Chapter Eight: A Battle of Wits with the Scholars

“Absurd! Yun Niang, look around this hall—when did a young lady like you get the right to speak here?” Cheng Mingye’s chest heaved with anger. “Why on earth should I answer questions posed by someone junior to me?”

“Uncle, then on what grounds did you take it upon yourself to decide my niece’s marriage?” Cheng Yingxue retorted boldly. Mingye’s fury instantly turned to a bitter laugh. “Because I am your elder uncle!”

“I am your senior in rank!”

“Oh? That’s curious. By the rites, that doesn’t quite hold,” the young girl smiled slyly, slowly scanning the room before fixing her unwavering gaze on the man seated above.

“Putting aside the ‘Three Obediences and Four Virtues,’ where the ‘obedience’ originally emphasized ‘assisting’ according to the Book of Rites, let’s consider the phrases people commonly recite nowadays—”

“The ‘Three Obediences’ say: ‘Before marriage, obey your father; after marriage, obey your husband; if widowed, obey your son.’” Cheng Yingxue straightened her back with pride. “Nowhere in these ‘Three Obediences’ is there mention of ‘obeying your uncle’ or ‘obeying your elder uncle.’”

“That’s nonsense!” Cheng Mingye’s eyes blazed with rage.

Yingxue stood her ground without flinching. “The sages wrote it clearly in the rites. How can this be twisted into nonsense?”

“Let’s concede for a moment: even if Yun Niang’s biological father passed away early and she never married, her elder brother is still alive. As the saying goes, ‘The eldest brother is like a father.’ Whether by blood or by the moral order, Yun Niang must either not obey anyone, or if she must obey, she should first obey her elder brother!”

“Moreover, marriage matters have always been ‘the command of parents and the words of matchmakers.’ Now that there is no matchmaker and our mother cannot casually enter the main hall, Uncle, if you insist on intervening in Yun Niang’s marriage, you must at least invite my brother to be present!”

“Hmph! Your brother is a hopeless mess, good for nothing. What use would it be to bring him here?” Mingye clenched the armrest tightly. “In the end, everything must be decided by me!”

“That doesn’t matter.” The young girl’s expression remained calm. “No matter if he’s no better than rotten mud or decayed wood—as long as he bears the surname ‘Cheng,’ he is Yun Niang’s true elder brother.”

Yingxue deliberately emphasized the word “true.” Mingye felt a sharp pounding ache in his head.

Having lived most of his life, this was apparently the first time a barely coming-of-age girl had vexed him so thoroughly. She was like the last stubborn bone left simmering in the pot—unyielding and utterly inflexible.

“Such nonsense! I wonder how your mother taught you!” A member of the Cheng family, who had been silently watching this verbal duel between uncle and niece, could no longer hold back. He slammed the table and scolded Yingxue, trying to assert dominance based on rites and morality.

“Even if your uncle alone cannot decide—there are so many elders here, can’t we decide the marriage of a young girl like you?”

“Seventh Uncle, that’s even more unreasonable.” The girl turned to the middle-aged man past his prime, raising an eyebrow. “By clan seniority, Yun Niang should indeed respectfully address you as ‘Seventh Uncle.’”

“But if we trace blood relations back to our great-grandfather’s generation, your grandfather and Yun Niang’s great-grandfather were cousins. If we count carefully, there are three generations separating you.”

“No matter how you calculate, you and Yun Niang are merely distant relatives—hardly even cousins. Two more generations down, you’re out of the five degrees of kinship.”

“With Yun Niang’s elder biological brother still present, and the main hall seating an elder uncle who shares the same mother as my father, according to our dynasty’s rites, the elder uncle cannot overstep the elder brother and forcibly arrange Yun Niang’s marriage. If any of you uncles want to decide unilaterally, isn’t that even more disrespectful of the rites?”

“If word of this got out, others would surely mock the Cheng family—a great clan utterly ignorant of proper etiquette!” Yingxue’s argument was sharp and pointed, cutting off any hope they had of meddling rashly in her marriage. After all, in this age, people prized propriety most of all. To be branded as ‘breaking the rites’ would be a disgrace that could ruin their family’s reputation.

“So, what exactly do you want to do?” Cheng Mingye’s face darkened.

In truth, seeing others also left speechless by Yingxue’s sharp tongue made him secretly pleased, though he dared not show it.

“That’s easy, Uncle.” The girl smiled slyly, fox-like, baring her teeth. “Either you immediately send someone to fetch Yun Niang’s brother, or you answer two questions of mine first.”

—At this moment, who knew where her brother had vanished to?

She was forcing him to answer those troublesome questions!

Mingye furrowed his brows, staring at the girl with suspicion for a long moment before gloomily slamming his sleeve down. “Speak.”

Seizing her moment, Yingxue wasted no time.

“First, why must you choose such two marriage alliances for Yun Niang?”

“Firstly, besides that young Master Shen, Huizhou is full of outstanding young men. Secondly, the Cheng family in Xiuning is a reputable clan. Based on these two reasons, Yun Niang should not have trouble finding a match, right?”

“Why then do you insist on Yun Niang marrying now?”

“This... naturally is for the Cheng family’s benefit.” Mingye’s expression grew strange, struggling for a moment before confessing, “And I never truly intended to send you as a secondary wife to that gentleman.”

—That was indeed a provocation.

From the start, he only wanted to marry her into the Shen family.

“Then why must it be the Shen family?” Yingxue pressed further.

Mingye stammered slightly under her pressure. “This... of course...”

“Ah!” The man slapped his thigh and sighed heavily. “Because the Shen family’s business complements ours perfectly. If the two families become in-laws, it will be mutually beneficial.”

“Moreover, the lady of the Shen family said that if you marry in, she would treat you as her own daughter. If you are blessed with children, the Shen family’s wealth would include your share in the future.”

Mingye’s eyes looked a bit embarrassed. “Considering that, apart from the groom’s somewhat frail health, what’s wrong with this match?”

“And then we wait for Master Shen to die young, and Yun Niang will stay to serve the in-laws...” Yingxue couldn’t hold back a cold sneer. “Who knows? One day, just like Sister Yingrou, she might earn the Shen and Cheng families a glorious chaste widow’s archway!”

“Yun Niang, watch your words!” Mingye slammed the table, shouting furiously. Yingxue closed her eyes briefly to calm herself.

“In the end, you chose the Shen family for one reason only—the word ‘profit.’”

“Then, Uncle,” the young girl’s calm eyes lifted again, “Yun Niang’s second question.”

“Second, if Yun Niang can bring the Cheng family benefits equal to or far surpassing those from marrying into the Shen family, would you then allow her to refuse this marriage?”