Chapter 6 - The Big Wedding

The Big Wedding

Mrs. Jiang went to her chamber with the help of maids and began to think. Mu Mingtang said she would cut her hair without a dowry equivalent to Jiang Mingwei’s. What can we do now? She doesn’t have a father or mother and nothing to worry about, so she will do anything to escape this marriage. The Emperor has said in front of civil and military officials that he wants to marry King Qiyang to the second lady of the Jiang family. If something goes wrong with Mu Mingtang at this time, where will the Jiang family go to find another second lady? We can’t take any risk.

Mrs. Jiang told Jiang Honghao about Mu Mingtang’s request that night. Jiang Honghao gritted his teeth and said, “This matter is serious. We can’t just let it go. Compared with the future of the entire family, money is insignificant. Buy her a dowry similar to Mingwei’s. It’s worth the money to buy the position of the chief envoy of the three divisions.”

Mrs. Jiang was very reluctant but agreed with Mr. Jiang.

Jiang Mingwei was the only child in the Jiang family. Mrs. Jiang could not conceive after giving birth to Jiang Mingwei, and the concubines in the backyard were also childless. Since Jiang Mingwei was the only child, and she was getting married to King Jin, the Jiang family prepared a splendid dowry for her. But because of Mu Mingtang, they had to cut Jiang Mingwei’s share in half.

So, the Jiang family prepared double copies of gold and silverware, clothes and jewelry, and mahogany furniture[1].

However, Mrs. Jiang didn’t dare to tell Jiang Mingwei about those things to make the situation worse. At the end, Mrs. Jiang forced a smile to send Mu Mingtang happily for marriage.

Although King Qiyang and King Jin were royal family members, King Qiyang’s status was higher than King Jin’s. So, the marriage of King Qiyang was arranged in advance.

Mu Mingtang’s wedding day arrived. The maids helped her to wear her wedding dress and the phoenix crown[2]. Even though the guests were expressing their blessings, they were watching jokes because the groom was in a coma. Mu Mingtang was already a widow in their minds.

When the auspicious time arrived, the welcoming team stopped at the gate of Jiang’s house. With the help of the maid, Mu Mingtang boarded the sedan chair. Even though Xie Xuanchen was absent from the wedding, there were few rituals to complete the wedding. In the end, Xie Xuanji came forward and completed etiquettes for Xie Xuanchen as his younger brother.

The sedan chair circled around the capital and finally was sent to the Qiyang Palace. Sitting in the swaying sedan chair, Mu Mingtang smiled happily. In the eyes of ordinary people, I am a princess.

A few moments later, various sounds around Mu Mingtang gradually began to decrease. Even if Mu Mingtang couldn’t see, she could guess she was getting closer to the Qiyang Palace. No one dared to approach the Qiyang Palace. There were no pedestrians on both sides to add joy.

From now on, I will live here for the rest of my life. Mu Mingtang sighed silently, lifted her skirt, and slowly stepped down from the sedan chair.

When Mu Mingtang entered the Qiyang Palace, she felt that the atmosphere inside the palace was completely different from the outside world. Mu Mingtang’s head was covered by her red hijab. She couldn’t see the outside world, but at least she could hear. There was no sound on either side. If it weren’t for the high threshold and the flat bricks under her feet, she would feel like she had gone to a dead city.

According to the chant of the official, she worshiped heaven and earth first and the high hall second. Finally, facing the empty air, she slowly bowed down.

No one came to welcome her. So Mu Mingtang had no choice but to enter her new house herself.  Mu Mingtang couldn’t see the way, but she felt the air getting tighter and tighter, and the two maids supporting her were shaking. When they reached the door, they both let go of Mu Mingtang: “Princess, the new house is right in front of you. It’s not convenient for the servants to enter the palace. The Princess should go in by herself.” After saying that, they ran away.

Mu Mingtang sighed. Now I’m all alone. I don’t have to worry about what is good or bad. She took off her hijab and looked at the hall in front of her.

The doors were tall and heavy, with dragon embroidery carved on them. No one had been here for a long time, and fine dust had fallen on the carvings of the gate, but it was half-new and half-old, which does not affect the murderous aura that shoots out of the bronze bell-like eyes of the dragon.

Mu Mingtang was stunned for a while. She took a deep breath, put her hands on the door handle, and pushed the door open.

The door opened without a creaking sound. The soldiers in full armor stood upright. The courage Mu Mingtang had managed to build up scattered after seeing them.

Mu Mingtang went inside with her luxurious phoenix crown, but no one looked at her. She knew that no one would help her, so she silently chanted, “If you don’t die, you will have good luck.”

After Mu Mingtang entered the hall, she quietly closed the door again, and then walked forward in small steps.  After walking a few steps, she realized that the Qiyang Palace was very luxurious, especially the main hall where the Qiyang Prince lived, with deep wooden partitions and heavy curtains.

Mu Mingtang glanced around the hall but could not see a single maid or soldier. She became frightened and confused at first, then gathered up her courage and whispered, “His Royal Highness King Qiyang?”

Her voice scattered through the hall, but she didn’t get any response. After thinking for a while, she cleared her throat and shouted again: “Lord Qiyang, my name is Mu Mingtang, and I came here today to marry you. I will live with you. Do you agree?”

The room was still quiet. I can’t wait till someone comes. So Mu Mingtang sat on a couch in the room and began to take off her phoenix crown. Then she saw that the luxurious hall was covered with dust as if no one had lived there for a long time.

Surprised, Mu Mingtang took off her shawl and wiped the dust from the surrounding furniture.

Xie Xuanchen’s bedroom was in the middle of Qiyang palace. It was named Yulin Hall. It had seven bays. Mu Mingtang, a commoner, had never seen such a big room. She only found a small cubicle surrounded by a floor-to-ceiling cover in the first hall on the west side of the central hall. There was an extremely tall wardrobe in the corner of the couch, and a spacious walking space in the middle, so Mu Mingtang was already satisfied.

She finished cleaning the furniture and sighed. I can’t wait here all day. Let’s go inside and see the situation.

She timidly stepped into King Qiyang’s sleeping chamber.

“Prince Qiyang?” her soft voice echoed in the room without any response.

She took more steps inside and stopped near a bed with curtains. Then she carefully lifted the hanging curtain and poked her head inside.

“Prince Qiyang?”

As if struck by lightning, Mu Mingtang stood for a long time before feeling that her soul had returned to her body.

A man was sleeping on the bed. And when she saw the face of the man, she burst into tears.

“It’s you, it’s actually you.”

Tears fell, and Mu Mingtang couldn’t hold it any longer, covered her mouth, and cried.

Before the age of twelve, Mu Mingtang lived a happy life. She was spoiled by her parents, and she had no worries about food and clothing. But at the age of twelve, it was all over. Xiangyang was attacked by the Jieren army, and  Mu Mingtang’s parents ran out of the city with her.

However, seeing that the Jieren people were about to catch up, her father stuffed the package on his body into her mother’s arms and asked his wife to run away with his daughter. Mu Mingtang’s father died at that time. Unfortunately, before running far away, they met the Jieren army. So, the mother pushed Mu Mingtang away and ran to another alley to lure the Jieren army away.

Mu Mingtang cried and twitched. She didn’t know why she was running, why she was living. Her parents were dead. Mu Mingtang turned back and wanted to chase after her mother, but after leaving the alley, she met a group of Jie people.

When Jieren saw her face, they immediately shouted excitedly. Mu Mingtang tried her best to fight them, but she could not. One of the Jieren leaders approached Mu Mingtang with a grin. But before he could do anything, a feathered arrow roared through that man’s neck, and he died on the spot. Suddenly there were flying arrows and shouting to kill.

Mu Mingtang curled up on the ground in a daze until Jieren’s blood splattered on her face. She raised her head in confusion and saw a white horse passing by in front of her.

The man on the horse stabbed a man with a sword, looked down at her, and raised his eyebrows: “Can you go?”

Mu Mingtang was stunned, got up trembling, and only knew how to nod randomly. The young man strangled his horse and rode in another direction: “As long as you can walk, then go forward. Living is not easy, dying is too easy.”

When I first met you in Xiangyang back then, who would have thought that we would meet again.

End of Chapter 6

Translator Notes:

1. Mahogany is a medium to dark brown wood with a pink or maroon cast to it. One of the most outstanding kinds of wood for handmade furniture. ↵

2. Phoenix coronet or phoenix hat, is a type of Chinese traditional headgear for women in hanfu. It was worn mainly by noblewomen for ceremonies or official occasions. It is also traditional headgear for brides. ↵