A little over a month later—
Aunt Liu, the wedding matron, got up at the crack of dawn. She had a wedding to preside over today. She picked a fresh flower from the courtyard and tucked it in her hair, said a quick word to her old husband, and hurried out the door.
As soon as she stepped outside, she sneezed. The weather was getting colder by the day, though not yet enough to make her hands freeze. She rubbed her nose and looked up at the sky—it was gray and overcast. Aunt Liu could tell it would probably rain, so they needed to hurry. If the bride and groom got caught in the rain, it would be an unlucky omen. Sigh, she had said today wasn’t the most auspicious choice. The fifth of next month would have been the best wedding day. But the groom couldn’t wait even that long and insisted on marrying today.
Still, it was interesting. The bride was marrying for the second time, and aside from Doctor Bai, she had no family to speak of. And yet instead of marrying quietly at night, she was having a full-blown ceremony like a first-time bride—bright and early, with drums and gongs and a full bridal sedan procession. This really was her first time riding in a wedding sedan.
When Aunt Liu arrived at the old alleyway in the southern part of the city, the courtyard gate was open. She stepped inside, and laughter and chatter drifted toward her. She looked over and saw that the west wing’s window was open, and the remarried bride was facing the mirror applying yellow makeup, laughing freely with her maid.
The bride had already changed into her wedding robes. The bright red color made her pale skin glow like snow, and her rouge-painted lips were soft and full. She wasn’t a peerless beauty, but still quite attractive. Which fool of a husband would divorce such a wife? Hmph, probably fell for some young vixen.
Aunt Liu entered the room with a cheerful congratulations and a string of auspicious words, making everyone in the room laugh and smile. She then asked Doctor Bai to help the bride with her hair, but they seemed unfamiliar with the task and didn’t dare make a move. The maid took over naturally, combing the bride’s hair herself. It wasn’t proper, but since it was a second marriage, Aunt Liu turned a blind eye. Taking the chance, she started giving some instructions—but halfway through, she smacked herself on the mouth and laughed. “Look at me! Silly me, you probably already know all this.”
The bride laughed brightly and touched her gold forehead ornament. “Please go ahead and tell me—I don’t know anything. This is my first time getting married, and it’s suffocatingly awkward!”
Aunt Liu quickly said, “Oh dear, no taboo words! No taboos! On a day like this, we don’t speak such unlucky things.”
The maid looked surprised, as if she had never gone through a dowry ceremony before. “Did you just say we can hit the groom with a stick? There’s really such a thing?”
“It’s a tradition in our area,” Aunt Liu said. “It’s called ‘teasing the groom’—just for fun.”
The maid clapped her hands in delight. “Then I want to hit him!”
The bride also clapped, “Then I want to watch!”
Aunt Liu: “…” This didn’t feel like a second marriage at all. Even first marriages weren’t this lively.
Once the bride’s makeup and phoenix crown were in place, Aunt Liu peeked at the sky again. “Oh dear, young lady, we’ll need to be careful with the timing when teasing the groom. Looks like it’s going to rain. If the bride gets wet before arriving at her new home, it wouldn’t be a good sign.”
“The auspicious hour is almost here—shouldn’t the groom be arriving soon?”
Just as the maid was speaking, a commotion arose outside. A mustached man barged into the courtyard, shouting “Madam! Madam!” at the top of his lungs.
The maid poked her head out the window. “Wang Yong! What are you yelling about?!”
The mustached man said, “Miss Qingya, the Commander will be back in a few days. Tell Madam to wait a bit longer—everything can be dealt with once the Commander returns!”
The Commander? What Commander? Could she be the wife of a noble family? Aunt Liu’s beady little eyes began darting suspiciously.
The maid said, “Wait for him? What for? A whole group of eunuchs and guards from the palace came to the Marquis’s estate to announce an imperial decree. What use is your Commander coming back now?”
An imperial… decree?! Good heavens! Isn’t that basically a sacred edict?
The bride twirled a red tassel from her bridal veil between her fingers. “Wang Yong, if you’ve come to have a cup of my wedding wine, you’re welcome. But if you’re here to say anything else, then please leave.”
The mustached man was chased out by the maid holding a broom. Suddenly, fireworks burst outside, gongs and drums thundered—Aunt Liu snapped to attention, as if struck on the head. “Oh no! The wedding party is here! Quickly, quickly, cover the bride’s head!”
Sure enough, outside the door, the groom arrived in high spirits—wearing a bright red robe and riding a horse, surrounded by family, banging drums and clashing gongs. His dark face beamed as he grinned, showing two rows of white teeth. His whole demeanor radiated the joy of taking a wife.
The bride inserted a pearl hairpin and looked herself over in the mirror. The maid applied some more lip rouge. Aunt Liu hurriedly urged the bride to cover her head. The bride smiled and nimbly pulled the red veil over herself.
Aunt Liu stuffed an evil-warding mirror into the bride’s hand, muttering blessings as she did, then turned to the maid and said, “Girl, if you’re going to play the groom-pranking role, now’s your chance.”
“Then I’ll go grab a stick!” the maid said, and as she stepped outside, she popped her head back in and asked, “Jiaoniang, are you really getting married?”
From beneath the red veil, the bride replied calmly, “Of course I’m getting married.”
Aunt Liu grew increasingly uneasy. Who asks such a thing when the bride’s already about to get in the bridal sedan? And with all this talk of Commanders and imperial edicts… Something didn’t feel right.
By the time the maid returned with a stick, the wedding party was already calling out for the bride:
“Tonight the Weaver Girl descends to earth,
Before the mirror she paints her lips.
Peach blossoms bloom without need for rouge,
True beauty needs no powder or paint.
Two hearts knew each other long ago,
A veil merely a formality to uphold.
Like the Moon Rabbit fearing delay—
Love needs no drawn eyebrows today!”
With such chants, the groom and his relatives squeezed into the courtyard in high spirits. The maid stood in the doorway, grinning as she swung the stick at the wedding party. Her strength was about as strong as a pecking chicken, and the groomsmen all laughed and let her strike them good-naturedly. Festivities always attracted a crowd, and children even more so—hoping to snatch candies or firecrackers. But everyone could tell at a glance this was a modest affair: the bridal sedan was a basic four-carrier type, and the guests were few. It was clearly a poor man’s wedding. The kids didn’t expect any sweets—just waited for some leftover firecrackers to pick up.
At last, the bride was helped out. People cheered and stirred up excitement. Doctor Bai invited a long-lived elderly lady to scatter grains around and inside the sedan for blessings. Then the bearers lowered the sedan, and the bride was guided inside.
“Bride’s getting in the sedan—!”
“Bride’s getting in the sedan—!”
The children squealed with excitement. The bride stood in front of the sedan, hesitating. Aunt Liu, anxious to beat the rain and reach the groom’s home in time, gently pushed her forward. The bride finally stepped into the sedan.
The mustached man anxiously slapped his own hands.
The groom watched her get in with a bigger grin than before. As per tradition, he rode his horse around the bridal sedan three times. But clearly he didn’t know how to ride—he clumsily pulled at the reins, unable to control the horse, drawing laughter from the crowd. After finally completing the three rounds, Aunt Liu called for the bearers to lift the sedan. But the crowd suddenly surged forward to block them—laughing and jeering to delay the send-off.
Aunt Liu looked closer—it was the neighbors. Seeing that the bride had no real family, and grateful for Doctor Bai’s free treatments over the years, they had voluntarily come to act as her family, giving her a ceremonial send-off.
The mood was festive. The maid enjoyed the scene, but suddenly her expression turned alert—hoofbeats echoed from the distance. She frowned and called out cheerfully, “Alright, alright! Let’s let the bride leave now!”
But the crowd was too noisy to hear her. She raised her voice and shouted two or three more times before they quieted down. The bearers were just about to lift the sedan when the sound of hooves grew even louder.
A group of men in black clothes embroidered with chrysanthemums, wearing straw hats, stopped on horseback at the mouth of the alley.
