Female Lead Quits 10
T/N: To whoever bought a Kofi for this… I shall now kowtow to you and call you boss.
She was comfortable living in her own residence, so Su Yuan didn’t even think about moving to the Princess’ Residence. It was naturally best if she could bring her entire family over, but that was unrealistic – after all, there was enough space in her residence for everyone. She could only blame the eldest branch of the family for having too few members, so they each had large shares of the property.
Unlike the second and third branches. The second branch had many concubines and concubine-born children, whilst the third branch had many children born from the first wife, so their lifestyles weren’t very roomy – even so, they were all reluctant to move out.
By living in the Duke’s Residence, outsiders would still attach importance to them, but if they were to move out, they would merely be ‘the Duke’s relatives’.
So even if this big family was divided, as long as the old Duke is still alive, they could only live like this.
As the head of the eldest branch, Su Changping didn’t mind this at all. Either way, the family property had already been divided – although the old man favors the third branch, there was only so much in his hands. No matter how much he favors, nothing would change.
After so many years, the elderly lady had also come to accept this fact. If she kept bickering about it, they would’ve long-divorced, their marriage unable to last until now.
Besides, the elderly lady was quite content with watching the show from the sidelines – she was content watching Wife Sun from the third branch fool Concubine Wu, content watching the third branch suffer from financial distress, and was even more content watching the third branch sell the things they received from the old man one after the other.
Speaking of this, Wife Sun truly didn’t have good taste. She considered gold, silver, and jade treasures, but overlooked the value of antique calligraphy and paintings, hence she was easily cheated. It was a good thing the people who cheated Wife Sun weren’t anyone else but the elderly lady’s underlings.
No matter. Although Concubine Wu doesn’t cause any trouble, the elderly lady had her heart broken more than enough in her early years because of the old man and Concubine Wu – now, she could be considered as venting her anger.
Wife Sun was being stupid – no one else could be blamed.
Su Changping knew everything about this, so he was even more clear on matters concerning his daughter. He was the one who arranged guards to protect her, so he even knew things like where she went shopping.
As her father, he didn’t actually feel anxious – different kinds of parents raise different kinds of children, so his daughter naturally followed in his footsteps. However, her marriage needed careful consideration – her partner can’t be too rigid, there can’t be too many rules at her in-laws’ home, her in-laws can’t be too overbearing…
These past few years, he and his wife had already been planning from the list of appropriate-aged boys. They’d already screened out a majority of the candidates, hence only a few are left – each had their own merits, each had their own drawbacks.
It was almost his daughter’s hairpin initiation, meaning it was also time for her engagement to be arranged; otherwise, all the good ones would be snatched by other families.
However, their daughter became the Emperor’s younger sister1, so her marriage wasn’t something they could arrange themselves. After all, she was a princess now – whoever was to become her husband first needed the royal family’s approval.
It’s a pity there had only been drafts of ladies, not gentlemen. If there was a draft of gentlemen, their daughter, who was already a princess, could directly pick a husband from the list.
Who to choose as her husband was something of the future, and cleaning up the Princess’ Residence wasn’t an urgent matter. The most important thing right now was Su Yuan’s hairpin initiation.
The guest of honour invited was Eldest Princess Dongyang. She was the retired Emperor’s concubine-born eldest sister and was sixty-seven years old this year. A long-lived elderly, she lived harmoniously with her husband, had both daughters and sons to assist her, and her descendants all worked hard. Everyone saw her as a first-class blessed person.
The organiser of this event was the noble Pingyin’s Family wife-born daughter Liu Ruoyan. She was also Su Yuan’s cousin and Mother Su’s niece. These two cousins have different hobbies and interests, but they were still able to chatter happily. She could be considered one of Su Yuan’s very few bosom friends.
The ancient hairpin initiation is similar to the coming-of-age ceremonies celebrated by later generations. Su Yuan, who’d already completed her coming-of-age ceremony, felt nothing much for the hairpin initiation.
She’d already memorised the procedure and etiquette, so she wasn’t worried about anything going wrong during the ceremony. After following the routine and completing the process, all that’s left was to entertain the guests.
The uncle, aunt, cousin who’d been promoted to a first-rank official, and cousin-in-law sent gifts over as they lived away from the Capital and it was inconvenient to personally attend the ceremony. The only guests with more powerful influence were a few newly-conferred princes2.
The Fifth Prince was conferred as Prince Yongkang. Princes with two-character titles had a one-rank difference compared to those with single-character titles; however, the Emperor had conferred all the princes with two-character titles, not just Prince Yongkang.
The last time the two met was at the theatre – now they meet as prince and princess.
“Before, I didn’t have the time to congratulate you. We’re family now, so if you need any help in the future just tell me. As long as it’s in my power, I definitely won’t decline.” Prince Yongkang didn’t know whether to lament the world’s fickleness or admire Su Yuan’s fortune.
To be promoted from a subject to an infanta before finally becoming a princess… Even the man sitting on the throne didn’t have any blood-related uncles become closely-related cousins. Such fortune was envious even for a prince.
Third Brother didn’t really treat him intimately. Their relationship was far more distant compared to how his Third Brother treated this Princess Anle. Moreover, her Princess’ Residence was far larger than his Prince Residence. How was any of this reasonable?
Su Yuan also lamented the world’s fickleness. If this was according to the novel plot’s development, then this Prince Yongkang would become the Emperor and, as cousins, they’d be matched to become a couple for life.
“Thank you for your kindness and for coming today. Please forgive us if you find any aspects of our hospitality unsatisfactory.”
Since the other didn’t mention anything about that day at the theatre, she naturally left it out too. Just leave it like this – after all, they weren’t enemies; they’d just get along like any ordinary relatives.
Other than Prince Yongkang, several other newly-conferred princes also came. The scene at Princess Anle’s hairpin initiation was quite vast.
Where there are those who feel happy, there are also those who feel sad.
Wife Sun from the third branch was one of the happy bunch. She didn’t force her own daughter to compete against the family’s Eldest Young Lady. It was possible in the past, but now the opportunity had disappeared – the other was currently a princess, the Emperor’s younger sister, so how could a subject’s daughter possibly be placed on par with her?
Today, the bigger the scene the better. With an important princess as her cousin, the family’s Second Young Lady would have a better-assured marriage. It’d be best if she could marry into the palace; if not, there were still several princes here.
Wife Sun had already calculated it. According to age, Prince Yongkang was naturally the most suitable. Although his mother’s family wasn’t very prominent, because of his mother’s early death, he’d never really offended the Empress Dowager and Emperor – right now, this was one of his strong points.
Not to mention he appeared to have a healthy physique and his features weren’t bad-looking. If Rong-er wasn’t able to enter the palace, then Prince Yongkang should be the best choice.
Although Wife Sun was very optimistic about this matter, that didn’t mean her daughter was the same. The Second Young Lady grew up in the same residence and, according to her mother, other than her elder sister being able to reincarnate well, nothing about her was better than the Second Young Lady, including her reputation.
But the elder sister who was in no way better than her held such a magnificent hairpin initiation. A year later, when she holds her hairpin initiation, she definitely wouldn’t be able to invite such distinguished guests, nor would she be able to receive gifts from the retired Emperor, Empress Dowager, Emperor, or Empress. If compared, she’d definitely appear unpresentable.
Su Rong clenched the fist hidden within her sleeves, but her expression was that of pale clouds and a light breeze3. No matter – there was still a long road ahead of her. So what if her elder sister was conferred as a princess? No matter how distinguished a princess, she would never be as distinguished as an Empress or Imperial Consort.
Concubine Wu didn’t come out to mingle in such a lively scene. Instead, she stayed in her own little courtyard, listening to the bustle outside. She truly wasn’t unreconciled. To be the old Duke’s concubine was already due to her ancestors’ accumulation of good merits and a blessing of three lifetimes, so she didn’t dare hold any extravagant hopes.
She was just worried the couple and her granddaughter from the third branch would feel down. Everyone is different from each other, so there was no need to compete against others. Her lowly background implicated her child.
Away from the bustle, Concubine Wu shed a tear. The servants around her were no longer surprised. Back in the day, she was a weeping beauty; now, she still wore an elegant bearing. To cry beautifully was a skill, one that the Duke always ate up.
*****
Su Yuan’s marriage was already on the agenda – even the old man and elderly lady asked about it, though their opinion was identical; none of them planned on intervening. They were just pressing about it, saying how Father and Mother Su shouldn’t keep on picking candidates until they go blind.
There were only a few boys of appropriate age, so how could they possibly go blind? Father and Mother Su only felt there were too few candidates – not enough to pick from – but in the end, they spotted two.
One was the noble Pingyin Family’s youngest wife-born son, Liu Ziwu, a child they watched grow up. The head of the Pingyin Family was Mother Su’s older brother, so if they married their daughter into their family, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about the in-laws making things difficult for her.
Liu Ziwu was the youngest son, so wouldn’t inherit any titles nor assume his family business, so his family wasn’t too strict on discipline towards him. In addition, his personality wasn’t rigid and he had a playful nature, so he should be able to get along with A-yuan. His schooling was also satisfactory, having already passed the county-level imperial exam.
According to age, the two was also a match, as Liu Ziwu was only a year older than Su Yuan.
The other option was the Baiyun Academy’s dean’s son – Zhang Yuting. The Zhang Family’s home custom was there for all to see – a man was only allowed a concubine if he had no sons at forty. In addition, Dean Zhang only had one son, Zhang Yuting, meaning he must hand Baiyun Academy to him in the future. With such an academy, he would surpass the rank of nobility.
Although this candidate was a scholar, since he was to take over the academy one day, he mustn’t be a pedantic person, hence he had a sophisticated personality; moreover, since he was to become an educator, he must have a tolerant temperament.
What these two had in common were their jade-like beauty and cultivated temperament – their appearance and personality were ranked first among their peers.
These two people were picked out after numerous screens. As for who to choose was up to Su Yuan’s decision. In this aspect, Father and Mother Su were open-minded.
