chapter 2

Six hours prior.

“First brush of a comb, fortune prevails.”

“Second brush of a comb, no sickness or worry.”

“Third brush of a comb, abundance of children and longevity.”

“Brush to the end, a couple until dark hairs grow grey…”

“Enough,” Wei Yingluo interrupted. “Aunt¹ Ajin, take a good look at me. Do I look like someone who can get along with others?”

On top a table sat a gold-plated brass mirror, reflecting the images of two people.

Wei Yingluo was fully dressed in red wedding attire, her face lightly powdered. Rouge complemented the image, especially the dash on her lips. Whoever had such a bride naturally would be ecstatic.

However, what kind of bride would be like her and wear a wedding outfit, complete with three inner layers and three outer layers, tied together with a loop of hemp rope?

Rather than marrying someone, this was more like a human sacrifice, dumping her into the ocean for the dragon king² in exchange for the village’s prosperity.

“Aunt Ajin.” Wei Yingluo’s voice was faint like hazy rain. “Tell me about the palace again.”

“It’s almost time for you to set out. Why are you asking about it now?” The middle-aged woman standing behind Wei Yingluo sighed as she combed her hair. “Is it not good to marry someone? I asked around for you. Although the groom’s family is ordinary, he is a sincere person. If I had a choice in the past, I would rather marry someone like that than enter the palace to be a palace maid, wasting one’s youth to only glance upon the emperor.”

After a moment of silence, Wei Yingluo softly asked, “What kind of man is the emperor?”

“I don’t know.” Ajin smiled helplessly. “From start ‘til finish I was on my knees, kneeling. I’ve only seen his dragon boots and did not dare to look up at his dragon face.”

“You haven’t seen the emperor with your eyes, but you’ve surely heard about him, right? Aunt Ajin, how do people in the palace describe him? Do you remember?”

As Ajin thought over Wei Yingluo’s words, she broke into a smile. “Those who can’t keep their mouths shut have no chance to see the dragon’s boots. Okay now, stop frowning or you’ll grow wrinkles. I will tell you one thing I’ve seen with my own eyes.”

“Speak,” Wei Yingluo immediately said. “I’m listening.”

“About four years ago, a noble lady³ died.” Ajin’s manner of speech dragged on, almost as if she were afraid. “Because of a dress…”

As the words left the woman’s lips, Wei Yingluo pictured the red tiles of the Forbidden City manifesting from thin air before her very eyes, starting from the inner three layers to the outer three layers. Just like this rope that tied tightly around her body. She was firmly held in the cage known as the imperial harem.

The women who came and went, the fish who plunged into the waters, the moon or the shy flowers, each had its own characteristics, its own beauty. Wherever they went, they were all considered famous flowers. Now that they were gathered in the same place, fighting and competition of course occurred. A spring garden, but there was only one flower viewer— the present emperor⁴ .

And as some flowers bloomed, others wilted.

A scream ripped its way through the air. It drew the attention of a crowd of onlookers, a younger Ajin included.

In front stood a well often frequented by palace maids, who fetched water for their masters’ morning routines.

And now, as she peered down the bottom of the well, she could make out a female corpse.

“Her face was so white and bloated from well water that it was impossible to recognize her original appearance,” said Ajin, shivering. “But I recognized the clothes on her body. A Hundred Birds dress. The dead woman was Noble Lady Yun of the Orchid Garden courtyard.”

Although it was a festive day, with firecrackers crackling and words of congratulations spoken in the background, Wei Yingluo felt slightly cold.

Ajin’s words carried a chill, the woman in the well invading her bone. Her limbs.

Swallowing, Wei Yingluo asked, “Why did she end up in the well?”

“Because of the dress she had worn.” Ajin’s voice was no more than a murmur. ”I still remember her walking in that beautiful gown through the royal garden. So full of brilliance. Back then I hadn’t been sure if it were the sun shining on her or if her body had emitted a natural light…”

After a pause, Ajin laughed. “But the emperor saw her and became furious. In front of the crowd, Noble Lady Yun could not hold up her head.”

Shocked by those turn of events, Wei Yingluo asked, “Does the emperor dislike beautiful women?”

“Under the heavens, there is no man who would dislike beautiful women,” said Ajin, shaking her head. “The emperor had liked her. Otherwise, he would not have visited her a second time. No, it was because she had been too greedy. He had already promoted this civilian-born Han woman into a noble lady, but her heart still craved for more. She wanted too much and did too much.”

“But it’s just a dress…”

“And it was this dress that the emperor did not like. This Hundred Birds dress resembled that of Princess Anle⁵ of the Tang Dynasty. The palace had long since advocated being thrifty, and even the empress would not have people make such expensive and striking clothes for herself. The emperor scolded Noble Lady Yun for wearing that fancy dress and demoted her to a palace maid.”

“So that’s what happened…” Wei Yingluo frowned. She had formed her first impression of the unmasked emperor, the one who stood high above others. The one who liked beautiful women and held all of their attention in his single grasp.

The emperor did not seem to care much about his women’s family backgrounds, so he could also promote the civilian-born palace lady of the Han family into a noble lady. Or perhaps he actually preferred this kind of powerless woman, clean and keeping only him in her heart, rather than be influenced by the interests of a formidable family.

He did not hate the Hundred Birds dress, but rather what lurked beneath it… Ambition.

“Just one wrong step in the palace, and you would walk into disaster. To this day, I do not know if Noble Lady Yun died because the emperor reprimanded her, or if someone sent her on a ride to hell using this as an excuse,” said Ajin. “So be good Yingluo, and marry. Stop thinking about the palace and your sister…”

“Aunt Ajin.” After interrupting abruptly, Wei Yingluo turned her head, a faraway glance in her eyes. Eyes dark, like the pits of two wells. One look, and shivers ran through Ajin’s form. It felt as if she had returned to six years prior. There she stood by the well, its chill accompanying her. The corpse white as snow.

At that moment, Wei Yingluo’s eyes were truly reminiscent of the well.

“Did you complete the task that I had asked of you before?” asked Wei Yingluo, staring.

Caught in her gaze, Ajin could not help but nod.

“That’s good.” A smile graced Wei Yingluo’s lips, the malicious and dark aura that had once surrounded her vanishing, and in a flash she transformed back into a delicate bride.

The sight of it caused sweat to drip down Ajin’s back. She seemed to have realized where the Wei family’s unwillingness in Wei Yingluo’s palace entry stemmed from. And following in close chase was Ajin’s regret; that she would have had a hand in helping such a woman step through the palace gates…

“Aunt Ajin.” Wei Yingluo’s voice brought Ajin out of her thoughts. “You don’t regret what you have done for me, do you?”

“No, no.” Ajin was in a hurry to deny it, and in the end could not help but give a few words of advice. “But if you do this, I fear you can no longer return home…”

As soon as the words left her lips, the door creaked upon. Wei Qingtai stood at the doorway. “It’s almost time,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Master,” said Ajin, glancing at him.

“Yes, I’m ready,” interrupted Wei Yingluo.

Reflecting upon the bronze mirror’s surface was a bride tied from head to toe. Who rose from her seat, turned her body, and hovered her lips close to Ajin’s ears in a whisper. “I’ve placed the things that my mother had left for me and my sister within a wedding pastry box. I’ve already given it to older sister Qiao.”

Qiao was Ajin’s daughter and her lifeblood.

“Miss…” She could only utter a single word.

“It’s a pity I must leave at this time. I don’t know when I can return. I’m afraid I won’t be able to see the day when older sister Qiao gets married.”

Among the items that Wei Yingluo’s mother had left behind for her and her sister, besides those that had been snatched away prior, were a pair of jasper bracelets, a Qilin⁶ collar, a pair of agate peony earrings, and two hairpins made of pure gold.

qilin

A Qilin

Within the palace, Ajin had wasted her youth. And so had her previous master. Without the emperor’s favor, her master could not afford to reward Ajin often, so Ajin did not save much wealth while working in the palace. By the time she could leave, she had discovered that her previous engagement had fallen through. Her fiance could not withstand the wait and married another. Even his children were as tall as her knees.

If she had to marry as a concubine, why not just stay single for the rest of her life? A few years later, she could adopt a girl as a daughter, and focus all of her energy on this one daughter. Let her eat well, dress well, and in the future, marry a good man. All of this would require money.

“Honestly, I am so envious of older sister Qiao,” Wei Yingluo said with her head lowered, her voice growing softer by the word. “If my mother were still alive, or my sister were still here, they would protect me the way you protect your daughter. They wouldn’t tie me up like this and force me atop the wedding palanquin…”

As soon as she spoke, a string of teardrops fell to the floor.

A deep sigh escaped from Ajin’s lips. Once again, she was moved. But whether it was by Wei Yingluo’s words or her brilliant tears, she did not know.

As such, Ajin would not regret what she had done for Wei Yingluo.

“Miss,” Ajin started to say. A maid brought over a wooden tray. Atop sat a crimson veil. Ajin picked it up with steady fingers and gently placed it over Wei Yingluo’s phoenix crown, her eyes shining with unspoken words. “Don’t cry,” said Ajin, her words trailing off. “You will get what you want.”

Under the red veil, Wei Yingluo’s lips that were touched with a bit of rouge tilted upwards, as if she had won.

“The auspicious time has arrived!” came a voice from the background. “Time to board the palanquin!”

Two hours later, the wedding procession passed by Zhangping street, a street surrounded by teahouses. The patrons of the teahouses left their seats to watch the spectacle. As they leaned on the balcony railings, their eyes picked up the sight of red-clad procession members. Their ears picked up the loud crackle of firecrackers that the procession marched in tune.

But mixed in with the firecrackers was a continuous clamor.

Pedestrians who were closer to the palanquin clearly heard it. One such man couldn’t help but wonder, “What’s that sound?”

He wasn’t imagining things because the person beside him replied, “What? You heard it too? I think it’s coming from inside the palanquin…”

The more bizarre something was, the more likely it was to attract onlookers. The crowd closest to the palanquin grew, and a few of the more daring actually attempted to open the door.

“What are you doing?” shouted Wei Qingtai, his face green from anger. He signaled for a servant to drive away those people. “Scram you second-rate trash! You actually have the guts to try and burst through a wedding palanquin. Do you think I won’t drag you to the magistrate’s office?”

Through it all, the strange clamor did not stop, and Wei Qingtai couldn’t help but turn around. Voice lowered, he said to the person within the palanquin,“What the hell are you doing?”

The sound paused, before returning with full force of a charging bear!

Then the palanquin suddenly toppled over to the side, a bride tied from head to toe tumbling out of the scarlet flap door!

“Ah!”

“Blood, there’s so much blood!”

“Mom, there’s a lot of blood on her head.”

Naturally, it was blood.

Wei Yingluo slowly lifted her head. A stream of red continued to flow from her forehead wound. It stained her face. In fact, the strange noise had come from her banging her head on the palanquin walls. Tightly tied as she was, there had been no other way to draw attention to herself.

Even if she had cracked open her skull, looking neither human nor a ghost of the underworld, she would hold no regrets.

It’s almost time.

The moment Wei Yingluo had boarded the palanquin, she had started counting in her heart. After an hour of travel, she had been in Hongyan street. After two hours, she had been in Zhangping street.

It was at this time and this place that Ajin would have brought those people over.

She scanned the crowd, her gaze finally settling in a certain direction.

And as she had looked around, the onlookers did not cease their comments regarding her.

“Oh my, look at this. How could they tie her with a rope?”

“Who could be so evil to do this to their own daughter?”

“Isn’t this more like selling a daughter than marrying her off?”

“What do you mean ‘selling a daughter?’ No, the palanquin is just too wide and the road too bumpy, so she kept bumping her head.” Face growing paler at the second, Wei Qingtai tried to appease the situation. “What are you still looking at? Hurry up and send her back in there.”

A red hydrangea adorning his chest, the groom turned around and attempted to lift Wei Yingluo back on her feet. But as soon as he did, she shouted, “Do you know my Wei family is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and that my name is on the palace maid candidate list? If you force me to marry before fulfilling my duties in the palace, not only will my head fall, but the heads of both our families!”

The groom faltered, the hand that had once held up Wei Yingluo trembling and releasing in a flash. She fell back to the ground and he did not try to assist her up again. Instead, he retreated two steps, jabbing his finger in a panic at Wei Qingtai. “What’s going on here? Didn’t you say she was delisted?”

Glancing at his daughter, Wei Qingtai wracked his brain to come up with an answer. “Look at her crazy antics. Of course she has been…”

A chuckle escaped behind him, followed by the soft voice of Wei Yingluo. “Official Zuo Ling, do you think I look like a madwoman?”

Zuo Ling?

Wei Qingtai stood in shock. The crowd before him parted in half, revealing Zuo Ling, the general manager of the palace draft.

“Wei Qingtai!” Face as frigid as ice, Zuo Ling pointed at Wei Yingluo and said, “How could this happen?”