In the blink of an eye, the fifteenth day of the eighth month arrived. A full, bright moon hung in the sky like a luminous pearl, its light truly as clear and gentle as water.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was also the last birthday that the Shen Family's little Yue'er would celebrate at home.
The family had finished their meal early, and the courtyard was already decorated with red silk streamers, double happiness symbols, and colorful flowers. Refreshments for tomorrow's guests were arranged in an orderly and festive manner.
Shen Qi's father was still uneasy, leading his son to check everything over and over again—the dowry, tables, chairs, brocade stools, wine, fruit platters, firecrackers…
In Shen Qi's room, Madam Zhang was shedding tears over her daughter.
"After raising my daughter for eighteen years, from today onward, she will become someone else's daughter-in-law. How can I not be heartbroken?"
Her sister-in-law gently patted her back to comfort her.
"Mother, that's not the way to see it. No matter whose daughter-in-law she becomes, she will always be your daughter. That won't change even if she's at the ends of the earth. Besides, Pingshan County isn't far. Look at the Xie Family's tall horses—hitched to a carriage, she can be back in just an hour."
"That's right. In the future, I can leave after breakfast and still make it back in time for the lunch you cook."
Shen Qi nestled in her mother's arms, deliberately acting coquettish to make her mother smile.
Hearing this, Madam Zhang tapped Shen Qi's forehead with her finger and indeed relaxed a little. She then pulled her daughter close and spoke a whole basketful of words, to which Shen Qi responded one by one.
They talked until everyone was exhausted. Madam Zhang asked her daughter-in-law to retire first. Once she had left, Madam Zhang quietly pulled out a roll of painting paper wrapped in red cloth from the very bottom of her own chest.
"Mother, what is this?"
Shen Qi was curious; she had never seen this before.
"Silly girl, take a good look at this tonight. By tomorrow evening, you'll understand what it means to be husband and wife."
This straightforward statement made Shen Qi immediately realize what it was. Her fair face flushed bright red in an instant.
Having grown up, she vaguely knew that there were certain things between men and women that shouldn't be spoken of to outsiders, but she couldn't quite articulate what they were.
After Madam Zhang left, Shen Qi closed the door securely, burrowed under the covers, and examined the painting carefully by lamplight.
Although the painting was old, with yellowed edges and somewhat blurred lines, the details depicted were still quite explicit.
Shen Qi gazed at it for a long while, her heart pounding like a drum. At times, she felt afraid; at other times, she felt a flicker of anticipation. She tossed and turned until the third watch of the night before finally drifting into a light sleep.
Before sleeping, she naturally took another careful look, then solemnly returned it to its original place, pretending as if nothing had happened.
As dawn broke, Shen Qi was already dressed and ready. Madam Zhang and Qiao Shi had long since arrived, instructing her on every detail.
"Once the bridal veil is placed over your head, you must not lift it. Only when everyone has gathered in the bridal chamber can the groom remove it."
"The journey is long, and the sedan chair will inevitably jolt. Sit properly inside and don't fidget. If you have anything to say, whisper it to Auntie Xue. She'll be following along the entire way."
"The Xie Family's residence is on Yinshi Street in Pingshan County. That street is the liveliest, and there will surely be many people coming to see the bridal sedan today. Don't be nervous."
"Their family isn't like ours—they've always been a prominent household in the county. If anything seems different from our home, just observe how the young ladies and sisters-in-law in their household behave and follow their lead."
"If the groom is not good, don't make a scene at his house first. Wait until the third day when you return home to tell me."
Shen Qi found this rather amusing. At eighteen years old, did she really need her mother to teach her such things?
But seeing her mother's earnest expression, she quickly nodded.
Having slept poorly last night due to that little picture book and waking up early today, she had passed the point of exhaustion and instead felt unusually alert.
Xie Yuduo today rode a tall, snow-white horse, wearing an exquisitely tailored bright red wedding robe draped with embroidered red silk, a red sash tied around his waist, making his broad shoulders and narrow waist even more pronounced. His finely arched brows were like swords, and his handsome eyes sparkled.
The groom walked at the head of the procession with a smile, holding his head high, drawing crowds of onlookers along the way.
The custom here was for the bride and groom to begin the wedding ceremony before noon. Since Pingshan County was thirty li away, and the bridal sedan chair was slower than a carriage, with all the music and fanfare along the way, the journey would take about an hour and a half. They also needed to leave enough time for the groom to welcome the bride at her home, go through the door-blocking games, and pay respects to her parents.
For this reason, just after breakfast, the Xie family's procession arrived with music and fanfare.
Along the way, people stopped to watch and chatter.
"What a handsome young man! He even outshines the eldest son of the Shen family! Once this new son-in-law arrives, he can no longer claim to be the number one handsome man in Baihe Town!"
"From the back, the two look quite similar, but when you see their faces, this groom is definitely more handsome."
"As they say, birds of a feather flock together, haha!"
"Look at our little Yue'er's looks and figure—only someone like him could be worthy of her!"
Although they were just neighbors watching the excitement, they naturally considered themselves part of Shen Qi's family.
When the bridal sedan chair arrived at the Shen family's doorstep, the crackling of firecrackers erupted without pause.
Sister-in-law quickly helped Shen Qi cover her head with the red veil embroidered with mandarin ducks and adorned with colorful beads, carefully reminding her that she must not lift it under any circumstances before entering the bridal chamber.
Shen Qi was already dizzy from her mother's long list of dos and don'ts, so she simply nodded obediently and sat quietly on the bed.
The groom dismounting, entering the house, crossing the courtyard, and facing the door-blocking games each had its own set of rules, which were always the highlights of wedding ceremonies.
As a child, Shen Qi had loved watching the groom come to fetch the bride. Now that it was her turn, her mother and sister-in-law went out to greet the guests, and everyone else went to see the groom, leaving her alone in the room for a moment.
The sound of voices grew closer, likely as they reached the door-blocking part of the ceremony.
Once the groom entered, the bride would follow him away.
Shen Qi listened to the alternating sounds of firecrackers, chatter, and suona music outside, but louder than all of these was the beating of her own heart.
With a bang, the door was pushed open by the crowd, and the noise surged to a crescendo.
"The groom is here!"
"This way, this way! Don't push so hard!"
"Where's the bride?"
With so many onlookers, the young men from the Xie family, afraid they wouldn't be able to squeeze through, tossed handfuls of copper coins outside.
As the shiny new copper coins scattered across the courtyard, the neighbors scrambled to pick them up, giving the groom the perfect opportunity. With long strides, he stepped over the crowd and smoothly entered the room.
Following closely behind the groom was Auntie Xue.
Perhaps due to her extensive experience with such scenes, she moved even faster than the groom.
Taking three steps in two strides to the window, she thrust the embroidered ball tied with red satin into Shen Qi’s arms and handed the other end to Xie Yuduo, who strode over. Then she loudly announced to the crowd—
“The auspicious hour has arrived, the Bride sets off!”
After bidding farewell to the Shen Family parents, Auntie Xue helped the Bride into the bridal sedan chair. Xie Yuduo mounted the white horse once more, and the wedding procession resumed its lively music, slowly making its way through the crowd and out of the street.
Watching her daughter dressed in bright red wedding attire enter the bright red bridal sedan chair, only to vanish from the family home in the blink of an eye, Madam Zhang wept until her vision blurred.
Seeing his wife’s tears falling like rain, Shen’s father gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.
“She’ll be back in just a couple of days, what’s there to fear… Look at how our son-in-law protected little Yue’er all the way when they left—she’s found a good match…”
Though he spoke these words, his own eyes also grew misty.
Only when the bridal sedan chair disappeared from sight did the elderly couple reluctantly return home.
Auntie Xue truly was experienced. Along the way, the wedding procession played music joyfully, advancing with merriment, and they arrived at the Xie family’s gate just a quarter hour before noon.