The demon king did not ask but An Hei still volunteered the details of his meeting with Yang Ling Ling since he needed the help of Yaarak’s people. After all, he didn’t actually know where he had fallen into the mortal realm so he needed somebody to lead him there.
Needless to say, the demon king was happy to help. Thus, when the ten days were up, he had his servant lead An Hei to the mortal realm and even told him a little about the place where his fiancee lived.
The snake king was in for a rude awakening though. Yaarak’s servant left him close to the gates of Kishin’s southern capital Sandin, pointing him in the right direction. When he followed the path, he soon saw an old estate.
Looking at it from afar, the thick walls, the adorned gates, and polished bricks made him believe that this was indeed the mansion of a mortal General’s family. He hastened his steps, eager to finally see what had become of that small girl from back then. But the closer he came, the slower his steps got until he finally halted and furrowed his brows. Looking closer this place was nothing like it should be: No guards stood at the gates, the grass on the path behind the gates had grown exuberantly and hardly any sounds came from within.
An Hei’s gaze darkened. "Am I too late?" he murmured to himself and looked around. Silence encompassed the estate. He heard neither the voices of humans nor the noise of livestock. Only now and then a bird chirped from the roof of one of the buildings. And when An Hei looked around he also detected the first indications that the estate wasn’t any longer in the good condition of back then.
Silently, he entered one of the buildings and started to look more closely. He sighed with relief as soon as he found the first signs of life. "She still lives here."
She’ll return here sooner or later, he told himself and went back outside to the magnolia tree where he had met Ling Ling for the first time. He would wait there until she came back and then slowly figure out what had happened that made the estate lie there vacated. A few days should be allowed to find out his fiancee’s situation. When he was sure about that, then he could react appropriately.
As for the Yang family … the reason the house was currently in this state was actually the reason why nobody was currently at home as well. Since General Yang had fallen in the war seven years ago the estate had also slowly lost its life.
At first, his second wife that hadn’t born him any children and could still hope for the backing of her family and a new marriage had left. Then the guards and servants had followed one by one until only his first wife and their two daughters Jin Jin and Ling Ling remained.
The money that they had still had in the beginning was depleted over the years. Since his first wife had no family to support her and no son to follow in his father’s footsteps, she could only rely on what was still in the estate. She sold off what could be sold but it could only last them for so long.
Now, she only had her two daughters left and barely enough money to last them for another year or two if they lived frugally. She could only pray that at least one of them would be able to find a tolerable husband in that amount of time to save them from destitution.
She didn’t have any high hopes anymore. Once upon a time when her husband was still alive and the Yang family at the peak of its power, one of them could have even become the queen of the south.
Now she didn’t dare to think of even one of them becoming the first wife of a general or minister. To be the second wife of such a man or at least a concubine had a ring to it but it was way more likely that they would have to marry a simple citizen.
There wasn’t anything their mother could do about it. She went to the temple once a month and prayed that her daughters would at least find husbands who could offer them a secure life. What did they need a husband with political power for? As long as he could provide them with warm clothes in the winter and warm meals each day of the year it would be enough. But even for something like that she could only count on the beauty of her daughters since their dowry wasn’t anymore what they would have been entitled to as the daughters of a general.
The day when An Hei arrived was the day when Madam Yang intended to finally solve this problem of theirs.
Earlier that day, she had called both of her daughters into the house. Looking at how the hems of their robes were full of dust from taking care of the yard themselves, she felt a pang of pain in her heart but she could only swallow these feelings and focus on the future.
The two girls knelt before her on the ground, waiting for their mother to speak. Madam Yang put a hand on one of their shoulders each and examined their faces. At least she didn’t have to worry that they might not be beautiful enough to get a husband. "The both of you are old enough to marry by now."
The two sisters exchanged a glance and nodded. They knew that only a good wedding would allow them to improve their mother’s life.
Madam Yang sighed. Her younger daughter, Ling Ling, was barely old enough to get married while her older daughter, Jin Jin, had already come of age some months ago. But it wasn’t foreseeable which one of her two daughters would have the better chances and they were too impoverished by now to take any risk.
"I made an appointment with the matchmaker for the both of you for this afternoon. Surely we’ll find a suitable husband for at least one of you."
Her daughters nodded but neither of them seemed quite content with it.
Mother speaks of a suitable husband, thought the older one, Jin Jin, but she actually only means that maybe we’ll be able to become the concubine of some merchant. Our father was General Yang. I could have become the queen of the south! Why do I have to be contented with just any man?
She knew that there was nothing either she or her mother could do about it but she still hoped that one of the noblemen would notice her beauty and take her as his second wife at least. Even though her father wasn’t alive any longer and even though the family of her mother didn’t exist anymore, she at least had a pretty face. She wasn’t willing yet to give up all hope of a better life.
Meanwhile, Ling Ling lowered her gaze and thought of the golden hairpin with the red stones she had secretly put to her dowry. If you don’t return soon to take me as your wife it’ll be too late. I feared you wouldn’t promise me, now I have to fear that I won’t be able to follow through with it.
Madam Yang sighed when she saw her daughters like that. "Aiya, if only your father was still alive … Now we can only hope for the best."
Her daughters nodded again. They could only agree while silently hoping for things to turn out in their favor.
"Fine then. What would come out of lamenting? Go and dress up. The better the impression you give today, the better the husband you’ll hopefully get! Don’t leave anything to chance if you can!"
Thus, the girls had left, prepared themselves, and eventually gone to the city with their mother, barely missing An Hei who might have been able to solve all of their problems by making true on his promise to Ling Ling.
The three women soon arrived at the house of the matchmaker. The older lady examined the two girls and nodded with satisfaction. She knew that the widow of General Yang and his daughters stood before her. Even though the three of them were impoverished for their proportion, they could still walk with their heads held high because of the service their father had rendered for the southern kingdom and therefore for the whole empire of Kishin. Their beauty also provided them with the opportunity to find a suitable husband. This was not an impossible case.
The woman appeared less satisfied when she laid eyes on the list of dowry Madam Yang and her daughters had compiled though. In Kishin, it was important how big the dowry was as long as the husband wasn’t rich since this value would add to the wealth of the family.
Simultaneously, the dowry represented a form of security for the woman because if something happened to her husband or if she had to leave his family because of other reasons, she was entitled to the value of the dowry.
That was one of the reasons why the Yang family became impoverished that rapidly: After General Yang’s death, money wasn’t brought home any longer so it had hit the family hard when his second wife claimed her dowry back. She came from a distinguished family and accordingly, the value wasn’t low. Since the general’s family didn’t have any income besides his salary, this posed a problem that immensely aggravated the situation of the Yang family. It even aggravated it so much that there was hardly any left for the girls now that they had to depend on it.
"That could prove difficult," remarked the matchmaker, Madam Lin, and lowered the list. Her gaze roamed over the girls once again and she shook her head. "They are pretty without question, their dates of birth are also good ones but their dowries are too little. Are you sure you don’t want to add something?"
Madam Yang looked at her daughters with a difficult expression. There wasn’t much of value in the estate anymore. And who knew how long it would take to marry both of them off? What should they live off if she added something else?
Ling Ling looked from the matchmaker to her mother. "Mother, why not give my dowry to Jin Jin? I only want to keep a hairpin, she can have everything else."
"What?" Madam Yang turned to her daughter, almost shocked silly. "A hairpin? How can you say that, Ling Ling?"
Ling Ling lowered her gaze and smiled. "Isn’t it better if one of us can marry as if we both remain without husband only because we insist on dividing the dowry like this? Jin Jin is older than me, she should be the one to get the dowry. And I am sure there is a man out there who will marry me even without a large dowry."
Madam Yang and Madam Lin both sighed. Both thought that Ling Ling was way too optimistic. If a man wasn’t rich and only desired a pretty wife, then he wouldn’t marry a wife without an appropriate dowry.
Jin Jin nodded though, turned to her mother, and gripped her sleeve. "Mother, Ling Ling isn’t wrong. Isn’t it better if at least one of us can marry? When I’m married, I can support you, then it won’t be a problem whatsoever to compile a new dowry for younger sister. Anyway, she’ still so young. Until she is old enough we’ll certainly succeed."
Madam Yang faced her youngest daughter. She didn’t want to cause problems for Ling Ling but she herself had volunteered and to marry at least one daughter off would really be a huge relief. She sighed and nodded eventually. "Fine then. We’ll combine the dowries. But!" She turned to her daughters, sporting a strict expression. "The one who gets a husband first will get the dowry. Jin Jin may be older but that doesn’t mean she’ll find a husband faster. Will that be alright?" she asked the matchmaker.
Madam Lin considered a moment, then nodded. Madam Yang leaned back with a bit of relief showing on her face. When she succeeded in marrying off one of her daughters, a heavy weight would be lifted off her shoulders. She thanked the matchmaker, then brought her daughters back home.
None of the women noticed the unfamiliar man who stood under the magnolia tree and observed their return. They were engrossed in their own conversation.
