Chapter 792: My Honey, Your Poison
After the messenger left, the standoff between Zhang Yuelu and Tantai Qiong continued.
Tantai Qiong could not help but ask her daughter, “I just don’t understand. What exactly do you see in him?”
Truth be told, even Tantai Qiong herself felt a bit guilty asking this. After all, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were the only third-rank Deputy Hall Masters under thirty in the entire Daoist Order.
Given Zhang Yuelu’s current status, there were only four possibilities. She could either devote herself to the Dao and never marry, get into a marriage alliance, marry below her status, or take a matrilocal husband. The notion of marrying above her station did not exist for someone of her rank. Even if she were to marry Li Changge, it would merely be considered a political alliance, not marrying up.
Devotion to the Dao and never marrying was not a good option either. This was a path often chosen by Daoist women after experiencing heartbreak, a form of retreat into isolation. Zhang Yuelu had no such intentions. She was not one to make life difficult for herself and preferred to let things happen naturally.
Given that, marrying beneath her station was highly unlikely, as such an arrangement would be a loss for the Zhang family. If she married below her status, it implied the man was inferior and might not benefit the Zhang family. He might even become a burden requiring support. Why give others such an advantage for nothing?
That left only two options—taking in a matrilocal husband or forming a marriage alliance.
Taking in a matrilocal husband sounded good in theory, but it was not realistic. In the Daoist Order, master-disciple relationships were akin to parent-child relationships. Some people spent over a decade just to find a good disciple. There were also people like the Li family, who aggressively recruited adopted sons and sons-in-law, allowing them to rise to a position of power. So, truly talented and capable young men were snatched up long before they would ever need to become a matrilocal son-in-law. Those who did end up in such a role were often overly ambitious types. If they were left unchecked, they might even bite back, like Li Minghuang.
If she truly tried to bring in a matrilocal husband, it would be extremely hard to find a suitable candidate. It would likely end up being someone whose only purpose was to sire children, and that was absolutely unacceptable to Zhang Yuelu.
Thus, only the path of political marriage remained. Such marriage alliances demanded matching status.
As Zhang Yuelu’s status rose, the pool of suitable candidates changed accordingly.