The border campaign ended in a great victory, and the court held a banquet to reward the troops. Wei Changying accompanied her father to the event. During the banquet, two noblewomen leaned in to whisper to her. "Do you know? I heard that person is coming today, too."
Wei Changying was confused. "Who?"
Noblewoman A said, "That young lady from the Wei family. I hear she's twenty-five this year and still unmarried. She spends every day fooling around with a bunch of men in the military camp. Her reputation is completely ruined."
Noblewoman B chimed in, "I heard she used to have a fiancé, but he must have thought she was too old and ugly. He turned around and married someone else. How pitiful!"
Wei Changying touched her own fair, delicate cheek, feeling indignant on the woman's behalf. Lowering her voice, she said, "But I heard her fiancé got another young lady pregnant. He was about to become a father before marriage, so he had no choice but to call off the engagement with the Wei family."
The two noblewomen were stunned. Then they looked at Wei Changying with admiration. "You know the inside story in such detail. We're impressed. May we ask which official's household you come from? We would be glad to make your acquaintance."
Wei Changying sat upright and smiled. "Certainly. My surname is Wei."
Noblewomen A and B: ...
Bored at the banquet, the Empress Dowager turned her attention to Wei Changying. "I hear the young lady of the Wei family is already twenty-five. When do you plan to marry?"
The Empress Dowager's question left Wei Changying feeling light-headed. She braced herself and replied, "Your servant has spent years stationed at the border, and my reputation is ruined. I'm afraid I'll never find a husband."
"If you can't find a husband, then take a wife instead." Someone suddenly interjected. Wei Changying looked up at the speaker. He was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, with delicate features, an elegant bearing, and peerless beauty. There was no need to say more: someone of such charm must surely come from the Changsun family, renowned for its beauty.
The young man smiled at Wei Changying. Deeply puzzled, she asked without thinking, "Who should I marry?"
Changsun Rong parted his red lips and uttered a single word: "Me."
After seeing his own father spit blood in public from sheer fury, Changsun Rong was thoroughly convinced that his decision had been brilliant!
Theme: Who says domestic scheming is a woman's domain?
