The Fish Seller and the Prodigal Lord - Chapter 3

The Rongs were famously wealthy in Jincheng. They’d been merchants for generations. More than ten years ago, when the northern border was invaded and the imperial treasury ran dry, their family head, Rong Xi, had put the family’s enormous fortune behind the war effort.

Great Chu won. Delighted, the emperor made Rong Xi Marquis of Ning’an. The title was said to be hereditary, too.

With both fame and profit secured, the Rongs used their imperial favor to spread their trading houses throughout Jiangnan.

At first, I couldn’t understand why Rong Ruo had paid for me.

But when I stood in the Rong mansion before Madam Rong, with countless critical eyes traveling up and down my body, I began to see.

“Young lord, surely you’re joking?”

“Second Master, this is hardly something to joke about.”

I felt like an ornamental fish on display, awkward and bewildered under all those eyes.

Madam Rong sat in the place of honor without a word.

The man responsible for the commotion sprawled bonelessly in a red sandalwood chair, one leg crossed over the other. Amusement lingered in his long eyes beneath brows that swept toward his temples. He turned his Buddhist prayer beads at leisure.

“You’re the ones who said I could choose my own wife. Well, I’ll marry her. Yu… what was it?”

My voice was barely audible. “Yu.”

He clapped his hands once. “That’s it. Yu Yu. A good name.”

The Rongs’ second young master marrying a fish seller was, naturally, an enormous joke. Only Rong the Second was smiling. No one else could manage it.

A cool female voice drifted from a corner. “Second Master Rong has always had an eye for beauty. Even if she sells fish, she’ll be quite a fine-looking woman once she’s tidied up. She won’t disgrace us.”

I looked toward the voice. The woman who’d spoken was rather pale in both dress and complexion, with a sickly look about her, but an unmistakable air of pride.

Only much later did I learn that she was the eldest Rong daughter, Rong Yu.

Madam Rong raised her eyes to me. “Miss, ours is no small household. Ruo is our only son, and one day he’ll inherit the title of Marquis of Ning’an. His marriage is a serious matter. His father must agree, and we must report it to His Majesty. It isn’t for me alone to decide. Still, since Ruo chose you, I will accept his choice. Stay in his Purple Bamboo Court for now. Tell the steward if there’s anything you need. We shall discuss your marriage when his father returns from the capital.”

I’d heard that Madam Rong came from a military family and had always been a capable wife to the marquis. Seeing her that day, I understood what it meant to be mistress of a great household.

Even in her displeasure, she’d made her words as gracious as possible and allowed me my dignity. Rong the Second’s expression, meanwhile, was a sight to behold: smug and arrogant in equal measure.

We left the reception hall one behind the other.

He was in an excellent mood, whistling as he carried his birdcage.

He’d deliberately chosen me, a fish seller whose station was worlds beneath his, to infuriate his mother.

Utterly outrageous.

But what choice did I have? At least he looked cleaner than Third Master Yuan.

We hadn’t gone far when a shrill whistle sounded behind me. Just as I looked up, something pecked the back of my head.

“Tiger!”

I clutched my head. A hawk settled unhurriedly on his shoulder, its amber eyes regarding me with the same rude arrogance as its master.

He stroked the head of this hawk called Tiger with an indulgent finger. “You reek of fish. Go wash and change into something clean.”

“Rong…” I didn’t know what to call him. “I’ll pay back the hundred taels. If you don’t trust me, I can sign a debt note.”

His expression darkened. “Your father sold you to me. Besides, how long would it take you to repay a hundred taels?”

“Then take me on as a maid, Second Master. I can wash clothes, cook, and clean. I’ll work off the debt.”

He laughed twice. “I know. Meeting my mother frightened you, didn’t it?” He came closer and tilted his head, deliberately trying to catch my eye. “You dared take a knife to your father in court, yet you’re afraid of a few old women? To tell you the truth, I bought you precisely to defy them.”

I’d never met anyone so unreasonable, let alone so proud of it. Anger at his rudeness and grief at my own fate muddled my head, and I shouted, “I’m a person, not a thing! Old Yu had no right to sell me. I simply can’t stand up to Third Master Yuan or Second Master Rong. Even if I become a maid, it’s because my circumstances have forced me to. I never wanted to enter your house!”

Tiger flapped twice on Rong Ruo’s shoulder and gave a low croak. Even that feathered brute knew to defend its master.

A cold glint entered Rong Ruo’s eyes. The mocking smile left his mouth.

“You don’t want to? All the more reason you can’t leave. I have no shortage of maids. I bought you to be my wife.”