Chapter 2: Substitute Marriage

The marriage contract would have to be changed to another name and made public.

Ru Yan was startled by Chu Qiang’s words.

She quickly looked around and saw that the serving women were still in the room packing the dowry chests, with no one paying attention to this side, so she lowered her voice and said, “What is the young lady saying? This is a marriage granted by the Emperor himself! The imperial edict has already arrived, and the Ministry of Rites is helping to arrange it. It’s a match that countless people dream of. When the young lady marries over, she will be a princess consort. Not to mention her noble status, she will have a lifetime of glory and wealth.”

It sounded quite tempting.

But what did the greatest glory and wealth matter if one had no fortune to enjoy it? If this marriage were truly something everyone dreamed of, someone would surely scheme to snatch it away. How could it possibly fall to her?

The so-called overwhelming wealth was ultimately illusory. She did not want to marry far away from home to a brutal military man, living alone in a distant place, treading on blades with her heart in her throat, and perhaps even losing her life.

No amount of glory could compare to the importance of one’s life.

Chu Qiang clenched the fish food tightly in her hand. Her mind was filled with the Guo family daughter who had died in a foreign land, the Princess Consort of Xin who had wasted away in sorrow, and even the pitiful women in the history books who had been sent off for diplomatic marriages and grown old and died in foreign lands—as well as Xie Ting’s reputation for having a heart of stone and killing people like flies.

She took a deep breath and said not another word.

She only quietly stared at the fish swimming in the pond, slowly sprinkling the bait down, and then went about her usual routine—eating, washing up, bathing, and going to sleep.

It was not until the next morning that a piece of news exploded through the joyous Yishou Hall—

Chu Qiang had vanished.

Ever since Grand Tutor Chu had passed away, the old madam had been quite lonely.

The wives of the two branches feared she would be too lonely living by herself, so they had sent the sisters Chu Qiang and A Yan to be raised in Yishou Hall—first, so the old woman would have company, and second, so they could free up time to worry about their sons’ studies, marriages, and child-rearing.

The two sisters each lived in the east and west side courtyards. Every day they studied, practiced calligraphy, and played cards before their grandmother. This had gone on for more than ten years. It was only recently, when the old madam was busy worrying about Chu Qiang’s marriage and preparing to receive congratulatory guests from near and far, that Yishou Hall had been turned upside down with busyness, and they had each taken their meals separately without disturbing her.

Now that something had happened in the east side courtyard, how could A Yan not know?

The sun had barely shown its face. She propped herself up with sleepy eyes and rose to wash and dress. Hearing that the commotion outside was different from usual, she could not help but feel surprised and quietly sent Yu Lu to find out what was going on.

Before long, Yu Lu returned with a pale face.

“No wonder I ran into Ru Yan this morning—her expression was off. Something really did happen in the courtyard across the way!” She lowered her voice and shut the door, even drawing the inner curtains. “It’s chaos over at the old madam’s. They seem to be looking for someone. The gate to the east side courtyard is shut tight and no one is allowed to peek in. I secretly asked Old Mrs. Sun over there, and she said the eldest young lady was nowhere to be found when they got up this morning, and they’re searching everywhere!”

“How could this happen?”

Old Mrs. Lu knew the gravity of the matter. Her expression changed when she heard this.

Yu Lu said in a low voice, “I can’t figure it out either. Wasn’t the eldest young lady very happy when the marriage was granted? She even bragged about it in front of our young lady. I heard the old madam gave orders to keep the news quiet, but how could something like this be kept quiet? If she really did run away, then our family is…”

“Yes! How could the eldest young lady be so willful!”

The two of them feared disaster would befall the whole family and implicate A Yan, and they both looked worriedly at their own young lady.

A Yan bit her lip lightly. She no longer had the heart to pick out rouge and jewelry either. She only frowned and said, “She has always been like this—for her own selfish interests, she doesn’t care whether others live or die. There’s no thief in our household. Her sudden disappearance must mean she had misgivings in her heart and ran away herself. Grandmother is, after all, a first-rank titled lady. She won’t truly let the whole family bear the crime of defying an imperial edict. I’m only afraid…”

“What is the young lady worried about?” Yu Lu’s eyes tightened slightly.

Old Mrs. Lu glanced at A Yan’s expression and said in a low voice, “Is the young lady afraid there’s something fishy about this marriage, and now that the eldest young lady has run off, the old madam will, for the sake of the whole family’s lives, make the young lady impersonate her?”

This matter sounded absurd, but when it truly came to a life-and-death crisis with no other way out, it was not necessarily impossible.

A Yan secretly hated Chu Qiang’s selfishness and willfulness, but now there was nothing she could do about her. She only pondered and said, “Forget it. Let’s wait for more news.”

What if they could catch her cousin and bring her back?

“She’s not coming back! That dead girl ran off without a trace. I’m afraid even if we dug three feet into the ground, we wouldn’t find her!”

In Chunxiao Court, where the eldest branch lived, Chu Yuanjing was so furious his face turned iron-blue. He swept the cups and dishes off the table, sending tea splashing everywhere. He roared, “If I’d known she was this outrageous, I should have beaten her to death back then, so she wouldn’t drag the whole family down!”

“What kind of talk is that? Qiang’er is your daughter!”

Madam Xue had cried until her eyes were red and swollen, yet she still defended the child.

Chu Yuanjing raged, “I have no such daughter! Tomorrow is her wedding day. The Xie family’s wedding party will arrive in the afternoon, and she picks this moment to run off without a trace—she’s deliberately trying to get the whole family killed! How did the questioning go, Chen Rong—”

“My lord, the interrogation is done.”

The long-serving attendant named Chen Rong hurried in, followed by two young servants dragging the blood-soaked Ru Yan.

He did not dare look too closely, only cupped his hands and said urgently, “Ru Yan confessed that the young lady left at the hour of Zi, wearing the clothes of the maid Ru Liu. After leaving the estate, she sent Ru Yan back. Apart from silver and traveling funds and a set of men’s riding clothes, she took nothing.”

Hearing this, Madam Xue immediately lunged at Ru Yan. “What happened?”

“This servant… this servant had no choice either.” Ru Yan had served Chu Qiang since childhood and had never done rough work. Now, having been beaten severely, she said breathlessly, “The young lady said that if this servant refused to help her, and just watched her jump into a pit of fire, then once she reached the Xie family, she would beat this servant to death alive and wouldn’t even let the corpse be sent back to the capital.”

“Why on earth did she run from the marriage!”

“She said she didn’t want to take the risk, didn’t want to go to Weizhou to die. She didn’t explain anything more to this servant, only said that our old madam has means and has always doted on her, so there must be a way to settle this matter. She told this servant to lie and say she was going out at midnight to fetch a doctor, and to take her out through the side gate.”

“How is this going to her death? This is a marriage people would beg for!”

Madam Xue had never imagined her daughter would have such an idea. She only looked at her husband in panic. “These past two days have been so busy and chaotic, there was no guard against it. Since she went out through the side gate, if we search all of the capital, there should be some clue, right?”

“Do you think she’s an idiot?”

Chu Yuanjing said irritably. He spotted a jade cup still on the table and simply smashed it too. He raged, “The city gates on the southwest side open at the hour of Yin, to let the merchants go out early to make a living. That dead girl has always been calculating. She must have slipped out through there, bought a horse, and ridden far away to hide. There are so many desolate mountains and wilderness outside Chang’an—are you going to go ask every single person one by one?”

“Then what should we do?” Madam Xue had lost all sense of what to do.

Chu Yuanjing flung his sleeve and glared fiercely at Ru Yan. “Keep her under watch first. If that dead girl doesn’t come back, beat her to death and be done with it! Let’s go. We’re going to discuss this with the old madam.”

With that, he strode straight toward Yishou Hall.

In Yishou Hall, Old Madam Chu’s expression was grim.

After hearing Chu Yuanjing report what had happened, she was so angry she nearly fainted. She pounded the table and said repeatedly, “Wretched girl! Wretched girl! A perfectly good marriage—how did it become a pit of fire? The Xie family isn’t some man-eating evil spirit. Could they really swallow her alive? Where’s Ru Yan? Does she not know where she’s hiding either?”

“Your son used every method. She truly doesn’t know.”

“Wretched girl! It’s all because I spoiled her rotten on ordinary days. She doesn’t know better and has no sense of law or discipline! And you two as her parents—you couldn’t even keep a proper watch on a daughter about to be married, and let her do whatever she pleased!”

“Mother’s lesson is correct.”

Chu Yuanjing bowed his head and repeatedly admitted fault, then secretly glanced at this grand tutor’s wife, the most honored person in the entire household, and probed, “But the matter has already come to this. We can’t just sit and wait for death. Your son will certainly send people everywhere to search, but if that dead girl is hiding well and can’t be found, we still have to get through this somehow. Mother, what do you think…”

“Defying an imperial edict is a capital crime!”

“Yes, yes, so we must find a way to make up for it. The Xie family’s wedding party will arrive in the afternoon. We can’t let them go back empty-handed, can we? If we do, the Xie family is a prince of a different surname who dominates a whole region—even the Emperor fears them somewhat. Even if we staked the lives of the entire household, I’m afraid we couldn’t bear the crime.”

“You don’t need to tell me that!”

The old madam had no place to vent her fury, so she snapped at him the moment he spoke, her voice nearly hoarse with anger.

The hall was silent as a grave. The serving women hurried to help her catch her breath.

It took quite a while before she recovered. She said in a low voice, “First send people to search everywhere, but do not make it public. Under no circumstances can outsiders find out. If she can be found, naturally that’s best. If she cannot… Xique, go call the second young lady, the second madam, and the other young masters and young madams who are at home. You all stay too. This matter must be discussed by everyone.”

Chu Yuanjing acknowledged the order and secretly let out a breath of relief.

Only Madam Xue was quite unwilling. After guessing the old madam’s intention, she anxiously craned her neck to look outside—after all, this was a fine marriage into a prince’s household. These past days she had dreamed of it and woken up smiling. How could she be willing to hand it over just because of Chu Qiang’s willfulness?

After a short while, A Yan arrived at the summons, her cloud-like hair adorned with pearls and hairpins, her waist bound with a plain sash, a thin robe embroidered with daylilies over a jade-colored ruqun skirt, outlining a slender, elegant figure that swayed gracefully as she moved.

She bowed obediently, showing no discernible emotion.

Not long after, Madam Wu also hurried over.

Of the important people in the household, apart from Chu Yuangong, who was away on official business, almost everyone had gathered.

The old madam cleared her throat and, suppressing her anger, told them of Chu Qiang’s last-minute escape. She added that the matter was of great importance. If the Prince of Fenyang’s household returned empty-handed, it would be no different from a monstrous humiliation. At that time, whether the Xie family sought revenge or the Emperor imposed punishment, the Chu family would have absolutely no way to survive.

In utter helplessness, there was no choice but to have A Yan take her cousin’s place on the bridal sedan and go to Weizhou to complete the marriage, and get through this crisis first before anything else.

Everyone had more or less heard rumors before coming and was anxious in their own way. Hearing these words, their expressions varied.

A Yan pressed her lips and raised her eyes, glancing toward the seat of honor.

Although she had already guessed in her heart, hearing such words actually spoken still made one feel utterly chilled.

But this was not the time to speak of sentiment.

Things had come to this point. Given Chu Qiang’s selfish nature, since she had made up her mind to make such a choice, she would never let herself be easily found and brought back. Chu Qiang clearly had no intention of cleaning up this mess.

There were only two paths before her: refuse to marry in Chu Qiang’s place, or agree to get on the bridal sedan.

If she refused, the Xie family’s wedding party would come for nothing, and when the whole household was punished, neither she nor her father would be exempt.

Under imperial authority, there was no escape from this.

A Yan did not want to die at the hands of the willful Chu Qiang. Whether for herself or for her family, she could only choose the substitute marriage.

But how to go about this substitute marriage made a great deal of difference.

She looked around at everyone. She saw that Chu Yuanjing’s anger had not subsided, that Madam Xue was unwilling because the duck that had been cooked was suddenly flying away, that the several sisters-in-law of the eldest branch each harbored their own thoughts, that her mother Madam Wu was astonished yet secretly delighted, and that the old madam sat on the short couch with a grim expression, every inch the imposing matriarch.

Only her own sister-in-law looked regretful, as if she could not bear to see A Yan suffer this undeserved disaster.

A Yan’s eyes dimmed. She bent her knees in salute.

“The imperial marriage chose my cousin. I never thought of marrying far away. But now that things have come to this, for the sake of the whole household’s lives, at a point where there is no other choice, I can only shoulder this burden and face the difficulty head-on.” She saw the old madam seem to breathe a sigh of relief, then turned her words. “But let me make this clear beforehand: this substitute marriage is not an impersonation. It must be brought into the open.”

“Grandmother must enter the palace to plead our case, to inform the Emperor and the Prince of Fenyang’s household that my cousin is unable to leave the household for certain reasons, and that the one marrying by imperial decree is me, not my cousin. The marriage contract must also be changed to my name and made public.”

“Otherwise, even if I die, I cannot comply.”

The moment the words fell, the old madam’s expression changed abruptly.