Chapter 10: A Marriage or a Feud?

Matchmaker Sun could barely hold her smile. She had assumed that however dissatisfied the Sus were with a hundred copper coins in betrothal gifts, they would have to swallow their objections. After all, Su Xue had already made her wishes known to the Xu family.

A young woman who ran to Xu Family Village every day, declaring her admiration for Scholar Xu and her willingness to endure hardship—if word got out, how firmly could the Sus stand their ground?

Yet Madam Wang had openly turned hostile. The matchmaker flicked her handkerchief, her voice growing cold. “So, Sister Wang, you won’t agree to the match?”

Madam Wang’s chest felt tight with anger. She set her tea bowl down hard. “I won’t. Please leave!”

The main room fell silent.

In the kitchen, the color drained from Su Xue’s face. However unhappy she was about the hundred coins, she could not let the match fall through. She had already spoken too openly. If she failed to marry Xu Xiuzhi, how could she face anyone? Besides, this year could not end as it had in her previous life. She was determined to become an official’s wife.

Matchmaker Sun sneered. “A hundred coins is already a substantial betrothal gift. Don’t forget, the Xus aren’t desperate to marry your daughter.”

Madam Wang jerked her head up. “What do you mean?”

The matchmaker lifted her bowl, took a sip of water, and set it down. “Do you really not know?” Her voice rose. “If your daughter hadn’t run to Xu Family Village every day, saying she admired Scholar Xu, wanted to marry him, and wasn’t afraid of hardship, do you think I’d be here? Scholar Xu is kindhearted. He couldn’t bear to ruin her reputation.”

She tossed her head. “In all my years, I’ve never seen a girl pursue a man so shamelessly. This is an education.”

Everyone in the kitchen looked shocked. Su Dashan’s hand shook around his bowl, and its base struck the table with a dull sound. He stared at Su Xue, breathing harder and harder, his whole body trembling. She had never seen that look in his eyes. Her face went white and tears spilled down it.

How could this be? She had told Xu Xiuzhi those things in private. How did Matchmaker Sun know?

Su Qing’s face was black as coal as he looked at his sister. Madam Li opened her mouth but could not speak. She had known Su Xue was headstrong, but had never imagined she would do something so disgraceful. An unmarried girl had gone to see a man in secret and spoken so plainly. If word spread, it would damage not only Su Xue’s reputation but that of every girl in the Su family.

Su Wan’s gaze turned cold. Xu Xiuzhi was still the same man: selfish and unfeeling, unwilling to suffer the slightest loss. He had probably told the matchmaker those things so she could use them against the Sus. For a hundred coins, the Xus could marry a girl famous for her beauty throughout the villages, while putting all the blame on Su Xue first. Once she entered their home, Madam Qian could use it to hold her down for the rest of her life. Xu Xiuzhi was probably very pleased with himself.

In the main room, Madam Wang was too angry to sit steady. She pointed at Matchmaker Sun, her hand shaking. “You… you…” She wanted to curse her, but her throat closed and she could not finish a sentence.

The matchmaker, quite calm now, poured herself more water. “Don’t blame me for speaking plainly, Sister Wang. Your second daughter and Scholar Xu have already been physically intimate. If she doesn’t marry him, who else will have her?”

“If word gets out, who will marry her then? And your eldest—I hear she’s engaged to the Huo family? Such a good match. It would be a pity if her sister’s reputation dragged her down and the engagement were broken.”

Madam Wang’s vision went black; she nearly fell. Su Dashan sprang up, knocking his stool backward, and strode into the main room. He glared at the matchmaker. “What did you say?”

He looked frightening enough to unsettle her, but remembering what Scholar Xu had told her, she forced herself to continue. “Brother Su, getting angry at me won’t help. Your daughter did it. Are we not allowed to speak of it?”

In the kitchen, Su Qing slammed his fist on the table and glared at Su Xue. “How could you do such a thing?” Madam Li’s look toward her sister-in-law changed as well.

Su Xue cried harder. “No, I didn’t… Xiuzhi and I never…” She wanted to explain, but feared saying more would only make it worse. Xu Xiuzhi had merely held her hand. They had not embraced. How could that count as physical intimacy? Yet how could she, an unmarried girl, say such things aloud?

Su Qing’s lips trembled with anger. “Xue, how could you be so foolish?” Madam Li exclaimed, unable to stay quiet at the sight of her husband’s fury.

“I didn’t… Matchmaker Sun is lying,” Su Xue sobbed. “She’s lying.”

Su Wan glanced toward the main room. Madam Wang had always thought Su Xue was merely willful, merely taken in by Xu Xiuzhi. Only now did she realize her daughter had long since placed the family’s reputation in someone else’s hands.

Seeing that Su Dashan and his wife had fallen silent, Matchmaker Sun straightened. “Brother Su, Sister Wang, I’m not trying to force you. But given what’s happened, the best thing is to settle the match. The Xus’ willingness to marry her already preserves your family’s dignity.”

“A hundred coins in betrothal gifts, and a prompt wedding. The Xus say the sooner the better, before people start gossiping.”

Madam Wang trembled all over. “Are the Xus taking a wife or seizing one?”

The matchmaker spread her hands. “Don’t make it sound so ugly. Your daughter was the one who went after Scholar Xu first.”

At the kitchen door, Su Xue swayed, her face deathly pale. Once again she knew what it felt like to be looked down on. Yet she still would not believe Xiuzhi would treat her this way. It must be Madam Qian’s idea. Yes, it had to be. Xiuzhi was a scholar, an upright man; how could he be plotting against her?

Su Wan watched her without any change of expression and rose to leave. Madam Li caught her arm instinctively. “Wan…”

Su Wan patted her hand reassuringly, went out of the kitchen, and entered the main room. Without looking at Matchmaker Sun, she stepped behind her mother and gently patted her back. “Mother, don’t make yourself ill with anger.”

Madam Wang grabbed her hand. The tears she had held back finally fell. “Wan, I’ve wronged you. Your match has only just been settled, and now this…”

“Mother,” Su Wan said calmly, “this isn’t the time to cry.”

Madam Wang stared at her. Su Wan looked at Matchmaker Sun, who was studying her in turn. The matchmaker had not expected the Su family’s eldest daughter to be so pretty too. No wonder the Huos wanted her.

“Auntie Sun,” Su Wan said, “scholars value their reputations. Since Scholar Xu intends to pursue the examinations, I imagine he wouldn’t want unpleasant stories spreading about him either.”

Matchmaker Sun narrowed her eyes.

“My sister was wrong to visit him privately and disobey our parents,” Su Wan continued. “But is Scholar Xu entirely blameless? If he were truly a man who observed propriety, he should have avoided her and asked his elders to speak to our family. Instead, he met her privately and used her words to pressure us.”

The matchmaker’s face changed at once. Su Dashan and Madam Wang both looked at their daughter. Su Wan had not spoken harshly, but every word struck home.

Matchmaker Sun gave a strained laugh. “You can’t make accusations like that. Scholar Xu is a man of learning, with an unblemished reputation.”

Su Wan met her gaze. “And my sister isn’t an innocent young woman?”

The matchmaker was speechless.

“You just spoke of physical intimacy,” Su Wan continued. “Who told you that, Auntie Sun? Who saw it? Where did it happen, and at what time?”

Matchmaker Sun’s face darkened. She had not expected a village girl to press her with such questions. The Xu family had supplied the story, of course, but where were the witnesses or evidence? The young pair had merely held hands. The claim was meant to frighten the Sus.

Su Wan gave her no room to retreat. “If there are no witnesses and no evidence, then what you’ve said in our home today damages my sister’s reputation. You make your living with your mouth, Auntie Sun, but that doesn’t mean you can say anything you please.”

The matchmaker turned ashen. “Are you threatening me?”

Su Wan shook her head. “I’m being reasonable.” She held her gaze and spoke deliberately. “If the Xus sincerely want to marry my sister, they must show it. None of the proper courtesies can be omitted. If they only mean to pressure us with a hundred coins and ugly words, the Su family won’t accept the match.”

The room fell quiet. Matchmaker Sun stared at Su Wan, her expression shifting. She had expected Madam Wang to be the difficult one. Instead, the eldest daughter, who was about to marry, had stepped forward and taken charge. A hundred coins would not secure the girl so easily after all.

At the kitchen door, Su Xue sobbed for breath, both furious and frightened. She hated Su Wan for speaking so firmly. What if the Xus refused to marry her now? Yet she dimly understood that without her sister’s intervention, she would have been married off for a hundred coins, and everyone would have laughed at her.

After a long silence, Matchmaker Sun rose, displeasure written on her face. “Very well. The Su family’s eldest girl has a clever tongue. I’ll take your words back to the Xus. What they decide is beyond me.”

Madam Wang gritted her teeth. “Tell them a Su daughter isn’t theirs for the asking.”

The matchmaker’s face fell. “Don’t speak too confidently, Sister Wang. If this becomes public, no one will benefit.”

“Then don’t make it public,” Su Wan said. “The Xus care about their reputation, and so do we. If Scholar Xu sincerely wants to marry my sister, let him show it. If he doesn’t, let him say so now.”

She paused. “Remember this too, Auntie Sun. Words that ruin a person’s reputation are easy to spread and hard to take back. If that happens, you won’t be joining families—you’ll be making enemies.”

A seventeen-year-old girl dared threaten her! Matchmaker Sun wanted to make another cutting remark, but she saw Su Dashan’s grim face and remembered Su Wan’s engagement to the Huo family. She swallowed the words.

The Huos were different from the Sus. They had money, and Huo Shi’an was a formidable man. There was no need to offend them deeply for the Xus’ sake.

She snorted. “Fine. I’ll deliver the message.”

On her way out, she glanced at Su Xue in the kitchen doorway and spoke with thinly veiled contempt. “Second girl, Scholar Xu is a man of learning. If you truly want to marry him, persuade your parents not to ruin a good match.”

Tears still hung on Su Xue’s face. She opened her mouth but dared not answer.

Madam Wang seized a broom and started after the matchmaker. “Get out!”

Matchmaker Sun quickened her step. Even after passing through the gate, she muttered, “With a temper like that, no wonder her daughter has no manners.”

Madam Wang rushed to the gate, slammed it shut, and strode back toward the kitchen. Su Xue shrank under her gaze. “Mother…”

“Kneel.”

Su Xue went pale. “Mother!”

“Kneel!”

The shout made Su Xue’s legs give way, and she dropped to the ground. “Tell me exactly what you did with Xu Xiuzhi.”

Su Xue shook her head through her tears. “Nothing. We really did nothing. We talked a few times, and he held my hand… once. Truly, only once.”

Madam Wang’s vision darkened again. “You’re an unmarried girl. You met a man in secret and let him hold your hand. Do you know what people will say if this gets out?”

“Xiuzhi said he would marry me,” Su Xue wept. “He said that once he passed the provincial examination, he’d give me a good life.”

Madam Wang laughed in fury. “A good life? He offers a hundred coins to marry you. Is that the good life he promised?”

Su Xue had no answer. She felt wronged too. She had not expected the Xus to do this, much less for Xiuzhi to tell someone else what she had said. But she still could not give up the match. Having returned from her previous life, she knew he would pass his examinations and become an official. She could not miss her chance. As long as she endured this, she could recover everything she had suffered later.

She looked up, crying. “The Xus are poor now, Mother, but Xiuzhi will certainly succeed. Please agree. The betrothal gifts can be small. I don’t mind.”

Madam Wang slapped her. The crack silenced the courtyard. Su Xue held her cheek and stared at her in disbelief. “Mother, you hit me?”

Tears ran down Madam Wang’s face. “I’m trying to wake you up! If you don’t care, the Xus will trample all over you. They’ll marry you for a hundred coins today, and tomorrow Madam Qian will say you paid your own way into their household.”

Su Xue bit her lip, tears streaming. Su Wan stood nearby and did not intervene. Her sister deserved the slap. Madam Wang had spoiled her for so long that Xue truly believed crying and making a scene would make the whole family do her bidding.

“From today on, you are not to leave the house,” Su Dashan said gravely.

Su Xue jerked her head up. “Father!”

“We’ll deal with the Xu family. If you dare see Xiuzhi in secret again, I’ll break your legs.”

She went even paler. She knew he was truly angry this time. Madam Wang added, “Go to your room. You’re not going anywhere without my word.”

Su Xue rose and ran inside, crying.

In the kitchen, Madam Wang was still weeping. Madam Li helped her sit and murmured comfort. Su Qing sat with a grim face. Su Dashan took out his pipe but did not light it, sitting heavily on the threshold instead.

The day’s events weighed on the family like a stone. The Huos had just delivered their betrothal gifts, and now the Xus had caused this uproar. If it was handled badly, both marriages could be thrown into confusion.

Su Wan returned to her room, picked up her needle and thread, and resumed embroidering the wedding quilt. Su Xue glared at her. “Satisfied now?” she demanded in a low voice.

Su Wan did not look up. “Satisfied about what?”

“You knew I wanted to marry Xiuzhi, yet you said such awful things in front of Matchmaker Sun. If the Xus refuse to take me now, will you take responsibility?”

Su Wan finally looked at her. “The Xus insulted you with a hundred coins. Don’t you feel ashamed?”

Su Xue stiffened.

“Remember this,” Su Wan continued. “A man who truly cares for you wouldn’t let a matchmaker threaten your family with your reputation.”

Su Xue’s eyes wavered, then hardened again. “What do you know? Xiuzhi is a scholar. He has difficulties.”

Su Wan looked at her and smiled suddenly. “Then keep making excuses for him.”

Su Xue could not bear her composure. “Don’t be smug. When Xiuzhi passes his examinations, I’ll be an official’s wife. Then I won’t spare a single person who bullied me today.”

Su Wan pulled the thread tight. “First, get him to show some sincerity.”

Su Xue flushed, unable to answer. She was about to curse her when Madam Wang shouted from outside, “Xue, make another scene and see what happens!”

Su Xue fell silent, climbed into bed, and cried beneath the quilt.

Su Wan paid her no more attention. The Xus would not find it so easy to pressure the Sus with threats to their reputation. She might not care about Su Xue, but if the Xu family ruined the Su name, she would suffer too.

Xu Xiuzhi was a scholar. A scholar’s reputation could be torn apart just like anyone else’s.

Now she would see whether the Xus were willing to pay. If not… A cold glint flashed in Su Wan’s eyes.