The Sisters Qiuye and Qiuyu (4)

When they heard that their husband, Zhou Yao, did not intend to punish the sisters Yang Aijin and Yang Ailian, or the sisters Qiuye and Qiuyu, the four of them finally felt the stones lift from their hearts.

After getting up, the four stood to one side and waited for their husband Zhou Yao to address them. Although he had not said he would punish them, their hearts were still leaping up and down.

That was especially true of Qiuye and Qiuyu, for the two sisters did not know the husband before them, Zhou Yao, at all.

At that moment, Zhou Yao asked, "Are you two sisters called Qiuye and Qiuyu?"

"Husband, my name is Qiuye. I'm the older sister. Her name is Qiuyu, and she's the younger one," Qiuye answered her husband Zhou Yao at once.

Zhou Yao nodded, then continued, "First, tell me about yourselves."

"Yes, husband. I'll tell you about our backgrounds now," Qiuye said.

"Husband, we're from Bashu in Yi Province of the Great Zhou State. My father used to be the governor of Bashu Commandery. When we were ten, the emperor suddenly ordered our home confiscated."

"But the day before it happened, my sister and I secretly overheard our father and mother talking. Father said that a great calamity might be about to befall our family and told Mother to prepare to flee with us and live under assumed names."

"My mother asked my father why. He was the dignified governor of Bashu Commandery, so what did he have to fear?"

"My father said it was all because the second prince had taken a fancy to us, his twin daughters, and wanted to draw him into his faction as well. My father had refused him many times, but he still wouldn't give up."

"My father told the second prince that we sisters had long been betrothed, but the second prince still refused to let the matter go. He told Father that it was our good fortune to marry him, the second prince Zhou Xian, and hoped Father would think it over carefully before giving him an answer."

"My father decisively rejected the second prince's kind offer, because the second prince had approached him with certain aims in mind."

"My father also said that the chancellor, Pei Yuanli, had written him many letters expressing concern for him. Pei Yuanli had also tried many times to draw Father into following him and joining his faction, but Father had sternly rejected him each time."

"My father said that the chancellor Pei Yuanli was no good either. Relying on his position as the reigning chancellor and his great power and influence, he controlled the court, embezzled funds, took bribes, and suppressed other officials. Most importantly, he was in collusion with other, foreign states and had repeatedly sold information about our Great Zhou State."

"'I am ashamed to be associated with Pei Yuanli, who is still the reigning chancellor.'"

"Later, we also heard Father say that the emperor had ordered Prince Zhou Shun's residence confiscated. My sister and I were very worried about you elder sisters, too."

"But before long, the emperor ordered our home confiscated as well, and he ordered my parents killed. We sisters were still young, so we were taken to a military camp to do hard labor: washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning. In short, we did every tiring and dirty job there was."

"It wasn't until we turned fifteen that the authorities took us to the countryside for the wife-distribution program."

"But we deliberately made ourselves look ugly, and we were slender, petite, and delicate. We went to many villages, but not a single man chose either of us to take home as a wife."

"They all said we were too thin and looked so frail that we could barely stand up to the wind. One look was enough to tell that we couldn't do farm work or physical labor, that we would definitely be weak and sickly in the future, and that we were women who would have trouble bearing and raising children."

"So, even though the officials took us to many places in the countryside, not a single man chose us to take home as wives."

"This was also the last time we would go to the countryside with the officials for the wife-distribution program. If no man chose either of us to take home as a wife this time..."

"Then we would be sent to a military camp as military prostitutes. I heard that none of the women sent to a military camp as prostitutes ever came out alive. They were all tortured to death."

"We were both very, very afraid, because we would turn sixteen in half a month. If you hadn't married us and brought us home as your wives this time, husband, we would have been sent straight to a military camp as prostitutes."

Qiuye finished it all in one breath, then knelt again with her younger sister Qiuyu. They kowtowed to Zhou Yao and said, "Qiuye and Qiuyu thank you for saving our lives, husband. Thank you for marrying us and bringing us home. From now on, we'll serve you wholeheartedly and bear you children to spread your branches and leaves."

After hearing Qiuye's words, Zhou Yao nodded and said, "Get up, both of you! We're all family from now on, so don't go kneeling at every turn."

"Thank you, husband..."