In the tenth year of Jianxing, it happened to be early spring.
A chill lingered, and the apricot tree in the courtyard trembled slightly in the cool breeze. Yu Ziyu stood by the window, head bowed, eyes clear. She pressed herself against the window crack, her gaze sharp as an arrow, intently watching every movement inside.
”Hey, Ziyu, what are you doing here?”
The eldest sister’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Yu Ziyu. She quickly turned her head and made a shushing gesture, indicating that her eldest sister should come closer to her.
Yu Qingdai walked lightly to Yu Ziyu’s side and asked, “What are you going to do?”
”Shh.” Yu Ziyu took her older sister’s arm and made her bend down so they could peek into the room together. She then added vaguely, “See, he listens to everything I say.”
Yu Qingdai sighed helplessly, bent down, and peered through the crack in the open window.
Inside the hall, the elders of the family were talking with several guests. Among them, a man dressed in dark blue brocade robes was quite handsome. He had a straight back, a fair face, and an aloof demeanor, making him seem unapproachable.
”Is that man in blue Li Jiyan?” Yu Qingdai asked in a low voice. She had heard a few days ago that General Li Jiyan was coming today to propose marriage to her younger sister, Yu Ziyu.
”Mm.” Yu Ziyu nodded slightly, then pointed to the crack in the window. “Don’t talk, keep watching.”
Yu Qingdai shrugged and continued to watch the movements inside the room.
Li Jiyan remained expressionless and rarely smiled. When the elders teased him about his relationship with Yu Ziyu, a handsome couple, he simply nodded in agreement without saying a word.
Shortly afterward, what happened inside the house greatly surprised Yu Qingdai.
Li Jiyan’s godfather, Grand Commandant Li Fanglian, said to Yu’s parents, “Jiyan and Ziyu are a perfect match, both talented and beautiful. Why don’t we finalize the marriage today?”
Yu Ningying, Yu’s mother, nodded and said, “That is indeed the case. However, my daughter Ziyu has been spoiled since childhood and has a bit of a temper. I hope General Li will be more understanding.”
Following his wife’s words, Yu’s father, Zhao Tianjun, looked at Li Jiyan and said, “Yes, my daughter is a bit impetuous. If this marriage is to take place in the future, I hope General Li will be more accommodating to her.”
Li Jiyan nodded slightly but did not reply.
Godfather Li Fanglian chuckled awkwardly and tried to smooth things over: “Isn’t this perfect? My son is gentle and honest. He and Ziyu complement each other perfectly, they’re a match made in heaven.”
Li Fanglian was eager to finalize the marriage and urged Li Jiyan, “Jiyan, quickly serve tea to your father-in-law and mother-in-law. Once the tea is served, the marriage will be settled!”
A servant standing to the side brought out fresh tea and tactfully handed it to Li Jiyan. Li Jiyan stood up, held the cup high with both hands, but instead of holding it above his head, he poured the warm tea over his head, drenching his face.
His actions left everyone present stunned. Yu’s father, Zhao Tianjun, frowned and looked at his wife, whispering, “This is…?”
Yu Ningying was equally at a loss.
Li Fanglian gritted his teeth and glared at Li Jiyan. Quickly thinking, he also raised his teacup and poured the tea over his own head to defuse the awkward situation, saying with a smile, “My dear in-law, it’s a custom in the border regions. Pouring tea on one’s head is a sign of respect for elders and friends.”
Seeing this, Li Fanglian’s colleagues also chimed in, raising their teacups and pouring tea over their heads, laughing dryly together.
”Yes, yes, pouring tea over one’s head is a gesture of respect from beyond the Great Wall!”
Yu Ningying and Zhao Tianjun laughed along, then hesitated and said, “Should we also pour some on our heads, to reciprocate?”
Li Fanglian hurriedly waved his hand: “No need, no need. This is the custom in the border region. I’m very sorry to have startled you two in-laws.”
“We never knew there were such customs in the border regions. We’ve really learned something new today,” Yu Ningying said. Then she turned to her maid and instructed, “Qinghe, quickly go and get some handkerchiefs to wipe Lord Li and the others’ faces.”
”yes.”
Qinghe, accompanied by another maid, quickly went to the inner room to bring back brocade handkerchiefs, which she distributed to Li Jiyan and the others.
Yu Qingdai, peeking out the window, was puzzled and muttered to herself, “Pouring tea on one’s head as a sign of respect, what kind of custom is this? Are all these people from beyond the Great Wall so vulgar?”
Yu Ziyu, however, stood up straight with a smug look on his face and said, “See, I told you, he listens to everything I say.”
”What do you mean?” Yu Qingdai could never understand what her younger sister was saying.
Yu Ziyu raised her eyebrows, looking quite pleased with herself: “I just told Li Jiyan that if he washes his hair with tea in front of everyone, I will marry him.”
”Did you ask him to pour the tea over your head? When did you meet him?”
Yu Qingdai was full of doubts. As far as she knew, Li Jiyan, as the General who pacifies the Barbarians, had been stationed in the border region. These past few days, he had traveled a long way back to the capital from the border region to propose marriage.
”I won’t tell you!” Yu Ziyu grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her away. “Come here quickly and help me.”
Yu Qingdai was confused and dragged to the apricot tree not far away. Yu Ziyu deftly lifted a pile of weeds and found a silver longsword and a black lacquered scimitar in the weeds.
She slung the longsword over her back, slung the scimitar at her waist, and pulled on the red rope on the hilt, saying hurriedly, “Sister, please help me, help me tie this around my waist, make a tight knot.”
Yu Qingdai expertly helped her wrap the red rope around her waist, tying a tight knot, and asked, “Where are you going again?”
”I’m going to the mountain to kill demons.” With that, Yu Ziyu rushed out.
Yu Qingdai couldn’t stop her and called out from behind, “Don’t go, we still have to have dinner with General Li and the others later!”
”Tell my parents to wait for me to come back before we eat. I’ll be right back!” Yu Ziyu’s figure gradually disappeared into the distance. She was thin, with a long sword on her back and a curved knife at her waist, as if they were about to crush her.
Yu Qingdai shook her head and went back into the room. Inside, Li Jiyan, Li Fanglian, and several other guests were still wiping the tea off their faces with handkerchiefs, looking somewhat disheveled.
She moved to her mother Yu Ningying’s side and whispered in her ear, “Mother, Ziyu has run up the mountain again.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Ningying frowned: “Why didn’t you stop her?”
“How could I stop her…” Yu Qingdai complained softly, then added, “She told us to wait for her to come back before we ate. She should be back soon.”
”Fine, let her be.”
Yu Qingdai hesitated for a moment, then said to her mother, “Mother, Ziyu said that she asked General Li to wash his hair with tea. Just now, when General Li and the others were pouring tea over their heads, Ziyu pulled me to watch from the back window.”
Yu Ningying’s expression grew increasingly serious. She glanced at Li Jiyan secretly and asked in confusion, “When did Ziyu meet Li Jiyan?”
”I don’t know.”
Yu Ningying was filled with emotion. Her daughter, Yu Ziyu, was originally a clever and bright girl, but three years ago she inexplicably contracted hysteria. She kept saying that she had opened her eyes to see ghosts and demons, and she kept clamoring to cultivate immortality and become an immortal, which worried them to death.
We consulted many doctors, prescribed countless medicines, and tricked and coaxed her into drinking a lot of herbal soups, but there was no sign of improvement.
Given Yu Ziyu’s personality, Yu Ningying, as her mother, would certainly not want to arrange a marriage for her. However, recently Yu Ziyu has been saying that she has not achieved enlightenment and should find a man to cultivate with, using the art of Yin and Yang to regulate her body and mind.
Yu Ningying was worried that her daughter would abduct a man on the street. In addition, her family had lost power in recent years, and Prime Minister Li Fanglian wanted to establish a relationship with the Yu family and wanted to match his godson Li Jiyan with Yu Ziyu.
After weighing the pros and cons, Yu Ningying had no choice but to temporarily agree to the marriage.
However, looking at Li Jiyan now, she felt uneasy, wondering if the act of washing his hair with tea was truly a custom from beyond the Great Wall, or if Li Jiyan had simply followed Yu Ziyu’s nonsense.
If it’s the latter, then Li Jiyan is probably mentally unstable. Ziyu is already mentally ill; what if she marries another mentally unstable man?
Won’t these two cause a huge uproar from now on?
Just as Yu Ningying was in a state of turmoil, her husband Zhao Tianjun was having a pleasant conversation with Li Fanglian. They talked about everything from the marriage of the two younger relatives to national affairs and people’s livelihood, and they seemed to regret not having met sooner.
Throughout the entire process, Li Jiyan remained silent and taciturn, barely uttering a word since entering the room.
*
Yu Ziyu went out through the backyard, her long sword slung over her back and her curved saber at her waist, and walked along a secluded path to the back mountain. She warily surveyed her surroundings, her gaze intense, cautiously searching for any elusive demonic aura.
After walking for a while, we saw a bamboo growing among miscellaneous trees, surrounded by black mist.
Sticky vines, like the tentacles of rotting octopuses, wrapped around the bamboo. The vines and tentacles continued to spread and wriggle, gradually growing larger and tightly wrapping around the bamboo, leaving a sticky, disgusting black sap on the ground.
Yu Ziyu took a deep breath, drew the curved knife from his waist, and with the blade swift as the wind, quickly cut off several vines from the bamboo.
With a swift stroke of the knife, several withered vines were severed, and the black demonic aura surrounding the bamboo instantly dissipated.
She picked up the vines from the ground and said to herself, “So it was a vine spirit. I am a Taoist, and it is only natural for a Taoist to subdue demons. It is only right for me to kill you today. Don’t blame me.”
As she spoke, she withdrew her scimitar from his waist, picked up half a vine, and went down the mountain.
An old man gathering firewood nearby looked at Yu Ziyu with utter bewilderment and cursed, “Are you sick in the head?!”
Yu Ziyu didn’t take these words to heart; she’d heard them countless times. “Others laugh at my madness, but I laugh at their blindness; everyone is drunk, but I alone am sober.”
Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon this person; what does it matter if she is misunderstood?
She is the only one in the world who has opened the Yin-Yang Eyes. She is a born cultivator and it is her duty to subdue demons and monsters in the world. She must not give up her cultivation because of a few harsh words from others.
”Cultivate oneself, comprehend the Tao! Regulate one’s family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world!” Yu Ziyu silently recited these words in her heart, and hurriedly descended the mountain with the “vine spirit”.
Back at the Yu residence, the maid Qinghe waited anxiously at the gate.
Seeing their young miss return, they quickly stepped forward and said, “Miss, you’re finally back! Master, Madam, and General Li are all waiting for you to have dinner! Today we’re going to discuss your marriage, so we can’t be careless.”
”What’s wrong with waiting for me? I’m busy with enlightenment and cultivation, and I also have to slay demons and monsters. I’m very busy. They’re just a bunch of ordinary people. What’s wrong with waiting for me?”
Yu Ziyu said coldly, tossing the half-eaten vine in her hand to Qinghe.
“This is a vine spirit I just killed on the mountain. Take it to the backyard, sprinkle some glutinous rice on it, wait for half an incense stick to burn, and then put it in the stove to burn.”
”Oh.” Qinghe took the vine and murmured, “Sigh, there are no demons or gods in this world, Miss, you must not believe in these things anymore, they are all just bluffing.”
”What do you know!” Yu Ziyu waved her sleeves and strode into the mansion.
She lifted her skirt and ran into the mansion. When she arrived at the dining hall, a table full of people were waiting for her.
The eldest sister, Yu Qingdai, got up and took her hand, whispering in her ear, “Ziyu, Young Master Li and his family have come to propose marriage. Don’t say anything carelessly later.”
”I know.”
Yu Ziyu glanced around the table at the people, her gaze settling on Li Jiyan, her fiancé, who was quite handsome. However, she wasn’t too pleased with the idea that he was just a general who only knew how to wield weapons.
But this morning she made him wash his hair with tea in front of everyone, and he did. He was obedient enough, which is commendable.
Mother Yu Ningying brought a bowl of medicinal soup to Yu Ziyu’s side, smiling: “Ziyu, that is General Li. If this marriage goes through, he will be your husband. Quickly greet him.”
Yu Ziyu withdrew her gaze, sat down, and said, “If we really get married, I will be his wife. With my noble status, he should be the one to take the initiative to speak to me.”
Upon hearing this, Li Jiyan remained expressionless, but Li Fanglian and the others looked rather grim.
Yu’s father, Zhao Tianjun, quickly mediated, laughing loudly, “Ziyu has been spoiled since childhood and has a bad temper, please forgive he!”
Yu Ningying was worried that her daughter would have another seizure, so she thought she should take her medicine first. She coaxed her by bringing her the soup, saying, “Ziyu, drink some hot soup first. This is black chicken soup. I specially asked the kitchen to cook it all morning.”
Yu Ziyu took the soup bowl, lowered her head to smell it, and immediately realized something was wrong. It had a bitter, medicinal smell. This was hardly chicken soup.
”Mother, this soup is wrong, someone must have poisoned it!”
She slammed the soup bowl down, drew her curved knife from her waist, and pointed it at the crowd: “Who poisoned the soup? Who is trying to harm me!”
Yu Ziyu was someone even her parents dared not offend, fearing she would go even crazier. Li Fanglian and the others who came to propose marriage were all filled with suspicion, unable to understand what Yu Ziyu was doing.
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Li Jiyan looked at his fiancée with his eyes half-closed. Ever since they entered the house to propose marriage, the Yu family had repeatedly said that Yu Ziyu had a bad temper and asked him to be more understanding.
Now that I see it, Yu Ziyu is probably not just bad-tempered; she’s clearly mentally ill.