On the auspicious day, before dawn had fully broken, Cui Wan was roused and seated before the mirror to be dressed and made up.
The bronze mirror reflected a face that still looked young, its brows and eyes delicate, yet still bearing the innocence of childhood. As Aunt Yue carefully penciled her brows and powdered her face, she forced a smile and said to Yang Xiu, who sat nearby, "Madam, look. With just a little dressing up, our young lady truly has the grace you had in your youth."
Yang Xiu had forced herself to rally that day, changing into a set of half-new clothes and leaning against the table. Looking at her daughter's face in the mirror, surrounded by pearls and jade yet still unmistakably immature, she felt another wrench of pain. Her eyes reddened despite herself, but fearing she would upset Cui Wan, she could only quietly press her handkerchief to their corners.
"Mother..." Seeing her mother's expression in the mirror, Cui Wan felt an answering ache.
"It's nothing. I'm happy," Yang Xiu said hoarsely.
Outside came the clamor of voices and wedding music, and the calls urging them to hurry for the auspicious hour grew increasingly insistent. Yang Xiu took a deep breath, rose, and walked over to Cui Wan. Reaching out with slightly trembling hands, she gently clasped her daughter's cold little hands.
"Come. I'll see you out."
Mother and daughter walked together out of the courtyard that had confined them for years. Outside, Lady Li had long been waiting. The moment she saw them, she plastered a smile over her face and came forward, taking Cui Wan's hand and looking her up and down as she praised her incessantly. "Oh my, look at our Wanwan! All dressed up, she truly looks like a heavenly fairy! Once you enter the marquis's household, you'll be a proper young madam, with a life of comfort ahead!"
She affectionately put an arm around Cui Wan's shoulders and continued, "I was thinking-you don't even have a capable dowry maid by your side. How could that do? I've picked out two clever, sensible girls to go with you. They'll count as people from your natal family, so you'll have someone to look after you."
Yang Xiu understood as soon as she heard this. Lady Li was hardly giving her maids-she plainly wanted to plant eyes beside her daughter! She immediately said, "Thank you for your kindness, Sister-in-law. But Wanwan is already accustomed to Yue Niang's care. Let Yue Niang go with her. She's reliable, and that would put my mind at ease."
"Mother! You can't!" Cui Wan hastily raised her head. Her voice was quiet but resolute. "Aunt Yue has served you for years. You've only just begun to get better, and you need someone to care for you. Aunt Yue can't leave."
She paused, then summoned her courage and looked at Lady Li. "Aunt, I... I don't need dowry maids. A household like the Marquis of Ningyang's Residence surely won't lack servants." She knew this might displease Lady Li, but she truly did not want two people of unknown backgrounds beside her, watching her every moment.
Lady Li's smile faded a little. Her gaze moved between Yang Xiu and Cui Wan. Seeing Cui Wan's firm attitude and Yang Xiu watching her calmly, she ultimately feared causing unpleasantness at this critical moment and waved a hand resentfully. "Fine, fine. Since Wanwan is so sensible, forget it. A marquis's household has strict rules. Once you're there, you must be careful in everything, cautious in word and deed."
At last, the bridal veil descended. The scarlet silk shut out her view, and with it, her mother's tearful gaze.
Outside, gongs and drums shook the heavens, and firecrackers sounded in unison. Everyone in the Cui Family had come to the gate to see her off. Yet amid the clamorous celebration, Cui Wan felt only an emptiness in her chest, unable to summon the slightest happiness. Like a puppet without a soul, she was supported step by step toward the gates of the Cui residence.
Outside the gates, the wedding procession had long been waiting. Commoners crowded around to watch, their voices a seething din as they pointed and commented.
"Here she comes! The bride is coming out!"
"Tsk, quite a procession. Just what you'd expect of a marquis's wedding!"
"A marquis? Hah, you haven't heard? Ever since the Chu Family's defeat at South Mountain, with the Marquis of Ningyang and Eldest Young Master Chu both killed in battle, they've been nothing like they once were!"
"Exactly! Otherwise, would they be marrying the daughter of some petty official? I hear she's even from the second branch, and her own father's sitting in prison!"
"Hey, where's the groom? Why hasn't Second Young Master Chu come to fetch his bride?"
"Are you stupid? Both his legs are crippled. He's stuck in a wheelchair-how could he come? He'll probably need someone holding him up just to perform the wedding bows!"
"Tsk, poor little bride. She'll be a living widow as soon as she marries him..."
"Isn't that the truth..."
Those remarks were like countless fine needles, piercing densely into Cui Wan's ears. Beneath the veil, her mind abruptly buzzed and went blank.
The Chu Family... defeated?
The Marquis of Ningyang and Eldest Young Master Chu... killed in battle?
Second Young Master Chu... crippled in both legs?
No... it wasn't true... They were talking nonsense! The Marquis of Ningyang was so formidable-how could he have lost? Second Young Master Chu was such a good person. How could he... how could he be crippled?
But... but the groom... really hadn't come.
He had not come to fetch her astride a tall, splendid horse.
Then... those rumors... were all true?
No... impossible...
It was only that Second Young Master Chu thought her status too low, that she wasn't worthy of him, and didn't want to come fetch her. Wasn't that it...?
Overwhelming terror seized Cui Wan in an instant.
On one side were her uncle and aunt's words; on the other, the street-side gossip. Which was true?
"No... I don't want to... I won't marry him! I won't!" Cui Wan suddenly began struggling, her voice trembling with tears. She reached up to tear off the veil. "Mother! Mother! I want my mother! I won't marry him!"
She was, after all, only a fourteen-year-old child. The immense terror and sudden upheaval left her utterly panicked, wanting only to escape.
Hearing her daughter's cries, Yang Xiu felt as though a knife were twisting in her heart. She immediately moved to embrace her. "Wanwan! My Wanwan!"
"Stop this nonsense!" Cui Minghe barked, his face livid. Lady Li hurried forward as well. Holding Cui Wan's struggling arms in a death grip, she offered an awkward, apologetic smile to the waiting Chu Family steward and the surrounding onlookers. "So sorry, so sorry! This child has never seen the world. She's nervous about leaving home and doesn't know better! Please excuse her!"
She tightened her grip until her nails nearly dug into Cui Wan's flesh, then leaned close to her ear and whispered viciously, so only the two of them could hear, "Cui Wan! Behave yourself! Keep making a scene, and see if I don't cut off your mother's medicine this instant and throw her out of the Cui residence!"
Cui Wan's struggles stopped abruptly, as though a basin of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe. Through the narrow gap beneath her veil, she saw her mother being held back by servant women, helpless.
Fear, grievance, despair... all her emotions clogged her chest until she could scarcely breathe.
She dared not move again, nor cry aloud. Only her tears poured down, instantly soaking the scarlet veil.
Seeing this, Cui Minghe and Lady Li immediately signaled to the matrons nearby, who all but dragged and carried the limp Cui Wan into the bridal sedan.
"Lift the sedan-!"
The wedding music rose shrilly once more, and firecrackers snapped and burst. Beneath the sympathetic, mocking, or indifferent gazes of the surrounding crowd, the bridal sedan was lifted steadily and swayed away from the gates of the Cui residence.
Inside, Cui Wan curled up in the cramped space, hugging her arms and trembling, her face drenched in silent tears. The deafening wedding music and lively voices outside sounded unbearably harsh and mocking to her now.
How had things become like this?
Her uncle and aunt's words and the gossip in the street collided and tore at one another in Cui Wan's mind like two raging tides. On one side were "wealth enough to fill the heavens" and "young and accomplished"; on the other, "defeated and killed in battle," "both legs crippled," and "a living widow."
Which was true? Whom should she believe?
She had only wanted to save her mother, only wanted to seize that tiny glimmer of light...
She was so frightened.
She was only a fourteen-year-old girl. Why, overnight, did she have to face all this alone? Her father's whereabouts were unknown, her mother had yet to recover, and even remaining at home meant living at others' mercy... Whom could she depend on?
The sedan swayed on and on. Time seemed to stretch endlessly, until Cui Wan's tears had nearly run dry, leaving only waves of raw, aching pain and uncontrollable sobs.
At last, the sedan jolted and stopped.
A jubilant cry came from outside. "May the bride step out of the sedan-!"
Cui Wan shuddered violently and curled tighter, her fingers clutching her skirt as she sat motionless.
She did not dare go out...
After a short wait with no movement, faint murmurs drifted in from outside again, carrying undisguised ridicule.
"Oh, why isn't the bride coming out?"
"Frightened witless, perhaps? After all, the man she's marrying is..."
"Haha, I'd be scared too. I hear that since Second Son Chu came back from the battlefield, he's been neither man nor ghost!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! They're still a marquis's household, after all..."
"A marquis's household? Hmph..."
Just as Cui Wan was about to be swallowed by boundless fear and humiliation, a voice rang out.
It was gentle and clear, like jade striking stone, with a trace of an indescribably steady strength that softly pierced the surrounding clamor.
"Come out."
Then a slender, fair hand reached through the sedan curtain.
Through her red veil, Cui Wan could dimly make out its long fingers. The skin must have been fine and fair as well. The cuff bore an intricate pattern of scrolling lotus vines, and she could faintly smell an elegant, cool fragrance, barely there. This was certainly not a wedding matron's rough hand.
Cui Wan froze, staring blankly at the hand extended before her.
It remained quietly outstretched, neither urging nor impatient, as though possessed of infinite patience, yet carrying a gentleness that allowed no refusal.
The murmurs outside seemed to subside with the appearance of that hand.
She hesitated for a long time-so long that Cui Wan thought the hand would withdraw-before she seemed to reach an enormous decision. Trembling, she reached out her own cold, sweat-damp little hand and gently laid it in the other.
The hand immediately clasped hers securely. Its grip was light, yet strangely soothing. She guided Cui Wan slowly and steadily out of that cage-like bridal sedan.
The instant her feet touched the ground, Cui Wan's legs nearly gave way. Only that hand kept her upright. Through her blurred tears and the remaining gap beneath the red silk, she could see only that the person leading her wore pale, elegant clothes and stood tall and straight. She could not make out her face.
That person led her on like this, step by step, neither hurried nor slow, through the residence's main gates and across the courtyard laid with a red carpet.
There seemed to be quite a few guests around. She could vaguely sense many gazes falling on her, and whispers reached her ears without cease. It was far less lively than the marquis's household at its height in her memory, yet the outward courtesies were maintained.
The owner of that hand seemed to hear none of it. She simply led Cui Wan steadily forward, shutting out all the prying and gossip, sheltering a small, brief patch of safety for her in this strange and frightening place.
They passed through winding covered walkways and reached the main hall. The guests' clamor seemed to have been shut outside, and the atmosphere within was solemn.
At last, the hand gently released her.
Cui Wan stood there blankly. Through the gap beneath her veil, she could dimly see a woman seated in the place of honor directly ahead, richly dressed and dignified in bearing. That must have been Madam Chu, her mother-in-law, Wei Shuyun.
But... where was the groom?
Where was her husband?
"First bow, to heaven and earth-" The wedding matron's shrill voice rang out, drawing out the words.
Cui Wan went rigid, at a loss. Without a groom, how was she to bow to heaven and earth alone?
Just as she stood bewildered and helpless, almost overwhelmed by panic again, that familiar hand, carrying its cool fragrance, gently settled on her shoulder once more and pressed down, tenderly but firmly.
It was like a silent command, a clear direction.
Cui Wan understood. Biting her lip and forcing back the tears that threatened to spill, she slowly knelt all alone toward the empty space ahead and bowed her forehead to the floor.
"Second bow, to the elders-"
Cui Wan turned toward Madam Chu in the place of honor and bowed deeply again. When her forehead touched the cold floor, she could finally hold back her tears no longer, and they fell in large drops.
"Husband and wife, bow to each other-"
Those words were like a dull blade, cutting savagely into Cui Wan's heart. Before her was nothing. The husband who should have stood facing her was nowhere to be seen, not even a shadow. She could only bend deeply and painfully toward that empty air, touching her forehead to the floor once more. In that moment, endless grievance, shame, and despair engulfed her completely.
"The ceremony is complete-!"
Scattered congratulations seemed to rise around her, yet they sounded as though separated from her by a thick membrane, impossible to hear clearly. In her ears, the world was a silent clamor.
When the ceremony ended, that same hand took hers securely again and led her out of the main hall.
This time, the way seemed longer and quieter. They passed through one doorway after another, across courtyard after courtyard. Beneath her veil, the sights of the residence blurred into shifting patches of red light and shadow. At last, they stopped before a quiet courtyard and went into a room.
The door closed softly behind them, shutting out every sound from outside.
At last, that hand gently released her once again.
They had reached the bridal chamber.
A faint, unfamiliar incense filled the air, mingled with the scent of sandalwood. In the stillness, Cui Wan could hear her own heart pounding like a drum, and her breathing, made rapid by her desperate efforts to suppress it.
She sat all alone on the bridal bed. Just as the person before her was about to turn and leave, Cui Wan's heart tightened, and she immediately caught hold of that hand...