Not knowing how many circles Yun Qing had wrapped around her until Zhao Si felt nearly out of breath, the silky, crimson inner robe was draped over Zhao Si’s shoulders by Yun Qing. Feeling Yun Qing’s gentleness, Zhao Si lowered her gaze to watch those delicate, slender fingers carefully tie the inner knot of the robe against her chest.
Yun Qing tied it so slowly so slowly that Zhao Si could clearly see her fingertips trembling and her shoulders shaking.
“Yun Qing, how old are you?” Zhao Si made conversation, attempting to soothe Yun Qing.
Yun Qing’s fingertips paused, then resumed smoothing down the hem of Zhao Si’s garment.
“Husband, how old are you?”
“I’ve forgotten,” Zhao Si answered truthfully.
“Then Yun Qing has forgotten too.” With a playful, mischievous smile, Yun Qing tilted her head up to look at Zhao Si, stood on tiptoe, and retrieved a palm-sized gold-inlaid jade pendant from the tribute tray, hanging it around Zhao Si’s neck.
Once it was hung, Yun Qing stroked the jade back and forth before speaking in a soft, tender murmur to instruct Zhao Si: “The husband must keep this safe. This is the token of our affection you must never lose it.”
“A token of our affection?” A thrill ran through Zhao Si’s heart as she cradled the jade, feeling overwhelmingly emotional. Yet, remembering that she had accepted Yun Qing’s token of affection while remaining entirely empty-handed with nothing to offer in return, she simply caught Yun Qing’s hand, dropped to her knees, and prayed aloud to the heavens: “I, Zhao Si, am willing to trade ten years of my life span as a token of affection for Yun Qing, and I pray the heavens will show mercy.”
Her prayer finished, Zhao Si prepared to bow, but was abruptly stopped by Yun Qing.
Yun Qing hurriedly reached down to help Zhao Si back to his feet, her eyes turning red with sudden anxiety.
“What is the meaning of this? Could it be that you begrudge trading ten years of life?” Zhao Si asked. “Yet your husband here can find nothing else of worth to bestow upon my wife.” Awkwardly tightening her grip, she felt a lingering pang of annoyance that this massive bathing pool contained not a single thing she could borrow to offer as a gift.
“It’s nothing. I’m just happy. The husband need not concern himself with such worldly rituals. As the saying goes, ‘A thousand gold treasures are easy to find, but a devoted husband is hard to come by.’ It is enough that the husband feels true affection for Yun Qing.”
Gently prying open Zhao Si’s fingers, Yun Qing beamed brightly, turned slightly, and tied the crimson trousers onto Zhao Si.
The trousers were ingeniously designed, featuring a ten-foot-long binding sash at the waistband, with every single inch of the trouser legs fastened by decorative knots.
Once Yun Qing had finished tending to every detail for Zhao Si, she nudged Zhao Si gently toward the edge of the fragrant waters to take a look.
Gazing at her reflection in the water, Zhao Si sighed inwardly: Clothes make the man, just as saddles make the horse; the ancients never lied. Merely dressed in a crimson inner robe with a warm jade pendant resting against her chest, her entire person radiated an added layer of aristocratic grace.
Unconsciously, Zhao Si reached out to touch the gold-inlaid jade. The bumps and grooves upon the jade reminded Zhao Si of dragon motifs.
Reaching out to feel it once more, she even seemed to discern characters carved amidst those dragon patterns.
“Jingming?” Zhao Si attempted to read the two characters aloud.
Holding a tribute tray, Yun Qing walked over to Zhao Si’s side.
“Indeed. It is Jingming. ‘In spring’s harmony the clear scenery shines, glowing mists and drifting clouds mirror Yun Qing.’ Husband and I are a match made in heaven.”
“Since you put it that way, I truly ought to change my name. I’ve decided to live up to my wife’s jade pendant, from now on I shall go by the name Zhao Jingming in the outside world! Many thanks to my wife for bestowing this name upon me!” Turning sideways, Zhao Si bowed respectfully to Yun Qing.
Yun Qing covered her mouth in a threefold laugh, then unceremoniously shoved the tray into Zhao Si’s arms.
“It is the husband’s turn to dress me.”
“Very well.” Zhao Si complied with good grace.
The progression of events proved just as Zhao Si had anticipated; things came to an immediate standstill the moment she tried to dress Yun Qing in her stomacher. Frowning with intense concentration, Zhao Si turned the crimson five-square cloth embroidered with golden lotuses over and over, beads of sweat breaking out across her forehead.
Fortunately, Yun Qing proved to be an excellent teacher.
Turning her back, sweeping up her dark tresses to leave her willow-like waist and beautiful back exposed to Zhao Si, Yun Qing inclined her neck forward and called out softly, “Husband, just take hold of the ends of the silk ribbons and tie a knot in the back.”
“Very well.” Reaching one hand beneath Yun Qing’s armpits to arrange the stomacher across her collarbone, Zhao Si imitated Yun Qing’s earlier actions, pulled the four thin ribbons taut, and tied them sequentially from top to bottom.
Once the knots were tied, Zhao Si looked between the red ribbons and saw that Yun Qing’s waist was slender enough that one could scarcely span it with both hands.
Tightening her grip slightly, Zhao Si lowered her gaze and swiftly finished adjusting the trousers for Yun Qing.
As soon as both of them were fully dressed, Yun Qing sank directly into Zhao Si’s embrace, lingering there in shared intimacy for a moment.
When Zhao Si’s breathing grew ragged, Yun Qing once more took Zhao Si by the hand and stood her by the edge of the pool, admiring their reflections together in the fragrant waters.
At that moment, crimson garments mirrored one another, a jade-like beauty held hand in hand.
For a moment, Zhao Si stood there completely spellbound.
Yun Qing, however, clapped her hands and summoned the two maidservants, Ying’er and Yan’er, who brought over a jade stool to assist them in arranging their hair crowns, hairpins, wedding robes, and accessories.
With gold and jade ornaments adorning her person, Zhao Si looked down at the golden crown upon her head reflected in the water and the golden dragon jade pendant hanging at her waist, and tightened her grip on Yun Qing’s hand ever so slightly.
In return, Yun Qing gripped Zhao Si’s hand back, wearing a golden phoenix crown with hanging pearls as she smiled charmingly: “Yun Qing wants the husband to cover me with the bridal veil!”
“Very well!” Taking the red bridal veil from Ying’er’s hands, Zhao Si draped it gently over Yun Qing’s head.
Ying’er thrust one end of a red silk ribbon tied with a scarlet blossom directly into Zhao Si’s hand.
Clutching the red silk tightly, Zhao Si was guided forward at close quarters by Yan’er.
As Zhao Si moved forward, Ying’er supported Yun Qing, stepping in precise, matching rhythm with Zhao Si’s pace.
Depending entirely on Yan’er’s guidance, Zhao Si walked forward while the red silk in her hand grew alternately taut and slack. When it grew taut, Zhao Si imagined that her wife’s pace had simply slowed. When it grew slack, Zhao Si instinctively halted her steps, yearning only to pull the person behind her closer.
Walking thus, despite a distance of barely a hundred paces, Zhao Si felt as though she had walked the length of an entire incense stick.
When Yan’er came to a halt, Zhao Si stopped in her tracks as well and looked around. She found herself stepping into a spacious hall capable of accommodating over a hundred people. The ceiling featured nine golden lotuses one large and eight small while dozens of giant pillars standing over ten zhang tall within the hall were all painted in gold dust. Between the roof beams, eight strands of red silk meandered and spiraled to form a massive red blossom suspended directly beneath the golden lotus at the center of the hall. Hanging from each of the more than one hundred lotus petals were fist-sized, brilliantly radiant night-pearls.
“Yun Qing,” Zhao Si murmured, entirely dazzled by the opulence of the ceremonial hall. “Is this truly the wedding hall for the two of us?”
Yun Qing offered no reply.
Yan’er gestured toward the northwest with a hand, and Zhao Si followed her gaze to find a red-robed man of around forty years of age standing upon a lotus platform decorated with red silk. Beaming with festive cheer, he bowed toward their direction, then turned to cup his fists and issue commands to the red-robed guests gathered beneath the lotus platform: “The groom has arrived! Why aren’t the musicians, the guest-greeters, the performers, and the food-servers moving yet?!”
“Understood!” The crowd obeyed in unison, their movements merging like a blazing fire beneath the candle-glow and pearl-radiance before scattering across the floor in a sea of red.
Drumming, music, the calling out of dishes, and the cries of acrobats intertwined in a cacophony that left Zhao Si dizzy and lightheaded.
Attendant maidservants carrying white jade carved cabbages, twin phoenixes holding pearls, damasks, and brocades streamed past in an endless procession, leaving Zhao Si entirely overwhelmed.
By the time Yan’er gave Zhao Si a gentle supporting nudge, Zhao Si heard the master of ceremonies chanting melodiously from atop the golden platform:
“Presenting the newlyweds.”
Zhao Si stumbled as she climbed toward the high platform.
She walked with such haste that the moment she drew near the lotus platform, she tripped over the steps.
“Master husband?” Yan’er cried out in alarm, rushing forward in a panic to steady her.
Yet Yun Qing beat her to it.
Stepping forward a fraction of a second before Yan’er, Yun Qing seized the red silk ribbon in her hand to steady Zhao Si, using the momentum to firmly anchor Zhao Si’s balance.
Leveraging that support to stand back up, Zhao Si was flooded with a deep sense of apology. Indeed, she was truly an unworthy husband, failing to handle even so minor a task as walking up to perform the wedding bows.
Worse still, stumbling during the wedding bows was definitely an inauspicious omen!
Fearing that further mishaps might occur, Zhao Si could not help anxiously calling out, “Yun Qing.”
“Husband, do not be afraid. I am here!”
Helping Zhao Si stand firm, Yun Qing took precedence and ascended the platform, supported by Ying’er. Yun Qing’s stride was dignified and her posture extraordinary. Standing in place to watch for a moment, Zhao Si felt a mingled surge of joy and melancholy.
The joy was that she, Zhao Si, had managed to secure such an extraordinary wife truly a stroke of divine grace and unearned good fortune for a nobody like her.
The melancholy was that a woman as peerless as Yun Qing had taken a mediocre person like her as a husband; was that not simply another instance of the heavens turning a blind eye and spoiling a precious treasure upon the unworthy?
Heartaching for Yun Qing, Zhao Si felt a sour sting in the bridge of her nose.
Yet at that moment, the red silk in her hand tightened abruptly, forcing Zhao Si to be pulled along by Yun Qing and pushed forward by Yan’er until she stood right in the center of the lotus platform.