“Heavenly Pride.” Zhao Si’s expression flickered slightly. Raising the Heavenly Pride bow, she met Yun Qing’s gaze and responded, “I love this bow my wife gave me. Since ‘Xuguang’ is not my name, I shall be called ‘Tianjiao’ from now on. Zhao Tianjiao!”
“Zhao Tianjiao?” Yun Qing’s voice was as soft as drifting catkins, so faint that Zhao Si could barely make it out.
Even so, Zhao Si already disliked “Xuguang,” especially after realizing she couldn’t possibly be the master of Yulu Pavilion. Now, she simply loved the name “Tianjiao.” “Tianjiao” was wonderful; whenever anyone called out that name, it reminded her that her wife had given her a bow, and that her wife treated her well. “Xuguang” was terrible; whenever anyone called out that name, it reminded her of Yulu Pavilion—the very place her wife had spent a wish just to escape! Therefore, she was determined to be called “Tianjiao”!
Deep in her heart, Zhao Si chanted her wife’s goodness, repeating the name “Tianjiao” once more on her lips.
Yun Qing did not respond. Instead, Yan’er standing just behind Zhao Si chimed in with a raspy voice, echoing twice: “Groom Tianjiao speaks truly. A person lives for a breath of air. If they weren’t driven to a bellyful of frustration and anger, how many people in this world would ever get the chance to give themselves a new name? And if they didn’t have true courage and gall, how many would dare to name themselves ‘Heavenly Pride’? Yan’er likes the name ‘Tianjiao’.”
“Besides,” Yan’er continued, “Yan’er has often heard folks in the streets refer to dragons as the ‘Heavenly Pride.’ A soaring dragon is in the heavens, while a crouching dragon dwells in the abyss. Groom Tianjiao meeting my young lady Yun Qing this time can also be considered soaring straight up into the heavens and riding the dragons across the nine firmaments. In that sense, this name is likewise a wonderfully auspicious omen.”
Yan’er spoke with such genuine emotion that Zhao Si was completely won over, so much so that she blurted out, “Wife, do not worry. A name is merely a symbol. You say you’ve always loved taking charge since childhood, and I am the same. My past memories may be a blank, but in this vast human world, if one has to overthink and worry about every little detail even just to choose a name, what meaning would there be in living? Rest assured! I will make myself truly worthy of the name ‘Tianjiao’!”
“Tianjiao!” Yun Qing stepped down, leaning her body forward and backward, and naturally took Zhao Si’s free hand, pressing it against her own heart as she chuckled softly in playful teasing, “Since Husband has already decided upon ‘Tianjiao,’ why must you still ask for my opinion? Could it be that if I disagreed, you would change it again?”
Yun Qing’s breath carried a faint medicinal fragrance. Breathing in the comforting scent of medicine from within her embrace and holding the warm jade of her body, Zhao Si let a smile surface at the corners of her eyes as she replied, “Not necessarily, but Zhao Si doesn’t wish for any friction or estrangement to grow between you and me over such a trivial matter.”
“Husband has it wrong.” Yun Qing lifted a finger and began to toy with the crimson tassel hanging from Zhao Si’s jade-decorated waist belt. The fine threads of the tassel slid one by one across the back of Zhao Si’s hand, sending her breathing into disarray.
Frowning slightly, Zhao Si pondered what Yun Qing could possibly mean. Did she mistake treating the naming as a trivial matter as something that would offend Yun Qing? Or perhaps Yun Qing thought her petty for worrying about estrangement over such a minor thing?
Zhao Si thought and thought, her temples beginning to throb with pain, right until she heard Yun Qing let out a soft “pfft” of laughter.
“It seems Husband is not always so straightforward after all.” Smoothing out the tassel for Zhao Si one strand at a time, Yun Qing spoke with candid sincerity, “You and I are husband and wife—our glory is shared, and our disgrace is shared. Moreover, Husband has lost all your memories of the past. In the future, when you encounter matters, simply ask me directly. There is no need to worry so much about my facial expressions.”
The moment Yun Qing’s voice trailed off, Zhao Si immediately asked, “Then where did your husband say something wrong just now?”
“Just now, you see.” Covering her smile with her hand, Yun Qing leaned forward and locked eyes with Yan’er standing just behind Zhao Si.
Turning back to look, Zhao Si saw Yan’er sticking out her neck, raspy voice elongating the cadence as she declared: “Groom has forgotten, you are now Zhao Tianjiao; you can no longer refer to yourself as Zhao Si.”
“That… is indeed my own foolishness.” Zhao Si couldn’t help laughing out loud along with them. Amidst the laughter, a child’s voice—as soft and clear as a sticky rice dumpling floated straight into her ears.
The childlike voice rang out like a spirit-bird’s call, delivering a single, earth-shattering piece of news:
“Replying to Ying’er, Chief Cui says the young lady’s third wish has been granted.”
What? It was actually granted!
With wide eyes, Zhao Si lowered her gaze to look at Yun Qing, only to see Yun Qing’s brows slightly furrowed and her vermilion lips parted in surprise, evidently as stunned by this news as she was.
How could this be? Zhao Si thought to herself that this simply defied common sense. Putting everything else aside, just considering the ruthless, penny-pinching stance Accountant Cui had taken earlier when he tried to shake her down for three hundred liang, she refused to believe that someone so stingy would willingly disband Yulu Pavilion on the spot just because of a golden lotus lamp shot down by an arrow!
Just as Zhao Si fell into confusion, the child’s voice entered her ears once more.
The child’s voice piped up: “Chief Cui said that disbanding Yulu Pavilion is a major matter, so he specifically went back to his room just now to consult the early collection of hand-written essays by the Master of Xuyang Pavilion, titled Ignorant Lu. The book states that when the Master of Xuyang Pavilion and the Crown Prince first entered into the ‘Heavenly Pride’ pact back then, the Master had already anticipated that one day someone would invoke this pact to demand the disbandment of Yulu Pavilion. The Master is a person who honors their promises, and therefore the Master authorized Chief Cui to grant this wish. However, the Master also stated another condition: within Yulu Pavilion, contracts of human indenture may be destroyed, but material contracts must be preserved. Therefore, Chief Cui has instructed little Lu to burn the contracts of indenture for all four hundred and sixty-four people of Yulu Pavilion right here in public. Honorable patrons, please witness!”
Hearing this, Zhao Si looked down toward the first floor and saw that the young page who had earlier stood beside Cui Qian was now standing all alone in the center of the crowd. Burning right beside his feet was the remnants of the golden lotus lamp, while clutched in his hands was a thick stack of yellowish-white contracts. Shifting her gaze to the page’s hands, Zhao Si watched as he pulled out a single contract, tore it along its short edge, folded it in half, tore it along its long edge, folded it in half again, repeated the process four times over, and finally tossed the scraps into the blazing fire.
The moment the contracts entered the fire, tongues of flame instantly leaped upward.
As those flames danced in Zhao Si’s eyes, she was struck by a simultaneous sense of wonder at the broad-minded magnanimity of the Master of Xuyang Pavilion and the meticulous attention to detail shown by Cui Qian.
Lost in these thoughts, she heard another wave of silver-bell-like laughter ring out beside her.
“Hahaha! Wonderful, simply wonderful! Starting from today, our sisters of Yulu Pavilion can finally hold our heads high. Such a splendid sight—let Ying’er here spread a bit of good fortune and joy for our young lady as well!”
Zhao Si recognized Ying’er’s voice, so she merely looked down toward the patrons gathered on the ground floor.
When the gathered patrons collectively raised their heads in unison, Zhao Si followed suit and looked over at Ying’er.
Ying’er was still wearing the same attire she had worn since early morning; her goose-yellow half-sleeve top and pale blue three-pane skirt stripped away much of the vulgarity amidst the solid-wood architecture, making her look exceptionally light, agile, and striking.
Everyone was waiting for Ying’er to speak, but Ying’er merely clapped her hands and summoned a dozen or so maidservants of varying appearances. Those maidservants walked with dainty, graceful steps to the wooden balustrade of the second floor, waved their silk handkerchiefs down toward the patrons below, and instantly whipped the crowd of patrons into a fresh frenzy of excitement and shouting.
“Lanfeng!”
“Liuxiang!”
“Cuiyun!”
As the clamor of the patrons’ shouts rose into the air, Zhao Si looked back at Ying’er and saw her take a palm-sized brass bell from the hands of a maidservant, give it a gentle shake, and instantly quiet the crowd down once more.
The moment the patrons fell silent, Ying’er pointed toward the satin cloth sack held in the arms of a nearby maidservant and announced: “This was originally a token of gratitude prepared by Miss Yun Qing to thank all the honored guests here for celebrating her new marriage. Now that we sisters have gained our freedom, let us bestow these tokens of gratitude from Yulu Pavilion upon you gentlemen.”
As she spoke, Zhao Si saw Ying’er untie the cord on the cloth sack, reach in with a golden spoon, and scoop out five or six golden pearls, each roughly the size of a grain of rice.
“Thank you, gentlemen!”
Ying’er swept her hand upward, and the golden pearls went flying through the air, sending the patrons below scrambling and tumbling over one another in a frantic rush.
Standing on the second floor, Zhao Si looked down with detached amusement at the unsightly spectacle of the patrons dropping to all fours, shoving and wrestling to pick up the scattered golden pearls. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the other maidservants had already clustered around Ying’er, each holding a spoon and beginning to scatter golden pearls in turn.
As the golden pearls were first scattered, Zhao Si could hear cheers rising higher and higher one after another. After the maidservants had tossed out a dozen or so spoonfuls, the cheering gradually grew sparse. By the time they reached the twentieth spoonful, no one on the first floor was paying any attention to the stage anymore; everyone was simply buried head-down in the dirt, frantically picking up golden pearls.
Watching this scene, Zhao Si couldn’t help but shake her head. At the same time, this motion allowed her to notice that several observing young scholars were standing outside the outer perimeter, pointing and whispering while slowly waving their paper fans.
Those fellows were quite amusing. Zhao Si resolved to watch those scholars for a moment longer, but then her gaze drifted back and noticed that a good half of the maidservants had quietly swapped the golden pearls in their spoons for dark medicinal soup.
Jets of jet-black medicinal soup rained down continuously from the second floor like an inky storm, soaking through the hair-crowns of the pearl-pickers and staining their finely woven silk brocade robes.
In an instant, the honored guests found themselves looking utterly wretched and driven to the brink of frantic fury.
Standing on the second floor looking down, Zhao Si thought to herself that getting so worked up in a huff with these people earlier had truly been laughable. With that thought, she once more wrapped her arm around Yun Qing, listening as Ying’er called out with a sweet laugh to the crowd below: “As all you gentlemen well know, Miss Yun Qing is profoundly versed in the medical arts. This nourishing medicinal soup is likewise a gift bestowed upon you all by Miss Yun Qing. Besides these two things, Miss Yun Qing has also left behind one final item to be bestowed upon those destined to receive it. If any of you gentlemen are interested, you may catch it and have a look.”
Zhao Si looked over at Ying’er once more and saw her, alongside the other maidservants, tossing out several sheets of writing paper. Those sheets of paper, carrying a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs, drifted downward like snowflakes; some landed on the shoulders of the patrons, while others fluttered away into more distant corners.
Staring intently at those sheets of paper, Zhao Si could already see that they were densely covered in handwriting. Regretting that she hadn’t yet had the chance to read the manuscripts penned by her dear wife’s own hands before they were scattered to the winds among the patrons of Cengzhou City, Zhao Si pressed her lips tightly together, turned to steady Yun Qing, and pivoted away so she wouldn’t have to look at those manuscripts fluttering wildly like jade scraps in the wind.
As Zhao Si supported Yun Qing and walked a few steps forward, she heard the celebratory cheers behind her grow even louder—so loud that, amidst the peak of the din, Zhao Si actually caught her own “code name” being shouted out.
“With the autumn harvest in Cengzhou, we congratulate Patron Zhao on a predestined match and a double blessing of happy events.”
“With Jiang Li of Cengzhou, we congratulate Patron Zhao on joining hands with his fair maiden to grow old together.”
“With Wei Jingsan of Cengzhou, we congratulate Patron Zhao on peace, joy, and a lifetime free from sorrow.”
Zhao Si paused in her steps, pressed her lips together, and asked Yun Qing in a low voice, “What was written on Wife’s manuscripts?”
Leading Zhao Si forward as they walked and smiled, a trace of mischief flashing in her eyes, Yun Qing replied, “I scattered the medical manuscript drafts I authored in my early years, which recorded quite a few secret formulas and insights. I had originally intended to present them to my husband as a wedding gift, but realizing my husband likely has no desire to become some miraculous divine doctor, I simply scattered them on the spot to pray for blessings on my husband’s behalf.”
“Does scattering medical manuscripts really yield such a wonderful effect?”
“I was teasing Husband.” Guiding Zhao Si into a private compartment named ‘Luoshui’ and seating her in a window-facing seat, Yun Qing smiled warmly.
“Then…” Zhao Si sat down close beside Yun Qing.
“You must lean your ear closer to me.” Yun Qing beckoned with her finger.
“Mmm?” Zhao Si obediently moved closer to Yun Qing’s sandalwood-scented lips.
Biting playfully at Zhao Si’s earlobe, Yun Qing teased her softly: “Husband is overestimating Yun Qing. Though Yun Qing has a superficial grasp of the medical arts, how could I possibly possess any heaven-shaking, earth-shattering medical compendium? All those people are shouting out blessings in unison simply because I wrote on the papers: ‘Whoever catches this paper and fails to offer congratulations shall suffer a bloody calamity.'”
“Just that alone?”
“I also drew a few Buddhist talismans I learned from the novice monks at Qingshen Temple.”