Speaking without Saying

By the time Jia Heng and Qin Ye had finished talking, it was already noon. Qin Ye summoned a servant and instructed the kitchen to prepare food and wine, inviting him to stay for lunch.

During the meal, Qin Ye sighed. "My dear son-in-law, Keqing is my only daughter. Ever since she was little, she has had a mind of her own and a forthright nature. Once she marries into your household, I hope you will not hold what happened just now against her."

Jia Heng nodded. "Father-in-law, marriage concerns a lifetime's happiness. It is only natural for Miss Qin to have her doubts."

He had not felt there was anything improper about what had happened. Whether Qin Keqing doubted him or spoke of "accepting her fate," it had all been within his expectations.

Before coming, he had known there would be second thoughts, either from Qin Ye or from Qin Keqing.

He had said only seven-tenths of what he could have said, and that had been just the right measure. Qin Keqing judged him by his past; he could hardly thump his chest and guarantee how his future would unfold.

It was much like someone questioning whether he had money. He could hardly turn out all four pockets to prove that he did.

Cut open his belly to prove how many bowls of bean jelly he had eaten? That was Liuzi's youthful way of doing things. Zhang Mazi would never have done it.

His earlier answers had already shown, to a certain extent, what sort of person he was.

Anyone with the heart and discernment to see it would judge for themselves; without saying it, he had said it all.

What he would do in the future was carve a path through thorns. Without insight and courage, how could he weather every wave of calamity and remain standing?

Besides, it was not necessarily a good thing for Qin Keqing to begin with overly high expectations about so many matters.

Would it not be far better for her to discover things herself afterward than for him to lay them all out before her?

People always believed in what they saw and discovered for themselves, and believed in it without a shadow of doubt.

Most importantly... did he not have doubts about Qin Keqing himself?

A sky of passion, a sea of passion, an illusory passion made flesh; when passions meet, lust must follow... That was hardly an auspicious verdict on her fate. And judging by their earlier exchange, this woman from Dream of the Red Chamber, endowed with the Beauty of Both Baochai and Daiyu and hailed as a peerless enchantress, was still somewhat contradictory. She possessed both the fierce resolve to hang herself from a beam and the frailty to submit meekly to adversity.

That made her a living, breathing person... which was quite good.

Of course, had she ultimately refused him, he would not have stormed off in a fit of wounded pride. He had another contingency plan. Although that plan would still have ended with the beauty in his arms...

Better not to entertain hypotheticals. In his previous life, a certain celebrated diplomatic team had always refused to answer hypothetical questions.

In the end, the outcome had not departed from his expectations.

Jia Heng and Qin Ye drank together. Whether because their relationship as father-in-law and son-in-law was now settled, or because conversation had gradually revealed the young man's uncommon eloquence, Qin Ye also asked whether there had been any developments on the Jia Family's side. Jia Heng answered everything frankly.

When Qin Ye learned that the old madam had not only refrained from punishing him but had even bestowed a maid to smooth over the dispute, he praised her good sense. He did not dwell on it, but his last few misgivings gradually subsided.

"My dear son-in-law," Qin Ye asked, "you must still study and enter official service. Have you chosen a tutor?"

Though Qin Ye was a bureau director in the Ministry of Works-a fifth-rank official, no lowly position-his duties lay in the Imperial Provisioning Office, placing him among the less prestigious ranks. He did not know any proper scholars who had risen through the imperial examinations. Otherwise, his own son Qin Zhong would not later have attended the Jia Family's clan school to study under Dai Ru.

Jia Heng said, "I had been troubled by the lack of a good teacher and worthy friends... But the day before yesterday, I was fortunate enough to receive a friend's letter of recommendation for a position as keeper of books at the Literary Gathering Pavilion of the Imperial College. In my spare time between tending the books, I can also sit in on the lecturers' classes. My original plan was to go and have a look this afternoon after visiting you, Father-in-law. If all goes smoothly, I will work and study there."

Qin Ye was rather surprised. "The Literary Gathering Pavilion at the Imperial College? I have long heard that it houses a great many books. As keeper of books, you would also have frequent contact with lecturers and professors. That is a fine position."

At this point, Qin Ye reconsidered the young man's earlier words: nothing more than studying and practicing martial arts. Taken together with this news, every word truly had something behind it; none had been empty talk.

His earlier claim of writing for a living, and the striking handwriting on the marriage proposal letter Qin Ye had examined-he had thought them either idle boasts or the work of a hired hand. Now it seemed... had all of it come from the young man himself?

"It merely makes studying, attending lectures, and coming and going a little more convenient. If I wish to enter official service through the examinations, I will still have to put in a great deal of hard study," Jia Heng said quietly, without the slightest trace of self-congratulation.

But as he watched Qin Ye's careworn face gradually reveal delighted surprise, he thought, This is how the order in which things are said changes people's expectations.

Had he spread his feathers like a peacock and laid everything bare when Qin Keqing voiced her doubts, he might not have achieved this effect.

This was nourishing things in silence: revealing seven parts and keeping three in reserve.

Once he entered the civil bureaucracy, these would all be essential survival skills.

"Take in all who should be taken in," "unless necessary, do not," "malicious"...

He might sometimes choose not to use such things, but he could not afford not to understand or know them.

Qin Ye considered for a moment, then cleared his throat, his old face growing a little warm. "When I examined the writing on the marriage proposal letter, I found its Hall Pavilion Script elegant and upright, full and harmonious, with a sound command of composition. May I ask which gentleman wrote it?"

In this era, anyone hoping to pursue an official career through the imperial examinations was effectively sentenced to death if his handwriting was poor. Bearing, speech, calligraphy, and judgment were all assessed when the Ministry of Personnel appointed officials.

For the marriage proposal letter, Jia Heng had switched to Hall Pavilion Script, using rounded strokes with the brush tip centered, graceful and delicately beautiful.

Jia Heng set down his wine cup. "I am unworthy of your generous praise, Father-in-law. I wrote it myself. It had been so long since I last wrote that my hand had grown rusty. I fear I have made a fool of myself before an expert."

Hall Pavilion Script was indispensable for official documents. Out of curiosity in his previous life, he had practiced copying the calligraphy models of The Two Shens.

At this, Qin Ye stroked his beard, and a genuine smile finally appeared on his face. "Remarkable, truly remarkable."

There was no need to ask anything else. Not a single word the young man had spoken so far had proved incomplete or false. He was honest and trustworthy, and, more unusually still, lacked the impetuousness of youth.

As for scholarly honors, wealth, and rank, so long as he was willing to study and strive, they could wait and see what the future brought.

Still, matters had reached this point; there could be no further wavering. As his daughter had said, good or bad, it was all fate.

After all was said and done, he was the one who had promised her to this family in the first place.

The two continued their meal, then talked over tea until two in the afternoon. Jia Heng glanced at the sky, rose, and bowed. "Father-in-law, it is getting late. I still need to visit the Imperial College. I will call on you again the day after tomorrow."

Qin Ye nodded with a smile. "Go on, my dear son-in-law. Afu, see him out for me."

Despite saying this, Qin Ye still escorted him as far as the eaves of the covered walkway.

Jia Heng cupped his hands toward Qin Ye in farewell, then followed the servant out of the Qin Mansion. He boarded the donkey cart driven by Li Dazhu and departed through the mouth of the lane.

Once Jia Heng had left, Qin Ye returned to the hall and asked Nanny Wu, "Where is Keqing?"

"Miss is sitting in the rear hall. She had a little food just now," Nanny Wu said with a smile.

After a moment's thought, Qin Ye lifted the curtain and entered the rear hall. There he found his daughter sitting beside a small table, holding an orange cat, looking utterly bored.

"Father..." Qin Keqing raised her delicately lovely face, a trace of conflicting emotions in her beautiful eyes. "Has he... gone?"

Qin Ye placed the marriage proposal letter on the small table beside Qin Keqing and smiled. "You must have heard what he said just now. To my eyes, he hardly seems an immature boy with no desire to better himself. Do not listen to marketplace gossip. Besides, you were the one who said earlier that we should honor our promise, and then just now you... Going back and forth like this will only leave a thorn in his heart."

As he spoke, he glanced at the two maids, Baozhu and Ruizhu, and rebuked them. "What nonsense do you whisper in your mistress's ear all day? You hear the wind and call it rain! You gather scraps of information, then come and egg her on! A few more rounds of this, and you will have buried her good name entirely with your own hands!"

Baozhu and Ruizhu lowered their heads, too abashed to answer.

Qin Keqing lowered her softly alluring eyes, her snowy cheeks tinged with embarrassment. "I said before that, whether he is good or bad, I will accept my fate."

As she spoke, she opened the marriage proposal letter and studied the handwriting. Did he really write this himself?

A brutish fighter who delighted in violence could never have handwriting like this...

Enough, enough. True or false, good or bad, so long as he treats me well... that is enough. If I keep wavering and swaying from side to side, I truly will have no face left. Qin Keqing's gaze grew unfocused, and she sighed quietly in her heart.