1.14 AuYeung LaiSan - DongAn's Decision

A couple more days goes by and in the South, the letter that the Crown Prince wrote to the General had finally arrived.

"General. The Crown Prince's messenger hawk had just arrived with a letter," the soldier said as he entered the General's study with the hawk in one hand and the letter in the other.

"Come, give it to me," the General said hastily. As he stood up from his desk and rounded the corner to meet the soldier half way.

With the letter in hand, he absent-mindedly dismissed the soldier, not once lifting his gaze from the letter. Once the doors were closed, he hastily tore open the letter and read.

DongAn,

I am happy to inform you, that the one you had asked for me to care for on your behalf has awaken. She is currently weak but well.

I had not met her before yesterday but I must say she is quite an interesting woman, she is open, ernest and true to herself, she had made quite an impression on me at our first meeting. Even in her weakened state, her beauty was captivating.

If I was not already betrothed to the Princess of BeiGao, I would seriously consider taking her as my Princess.

Therefore as a warning my dear sworn brother, if you truly are not to return for another three months, don't blame this Prince if she catches someone else's eyes before you return to the Capital. As the saying goes, "After the last boat leaves, you can no longer get across." Grasp your chance while it is still available.

Also remember, Imperial Scholar AuYeung only believes in one husband, to one wife. If your mom still has thoughts of a "full" home, you will not get that chance with AuYeung LaiSan.

So carefully consider your next move.

Take care,

Sworn brother TianLong

I read that last part one more time and considered it carefully.

In the past week, mom had continuously shown me drawings of eligible ladies and also pestered me so much that I actually went to meet a few of them at a gathering in the tea house. None of whom I felt any attraction to.

Mom had also expressed her hopes for a big family and if my wife is not able to, she will also select concubines for me. I am not opposed to the idea of concubines but if it was Miss AuYeung that I choose as my wife, that would not be a possibility, therefore mother may be unhappy.

I am so torn, I rubbed my temples as I another thought popped in mind.

Also, it is so far, if I pursue an engagement with Miss AuYeung, I will be pulling her so far away from her family, I am also afraid she will not be happy. Maybe it would be better to choose someone closer to home.

Okay, with that thought, I decided that it is just better for everyone if maybe I did marry someone else. My mom would be happy and so will Miss AuYeung.

Even though I did have my heart set on her, I know that with time I will accept another as well.

With that thought I went back to finishing my official work for the day and headed home for dinner.

At home, as I walked in the door, there was a strong scent of Bai Lan, White Champacas.

I walked into the Receiving Hall and there were potted Bai Lan lining the wall, as well as three visitors I did not recognize.

I walked in and greeted mother and father. My mom was the first to react.

"Oh, DongAn you have returned. Please come to greet your aunt and uncle and their daughter PuiHa."

I was utterly confused, I had already met all my mother and father's brothers and sisters and their families before and this couple was not one of them.

"Greetings to Uncle and Auntie and Miss PuiHa." I cordially said.

Mom then chimed in and said, "He is your fourth uncle's, wife's, third brother and they are his family. Their last name is Lau. So you can call them Uncle Lau and Auntie Lau and PuiHa could be considered your cousin.

"Ah, nice to meet everyone," I greeted them again.

"Nice to meet you too. We have heard so much about you from my sister, we feel we already know you," Uncle Lau said enthusiastically.

"We had brought along these planted flowers as a gift," Auntie Lau said.

"Thank you. But you really didn't have to. It is too much," my mom responded.

"No, no. It is nothing at all. We are merchants that live in the next town. We are traveling to the Capital and it was on our way. We truly are troubling you the next few days, so this is something that we had brought along. Please don't dislike," Auntie Lau said.

"It's very good, thank you. What a lovely fragrance," my mom cooed. "Please let the servants show you to your rooms to freshen up and rest until dinner."

"Very well, we will take our leave for now," Uncle Lau said, then slightly bowed and turned towards the inner courtyards.

After they walked into the inner courtyard and out of earshot.

My mom slapped my arm excitedly and said, "Did you notice the hips on PuiHa, robust. It's great for childbirth!"

"Mom, how lewd. It is not something that I would do," I protested.

"Yes and her eight characters are a good match, not as great as that Miss AuYeung but still good," my mother said.

"Oh mom, this is your planning as well?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Of course! How else will I see grandchildren in my life time?"

"Oh mom, stop it," I protested, "and by the way Miss AuYeung has awaken."

"Oh really? So what! You are not still hanging on to that. She is so weak, how can she have children. Let it go, I will find you an even better match." She was adamant about it.

In a calm manner and delusionally convincing myself that I truly had a choice in the matter, I told mom my decision, "Mom, I have thought about it as well, it may be best if I did let it go. For now, I will allow you to find another candidate and I will go along with your plans without protest but you must let me have the final decision."

"Good, no problem. I would never choose someone for you that you don't like," my mom said happily. "So, what do you think about PuiHa? Why don't you spend some time together before they leave for the Capital in a few days?"

"Okay, since they are our guest, I will play my part as a host and show them around the ZhangZhou tomorrow. Would you like to come along?"

"Oh no need," as she dismissively waved her right hand, "I already made plans with the Laus, just bring PuiHa around. You young people have fun."

"Mom, that will not be appropriate," I questioned. I often noticed, her ability to ignore all ediquict when it came to the matters of choosing her daughter in-law.

"What not appropriate, you are family! Who dares say something! And anyways you are not alone, bring a maid and servant along. They can help carry your purchases. Didn't you just say you will follow my planning?"

"Fine, whatever you say. Have you also planned out where we will be going as well?" knowing full well she already did.

Unsurprisingly she admitted, "Actually yes, first you will go to Peace Tea House for dim sum and tea in the afternoon, then you will walk along downtown and shop. Remember to pay for her, whatever she wants, you buy for her. Then in the evening you will bring her to the river and board a dinner cruise and admire the Spring Lantern festival."

"Wow, you actually left me the morning to get some work done?" I said sarcastically.

"Of course, I had to give you time to go to the office and inform your Deputy General that you will be off."

I rolled my eyes and I said nothing else as I bowed slightly to my parents and walked back to my room.

When I left, mom turned her attention to father and was talking his ears off about the plans.

In my room, the painting of Miss AuYeung was still hanging. I approached it and took it down, rolling it back up and placed it in the bookshelves with all the other drawings. Since I have decided, I didn't need to continue to look at the drawing and have my heart swayed each time.

With that done, I washed up and rested a while until they called me for dinner.

During dinner I got to observe Lau PuiHa a bit more and she seems like a nice girl, filial to elders and my mom obviously likes her. I guess I can give it a try.

After dinner and before retiring for the night, I strolled out to the garden, my intentions were to have a drink while admiring the stars. I walked out into a clear night sky, the Spring breeze brought about the scents of the night. Clean and crisp, it helped to clear my head but my heart was still trying to come to grasp with my decision earlier and just would not calm. To my surprise Lau PuiHa was also there under the pavilion. With her slender figure, donning a white cape, she looked quite elegant under the night sky.

I walked closer, not wanting to scare her, I made my approach heard, purposely stepping on more leaves than necessary.

As I got close enough and was sure she had noticed me, I cordially said, "Good evening Miss Lau, isn't it a beautiful night."

"Yes." Was all she said. She lowered her head so much that all I saw was the top of her hairdo.

"The stars are in the sky, why are you looking at the ground?" I teased her a bit.

"Ah… yes," as she slightly looked up, but avoided eye contact with me.

"Truly a clear and nice night, would you care for a drink as well?" I asked.

"No, thank you." She responded and once again her head was lowered.

Oh gosh, talk about having a one sided conversation here. I bet if it wasn't so dark out, I would see that she was also quite red. Why is she so shy, I truly don't think that I can live out my years with someone that hardly speaks or speaks only when spoken to.

But I guess it is still better than the others I have met that won't shut up about the most trivial of things. I have yet to meet a woman that is my perfect match.

Well I thought that AuYeung LaiSan would had been. Shit, why am I thinking about her again! I should let it go, since I decided not to pursue a future with her, I need to stop this. I am only…

"General. It is getting late, I shall retire back to my room. Excuse me. Good night," she said interrupting my train of thought and hurriedly headed back inside.

"Ah. good night," I said indifferently as she had already walked away.

My mind was still on AuYeung LaiSan, wondering why I can't seem to let her go. I thought about her as I poured myself another drink and stared up at the stars. I wondered what she was doing this very moment.

The way the Crown Prince described her was exactly how I thought her personality would be. I thought about what he had said about others pursuing her. That thought caused a bit of discomfort in my chest. No, stop it I admonished myself, I had decided to let it go, so let it go. Forget about it!

I quickly downed the rest of the bottle of wine and headed back to my room to sleep. I was sure sleep would not come easy tonight, as it hasn't since we had returned. My dreams had always been of her, someone I had never even met.