In March of the thirty-fourth year of Baohe, it was spring.
West of Cangzhou City, Wangjiacun was caught in the rain.
The pattering spring rain pierced through the moldy black thatched roof, striking a gaunt face and creating a rhythmic “drip, drop” sound.
Supported by a clansman, the village head of Wangjiacun leaned over, tapped that rain-soaked, gaunt face firmly, and called out in a low voice, “Zhao Si! Zhao Si!”
“Who is it?!” The young man called Zhao Si opened his eyes abruptly, startling the village head so much that he shivered three times over.
Seeing that Zhao Si had regained his wits, the village head smartly withdrew his hand, hurriedly helped Zhao Si up, and said amiably, “Oh my. Zhao Si, you’ve been asleep for three or five days. Do you remember? Before your mother passed away, she arranged a wife for you, living in Taohuawu, fifteen miles east of our village. The day before yesterday, your unwed wife sent a message to our village stating that tomorrow is an auspicious day, and you are to go welcome her as your bride tomorrow…”
“What wife or no wife? Don’t, don’t move me, I want to sleep.” Zhao Si pushed the village head away and closed his eyes tightly once more; she was very tired.
“Very well. Then as for these words, old me has delivered them. The two taels of deposit your mother paid to old me in advance, old me will graciously accept. As for the rest, you must look out for yourself and be careful not to miss the auspicious hour.”
Just as the village head uttered the words “auspicious hour,” a drop of rain happened to fall from the roof, smashing right onto his face. Fitting the occasion, the village head opened an umbrella inside the house to shield Zhao Si, who was curled up in bed, from the rain.
With this rain blocked, Zhao Si, who had previously closed her eyes, pressed her eyelids together even tighter.
She did not want to see anyone, nor did she want to speak; she was ill. Since early morning, she had discovered that her past was entirely forgotten, and she had no idea who the people around her were or how she was connected to them.
Fortunately, she still understood what had just been said. Her nickname was Zhao Si, her mother had arranged a wife for her, and that wife’s home was in Taohuawu…
She had to go out tomorrow to welcome her bride?
Zhao Si endured a drop of rootless water that seeped through the edge of the umbrella, her originally sallow face instantly dyeing with two blushes. She thought to herself: To marry a husband is to have clothes and food; since her own household is still leaking rain, is she truly suited to take a wife?
At that opportune moment, Zhao Si heard the village head offer timely assistance.
The village head said, “Zhao Si, ah! Don’t be too embarrassed either. Taking a wife is a major event. If you are worried that your own residence isn’t presentable enough for that young lady, this old uncle can temporarily lend you an empty residence at the east end of the village for a few days.”
Zhao Si muttered silently in her heart that it was so dilapidated even a celestial maiden would likely flee overnight.
Unless the young lady’s family in Taohuawu owed her family a debt of gratitude as vast as the heavens.
Reflecting on this marriage, perhaps blessed by the protection of her ancestors, Zhao Si’s expression cleared up slightly.
“No need, Uncle. Zhao Si trusts her mother’s judgment.” Having made up her mind to go welcome the bride, Zhao Si rolled over and went straight back to sleep. At that moment, drowsiness filled her body, and she only wished to play another match of chess with the God of Dreams.
Zhao Si slept soundly. When dawn broke, she was choked awake by rainwater. The rainwater, mixed with a earthy scent, forced her to sneeze.
“Achoo”
Zhao Si coughed violently, sat up with a start, and realized that the person who had spoken with her yesterday had already left.
At this moment, she, Zhao Si, was the only one left in the dilapidated house.
It was precisely at this moment that Zhao Si truly woke up.
Zhao Si straightened her posture, taking four or five deep breaths before she was convinced that she had indeed forgotten important matters such as her full name, birth date, relatives and friends, and property deeds… leaving behind only the vague knowledge that her name was Zhao Si and that she had a wife fifteen miles away in Taohuawu!
Could this truly not be a dream? How could anyone be like her, reaching the age of marriage yet remembering only this tiny scrap of information?
Zhao Si pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to shock herself awake. Failing to wake herself up, Zhao Si could only take comfort in the fact that she had merely lost a portion of her memories.
What on earth had she forgotten?
Zhao Si rummaged haphazardly through the straw, searching for objects like jade pendants or name registries that could help her recall her past, but her fingertips encountered only damp rice stalks.
Would there be other clues in this room?
Zhao Si raised her eyes to look around. She saw that the windows let in the wind, the walls were woven from grass, and the stove was piled from mud… Even the wooden door, which looked the most valuable, was slanted.
Could she truly be of impoverished origins?
That shouldn’t be right!
Zhao Si rubbed the thin calluses on her hands, instinctively feeling that she ought to come from a wealthy background and should even be someone trained in martial arts.
Why not test her skills?
Feeling her way to the corner of the wall, Zhao Si propped herself up, standing up shakily. Once she steadied herself and took a step forward, she felt her right foot twist.
Was she actually lame, too?
Sighing at her ill fortune and encountering a pressing spring flood in her lower abdomen, Zhao Si accepted her fate with a slap to her forehead, staggering blindly out of the house into the deep spring scenery, untying her belt as she prepared to engage in a sweeping, grand integration with the origins of heaven and earth.
“Clatter”
A rather weighty round log fell from beneath Zhao Si’s crotch, tumbling neatly several times in the mud puddle formed by the heavy rain.
“This, this, this, this, this.” Zhao Si was so terrified by the strange anomaly beneath her crotch that her scalp went numb.
Could she actually be a eunuch, eunuch, eunuch?!
What on earth was going on here!
Trembling, Zhao Si explored downward on her own, confirming that there was nothing between her legs, and resolutely tightened her waistband, walking quickly through the rain toward the village outskirts.
When Zhao Si departed, her thoughts were in utter chaos.
After walking for a while along the country path where wild grass was sprouting green, Zhao Si resolved to first go to Taohuawu and see that wife who was so determined to marry her.
In Zhao Si’s mind, if she met the young lady, she would certainly speak frankly and tell her that her household was completely destitute and that she was not a good match.
If the young lady retreated in the face of difficulties, that would be for the best.
And if that young lady insisted on marrying her…
What was she even thinking?!
Zhao Si raised a hand to wipe the rain from her face once more, inwardly cursing herself for a toad wanting to eat swan meat, actually daring to imagine that the young lady of Taohuawu genuinely wished to marry her.
Furthermore, even if the young lady dared to marry, how could she, a rootless person, ever dare to marry?
Thinking of this, Zhao Si’s mood dimmed slightly.
Unexpectedly, a clear and beautiful singing voice faintly drifted to her ears.
“Where do peach blossoms rest, resting on an emperor’s knees. The emperor’s grace is few, better seek a gentleman true. Where does a gentleman rest, lingering in a beauty’s bower. The beauty delays her evening hour, better be a poor boy’s flower. Though the poor boy has no fields, four hands can still rely. Though the poor boy lacks virtue, following the teacher by his lady’s side. The lady seeks nothing more, only adoring the heart left in store. When shall we linger and stay, mandarin ducks bonded with brocade carp…”
Zhao Si stopped in her tracks, letting the fine rain sweep across her face, her thoughts entirely consumed by the lingering melody.
What about “though the poor boy has no fields,” what about “though the poor boy lacks virtue” did this not describe her, Zhao Si, to the letter?
Coupled with the fact that the tune began by invoking the two words “peach blossom”…
Could this be her wife?
Zhao Si was so overjoyed that her fingertips tingled.
And right within Zhao Si’s expectant gaze, the singer was carried in a sedan chair borne by eight bearers, swaying gently as she approached slowly from the depths of the misty forest upon a palanquin draped in peach-colored light gauze.
Was she a spirit?
Or perhaps an immortal?
Zhao Si stared at the palanquin drawing near, her heart leaping straight to her throat.
And that increasingly clear singing voice further compelled Zhao Si, enduring her condition, to softly ask the peerless palanquin, “Might the person arriving be my wife?”
As soon as Zhao Si posed the question, the singing within the palanquin ceased.
Instead, the lead sedan bearer exchanged a glare with Zhao Si and angrily rebuked, “Audacious! How dare you defile my lady’s name! You must know, my lady…”
“Wait!” The lady within the palanquin seemed reluctant to reveal her name, simply halting the sedan bearer with a soft command.
Yet Zhao Si was utterly entranced by that clear and lovely “Wait.”
Could there truly be such a pleasant voice in this world?
Zhao Si raised her face, intending to let her gaze pierce through the drizzling rain, through the pink gauze curtains, and reach straight to the face of the person upon the palanquin.
And the person within the palanquin seemed to perceive Zhao Si’s intent through the gauze, instructing her servants to use golden hooks to pull open a slit the width of a finger in the thin veil at the front of the palanquin. Peering out at Zhao Si, she chuckled softly and taunted, “Is the young master so accustomed to the sordid business of waylaying people on the roadside that you dared intercept this peach-blossom palanquin, daring to call any young woman you see your wife? Come to think of it, young master, you merely heard this handmaiden’s singing and harbored illicit desires; if my appearance were flawed, wouldn’t you have ruined a good marriage for both of us?”
“You jest, Milady. Zhao Si is merely following an elder’s command to seek my betrothed in Taohuawu.” Imitating the tone of the person within the palanquin, Zhao Si spoke, then smiled and turned her gaze away, casting her eyes elsewhere as her thoughts finally settled. Indeed, although the lady in the palanquin spoke without the slightest courtesy toward her, that soft and tender vocal timbre still made it impossible for her to harbor any resentment.
As for the prior inquiry about whether she was accustomed to the sordid business of waylaying people on the roadside, Zhao Si lowered her brow and chuckled softly for a moment, having no heart to dwell on it further. It was true enough. For a country bumpkin whose mind was entirely blank and who only remembered having a wife to marry, fretting over a forgotten past was the most uninteresting thing in the world.
What a pity that this lovely person within the palanquin was not her, Zhao Si’s, wife.
While secretly feeling relieved for the lady in the palanquin rejoicing that she did not have to enter her, Zhao Si’s, household Zhao Si stepped aside to clear the path, intending to let the lady pass first.
Seeing that Zhao Si had yielded, the maid by the palanquin did not push the matter further and immediately ordered the bearers to move forward.
“Swish, swish—”
The sedan bearers beneath the palanquin possessed sturdy physiques and brisk strides.
Zhao Si half-closed her eyes, simply waiting for the delicate pink gauze to vanish from her field of vision.
Unexpectedly, just as the sedan palanquin reached her, a fair and warm fingertip extended from behind the gauze screen and brushed lightly across her brow and eyes.
At that instant, Zhao Si felt a fragrance assail her nose and a spring breeze suddenly rise within her heart.