Chapter 7: Chapter 5: The Marriage is Settled
"In the 15th year of Qing’an, the Red Dragon rolled over in Qingfeng Prefecture, and countless people in Qingmu County sold their sons and daughters."
"Six years ago, the Li Family gave me something to eat, which kept me alive. I have never forgotten their kindness."
Upon hearing this, Wei Tu’s expression filled with surprise, and he bowed his head even lower than before. He chose his words carefully before speaking.
What he said was true.
During the famine, the Li Mansion had given him food. That was a debt of kindness.
They had saved his life!
Compared to life itself, becoming a Servant was a small price to pay.
Etiquette is known only when the granaries are full.
Honor and shame are known only when one is well-fed and clothed.
For country folk, selling oneself into the service of a wealthy family was no great shame.
Mrs. Li Tong nodded at his words, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
While Wei Tu hadn’t made any sweeping declarations of loyalty to the Li Family, she could clearly hear the gratitude in his words.
And that was enough.
"Xinghua joined the Li Family two years before you and is three years your senior. I’ve watched her grow up..."
Just as Chunlan had said she would, Mrs. Li Tong began to discuss Wei Tu and Xinghua’s marriage.
"There’s a saying: a wife one year older, you’ll hold a golden hen; two years older, you’ll win a pot of gold; and three years older, you’ll carry bricks of gold."
"Xinghua’s parents passed away long ago, so I’m as close to her family as she has. I hereby approve your marriage to her..."
Mrs. Li Tong said, her voice unhurried.
The moment she finished speaking, the servant girls standing behind her beamed and held out their hands to Wei Tu, asking for wedding money.
"Caixia, go to my chambers and get the red silk from the bottom of my dowry chest. Take it to Xinghua’s room as a wedding gift from the mistress of this house."
"And prepare a room to serve as Wei Tu and Xinghua’s bridal chamber."
"Yes, Mistress," Chunlan said with a slight curtsy before leaving the hall.
...
「The next day.」
In a main room in the outer courtyard of the Li Mansion.
Slightly tipsy from the celebration, Wei Tu stood under the eaves of the corridor. He rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head.
He glanced at the red silk flower nailed to the doorframe, then straightened up and pushed hard against the unlatched wooden door.
With a CREAK,
Wei Tu stepped inside. His eyes immediately fell on his bride, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Peeking through her red wedding veil, Wei Tu thought Xinghua looked even more exquisite than usual. She was no longer plain, but truly lovely.
Wei Tu then looked around the rest of the room. This bridal chamber, which he remembered as being quite run-down, was now much neater and cleaner.
A latticed window.
New paper on the panes.
A wooden plank serving as a table, propped up by two long benches, held a small bronze mirror and a woman’s sewing box.
In a corner of the room were two solid wood chests.
The lacquer on them was chipped and peeling.
’Those chests probably hold our bedding and clothes,’ Wei Tu guessed.
"Brother Wei..." Seeing Wei Tu standing there stunned, Xinghua couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride. She had been the one to clean and redecorate the room.
She called out to Wei Tu, but when he didn’t respond, she grew too bashful to speak again.
’Wei Tu usually teases me all the time. Why is he being so formal now that we’re actually married?’ she grumbled to herself.
...
The night passed without a word.
As dawn’s first light filtered through the window paper, Wei Tu lay in bed, holding Xinghua in his arms.
As newlyweds, they should have been excused from their duties at the Li Mansion for the day and allowed to sleep in late.
But both Wei Tu and Xinghua were so used to waking up early that they couldn’t fall back asleep, even when they tried to indulge themselves.
"Brother Wei," Xinghua murmured, "in a few days, let’s ask the Mistress for some time off to visit your home. We have to let our father know we’re married..."
Since they had sold themselves into service to the Li Family, they didn’t need to worry about the usual formalities like a matchmaker’s proposal or their parents’ consent. The Master and Mistress of the Li Family had the authority to arrange the marriage, and no one could object.
Still, they had to inform Wei Bao of the happy news.
"Mm," Wei Tu nodded.
His old home was some distance from the Qingmu County Town, a walk of one or two days. This was why he hadn’t notified Wei Bao in advance.
Besides the distance, there was another reason he hadn’t told Wei Bao about the marriage.
The wedding was being held at the Li Mansion, and it would have been inappropriate for an outsider like Wei Bao to attend.
Nor could the Li Mansion spare a room to accommodate him.
"Besides visiting Father, there’s also..."
As she spoke, Xinghua got out of bed, picked up the sewing box from the table, and began to patiently mend one of Wei Tu’s old, torn jackets.
As she worked, she continued her conversation with Wei Tu, discussing the myriad tasks of their new married life.
Asking for leave.
Visiting family and friends.
Renting land to grow crops.
And a host of other things.
The Li Family had lent them this room out of pity for two of their Servants. Although no return date was set, they knew it wouldn’t be right to overstay their welcome.
It would be better to save money and buy a house of their own near the Li Mansion.
It was bad enough that they were both Servants. They couldn’t let their children suffer the same fate, forced to bow and scrape before others their whole lives.
And all of that required money.
For now,
the only way to earn money was for Wei Tu to work even harder, renting land from the Li Mansion and becoming a tenant farmer on top of his duties as a Horse Groom.
This way, they could save some silver coins each year.
"Whatever you say."
Wei Tu nodded, agreeing to the plans his new wife, Xinghua, had laid out for their small family.
"That way, in five or six years, it shouldn’t be too hard to get a house of our own..."
"And when we have a son, we’ll send him to a private school. If he does well, we’ll support him in taking the civil service exams. If he’s just average, he can become an accountant..."
Xinghua smiled.
With generous masters and a steady, capable husband, she felt she had everything she could ever want in life.
"Studying at a private school..."
Hearing those words, Wei Tu fell silent. He took the dry-tobacco pipe from his waist, lit it, and took several harsh pulls.
Studying.
Changing one’s destiny!
This was a conviction carved into his very bones.
With his Health Cultivation Technique and his [Late Bloomer] Destiny Chart, Wei Tu couldn’t be sure he would ever set foot on the Immortal Path, achieve true immortality, and live a carefree, eternal life. But he was confident that he, in his lifetime, would absolutely rise above his station.
’I have to keep practicing the Health Cultivation Technique.’
No longer content to waste time in bed, Wei Tu quickly dressed, then raised his hands and began to practice the Pile Skill of the Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique.
Over and over again.
Now that he was married,
it seemed he had even more to strive for.
Seeing this, Xinghua, who was sitting nearby, was surprised but didn’t ask any questions.
Qingfeng Prefecture had a strong martial tradition. Driven by poverty, many peasant men lived double lives: bandits on horseback and commoners on foot, supporting themselves as Blademen.
It wasn’t some strange or unheard-of thing for her husband to know a few martial stances.
Xinghua lowered her gaze and returned to her needlework. But after a moment of thought, she began altering Wei Tu’s clothes to make them a little looser.
