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141 A CHINESE STUDIO. 141

with him, he inwardly consented to the match, though he was afraid that perhaps his would-be son-in-law might not be as hberal as he would Uke. Hsiang-ju soon per- ceived what Mr. Wei's feelings were, and emptied his piirse on the table, at which Mr. Wei was deUghted, and begged a neighbour to allow the marriage contract to be drawn up in his house. ^ Hsiang-ju then went in to pay his respects to Mrs. Wei, whom he found in a small, miserable room, with Miss Wei hiding behind her. Still he was pleased to see that, in spite of her homely toilette, the young lady herself was very nice-looking ; and, while he was being entertained in the neighbour's house, the old lady said, " It will not be necessary for you. Sir, to come and fetch our daughter. As soon as we have made up a small trousseau for her, we will send her along to you." ^ Hsiang-ju then agreed with them upon a day for the wedding, and went home and informed his father, pretending that the Wei family only asked for respect- abiUty, and did not care about money. His father was overjoyed to hear this ; and when the day came, the young lady herself arrived. She proved to be a thrifty housekeeper and an obedient wife, so that she and her husband got along capitally together. In two years she had a son, who was called Fu-erh. And once, on the occasion of the great spring festival, she was on her way to the family tombs, with her boy in her arms, when she chanced to meet a man named Sung, who was one of the gentry of the neighbourhood. This Mr. Sung had been a Censor,* but had purchased his retirement, and was now

pairs of characters which denote the year, month, day, and hour of the births of the contracting parties. It remains for a geomancer to determine whether these are in harmony or not ; and a very simple expedient for backing out of a proposed alliance is to bribe him to declare that the nativities of the young couple could not be happily brought together.
 * One important preliminary consists in the exchange of the four

■ The bridegroom invariably fetches the bride from her father's house, convejdng her to his home in a handsomely-gilt red sedan- chair, closed in on all sides, and accompanied by a band of music.

. bring matters to the notice of the Emperor which might otherwise
 * The Censorate is a body of fifty-six officials, whose duty it is to

have escaped attention ; to take exception to any acts, including those of his Majesty himself, calculated to interfere with the welfare of the people ; and to impeach, as occasion may require, the high provincial authorities, whose position, but for this whole-