"Bring the blue dress."
"Now?" Chun Tao blinked. "You haven't even.."
"Father will sermon me," Su Lin said, like she was forecasting light rain. "Blue looks calm."
Chun Tao sprinted to the clothes chest.
"Brocade or plain?"
"The one that will make me look unnoticed."
She changed by the Apricot window. The silk fell smoothly on her body. Su Lin loosened the inner ribbon a thumb-width she was too full.
From the corridor came soft, quick steps. A shape paused outside the lattice.
"Eldest Miss," the steward called. "Master requests your presence in the main hall."
"Of course," Su Lin said. She smoothed her sleeve, glanced once at the Apricot tree, and walked out. Chun Tao scurrying after her.
"You're really not nervous?" The maid hissed.
"Not even a little tremble?"
"Trembling would require me to put in effort, since I would be pretending." Su Lin said.
"Miss!"
They turned the last corner. Reaching the main hall.
Inside Minister Su sat expressionless, the exact picture of a man who'd just been blessed by Heaven and was already making a list of how to spend it.
Madam Su had rearranged her features into a sorrowful expression. Su Mei stood at the side in pale rose, eyes shiny from very productive tears. The moment Su Lin stepped in, three gazes weighed her like silver.
"Lin'er," Minister Su said. "His Majesty has bestowed a favour upon our household. One we cannot disobey. The journey to the General's post is long; your sister's health is delicate and weak."
Delicate when it helps. Miraculously robust when there's a banquet.
Su Lin thought.
"You have always been calm. Your good conduct is the perfect fit for the General's manor."
Which translated to : expendable without disadvantages.
Calm or just unbothered!
Su Lin bowed. "Father is the best decision maker, your daughter accepts."
Madam Su actually blinked, as if she'd braced for a scene and had nowhere to pit her prepared scolding. "We...Will not make a spectacle," she said quickly. "His Majesty desires simplicity. Still we will not send you poorly. "
Su Mei seeing that it was her time to act, drifted forward. "Lin-jie." She slid a jade bracelet from her wrist, letting the light catch it a few times first. "For luck. Such a pity there won't be a full procession. A legal wife should have drums and fireworks." She sighed almost as if feeling sorry for Su Lin.
Su Lin accepted the jade between two fingers not wearing it. "Thank you."
Madam Su cleared her throat. "The palace scribe returns at dusk. They'll enter your name then. The General's man sent word that there'll be a small rite before the inscription. "
"Before?" Su Lin lifted a brow.
Before anyone could answer her, a servant boy skidded at the threshold, out of breath. "Master an envoy from the general's camp. The general is approaching. "
"Already?"
Hooves sounded at the outer gate. Mr and Mrs Su made their way outside.
General Shen Liang came off the horse and walked in the gates threshold without so much as a parade. He bowed to Minister Su and Madam Su.
"General," Minister Su said, warmth lacquered on. "Our small house is honored."
"No need for formalities Minister Su, we are considered family now." Shen Liang said.
Minister Su led him inside the manor. They moved to the family alter. The Minister let the general light an incense. Minister Su said the short words that made a marriage real on paper. A maid set two cups on the table, rims almost touching.
Shen Liang took one. Su Lin took the other. They turned and drank sealing their fate together.
No drums. No flutes. The only sound was ceramic on wood.
Behind her sleeve, Su Mei smiled into her sleeve. The maids next to her trued not to giggle, failing they giggled into their collars. So fast! That had to probably be the fastest marriage the Capita has ever come to know.
Chun Tao's hands twisted in her skirt. Shuang He, Su Lin's other maid was quite, standing still at the entrance.
Shen Liang turned to Su Lin. "Madam Su."(Not yet "Madam Shen" until she is in the register ) "My steward is leaving men here. Pack what you need. We leave before sunset, I need to report to the palace first before my departure."
He hadn't made it past the steps before the palace scribe arrived.
"By order of the inner Office," he announced, already looking for the best table he would place his registry." The marriage must be entered and sealed before sunset."
He set out his papers with drama, wtted his brush, and didn't even pretend not to stare at Su Lin when the steward gestured her forward.
"Name?" He asked.
She gave her name.
"Bride: Su Lin. Witnesses: Minister Su, Madam Su, General Shen. Date: Ninth of the fourth Month. Note: Ceremony conducted in modest form per imperial desire."
He blew on the ink to dry, before he pressed the red seal like stamp.
"It is done, congratulations Mrs Shen," he said cheerfully. He was going to get rewarded heavily for the task once back at the palace for sure.