Jinghe Year Fifteen, the fifteenth day of the fifth month, Dragon Hour.
Rites had their endings and beginnings.
Though the sequence of the Six Rites had been completed, the marriage was not yet concluded.
For until the bride had visited the ancestral temple, she was not counted among her husband's lineage.
Until she had bowed before the ancestral spirits, her name was not entered in the genealogy.
Thus, the ancient rites placed particular importance on the temple visitation.
Once the bride entered her husband's household, an auspicious day had to be chosen, incense burned and offerings prepared, and the ancestors informed.
Only then did she become a member of her husband's family, carrying on its incense offerings and continuing its bloodline.
And so, on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, at Dragon Hour, lamps shone throughout the Wei Residence's Ancestral Temple.
Wei Nisheng stood before the spirit tablets, raised his hands to straighten his cap, adjusted his robes, and gathered his sleeves.
"Shu'er." He turned sideways and reached a hand toward her behind him.
Fu Niang stood outside the threshold, gazing at the three spirit tablets. She drew a deep breath, then lifted her skirts, stepped forward, and crossed the threshold.
This was the first time in her life that she had entered the Wei ancestral temple.
According to the rites, a bride making her temple visitation could not be supported by her husband. She had to enter through the main gate and ascend the western steps herself.
This signified that, from the moment she entered the household, she was to stand on her own within her husband's family, neither leaning on nor depending upon another.
Fu Niang took no one's arm. Step by step, she walked the distance between the threshold and the offering table, then stopped