A broad river separated the border town from Clearcreek Village. At night, Xue Dongting took the wedding boat across. Despite all her protestations, Mama Qiao still bought a few things for her dowry, including a silk cotton quilt and everything else Mama Qiao told her to bring.
Xue Dongting sat in the little boat’s hold, a red candle flickering. She wore a red embroidered wedding dress and her cheeks were lightly rouged. She was the consummate beauty. Her face was a bit flushed due to the words Mama Qiao spoke into her ear before she left, matters of the bedroom. Even though she had been with Zhao Xuanzhi in her past life, the third prince had kept her a virgin, perhaps because he disliked her low-born background. So Xue Dongting blushed when Mama Qiao said those things to her.
She gently raised her red bridal veil and lifted the red curtain over the window. It was snowing tiny balls of cotton, some icy flakes drifting into the boat and alighting on her cheeks. She watched the snow fall. In this life, could she stay far away from all the blood and darkness? A faint thought flickered through her mind; if she should see Third Prince again she would destroy him for sure! In her previous life in Third Prince’s manor, she had learned some incredible medical skills from a guest official. And she had become adept in the art of scheming. She really wanted to ruin that ruthless, coldblooded Third Prince! And destroy that venomous woman with her white cat!
But she was weary of that kind of life. What was the use of destroying Third Prince? This time around, she only wanted to find peace.
When she left she had told Mama Qiao that from now on there was no Xue Dongting from Cloudgem Lodge. If someone came asking for such a person, just say there was a girl here called Dongxiang who married a fisherman. She figured marrying a fisherman would give her the peace she sought, but what she didn’t know was that the fisherman she was marrying harbored a deep, shocking secret.
The river flowed east into the sea. It was quite broad, taking no less than half the night for her to make it across. The day grew light, the deep blue sky against the boundless white snow was exceedingly tranquil.
Xue Dongting dropped the curtain back but still lifted a corner slightly through which she could see a man standing on the riverbank. He cut a dashing figure, not quite the stooped image of a fisherman she was expecting. She couldn’t make out his face clearly, but judging from the contours, he must not be ugly. Her heart quivered. The thought of living with that strange man made her suddenly uneasy. What sort of man was he? What kind of temper? What kind of attitude? She had no idea. The thought of sleeping in the same bed with him at night and doing what Mama Qiao had told her to do was actually scaring her a little.
Xue Dongting went ashore and sat on a small sedan chair and went jostling along to a little courtyard. Her face was covered by the bridal veil so all she could see was red light, but she knew it was chilly in there and there was no banquet prepared.
The fisherman’s name was Song Yuming, an outsider to this small fishing village. No relatives, no friends.
When dusk set in, the matchmaker who had been with her this whole time left and she sat alone in the quiet, deserted room. She was a bit cold. There was no brazier in the room and she was cold by nature. Xue Dongting sat by the bed for a while, her feet already numb.
There was a creak as the door was pushed open, letting in a cold draft, followed by the heavy, measured sound of footsteps. Xue Dongting had her head down and saw a pair of muddy, dark gray cloth shoes. The man’s feet were huge.
Whether out of fear or because of the cold, Xue Dongting was trembling.
She was in a daze as the bridal veil was lifted away. Xue Dongting kept her head down, not able to bring herself to look at the man who had removed the veil. Her heart was hammering and she didn’t know where to put her hands. Suffice it to say she was flustered.