Chapter 063
Chapter 63: The Best Candidate
Lu Rong Fang was not a bad match, but Xia Meng Yan knew herself well. Leaving aside that she was a divorced woman, the child in her belly would make many noble houses turn away. Lin Ye Lan was not from a small family. He was the Marquis of Ping’an, standing at the center of the Court. Anyone who married her would have to face the Capital’s gossip.
When Lu Rong Fang heard her question, a keen light flashed in his eyes.
He smiled, warm as ever, as he spoke slowly: “Elder miss, you are bright. In your current position, you will either be swallowed by a great noble house, or be married off to an old widower as a secondary wife. If you are lucky, you could choose a poor but talented scholar and support his rise. But how would you know he would not turn into the second Lin Ye Lan.”
He stated his offer with unhurried clarity: “Rather than let the Capital’s noble houses pick you over, why not work with me. We each take what we need.”
“My request is simple,” he said, voice steady. “Help me become the Lu Family head, and I will give you freedom. In the future, you will be the one who makes the rules in the Lu Family’s inner court. In the Capital or out traveling, you can live however makes you happy.”
“So you mean we will each live our own way,” Xia Meng Yan said, listening with some interest despite herself. She had to admit his analysis was sharp.
Lu Rong Fang nodded: “Something like that.”
She pressed the key point at once, speaking with cool humor: “Then will I also be raising your concubines’ sons and daughters?”
“There will be no concubines’ sons and daughters,” he answered at once.
Xia Meng Yan frowned lightly and asked, surprised: “What do you mean?”
Lu Rong Fang stretched his hand out the window as pale pink petals fell on the breeze. He answered in a clear, simple way: “Exactly what you heard. The pain of a concubine-born child ends with me. If you like children, we can have our own. As for other women, there will not be any.”
Xia Meng Yan was taken aback. With his talent and with his birth mother favored by the Lu Family head, he should not have held such a firm view.
He asked with calm confidence: “Are my terms acceptable to Elder Miss Xia?”
“Young Master Lu, this is a big surprise. I need to think it through,” Xia Meng Yan said. This touched her future and her child’s future, and she had to be careful.
She added, meeting his eyes: “May I ask you one more question?”
Lu Rong Fang nodded: “Please ask.”
She spoke plainly, listing facts one by one: “Young Master Lu, you are handsome and capable. Your aunt is Consort Ping, Her Highness. There are countless noble ladies in the Capital for you to choose from. Why me?”
Lu Rong Fang’s mouth bent in a helpless smile as he answered: “I have long heard of Elder Miss Xia. Later, my aunt brought up the idea, and it happened that I needed a capable partner.”
Xia Meng Yan’s face stayed calm, but her thoughts cut through his words at once.
[This kind of talk, I swore off before I died in my last life. “I had long heard of you” is probably about me chasing Lin Ye Lan. In the end, it is still about each taking what we need.]
[But the Lu Family is not short of money. That part does not add up.]
Lu Rong Fang noticed her silent look. He coughed lightly, and a touch of softness colored his eyes as he added: “Elder Miss Xia, you are excellent. Otherwise my aunt and my father would not have tried so hard. Seeing you today, you are not like the rumors at all. That is why I spoke so directly.”
Xia Meng Yan’s brow creased.
[He is honest enough to sell out the Lu Family’s plan in one breath.]
As she considered, she caught a faint scent in the air. She looked up and found Lu Rong Fang had stepped closer.
He stood tall and straight. To meet his eyes, she had to tilt her chin up. Right now, all she wanted was to step away.
His voice, warm as jade, brushed her ear as he spoke: “I fell in love with you at first sight. Is that reason enough?”
Instead of blushing, Xia Meng Yan’s face cooled at once.
[Nonsense shows up every day, but today there is extra.]
She said with clear distance: “Young Master Lu, please keep your distance.”
“As you wish,” he answered gently. “I only wanted you to know my heart. The partnership is real. The first sight is also not false. As you said, I have not fallen so low that I must marry someone I dislike. Elder Miss Xia, think it over. For now, I am the best choice.”
He inclined his head, then turned and left with A’Four.
“Elder sister,” Xia Qing Yao hurried in as soon as he was gone. Seeing the tight line between Xia Meng Yan’s brows, she asked carefully: “What did Young Master Lu say to make you unhappy?”
“It is nothing. Let’s go home,” Xia Meng Yan said.
On the way back, she was absent-minded, still unsure what Lu Rong Fang truly wanted.
[If he wants the Lin Family’s money to pave his way, why not marry a Lin Family girl? If he is interested in me, that is impossible. The child in my belly would only shame him.]
[Still, using Lu Rong Fang to make those hidden watchers give up might be a path. The Lu Family failed this time, but what about noble houses even higher than the Lu Family? Could they succeed?]
[The Capital’s great houses all hold military merit. If someone is set on marrying me and uses his merit to ask Emperor Xuan Ming for an imperial marriage, then I would have no choice but to accept.]
[On this point, Lu Rong Fang was not wrong. Rather than be chosen by others, I should make the first move.]
Seeing her elder sister silent, Xia Qing Yao tightened her grip on her handkerchief. Lu Rong Fang’s clear, handsome face kept flashing in her mind, and her cheeks warmed pink.
Back at the manor, Xia Meng Yan said she was tired and did not keep Xia Qing Yao to talk.
“How did Young Master Lu respond? Did he agree to an engagement?” Madam Wan asked the moment her daughter returned, her voice urgent.
Xia Qing Yao bit her lip, unsure how to answer.
Nanny Li stepped in and repeated what had been said between them.
Hearing that Lu Rong Fang had no intention of keeping the match, Madam Wan paced in anger: “A concubine-born son dares to look down on Qing Yao. What does he think he is.”
The second branch had nothing, but in Madam Wan’s eyes, the main branch’s glory belonged to them too. Xia Ping Yuan was a close minister to the throne. In other words, the second branch would rise with him. The Lu Family’s in-law ties were not as reliable as a real elder brother.
“Young Master Lu only asked to meet to apologize,” Xia Qing Yao said, feeling as if she had been slapped in public. “He did not know about his aunt’s matchmaker talk.”
Thinking over the meeting, she realized how proper and polite he had been. In truth, he simply did not choose her. The thought made her bite her lip even harder.
Nanny Li had served Madam Wan, then moved to Xia Qing Yao’s side after Qing Yao was born. She had watched the girl grow up. Seeing her young mistress in distress, she tried to comfort her, speaking softly: “Young Master Lu’s status is indeed nothing to brag about at a high table. Second Miss is noble. It is only natural he feels unworthy.”
Madam Wan shot her a look, her brow knitting tight: “What do you know. Of course I understand the difference in status. If your master had true ability, I would not have let Qing Yao marry Lu Rong Fang at all. With Consort Ping in the palace, not only your master but even the young master’s career would be smooth.”
Nanny Li understood all too well. For years, the second branch had lived on the main branch’s gifts. Now that the two branches were at odds, the second branch had to find its own road.
Xia Qing Yao loosened her lip at last. The deep tooth marks showed how hard she had held back her feelings. She lifted her chin and said, firm through the hurt: “Mother, do not worry. If not the Lu Family, then another noble house. I will pave the way for Father and Brother.”
Madam Wan gave a cold snort, then seemed to recall something. She turned to Nanny Li and asked: “Did the woman from the main branch say anything?”
Nanny Li stared for a heartbeat, then, without thinking, glanced at Second Miss.
Xia Qing Yao faltered, her words stumbling.
Seeing this, Madam Wan’s tone sharpened: “Nanny Li, speak.”
Nanny Li sighed, forced to answer: “Young Master Lu asked to speak with the elder miss alone.”
“What?” Madam Wan’s eyes went wide. She glared at the two of them and scolded hard: “How could you let them meet alone.”
Xia Qing Yao looked confused and protested, still trusting: “Mother, Young Master Lu wanted to apologize to elder sister. Why not let them talk?”
“You fool,” Madam Wan snapped. “If it was only an apology, why talk alone? Of course there is something he did not want you to hear. I should have gone today. That Xia Meng Yan, that shameless one, is just like her mother, luring men in. The Lu Family came for Xia Meng Yan in the first place. Now the two of them meet in private. If some rumor starts and both houses are happy, what will you be then.”
She paused, thoughts racing, then her eyes lit with sudden understanding as she said with bitter anger: “No, this was no apology. The shameless Lu Family used you to arrange a private meeting between Lu Rong Fang and Xia Meng Yan.”
Xia Qing Yao could not follow her mother’s leap: “Mother, what do you mean? The person Young Master Lu wanted to see was Xia Meng Yan?”