Chapter 86: The Decision Made

It was not an exaggeration at all. Zhuang Jin was handsome, gifted with great potential, and of a fine temperament. He was exactly the sort of man every maid in the inner court would be tempted by, the sort someone would regret missing for the rest of their life. How much more so for the maids of the outer court?

With such desirability, it truly had come to the point where connections mattered. That said, Yue Song would only, at most, include a name on the list after confirming that the woman was genuinely good, weighing everything as a whole. He would not, and could not, single anyone out.

“Head Yue, of course the best thing is that both sides are willing. I would also like to meet her in person and ask a few questions, if you would permit it?”

“Of course. Go ahead, Brother Zhuang.”

Yue Song handed him a list. “These are all the first-rank maids from the outer court who came to register and said they were willing. Brother Zhuang, you may use this as reference... As long as you settle on someone before the hour before sunset today, just come and record the choice.”

“Many thanks, Head Yue.”

...

Chen Yun, Yu Xiaoxiao, Song Lan...

Zhuang Jin had arranged through connections to investigate certain candidates in advance, selecting those whose own circumstances and family backgrounds were free of major flaws. Naturally, compared with the unfamiliar first-rank maids on the list, he gave priority to these familiar, self-investigated, and unblemished girls.

He looked over the list Yue Song had given him. Among the first-rank maids of the outer court, Chen Yun’s name was not there, but in his own background checks, she had emerged as the most suitable of all. He intended to make one final attempt; if it did not work, so be it.

At present, it was May in the mortal world. In the Shen family’s outer court, the flowerbeds were in full bloom, a riot of color, bees and butterflies at play, the trees lush and verdant.

Zhuang Jin found Chen Yun and asked her out to a quiet place with few people, so as not to waste either of their time, and spoke plainly.

“I have now broken through the Four Meridians. The master has granted me permission to wed, choosing a maid from the outer court. Miss Yun, might you be willing? As for my family...”

He concealed nothing, telling her frankly about his family circumstances, and then added, “I know I am not the kind of gentle, modest, and dutiful gentleman that people admire, nor am I the traditional kind of good person who draws his sword for justice at the sight of wrongdoing. But I am certainly not a heartless or faithless man. If the other party has sincerity and affection, I will never betray it.”

Though Chen Yun was, by comparison, someone he knew better than the other maids of the outer court, she was still far less familiar to him than the freely chosen lovers of his previous life. In such a case, any promise would seem false. Yet Zhuang Jin was willing to spend the patience needed to understand her, to nurture feelings, and to exchange sincerity for sincerity.

Chen Yun heard the truth in his words. At that moment, she was face to face with a marriage proposal, and the blush rising to her cheeks, the joy of being valued by Zhuang Jin, and the flustered uncertainty of not knowing how to respond all made her look as though she had drunk wine. She only felt that the fragrance of the blossoms amid the fluttering butterflies that day was especially intoxicating.

Zhuang Jin waited a moment, but no answer came.

“I understand. Forgive me for troubling you. Miss Yun, pretend I never came today. We may continue as we always have. The kindness you showed me when Hou Yong came seeking trouble, and you spoke up for me, I have always remembered. If you ever meet trouble in the future, come find me. If it is within my ability, I will help.”

With that, he turned and strode away without the slightest hesitation.

Though Chen Yun had seemed the most suitable in his investigation, this kind of matter depended on mutual willingness and a meeting of hearts. Zhuang Jin could walk ninety-nine steps forward, but the other side had to take one step as well.

Watching Zhuang Jin leave, thinking she had refused him, Chen Yun was left blank with confusion. A helpless panic rose in her; she instinctively wanted to call him back, but lacked the courage. Then she thought of something her younger brother had said some days ago, and a flash of resolve appeared in her eyes.

“Wait—I, I am willing.”

Truth be told, the instant those words left her mouth, she lowered her head in shame. In her heart surged impulsive regret, uncertain unease, and also a strange sense of release and relief. But soon she pressed all those tangled emotions down.

Chen Yun knew that what she felt for Zhuang Jin was gratitude and admiration, not yet liking or love. And yet she was willing to understand him, to invest her heart, and to gamble that he might be the right man for her.

In this age, especially for a woman, it was a gamble that could not be lost. The wager was a lifetime. But just as Zhuang Jin had said, sincerity for sincerity—she was willing to believe.

Chen Yun thought this through, and then spoke of her own family.

Zhuang Jin stopped and looked back, his heart lifting. To have won the assent of Chen Yun, the most suitable choice from the investigation, was naturally ideal. He turned back and listened quietly.

After Chen Yun finished, he made no concealment of his own background checks.

If such an investigation had occurred in his previous life, he would probably have been denounced immediately as a creep. But Chen Yun did not think there was anything wrong with it; she even found it rather understandable and pitiful, thinking that Zhuang Jin had been driven to such lengths because of his cousin, Ni Ying.

After this unusual sort of blind courtship, the two went to register.

“Haha, so Brother Zhuang chose Miss Yun! What excellent taste. Among all the first-rank maids of the outer court, she is one of the very best. If she had not been unwilling, she would already have entered the inner court... If Miss Yun had come to register, I might have recommended her myself. I thought the two of you were well matched.”

Yue Song said all the right things, then added, “Brother Zhuang, as you know, things are unusual right now... everything must be done quickly and simply.”

“If it is settled today, the wedding can be held tomorrow. Conveniently, tomorrow is also an auspicious day. At the start of last month, Du Shiyuan, the first of the martial candidates recruited from outside to break through the Four Meridians, held his wedding over at the Shen family’s outer court. Even the eldest young master came in person...”

“After tomorrow’s wedding, in the past there would have been a month’s marriage leave. Now... the same old story, circumstances are special, so there are only three days off. Brother Zhuang is to report for duty on the fifth...”

Yue Song laid out all the details.

Zhuang Jin had no relatives on his side, so he stayed to watch over things and confirm every arrangement.

As for his paternal family, Zhuang Yutang and Zhuang Yuyong were the true legitimate branch. From the way they called Zhuang Jin a bastard and a little beast, one could tell that the Zhuang clan elders had once stood on their side as well, so there was no need to speak further of that. On his mother’s side, because of his father’s lowly origins, the woman he married was only an orphan girl; her parents had long since passed away, and the few distant collateral relatives, having watched coldly when all that happened, came seeking him only after learning this month that he had made something of himself. He drove them all away and treated them as though they had never existed.

Meanwhile, Chen Yun returned to prepare, informing her younger brother and a few relatives and friends, leaving her address as well. Zhuang Jin arranged to come by in the evening to meet his future brother-in-law and see if anything had been missed.

...

Chen Yun walked home with a stack of wedding invitations in her hands, her steps light.

She had walked this little path countless times before, yet today, passing again over the blue-gray stone slabs, past the white walls and black-tiled houses by the roadside, past the great willow tree on the embankment, everything seemed strangely fresh.

Her thoughts drifted, and she remembered: when she was a frail little girl in her youth, she had once walked this same road. Now, walking it again, she was about to become a bride. She wondered what this place would look like twenty years from now, and what she herself would have become.

At the very least, in this moment, I have no regrets.

Her brows and eyes gentle, she thought this.

After circling the treetops a few times, several magpies took flight into the sky and gathered into a bridge of birds. Beneath a stone bridge draped in moss, the river flowed on, glittering with light as it went into the distance.

...

In the evening, at the month-end gathering of Zhuang Jin’s little five-person circle, he hurried over, showed his face, and mentioned the wedding.

Lin Hong, Qian Wende, Bi Kai, and Wu Hao naturally all congratulated him, saying they would help tomorrow.

Afterward, because he had arranged to go to Chen Yun’s home, Zhuang Jin took his leave first.

The remaining four did not disperse. The center of their conversation was still Zhuang Jin. Qian Wende, like an eager lackey, began recounting how, on the night of the ninth, Zhuang Jin had displayed formidable power in the raid, and how after that he had cleverly broken the Drug King Gang’s hunting hideout...

He told it vividly, like a tale from a storybook, emphasizing Zhuang Jin’s composure, his steadiness, his command of the situation, and of course not forgetting his own role as the chief general under him, plunging deep into the tiger’s den and fighting wit against wit.

This also gave Lin Hong and the others a much fuller understanding of the month’s nighttime raid. Their shock and admiration need not be described in detail.

...

After appearing at the gathering, Zhuang Jin went to find Chen Yun, confirmed that everything here was in order and that there were no problems, and only then did his stomach begin to rumble.

He had been busy all afternoon, and the little gathering before had been a quick in-and-out affair, so he had not eaten much. Naturally, he was hungry now.

Chen Yun was quite thoughtful and had prepared warm porridge and side dishes in advance. Zhuang Jin picked up his chopsticks and was about to eat when—

“Sister Shu!”

Then came an excited voice. “I’ve handed out all the invitations to our relatives and friends. A few of my friends chipped in several dozen taels of silver, and with my own savings, tomorrow’s dowry should be quite respectable. It won’t let my brother-in-law look down on us.”

Hearing that voice, Chen Yun seemed a little flustered.

Chen Honggan came through the door, saw Zhuang Jin, and then let his gaze fall on the table. He immediately smiled. “Sister Shu, this afternoon when I asked for more porridge, you said it had all been eaten. So you were hiding some to entertain my brother-in-law!”

That teasing remark made Chen Yun rather embarrassed, but it also brought the two closer, making things feel intimate.

Zhuang Jin chatted with him, and little by little he came to approve of this prospective younger brother-in-law.

Just as his background investigation had indicated, Chen Honggan was generous, chivalrous, open, and straightforward, with a certain charismatic quality. Truthfully, compared with Zhuang Jin’s own distant, indifferent, and self-interested nature, he was the kind of person people liked far more.

...