Chapter 217 — Matchmaking (Bonus Chapter: Begging for Pink Votes)

Dou Huaiying felt a stir of temptation for a moment, but he quickly suppressed it.

This Tao Jun spoke with refinement and had a proper, upright appearance—he seemed like a modest, gentlemanly scholar, yet now and then he let slip a certain obsequious manner, which showed his character was not worth much. At this moment he was clearly proposing a match for his daughter only to ingratiate himself, and who knew what sort of family he had in mind?

Surely he could not simply marry Shouyuan off to just anyone because she was getting on in years?

He laughed a few times and brushed the matter aside.

Seeing this, Tao Jun did not press further, and he and Xu Zhiji took their leave together.

Dou Huaiying went back to his study and read for a while, when a young servant came running in: "Seventh Master, that Mr. Tao who came to visit with Lord Xu just now has come back. He says he has something urgent to see you about, and begs you to grant him an audience no matter what."

Though displeased, he was of a gentle temperament and still received Tao Jun.

The moment Tao Jun saw Dou Huaiying, he bowed low in a deep salute, his face full of shame. "Lord Dou, a man needs his dignity as a tree needs its bark. In Lord Xu's presence I truly could not bring myself to say it. My wife's nephew did not steal anything from anyone. While running a silver shop in Baoding Prefecture, he had an affair with a concubine of the Baoding prefect—a woman who often sent for the shop's craftsmen to make jewelry. The prefect noticed something but could find no proof, so he trumped up a charge and threw him into prison. I serve as an adviser in the Yingzhenguo Estate and count myself on pleasant terms with the Duke of Ying. I once appealed to His Grace about this matter, thinking at the time it was merely a misunderstanding, and His Grace even sent a calling card to the Baoding prefect on our behalf—that was how we learned what it was really about. But the prefect has made his position plain, and His Grace cannot well intercede now. I had nowhere else to turn, and so I have come to beg Lord Dou."

"He has committed such a sordid offense that we have no face to plead for him. But he has a mother of sixty above him and several young children crying to be fed below. If something happens to him, that old mother and those little ones will have no way to live. That is why I have dared to ask Lord Dou to intercede and spare his life..." With that, Tao Jun bowed low once more.

That was more like it!

Dou Huaiying mused.

As long as his life was spared, and with Tao Jun working behind the scenes, he would likely be out again in two or three years.

Now that he knew this was a private grudge, he grew all the more cautious, and said after weighing it: "Let me ask around for you first."

Tao Jun was overcome with gratitude and hurried to say: "When I said I wished to make a match for the eldest young lady of your household, I meant it in earnest. The suitor is the heir of my master, the Yingzhenguo Estate, sixteen this year. Beyond his handsome looks, he is thoroughly skilled in archery, horsemanship, and the six arts. When he was barely a month old he received imperial grace and was granted a hereditary fourth-rank assistant commissioner's post; at five he inherited the title of heir; and now he serves as commander of the forward guard of the Jinwu Guard—a proper third-rank military officer. He has only one full brother at home, and a few distant relatives—the household is quiet and uncomplicated. If not for the trouble at the Dingzhenguo Estate and Lady Jiang's passing, how would the heir's marriage have been delayed to this day..."

The matter of the Duke of Ding was known to all.

Most in scholarly circles believed the Duke of Ding had died unjustly; far from considering him a criminal, they likened him to Guan Gong, seeing him as a sacrifice in the contest between Zeng Yifen and Ye Shipei.

Song Yan was the Duke of Ding's own nephew through his mother, and his pedigree was unquestionably distinguished.

Dou Huaiying was immediately tempted; if Dou Yan could be married out, that was naturally better than keeping her at home.

He could not help asking: "Is this true?"

"How would I dare deceive Lord Dou!" Tao Jun said with a solemn countenance. "I have served in the Yingzhenguo Estate for over ten years and am a man whose word carries weight with His Grace. I would never dare speak wildly of such a matter."

It was true that in many great households, young masters and young ladies had their matches made by trusted old servants. But Tao Jun's air of complete certainty, as though the matter would be settled the moment he raised it, only made Dou Huaiying suspicious.

If the heir of the Duke of Ying was truly so fine, why would he set his sights on Shouyuan?

It was not that he thought too little of himself. Rather, the titled nobility and the civil officials were two different circles altogether. The Yingzhenguo Estate's fame was so dazzling that even someone like him, who seldom went out to socialize, knew of it—and he was merely a fourth-rank Hanlin official. His cousin might sit in the Grand Secretariat, but his roots were still shallow, and the two families had nothing to offer each other. A house of tasseled caps and official robes that had stood for a hundred years, like the Yingzhenguo Estate, might not think them worth a glance.

As though he had read Dou Huaiying's thoughts, Tao Jun smiled and said: "To be frank with you, since Lady Jiang's death from illness, the Yingzhenguo Estate has had no mistress to manage the household. His Grace has no intention of remarrying, and wishes to find the heir a wife who can oversee the family's affairs—ideally a few years older than the young master, dignified and generous, virtuous and sensible, gentle and sincere. But after much searching, no suitable family could be found. I heard that the unwed daughter of your household is the eldest, a daughter you meant to keep at home to look after you in your old age, and she must therefore be very capable. That is what put the thought of matchmaking into my head. Had the unwed daughter of your house been the second, I might not have dared say such a thing..."

Dou Huaiying was reassured, and could not help saying: "It is not a father's vanity to say so, but this daughter of mine is indeed exceedingly capable. There is no matter in the household, great or small, that she cannot handle..."

Tao Jun listened with a most earnest face, though inwardly he disagreed.

If she was so capable, why had she not dared utter a word when her younger sister swapped the match onto her?

Even if capable, she must be one of those who only bows her head and keeps silent, dull and wooden.

He waited patiently until Dou Huaiying had finished praising his daughter, then smiled and said: "Just now, with Lord Xu present, I could not say which family I was proposing for the young lady of your house, nor could I fail to put in a good word with the Duke of Ying. I will come back in a few days to hear Lord Dou's reply."

Dou Huaiying nodded in satisfaction.

Now this was how matchmaking ought to be done!

Both families were people of standing; if the match came off, all would be delighted, and if it did not, would it not make them a laughingstock? Dou Yan especially—the business of the sisters swapping matches could not be hidden forever, and if the match with the Song family also fell through, she would truly become the joke of the capital. Being a laughingstock was one thing; one could endure it and it would pass in time. But if rumors spread that Dou Yan had some hidden illness or defect, that would be truly disastrous.