CH 113

Chapter 113 – A Joyous Occasion

Yu Wen got upset and pointed at Chen Qi’s distant figure and said to Yu Tang. “Look at that, I wonder why the Pei family sent him to report the news? Firstly he didn’t say who won the nautical chart, second, he didn’t…… “After saying this, his expression turned stiff.

That’s right, why didn’t he ask about the auction either?

Yutang lowered her head and snickered, after feeling that she had regained control of her emotions, she raised her head and said “Father, at this time, the auction should have just ended, those prominent families are probably still here. What exactly happened during the auction? Which family won it? How did they manage to earn so much silver? The moment I met Mr. Chen, these questions were already circling in my head. However, I gathered that the most important thing was for Third Master Pei to send off the people who came to the auction out of Lin’an City safely and securely. How would he have the time and energy to talk to us about it now? I think we should wait for a few days, and when Third Master Pei is done, we can prepare a generous gift to thank him.”

Firstly, they didn’t even attend the auction out of fear that someone might link the nautical chart with the Yu family. Pei Yan was also in agreement with this, so how could they disregard Pei Yan’s kindness and goodwill? Not only should they patiently wait for the Pei family’s arrangements, but they should also continue as before, stay at home, speak less, not pry, and wait until all those who came for the auction to leave. Only then they can have a fair and open reason to visit and show their gratitude to Pei Yan.

After hearing this, Yu Wen didn’t have the desire to argue with Chen Qi anymore.

Instead, he asked Yu Yuan: “Have you given your marriage invite to the Pei family?”

For such an important event, it was definitely necessary to send an invite to the Pei family.

Yu Yuan replied, “Yes. Ah Cam went and gave it to the gate attendant.”

The invites that the Pei family received each year were numerous. Usually such invites were given to the gate attendant, who would hand them over to the steward in charge of these matters, and thereafter, the steward would handle them at his discretion according to the various relationships between the inviters and the Pei family. Most people who send such invites were only showing their respect the Pei family by letting them know of the events happening and the Pei family would prepare some gifts to send their congratulations in return. For the inviters who had some form of relationship with the Pei family, the Pei Family will send two silver taels and seal it in a red envelope. If their relationships with the Pei family were better, the steward would report it to Pei Yan, who would decide if he should go in person to congratulate them or send a steward with a corresponding congratulatory gift.

The Yu family did not intend to disturb the Pei family, so according to the general practice of being neighbors, they only sent an invitation. As for the Pei family’s arrangements, that is the Pei family’s business.

However, Yu Wen felt that Pei Yan probably would not come.

The dates of the auction and Yu Yuan’s marriage were too close, so if he personally came to congratulate, people might find it suspicious.

PeiYan may really be busy and did not contact the Yu Family since then.

The Yu family also began to prepare for Yu Yuan’s wedding with a sense of relief.

However, the day before Yu Yuan’s wedding, although Pei Yan himself didn’t show up, but he unexpectedly sent his main head steward Pei Man over.

With an apologetic expression, Pei Man said, “The Third Master is still in mourning, so he is unable to come personally. Please excuse us, Master Yu.”

Pei Yan was indeed in mourning, but in the eyes of the people of Lin’an City, the Yu family was not significant enough to have Pei Yan came in person. Therefore, Pei Man said this euphemistically, which showed respect to the Yu family. Master Wu who came to help out was also intelligent and immediately answered, “Chief Steward Pei, what are you saying? For Third Master Pei to remember the wedding day of young master Yu is already a grand privilege, let alone for Third Master Pei to come here in person. Since Chief Steward Pei came here on behalf of the Pei family, please have a cup of auspicious wine before returning.”

Pei Man politely declined, saying “My masters are all at home observing the mourning period, so how dare I, a subordinate, be the exception. I would like to wish Young Master Yu and his wife a beautiful and harmonious marriage, and a full house filled with children and grandchildren. In a few days, I’ll come back again to congratulate Young Master Yu.”

Master Wu was the appointed person to receive all the guests today, so when Pei Man said that, he did not want to force him to stay, and sent Pei Man out with a smile.

The attendants of the Xiang family who brought the dowry looked over and nodded their heads, discussing quietly: “No wonder people say that Eldest Aunt Madam is a capable person, not mentioning that she took Young miss and raised her, but to find her such a distinguished family, this is not something that ordinary people can do.”

The Eldest Aunt Madam they spoke of was Mrs Wei.

“This is also Young Miss’s fortune!”

“It was said that all the scholars in Lin’an City would attend, this wedding is really quite impressive.”

“In the future, when Young Miss gives birth to a little young master, at least she won’t have to worry about her child’s studies. In the beginning, our master was adamant in marrying madam, was it not because the Shen family was a family of scholars, so in the future the young masters can follow their relatives in their studies?”

The people of the Xiang family continued to chatter amongst themselves.

Yu Tang, however, was busy with her mother, preparing for the wedding tomorrow.

Was there enough tea and wine? Did they miss out any return gifts for  Xiang family? Would the people who were going to pick up the bride able to depart today without any issues?

Although these were trivial matters, but without even a single one of them, the wedding would end up in a disaster.

As they worked busily throughout the day, it was evening before they knew it. As Fuyang was a day’s journey away, the carriage had to leave one day earlier to ensure that the bride could be welcomed into the house at the auspicious time. Yu Tang and her mother sent off the bridal carriage, before going to the kitchen and the bridal chamber, After seeing that everything was properly arranged, only then did they return home and sleep soundly.

Even so, the next morning, before dawn, she was woken up by Old Aunty Chen, “Young miss, the Old Master Wang’s matron came over to ask where the wedding hanging scrolls for the wedding ceremony were, as they are decorating the wedding hall now.”

As soon as the list for the wedding was made, the things needed for the wedding were bought all at once, and as eldest aunt was in the kitchen checking the fish and meat needed for the wedding feast, so she was the one who helped eldest aunt store them.

Yu Tang hugged her blanket and sat for a while, before yawning and replied, “It’s still too early, right? Careful that the children who came to eat at the wedding feast would ruin the wedding scrolls. I was planning to decorate the wedding hall after the wedding feast at noon.”

Old Aunty Chen quickly instructed Shuang Tao, who was equally sleepy, to serve Yu Tang in freshening up, and brought over the clothes that Yu Tang selected a few days ago and hung on the wooden racks.

Yu Tang washed her face and felt more alert. She said to Old Aunty Chen: “Go tell Old Aunty Wang that the large hanging scrolls are in the black lacquered box with plum blossoms in Eldest Aunt’s store room. I’ll go over to help when I’m done preparing.”

Old Aunty Chen obediently answered and went away.

Shuang Tao helped Yu Tang comb her hair with a double conch bun with a simple pink pearl flower headpiece, and get dressed into a light blue butterfly flower silk robe that was already ironed earlier.

The gown was a little dated, so if it wasn’t for the fact that Yutang was pretty and would look good in whatever she wore, dressing up like this would have rendered her unnoticeable in the crowds.

However as it was Lady Xiang’s wedding, and it would last for three days from when Lady Xiang entered the door and removed her head piece, and all their relatives would visit the bridal chamber to participate in the festivities, so she had no intention of attracting attention, and this dress was perfect for the occasion.

Shuangtao couldn’t help but lament, “You should listen to madam and wear that pink calamus-patterned gown. It would have been stunning on you. Or wear the latest style in Hangzhou city…”

Although they had to deal with the auction in-between, but Madam Wang and Madam Chen still managed to take Yutang to Hangzhou City. They bought many new styles of clothing and various jewellery, added new utensils, bowls and plates for their homes and so on.

The dress that Shuang Tao mentioned was the one Madam Chen bought for her to wear when Yu Yuan gets married.

Yu Tang also felt that it looked good.

The fabric, a light pink, like peach blossoms in March, perfectly matched her complexion, but it didn’t quite match her character – she looked somewhat serious when she didn’t smile, and lost the romantic innocence of a young girl, whereas a stronger coral tone would suit her better.

However, she didn’t plan to tell Shuang Tao about this. She interrupted Shuang Tao’s chatter and laughed, “Why are you so talkative today? Clearly, yesterday’s work wasn’t enough to tire you out!”

Shuangtao thought of the soreness from yesterday when she got so busy, her feet had no time to rest and immediately stopped.

She was actually trying to explain that as there would be a lot of ladies coming over today, and if Yutang dressed up beautifully, more people would be impressed, and perhaps the madams of those families would take a fancy to Yutang and propose a good marriage match for her.

Eldest madam and second madam both said  that after eldest young master marries, they would focus on finding a son-in-law for eldest young miss.

Both of them arrived at Yu Bo’s house and Madam Wang was chatting with a few women in the courtyard. The hall was still the same as yesterday, not decorated at all.

Did the eldest aunt change her mind?

Yu Tang was confused as she approached her eldest aunt and greeted her.

Eldest Aunt pulled her along with a smile on her face and introduced her to the women.

They were madams of all the prominent families in the city.

She had met some of them in the Li family in her previous life, and others, she had heard of their husbands’ names, so after Madam Wang introduced them once, she was able to remember all of them. Thus, in the ensuing conversations, she was able to speak smoothly without any difficulty, and with her prior life’s experiences, she was able to answer any questions they had with ease.

One of the madams surnamed Zeng even asked her somewhat rudely about her age, her hobbies, and whether she was literate and so on.

Eldest aunt did not intervene, and several other women looked at her with smiles on their faces, as if they too would like to know as well.

Yu Tang suddenly understood.

Eldest Aunt was trying to find her a marriage partner!

Yu Tang blushed a little, but replied succinctly to Mrs Zeng’s words.

Another lady, Madam Meng, saw this and with the intention of giving Yu Tang a way out, smiled and said to Madam Wang: “I’ve long heard that your niece is beautiful, but today I see that not only is she pretty, but she also speaks and acts appropriately. Madam Chen is very fortunate!”

Several other ladies joined in and praised her as well.

Madam Wang saw that things were almost all settled, so she asked Yu Tang to prepare the things for the wedding hall, and said, “You make a good point, let’s wait for the wedding feast at midday to be completed before setting up the wedding hall.”

Since it’s a joyous event, they needed women who had both parents and children to decorate the wedding hall or the new house, so these madams were probably here to help.

Yu Tang answered and went to the adjacent tea room, but then she heard Mrs. Meng speak in hushed tones, “Have you heard about the Li family?”

Someone answered, “Are you referring to the Li family in the south of the city, with a young, promising scholar?”

“Yes.” Madam Meng’s voice lowered, but Yu Tang could still hear a few sentences intermittently, “I heard that they withdrew the marriage …… went to Hangzhou City a few days ago but had not returned …… Old Master Li was so anxious that he asked young master to return, and went with Mrs. Li to the Gu family together ……”