Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Married Off Within Three Days

In this dynasty, girls start to marry once they come of age at fifteen.

Girls like Chun Zhi who reach nineteen without marrying are very rare.

Everyone in Linshui Town knew she was the Lu Clan’s child bride. Lu Jing Yun had been studying away from home for years, so they had not completed the marriage, and the Magistrate’s Office turned a blind eye.

Now that Lu Jing Yun has married the chancellor’s daughter, the Lu Clan has driven Chun Zhi out.

Then yamen runners came to her door quoting the law.

The lead yamen runner had a rough face and a booming voice; one barked order made Chun Zhi’s ears hurt.

A bit frightened, her face went pale as she tried to explain: “Officer, I am not simply over eighteen and still unmarried. My former fiancé broke the engagement and married someone else, so…”

The lead yamen runner cut her off: “Enough nonsense. A woman over eighteen who is still unmarried is breaking the law of our dynasty. Come with us to the yamen.”

Chun Zhi stepped back and refused to give in, saying: “Even if the law says women over eighteen who are unmarried must be assigned a match by the Magistrate’s Office, you must give a deadline. You cannot take someone away the same day you give notice.”

The yamen runners did not expect a tofu seller like Chun Zhi to know the law.

The four yamen runners looked at one another, feeling that this was tricky.

This law had not been enforced as strictly in recent years. If the chancellor’s young lady had not sent word to the prefect, and if the prefect had not ordered their magistrate to teach this Chun Zhi a lesson, they would not have come all the way here to trouble a tofu seller.

Seeing their stance soften, Chun Zhi spoke again: “Marriage decides a woman’s whole life. Please, official, give me a few days. I will hurry…”

The lead yamen runner cut her off: “Three days. If after three days you are still not married, you will pay a fine, or be forcibly matched by the Magistrate’s Office, or sit in jail.”

Anxiously, Chun Zhi asked: “Only three days? How can I make it in time?”

He added: “Whether you make it or not is your business.”

He finished: “We have passed on the message. Handle it yourself.”

With that, the yamen runners turned and left.

Chun Zhi stood by the door, her brows knotted with worry.

Auntie Li, the neighbor next door, had watched the whole scene. She came over and said: “Our Linshui Town hasn’t had an unmarried girl over eighteen in years. The last time… I remember it was the younger daughter of the Yangs in the north of town. She delayed three years to mourn her mother, from fifteen to eighteen. When the mourning was finally over and she was about to marry her fiancé, guess what happened?”

Before Chun Zhi could answer, Auntie Li went on: “Miss Yang’s fiancé fell for someone else. He said he would still marry, but he wanted two wives at once. Miss Yang refused, so the engagement fell through. Time slipped by and she passed eighteen. The Magistrate’s Office came and fined the Yangs a large sum, then forced Miss Yang to marry a gambling addict. Within a few months of the wedding, Miss Yang hanged herself. A good person was gone just like that. What a sin.”

Chun Zhi was silent for a long time.

Auntie Li said: “If the Magistrate’s Office forces a match, do you think they will find you a good man? Chun Zhi, listen to your auntie’s advice. Either go beg the Lu Clan to have that top scholar take you in, or hurry to a matchmaker and find a reliable man to marry right away.”

There was no other way right now.

Hearing this, Chun Zhi slowly came back to herself and said: “I understand, Auntie Li. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. We are neighbors,” Auntie Li waved her hand, then changed the topic: “By the way, my brother’s family has a nephew, twenty-three, tall and sturdy, looks decent, a fisherman. How about…”

“No, thank you, Auntie Li,” said Chun Zhi as she walked inside.

Auntie Li had wanted to catch up and keep talking, but when she saw Chun Zhi hurry in and close the door, she had to give up, muttering as she turned away: “At a time like this and she is still picky.”

Chun Zhi sat down to calm herself, then took out ten taels of silver and got ready to find a matchmaker.

The Magistrate’s Office could fine a person until they lost everything.

A forced match would not be to a good man.

She could not go to jail either. A woman’s life was ruined once she entered prison.

Earlier today the two most famous matchmakers in Linshui Town had even fought to arrange a match for her. [Someone I choose will be better than someone the Magistrate’s Office assigns at random.]

Silver in hand, Chun Zhi stepped out and ran into Huo Qi pushing a wheelchair out of the house.

Huo Zheng asked her: “Why are you in such a rush? Where are you going?”

“I have urgent business and need to go out. I might not be back for dinner. Rice and flour are by the stove. If you get hungry, make yourself something to eat. If it is hard to change your bandage, wait until I return. I am going,” she said, then hurried off, closing the courtyard gate behind her.

Watching her hurry away, Huo Zheng thought: [This girl is pretty unlucky. Every day something bad happens to her.]

…

In the teahouse on East Street, Chun Zhi found Matchmaker Li and Matchmaker Zhao. They were busy matching two young couples and talking up their clients. As soon as they saw her, they hurried over.

Matchmaker Li smiled like a flower and said: “Chun Zhi, you came to see me?”

Matchmaker Zhao rushed up and said: “Chun Zhi, have you thought it through?”

Chun Zhi hummed in reply and said: “I want a reliable man and to marry within three days.”

The two matchmakers said together: “Marry within three days? So urgent!”

Clutching her silver, Chun Zhi asked: “Can you find one?”

They answered in a rush: “Yes.” “Of course.”

Afraid she would run off, Matchmaker Li and Matchmaker Zhao took her by the arms and sat her down at a tea table.

The waiter brought freshly brewed tea and said: “Honored guest, please have some tea.” He stepped aside, ears pricked to listen. Chun Zhi was Linshui Town’s famous Tofu Beauty. The scandal with the top scholar was known all over town, so if she was here to see matchmakers, she must be planning to marry someone else.

Matchmaker Li said: “Remember the Gentryman Zhou from the south of town that I mentioned this morning? He is willing to pay five hundred taels to marry you as his second wife. A full five hundred taels as the bride price, Chun Zhi. Think about him.”

Matchmaker Zhao said: “That Gentryman Zhou is already over forty and has two daughters and one son. If you marry in, you will be a stepmother, and those days are hard. In my view, Young Master Chu is better. Young Master Chu has never taken a wife. His family is well-off, and he is educated…”

Matchmaker Li said in a sour tone: “And how did the last educated man treat Chun Zhi? You still dare suggest another scholar?”

Matchmaker Zhao said: “You only know if he is good after you see him. Since you are here, sit a bit. I will call Young Master Chu over to have a physiognomy reading with you.”

Before Chun Zhi could answer, Matchmaker Li said: “Then I will go get Gentryman Zhou now.”

Afraid she would change her mind, both matchmakers hurried off.

Chun Zhi sipped her tea slowly and thought she could meet them both. After all, she had only three days.