Daughter-in-law of a Noble House

Leaving the Camp

When I woke up the next day, the sky had turned bright.

The place beside me was empty, not even a half-figure could be seen. I pulled down the quilt, and when I got off the bed the floor, my feet touched the copper basin beside the bed and made a sound,

Immediately, servants came in from outside the tent. 

“Furen is awake. Furen please get up and change clothes.”  They bowed to me and when they saw the undergarment I was wearing, they all startled  for a while.

I knew what they were thinking about. My undergarments were very neat and the knot that held my clothes together was still the perfect and fancy one from last night —- which means, nothing had happened in the wedding chamber last night. 

“Where is Jiangjun?” I asked them. 

A servant replied, “Jiangjun got up early and went to the camp, one fears that he won’t come back until night.”

I looked at the wooden stand next to the lacquer screen where the armor was placed, and it was empty. 

“So it’s like that.” After a brief moment, I said nonchalantly, stood up, and let them assist me in dressing up. 

I suddenly remembered that time when I was just over ten years old, when father’s close friend, Zhou Bo, the Supervisor of Attendants, was marrying off his daughter. My wet nurse had gone to take a look and upon her return, she criticized almost everything, from the number of dowry to the decoration at the doors, for a month-long. She proudly told me that if our family’s young lady was to be married off, one feared that only Her Highness the Princess’ marriage could be comparable in the entire Chang'an. 

Last night, my new father-in-law, Wei Jue was busy settling the Dong Kuang who was on his last legs, at the Jianjun (Jian County) in the East, thus he did not attend his son’s wedding.

There were no six rituals, no maiden family to send off the bride, no in-laws to receive the kowtows, and even upon waking up the next day, one’s husband was already not by one’s side. This second marriage was so simple, if my wet nurse were to know of it, I don't know how sad she would be.

But fortunately, she had already passed away, so would not need to be worried about these things. 

Of course, I don’t hate the Wei Clan, because I wasn’t really reluctant to this marriage. For me, ever since that year when I was fourteen years old, after I had seen someone escorting his new bride on their wedding ceremony, it did not matter anymore who I was married to. In the end, being able to make life a little better is what a good marriage is, isn’t it?

I didn’t have to wait until evening to see Wei Tan, because he came at noon.

“The army will strike camp (prepare to move), Furen will be returning to Yongdu.” After he entered the door, he greeted me by nodding his head and said that sentence. 

“Pack things up immediately and set off this afternoon.” This was the second sentence. 

Before I could ask questions or show the tenderness and thoughtfulness as the newly wedded bride, he had already turned around and left like the wind, just like when he came in.

The servants looked at each other.

“What are you dazing for? Quickly tidy up, the journey will begin this afternoon!” Zhang Shi urged on.

Everyone then came back to their senses and hurriedly split up to pack things up.

"Jiangjun is still on an expedition, Furen please understands.” Zhang Shi came over and said that to me. 

I gave a small smile and calmly raised my head. 

There was nothing to be understood, because if there’s something that needs to be understood then there should be an apology. What Wei Tan said just now was an order, without a trace of apology.

“Is ChengXiang still in Jiaojun?” I asked.

Zhang Shi answered, “It is exactly so.”

I nodded my head, and stopped asking questions. 

The reason why Wei Jue used the entire Laiyang in exchange for me to marry his son, I knew it very well.

The Fu Clan of Huainan, had been a big noble clan since ancient times. For the past hundreds of years, the clan had produced generations after generations of officials and the number of people with a government pay scale of six hundred coins and above would be large enough to take up a few pages in the Clan Records. In the entire country, there were only a handful of famous and reputable clans like the Fu Clan. 

Instead of talking about something so far distant, let’s just talk about my Zufu, Fu Yong. He was an outstanding, talented and learned man, and was highly appreciated by The Late Emperor Huan. He became the Chancellor (SiTu) before the age of forty, becoming the youngest of the three state councilors of the Central Government in this dynasty. After his death, my father also succeeded to the position of the Chancellor, until the Late Emperor ordered the extermination of the Fu Clan under Empress Bian’s vilification.

The Fu Clan’s reputation has been well-known for hundreds of years, they would also regulate literary works and nurture scholars, thus there were numerous connections inside and outside of courts. The tall tree attracts the wind, this was what The Late Emperor was afraid of. The wind and weather is hard to predict, thus the cause of the fall of the Fu Clan in this chaotic world has however become the lucky star that has changed my life’s destiny and fate.

Wei Jue went separate ways with the big Wei Clan and established his own clan. Even though he has The Heavenly One (The Emperor) behind his back, he was denounced by the scholars. Although the Fu Clan had fallen, the reputation among scholars in the world was still strong.  Wei Jue wanted to recruit talented individuals of wisdom and wanted to legitimize his authority, thus the marriage between me and Wei Tan came about. 

I was the sole descendant of the Fu Clan and there was nothing more effective than this. 

Things were quickly packed up and were stuffed into two carriages. Wei Tan sent 300 soldiers to escort me, led by a general named Cheng Mao. 

While getting onto the carriage, I saw Wei Tan on horseback talking to some people from a distance. The literary scholar beside him was looking somewhat familiar, and after a while, I recall that was the master of last night’s ceremony. 

Not long after, Wei Tan finished talking to them and turned around. I could feel his gaze land over here and soon after that, he spurred his horse over.

I stood by the carriage and watched him dismount from his horse two steps away, before walking towards me.

“.....Fujun.” I greeted. 

I had originally wanted to call him “Jiangjun”, but I suddenly remembered what he said last night and instantly changed my words.

Wei Tan seemed to be rather satisfied with this address, “Is the packing completed?”  he asked.

“Replying to Jiangjun, everything is packed up and ready.” Before I could say a word, Zhang Shi, who was beside me, had already answered on my behalf. 

Wei Tan nodded and said to me, “Furen, come and meet Wang Gong.”

I looked over in amazement and saw him slightly moving aside. Behind him was  the literary scholar, the master of ceremony from last night greeted me with an amiable expression, “Wang Ju from Langya, greets Furen.”

When the name fell into my ears, I was a little stunned. 

Wang Ju, courtesy name Zhongning, was a descendant of the Wang Clan from Langya and previously the Governor of Qingzhou. The reason I knew him was because Father had a good relationship with him and one would often hear Father mentioning him to my Older Brothers. Father said that he was talented but unfortunately lacked adaptability in dealing with people, otherwise, with his family background, he could have a rank within the Nine Minister and above if he had remained in the capital.

The man in front had a head full with greyish-white hair, and if Father was still here, he would be of a similar age…

“It turned out to be Wang Qingzhou.” I said politely. 

Wang Ju shook his head and said with a smile, “Furen has overwhelmed Zaixia, who had left the position in Qingzhou long ago, and is now merely a commoner.” 

Wei Tan smiled and said, “Wang Gong is now serving as the army’s Chief Military Advisor. Fuqin had heard that Wang Gong had a good relationship with Furen and especially invited him to be the master of ceremony last night.”

“So it turns out like that.” I smiled, looked at Wang Ju, before sighing lightly, “I still remembered that in the past, when Fuqin mentioned Wang Gong to my brothers, it would always be filled with praise. If Fuqin knew of the matter today, he would be pleased.”

One did not know if the words were filled with sentiments or Wang Ju was filled with affection, the rim of his eyes were red. 

“That year, one was in a distant place when one heard about Furen’s family matter. Now a long time had passed. Furen should take care. If there is any difficulty in the future, one is willing to be a dog or horse.” He gave a long and deep bow and said solemnly. 

I lowered my head, “Many thanks to Wang Gong.”

Wang Ju said more words of goodbye before taking a leave.

Upon seeing his departing figure far away, I retrieved my gaze and unexpectedly met Wei Tan’s eyes.

He had been staring at me, and under the blue sky of the wilderness, one was unable to see what was under those slightly narrowed eyes. 

“Last night, one was abrupt towards Furen.” He said, “I will be heading to Jiaojun today, and requesting Furen to return to Yongdu first.”

Those words still didn’t have any slight of sincerity. I bowed my head slightly to appear virtuous, “Fujun is out for battling, Qiehas no resentment.”

Wei Tan did not speak, and seemed to be observing me.

“Although Yongdu is a little far, the roads are flat and easy to travel on.” After a short pause, he continued, “Cheng Mao has been my lieutenant for many years, rest assured that all will be taken care of.”

I nodded: “Understood.”

Wei Tan stretched out his hand towards me.

I was stunned for a moment, and it took me a few seconds to realize that he was going to help me up into the carriage. I gave him my hand, his arm was firm and strong and he quickly supported me up.

“Take care.” He finally said.

I bowed and replied softly, “Fujun take care.” 

Wei Tan said nothing, withdrew his hand and nodded slightly towards the driver. 

One heard a shout from the front of the carriage, and the carriage started to move. 

My finger lifted up the carriage’s curtain as it covered half of my face while I kept looking at Wei Tan. Only when one was out of the gates and could no longer see him, did I lower the curtains.

Being alone in the carriage, there was no need to put on any gestures or expressions. I sighed, leaned back lazily against the wooden post, and stretched my feet. 

As the carriage swayed in motion, from time to time, light penetrated and the scenery from outside passed by. Suddenly, from a distance, I saw a scholar riding a horse on a hillside beside the road, who seemed to be looking in my direction. 

Wang Ju? I raised my eyebrows slightly. 

Recalling the scene before, I was quite satisfied with my performance. 

In this world, there were not many people who Father would praise. One heard that Wang Ju had an aloof temperament, and it was due to the persuasion of the elders in his clan that he took on the post of the Government of Qingzhou. It was surprising that Wei Jue was able to get Wang Ju under his command. In any case, from Wang Ju’s official rank and Wei Tan’s attitude,  he seemed to be a well-respected person and having good relations with him may be advantageous to me.

As for the ‘old friend’, ha ha, old friend my ass. 

When Father’s incident happened, those who were friends with him in the past seemed to have disappeared. I will never forget the day Father and Brothers were executed, I was the only one who followed the prisoner chariot and sent them off. 

Those so-called old friends, even if they were to cry in front of me, there would only be cold laughter in my heart.