Chapter 34: A Son’s First Compromise

There was suddenly a noise outside the door. Feng Luoyi quickly wiped the tear marks from her face. Just as she was about to get up to check, her maid Zhaoxiang entered, her expression unpleasant.

Feng Luoyi paused and asked, “Where is the young master?”

Zhaoxiang sighed. “The young master refused to come. He said he’ll visit you after attending to his official duties tomorrow.”

Zhaoxiang wasn’t a maid from the Shen household; she was originally from the Feng family.

After the Feng family fell into disgrace, Feng Luoyi’s mother didn’t survive the ordeal in prison and passed away. Out of consideration for the engagement, the Shen family bought Feng Luoyi during the government auction. At the time, many convict women and maids were held nearby awaiting the same fate. Zhaoxiang, upon seeing Feng Luoyi, had cried out to her.

Feng Luoyi had pleaded with the Shen household, and their steward agreed to purchase Zhaoxiang as well.

Originally, the plan was to send Feng Luoyi to her elder sister in the capital. But unexpectedly, her sister’s husband heartlessly claimed the sister was “ill” and refused to take her in.

Master Shen then planned to spend some money to send her back to her hometown under the care of her clan.

But it was at that moment that Shen Ti returned.

He had been studying abroad, and according to the original plan, wasn’t supposed to return for some time. However, upon reading the official gazette in another province and learning of his fiancée’s misfortune, he rushed back at once.

Then the young man stood before Feng Luoyi, shielding his former fiancée behind him.

Hearing that Shen Ti hadn’t come to see her that day, Feng Luoyi was distraught. “Why didn’t he come? He says he has official business tomorrow? Then why not today? Why not today?!”

Before, whenever she sent her maid to invite him, he would always come.

Why had everything changed after just one trip to Huaixi?

She asked repeatedly, “Is his marriage engagement settled? Did you ask?”

Shen Ti had visited her before leaving for Huaixi.

“I might have to get engaged,” he had told her.
“Now that I’ve placed third in the exams, my father has agreed to let my mother choose a bride from her maiden family. Those girls from small places, they lack sophistication and talent, and wouldn’t dare to bully you.”
“Luoyi, I... I have no choice.”

Though sincere, Shen Ti was young. When pressured by his parents, he had little power to resist.

While he was away in Huaixi, Feng Luoyi had cried herself to sleep many nights.

She was supposed to be the wife of a top scholar.

“It’s settled,” Zhaoxiang said. She had already inquired with Changchuan. “It’s a cousin from his maternal family in Huaixi. Changchuan said the young lady is very beautiful.”

“And what else?” Feng Luoyi asked.

“They say she’s kind.”

“Do her father or brothers have scholarly titles? Did you ask?”

“I did, but Changchuan didn’t know. He’s just a child. We’ll need to ask Pingmo. Or… I could try to find a way another day?”

Changchuan was the boy servant by Shen Ti’s side—young enough to move freely within the inner residence. Pingmo was Shen Ti’s most trusted attendant, who worked outside and didn’t enter the inner quarters. To speak with him, Zhaoxiang would have to leave the women’s quarters.

Feng Luoyi thought for a moment and then said, “Forget it. I’ll ask Shen Lang myself later. Since we are still in the Shen household, we must speak and act with caution.”

Shen Ti’s parents had never wanted to keep her. They had always planned to send her away.

But she had cried and begged Shen Ti, saying she was born in the capital, with her hometown thousands of miles away, and no close relatives in her clan. Now marked as a criminal’s daughter, she didn’t know how she’d be treated if sent back. It was only then that Shen Ti defied his parents and insisted she stay.

She knew her current status was low. She stayed quietly in her small courtyard, rarely went out, and never appeared before Shen Ti’s parents.

When she had something to ask, she would send her maid to summon Shen Ti.

In the past, he would always come, listen patiently, and comfort her.

Why wouldn’t he come now?

Could it be that in Huaixi, he truly fell in love with his new fiancée?

With her heart in turmoil, Feng Luoyi cried herself to sleep again that night.

The next day, Shen Ti went to the Hanlin Academy and first paid respects to Scholar Liu.

Scholar Liu stroked his beard and smiled at him. In recent years, the third-place scholars (tanhua) had only been decent-looking at best. This time, they finally had one that was truly handsome.

As expected, he tested Shen Ti’s knowledge.

At that level—first, second, or third in the imperial exams—academic matters posed no difficulty.

After a round of questions, Scholar Liu was very satisfied with his answers.

“Jiyun,” the scholar praised, then suddenly changed the topic, “I heard you’re still not engaged?”

Shen Ti immediately understood—another matchmaking attempt. Ever since the Feng family scandal, many had wanted to match their daughters with him. After he placed third in the exams and people learned he was unattached, the proposals came like a flood.

He replied, “I’ve just gotten engaged.”

“Ah, a step too late.” Scholar Liu sighed. “Which family’s young lady?”

“She’s not from the capital. She’s a cousin from my mother’s family.”

“What official position does your uncle hold now?”

Shen Ti didn’t hide anything. “My mother’s family is that of country gentry. Neither my grandfather nor my uncle holds a scholarly title.”

Scholar Liu was visibly displeased.

It wasn’t really his business, but the Shen family was one of scholars, producing generations of jinshi. And Shen Ti himself had placed third in the imperial exams. With such qualifications, he could easily have secured a powerful father-in-law.

After all, marrying was as much about choosing a father-in-law as a wife.

Yet he had chosen a mere gentry girl—Scholar Liu felt this was a waste and blamed Shen Ti’s father for indulging his wife, thereby delaying their son’s marriage prospects.

He sent a message back to the person who had asked him to play matchmaker: “Inform them that Shen Jiyun is already engaged. We’re too late. What a pity.”

Shen Ti now held the position of Hanlin compiler, a seventh-rank official.

After leaving Scholar Liu, he visited his superior, who greeted him with a smile. “Unlucky timing. Yang Shilu is on duty at the palace today.”

Yang Shilu was the second-place scholar (bangyan) from Shen Ti’s same cohort.

The superior liked Shen Ti for his youth, good looks, and talent. He offered a word of advice: “You should also make an appearance before His Majesty soon. His Majesty loves fresh faces.”

Three years from now, new scholars will emerge—and today's stars will be yesterday’s news.

Shen Ti recalled that his father had said something similar.

Before, everyone cared about his studies. Now the focus had shifted entirely to his official career.

Even his cousin Yin Zhi—just a woman from the inner residence—had told him to “become a powerful official, gain authority before your parents, and then you’ll be able to protect the one you love.”

Though not yet of age, Shen Ti had now entered the bureaucracy—and he could clearly feel that everything was different.

He was an adult now.

The young Hanlin scholar straightened his robes, bowed respectfully, and thanked his superior. “Yes, sir.”

“Oh, Jiyun—did I hear you’re still not engaged?” his superior asked.

“…I’ve just gotten engaged,” Shen Ti replied.

“Ah, very well then.”

Shen Ti understood clearly now—anyone who could ask a Hanlin official to act as a matchmaker must be a family of some influence in the capital.

Before entering officialdom, he was “a son of the Shen family,” and marriage proposals would go through his parents. Now that he was in office, though his parents still had final say, people no longer hesitated to raise such matters with him directly.

Newly minted scholars were always subject to matchmaking attempts—especially a tanhua like him. Even within a short time of his appointment, two matchmaking proposals had already surfaced.

Now he began to understand the pressure his parents must have faced.

Under such pressure, most people would eventually give in. That was why he felt grateful that his mother had proposed a compromise—to marry his cousin from Huaixi.

A wife of lower status would ease the pressure on Luoyi.

Yes, he had done the right thing.