Having bid farewell to a few of his subordinates in a state of absentminded distress, he returned to the courtyard.
Accompanied by her parents and wielding Jinchai, Lady Qian hadn’t even eaten dinner; they were all eagerly waiting for Wang Yongan, lamp still lit.
Upon seeing him return, they all gathered around, "Official, how did it go? Did you find her? Is she at the inn?"
Under the lamplight, Wang Yongan saw Jinchai standing behind Lady Qian. In the dim light, Jinchai, who had always been pampered, benefitted from all the best things Lady Qian could provide. Now, at barely a teenager, she already possessed some of a young lady’s grace.
Wang Yongan couldn’t help but feel a stirring in his heart.
He didn’t show it on his face, simply waved his hand and went inside.
Lady Qian and the others exchanged glances, not daring to make a sound.
Lady Qian’s mother hurried to the kitchen to whip up something simple, and everyone ate haphazardly.
Tired from the afternoon’s exertions, Father and Mother Qian couldn’t stay awake any longer and went back to their room to rest.
Lady Qian was still heating water in the kitchen when Jinchai carefully approached her, "Mother, about father—he—"
What Jinchai feared the most was Wang Yongan. Despite his usually gentle demeanor, only the family knew how autocratic he could be, brooking no opposition.
Whenever he was in a bad mood, the whole household barely dared to breathe.
Lady Qian was also uncertain, but as Wang Yongan’s wife for many years, she comforted her, "It’s alright. Just go back to your room and sleep; I’m here."
Jinchai bit her lip, her eyes wrestling with emotion before she finally whispered, "Mother, we didn’t find Auntie today. Could our family be in trouble?"
Lady Qian was also unsure, but she had to keep up appearances in front of her child, "With your father here, it should be fine, I guess. If we can’t find her today, we’ll search again tomorrow. Once we spread the word, if she was indeed abducted by bandits, once they learn she’s someone the County Magistrate wants, they’d probably not dare to keep her."
Jinchai pouted, "Really, Auntie being a simple village girl should have just obediently accepted the County Magistrate’s arrangement to become his concubine; other girls can’t even find a way into the County Magistrate’s back yard! She has no sense at all, causing so much trouble."
Having overheard bits and pieces of conversations between her mother, her maternal grandmother, and grandfather over the past few days, Jinchai had gathered the general situation.
In her heart, she harbored her own intentions; she had always known that as a Scholar’s daughter, her life was not like other girls’. She was destined to marry into a family of officials.
Not like Auntie and Jinhua, rustic village girls, who were doomed to scrape a living from the soil, to marry a country bumpkin and spend their lives in the countryside.
Even when she returned home for the New Year and saw the Wang Family’s prosperity, she could only console herself, thinking that no matter how wealthy the Wang Family became, they could not match her status.
She was well aware of her parents’ calculations but, in her opinion, her parents were giving the Wangs a helping hand.
A village girl becoming the concubine of a County Magistrate was like a phoenix soaring to the branch. She should be grateful to her family, what right did she have to be so unreasonable?
She was even more aware that if Auntie became the Magistrate’s concubine and her father subsequently valued more highly, her family’s status would also rise.
Learning that Wang Yongzhu had been abducted, her first thought was what would happen to her own family.
Lady Qian harbored the same thoughts but with an additional layer of worry.
She sent Jinchai back to her own room.
Lady Qian had just prepared a basin of hot water and carefully entered the room to see Wang Yongan lying on the kang bed with a deep frown. She tiptoed even lighter, walked to the edge of the bed, put down the water, and said, "Official, you’ve been tired all day. Soak your feet to warm up."
As she spoke, she removed Wang Yongan’s socks and placed his feet in the basin.
The moment his feet dipped into the hot water and felt the comforting warmth, Wang Yongan couldn’t help but sigh. Looking down at Lady Qian’s demure manner, he recalled the attentive and thorough care she’d given him throughout their more than ten years of marriage.
She never went against his wishes, always gentle and compliant.
With these thoughts, his expression softened somewhat, "Ruyue, you’ve suffered these years following me!"
Lady Qian felt a surge of emotion, and tears dropped into the basin. She quickly wiped them with her sleeve and forced a smile, "Official, being able to marry you is a blessing for my whole life, not bitter at all!"
Wang Yongan sighed, "Alas, it’s my incompetence. After all these years, we finally got such an opportunity, but unfortunately, we faced ill luck and encountered this mishap. Now I have seriously offended the County Magistrate and angered our family as well. We’re now in a predicament, with enemies on all sides. I’m afraid we can’t stay in Qi City any longer, and we can’t go back to our hometown either!"
"Ruyue, we’ve been husband and wife for so long; I’ve let you down! I’ve let down Jinchai! I’ve let down my in-laws and their hope that I would amount to something!" He said as he also shed a couple of tears.
Lady Qian was bewildered, she knew that not delivering the younger sister-in-law to the County Yamen caused trouble, but she hadn’t realized it was so serious.
"Official, then... what should we do?"
"Now that it’s come to this, tomorrow morning, I will go and apologize to Lord Gao. Life or death will be at the discretion of Lord Gao! You and our daughter, along with Father and Mother Qian, should pack up and leave early tomorrow!" Wang Yongan covered his face, feigning resignation to his fate.
"No, if we go, we go together! If we stay, we stay together!" Lady Qian firmly refused.
Wang Yongan, not caring that his feet were still in the basin, stood up suddenly and embraced Lady Qian, "Ruyue, now only you do not despise me!"
Lady Qian looked at Wang Yongan with tender affection, "Official, as long as I am with you, I am willing to endure any hardship!"
Wang Yongan’s eyes flickered, and he helped Lady Qian sit beside him on the kang, "To have a wife , what more could a husband ask for!"
Lady Qian nestled in Wang Yongan’s arms, feeling that nothing could be sweeter than this moment.
After a long while, Wang Yongan steeled himself, pushed Lady Qian away, and said, "Ruyue! With you treating me this way, I, Wang Yongan, am not a beast. How can I bear to drag you down? Lord Gao is ruthless, and now that we failed to deliver my sister as promised, he will surely bear a grudge and believe that I’ve made a fool of him. He won’t let me off easily! I can’t drag you down with me, what if we get a divorce? After a divorce, no matter what happens to me, it won’t affect you!"
Lady Qian clung tightly to Wang Yongan’s waist, "I won’t agree to a divorce! Not even if I die!"
The couple embraced and wept together for a while.
Only then did Lady Qian manage to speak, "Isn’t there any other way? Can’t we purchase another beautiful maid to send to Lord Gao?"
Wang Yongan bitterly laughed, "We must give Lord Gao an explanation by tomorrow at the latest, where would we find a clean and innocent girl by then? Besides, if the person sent doesn’t share loyalty with our family, why would Lord Gao trust us or give our family any benefits? Wouldn’t it just be wasting silver, laboring for nothing?"
Lady Qian gritted her teeth; half of her body felt scorched by fire, and the other half frozen in ice water. She was indescribably uncomfortable, "Then what do you suggest we do, Official?"
Wang Yongan glanced at Lady Qian and cautiously began, "Now, we have to show Lord Gao our family’s sincerity. Although we didn’t send the younger sister—"
Lady Qian stood up abruptly, her voice sharp, "No! Not Jinchai! Official, this year Jinchai is merely eleven. She is still a child! As her parents, we can’t push our child into a pit of fire! Moreover, didn’t we agree from the beginning? With Jinchai’s looks and character, she should marry into an official’s family as a legitimate Young Lady! How could we let her become someone’s concubine?"