Yue Ling had spent all these years at Prince Lingyang’s residence and had handled funerals before, but when it came to joyous occasions, this was his first—the proverbial first time seeing a bride into the sedan chair. Fortunately, both parties were men, and although they intended to marry, neither wanted to make a great spectacle of it and become the subject of gossip in the streets and alleys, so everything was kept as simple as possible.
He had been running things at the Gu residence for only a single day, yet he already had everyone in the household moving at his command with effortless efficiency. The sole exception was Gu Xiaojia. Ever since learning that Gu She intended to marry Tao Mo, he had gone about as though someone had struck him over the head with a mallet, dazed from morning to night and failing to respond no matter how many times anyone called him.
Yue Ling therefore dumped him back on Gu She, deciding that what he could not see could not annoy him.
The sight of Gu She restored a little life to Gu Xiaojia. In a mournful voice, he asked, “Young Master really intends to marry Tao Mo?”
Gu She gave a casual sound of acknowledgment.
“But Tao Mo… he-he’s a man.”
“Mm.”
“And he’s plain-looking and completely illiterate.”
“He recognizes ding.”
Elio’s Notes: 目不识丁 is a common idiom meaning “completely illiterate,” literally “unable to recognize even the character 丁 (ding).” Gu She deadpans that Tao Mo now does recognize ding, turning the idiom into a literal joke. It also echoes the novel’s Chinese title, 《识汝不识丁》.
Gu Xiaojia looked at him resentfully. “Young Master, marriage is supposed to follow the wishes of one’s parents and the word of a matchmaker. How can you just… just settle something like this so simply…?”
Gu She raised his eyes to look at him.
Gu Xiaojia’s face abruptly stiffened. Gu She’s gaze was far too cold and severe.
“Young Master,” he called timidly.
Gu She said, “If you are unwilling, you may go to the accounts office and collect a hundred taels of silver.”
Thud. Gu Xiaojia dropped to his knees. He stared at the floor, his eyes red. “I’ve followed Young Master since I was little. If Young Master doesn’t want me anymore, I have nowhere else to go.”
“I’ll write a letter home. You can return to the capital.”
Gu Xiaojia immediately knocked his head against the floor seven or eight times. “Young Master, don’t send me away! I-I won’t say anything anymore.”
“Only today?”
“I’ll never say it again!” Tears streamed down Gu Xiaojia’s face in grievance.
Gu She set down the book in his hand and said evenly, “Have you ever thought about whom you want to spend the rest of your life with?”
Gu Xiaojia wiped his tears. “Young Master, of course.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
Gu Xiaojia said, “Then… surely that would be for Young Master to decide?”
“Oh? If I arranged for you to marry Hao Guozi, you would agree?”
Gu Xiaojia stared at him dumbly. Only after a long moment did he cry, “I’d rather become a monk!”
“One day you’ll understand. There are some people you would rather become a monk than marry, while there are others whom, if you could not marry them, you would rather become a monk.”
Gu Xiaojia gaped at him. “Young Master, are you saying your feelings for Tao—Tao Mo are already…?”
Gu She picked up his book again and did not answer.
When Gu Xiaojia saw that he had no intention of replying, he sheepishly got to his feet and, clutching his forehead, crept out of the room on tiptoe.
Only after he had gone did Gu She lower the book again.
What he had said to Gu Xiaojia had merely been an offhand remark. He had never seriously considered the possibility that he might be unable to marry Tao Mo.
What would he do if that truly happened?
The thought merely flashed through his mind before he dismissed it with a faint, unconcerned smile.
Compared with the leisurely composure of master and servant of the Gu household, Yue Ling was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.
Rushed though they were, the Three Letters and Six Rites could not simply be dispensed with.
Elio’s Notes: The “Three Letters and Six Rites” were the traditional formal procedures of a Chinese marriage. The six rites were the formal proposal (nacai), inquiry into the prospective spouse’s name and birth details (wenming), confirmation of an auspicious match (naji), presentation of betrothal gifts (nazheng), fixing the wedding date (qingqi), and the wedding procession (qinying).
For the nacai, Yue Ling simply counted his earlier visit to act as matchmaker as the formal proposal. He certainly had no desire to go through such an awkward ordeal a second time.
Tao Mo’s Eight Characters were soon delivered into Gu She’s hands. Gu She spent a single day on them and produced the verdict that theirs was a match made in heaven. He dispensed with the naji altogether and went straight to calculating an auspicious day for the wedding: seven days later.
Elio’s Notes: The Eight Characters, or bazi, are the year, month, day, and hour of a person’s birth expressed through eight traditional calendrical characters. They were commonly used to assess marriage compatibility and select auspicious dates.
Adviser Jin had been at the county yamen long enough that something like this naturally could not be kept from him. Although the news startled him, he adjusted quickly and took it calmly. It also allowed him to let go of his lingering concern over Tao Mo’s earlier refusal of Miss Xu, eldest daughter of Fanxing Silk Shop. After all, cut-sleeve inclinations were hardly rare in the present age; once one had seen enough of such things, there was little reason to regard them as strange.
The wedding being only seven days away, however, seemed far too rushed to both Adviser Jin and Old Tao.
Old Tao privately wondered whether something had happened to make Gu She so impatient. He therefore went to the Gu residence to ask, only for the answer to astonish him.
Gu She told him that Yue Ling could not remain for long, so everything had to be completed before he left.
Yue Ling truly did put his back into the task.
He quickly assembled the betrothal gifts and secretly delivered them to the county yamen during the night.
After accepting them, Old Tao hurriedly sent back the return gifts they had prepared.
That counted as the nazheng.
Only the qingqi, the formal fixing of the wedding date, remained unsettled.
Yue Ling sent someone to ask twice, but each time the only answer was that the matter would be discussed later.
After seeing the servant from the Gu residence off, Old Tao asked Tao Mo, “Young Master, what are you still worried about?”
Tao Mo sat on the stone steps with his knees hugged to his chest. In a low voice, he said, “I’m afraid.”
Old Tao paused, then smiled. “Everyone goes through this sooner or later. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Besides, you and Gu She have known each other for quite some time. This is hardly a blind marriage between strangers, so there’s even less reason to fear.”
Tao Mo shook his head. “I keep being afraid that it isn’t real.” He held out his arm and pushed up his sleeve, exposing the bruise there. “I keep thinking it’s all fake. But even when I pinch myself hard enough to hurt, it still feels unreal.”
“…” This was a knot in his heart. Old Tao had thought that Gu She formally sending the betrothal gifts would be the surest possible way to untie it. He had not expected Tao Mo’s doubts to have taken root so deeply.
“Young Master.” He bent down and caught Tao Mo by the arm. “Come with me.”
Tao Mo rose blankly. “Where?”
“The Gu residence.”
Tao Mo immediately stopped. “Adviser Jin said that the couple aren’t supposed to see each other before the wedding.”
“Then don’t see each other. You can still talk with a door between you.”
“But wouldn’t that still be improper?”
“With empty formalities like these, follow whichever ones are useful,” Old Tao said. “If you listened to every rule and followed every ceremony to the letter, wouldn’t you exhaust yourself to death?”
Tao Mo still wanted to object, but Old Tao gave him no chance and dragged him outside.
Old Tao had traveled the route from the county yamen to the Gu residence so many times that he could have made the journey with his eyes closed.
Yet when Tao Mo reached the entrance, he was the one who suddenly hesitated.
“Some answers have to be found for yourself,” Old Tao said.
Tao Mo stared up at the two characters on the plaque over the Gu residence for a long while, then abruptly turned and tried to climb back into the carriage.
Old Tao caught him. “If you don’t ask today, I’m afraid you’ll never be able to set your mind at ease.”
Tao Mo stood frozen beside the carriage.
“A person only has one life. Better to live it with a clear understanding,” Old Tao said. “Whether you stick your neck out or draw it back, the blade falls all the same. Why not take the risk and find out?”
Tao Mo drew a deep breath, turned back toward the entrance, raised his hand, and knocked.
The gatekeeper was astonished to see him. “Lord Tao, why are you here? You aren’t supposed to see my young master right now.” Very little word of their impending marriage had leaked outside, but everyone in the Gu residence already knew about it.
The rest of the county yamen, on the other hand, was still completely in the dark.
“I have something I need to ask Xianzhi,” Tao Mo said.
The gatekeeper hesitated. “Then… please wait here. I’ll go inform him.”
Old Tao said, “Ask your young master to come over, but keep the door shut. They can speak through it. That won’t count as seeing each other.”
The gatekeeper agreed and hurried away.
Tao Mo pressed a hand to his chest, turned around, and crouched down.
“Gu She may be a scholar, but once he gives his word, he is more unwavering than most martial men,” Old Tao said. “Young Master needn’t worry that the sky is going to fall.”
Tao Mo asked, “What does it mean to worry that the sky will fall?”
Old Tao carefully explained the story behind the expression to him.
Elio’s Notes: 杞人忧天, literally “the man of Qi worries about the sky,” comes from an old story about a man from the state of Qi who became consumed with fear that the sky might collapse. The idiom describes worrying needlessly about something extremely unlikely to happen.
As he was explaining, the sound of slow, unhurried footsteps came from behind the door.
Old Tao tactfully climbed into the carriage, leaving the two of them to speak alone.
“Wuwen?” Gu She’s cool voice sounded from the other side.
Tao Mo’s heart tightened. He slowly stood. “I have something I want to ask you.”
“Ask.”
“Why… why did you send the betrothal gifts?” The moment the question left Tao Mo’s mouth, he could scarcely breathe. The pressure trapped in his chest felt as though it might burst him apart.
“How did you only think to ask me that now?” There was the faintest trace of laughter in Gu She’s voice, relaxed and utterly at ease.
Tao Mo’s heart beat even faster.
After a moment, Gu She slowly said, “I sent the betrothal gifts because I want to marry you.”
Tao Mo could almost no longer remain standing. His body seemed to turn into a drifting cloud, growing lighter and lighter until he felt as though he might float away. He stammered, “Wh-why?”
“Wouldn’t it be good to spend our lives together?” Gu She asked.
How could it not be good?
How could it possibly not be good?!
Tao Mo could think of nothing in the world that could be better.
He covered his face with both hands, and tears seeped through the spaces between his fingers.
After hearing those two sentences from Gu She, what did the reason even matter? What mattered was that from then on, the two of them would spend their lives together and grow old side by side.
The door behind him gave a soft creak as it moved.
A moment later, Tao Mo was suddenly gathered into a warm embrace, the familiar faint fragrance filling his breath.
“Ah, you…” Tao Mo cried anxiously.
Gu She’s voice sounded beside his ear. “It doesn’t matter. My eyes are closed.”
Tao Mo slowly lowered his hands and closed his own eyes. Then he gently leaned his head back against the shoulder of the man with whom he would share a lifetime of supporting and relying upon each other.
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