Chapter 283

Chapter 283: They set their sights on Xin An’s dowry

Leaving the Xu family, Xin An saw that it was not too late, so she instructed the coachman to stop by the Wang household. Madam Wang had specially sent someone to invite her, and she had to pay her respects. Because of this, by the time she returned to the marquis’s residence, the sky had already begun to darken.

Winter days always turn black early. The lanterns before every shop front were already lit, and at some unknown hour the number of people in the street had increased. Lifting the curtain, Xin An asked: “Is there a night market?”

Cao Gui, who served as her bodyguard as well as coachman, said: “The imperial court decreed that from yesterday until the Lantern Festival the curfew would be pushed back by two hours. It is not truly lively yet. After the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month it will get lively. I hear the imperial court has purchased many lanterns this year. When the time comes, several main streets will be lit in sequence, and it will be beautiful.”

Only then did Xin An remember the imperial court did the same every year. In the past, when she heard of the bustle outside she had wanted to go, but Tang Rong said it was all peddlers and hawkers selling trinkets, with many kidnappers and thieves about, and that it was unsafe, so he dissuaded her from going. Yet later he actually took Tao Yi Ran out and even bought her a lantern. She had made a fuss over it, and what had Tang Rong said?

“As a young widow, your sister-in-law has a hard time of it,” he had said. “It is good to take her out a bit to ease her mind. She, unlike you, is not busy every day and is burdened with sorrow, so as her elder brother I should look after her more.”

[Thinking of it now makes me want to go back and strangle Tang Rong.]

A platform caught her eye. Wishing to watch the excitement, she had Cao Gui find a place to park. How would he dare not obey the lady of wealth: he not only secured the carriage but personally escorted Xin An to see the show.

Up close it turned out to be a martial sparring ring, with a banner of black characters on red that read Jingyong Martial Hall. Chun Yang asked: “Is this the hall the second young master often visits?”

“Er Shan, Er Shan is on the platform,” said Chun Lv.

Stretching her neck, Xin An looked and indeed saw Er Shan. In this bitter cold he wore only a single layer of clothing, and he seemed to have grown taller; his eyes were fierce.

Guarding against anyone bumping into Xin An, Cao Gui explained as he watched: “Setting up a challenge platform is a method martial halls commonly use to recruit disciples. For now each hall sets up somewhere to display their skills. Later on, there will be mass bouts between multiple halls, all fighting together. Everyone wants to vie for the top seat among the capital’s martial halls, and at that point it all comes down to hard skill. It is common to be injured or even crippled.”

“If one stands out,” he added, “one might be noticed by a high-ranking household or even the imperial court, and then one’s future is secured.”

Chun Yang said it was not worth risking one’s life for an uncertain chance, but Xin An replied: “If one can display one’s ability on the stage and thereby secure a career, then even being injured is a gain. Opportunities are hard to come by.”

For common folk, the least valuable thing is themselves. Many opportunities must be gambled for with one’s life. So long as the chance can be won, what is a little blood?

Cao Gui glanced curiously at Chun Yang, thinking it odd that a maid should be more naive than her mistress. Then he looked at Chun Yang’s clothes; her outermost garment was brocade. Evidently the master was wealthy, and even as a maid one basked in that wealth. It is crucial to follow the right master.

Watching Er Shan fight, Xin An could not tell the intricacies but could see his ferocity and the ruthless edge in him. Tilting her head, she asked Cao Gui: “What do you think of that shorter boy?”

After a few exchanges, Cao Gui had formed a judgment and said: “It is clear he has not trained long and does not have child-training foundations. His skill is average, but he has a kind of reckless, no?life fearlessness. That is rare. His opponent outclasses him in technique and pays great attention to moves. If they fought all out, the shorter boy would certainly lose within ten moves, but he has frightened the other with that fierce momentum. In a bout, imposing spirit comes first. It would not be surprising if the shorter one ended up winning.”

Xin An smiled and waited until Er Shan defeated his opponent before nodding in satisfaction. Chun Yang and Chun Lv were astonished, one admiring how accurate Cao Gui’s read had been, the other marveling at how formidable Er Shan was.

“Let us go back,” said Xin An as she turned away. [Tang Mo’s silver was not wasted; Er Shan is worth cultivating.]

By the time they returned to the residence, it was already somewhat late. Tang Gang, who had come back earlier, was speaking with members of the Wei family. Seeing Xin An return at this hour, he said nothing, but Madam Zhang spoke up and asked: “Second daughter-in-law, did you just come back from going out?”

“Yes,” said Xin An.

Guests from the Wei family had arrived and required entertaining. Madam Wang arranged an evening banquet that the whole family was to attend, and with a smile she said that the table was about to be set, telling Xin An not to go back to Qiu Shi Courtyard: “It is just right for the family to sit and talk together.”

Xin An sat, and Madam Zhang asked what she had gone out to do. Madam Wang was displeased. Her own daughter-in-law’s comings and goings were not something she herself had pressed on, yet this guest presumed to ask. She plainly did not know her place.

“It was nothing much,” said Xin An. “I met someone for tea.”

“I saw you carried out several boxes,” said Madam Zhang, intent on prying further. She had already learned about the bride switch. Exchanging Xin An for Tao Yi Ran suited her well, but exchanging away Xin An’s dowry did not. She had seen the wealth of salt merchants and did not need to imagine it to know the Xin family must have endowed a vast dowry. Among those belongings, a portion must have been sent to the marquis’s household under the name of dowry. Even if the marriage had been switched, the dowry should remain.

“You only saw half, Maternal Aunt,” said Xin An. “Those boxes were things I sent to Mother here.”

Madam Wang backed her daughter-in-law completely and confirmed it. With a skin-deep smile, Madam Zhang sneered: “I hear the Xin family are very rich. The dowry must be considerable. Younger sister, you are fortunate.”

“What do you mean by that, Elder Sister-in-law?” Madam Wang looked at Xin An with fondness, then turned and smiled at Madam Zhang. “A woman’s dowry belongs to the woman herself. That is stated plainly in the imperial law. The marquis’s household has accumulated a modest family foundation over the years, and the Marquis trusts me. I take what I wish from the storerooms. We have no need to be like those short-sighted sorts who keep their eyes fixed on a daughter-in-law’s dowry.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Tang Gang and said: “Isn’t that right, Marquis?”

Tang Gang loathed Madam Zhang to the extreme. She was ugly, short, and fat, and when she smiled her mouth revealed a row of yellow teeth that made one’s stomach turn. She had not the slightest awareness that an ugly person should show restraint, and she talked without cease. Her voice sounded like a pig about to be slaughtered, unbearably harsh. Sitting beside her, Madam Wang was, by comparison, like a fairy.

“The Madam speaks truly,” he said. “Since you are the mistress of the marquis’s household, everything here is at your disposal.”

At a moment like this, he knew well whom to support.

Madam Zhang nearly ground her yellow teeth to bits. Back when the principal mistress of the marquis’s household had been from their Wei family, anything she wanted had been all manner of inconvenience. She did not even have the storeroom keys and had to see the face of the old crone of the marquis’s household in everything she did. Now, a second wife enjoyed great fortune.

Forcing himself to sit and make conversation, Tang Rong wore a faint smile, but in his heart he could not like Madam Zhang. She had come all the way to the marquis’s residence bringing only a few gifts of little value; that could be overlooked, but her manner of speaking was so unpresentable it made him lose face. Inwardly he could not help comparing the Wei family to the Wang family. The Wang family did not come often, but every visit they brought ample gifts and spoke courteously and pleasantly. Thinking that in this respect even Tang Mo surpassed them, he liked the Wei family even less.

Still, remembering the Wei family were of use, he said nothing more and feigned deafness and dumbness.