A Tale of Golden Heiress: Lady Wanjin - Chapter 9

The entrance to Old Master Wen’s quarters was now hung with a heavy winter curtain to keep out the cold. Wen Wan, leading Wen Jing by the hand, stepped inside.

A strong odour of medicine assailed their nostrils.

Wen Weiming had just finished his dose and was drifting in a hazy state of wakefulness. Propped up against his pillows, he looked sallow, emaciated, and utterly drained by illness.

“Papa—” Wen Jing was the first to dart forward, but a servant quickly intercepted her, “Oh, Second Young Miss, the Master has only just woken up. He’s still very weak and can’t handle such excitement.”

Wen Wan also hurriedly added, “Wen Jing, come down from there at once. Don’t exhaust Father.”

Yet Wen Weiming allowed Wen Jing to perch on the edge of the bed. His complexion seemed to improve slightly at the sight of her, though his voice remained hoarse, “It’s… it’s alright. She’s just a child… How much trouble could she be?”

A servant brought a chair for Wen Wan to sit.

Newly awakened and lacking strength, Wen Weiming only played with Wen Jing for a short while before having Nanny Chen take her out to the courtyard to play.

In recent days, Wen Weiming’s condition had worsened. He was only conscious for an hour or two each day. Concubine Liu had kept constant vigil at his bedside, administering decoctions and tending to his personal hygiene, which had prevented his illness from deteriorating further.

Otherwise, even if Concubine Liu had brought a dozen of her maternal cousins the day before, the clan elders likely wouldn’t have backed down so easily.

The old master’s withered hand grasped Wen Wan’s. He smiled weakly, “These past few days… they must have frightened you.”

Wen Wan shook her head.

She wasn’t a sixteen-year-old girl anymore.

In her previous life, she had battled chronic illness, teetering on the brink of death multiple times. Her mental fortitude was naturally stronger than most.

“My child, you’ve truly grown up so much,” Old Master Wen said affectionately, stroking Wen Wan’s cheek. She did not pull away.

Wen Weiming’s gaze drifted towards the festive red silk decorations visible through the doorway, and a flicker of joy crossed his face. “Once you and Guili are married, the clan won’t dare act recklessly. Don’t worry, your father isn’t so easy to kill. I intend to see you settled and established before I go underground to see your mother.”

Wen Wan was taken aback. The words escaped her before she could think: “The Qi family has agreed to Third Cousin marrying into our family?” (implying he would take the Wen name, a form of uxorilocal marriage).

Wen Weiming and Wen Wan stared at each other in mutual confusion.

The old master coughed twice, his face turning a ghastly pale shade from the effort.

Leaning half against a servant, he slowly drank a small bowl of ginseng soup before his breathing eased somewhat.

“In half a month, aren’t you and Guili getting married?”

Wen Wan lowered her head. Her lips moved soundlessly, but she didn’t know how to explain the situation to her father.

Seeing her hesitant, stammering manner, Wen Weiming’s heart sank like a stone. He had always been impatient by nature, and this shock sent his blood racing, “Could it be… the Qi family is refusing to honour the marriage agreement?”

Wen Wan had no choice but to explain everything: how the messenger sent to the Qi family had been turned away without even seeing anyone.

To her surprise, after hearing this, Old Master Wen’s expression first showed relief, then quickly turned to worry. “Guili… is he also so ill he cannot leave his bed?”

Wen Wan’s brow furrowed slightly.

She knew her father had a bit of a blind spot when it came to his elder sister, but she hadn’t expected the shrewd and decisive merchant, a veteran of cutthroat business dealings, to be so willingly delusional when faced with his own sister’s rejection.

Qi Guili, gravely ill?
A healthy, strapping young man like him, falling seriously ill not earlier, not later, but just when Father was declared critically ill by the doctors?
What remarkably convenient timing.

The Qi family’s actions… were nothing short of scattering peppercorns on a grave—trying to fool the ghosts. (Idiom: a patently transparent and feeble deception).

But fearing she might agitate her father, Wen Wan bit back her sharp words and said vaguely, “Perhaps that is the case.”

“If the Qi family hasn’t agreed to the marriage, then why is our house decorated with lanterns and coloured banners?”

Unable to hide the truth any longer, Wen Wan confessed, “Father, I originally intended to go to the Qi family myself in the next couple of days to find out the truth. If Third Cousin is truly too ill, I certainly cannot drag him here to marry me. But the clan is pressuring us relentlessly. I had no choice but to use a delaying tactic to hold them off for now. If the Qi family is still willing to honour the agreement, then all is well. But if not… your daughter must find another way.”

In the Great Chen Dynasty, a young woman shouldn’t be discussing her own marriage prospects so openly.

But given the Wen family’s current predicament, who had the luxury of worrying about propriety?

Wen Weiming’s heart was filled with bitterness. “Your eldest aunt is family. She wouldn’t kick us when we’re down like outsiders would. It must be that Guili is also terribly ill, and your aunt is stretched too thin—”

Wen Wan pursed her lips but didn’t argue.

Stretched too thin?
Last month, when Wen Weiming seemed to be breathing his last, when Concubine Liu had already bought burial clothes and the funeral wreaths were prepared, when clan members came in wave after wave, her eldest aunt was conspicuously absent.

The distance between the two families was only a two-day round trip; on horseback, it was merely half a day. Yet not a single soul from the Qi family had shown their face.

Even as he said it, Wen Weiming felt a pang of guilt, cold sweat beading on his forehead. “However… this matter does need to be dealt with urgently.”

Preferably before he closed his eyes for the last time!
“Wanniang, you must not go to the Qi family alone. It would only invite ridicule. You are right. We must see whether it’s a mule or a horse—we have to take it out for a walk to know. I need to go in person to see what my elder sister’s true intentions are. Don’t worry about my health. I feel much better today. There’s no time like the present. Old Liu, go harness the carriage. We’ll go now—”

“But…” Wen Wan hesitated.

She was worried about her father’s health.

She was even more worried that the Qi family’s attitude would be a devastating blow to him.

If her father were to suffer a setback from the Qi family’s treatment, then she would truly be left in a desperate situation.

“This matter cannot be delayed! If this isn’t resolved, I cannot close my eyes in peace!”

Though still ill, Wen Weiming’s mind remained sharp. He instructed the old servant further, “Go, go fetch Physician Yan. Ask him to dress in plain clothes and travel with our party. Once we reach the Qi family, he is to accompany Wen Wan to see Guili.”

Wen Wan couldn’t help but view her father in a new light.

Although he had a blind spot for his elder sister, it seemed it hadn’t reached an irredeemable level.

It appeared her father didn’t necessarily believe everything her eldest aunt said.

Wen Wan quickly stood up. “Father, I will go change my clothes.”

Once out of the main hall, Wen Wan summoned Hongmei. “Go quickly and invite Second Master Tu!”

Within the Wen household:

Hongmei and Lüping were servants bound by life-long contracts.
Concubine Liu was a pure romantic, her deep love for Old Master Wen an inescapable trap.
Nanny Chen had come with Wen Wan’s late mother and had served the Wen family for decades—her loyalty was beyond question.
Second Master Tu had an even longer history, having traveled north and south with Wen Weiming for many years. He had once risked his life to escort Wen Weiming through an ambush by bandits; without him, the old master would have perished long ago.

These were the only people the Wen family could rely on now.
They were also the ones Wen Weiming had entrusted with his children should the worst happen during his illness.

Since her father trusted them, Wen Wan trusted them too.

Soon, Second Master Tu, a large knife strapped to his waist, entered the courtyard. Wen Wan was inside the room speaking with Hongmei, so Tu waited under the eaves of the corridor.

He faintly caught words like “go to the Qi family.”

He privately speculated that since the Master had awoken, the matter between the Wen and Qi families absolutely had to be settled.

In his opinion, they should just storm the Qi residence and take Qi Guili by force.

He truly didn’t understand what the Master saw in that Qi Guili? To him, the boy was neither accomplished in letters nor skilled in martial arts, looking like a weak-kneed shrimp. Now, when faced with such a major crisis, he just hid behind his mother’s skirts—completely unreliable.

Second Master Tu had naturally guessed Miss Wen’s intention.
She must be asking him to go to the Qi family today to bolster their presence and show their strength!

“Second Master Tu,” Wen Wan’s voice came from the room, clear and decisive, “I will have fifty taels of silver drawn for you. You are to set out quietly for the neighboring county immediately. Use any means necessary. Within ten days, you must bring back a healthy, unmarried man.”

Second Master Tu’s nostrils flared as he took a heavy breath.

This… was not what he had expected.