Dandy Escapes From Marriage - Chapter 40

The next day, Liu Shu sat up on the bed, his mind still foggy. After yawning a few times and rubbing his temples, he began to clear up a bit, squinting as he got out of bed.

Shen Ke sat by the window, looking up at him as he clumsily dressed and washed up. Though his body was up, his spirit was still not quite there. Shen Ke couldn’t help but chuckle, “If you’re tired, go back to sleep for a bit.”

“What time is it?” Liu Shu yawned, sitting opposite him and reaching for the steamed bun on the table, eating it bite by bite.

“It’s a quarter past noon.”

“So late already?” Liu Shu suddenly woke up, “I remember you said last night that the Magistrate wanted to see us and reward us?!”

“Yeah.”

“Well then, what are we waiting for, hurry up!” Liu Shu dropped the bun and pulled him out the door.

When they arrived at the yamen, Zhang Moyang, Hui Shang, and Chen Yinglian had already been there for a while, each receiving their respective rewards.

Zhang Moyang received a hundred taels of silver, Hui Shang got a few Buddhist scriptures, and Chen Yinglian pleaded for the Magistrate’s help in retiring her husband, with all the betrothal gifts still going to her.

“Sorry, Lord Shen, I’m late.” Liu Shu smiled awkwardly, looking at the Magistrate sitting in the hall, somewhat surprised. He was quite different from the fat-headed image he had imagined, so young and quite handsome.

Zhang Moyang quietly moved to his side and whispered, “Make your greeting!”

“Oh…”

Liu Shu reluctantly complied. He hated this kind of formalities the most. Why did he have to bow his head before speaking every time? Could bowing his head several times really contribute to the prosperity of the country?

“I greet Lord Shen.” He quickly made a gesture with his hands, already organized his language. If the magistrate asked why he didn’t kneel, he could say that a good man only kneels to heaven, earth, and parents!

But Lord Shen didn’t give him a chance to say that. He seemed not to care about his etiquette issues. Instead, he looked at him curiously for a moment, then with an appreciative tone said, “Are you Xiaowu?”

“Yes.”

Lord Shen suddenly felt somewhat familiar with him, but for a while he couldn’t remember where he had seen him. He just stared at his handsome face and said with a pleasant tone, “You’ve made quite a contribution in capturing the bandits this time. What do you want?”

“Can I ask for anything I want?” Liu Shu’s eyes lit up.

“No, of course not.”

Liu Shu’s mouth immediately drooped.

“If you ask for a ton of gold, where do you think I’ll get it for you?”

Wow, how could this person guess this?

“So take a look at what they’ve got and figure out what I can give you.” Lord Shen said.

Liu Shu scanned their belongings one by one, and suddenly his eyes lit up, saying, “I don’t need gold or silver, or Buddhist scriptures. I just want to ask Lord Shen for a favor.”

“What favor?”

“I want you to act as a matchmaker for me. I want to marry someone!”

“Oh?” Lord Shen smiled slowly, “I didn’t expect you to be such a romantic. Who do you want to marry? Tell me about it.”

“I want to marry him.” Liu Shu pointed his finger at Shen Ke.

Lord Shen’s smile suddenly widened, “?????”

He suddenly looked at Shen Ke, “What did he say?”

“…He said he wants to marry me,” Shen Ke coughed lightly and repeated.

Lord Shen: …I’m not really deaf! Why? Why?!

“This marriage matter, I can’t decide.” Lord Shen finally calmed down after a long time, posing as an honest official and not able to act as a matchmaker. “In addition to this, what else do you want?”

Liu Shu sneered, and finally chose a hundred taels of silver.

After receiving the silver, he couldn’t help but complain to Shen Ke in a low voice, “This Lord Shen is really not good. He can’t do anything. He’s even proud of talking big. If I had known, I would have directly given me a hundred taels from the beginning. He let me expect a lot of things for nothing. What do you think?”

“…” Shen Ke tried to salvage his brother’s image, “The matter of marriage is indeed not something he can decide, it’s not child’s play.”

“You and I are mutually fond of each other, where’s the child’s play? Or do you think marrying me is child’s play?”

This time it really was a disaster, pointing to himself.

“No, what I mean is, we both still have an engagement, and this matter can’t be decided by others for us.” Shen Ke said softly.

Liu Shu was stunned and blinked nervously, “You’re right.”

He thought that the two of them hadn’t had a chance to talk about his engagement.

“Well, the matter is done busy, and several will return to his home. Ke Shen, have a talk with me, I still have things to find you.” Shen Huai walked away.

Several of them thought they were going to talk about public affairs, so they left together.

Shen Ke knew what he wanted to talk about. He followed him and closed the door to speak.

“Tell me, what’s the matter between you and that Xiao Wu?” Shen Huai looked at him softly.

“I met him in the countryside where he had no place to stay, so I took him in. Initially, it was out of kindness, but unexpectedly, feelings grew between us as we spent more time together,” Shen Ke replied succinctly.

“What about your engagement then?”

“I will break it off,” Shen Ke looked up at him. “Big brother, can you help me?”

“What do you want me to do?” Shen Huai glanced at him.

“Help me deliver a letter. Your men and horses are faster.”

“… Just that?”

“Do you think one letter will persuade our parents to break the engagement? Besides, it wouldn’t sound good if this matter spreads,” Shen Huai remarked.

“If one letter won’t do, then I’ll write two more. I can send one every day.”

Shen Huai looked at him in surprise. “Where did you learn this rascal attitude?”

“Rascal? Isn’t this clearly perseverance paying off?” Shen Ke smiled.

“Nonsense.”

“As for reputation… Do you really think our family will be harmonious if I marry someone I barely know? It might sound worse if that gets out. This is damage control,” Shen Ke said slowly.

Shen Huai remained silent for a long while before suddenly asking, “Are you set on him? I see he has a bit of a roguish air about him, which can be seen as carefree or… let’s not go there. Setting aside whether our parents will approve, do you think he’ll fit into our Shen family?”

“Why does he need to fit into our Shen family?” Shen Ke asked.

Shen Huai was taken aback, observing him for a while. Suddenly, he realized Shen Ke wasn’t arguing; he was simply curious, as if he hadn’t considered the idea of the other entering the Shen family, or perhaps…

“You’re not thinking of marrying him, are you?!”

“No, what I mean is, we can move out of the estate. Sister-in-law and Ning’er live in the Shen family, and it’s a bit inconvenient for us two grown men to live together. It’d be better if we moved out.”

“What about after I move out? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“Since you and they can move out, why can’t we move out too?”

“… You rascal!”

Shen Huai never imagined there would come a time when he couldn’t win an argument against this block of wood.

“As for our parents not approving… I will persuade them to agree.”

“What if persuasion doesn’t work?”

“If it doesn’t work, then so be it. You can’t force matters of the heart.”

Huh, ‘can’t force matters of the heart’. Shen Huai asked, “Have you never thought about having him change? Our parents don’t look down on poor boys; they just expect a few adjustments in certain aspects.”

“No need. I like him just the way he is now. If I change him into what our parents like, then who will give me back the real Xiaowu?” Shen Ke said.

“…,” Shen Huai was truly at a loss. He couldn’t win this argument at all.

While Liu Shu and Zhang Moyang were dining together, they had just taken a drink when Shen Ke returned. Liu Shu quickly made space, nudging Hui Shang aside and patting the seat, “Come, sit here.”

After Shen Ke sat down, he glanced lightly at the wine glasses in front of Liu Shu and Zhang Moyang.

“Is everything settled?” Liu Shu asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good then. These officials are such a bother, interrupting people’s meals. Let’s eat.” Liu Shu served him a bowl of rice, noticing his somber mood. After a moment’s thought, he spoke up, “Actually, about my engagement…”

Shen Ke turned his head, staring at him intently, waiting for him to continue.

“It was arranged by my parents without my knowledge. They made the agreement with another family, and I didn’t want to marry a stranger, so I ran away.”

Shen Ke nodded. At their age, it wasn’t uncommon for people to either already be married or engaged, so he understood why someone might want to escape from an engagement.

“I also had an engagement once,” Zhang Moyang suddenly joined in.

The others glanced at him, and he continued, “Unfortunately, the girl broke off the engagement and married an official instead. What a pity, she missed out on someone as handsome and charming as me.”

See, there are so many people with engagements, Shen Ke thought to himself.

Hui Shang added, “Actually, I…”

Everyone suddenly looked at him, their expressions shocked.

“I need to go to the restroom,” Hui Shang stood up and left.

Everyone: …

“Ignore him, let’s drink!” Zhang Moyang resumed pouring wine for Liu Shu.

They didn’t drink much at lunch since they all had things to do in the afternoon. Liu Shu, now energized, followed Shen Ke back to the inn and asked, “Now that everything’s settled, when are we going home?”

“You want to go back already?” Shen Ke smiled. 

“Yeah! You have no idea, the chickens at home have started laying eggs!” Liu Shu’s eyes twinkled with delight, his face beaming.

“Really? Sounds like I’ve missed quite a bit,” Shen Ke replied.

“Yeah, and the pomelo tree has survived!”

“In that case, we should go back and take a look,” Shen Ke thought about his older brother and added, “Let me go say goodbye to Lord Shen first.”

“When did you become so close to him?” Liu Shu suddenly asked. “Is he quite handsome?”

Shen Ke nodded.

“And successful at such a young age?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you… like him?”

“Yeah.”

Liu Shu gasped in shock, his heart sinking. His expression turned bleak.

Shen Ke immediately realized the misunderstanding and said helplessly, “Not that kind of like, just admiration.”

“You admire him…?” Liu Shu felt even more heartbroken.

Shen Ke chuckled, “His daughter is already four years old, and he’s very loving towards his wife.”

“Oh, that’s good then!” Liu Shu instantly perked up again.

Shen Ke went to the yamen to bid farewell to Shen Huai and also wrote a letter of annulment, asking him to help deliver it to the capital.

“I come to town every day. During the day, I help others transcribe books at the Yunlai Inn. If you need anything, just come find me,” Shen Ke said.

“You’re actually transcribing books now?” Shen Huai couldn’t believe it, looking at Shen Ke’s worn-out clothes. “I can’t imagine how you’ve managed to survive.”

“Barely scraping by, eating frugally. I almost cried and went back home to find you guys, but luckily Xiao Wu appeared just in time,” Shen Ke joked.

Shen Huai couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Alright, someday I’ll visit your village and see what kind of life you’ve been living.”

“Well, there’s really nothing special to show you,” Shen Ke replied awkwardly.

“In that case, I definitely have to visit,” Shen Huai chuckled.

Shen Ke and Liu Shu leisurely returned to the village from town. As the sun set in the west, they could still see villagers working in the fields, and they greeted them from afar.

Liu Shu inexplicably felt like he had been living here for a long time, witnessing others’ crops slowly growing. He couldn’t help but sigh, “Life here is really good.”

“You don’t want to leave?” Shen Ke glanced at him.

“Yeah.” Liu Shu carried some jars and bottles, filled with half-finished goods. Despite that, he began envisioning the days ahead, no longer living aimlessly but busy and settled. “I plan to start a small business here.”

Shen Ke pursed his lips and casually remarked, “Starting a business requires capital. Have you thought about where to get the money?”

“Zhang Moyang and the others will help out. We’ve already discussed it.”

Shen Ke’s expression faltered slightly. He looked down at the road and remained silent.

“Although Zhang Moyang is a bit unconventional, when it comes to his sister, he’s reliable. Whatever his sister wants to do, he’ll support her,” Liu Shu praised his friend. But after waiting a while for a response and seeing Shen Ke’s unresponsive demeanor, he turned to look at him. He suddenly recalled that these past few days, Shen Ke seemed indifferent towards Zhang Moyang. Even at the dinner table today, although they sat together, they hadn’t exchanged a word.

“Did you have a falling out with Zhang Moyang? Or maybe you just don’t like him?” Liu Shu asked curiously.

“I don’t like him,” Shen Ke replied bluntly.

“Why not?”

“He’s a playboy, living recklessly.”

Liu Shu felt like a dagger had pierced his heart. He quickly looked away, silently relieved that he hadn’t confessed about Shen Ke’s identity!

“He might be a bit unruly, but he’s not without his merits. I find him much more interesting than Lord Shen today. Scholars are all about being particular.”

Shen Ke’s heart tightened. As a scholar himself, he couldn’t help but reflect. Indeed, he and his brother had similar traits.

“But Ah Ke, you don’t have those flaws,” Liu Shu chuckled, praising him without reservation. “You’re great. Despite being a bit poor, you’re educated and courteous. You bend down to farm, dig, cook, feed chickens, fertilize—they’re not things I’ve seen many scholars do.”

“It’s out of necessity.”

“It doesn’t matter. Effort always pays off. I like seeing you work hard. If you were born into wealth, you might not be able to do all this. You probably wouldn’t be the Ah Ke I like,” Liu Shu continued to praise.

After hearing these words, Shen Ke only had one thought in his mind—That was close. I almost revealed my identity!