For several days in a row, Jin Mingzhu went out to sell tofu, and every time, she ran into Lu Mingshu.
Each time he appeared, he would buy a few pieces of tofu. Xu Yu insisted that he had ulterior motives, which Mingzhu found endlessly amusing.
After all these years, he had never shown any particular interest in her. Now that he had broken off their engagement, he suddenly had ulterior motives?
Lu Mingshu had only started paying attention because of the gossip circulating through the streets. Everyone was saying that Mingzhu was going to marry the sickly young master of the Xie family. He had stopped her on the street and questioned her about it, but she neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. She merely told him that it had nothing to do with him.
Over the past two days, with matchmakers constantly coming and going, rumors had indeed begun to spread. Most of the neighbors looked at her with pity, but Mingzhu didn’t care.
On the seventh day, there was still little activity from the Xie family, but the wedding date had arrived.
North City was preparing to appoint a new Director of Civil Affairs, and Xie Fengxi’s father was one of the leading candidates. He had always preferred to keep a low profile, and with the political situation so sensitive, he probably didn’t want to make a grand spectacle of his son’s wedding. Therefore, everything would be kept simple.
That was exactly what the matchmaker had told them. Since Mingzhu had no particular expectations for her wedding, she didn’t pay much attention to it.
Early that morning, Mingzhu got up, washed, dressed, and put on her wedding attire.
The Xie family had shown considerable respect for her in their wedding arrangements. The bridal clothes they sent were all in the style of late Qing dynasty Manchu attire. Jin Mingzhu sat before the mirror while Xu Yao personally applied her makeup.
A wedding. A new bride.
Xu Yao looked at Mingzhu. She had always been beautiful, but once dressed for her wedding, she was truly breathtaking.
“Your father used to say you looked the most like your mother. He said your mother was as beautiful as a fairy. I always thought he was talking nonsense, but looking at you now, I think he must have been telling the truth. I wonder if they’re together in the afterlife now…”
Mingzhu looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Mm. I hope they can look after each other and bless us so that we can live happily and freely in this world.”
Xu Yao carefully arranged the loose strands of hair beside her ears. “They will. I’ve never met a man as devoted as your father in my entire life. He loved telling stories about himself and your mother. He said theirs was a marriage arranged when they were very young, yet they never once quarreled. He said that simply looking at your mother made him want to smile. I suppose when someone truly cares about another person, being together brings them happiness, no matter when it is.”
Mingzhu nodded. “My mother was a very good woman.”
Xu Yao stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around Mingzhu’s shoulders. “Let me give you a hug on their behalf. It’s all because I’m incapable. I couldn’t give you the life of a wealthy young lady, and I couldn’t even protect your engagement…”
She had always believed that marrying Mingzhu into the Xie family was doing her an injustice.
Mingzhu’s eyes flickered, and tears glistened in them.
She turned and hugged Xu Yao in return. “No. I should thank you. Thank you for remembering my father and mother with me. Thank you for not abandoning us and for taking such good care of us all these years.”
Jin Mingzhu had suddenly become so understanding that Xu Yao was moved to tears. “You child…”
She turned around, brought over the marriage certificate, and handed it to Mingzhu before placing the bridal veil over her head.
“Look at this. Marriage certificates aren’t like the ones from the old days anymore. This one is quite pretty.”
“There’s no need to look.” Mingzhu set the marriage certificate aside. “Put it away for me. It’s only a piece of paper. What’s so interesting about it?”
Xu Yao murmured her agreement and placed it inside a brocade box. “I’ll put it in here, then. These are all your belongings, and you’ll need to take them with you.”
Mingzhu nodded. “You should all wait a little longer too. I’ve already made a request to the Xie family. I want to bring all of you over with me. It’ll only be a matter of a few days.”
This had been one of her conditions for marrying into the Xie family, and Madam Xie had agreed.
In just a few short days, Jin Mingzhu seemed to have grown up all at once. Xu Yao was willing to listen to her. “All right.”
Before long, firecrackers began to explode outside.
The matchmaker entered to offer her congratulations. However, she explained with some regret that because the groom was unable to come in person, the family could only send someone to escort the bride to the Xie residence for the wedding ceremony.
Mingzhu didn’t mind in the slightest. “Let’s go.”
She lowered her eyes and allowed someone to support her. She didn’t know who it was that eventually lifted her onto their back and carried her outside amid the festive shouts.
An elderly woman carried a winnowing basket and scattered grains and beans as she walked. Since the groom wasn’t present, there was no further ceremony of bowing to Xu Yao. Mingzhu was simply escorted out.
More and more people gathered to watch the procession. Mingzhu listened to the commotion around her, her heart perfectly calm.
What she wanted was the confidence and resources to start her life over again. Love had nothing to do with it.
The person carrying her stepped forward and lowered her to the ground. “Please enter the bridal sedan chair!”
Mingzhu lowered her gaze and was just about to bend down and enter the sedan chair when an angry shout suddenly rang out.
“Jin Mingzhu!”
That familiar voice was usually gentle and refined. She couldn’t understand why its owner sounded so furious today.
Mingzhu instinctively paused. The next moment, Lu Mingshu appeared before her.
He seized her wrist and gripped it tightly. “Mingzhu, are you really going to marry into the Xie family as an auspicious bride?”
Everyone on the streets had been talking about Jin Mingzhu marrying into the Xie family to bring good fortune to a sick man. The news had spread rapidly, but Lu Mingshu hadn’t expected her to get married so soon. Naturally, he assumed that the rumored auspicious marriage meant she was marrying Xie Qinglin.
Of course, Mingzhu also believed she was marrying Xie Qinglin. She simply didn’t care. “Whether I am or not, what difference does it make?”
She stood before him in her bright red wedding clothes, speaking through her red bridal veil.
Lu Mingshu felt as though a heavy stone were lodged in his chest, weighing him down. “How can you do this? If you don’t want to…”
Before he could finish, Jin Mingzhu shook off his hand. “Lu Mingshu, from the moment you came to break off our engagement, we ceased to have anything to do with each other. Whoever I marry is my own business. Why wouldn’t I want this? The Xie family is perfectly good.”
With that, she held on to the bridal sedan chair and climbed straight inside.
Only then did the sedan bearers realize that Lu Mingshu had come to cause trouble. They immediately pulled him away. Sitting inside the sedan chair, Mingzhu listened to the noise outside and closed her eyes.
The suona horns of the wedding procession blared loudly. The bridal sedan chair swayed and jolted as it traveled. After an unknown length of time, it finally stopped at the Xie residence.
Mingzhu stepped over a fire basin and passed the assembled guests before being taken to the bridal chamber to wait.
The Xie family had invited only a small number of guests. Master Xie and Madam Xie were busy attending to various matters. More than half an hour passed before someone finally came to fetch Mingzhu, telling her it was time to perform the wedding bows with the young master.
Mingzhu cooperated without complaint. When she reached the main hall, she followed the attendants’ instructions and stood in the center.
Someone announced in a clear, resonant voice, “Incense smoke rises gently, candles shine brightly! Let the bride and groom enter the wedding hall together!”
A moment later, someone let out a whistle. Then a person was pushed toward her, bumping into her side, and the surrounding guests burst into laughter.
Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, “First bow, to Heaven and Earth!”
In the new era, kneeling was no longer necessary, so Mingzhu simply bowed.
“Second bow, to the parents!”
Then came the next announcement. “Husband and wife, bow to each other!”
Facing her husband, Mingzhu finally raised her eyes.
Through the red bridal veil, she could vaguely make out the figure standing opposite her.
For some reason, no matter how she looked at him, he seemed remarkably similar to that little scoundrel Xie Fengxi.
Suspicion rose in Mingzhu’s heart, but the ceremony was already over. Madam Xie said a few words, mostly about how Mingzhu, as the new daughter-in-law, should properly discipline her husband and things of that nature…
Then someone laughingly shouted that it was time to send the couple to the bridal chamber, prompting another round of laughter.
The person opposite her immediately raised his head. “What are you laughing at?”
There was a hint of displeasure in the young man’s voice.
The moment Jin Mingzhu heard him speak, she abruptly lifted her red bridal veil!
Their eyes met, and Mingzhu’s breath caught.
It hadn’t been her imagination at all.
The person standing before her was unmistakably Xie Fengxi.
Dressed in the groom’s wedding robes, his youthful good looks were even more striking.
She stared at him in astonishment. “Why is it you?”
Seeing her expression, Xie Fengxi immediately frowned. “Who else would it be?”
Mingzhu looked around. Everyone was staring at her in surprise, clearly bewildered by her actions. She turned toward Madam Xie, who had already risen to her feet.
“What’s happened all of a sudden?”
With so many people watching, she couldn’t allow such a serious matter to become a public spectacle. Jin Mingzhu hurried forward and took Madam Xie’s arm. “Madam, may I speak with you privately?”
Madam Xie was completely confused. She quickly called Xie Fengxi over and led them both into an inner room.
Outside, people continued entertaining the guests, but everyone had already sensed that something was wrong. They craned their necks, eagerly waiting to see what would happen next.
Once they entered the inner room, both mother and son looked at Mingzhu. Madam Xie asked, “What’s wrong? This is supposed to be such a happy day. Please don’t frighten me!”
Mingzhu was still wearing her wedding attire. She turned to look at Xie Fengxi’s groom’s robes and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Madam, when Matchmaker Zhao came to my house to propose marriage, she said the groom was Xie Qinglin, not Xie Fengxi.”
Madam Xie froze, then pressed a hand to her forehead. “How could that be? Qinglin is recuperating in the south and hasn’t even returned yet! I clearly told her the proposal was for Fengxi… Fengxi has been giving me such a headache lately, so I thought I’d find him a wife who could keep him under control…”
Once she started talking, her words became rather disjointed. She rambled on without getting to the point. Eventually, seeing that Mingzhu remained silent, she stepped forward and took her hand. “Mingzhu, Qinglin’s health is poor, and he believes in Buddhism. He says he doesn’t want to marry in this lifetime. Fengxi is the only son I have left to rely on. Isn’t marrying him much better than marrying Qinglin? This whole misunderstanding must be fate. Why don’t we just leave things as they are? Hmm? Wouldn’t that be best?”
Jin Mingzhu truly hadn’t expected matters to develop this way.
Xie Qinglin and Xie Fengxi were complete opposites. In her previous life, Xie Fengxi had constantly opposed her, and he was quite cunning.
If she married Xie Qinglin, she could still live the kind of life she had planned. But if it was Xie Fengxi… he was only sixteen, two years younger than her…
She was unwilling, and her troubled expression made that clear. “Madam, I’ve heard about Xie Qinglin for a long time. He’s an educated man. Although his health isn’t particularly good, he’s refined and cultured, which is why I was willing to marry him. But… I’m not saying Fengxi is a bad person. We’re simply not suitable for each other.”
Xie Fengxi was still wearing his groom’s robes. Hearing her words, he immediately pulled off his wedding hat and threw it at Mingzhu’s feet.
“Mom, what did I tell you? Just send her back.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
“Hey, Fengxi! Come back!”
Madam Xie called after her son twice, but he left without looking back. There was nothing she could do about him. She turned back and gripped Mingzhu’s wrist tightly. “Mingzhu, Fengxi is a good boy. He’s simply been allowed to run wild for too long. Look, you’ve already made up your mind to marry into our family. If word of this ridiculous misunderstanding gets out, it’ll be difficult for you to marry anyone else in the future!”
What did that matter?
Mingzhu gently withdrew her hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be fine.”
Madam Xie anxiously stepped forward to stop her. “Both your names are on the marriage certificate, and you’ve already performed the wedding ceremony! That means you’re husband and wife now!”
Mingzhu also felt a headache coming on. But no matter what, she had no intention of marrying Xie Fengxi, her longtime adversary.
She headed toward the door, determined to see the matter through. “We’re living in a republic now. Divorce isn’t such a terrible thing.”
She had barely reached the doorway when Madam Xie called after her again. “Mingzhu, this is such a serious matter. Our family can’t afford this kind of humiliation either. Please think it over carefully. As long as it’s something within our power, I’ll make the decision myself today. If you’re willing to stay, you can ask for anything you want.”
With only a door separating her from the guests outside, Mingzhu stopped.