The Hu Family had agreed, and they were so happy that they hardly knew how to contain their excitement. When the matchmaker came back singing their praises, the matter was almost settled.
Madam Lin was also very happy, just waiting for the Hu Family to come and make the formal proposal.
But she waited and waited to no avail; growing anxious, she sent someone to inquire and heard that Hu Yu Qing, while walking down the street, had been hit on the head by a falling flower pot from a balcony above. He had been in a coma for two or three days, and although he was now awake, due to the severity of his injury, he was confined to his bed, groaning all day long.
Madam Lin’s heart sank, and in her own room, she cursed angrily, "Which damned fool didn’t secure the flower pot properly? With so many people on the street, look who got hit?"
Her maid, Hen Xiang, busily said, "Isn’t that the truth? Master Hu is really unlucky. Out of everyone on the street, why did the pot hit him? Madam, what should we do?"
After some thought, Madam Lin said, "Tomorrow, have someone ask when Master Hu will recover from his head injury."
"Yes, Madam," Hen Xiang responded.
The news Hen Xiang sought came back quickly, and with trepidation, she relayed to Madam Lin, "Madam, the Hu Family has changed their minds... they... they will not be coming to propose."
"What?" Madam Lin leaped up from her chair, agitated.
"Wasn’t everything agreed upon? Why not consent?"
Hen Xiang reported the facts as she learned them.
"That’s right, the servant heard that the misfortune of young master Yu Qing being struck by the flower pot was strange, and the superstitious old lady of the Hu Family went to Sanqing Temple to divine good and bad omens. But those at Sanqing Temple told the Hu Family’s old lady it was a great misfortune, and that misfortune was our family’s Miss Youyou.
They said our Miss Youyou is destined to bring bad luck to her husband. Fortunately, the two families were only discussing marriage and had not formally proposed. If they had, then the young master Hu who was hit by the flower pot would never have woken up.
They’ve already said that compared to life, all the wealth in the world isn’t worth mentioning; they wouldn’t dare gamble with Hu Yu Qing’s life. Therefore, this match... I’m afraid it’s fallen through!"
Hen Xiang finished speaking warily, hardly daring to look into Madam Lin’s eyes.
Of course, Madam Lin was extremely angry. She preferred to believe that Hu Yu Qing just happened to be hit by the falling flower pot and didn’t buy into the talk that Gu Youyou was cursed to bring misfortune to her husband.
She herself felt half-dead; she would believe if someone said she was short-lived, but hard-pressed to harm her husband—how could that be?
It must be that the Hu Family’s old lady had consulted an inexperienced priest who made a mistake.
But mistake or not, the truth was that Hu Yu Qing was still bedridden due to the injury from the flower pot, and thus she had to look elsewhere for a suitable match.
Put the Hu Family aside for now.
Gu Youyou inadvertently escaped a disaster, completely oblivious to it all.
Madam Lin said coldly, "Go, send an invitation card to Madam Fan’s residence for me."
She refused to believe that she couldn’t get Gu Youyou married off within the year.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the Imperial Selection arrived faster than they had imagined. For the better part of the month, apart from one visit to the palace, Gu Youyou hadn’t left the house at all.
Just as Gu Youyou had predicted, with the Imperial Selection imminent, their confinement was lifted early, and Madam Lin did not mention the matter of reading the Women’s Four Books a hundred times.
Lin Qianqing appeared a bit nervous, and Gu Youyou comforted her, "You’ve known this day would come. Whether you stretch your neck or shrink back, it’s the same slice of the blade, so why not boldly stick your neck out?"
Lin Qianqing’s large, clear black and white eyes brimmed with moisture as she looked at Gu Youyou resentfully and said, "Cousin, is that really your idea of comforting someone? I feel like it would have been better if you hadn’t said anything at all."