When Zhou Rui also known as Arui jolted awake from a nightmare, dawn had yet to break.
The Qin Family’s courtyard lay swallowed by the darkness, hidden beneath the black canopy of the night like a monstrous beast waiting to devour anyone who entered.
She pulled her crimson wedding robe tighter around herself and edged closer to the brazier.
Half-burned sheets of yellow funeral paper swirled in the icy wind slipping through the crack beneath the door. Flickering flames cast uneven shadows across the room, illuminating the pitch-black coffin resting silently in the center.
Pressing a trembling hand against her chest, Arui’s face drained of color as the nightmare replayed in her mind.
In the dream, someone had pulled her from the river.
The man had been bare-chested, his strong arms wrapped firmly around her waist. His broad palms, roughened by years of labor, peeled away her soaked clothes one piece at a time.
She had never seen his face clearly, but she still remembered the scorching warmth radiating from his chest.
Holding her close, he whispered an apology before quietly asking whether she was already promised to someone.
She could no longer remember how she had answered.
Her mind had burned with fever, drifting in and out of consciousness. Acting only on instinct, she had burrowed deeper into his embrace.
He had held her through the entire night.
But when she awoke, the man had vanished.
Only her mother remained, clutching her tightly as she wept in anguish.
Arui bit her lower lip, her delicate, beautiful face completely devoid of color.
That hadn’t been a dream at all.
It had truly happened only a few days ago.
A few days earlier, her father had suddenly announced that she would be married into the Qin Family.
She had been betrothed to Qin’s second son since childhood. The plan had been for them to marry after Qin Song passed the imperial examinations and earned the title of scholar.
Instead, disaster struck.
While traveling to take the examination, Qin Song encountered a pack of wolves. By the time anyone found him, nothing remained of his body. Only a bloodstained robe and several poetry books soaked in blood were left behind.
Ordinarily, a marriage agreement ended with the death of one of the betrothed.
But her father refused to cancel it.
To preserve his reputation, he insisted she marry into the Qin Family anyway.
She was only sixteen years old, in the very bloom of youth.
How could she possibly accept spending the rest of her life as a widow for a man who was already dead?
Unable to bear the thought, she had slipped out under the cover of darkness and thrown herself into the river.
She had survived.
Someone had rescued her.
That man had removed her wet clothes. He had touched her body while saving her.
Whether intentional or not, propriety between them had already been ruined.
She thought that would be enough to escape the marriage.
No one believed her.
The marriage between the Zhou and Qin families had long been the talk of Qinghe Town. Her father, Scholar Zhou, had become the very image of loyalty and righteousness in everyone’s eyes.
There was no way he would allow his daughter to tarnish the honorable reputation he had worked so hard to build.
Arui had been confined to her room for two days while she recovered.
Yesterday morning, she had been dressed in a bridal gown and sent to the Qin Family.
There had been no bridal sedan.
No groom.
Even the wedding ceremony had been held inside the mourning hall.
The clan elders had forced her to kneel beside the coffin and complete the marriage rites.
That very night, they left her alone to keep vigil over the dead.
Inside the black lacquered coffin rested nothing but Qin Song’s bloodstained clothing.
The firelight flickered weakly.
Kneeling before the coffin, Arui stared blankly ahead, her eyes empty and numb.
From this day onward, she was a woman of the Qin Family.
She had believed she would spend the rest of her life trapped inside this small house.
Then she remembered.
Qin Song’s parents had died long ago. He had been raised by the clan. His home, his education, even the tuition for his studies had all been paid for by the family elders.
Now that he was dead, everything would naturally be reclaimed.
Even this tiny house was not hers to keep.
The thought of her uncertain future filled her with dread.
At last, she could no longer hold back her tears.
She cried for what felt like hours.
Only when the eastern sky began to glow with the pale light of dawn did voices finally stir within the Qin Family courtyard.
“Brother Qin Song is being buried today. Do you think Brother Qin Lie will come back? They’re brothers by blood, surely he won’t stay away.”
After washing her face, Madam Zhang fetched another basin of water and mixed in hot water so Elder Qin could freshen up.
Though they deliberately kept their voices low, the courtyard was so small that every word drifted clearly into the mourning hall.
Elder Qin frowned deeply, the wrinkles between his brows tightening into a knot.
“You know what Brother Qin Lie is like. Back then, that wretched Madam Cui tormented him without mercy. He was sent to the battlefield at only ten years old. If fortune hadn’t smiled on him, the weeds on his grave would be taller than a man by now.”
“They may be brothers, but they weren’t born of the same mother. There’s always been a wall between them.”
Madam Zhang sighed.
“That hateful Madam Cui. If she hadn’t driven such a wedge between them, the brothers never would have become strangers.”
She despised Cui just as much.
She had never seen a stepmother who tried so relentlessly to destroy her stepson. Everyone in the family had witnessed the hardships Brother Qin Lie endured.
It was understandable that he would refuse to attend Qin Song’s funeral.
After a brief pause, Madam Zhang glanced toward the mourning hall and lowered her voice.
“The clan can help arrange Brother Qin Song’s funeral, but what about the woman inside? Surely the clan can’t keep supporting her forever.”
“Our house is already crowded. Feng is old enough to start looking for a wife this year. How are we supposed to explain having a young widow living under our roof? Besides, she hasn’t even been entered into the family register yet. Strictly speaking, she isn’t truly part of the Qin Family.”
Since yesterday morning, Arui had neither eaten nor drunk anything.
After crying for so long, every ounce of strength had left her body.
She caught only fragments of the conversation outside, but it was enough.
The Qin Family did not want her.
It made perfect sense.
People praised widows who remained chaste, but praise did not fill empty stomachs.
Qin Song had owned neither farmland nor property.
Now that she had married into the family, she could survive only through the clan’s support.
These were hard times.
Every household struggled to feed its own people.
Who would willingly take in another mouth to feed?
Elder Qin let out a weary sigh.
“After today’s burial, I’ll discuss it with Second Brother and the others. We’ll figure something out.”
“I’m afraid they won’t want her either,” Madam Zhang replied without much hope.
…
Silence returned to the courtyard.
Lowering her head, Arui dug her fingernails into her palms until uneven crescent marks appeared on her tender skin.
The funeral paper in the brazier had burned to ashes.
A stray ember floated onto the hem of her wedding dress.
She had embroidered this gown herself, stitch by stitch.
The pair of lotus blossoms blooming across the skirt had once been vibrant and beautiful.
She still remembered how hopeful she had been while sewing them.
Qin Song had been handsome, refined, and already a respected scholar.
It had once seemed like a perfect marriage.
Like any young girl, she had dreamed of sharing a loving life with her husband, growing old together in mutual respect.
Now her husband lay inside a pitch-black coffin.
Not even an intact body remained.
After today, her own life would become like the once-beautiful lotus now stained with ash.
Its bloom was over.
Grief overwhelmed her.
She turned toward the coffin beside her, her eyes filling with tears once more.
…
Shortly after the Hour of Chen, visitors gradually began arriving at the Qin residence.
The Qin clan was large.
Qin Song alone had six uncles. Once their sons and grandsons were added, the courtyard quickly filled with people.
But in the end, they were all ordinary farmers who scraped out a living from the fields.
For years, every branch of the family had tightened their belts to support Qin Song’s education.
The moment they heard they might also have to provide for Arui, Second Uncle Qin was the first to lose his temper.
“Elder Brother knows our situation. To support Second Brother’s studies, I emptied every bit of my savings. I thought we’d eventually produce an official, but instead everything was lost.”
“If we’re expected to support the Zhou girl as well, my whole family may as well live on the north wind.”
“Exactly.”
Fourth Uncle Qin quickly agreed.
“None of us have an easy life. We can barely feed our own families. How are we supposed to raise someone else?”
Clearly, no one wanted the responsibility of caring for Arui.
“So what should we do?” Elder Qin asked, his already lined face growing even more troubled.
“She’s married into the Qin Family now. We can’t exactly send her back.”
The usually quiet Sixth Uncle Qin suddenly spoke.
“Isn’t Brother Qin Lie still alive? He’s Brother Qin Song’s own elder brother. It should be his responsibility to support Widow Zhou.”
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.
What he said was reasonable.
But Brother Qin Lie had been away from home for more than ten years. He had returned from the battlefield carrying an intimidating, murderous aura that made even his own uncles uneasy.
Who would dare ask him to take in Arui?
Besides, he and Qin Song had never been close.
The courtyard fell into an awkward silence.
No one looked pleased.
Arui remained kneeling beside the coffin.
She was still wearing her wedding dress.
She had entered the Qin Family without a bride price, and naturally without a dowry.
The only belongings she had brought were two sets of old clothes.
Everything had happened in such haste yesterday that Madam Zhang had led her straight into the mourning hall without giving her the chance to change.
With her head bowed low, her slender figure looked like a flower whose stem had snapped, utterly lifeless.
That was the moment Qin Lie stepped through the gate.
The first thing he saw was her.