Volume 3, Chapter 433 – The Hairpin Ceremony, Bowing to Heaven and Earth!

Chi Xiyan’s hearing was sharp, and these murmurs reached her ears with perfect clarity.

The Chi family eldest young lady’s “hunting dog,” were they?

Well, that wasn’t wrong, either.

Chi Xiyan truly was Chi Muxue’s hunting dog now.

The hairpin ceremony was a woman’s coming of age rite. For a man, it would be the capping ceremony instead.

There was, however, one thing that struck Chi Muxue as somewhat strange.

Chi Muxue’s hairpin ceremony was supposed to have her led into the hall by an elder of the Chi family.

But Chi Xiyan saw no elder of the Chi family present, so this part of the process had fallen to her instead.

The hairpin ceremony generally consisted of three stages.

The first pinning, the second pinning, and the third pinning. Each stage required changing into a different hairpin and set of robes.

Thanking the guests, bowing to one’s parents, and bowing to one’s teachers and elders.

Finally, dressed in formal attire, one would perform the grand bow to heaven and earth.

This process took no small amount of time.

Chi Xiyan had already gone through it once before, so she was quite familiar with the procedure.

Just as Chi Xiyan led Chi Muxue to the main position and was about to turn and step aside, Chi Muxue suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“Wait!”

Chi Xiyan turned her head, looking at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Chi Muxue swept her gaze across the equally confused guests around them.

She cleared her throat lightly and said in a serious tone, “Actually, today isn’t only my hairpin ceremony. My Xiyan here is also having hers.”

As the words spread, everyone around them wore expressions of shock.

Chi Xiyan’s brow furrowed. “Wait, you never told me any of this before!”

Chi Muxue tugged at her hand. “I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

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Chi Xiyan looked at the smile on the girl’s face and said helplessly, “The elders will never agree to something so absurd.”

“They’ll agree.” Chi Muxue said with a smile. “Because you’re also a young lady from the direct line of the Chi family.”

With that, she raised Chi Xiyan’s hand and announced to everyone around them.

“Chi Xiyan is my sister. She’s also a direct line young lady of the Chi family, and it’s only right that she goes through the hairpin ceremony together with me.”

Chi Xiyan, helpless, muttered under her breath, “Actually, by age alone, I should be the older sister.”

A small complaint like that meant nothing to Chi Muxue.

Chi Xiyan had already noticed the sour expressions on the faces of the Chi family elders nearby.

Still, just as Chi Muxue had said, the elders showed no intention of objecting to her words at this moment.

If the elders themselves didn’t care, then the guests who had come to watch the ceremony would care even less.

And so, dragged along by Chi Muxue’s insistence, Chi Xiyan was forced to stand in the main position beside her.

For the first pinning, the one undergoing the ceremony had to wear a child’s robe and bow to the guests.

The presiding elder would then comb her hair and pin it, changing her into a plain colored robe, symbolizing the “beginning of childhood learning.”

Then she would bow to her parents, expressing gratitude for their care in raising her.

It was at this point that Chi Xiyan’s brow furrowed. Something was wrong.

Where was the presiding elder? Where was the family head?

Who was going to pin their hair for the two of them?

Just as Chi Xiyan was puzzling over this, the maidservant beside them had already brought forward a box holding the hairpins.

Chi Muxue picked up a wooden hairpin.

She looked at Chi Xiyan with a bright smile.

“Here, my dear sister. Let me pin your hair!”

Chi Xiyan was momentarily stunned.

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Was that even allowed?!

Did that even make sense?!

Yet not a single person around them raised any objection.

What could Chi Xiyan do?

She took a light breath, lowered her head slightly, and let Chi Muxue pin her hair for her.

Chi Muxue leaned in close, close enough for her to catch the fragrance clinging to the girl.

“There, all done. So pretty!” The girl smiled. “Now it’s your turn to pin mine.”

Chi Xiyan’s body stiffened slightly. She numbly picked up the wooden hairpin from the box and slowly pinned it into the girl’s hair.

After she had pinned the wooden hairpin into Chi Muxue’s hair.

Chi Muxue smiled happily and glanced toward the clan elder standing nearby.

Catching Chi Muxue’s silent cue, the elder called out loudly, “The first pinning is complete. Will the two young ladies now bow to heaven and earth!”

Wait, what?!

What kind of procedure was this?!

Chi Xiyan looked in disbelief at the elder who had just spoken.

Wasn’t this the wrong order entirely?!

But the elder kept his eyes fixed calmly ahead, his expression completely blank, as if he hadn’t noticed Chi Xiyan at all.

Chi Muxue reached out and tugged at her sleeve. “Hey! Silly Xiyan, why are you zoning out again! Come bow to heaven and earth with me! Everyone’s watching!”

Chi Xiyan, like a rusted machine, slowly turned herself around under Chi Muxue’s tugging.

The clan elder called out loudly, “First bow, to honor the heavens above, a fine match, ahem, sisters bound by destiny!”

Chi Xiyan was pulled down into a bow.

Something felt off, though she couldn’t quite place it.

The elder’s latter half of the sentence sounded as though it had been forcibly rephrased.

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“Second bow, to honor the earth below, two hearts joined as one.”

Chi Xiyan was pulled down into a bow again by Chi Muxue.

“Third bow, to honor heaven and earth together, forever and always.”

The muscles in Chi Xiyan’s face had gone completely rigid.

“Is that it, then?” she whispered to Chi Muxue.

“Don’t rush.” Chi Muxue held her hand, soothing her.

The corner of Chi Xiyan’s eye twitched. She almost wanted to see just how much more absurd this hairpin ceremony could get.

“The two young ladies.” the elder called out loudly. “Please change into your robes, put on the silver hairpins, and bow to your elders.”

“…” Chi Xiyan no longer felt like speaking at all.

The changing room was right behind them, and with the maidservants’ help, they were both dressed in no time.

By now, both of them wore red robes, embroidered with phoenix birds in gold and silver thread.

Chi Muxue stepped forward and put a silver phoenix hairpin into Chi Xiyan’s hair.

Chi Xiyan repeated the gesture, placing the silver hairpin into hers as well.

“Second bow, to your elders.”

Elders?

Chi Xiyan looked up toward the place they were meant to bow to.

It wasn’t a person.

It was a sword.

As if sensing the confusion in her heart, Chi Muxue explained. “I have the Sword Dao Sacred Body.”

“My inheritance comes from the sword. The sword is my teacher.”

“So naturally, it’s the sword we’re bowing to.”

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Chi Xiyan fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.

This entire hairpin ceremony had felt wrong from the very start.

Bowing to a sword during the second pinning, she supposed, wasn’t entirely unacceptable at this point.

The clan elder continued calling out loudly. “First bow!”

“Second bow!”

“Third bow!”

After the three bows were done, Chi Xiyan felt that whatever happened next, she would no longer be surprised by any of it.

At that moment, the elder spoke again.

“The two young ladies, next, please change into your ceremonial capes, and put on your phoenix crowns.”

“Sisters bowing to each other.”

Hearing this, Chi Xiyan felt her heart skip a beat.

For a moment, she wondered if something had gone wrong with her ears.

She looked toward the elder again, her eyes full of disbelief.

“Is this procedure really correct?”

“Of course it’s correct!” Chi Muxue tugged her hand, pulling her toward the room. “We’ve come this far already, hurry up! Any later and we’ll really miss the proper hour.”

Chi Xiyan was dragged into the room like a wooden puppet.

Several maidservants busily helped change her into a new set of robes.

When Chi Xiyan emerged, she looked over at Chi Muxue, who wore the same style of clothing as her.

Red robes, elegant and dignified, brimming with noble grace.

But no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t help feeling that these robes closely resembled something from her memory.

A wedding dress.