Chapter 7 Married Preparation

The people of Guan clan originally thought that the marriage between Guan Suyi and Marquis Zhenbei was ruined, but the emperor directly ordered the marriage decree, this was a great glory. For a while, there were people who were ecstatic, people who were worried and people who were jealous. But everyone didn’t dare to show their true inner thoughts, put on a happy appearance, and ran to congratulate Old Master Guan.

Due to the urgent pressing of Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, the wedding date was set in the middle of next month, making Zhong shi very anxious that in one night her mouth was full of blisters. The Guan family was originally a farming and scholar family, they had quite a lot of land in their hometown in Yuanping. But Old Master Guan insisted on going to Yanjing, so Zhong shi had to sell the land to raise money for the journey. They had already spent most of it along the way and there was not much left. If their daughter was married to an ordinary family, there was still time to prepare, but Marquis Zhenbei Mansion was noble and powerful, the things in her hand wouldn’t be considered enough.

For this reason, Old Master Guan and Father Guan emptied their private treasury and handed them over to Zhong shi, and even her maiden clan who was far away in Yuanping sent people with a lot of things. Even so, wanting to let her daughter marry gracefully, but there was still a big gap. Especially after passing through the door, there was a custom of showing off the dowry. The guests invited by Marquis Zhenbei must all have extraordinary backgrounds. Would they belittle her daughter more because of this? Would her daughter have a firm foothold with her in-laws in the future?

The more she thought about it, the more she had trouble sleeping and eating. In just a few days, her hair had become white. But Guan Suyi still had a leisure life, seemingly unconcerned. Still eating and sleeping well, her spirits were even better than before. Fortunately, the Guan clan had strict rules, and people hearts gathered together, one after another sent something to add the trousseau, which slightly eased Zhong shi’ predicament.

“Sister-in-law, our Yiyi married into the Marquis Mansion is still a high climb. Please take the time to teach her a little bit about the rules, so as not to be embarrassed herself. It’s also because of her good fate, in her previous life must have burned the best incense, so in this life she’s being admired by Marquis Zhenbei. But you must be cautious in words and deeds, be respectful and humble. If you still shoot your mouth to your elders like last time, cannot say that you won’t become a discarded wife!” The second aunt who was scolded by Guan Suyi last time said sourly.

Although the woman at this time had not been constrained by extreme chastity of later generations, and there were no lacks of powerful women, but among the common people, their status was not high. If a man disliked his wife, he could thrown her out without any reason, and he did not need to return her dowry, this was called ‘discarded wife.’ It sounds a bit miserable. Women who became ‘discarded wife’ would be ridiculed by their neighbors, but only for a while. It was not difficult to find someone else to remarry after the storm have subsided, and everyone would not always hold on to the past.

However, after Xu’s Neo-Confucianism became popular, the so-called ‘seven outs and seven not outs’? I only find the term ‘seven outs, three not go’ which is seven reason for husband to divorce his wife and three reason why men can’t divorce his wife came into being. It sounded like protecting women’s rights, and stipulating that the dowry should be returned to the woman, and the man was not allowed to use it. But it was like putting on a coat of compassion for men’s fickleness, but actually blamed all the faults on the woman, which made their situation even more difficult.

The in-laws did not like, divorced the wives; had no children, divorced the wives; prevented the husband from accepting concubines, divorced the wives; used the husband’s property without authorization, divorce the wives; talked a few more gossips, divorced the wives… Since then, women had completely become an object. Fiddle with it when one like them, and throw it away when one dislike them, but women was responsible for all kinds of guilt. What even more frightening was that after being abandoned, they would endure a lifetime of contempt and abuse. Not to mention remarrying, even taking their own life would not freed them. As for their dowry, only a few people could get it back, and the rest were mostly taken over by their husbands on the ground of raising children.

Speaking of ‘discarded wife’, Guan Suyi’s hand that was copying the dowry list stopped, and a pair of dark and deep eyes fixedly looked at the second aunt. Zhong shi was also extremely angry, and scolded, “Sister-in-law, Yiyi hasn’t married yet, you just talks easily about discarded… You are too much!” She came from a scholarly family and was not good at swearing.

The second aunt was being pulled secretly a few times by other sisters, but she became more annoyed, “Did I say something wrong? Look at your house made of broken logs, and then look at the magnificent Marquis Zhenbei Mansion. This girl Yiyi has never seen the world, don’t be shocked as soon as you cross the doorstep, at that time you certainly will lose face!”

Inexplicably climbed up to Marqui Zhenbei Mansion this high gate in-laws, Zhong shi was also dizzy, but also worried that for a while her daughter would be fascinated by the glory and wealth of the Marquis Mansion, and behave improperly. Especially that Lord Marquis seemed to be an aloof figure, if her daughter didn’t serve well and incurred disgust, how could she be able to stand up for her daughter?

The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became, her face changed involuntarily. The second aunt snorted coldly when she saw it, thought it really looked like a small character and her jealousy disappeared by half. The other sister-in-laws frequently winked at her and told her not to offend others too much. No matter how humble Guan Suyi’s background, her appearance was there. As long as Lord Zhao was a normal man, how could he not love it. When she was favored in the future, wouldn’t it be an easy matter to support the clansmen?

The second aunt also slowly remembered. While coughing, she wanted to find a step down, but she saw Guan Suyi who looked stunned before suddenly smiled and copied the dowry list again, but her handwriting became more unconstrained than before.

“Aunt said that my Guan house’s gate is humble, but I’m not convinced. If there is no marriage decree from the emperor, in a few days, let alone Marquis Mansion, I will be able to marry even imperial family.” She rolled up her wide sleeves, lightly dipped the ink in the inkstone, and continued, “Who climbed who, it’s hard to say.”

In this life, her grandfather was in good health and her father was full of spirits. The two went out early and returned late in the evening, and their reputations had been rising steadily. And Xu Guangzhi, who should have become famous, has yet to find a chance to rise above others. In the previous life, Emperor Sheng Yuan would focus on supporting the representatives of Confucian school, and he would naturally do so in this life, but after counting, Guan Suyi could not find a better candidate than her grandfather and father.

Wasn’t this sudden marriage decree the best proof?

Unlike her daughter’s determination, Zhong shi didn’t have much thought about the future of Guan family, it was enough to just eat and wear warmth clothes. Catching sarcastic expression on her sister-in-laws, she was about to take back her daughter’s ostentatious remarks, but suddenly there was an anxious voice of the maidservants from outside, “Madam, Miss, hurry up and dress up, someone from the palace send a decree!”

After a period of turmoil and chaos, the people of Guan family successfully accepted the imperial decree. Old Master Guan was awarded the title of Emperor Teacher, and his position was comparable to the prime minister. Guan father was promoted as Chief Minister of Ceremonies, responsible for ancestral temple ceremony, and the head of the Nine Ministers. The father and son reached the highest official position overnight, and they also raised the Guan family’s status a lot. Now if anyone said that Guan family climbing up to Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, that would be a joke. Marquis Zhenbei had no real power except for one nobility title, while the Guan family’s father and son, one was to teach His Majesty and the other one was to teach the imperial clan disciples, could be said to be the emperor’s close ministers, one casual sentence had more weight than ordinary officials.

The complexions of all the sister-in-laws who hide in the side room were blue and white, especially the second aunt, shaking all over, and the last bit of jealousy in their hearts disappeared completely. That’s how people are. When you met someone stronger than yourself, you couldn’t help being jealous. When you met someone stronger than yourself and hard to reach, you wouldn’t have any thoughts.

After the palace people who sent the imperial decree left, they went out and said goodbye tremblingly. They only hated that the gift they brought was too thin, it weakened the relationship with Guan family, and they must make up for it in the future. Zhong shi was overjoyed, where she could take care of others, put her hands together and bowed to the sky, “Thank you Bodhisattva for your blessing, husband and father-in-law has won official positions, Yiyi will not be afraid of being bullied by her husband!” After all, glory and wealth was not as important as their daughter.

Although Old Master Guan and Father Guan were full of ambitions, what they most concerned about was the life-long happiness of their granddaughter (daughter), and they sighed that this imperial decree came in time.

Looking at her rejoicing family, Guan Suyi looked down and smiled sarcastically. Now that her grandfather and father were literary giants and important ministers, she couldn’t lose their face. In this life, she originally didn’t want to have another entanglement with Zhao Luli, and didn’t want to hold on tight to those people who failed her in the past. Just because a little bit of hatred from another lifetime then she made herself full of filth again, she couldn’t do this kind of thing that didn’t pay off. But since Zhao Luli insisted on pulling her down the quagmire, then don’t blame her for digging holes and burying people.

Guan Suyi, who was somewhat disheartened, suddenly looked forward to the wedding in the first month.

—

Time flies by, and the wedding date soon arrived. When Guan Suyi stepped onto the sedan chair with an insincere smile, someone in Ganquan Palace fell ill. After hearing the news, Huo Shengzhe rushed to her, picked up the bowl with his own hands, and feed medicine to the person with a weak body.

“So many years have passed, are you still thinking about him?” This sentence was full of sighs and helplessness.

Ye Zhen smiled miserably, and finally opened a dressing box, took out a carved-wood magnolia hairpin and gave it to the grand palace maid, and said, “Give it back to Lord Zhou. Tell him, To go also must go,so how do you go? If the mountain flowers are full of heads, don’t ask the slave to return to the placePoem Bu Shouzhi: Not Love The Wind and Dust by Yan Rui from Southern Song Dynasty. It means unable to own their own destiny and express the poet’s infinite desire for happiness and freedom. T/N If there’s anything I fear the most, it’s translating poetry, so I’m so sorry for butchering this one up.” When the words fell she was in tears.

Huo Shengzhe put down the bowl and said coldly, “How do you go? What, do you treat this Ganquan Palace as a cage?”

Ye Zhen smiled bitterly without answering, with a sad expression.

Huo Shengzhe decided to watch her for a long time before sighing, “Since he has remarried, you should let go. In the future, I will take good care of you.” Then he patted the woman’s thin shoulder.

It took Ye Zhen a lot of effort to press down the corners of her mouth that was about to rise. This sentence was similar to a promise that she had waited for six years! If she had known earlier that with Zhao Luli remarried she could get the emperor’s closeness, why should she hold onto Marquis Zhenbei Mansion? But Zhao Luli always listened to her words and obeyed her, in the end still have some usefulness, so she couldn’t let go of this hand yet.

Guan Suyi, even if you are exceptionally beautiful, you can’t stand the guilt that the emperor feels towards Zhao Luli and me. The glory in the palace has no relationship with you, I hope you are satisfied with the marriage that I carefully selected for you. Thinking of this, Ye Zhen hurriedly covered her mouth and coughed, lest the viciousness and pride in her eyes would be noticed by the emperor.

At the same time, Lord Zhao, who wore a grand red robe, was full of pain. He held the magnolia flower hairpin, not dare using too much force, for fear of breaking it, but also not dare to let go, for fear of losing it, his mind kept pulling. The grand palace maid who gave the hairpin secretly stuffed a note into his palm, and then return back to report.

Ye Jieyu, who deserved to be the favorite in the Sixth House, dared to openly deliver news to her ex-husband in front of Huo Shengzhe, without arousing any suspicion. No wonder she was able to climb from remarried woman to her current high position.

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