, and Zhang Yue’er had never felt any particular warmth toward her. But she had always kept up appearances. She had watched Liu Yuru work quietly toward a good marriage and had never interfered, because a generous betrothal gift would go straight into the Liu household’s coffers, and what came into the Liu household would one day pass to her own sons. The Ye family’s offer had already been more than satisfactory, and she had been keen to get Liu Yuru settled. But compared to the Gu family, what did the Ye family really amount to?

Zhang Yue’er thought quickly. Before Liu Xuan could respond, she smiled and said: “That is just gossip. Our Yuru and the Ye family’s eldest daughter are close friends, so naturally the two families see more of each other. But marriage has never once been discussed. The Ye family’s eldest son is still sitting his examinations. When would there be time for any of that?”

Liu Xuan sat listening to Zhang Yue’er tell a smooth and effortless lie, and felt rather uneasy. But the words were already out, and he could not undercut her in front of guests. He nodded. “No engagement has been made.”

Jiang Rou and Gu Langhua glanced at each other and both let out a small breath of relief. Jiang Rou wasted no time getting to the point. “To be straightforward with you, we have come today to ask for your eldest daughter’s hand for our son, Jiusi.”

She then spoke warmly of Liu Yuru, and said a few words in praise of Gu Jiusi, before finally reaching the heart of the matter. She nodded to the maidservant at her side and turned to Liu Xuan. “Our family has always been plain-spoken. We believe in showing sincerity in what we do, not in empty words. If you are agreeable, here is our proposed gift list. We would come tomorrow to make the formal offer. And if there is anything you find unsatisfactory, please tell us. Whatever we are able to do, we will do.”

Zhang Yue’er’s eyes lit up. She watched Liu Xuan accept the list, and even from where she sat, the sheer length of it was astonishing. The figures written on it, for a modest merchant household like theirs, amounted to a staggering sum. She watched Liu Xuan’s face, and even as he struggled to keep his expression composed, his eyes gave him away entirely. Zhang Yue’er had her answer.

Liu Xuan read through the list and passed it to Zhang Yue’er. She looked at the numbers and found her breathing coming a little short, but still managed a light cough and a regretful expression. “I may not be Yuru’s birth mother, but she is the eldest daughter of this household, and I have raised her as my own. Money is not the most important thing. What matters most is whether your son’s intentions are sincere.”

Jiang Rou had done her research before coming. She knew exactly what kind of person Zhang Yue’er was, and understood perfectly what “sincere intentions” meant in her mouth. She glanced at Gu Langhua and smiled. “Our family is not good with flowery words. We can only express our sincerity through what we offer, and we mean no disrespect to your daughter whatsoever. In the end, the only things a person can truly hold onto in this life are the solid and tangible ones. Would you not agree?”

“Let us add to the list,” Gu Langhua said, clearing his throat lightly. “We have five shopfronts on East Street. Consider them part of the betrothal.”

East Street was the most prosperous thoroughfare in Yangzhou. A single shopfront there was worth a considerable sum. Five was extraordinary, even by Gu family standards.

Zhang Yue’er knew when to stop pushing. She looked at Liu Xuan, barely containing her excitement. “My lord, Young Master Gu is a remarkable young man. For him to notice Yuru is Yuru’s good fortune. What do you think?”

Liu Xuan looked at the gift list. He felt the pull of the money and the weight of his concern for his daughter at the same time, and sat caught between them.

At last he said: “If I may ask, what does Young Master Gu himself think of this match?”

He had met the Gu family couple now. They seemed reasonable, and Liu Yuru would not suffer under their roof. Gu Jiusi was, well, admittedly a little wild. But whether a woman lived well or badly came down, in the end, to whether her husband was fond of her.

Jiang Rou smiled. “If our son did not admire your eldest daughter, would we have gone to all this trouble?”

Liu Xuan let out a breath. He had always assumed that even a Gu family looking to marry down would go to the Liu household first, before coming to them. He was starting to feel rather pleased.

He was just about to say he would go and consult Liu Yuru when Zhang Yue’er spoke first. “Then this is truly a match made by heaven itself! Our Yuru has always said that Young Master Gu is a fine-looking man of warmth and generous spirit, the rarest kind.”

Liu Xuan’s expression flickered. But Jiang Rou had already picked up the thread. “Miss Liu truly said that?”

“She did,” Zhang Yue’er said warmly, leaning into the conversation. “Our Yuru and your son have not had much occasion to interact, but she has always spoken well of him.”

“How wonderful.” Jiang Rou turned to Liu Xuan. “Then, Master Liu, we will come tomorrow to make the formal proposal. Shall we call it agreed?”

Between the two of them working in tandem, the conversation had reached a point where Liu Xuan had no graceful way to object. He thought it over carefully, and arrived, finally, at this: marriage was, in the end, a matter settled by parents and matchmakers. Liu Yuru was gentle and obedient. Whether she married Ye Shi’an or Gu Jiusi, he told himself, it probably made little difference to her.

And so he nodded, smiling. “Then we will be honored to welcome you tomorrow.”

He saw the Gu family couple out with Zhang Yue’er at his side, and when they had gone, he sighed and said: “You go tell Yuru. You women are better at these conversations.”

Zhang Yue’er smiled and took his arm. “Do not worry. The Gu family is far better than the Ye family, if you ask me. The Ye household has too many rules. The Gu family is easy to get along with, they have real power and standing in Yangzhou, and Jiusi is their only son. He may be a little wild, but who is perfect? As long as Gu Jiusi is fond of our Yuru, she will be fine.”

“You are right.” Liu Xuan let out a breath. “You always think of everything.”

“Leave it to me. I will go and have a word with Yuru,” Zhang Yue’er said gently. “She is still young. For something as important as marriage, it is better for us older ones to make the choice on her behalf.”

She soothed Liu Xuan until his worries dissolved, and he went back to his business. Once he was gone, Zhang Yue’er had someone look into what had happened between Liu Yuru and Gu Jiusi, and heard about the rouge shop incident.

She sat back in her chair and smiled to herself. Then she turned to the maidservant beside her and said: “Su Wan produced nothing of use, but her daughter is another story. Fine. Take that as your reason. Go tell her that her conduct was improper, and that she is confined to her rooms for half a month. Get the engagement settled first. And make sure every servant in this household keeps their mouth shut. Anyone who lets her find out before the betrothal is formally announced, I will have sold out of this house.”

The maidservant straightened up. “You can count on us. Not a word from anyone.”

Zhang Yue’er nodded. She thought for a moment, then added: “Be gentle about it. She is still sitting there waiting for Ye Shi’an to come home and propose. Keep her calm and comfortable for now. Once the Gu engagement is finalized, I will go and explain things to her myself.”

“Understood.” The maidservant smiled. “Leave it to me. I will handle it carefully. She is going to be Young Mistress Gu, after all. No point making an enemy of her now.”

“What a shame,” Zhang Yue’er sighed, half to herself. “I have no daughter of suitable age. Xue’er is still too young, otherwise the Ye family would have been a fine match too.” She glanced down at the gift list in her lap and laughed softly. “This Liu Yuru. Who knew she would fetch such a price.”