Chapter 3

When Pang Liangji extended the invitation, Wei Xun stared at him in disbelief and said bluntly, "Inviting someone as ill-omened as me to a wedding-has water gotten into your brain? If someone in your family had died, I could help arrange the funeral. But a wedding is a joyous occasion. What would I be doing there?"

Pang Liangji hastily said, "Hear me out, Brother Wei. The local custom of Wedding-Car Blocking and tormenting bridegrooms is extremely prevalent. My family has always been ostentatious, so plenty of people must be waiting for this chance to make trouble. I've lost my martial arts and can't fight back. If the wedding pranksters pin me down, beat me, and torment me, I'm afraid I won't withstand it. I need a formidable groomsman at my side to help if I'm to live long enough to marry my bride."

Wei Xun was unimpressed. "Even if there are people doing Wedding-Car Blocking and causing trouble, your family has money. Hire seven or eight guards to protect you. Unless you're determined to have me kill every wedding prankster on the spot and drive your wedding carriage through a bloodbath. Would that make for an auspicious marriage?"

Baozhu had been about to go upstairs to her room, but the few words she overheard filled her with bewilderment. Is this a wedding or a battle? Why does it involve guards protecting him, beatings, and troublemakers?

She could not resist asking, "What does 'Wedding-Car Blocking' mean?"

Thirteenth Son said, "You've never seen it, Ninth Lady? At ordinary people's weddings, neighbors often block the carriage carrying the bride, crowd the doors and clog the lanes to extort money and gifts, and dream up all sorts of tricks to torment the groom. There are even occasional stories of grooms dying during the wedding pranks."

Baozhu was horrified. "Aren't weddings supposed to be grand, solemn ceremonies? How can anything so disgraceful happen? Isn't that openly committing a crime?"

Wei Xun was amused and chuckled. "Of course you've never seen it. No one so tired of living would dare block your family's wedding carriage."

Naturally, Pang Liangji did not understand their veiled exchange. He continued racking his brains to plead his case. "Escort guards may be reliable, but this is a wedding, after all. No one except a groomsman is entitled to drink on the groom's behalf. By local custom, the moment we arrive at the bride's home to fetch her, it's a cup with every step, and every guest who comes means draining another cup. It doesn't end until we've driven the wedding carriage back to the groom's home and finished the ceremonial bows. Apart from you, with your profound internal strength and immense capacity for liquor, anyone else would drink himself to death on the road. I've already prepared some excellent aged huadiao wine. Just think of it as coming to help a brother drink!"

The words "excellent aged huadiao wine" tempted Wei Xun, and his resolve wavered a little. But after considering it, he worried that Baozhu would have no one looking after her and still refused firmly. "I'm not going. Hire more groomsmen and have them take turns."

Seeing how resolute he was, Pang Liangji's heart sank. He knew he could only smash the cauldrons and sink the boats, committing himself completely to his ultimate weapon. He straightened at once and said slowly, his expression solemn, "Senior Brother, do you remember the favor you owed me back then? If you agree to help me with this, we'll call that debt settled. From then on, neither of us will owe the other anything."

Wei Xun froze. He had never expected Pang Liangji to bargain with that old debt. Astonished, he asked, "You really want to spend that favor on something as trivial as hiring a groomsman to drink for you? You need only ask, and I can wipe out any enemy sect for you, or seize any rare treasure you want."

Baozhu's curiosity surged at this. She wondered what enormous favor Wei Xun had owed this young gentleman, that he would grant him whatever he wished and promise feats reaching up to heaven and down into the earth to repay it.

Pang Liangji's expression was grave. "I waited for A Ran for so many years, and finally my wish has come true. Marrying her without a hitch is now the most important thing in my life. I'm already crippled. I don't need rare treasures, and I don't want anyone's sect destroyed. Please help me this once, Eldest Senior Brother!"

Those words laid bare his heart and were as decisive as chopping nails and cutting iron. With matters stated so plainly, Wei Xun knew there was no room left to maneuver. He could only nod his agreement. Solemnly, he held out his hand, and he and Pang Liangji clasped each other's forearms and gave a firm shake, sealing the matter.

Among all their fellow disciples, the Green-Robed Wanderer was not only supreme in martial arts; his word was always trustworthy, his deeds always resolute, and a single promise from him weighed more than the Five Sacred Mountains. He never spoke idly. With his promise secured, Pang Liangji knew no one in the world could stop the wedding. So happy he nearly wept, he slapped the table and shouted, "Bring the wine! Bring the wine! Today, no one leaves sober!"

As the old steward poured the wine, he quietly advised, "Young Master, you haven't finished memorizing the verses urging the bride to finish dressing and lower her fan. Do you really mean to drink so much?"

Pang Liangji held back his tears and looked a little embarrassed. Lowering his voice, he said, "Then... then we'll leave just a little drunk..."

Wei Xun knew every step of arranging a funeral by heart, but knew nothing whatsoever about weddings. Now that he had agreed to serve as the groom's attendant, Pang Liangji immediately laid out food and wine and explained the details of the ceremonies.

Baozhu had no friendship with the Pang family. Seeing that there were no enemies to beat up, she took her bow and arrows straight back to her room, with Thirteenth Son following behind her.

Pang Liangji asked in puzzlement, "Won't they join us for a meal? Although I've been expelled, at least we all spent time in that wretched Setting Sun Courtyard. And who is that young girl with the bow? What an imposing air she has."

Wei Xun said, "Thirteenth and I promised to escort her far away to find her relatives. We can't tend to one thing and neglect the other. At most, we can delay a few days to help you get this done, then we have to set out."

The Green-Robed Wanderer, who had always operated in Guanzhong, had abruptly left familiar territory and passed through Tong Pass into the Central Plains, provoking considerable rumors in the martial world. Only after hearing Wei Xun's explanation did Pang Liangji understand.

An old matter had always lingered in his heart, and he had wanted to ask after Wei Xun. But seeing that Wei Xun's face was even paler than before and his wrist was ice-cold, he supposed there had been no improvement in his illness. In the end, he could not bear to ask.

Pang Liangji told the steward to fetch a bundle of brand-new silk clothes from the sedan chair and hand it to Wei Xun. "These are the clothes you'll wear as groomsman that day."

Wei Xun accepted them with a frown. "You've certainly prepared everything. Were you so sure I'd have to go?"

Pang Liangji smiled smugly. "I finally outlasted that bastard of an ex-husband until he died, then waited bitterly for her mourning period to end. Ever since we fixed the wedding date at the start of the year, I've been preparing every day, determined to have everything ready and make it grand and splendid."

Hearing his young master begin spouting nonsense again, the steward poured wine with a pained expression. "Young Master, please stop advertising it. Marrying a widow doesn't ordinarily call for such fanfare. Usually, sending an ox cart to bring her home and performing the wedding bows is enough. Our family can afford extravagance, but you needn't explain the reason to everyone you meet."

Pang Liangji's sword-shaped brows shot up. He slapped the table and shouted, "So what if she's remarrying?! It means her former husband's fate wasn't strong enough, wasn't wealthy and noble enough to match hers! She may be remarrying, but this is my first marriage, and I'm going to celebrate it lavishly! I have every right!"

The steward was an old retainer of the Pang family who had watched Pang Liangji grow up. He knew the young man had been willful since childhood, stubbornly insisting on his own way whether he was traveling far to study martial arts or marrying into a family of unequal standing. After his master had tragically beaten him into disability, he had returned home and remained despondent for a long time. Now that he had finally rallied and was willing to marry, everyone in the family indulged his fussing.

Hearing Pang Liangji turn contrary again, the steward hastily soothed him, saying that his happiness was all that mattered. He also reflected that since his young master had returned to Jade City gravely injured, he had never contacted that sinister sect again. Today was the first time he had specially called upon this man in green.

The steward discreetly examined this former senior brother. He was young and thin, dressed shabbily, and hardly looked like anyone important. Yet Young Master Pang of Jade City had always held his eyes above his head. For him to humble himself and beg someone's help was unprecedented. The steward therefore dared not underestimate the man and stood beside them, attending diligently.

Wei Xun asked, "My decision to head east was made on the spur of the moment. I didn't tell anyone. What were you originally planning to do?"

Pang Liangji chuckled. "Naturally, having you come is best of all. I originally had a backup candidate, and she's already arrived in Lingbao County. The more helpers, the better, of course. The three of us can go shoulder to shoulder."

Wei Xun was just about to ask who this "backup" was when he saw a tall figure in black wearing a bamboo hat approaching through the fine rain outside the inn. The mere silhouette made his brows knit tightly.

Huo Qilang stood beneath the covered walkway, removed her bamboo hat, and shook off the droplets. Stepping over the threshold with her long legs, she smiled at the two men beside the table. "Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother. Huo Qi is late. Is there any wine left for me?" Her movements were effortless, her bearing graceful and dashing; she stole all the light in the inn.

Wei Xun suddenly understood why Huo Qi had appeared in Xiagui County at the same time as them: they had shared a destination. He did not want to see her at all. Covering his brow and eyes with one hand, he said irritably, "If you'd told me you'd invited this lackey, I wouldn't have agreed to go."

Pang Liangji said awkwardly, "You're always appearing and disappearing like a ghost, with no fixed abode. I really wasn't confident I could invite you. The wedding date kept drawing closer, so I had to make backup arrangements."

Huo Qilang plopped into a seat. Her face darkened, her handsome brows rose high, and she demanded sharply, "You damned cripple, who are you calling a backup?!"

Without a word, Pang Liangji reached back toward the steward and shook his open hand. Understanding, the steward immediately took out a heavy gold ingot and placed it in his master's palm. The ingot slammed down in front of Huo Qi with a clang, dazzlingly bright, leaving a diamond-shaped dent in the tabletop.

Huo Qilang instantly beamed, even the savage scar on her face relaxing. She cupped her hands with a smile. "Truly, without coincidences there'd be no stories! My surname happens to be Back, and my given name Up. I await Young Master Pang of Jade City's commands! Never mind taking a wife-even if you were marrying into her family, I'd bundle you up and personally carry you to your father-in-law's residence!"

Pang Liangji smiled and told the steward to produce another bundle of groomsman's clothes for Huo Qilang. Huo Qi opened it to find a complete set of reddish-orange, round-collared gauze robes, silk and satin from the innermost layer to the outermost, along with a silk headwrap and other accessories. The clothes alone were worth over a hundred strings of cash, showing how heavily the Pang family had invested in the wedding.

Huo Qi was somewhat puzzled. Frowning, she asked, "Why are these men's clothes?"

Pang Liangji frowned too and countered, "Would they be women's clothes?"

Huo Qilang said, "You summoned me all the way from Guanzhong. I thought you needed a bridesmaid to guard the bride closely and keep outsiders from embarrassing her."

Pang Liangji turned pale with alarm, his voice nearly cracking. "I will never let you take a single step near A Ran! You cannot see her!"

Embarrassed, Huo Qilang rubbed the bridge of her nose and said quietly, "Don't guard against me as if I were a thief. Seventh doesn't eat the grass beside her own burrow."

Looking at the long scar the Cave Truth Master had personally cut across her face, Wei Xun and Pang Liangji both gave her looks that said, "You cannot be trusted."

Having employed every means at his disposal to secure these two strongest of the strong as his groomsmen, Pang Liangji finally had something to steady his anxious heart. Relaxed now, he drained every cup offered and rambled on about the troubles that had plagued him since the betrothal gifts were presented: interference from her former husband's family, disdain from his father-in-law's household, and more.

"Her family is a distinguished scholarly lineage, refined and noble for generations. Though they've long since declined, they still look down on newly rich families like mine and set me difficulties at every turn. We martial folk would normally invite our friends and relatives for a big drinking feast and get married amid a cheerful bustle. Now I have to follow my father-in-law's wishes and recite dressing verses, fan-lowering verses, and Wedding-Car Blocking verses on the spot. Memorizing them every day leaves my head swimming!"

Despite these complaints, Pang Liangji wore an innocent smile as he began reciting, swaying his head.

Even in the rain, Baozhu did not want to sit in her room growing mold. She had Thirteenth Son borrow an oiled-paper umbrella from the innkeeper and prepared to go out and look around. As she crossed the corridor, she heard Pang Liangji reciting poetry in the main hall below. "Her brows outshine the willow leaves, her skirt makes pomegranate blossoms jealous; let others gaze upon the precious tree-why trouble a jade fan to conceal it..."

Baozhu stopped, her expression changing slightly. Looking down from above, she asked, "Did you write that fan-lowering poem?"

Pang Liangji answered through drunken, bleary eyes, "How would I have the ability to write poetry? A hired schoolteacher wrote it for me. It's quite beautiful, isn't it? That's exactly what A Ran looks like."

Seeing the groom-to-be radiating foolish happiness, Baozhu thought that what needed saying had to be said, however unpleasant it sounded. Otherwise, on his wedding day, he would have nothing left to do but cry.

With that thought, she told him bluntly, "You fool, you've been cheated. 'Her brows outshine the willow leaves, her skirt makes pomegranate blossoms jealous' comes from Bai Juyi's Twenty Poems on Late Spring. Beautiful it may be, but it describes the springtime scenery in a courtesan's house. If you recite it to your bride in front of everyone at your wedding, wouldn't you be inviting people to beat you?"

At these words, the martial heroes around the table all froze. Pang Liangji looked up at her helplessly, then at his senior brother. Wei Xun immediately corroborated her with solemn earnestness. "In this particular art, she's a supreme expert. None of us can match her. You'd best listen to her."

The shock frightened Pang Liangji mostly sober. Bracing himself against the table, he struggled to his feet and bowed with cupped hands. "My knowledge is shallow. Young lady, please show me the way!"

Note: According to ancient records, Wedding-Car Blocking occurred among everyone from princes and nobles to commoners. Naturally, those blocking the wedding carriages of imperial relatives and aristocrats would at most offer auspicious words and ask for food and wine; they dared not rob them. Sometimes the bride's family also sent people to do Wedding-Car Blocking to make the ceremony more festive and lively. Vulnerable families could even suffer robbery or have the bride abducted.