Was there some difficulty with this?

Taoran Residence

The teahouse stood in a bustling district of the Great Han Divine Capital. At that moment, several people sat facing one another on its second floor, conversing.

"May this humble official ask what important business prompted your lordship to summon me?" Qin Ye was an elderly man past fifty, his hair graying. He looked humbly at Jia Zhen across from him, referring to himself as a subordinate from the very first word.

Jia Zhen had inherited the Duke of Ningguo's title. Though it had been reduced over successive generations, he still held the third-class title of General of Awe-inspiring Valor, ranking far above Qin Ye, a fifth-rank director in the Ministry of Works' Imperial Provisioning Office. Moreover, he held the special position of patriarch of the Jia family. Naturally, Qin Ye dared not act presumptuously before him.

Jia Zhen was in his early forties, dressed in a pale-green official robe and a black, gauzeless hat. His face was fair and clean, with a mustache beneath his nose. He toyed with a folding fan, a smile on his face, and said cheerfully, "You are too courteous, Elder Qin. Your family and the Jia Family have been friends for generations. There is indeed something I wish to discuss with you. My son, Jia Rong, has reached marriageable age. I hear that Doctor Qin has a daughter of excellent character and beauty, who would bring harmony to both household and home. Thus, I have the audacity to ask for her hand on my son's behalf."

As Jia Zhen spoke, the image of that beauty seemed to appear in the clouded eyes set within his sunken sockets: lovely as a shower of blossoms, delicate and brimming with feeling.

It had been shortly before the Mid-Autumn Festival when he visited the Great Peace Temple and encountered her. Only after making repeated inquiries had he learned that she and her brother, the Qin siblings, had come to offer incense and fulfill a vow. Their father was a director in the Ministry of Works' Imperial Provisioning Office, holding the full fifth rank.

"This humble official..." Hesitation appeared on Qin Ye's face. "To be frank, Lord Jia, my daughter is already betrothed. How could one girl be promised to two families?"

Jia Zhen frowned, his expression shifting slightly. He asked urgently, "Already betrothed? To which family's young gentleman?"

Qin Ye pondered for a moment. He wanted to conceal the truth, but under Jia Zhen's scrutinizing gaze, he said, "As it happens, he is a member of the Jia family."

"Oh?" Jia Zhen's expression briefly froze, then his eyes lit up. "A young gentleman from which branch? Why have I heard nothing of this?"

As patriarch of the Jia family, Jia Zhen knew of no marriageable young man in either Prefecture about to wed. Baoyu was still young, and Jia Lian had only married the previous year. If it was merely an ordinary clansman who had arranged a betrothal...

Jia Zhen's eyes flickered, and he relaxed inwardly. If one of the Jia Family clansmen living in the capital had arranged the match, then, as patriarch, he need only spend a little silver and apply threats and inducements. Surely the man would not dare defy his wishes.

Qin Ye paused, then said hesitantly, "It is Jia Si's family in Willow Lane behind the main street. The boy is called Brother Heng. The childhood betrothal was arranged shortly after his birth, and marriage contracts have already been exchanged."

By the time he finished speaking, Qin Ye sighed inwardly. Back then, he had been only a minor clerk in the Ministry of Works. Having received kindness from Jia Si and his wife, he had arranged this childhood betrothal.

But time had passed and circumstances had changed. A match that had once been between families of equal standing was now somewhat... Yet he could never bring himself to do something so shameless as break the engagement.

Jia Zhen knitted his brows and asked Lai Sheng beside him, "Jia Si from the back street? Was he the Jia Si who fell into a pond while drunk and drowned ten years ago?"

"You have an excellent memory, Master. Jia Si leased a fishpond on the estate back then," Lai Sheng said with a smile. "Speaking of him, his family counts as a branch of our Eastern Mansion. When he met that untimely death, you even had the ducal household provide some silver. This Master Heng often idles about with Brother Rong, too."

Jia Zhen set down his wine cup and stroked his little tuft of mustache. "Since that is the case, he is hardly an outsider. Have someone give him fifty taels of silver and reserve a position for him in one of our shops outside. Then have him withdraw from this engagement."

"How compassionate of you, Master," Lai Sheng said cheerfully. "Master Heng's mother also died of illness before the New Year, and his household is hard-pressed. If you give him a position, there is no telling how delighted he will be."

Jia Zhen smiled and waved a hand. "He is a junior member of our Jia family, after all. As its patriarch, it is only right that I look after him. Would you not agree, Elder Qin?"

As he spoke, he turned a pointed gaze on Qin Ye, exerting a measured degree of pressure.

"Well..." Qin Ye considered this, remaining silent for a time.

Jia Zhen did not wish to press him too hard. Smiling, he picked up the wine cup on the table and took a sip, then asked tentatively, "In that case, as for this marriage...?"

Qin Ye was in a quandary, faltering and unsure how to answer, when a voice suddenly came from the stairs. "Master, a relative has come to the house. Nanny Wu asks you to return."

Relieved, Qin Ye looked up at Jia Zhen and cupped his hands. "Lord Jia, this humble official has matters to attend to at home. As for the marriage, might you allow me to return and think it over?"

Displeasure appeared on Jia Zhen's face, but he could hardly force Qin Ye to stay. He smiled. "Then I shall await your good news, Elder Qin. Take care on your way."

Only after Qin Ye had followed the servant downstairs and left Taoran Residence did the smile gradually fade from Jia Zhen's face. His folding fan snapped open, and he tapped it lightly against his palm, his expression shifting between light and shadow, his eyes thoughtful.

"Master, shall we send someone to Jia Si's house now?" Lai Sheng stepped forward and asked quietly.

Jia Zhen stilled his fan and smiled. "There is no hurry. Send for Brother Rong."

As head of the Ningguo senior branch and patriarch of the Jia family, he still had to pay some heed to his reputation in such matters and make the arrangements as watertight as possible. Surely Jia Heng would not dare defy him.

After leaving Taoran Residence, Qin Ye headed home and asked the servant along the way, "Which relative has come?"

The servant replied, "Master, it is Jia Heng from Liutiao Alley off Ningrong Street."

Qin Ye's expression changed. How could it be such a coincidence?

"Did he say what he wanted?" Qin Ye asked.

"He said nothing else, only that he had come to pay you a visit."

A bitter look appeared on Qin Ye's face. A visit? The boy is nearly fifteen. Most likely, he has come to ask that the marriage be completed. What am I to do?

In the Divine Capital, the Jia family boasted two dukes under one family name, their power at its height and their roots deep in the imperial court. For all Jia Zhen's polite words just now, if Qin Ye slighted him, there was no telling whether fortune or disaster would follow.

Yet if he abandoned an impoverished branch of the Jia family and married his daughter into Ningguo Mansion, once word spread that he despised the poor and favored the rich...

Bitterness welled up in Qin Ye's heart. After some thought, he decided to return and meet Jia Heng first, to see why he had come. After walking for half an hour, he arrived home.

In the reception hall, Jia Heng was chatting casually with Nanny Wu. He had already drunk two cups of tea, yet Qin Ye still had not returned. Though puzzled, he showed nothing on his face.

He had just met Qin Keqing. She truly was radiant and captivating, her beauty bestowed by nature. A beautiful woman who brought calamity-this must have been the sort of woman that saying described.

"The master has returned," a servant called from beneath the veranda just then.

Jia Heng turned toward the voice and saw a gray-haired elderly man in an everyday long robe enter the reception hall with measured, steady steps. He promptly rose and cupped his hands in greeting. "Jia Heng pays his respects to Uncle."

"Ah, my worthy nephew." Qin Ye looked Jia Heng over. This was, in fact, their first meeting. Seeing him dressed in a scholar's blue robe, with a strikingly spirited brow, he silently acknowledged his merits.

He had expected a boy from a poor collateral branch of the Jia family to look abashed and self-deprecating. Instead, he was a remarkably fine-looking young man. This made the matter even harder to resolve.

The two sat down, and a maid brought a fresh pot of tea. Qin Ye exchanged a few pleasantries with the young man opposite him. As they conversed, he found Jia Heng's answers fluent and his manner composed.

Jia Heng took out the marriage contract. "To be frank, Uncle, while my mother was alive, her sole wish was to see me establish a household and make my way in the world. Now that I have reached the proper age, I have come specifically to call on you and ask that the marriage be completed."

Qin Ye considered for a moment and decided it would be best not to reveal Ningguo Mansion's proposal. If the Jia family had some means of making Jia Heng withdraw from the engagement, perhaps he could also...

Compared with a legitimate young master of Ningguo Mansion, a member of a collateral branch was undoubtedly inferior in many respects.

This, too, was only human nature.

Qin Ye said, "My worthy nephew, the betrothal arranged all those years ago should naturally be honored. However, my daughter often says that she wishes to remain at home and keep this old man company for another two years. Why not put the marriage contract away safely for now and wait another two years?"

Jia Heng smiled. "Uncle Qin, was there some difficulty with this?"

When he had entered just now, he had noticed a trace of worry lurking between Uncle Qin's brows. In particular, that worry had deepened considerably upon seeing him.

In his previous life, while conducting inspections along the Southwestern Frontier, he had dealt with all manner of people entering the country and had long since learned a method of reading faces and expressions.