It wasn't until the dowry arrived that Weiying finally had a sense of what he truly was getting into. The dowry was unlike anything the kingdom had ever seen before.
Eight chests full of gold, an army of horses, a chest full of silk fabrics and another was full of exotic furs. There were calligraphy sets made of jade handles, golden hair crowns embedded with precious stones and the list went on.
Just how rich was the Lan family? Weiying felt that this glittering gimmicks was too much, his heart felt heavy. The dowry only showed the Lans were bent on properly marrying him. The value of the dowry or bride price usually determined how much the other party looked up to the bride and bride's family and this type of absurd dowry was no joke. Besides giving face to the bride's family, lavish dowry also spelled nothing but status and that was how the wealthy display sincerity-Through exorbitant money spending and also precious items. The Lans made sure not to lose face. His chest tightened and he felt suffocated.
For all his life he had been fighting it but that day, he had actually wished he was a woman instead. If his real identity was blown then the result would be unimaginable. They could charge him and his whole family for treason and deceit. After all, Lanzhan's mother was the sister of the current king.
Weiying felt chill in his spine.
At that time, Commander of the Imperial Army Lanhongde was drinking tea with his father in their main hall.
Mingyu came into the room and was busy dolling Zhan up to meet with his future husband and parents in law.
Weiying's face was pale as death. Like all his blood had been drained and squeezed dry. He sighed deeply.
"Young mistress.. Why the dark face? Are you nervous?"
He wondered if the maidens who were about to marry would feel this way.
Laughter could be heard from behind the screen. It was his father's voice and another man's, probably Lanhongde. His mother was also chatting away with Lanzhan's mom.
She entered the main hall and all eyes were on her.
"Ahh.. This is my daughter Weiying"
Weiying performed the ceremonial greetings toward his future father in law, mother in law and husband to be.
"Woww.. Your daughter Weiying is indeed a natural beauty. No wonder Lanwangji is so taken in by her."
"Yes yes. Lanwangji did have a good eye!!" Lanhongde beamed. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw.
"Weiying, would you show Langongzi around the house?" His father said.
"Yes father."
So the both of them left their parents who were engrossed in talking to eachother like old friends. In truth, their parents had known each other for a good few decades. Lanhongde was comrades with Weiming since their early days of expeditions together. Weiming would focus on flood control and Lanhongde on his peacekeeping and national defence. On the other hand, their mothers often met during official banquets that had been held throughout the years thus they were definitely familiar with eachother. They had no shortage of topics to indulge in conversation with one another and preferred to send their kids away to let them have their own privacy as well.
It had been two years since they saw each other. Lanwangji had grown taller and more dashing. He wore a beautiful sky blue robe with silver embroidery painted around the collars sleeves and skirting. Weiying stared at the man who was going to marry him. He looked at Weiying and smiled. Weiying smiled back, trying his best to be polite while swallowing back all his inner turmoil.
Meanwhile, Weiying wore a pale green dress picked out by Mingyu. It had simple white and silver embroideries around it, not too feminine, yet carried an air of dignity and nobility. Weiying would reject anything too floral and feminine so she knew better to pick the best clothing style for him. She made sure to add paddings on her chest to make him look more feminine with fuller chest. Weiying had rejected the idea at first, but at this juncture, he was glad that extra padding actually gave him another layer of confidence meeting with his husband to be.
"Its been a while... Weiying."
He was nervous. They both of them were. Lanwangji was taller than Weiying by a few centimeters.
Weiying did not know how to behave around Lanwangji. It was an awkward situation. To him, it was no different than meeting another male comrade as he had often did during the two years accompanying his father. There was no special type of feelings that Weiying felt. They were both male in this regard. However, when he saw the way Lanwangji looked at him like how a man looked fondly at his female love interest, it made Weiying's face slightly pink. He realized he did not find it repulsive. Maybe due to the fact that Lanwangji was really good looking. Yes that must be it. He carried a handsome manly aura that Weiying did not have. He most likely represented the ideal manly appearance that Weiying wanted for himself.
They walked to the side garden and saw a small arrow shooting ground. The target was most interesting. It was not just a boring straw or circular totem. In fact it was a moving mini wheel that had targets placed at each spokes. The targets were animal dolls. They were birds and one was painted black while the rest was the color of straw.
"Why is there only one black bird?" Lanwangji asked. He had never seen such a curious looking device.
"Ohh you have to shoot the black bird and not the others. Care to try?"
"Sure."
Weiying gestured for a servant to bring a bow and arrow over. One servant stood at the end and began turning the wheel. The black bird and the straw ones begin to spin and after a while it was so fast it turned to a mass of blur.
Lanwangji positioned the bow and noticed that the arrow had a rounded tip. He watched the movement patterns for a while before releasing his arrow. It struck the black bird square on. The black bird bent backward and knocked itself on a latch. A small door swung opened at the side and a few moments later, water flowed from little openings around the garden creating mini sprinkles all around.
Lanwangji stared in amazement at the scene in front of him. Mini pipes were lined around the garden and the movement from the black bird triggered water sprays to key areas, splashing water on the plants and trees around. Who would make something so complex just to water the garden? He explained to Lanwangji that the water came from a large water jug at the corner of the device. After the water was sprayed. Servants had to refill the jug. Although after talking with Lanwangji for abit, Weiying considered if he should link the device it to a well instead, so as to save the trouble of constantly having to refill the jug.
Lanwangji listened attentively at his explanations. Weiying seemed know his stuff.
"What happens if you shoot the other birds? he asked curiously."
"Nothing. It's not perfect yet. Just an experiment." Weiying smiled.
"Who created these devices?"
"It was just a side hobby of mine, the Yu brothers did help out."
Lanwangji was pleasantly surprised that the maiden in front of him was actually interested in such things. When they first met, he had a vague idea that she was not a simple person. Yet seeing this gave that previous thought a whole new meaning.
"Do you want to have a go too?" Lanzhan asked the beautiful maiden, curious about her archery skills.
"Umm..." Weiying was tense. Should she show him that she could shoot or otherwise? He could not decide. He wondered if Lanzhan would discover her identity as Yuxian if he saw her weild a bow. After a moment of confusion, she quickly said, "I don't know how to do it. I just like to watch Yubin and Yuxian ge do it."
He was slightly amused at her slightly nervous reaction to the question. To her surprise he replied with
"Thats okay. Let me teach you."
Weiying gulped. She took the bow and wondered what kind of act he should pull. She suddenly felt warm behind him. The wind blew softly and she could smell a whiff of sandalwood entering her nose. She did not hate the smell, in fact it made her feel funny. He suddenly ran his fingers down her arms. Weiying was startled at the gesture. She had no idea this kind of thing would happen so she was mentally unprepared. She threw a glance at Mingyu hoping to catch a clue as to what to do but she was slightly giggling and made an approval gesture of the situation. Weiying shot her a glare and she immediately, she regained composure.
"You have to keep your amrs straight. Your back too."
He stood behind her. Weiying could feel the heat from Lanwangji's body circling hers. He steadied the bow on her left arm then guided the arrow head on her right arm. Weiying shuddered as his palm circled hers. It was warm and slightly damp. She wondered if he felt nervous too because her mind was numbed and she could not even see the target at all. All she could feel was the warm hands on hers guiding her and doing all the work for her.
The arrow was released and hit its target, so more water was sprinkled and wet the garden around them.
Weiying's interactions with the other boys were never this intimate. He did some sparring with Yuwen and Yubin in the past. Even when he sparred with the other boys in school, the interaction was rough and on a totally different context. He had never been treated so gently before. But that day he somehow felt butterflies on the stomach and his heart thumped slightly. At that moment, he was glad that he was marrying him. It could be someone worse. But at least with Lanzhan, he felt safe.
Before he left, he gave her a jade hair pin.
Weiying stared at the jade hairpin on the table in his dressing room. Myriads of thoughts danced in his mind. The jade was pure white like the first drop of winter snow. the tip was carved into the queen of birds - the phoenix. The carving details were extremely refined and the workmanship was breathtaking.
"Young mistress, you've been staring at that hairpin for a good while now. Did you fall in love with your fiancé?" Mingyu giggled playfully beside her. Weiying's face flushed red and he quickly put the hairpin away in her dresser. What an unruly maid!
"You're so lucky young mistress, Langongzi is so handsome, rich and so gentle!! Many young noble ladies are dying to be in your shoes. And just now the way he looked at you... He's totally in love with you young mistress!!"
Totally in love...
Totally in love...
The words echoed in his mind.
He shuddered. A man... in love with another man. How sick is this world turning into. Weiying pinched his arm and reprimanded himself 'Must NOT fall in love with him!!!'
He turned around and the betrothal gifts piled themselves in chests and beautiful boxes around the room and instructed Mingyu to put them away.
The wedding tailor arrived that day and took his measurements.
Miss you have a really beautiful complexion. Pardon me to say this... you are a little flat in the chest area But rest assured I will put extra padding on your dress. Weiying's mouth gaped open and wanted to say something but held himself back. It was better to stay silent and go along with it. After all, the wedding would only take place one day and he did not have to meet or talk to anyone and his face would also be covered.
He was so excited that year thinking that he would finally be free from the curse and return home as WeiWuxian, his father's adopted son. They had planned on the official adoption ceremony when he turned eighteen. In the blink of an eye, things have gotten into this stage. He did not know what to think. He had yet to enjoy his life and began his career which he loved and now he had to be someone's kept woman forever. He did not dislike Lanzhan yet he had to be married to him.
He could not help thinking of the noble wives of government officials who lost all their freedom through marriage. Then there were also the concubines. He wondered if Lanzhan was the faithful type. He had heard stories about generals who had several wives or concubines. When they grew older and lost their appeal, they were doomed to spend their lives in eternal boredom dreaming empty dreams of being loved by their husbands, but it never came. If they had children then life would be slightly easier. But then, Weiying could never bear a child even if he wanted to.
After that day, he did not even have time to indulge in his hobbies and he had to leave his work on the dams. He had to pack his belongings to prepare to move to his husband's home in two weeks.
By customs, it was forbidden for the bride and groom to see eachother at least two weeks before marriage. Thus Weiying did not see Lanzhan anymore.
His mother, Naima and Mingyu busied themselves preparing for his dowry and buying him all sorts of female stuff.
On the night before the wedding, his mother summoned him over to her room.
"Weiying, you must keep your identity a secret. Do not consummate your marriage. Langongzi must have a good impression of you. Mother will think of a way for him to divorce you within a few years then you can return in secret as our son."
"How would I keep it a secret? How could he not find out I'm not a girl?"
She gave him a vial of medicine.
"Weiying, sprinkle this to your husband's tea before you sleep."
"What?? What is this thing mother?"
"Don't worry. Its just sleeping pills. Its not anything dangerous."
"But if he kept falling asleep every night so quickly won't he become suspicious?"
"Weiying, he's a general. He surely will be sent away for assignments. You just needed to endure the times he was there."
Weiying nodded.
"Come son"
His mother hugged him and they embraced for a long time.
"I'm sorry you have to live your life this way. Mother wants nothing more than your happiness. But you have to be patient my dear."
"Okay mother don't worry. I will do my best."
*Reminder that I sometimes use 'she' to refer to Weiying when he was with Lanzhan to make it slightly easier to distinguish the two. I wonder if people are bothered by it or would prefer otherwise. Let me know.