Marriage Pact

Before An Changfu and An Changde, the two brothers, split the household, the An Family had once been considered a scholarly family.

The An Family patriarch was a Juren. In Da Ya, that title alone was enough to secure an official post, yet the patriarch chose to return to his hometown and declined every position offered to him. This status allowed him to move with ease through Anyuan County; even the county magistrate had to show him considerable respect.

The patriarch had placed great hopes on his two sons. Though he was a Juren himself, he had gone no further, so his lifelong wish was for the An Family to produce a Jinshi. In the end, he placed that hope on his two sons. Yet only An Changde showed even a little talent, while An Changfu simply was not cut out for studying.

Even so, the An Family had already become quite famous in Anyuan County at the time.

Old Master An was an elegant scholar of great literary talent. What he excelled at most was not poetry or couplets, but painting. Every painting he produced possessed a vivid spirit. Some had said that if Old Master An had been willing to sell his paintings, each one would have fetched an enormous price.

Yet Old Master An was a stubborn man. He believed painting was a noble and beautiful pastime that cultivated one's character, and he firmly refused to measure it by profit. That was precisely why he became famous.

On his sixtieth birthday, Old Master An met a traveler passing through Anyuan County.

The traveler called himself a merchant. He was taking his family to settle in Gentlemen City, the capital of Da Ya, a thriving city coveted by countless merchants and scholars.

At first, Old Master An did not think much of the man because he was a merchant. Though he was not as openly disdainful of merchants as other scholars, he did not care to associate closely with them, especially since his younger son had shown great interest in trade.

However, once the man displayed his literary attainments, Old Master An began to view him in a new light.

Before long, the two became kindred spirits. Being close in age, they had much in common to discuss, and eventually even became sworn brothers. The man was deeply interested in Old Master An's paintings, so the patriarch gave him several, all of them representative works.

Knowing that those paintings were Old Master An's painstaking creations, the man was moved and gave him half a jade pendant in return.

The jade pendant was the old man's family heirloom. It was said to be intended for the family's future daughter-in-law and was exceedingly precious. Once Old Master An learned this, he refused to accept it no matter what, believing that a few paintings could not compare to the jade pendant's value. Yet the old man said it was a token, meant for his future eldest daughter-in-law.

Thus, the marriage alliance between the two families was settled.

Only Steward Su knew of this matter. At the time, he had already been serving at Old Master An's side. Old Master An instructed him not to tell anyone, keeping it hidden even from his two sons.

Old Master An had done this so he could observe which of his sons' daughters was more suitable to marry into his friend's family.

He attached great importance to this marriage alliance. From his friend's conduct and bearing, he could tell that the man's family was strictly raised, so he wanted to choose his finest granddaughter to marry over.

Originally, the patriarch had favored his eldest son's daughter. His eldest son was a scholar, so his daughter should at least have inherited some of his learning. Yet he found that although the eldest branch's daughter was beautiful, she was also mean-spirited. He immediately ruled her out and turned his attention to his second son's daughter, An Yuzhi.

An Yuzhi was a well-mannered, shy young lady who had spent all year within the inner chambers. Though her literary foundation was not strong, she could read and write and compose a few lines of poetry. Raised under Liu Meixiang's instruction, she had grown into a beautiful, gentle, obedient girl. Although there was nothing especially outstanding about her, she was the only one in the entire An Family fit to be presented in society.

Thus, Old Master An made the decision: An Yuzhi it would be.

He gave half of the token and a sachet to Steward Su, instructing him to tell his second son and daughter-in-law about the matter only if his friend or a member of his friend's family came calling one day. If his friend never appeared, then it was to be treated as though it had never happened.

Steward Su had faithfully followed Old Master An's instructions. Even after An Yuzhi passed her fifteenth birthday, he had said nothing. By then, he had guessed what the patriarch had been worried about. The other party had never come to fulfill the promise made all those years ago; perhaps it had merely been an idle remark.

He had originally planned to bury this secret forever, but he had not expected such a calamity to befall the An Family. Though the eldest young master had spoken lightly, as if transferring the An Family's assets would solve everything, Steward Su knew those people would certainly destroy the eldest young master first.

The eldest young master was no longer the same as before. Steward Su did not want to see him framed by those people and have his life ruined. After hesitating again and again, he finally decided to reveal the marriage pact and let the eldest young master decide.

"Steward Su, you believe that family must be people of standing in Gentlemen City, so you want me to find them and have them honor the marriage pact. That way, my uncle and aunt would no longer dare set their sights on the An Family. Is that correct?" After a moment of silence, An Ziran spoke and laid bare Steward Su's thoughts.

Steward Su said, "The eldest young master has guessed correctly. That is exactly what I was thinking. Although that man claimed to be a merchant back then, the patriarch had long seen from his conduct and bearing that he was no ordinary merchant. If the eldest master learns that the An Family has connections in the capital, he should show at least some restraint."

An Ziran looked at him calmly. "But you are also worried that they may have forgotten their promise from all those years ago. That is why you waited until now to mention it, isn't it?"

"The eldest young master truly is intelligent. You have guessed every thought in my heart." Steward Su was not embarrassed. Instead, he praised him with gratification. Every word had struck the mark.

"It is not that I am intelligent. The facts are obvious," An Ziran said.

If they had truly cared about this marriage, they should have come looking long ago.

Steward Su looked worried. "Eldest Young Master, then... should we still seek them out and have them honor the marriage pact?"

The corners of An Ziran's lips lifted slightly as he said with unwavering eyes, "Of course we should seek them out. Even if they truly have forgotten, with half the jade pendant in our hands, they will not be able to deny it."

Whether it succeeded or not, he had already decided to use them as a stepping stone to protect the An Family.