Hello, all! Sorry for the long, long wait. I appreciate your patience and support. My mom has recovered and my dad's condition seems to be stabilizing at the moment to return to his base line. The doctor and I really thought my family was going to lose him. Thankfully, we didn't.
Anyway, here is chapter 9 part 2 that you all have been patiently waiting for. I hope you guys enjoy. Oh, and ify, school semester has started for me and I'm also currently doing fieldwork for two of my courses so chapters will be slow. I will find time to write.
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Chapter 9 - The Wedding (Part 2)
“There, don’t you look beautiful!” the middle-aged woman praised Xiao Ming after she placed a golden hairpin onto his updo hair. She looked into the mirror and beamed at him, proud of her work.
In contrast to the woman’s smiling face, there was no sign of joy on Xiao Ming. He silently gazed at his reflection in the mirror. The face that gazed back at him was solemn and graceful. It contained a youthful beauty that outshined even his mother, who was known as a great beauty in her youth. Upon his head was a delicate flower and butterfly headpiece made of gold and rubies. Fine beaded strings flowed from the headpiece to sides of his face, amplifying his already beautiful face.
Xiao Ming touched the right side of his face dejectedly as his mind wondered how things have come to this. In this one life of his, he was really going to marry a man. His inner thoughts swam in a deep inky well of turmoil and inquiry. Questions flowed in and out of his mind. Who had done this to him? His father? No, no... no. It wasn’t his father. Who? Two people came to mind: The Emperor and the 3rd Prince! Xiao Ming clenched his teeth together, bunched his hands into fists, and his expression turned cold with a mixture of hate and dread.
The middle-aged woman patted his shoulder in comfort as she noted the gloomy expression on the youth. Sigh…poor boy, if you were my son I would not know how to save you either. She shook her head softly, and said, “One is often blind to fate. Like the leaves flowing in the wind, we do not know where we will land. All we can do is to accept where the wind settles us. Do not dwell too much on it Young Lord. It is better to accept to put your mind at ease. Being married to the 3rd Prince won’t be too bad. He is a vaunted war hero who is well-respected. You will continue to live in luxury while being under the protection of the 3rd Prince.”
At this time, the doors to Xiao Ming’s bedchamber creaked open. Zhu Ehuang entered the room followed by Xiao Ruo. The middle-aged woman and her assistants turned to greet the two’s arrival. “Madam. Miss.” Zhu Ehuang nodded and walked to her son. She sat down with him and gently hugged him to her chest. Xiao Ruo felt bad for her baby brother, but she felt very awkward and uncomfortable because her brother was going to be married away to a man. Not sure what to say and yet wanting to cheer him up a bit, she forced out an awkward giggle and tapped him aggressively on the shoulder. “Xiao Ming, you look beautiful! Even more beautiful than Xi Shi!” (Note: XI Shi is one of China’s four great beauties in the historical record. Xi Shi was said to be an extremely beautiful woman who was able to shy fishes away with her beauty and that she played a key role in the fall of the Wu country.) Xiao Ruo giggled and continued, “Fishes shying into the creek under a beauty’s presence? Meh! With your beauty, the Emperor of heaven would descend! Hahahaha-Ouch!” Xiao Ruo winced as her mother pinched her.
“Ruo’er, this is not the time,” said Zhu Ehuang. While her daughter was going off “beauty this” and “beauty that”, Zhu Ehuang had felt her son’s body stiffen and lean more into her arms.
“What? I was just trying to lighten up the mood.” She whined to her mother and then looked at Xiao Ming’s face full of dread. “Oh,...I’m sorry Ah-Ming. I only meant to cheer you up.” She turned her head and looked at her feet in shame.
Zhu Ehuang turned her attention to her son and patted his back tenderly. Her heart ached to see her son in such a dreadful state. Marrying him to a man was like thrusting him into an inferno. She believed like many others that such a life was no life at all. Her son would have no children to dote on or to love and care for him in old age. People would judge her son and stare at him with disgust for something that was out of his control. Her heart and soul truly ached for him.
Seeing that their madam wanted some alone time with her son, the middle-aged woman tactfully signaled to her assistants and withdrew from the room.
“Ming’er,” said Zhu Ehuang in a raw, tender voice. Her eyes reddened and tears flooded her vision. She gathered her son’s cold, fisted hands and held them in her warm ones. Heavy tears dropped from her eyes and landed on his hands. Xiao Ming’s fisted hands relaxed and unraveled. His eyes turned upward to gaze at his mother’s and saw the streaks of heavy tears on her face and the pain within her eyes. “Mother…,” whispered Xiao Ming in a shaken voice that seemed to foreshadow tears. He was afraid and unaccepting of his near future. He felt humiliated and dishonored. Being forced to marry another man made him feel incompetent and less than a man. And, then to see his dear mother, who was always smiling and cheerful, cry with such pain in her eyes made him feel helpless and contrite.
Zhu Ehuang’s lips trembled. She said, “Ming’er, I cannot bear to watch you live an unhappy life.” She smiled sadly at her son and reached out to caress his face. She breathed a heavy sigh that seemed to have emerged from the roiling sea of emotions within her heart. Her graceful brows snapped together in resolve. She grabbed Xiao Ming by the arm and dragged him to the double doors. This sudden action shocked both Xiao Ruo and Xiao Ming.
Xiao Ruo stared at her mother dragging her little brother to the doors with wide, curious eyes. “Mother, where are you taking Ah Ming?”
“Ming’er, you must run away! Quickly!” She shoved the doors open wide, shocking the middle-aged woman and her assistants outside the bedchamber.
“Madam, Young Lord.” said the middle-aged woman.
Zhu Ehuang ignored the greeting of the woman. She only repeated to her son, “Run far away from here! Go!”
The middle-aged woman and her assistants gasped in fear. Run away from a marriage arranged by the Emperor? Treason?!! Too shocked and scared to mouth anything, they all bit their lips and looked down at the ground. They closed their ears and pretended they never heard what their Madam had uttered from her lips. If words of treason were to get out, death would be their only end.
“Do not worry about me or everyone else. As for your father, I will deal with him. I am your mother!” Zhu Ehuang began to cry and her shoulders shook with each word. “I am not about to throw you to the flames just to save myself…. Now go!” She shoved a bag of gold banknotes to into Xiao Ming’s hands; however, he refused to take them.
He pushed the banknotes back to his mother and looked into her clear, watery eyes. “No, mother. I would not wish to bring harm to you all. I have already decided to marry the 3rd Prince.” Xiao Ming patted her hands and turned back inside. He sat back down on the cushion in front of the bronze mirror.
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Outside the Xiao estate, firecrackers were lighted and honorable guests entered the front gate with gifts and salutations. Loud gongs and drums sounded in the distant as the 3rd Prince’s grand procession came closer and closer to the Xiao estate. Many people lined the streets to watch the great event.
Leading the procession was the 3rd Prince, sitting upon a stallion. He had on a beautiful set of crimson robes lined with gold and dragons. A proud, handsome smile played upon his lips, making all the young girls in the crowd blush and stare with fervor in their eyes. Within the procession, attendants held lanterns and banners in their hands while musicians played on their flutes, drums, and gongs with enthusiasm. A group of dancers dressed in lion costumes danced passionately to celebrate the special occasion. The sedan used to carry the bride was grand and luxurious. The only thing absent from the procession was a small child to symbolize future sons.
As the procession continued on the road, money coins were thrown to the commoners crowding the sides of the streets. Many people cheered and clapped while some reached their hands out to catch the coins in the air. Children clapped and laughed cheerfully from their parent’s arms or shoulders as they watched the dancers in the lion costumes pass them by. The adults in the crowds had on varying facial expression as they watched. Some laughed along with their children at the merry event; some stared with disapproval and shook their heads with disguised disgust; some looked on pitifully at the 3rd Prince, sorry for his plight; and some whispered gossips to whomever was near them.
In the crowd, a fat middle-aged man with a balding head spit on the ground and whispered to the two people beside him, “To think his highness would make the 3rd Prince marry another man! Seeing this whole thing makes me want to retch. Why, if I had eaten a few minutes ago, I would have really thrown everything up.” One of the recipient of the conversation nodded his head while the other said, “If I was the 3rd Prince, I would have already killed myself or ran off to become a monk. Anything is better than marrying another man. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers! It is absolutely disgusting!”
In another part of the crowd, an old, scrawny man whispered to his son, “[Sigh] What a waste of a young talented man! A waste! I wonder what the Emperor was thinking? The 3rd Prince is such a great man. Why is the Emperor marrying him with a man? This is too strange.” His son replied, “Father, perhaps the 3rdPrince has done something to displease the Emperor. We can never know. We are merely commoners. It’s better that we do not pry into this or else our heads may fly off our necks.” Suddenly, the man’s son who’s been sitting on his shoulder interrupted their quiet discussion. “Father! Grandfather! Look! The dancing lions looks so colorful and majestic! Oh, and look!” The little boy pointed to the front of the procession. “It’s his highness the 3rd Prince! Father, isn’t he the one who saved everyone from the Snow Crescent Country and brought eldest brother back home?! Wow, he’s awesome! When I grow up, I’ll join the army and be just like him!” His grandfather knocked him on the head. “Chao’er, you brat, who is joining the army? You have to help your eldest brother take care of the shop in the future!” The boy whined and covered his head while his father simply laughed.
Despite the ill-concealed expressions of disapproval and the many gossips going around in the crowd, Tian Jin never stopped smiling. There was no sign of anger or frustration on his countenance. He remained sitting upright upon his horse with a proud and cheerful smile on his lips and a twinkle of delight in his eyes. All the gossips and looks fell at his feet before they could touch him. No one’s opinions mattered to him. All that mattered was that he was getting what he wanted.
Soon the procession came to a stop at the entrance of the Xiao estate. Prime Minister Xiao and Madam Xiao (Zhu Ehuang) came out to receive the 3rd Prince. The three greeted each other and exchanged a few words between parent-in-laws and son-in-law.
A young maid named Liu Mei carefully walked Xiao Ming, whose head was covered by a red veil, to the entrance gate. There, a strong and sturdy woman quickly came to carry Xiao Ming and crossed over the threshold of the Xiao estate entrance gate to the sedan. Xiao Ming entered the sedan and sat down on the cushioned seat. The young maid Liu Mei followed Xiao Ming to the sedan and joined the procession. She was part of the wedding gift Prime Minister Xiao and his wife had prepared for Xiao Ming. She stood beside the sedan window and waited for the procession to set out.
The 3rd Prince bowed to his in-laws and turned. Anxious, Madam Xiao stepped forward and called to him. The Prime Minister frowned at her, but she hesitantly continued. She carefully voiced out her concern to the 3rd Prince. “Your highness, now that my Ming’er will become your person, please take great care of him. He has been spoiled since young, so if he were to do something to anger you please forgive him. He may appear to be a young man, but he is still a child at heart.” The Prime Minister slightly pulled on his wife’s sleeve, signaling her to stop, but she refused. Her concern for her son was too great. “Please, your highness.”
The 3rd Prince looked at the Prime Minister and then Madam Xiao. The Prime Minister laughed and apologized, “Hehehe, your mother-in-law is just being emotional. Please do not mind her.” The 3rd Prince stared at them a second longer and then merely chuckled. He said to Madam Xiao, “Mother, please be at ease. I will take care of Xiao Ming.”
Having said that, he turned away; but it wasn’t to lead the procession out. Instead, he turned his horse around and galloped to the sedan.
What he did next shocked everyone.