The maids had secretly said she was truly broad-minded, like a Daoist disciple.
But now… madam, your broad-mindedness is a bit too much. Tonight is your wedding night!
Seeing Yun Ran removing her earrings and reaching for the gold Buyao in her hair, Qingling suppressed the impatience welling up inside.
“Madam, be careful pulling your hair. Let me help you.”
With that, she caught sight of the smiling face reflected in the golden rhombus-shaped mirror.
“Thank you.”
Qingling sighed, “It’s no trouble for me, but you’re really suffering.”
“Alright then.”
Yun Ran replied with a faint smile, “I wasn’t prepared for intimacy with him anyway. If he stayed, I’d really be troubled.”
Who knew how shocked she had been when, upon lifting the talisman, she had seen the Green Serpent Gentleman’s face?
At that moment, she thought it was over— his spirit wouldn’t leave her alone tonight, and she was doomed to suffer.
But after he left her, she felt a strange relief and her thoughts settled.
Looking back on the encounter with the Green Serpent Gentleman, she realized how oblivious she had been—
Surrounded by snakes, exceptionally beautiful, peculiar temperament— so many similarities— how had she never suspected Jing Wang?
No, that wasn’t it. She never doubted him at all.
She had always thought Jing Wang kept to himself and seldom left the mansion.
Plus, she never believed that a strange person who kept mice and played with snakes could be a handsome man, so she never looked deeper.
Bias really does harm!
–
The dusk deepened as the bright moon rose in the east.
Not far from the bridal chamber, inside Manshuang Pavilion, Empress Dowager Zhao sat beside a stone table, dressed in an incense-colored robe, eyes fixed tightly on her second son, the young man in red, silent and unblinking.
Sima Jing’s long fingers folded together atop his knee.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence that had lasted so long: “Mother, what do you want me to do?”
Empress Dowager Zhao lifted her eyelids: “I should be the one asking you. What do you want to do?”
Sima Jing: “…”
He looked at the woman before him, never imagining she had stayed behind instead of returning to the palace with Sima Ji after the wedding ceremony.
She had declared that she would not return until the ritual was complete, as long as he hadn’t consummated the marriage.
“Ah Jing, don’t blame me for meddling too much.”
Empress Dowager Zhao pressed her lips together and said, “If you were as sensible as your eldest brother, marrying and living a proper married life, I wouldn’t interfere. But what you do now chills people’s hearts. I cannot help but step in.”
Sima Jing scoffed, “Chill people’s hearts?”
Ignoring his scoff, she said sternly, “Yes, chill people’s hearts. Not only mine but your bride’s, the Yun family’s, and the Marquis of Changxin’s.”
“Your marriage to the Yun family’s eldest daughter was arranged by parents and matchmakers, and further sanctioned by His Majesty’s edict, essentially a royal decree. Now that the bride has finally entered the house on an auspicious day, you abandon her and leave her alone in the chamber. This disobedience to the royal decree is unfaithfulness.”
“I have long hoped you would marry and produce heirs, but you continuously disappoint me— this is unfilial.”
“The Marquis of Changxin’s family cherishes their daughter dearly and painfully entrusted her to your family. You treat her coldly, disregarding her future reputation. You’ve betrayed your in-laws and humiliated your bride— this is unrighteousness.”
“Unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, and unfilialness— these three faults. Tell me, how could this not chill one’s heart?”
Empress Dowager Zhao’s voice was sharp and each word rang with weight.
For a moment, the darkness in Sima Jing’s eyes flickered, but after a long silence, it sank even deeper.
“Mother, don’t brand me with labels. Even if I never wanted this marriage from the start, even if it is unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, and unfilialness, so what?”
He fixed his gaze on her calmly. “Do you think I care?”
Empress Dowager Zhao’s face darkened, “You!”
“Late night dew is heavy; Mother should calm down.”
Sima Jing swept his sleeve and rose, his jade-like profile shrouded in shadows. “If you truly enjoy staying at the Jing Wang residence, then stay. After all, it was never mine to begin with.”
“Ah Jing!”
Seeing he was really about to leave, Empress Dowager Zhao could no longer hold still. She suddenly propped herself up on the stone table.
“I know you resent me, that I didn’t protect you back then, but Mother…”
Her voice faltered.
“I have truly tried to make amends.”
Mentioning the past made the air grow colder still.
Sima Jing didn’t turn back, only clenching his long fingers. “That matter need not be brought up again.”
“But you clearly resent me!”
Empress Dowager Zhao clutched her chest, her still-beautiful and dignified face twisted with pain. She choked back tears.
“Ah Jing, I genuinely wish for your happiness, for you to live the life you deserve… If you blame me, I accept it. But think of the young lady in the bridal chamber— how innocent she is. Why should she suffer your coldness?”
She had not expected to say much, but seeing the young man’s stiffened shoulders and the sudden brightness in his eyes, she knew.
When he appeared that evening and was willing to face the Yun family’s young lady and later enter the bridal chamber, it was not without feeling.
Even if only a sliver, it was a good sign.
“Ah Jing, do you know why I decided on that Yun family girl the moment I saw her?”
“…”
Sima Jing didn’t answer or look back but didn’t leave either.
Empress Dowager Zhao hurried on: “Because she, like you, was separated from her family in childhood and forced to leave home.”
“She was even younger when she was lost— only three years old. It’s said the townspeople thought she was pretty and intended to sell her to a brothel in Yangzhou to be trained as a courtesan. Whether that was luck or misfortune, before she was sold, she fell seriously ill and was passed from one household to another.”
“Eventually, the couple who bought her saw she was near death and hurriedly abandoned her at the temple’s gate. It was fate that she survived; otherwise, she would have perished in the wilds, her body probably taken by wild dogs.”
“She endured so much hardship at such a young age but holds no resentment. Instead, she is remarkably open-minded. I saw her and felt both pity and affection. That was why I decided on her at a glance.”
“Ah Jing, she truly is a wonderful young lady. You should try getting along with her. I guarantee you will grow to like her.”
“…”
Like her?
Sima Jing’s brow furrowed as that garishly made-up face suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
How could he like her?
Moreover, she had even used talismans against him, clearly both wary and fearful like others.
If so, it was better to keep their distance and have peace.
He stepped forward and continued walking.
“Ah Jing! Ah Jing!”
Empress Dowager Zhao was desperate. Disregarding her dignity as dowager, she hurried forward and grasped his arm.
Sima Jing turned back, his brows furrowed.
The Empress Dowager was aged, especially after injuries from fleeing years ago, and gasped heavily with any vigorous movement. Still, she gripped his arm tightly.
“Ah Jing, please, just this once.”
She raised her face and looked at her tall and straight second son.
“Tonight, after drinking the bridal tea tomorrow morning, I will return to the palace and never interfere again.”
Sima Jing looked into those eyes, already creased with fine lines.
As a child, he thought those were the most beautiful eyes in the world.
But later, those eyes carried so much pain that they became unfamiliar.
The cold early winter wind swept through the pavilion, lifting a stray silver hair at her temple.
His eyes flickered sharply.
Moments later, he pushed away the hand holding his arm.
Empress Dowager Zhao’s face turned pale, and she murmured in shock, “Ah Jing…”
Without looking back, the tall figure strode out of Manshuang Pavilion, paused briefly at a fork in the path, then turned and headed straight toward the brightly lit bridal chamber, awash in red light.
Empress Dowager Zhao was stunned but soon her eyes brightened again.
“Langui… Langui, did you see it?”
She could not hide her excitement. “Did you see it?”
Langui Mama, prepared to comfort her moments before, now smiled brightly, feeling joy for both the Empress Dowager and Jing Wang, as well as for the young princess consort she had tended for days.
If Jing Wang had not returned, it would have been pitiful for the girl to be left alone in the chamber.
She hoped tonight the young lady could seize the opportunity to win his heart.
Even if she couldn’t win his heart, at least hold onto him. Best if she succeeded fully, so she could rest easy afterward.
Inside the bridal chamber, Yun Ran had just taken a refreshing bath.
Her dark hair was loose, and she lay lazily on the long couch, wearing only her undergarments, letting Qingling massage her shoulders.
“Yes, yes, just like that. Use as much pressure as you want— I can take it.”
“Ah, so comfortable!”
With her face buried in the pillow, she sighed in utter contentment.
This was the life to be lived. The day before had been pure torture.
Just as she was soaking in the moment, the hand kneading her shoulder suddenly stopped.
“Hmm, why’d you stop?”
Yun Ran lazily opened her eyes and lifted her face from the pillow.
“It’s because my hands got tired…”
She was about to say “right?” when her eyes caught the tall red figure silently standing beside the inlaid and gilded marble screen.
Her surprise was “ah!” came out trembling.
He… he had come back again!