Chapter 5

Marriage, in the end, should be chosen by both people. A life built on coercion would never be happy.

On the sixth day of the ninth month, when I arrived at Qushui Pavilion, Shen Yan was already waiting inside.

I had assumed that a man who spent all year doing business would be somewhat slick and calculating.

But Shen Yan had clear, bright features and a tall, lean build. His bearing was no less refined than that of the capital’s aristocratic young gentlemen.

There was just one conspicuous smudge on his sleeve, which made it obvious he did not care much for this matchmaking meeting.

Though I felt a little regret, I still gave him an easy way out.

“Second Young Master Shen, you needn’t feel awkward. If you don’t want to marry into the Gu family, we will never force you.”

He looked up at me. His gaze was clear and bright.

After a moment’s silence, he finally spoke.

“Miss Gu, I’m willing.”

His answer was not what I expected. I stared for a moment, then nodded.

It was good that he was willing.

After the engagement was set, the Shen family allotted Shen Yan ten shops as the property he would bring into the marriage.

Given the Shen family’s original wealth, he and his elder brother could each have inherited half. By choosing to marry into my family, he was giving up most of his family fortune.

Before the wedding, I deliberately asked if he regretted it.

The marriage contract had not yet been finalized. He could still change his mind.

Shen Yan shook his head.

“If I can’t turn even ten shops into a hundred, then there was no point in keeping that little bit of the Shen family’s estate.”

From anyone else, those words might have sounded arrogant. When Shen Yan said them, I believed him.

He smiled faintly. “Besides, there’s something more important to me than family wealth.”

The wedding was set for the eighteenth day of the ninth month, in a great hurry.

The letter our parents sent to my sister had not even reached the capital before Shen Yan and I were already married.

As expected, when my sister wrote back, she was furious.

She looked down on Shen Yan’s humble background, thought the match embarrassed her, and even ordered me to divorce him.

“Once you come to the capital with Father and Mother, I’ll choose someone more worthy for you.”

I did not listen.

Shen Yan was a good man.

After our wedding, we lived in harmony.

He was skilled in literature and business, and he handed over all the money he earned for me to keep.

When he had time, he even sat in front of the mirror and painted my eyebrows. His brushwork was steadier than many women’s.

The one thing that made me uneasy was why he had agreed to marry into my family.

Shen Yan said he had originally planned to refuse when he came to Qushui Pavilion.

But the moment he saw me, he changed his mind.

He said he had never met a woman more beautiful than I was.

I still had my doubts.

My sister was clearly prettier than I was.

Aside from that, there was nothing about this marriage that left me dissatisfied.

Chengzhou was far from the Emperor’s reach. I tucked my sister’s letter into the bottom of a box and pretended I had never seen it.

Who could have guessed that before long, Xiao Chengjun would bring my sister back to Chengzhou after riding hard day and night?

9

They had traveled without rest.

Even my sister, whose face had always been carefully tended, looked exhausted.

But to everyone else, they said the Crown Prince had brought the Crown Princess home to visit her family.

When he received the news, Father hurried back from the prefectural office. Mother was so delighted she hardly knew what to do.

“Thank you for granting us this honor, Your Highness. It is a blessing for Mingzhu that you accompanied her on a visit home.”

Xiao Chengjun’s gaze passed over Mother. He asked directly, “Why isn’t my brother-in-law here?”

Father smiled awkwardly.

“He’s only a merchant. He wouldn’t dare accept the title of Your Highness’s brother-in-law.”

Our parents had always looked down on Shen Yan, so they had not even sent anyone to inform him.

Xiao Chengjun looked at me and let out two cold laughs.

“Shen Yan is no ordinary merchant.”

“Second Miss has a good eye. She chose herself a fine husband.”

He even deliberately sent someone to invite Shen Yan to the family banquet.

During the meal, my sister paid attention only to Xiao Chengjun.

They had been married for just a month and were still deeply in love.

She even laughed about how our parents had once refused to let her marry him.

“The Eastern Palace is wonderful, and His Highness treats me even better.”

She also mentioned the senior palace matron the Empress had sent to oversee the household.

“If there’s anything I don’t understand, the matron handles it for me. How could I be tired?”

As she spoke animatedly, she deliberately glanced at me.

“You’ve never been in the Eastern Palace, Little Sister. Of course you don’t know how comfortable it is to be Crown Princess.”

Xiao Chengjun glanced at me, too.

How could I not know?

That matron was said to be helping my sister manage the household, but in truth she was the Empress’s eyes and ears inside the Eastern Palace.

The servants all listened to the matron now. It might seem to leave my sister with less work, but it also made everyone understand that the Crown Princess was only a figurehead, incapable of managing the inner household.

The family banquet was already halfway over when Shen Yan finally arrived in a hurry.

My sister glanced at him and smiled mockingly.

“Did you come by ox cart, Brother-in-law? What took you so long?”

The previous dynasty had forbidden merchants from riding in carriages. This dynasty had only recently abolished that old rule.

She was clearly making fun of Shen Yan’s background.

His expression did not change. As soon as he entered, he greeted everyone with the proper courtesy.

Xiao Chengjun did not immediately tell him to rise.

“I hear you have a talent for governing, but your merchant status holds you back.”

Shen Yan remained kneeling, his reply neither servile nor arrogant.

“Your Highness is too kind. I only know how to do a little business. Fortunately, my wife does not look down on me.”

Only then did Xiao Chengjun personally help him up.

“You needn’t be so modest.”

“Here’s what I’ll do. When I return to the capital, I’ll petition my father to grant you a special exemption to sit the civil service examinations.”

The whole table fell silent. Every gaze turned toward Shen Yan.

My sister urged him proudly, “What are you waiting for? You and your wife should kneel and thank His Highness for his favor!”

I had not expected Xiao Chengjun to offer such bait.

But we all knew that Shen Yan was talented. We also knew how deeply a scholar barred from the examination halls might resent it.