In the late winter of the 18th year of Yongping, Yu Bao’er officially entered the Imperial Jade Butterfly, and her mother named her Yu.
In the spring of the same year, Qi Yu, only seven and a half years old, ascended to the throne, changing the era name to Yongxing. Marquis Wu’an Xie Zheng became the Regent King, assisting in state affairs.
Cloud Banner General Fan Changyu, Great General of Pacifying the West Tang Peiyi, and others were promoted one rank each for their merits in suppressing the rebellion. Cloud Banner General Fan Changyu was appointed as Great General of Huaihua and granted the title of First-rank Protector of the Nation Lady. Tang Peiyi was granted the title of Earl Xuanguo, He Xiuyun was appointed as Military Commissioner of Jiannan, and Zheng Wenchang was appointed as Commander of the Upper Capital Assault Forces.
Those involved in the New Year’s Eve palace coup from the Li and Wei factions were officially charged.
However, Grand Tutor Li was a great Confucian scholar with high prestige throughout the realm. His disciples were spread across the court and society. Many scholars were outraged at Grand Tutor Li’s death on the night of the coup, believing that the Li family must have been wrongly accused. They openly wrote poems and essays criticizing Xie Zheng, saying that his support of the young emperor was merely to become the next Wei Yan. They lamented that the Li family, who cared for the country and its people, met such a tragic end. They even cried out that there was no hope for the future of the Great Yin Dynasty!
When these voices reached Xie Zheng’s ears, he remained unmoved. He only instructed the Ministry of Revenue to report the full inventory of the Li family’s assets, which took over two months to complete after the confiscation of both the Li and Wei estates, at the morning court.
The Li family, who claimed to be part of the pure stream, was found to have an enormous fortune of one million taels of silver, over 4,000 gold items, over 1,000 jade items, over 2,000 antiques and paintings, over 10,000 bolts of fine silks, over 1,000 shops and manors, and over one million mu of private land. This was even more than what was confiscated from the Wei estate.
When these figures were announced, the entire court was shocked. The disciples of Grand Tutor Li dared not utter another word, their faces flushed with shame at the morning court, wishing they could find a hole to crawl into.
There were still some doubting voices among the common people, but this silver was indeed deposited into the national treasury. The Great Yin treasury had been severely depleted due to the massive expenditures in reclaiming Jinzhou, eleven prefectures in Liaodong, and suppressing the Chongzhou rebellion. With this influx of funds, there was no room for financial maneuvering.
With the new emperor’s ascension, a general amnesty was declared throughout the realm, and annual taxes were reduced for the common people. At the same time, following the advice of the Great General of Huaihua Fan Changyu, the Great Yin Code was revised, adding many new provisions such as allowing all children in a family to inherit property and permitting orphaned daughters to establish their households.
During Wei Yan’s trial, a millennia-old crime was uncovered. The loss of Jinzhou years ago was not due to General of Changshan Meng Shuyuan’s failure in transporting supplies, but because the 16th Prince was trapped in Luocheng. The old emperor, in his confusion, sent Meng Shuyuan to Luocheng to rescue the prince, entrusting the crucial task of transporting supplies to the King of Chongzhou. However, Chongzhou did not send troops, watching idly as Jinzhou fell. Later, when the foreign tribes invaded southward, the King of Chongzhou led troops to intercept them. The court dared not punish the King of Chongzhou at that time, and to give an explanation to the world, they blamed the entire Jinzhou disaster on Meng Shuyuan.
This truth was eight parts genuine and two parts concealed.
Wei Yan was not implicated because he too was someone the old emperor wanted to eliminate in the Jinzhou case. If he were involved, the reason for his sudden return to the capital would inevitably lead back to Consort Shu. For such an innocent woman caught up in the affairs of the state, Wei Yan was unwilling to let her name be tarnished in the history books even until his death. Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng also ultimately did not allow her to leave any trace in this part of history. After all, the true culprits of the Jinzhou case were ultimately the old emperor and the King of Chongzhou.
However, the crimes Wei Yan had committed over the years to consolidate power were undeniable facts, and he was sentenced to execution after autumn.
The old general had been wronged for eighteen years before finally being exonerated. The young emperor, moved by the old general’s loyalty and grieving his unjust treatment, posthumously conferred upon him the title of Duke Zhongguo and had him enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Many in the world sighed with regret and felt guilty for having cursed General Meng for over a decade. It was reported that on the day of the public announcement, many people wept for General Meng and spontaneously offered incense and paid their respects.
It was only then that the common people learned that the Great General of Huaihua Fan Changyu was the granddaughter of old General Meng. The story of how she joined the army with a butcher’s knife and gradually became a talented female general to clear her grandfather’s name spread from the military camps to the civilian world, is celebrated as an inspiring tale.
In the taverns and teahouses across the land, one could always hear storytellers slapping their clappers and raising their voices to say: “Let me tell you about the girl from the Fan family of Lin’an. Her parents died unjustly, her younger sister was kidnapped, and her husband was conscripted into the army. Oh, how bitter and tragic! But she took up a butcher’s knife, routed bandits, beheaded enemy generals, and slew foreign invaders…”
The clappers clapped loudly as the storyteller’s emotions ran high, and the audience below listened intently, their expressions tense, as if they were right there in the midst of the action.
Before this wave of excitement had subsided, another major event occurred in the capital. The only son of the Xie clan, who was ennobled for his military achievements and now wielded immense power as the Regent King requested a marriage decree from the young emperor to marry the Great General of Huaihua Fan Changyu.
If the Regent King had sought to marry any other unmarried woman, the common people would have had much to discuss. But since he was seeking to marry the Great General of Huaihua, the people unanimously praised it as a match made in heaven.
Even the noble ladies of the capital wiped their tears with handkerchiefs, saying that they could only accept the Regent King marrying the Great General of Huaihua.
This was a union of heroes, although both were also considered “beauties.”
Of course, some gossipmongers spread a rumor that when the Regent King returned to the capital after suppressing the rebellion and received his title, he had accurately caught the Great General of Huaihua’s hair ribbon among the thousands of silk handkerchiefs thrown at him during the parade. He had calmly tucked it into his bosom, suggesting that the request for an imperial marriage decree had been premeditated.
However, the entire court knew that the Great General of Huaihua had been married before.
When Qi Sheng was on the throne, the Great General had even personally admitted in the Hall of Supreme Harmony that she had accidentally joined the army while searching for her husband. There were even soldiers who had retreated from Yan, Ji, and Chongzhou who swore on their lives that it was all true, that when they were trapped in Yixian Gorge, the Great General of Huaihua had come with the Ji Prefecture reinforcements to search for her husband.
For a time, discussions about the marriage between Xie and Fan reached a fever pitch, from the imperial court to the common people.
It was said that the Great General of Huaihua had deep feelings and a strong sense of duty towards her late husband and that the Regent King, as a latecomer, might not be able to compare to her first love.
However, since men in the world could have four wives and concubines, wasn’t it only natural for a woman of such stature as the Great General of Huaihua, having lost her “humble husband,” to now gain an ideal match in the Regent King?
Naturally, some men sighed for Fan Changyu’s “early deceased” “humble husband,” saying that if he were still alive, he too would now be enjoying glory and wealth. But since he died early, it only showed that his fortune was thin and he couldn’t bear such overwhelming wealth and blessings.
Yet everyone unanimously believed that in the Great General of Huaihua’s heart, the weight of that “humble husband” was still greater than that of the Regent King. After all, they had been through hardships together.
If that humble husband were still around, how could the Great General of Huaihua have agreed to marry the Regent King?
Xie Zheng, who hadn’t been angered by the poems and essays of scholars across the land criticizing him for wronging the Li family, now had a face as dark as water when he heard these rumors from the common people. After being enlightened by Xie Wu and Xie Qi, Xie Shiyi, with great perceptiveness, began spreading the news among the common people that their lord was the Great General’s “humble husband.”
When this news spread, it undoubtedly caused another great stir.
However, people soon discovered that it was the guards from the Xie mansion who went to the alleys every day to find beggars and give them silver to spread this news. Everyone’s feelings became extremely complex, and then they unanimously came to a conclusion: The Regent King truly loved the Great General of Huaihua desperately, to the point of eagerly claiming the title of a humble son-in-law!
It was said that there were talented scholars who wanted to become officials but couldn’t find a way in. They had a sudden inspiration and wrote a play called “The Female General” for the Great General of Huaihua and the Regent King, in an attempt to curry favor with the Regent King.
As soon as this play was performed by theater troupes in the capital, it won full houses and applause. On stage, the female warrior role painted with heroic eyebrows, wearing a feather headdress and covered in battle flags, sang in a high voice: “To save my husband, I left my home, who knew I’d join the army and become a general…”①
When Fan Changyu learned of this, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She even secretly booked a private box with Xie Zheng to watch a performance at the theater.
Outside their box, the gongs and drums on the stage were clamorous, and the actor’s voice was high and clear, with strong penetrating power.
As she listened to the lyrics, the events of the past seemed to slowly appear before Fan Changyu’s eyes.
Their first encounter in the snow, the wisps of smoke from the Fan family house, him teaching her how to use the law to protect family property, annotating the Four Books for her, the wristguard he gave her before leaving, and their subsequent life-and-death experiences on the battlefield… It turned out that without realizing it, they had come so far from that small town of Lin’an.
She unconsciously smiled and turned to Xie Zheng to tease him: “Do you remember? Back then in Qingping County, you said you wanted to marry a gentle and virtuous girl who could manage the household.”
“Wearing a golden crown pressing down on both temples, holding a long sword to shake the universe…”②
Just then, the play outside reached its climax. The gongs and drums became more urgent, and the female warrior’s operatic voice was resonant and high-pitched as if about to break through the sky. She fought more fiercely with several other martial female roles, and although the moves with the long sword were not practical techniques, they were very beautiful.
Due to full houses for every performance, this show was scheduled for the evening. Their private box was on the first floor, and the entire interior of the theater was circular, with all private boxes facing the central stage. Lanterns were hung below the windows in a complete circle, and when all were lit, it was truly a spectacular sight, like a tree of fire with dragon-like candles.
As Fan Changyu turned her head, half of her smiling face was illuminated by the flickering lantern light, her eyes warm and bright. Through the wide-open window, the female warrior role impersonating her was covered in battle flags and holding a long sword. That moment’s image seemed to freeze, striking directly into Xie Zheng’s eyes.
After a long while, he finally answered: “Yes, but after meeting you, I knew that the one I wanted to marry was only Fan Changyu.”
Perhaps it was the candlelight from outside the window, but Fan Changyu’s face suddenly flushed.
The play ended, and the theater guests gradually left in their carriages. To avoid being recognized and causing unnecessary complications, Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng waited until most people had left before exiting the theater.
The moon had risen above the willow tips. Neither of them rode horses or took sedan chairs; they just walked side by side on the cold, empty street. The moonlight stretched one person’s shadow extremely long, and occasionally their shadows intertwined, as if sticking together.
Xie Zheng then truly held Fan Changyu’s hand and never let go.
He said, “There’s a golden temple in the city that’s said to be very efficacious, with a thriving incense offering. Would you like to go and see?”
It was just the beginning of the dog watch, too early to return home, so Fan Changyu nodded.
When they arrived at the temple gate and saw the tightly closed doors and the notice posted on the side that read “No more visitors after the rooster hour,” both fell silent.
Fan Changyu turned to look at Xie Zheng: “The temple is closed for today. Shall we come back another day?”
But Xie Zheng raised his eyes to look at the temple wall, which was over ten feet high-
A moment later, two agile figures like leopards climbed over the temple wall.
Even when her feet were on the blue bricks inside the temple, Fan Changyu was still a bit confused.
After walking a short distance with Xie Zheng, she finally remembered why she was puzzled and asked, “We climbed over the wall in the middle of the night just to pray to a Bodhisattva?”
Xie Zheng was slightly taken aback by the question. For the first time, he avoided Fan Changyu’s gaze, turned his face away, and coughed lightly, saying, “The most famous thing in this temple is that Bodhi tree. It’s said that all the officials and nobles in the capital come here to make wishes and hang plaques.”
The well-defined line of his jaw tensed slightly in the cold moonlight as if this could hide his rapid and chaotic heartbeat, but his palms were sweating for reasons he couldn’t explain.
Although it was called a Bodhi tree, it was almost universally known in the capital as the Tree of Matrimonial Ties. Those who came to make wishes were all young men and women seeking good marriages.
Fan Changyu seemed unaware of this and was slightly startled before smiling and saying, “Alright, given our current status, if we came here openly to hang a plaque, who knows what people would say? It’s better to sneak in tonight and hang one secretly.”
Perhaps her smile under the moonlight was too dazzling and too bright, Xie Zheng turned his head and quietly looked at her for two breaths before withdrawing his deep gaze and leading her to continue walking forward.
That tree, covered with red silk and wishing plaques, was in the courtyard of the main hall of the temple. They easily found it. The wishing plaques carved by the temple and the brush and ink for writing wishes were prepared in the side hall nearby. The monks’ meditation rooms were not in this area. After entering the hall, Xie Zheng left a large silver ingot as an offering and took out two wishing plaques along with a brush and ink.
He finished writing early and stood aside waiting for Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu held the brush, pondering deeply for a long time. Using all her life’s learning, she finally came up with eleven characters.
Afraid that Xie Zheng might peek, she kept covering it with her hand while writing.
The wooden wishing plaque wasn’t large, and her handwriting was bold. She squeezed and squeezed, and although it was written crookedly, she managed to fit it all in.
When she finally let out a light sigh and lifted her brush, Xie Zheng chuckled: “What did you write that took so long?”
Fan Changyu held the wishing plaque with its back towards him, guarding it tightly. The tips of her ears were a bit red, but she said seriously: “Since it’s a wish, it won’t come true if I say it out loud. Let’s just hang it up.”
With that, she held the wishing plaque, clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and silently recited something, then suddenly swung her arm… and threw the wishing plaque to the top of the Bodhi tree, several zhang high.
Others didn’t have such strength, so most of the wishing plaques they threw were in the middle and lower sections of the Bodhi tree.
Fan Changyu was very satisfied with this height. She dusted off her hands and looked at Xie Zheng: “What about yours?”
Xie Zheng glanced at the wishing plaque Fan Changyu had thrown, and with a normal expression, he raised his arm and threw. His wishing plaque also landed near Fan Changyu’s.
Fan Changyu smiled: “Are you also afraid it would be seen if thrown too low?”
Xie Zheng turned his head slightly to look at her, his face like cold jade, his black eyes deep and profound: “Your wishing plaque hanging at the top looked a bit lonely, so I threw mine up there to keep it company.”
Fan Changyu was stunned for a moment. Looking at his handsome features bathed in moonlight, even though she had been with him for so long, at this moment her heart felt like it held a little deer, beating “thump-thump”-
Although Fan Changyu had been appointed Great General, her mansion was still under construction, so she was temporarily staying at the Jinzou Yuan.
That night, after Xie Zheng sent her back, he quickly rode back to the Golden Temple, climbed over the wall again, went straight up to the top of the Bodhi tree, and took down the wishing plaque that Fan Changyu had thrown up.
On the brand new wishing plaque, written crookedly in ink, were the words “Morning and night, year after year, I wish to spend with you.”
Xie Shiyi stood guard at the base of the wall for his master. He didn’t know what had come over his master, who suddenly burst out laughing up in the tree. The laughter was extremely joyful; at least in all the years Xie Shiyi had been by Xie Zheng’s side, he had never heard him laugh so heartily.
It’s just that the laughter not only startled a flock of birds but also alerted the warrior monks in the temple…
The warrior monks in the temple were on high alert, but after a thorough search, they found no one. When they entered the hall, they discovered the silver ingot Xie Zheng had left earlier and thought someone had sneaked into the temple at night just to make an offering. Only then did they relax.
The abbot, who had also been disturbed, looked at the used ink brush and the missing wishing plaque. Fingering his prayer beads, he made a Buddhist salutation with one palm, his deeply wrinkled face showing a kind smile tempered by the years: “Buddha is merciful. Those with affection in this world will eventually become a couple.”-
To have enough time to complete the six etiquette procedures, Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng’s wedding date was set for March of the following year.
Before that, she wanted to move her parents’ graves, which had been hastily buried on a wild slope in Ji Prefecture, back to the Meng family cemetery. After officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau helped choose an auspicious date, the grave relocation was set for September of this year.
When returning to Ji Prefecture, she also requested a “Loyalty and Righteousness” plaque from the young emperor for Constable Wang and his wife, who had died at the hands of bandits while protecting the people of Qingping County. She gave it to their daughter, who had married into a neighboring county, and after returning home, she also renovated Constable Wang and his wife’s graves.
When Madam Zhao learned of this, she remembered the upright and honest Constable Wang and his wife and cried. Holding Fan Changyu’s hand, she kept telling her that with that imperially bestowed plaque, even though Constable Wang’s daughter had no maternal family left, her in-laws would never dare to bully her.
In the same month, the remaining Li and Wei factions were dealt with. Those sentenced to execution were executed, and those sentenced to exile were exiled.
On the day of the execution, Xie Zheng went alone to see Wei Yan for the last time. No one knew what uncle and nephew said to each other.
Wei Yan’s body was taken away by Qi Xingzhou, the adopted son of old General Qi, who was now the Military Commissioner of Lingnan. Xie Zheng never appeared, only watching from afar on the Ten Mile Slope outside the capital as Qi Xingzhou departed with Wei Yan’s coffin.
When Fan Changyu received the news and rushed to Ten Mile Slope to find Xie Zheng, Qi Xingzhou’s carriage was almost out of sight at the end of the official road.
Xie Zheng’s face showed no expression. He only said, “He entrusted his body to Qi Xingzhou eighteen years ago.”
“Consort Shu is buried in Lingnan. He was always going to go there in the end.”
……
……
March of the first year of Yongxing.
The Regent King was getting married, and the Great General of Huaihua was being wed. The early spring peach blossoms stretched for ten li, yet still couldn’t match the length of the Great General of Huaihua’s bridal procession.
The common people knew that the Great General of Huaihua no longer had a natal family, so they spontaneously went to send her off. Even people from prefectures surrounding the capital came to witness the ceremony, forming a procession so large that it stretched outside the city walls.
Red firecrackers’ paper scraps and vibrant peach blossom petals covered the long street welcoming the bridal procession. The crowds thronging the streets all wore smiles, just like when welcoming the victorious army’s return. They shouted “Great General of Huaihua” and “Regent King,” with some still accustomed to calling Xie Zheng “Marquis Wu’an.” As far as the eye could see and the ear could hear, it was all the most sincere blessings.
Under the organization of the imperial merchant Zhao Xun, restaurants and teahouses in the city also set up flowing banquets, offering free feasts to guests to celebrate the wedding of the Great General and the Regent King.
It’s no exaggeration to say that even the beggars in the city cleaned themselves up that day and squeezed into the crowd to offer congratulations.
Fan Changyu had no elder brother, so He Xiuyun escorted her. Riding on horseback and seeing such a grand scene, he felt shocked and remarked to Zheng Wenchang, who was traveling with him: “I dare say that even when His Majesty marries in the future, the spectacle won’t be greater than today’s.”
The sincere joy and blessings of the entire Great Yin’s people were not something that could be created by power and influence alone.
Zheng Wenchang said: “How many world-class heroes like General Fan can there be under heaven?”
He Xiuyun then laughed: “Indeed, this sworn sister of mine is no ordinary girl. The Regent King is bringing home a Great General as his bride.”
As he spoke, he looked towards the groom riding at the front.
Xie Zheng wore a crimson wedding robe, his black hair bound with a golden crown, looking even more handsome and jade-like. The usual coldness accumulated between his brows over the years was gone, and even though he still didn’t smile much, he couldn’t suppress the faint joy overflowing from his eyes.
The sound of horse hooves mixed with the sound of gongs and drums, firecrackers, and the cheers and blessings of the people faded into the distance. The bridal sedan chair, carried by sixteen people, was set down in front of the Xie mansion.
Fan Changyu held one end of the red silk, supported by the matchmaker as she got out of the sedan chair. The bridal veil obscured her vision, so she couldn’t see clearly what the scene around her was like, only hearing the cheers of the guests.
Although her vision was obstructed, her steps were still very steady.
Knowing that the person holding the other end of the red silk was him, Fan Changyu felt no fear in her heart. From that year in Lu City when she woke up drunk and he told her with red eyes that he regretted it, she promised that she would continue to walk with him on the path ahead. She never thought of letting him walk alone again.
From then on, whether it was a mountain of knives, a sea of fire, or a quagmire, she would face it side by side with him.
Inside the wedding hall, Grand Tutor Tao, Fan Changyu’s adoptive father, sat in the high seat, smiling kindly at the newlyweds. Behind them were the ancestral tablets of their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao, along with Chang Ning, Yu Qianqian Yu Bao’er (now Emperor Qi Yu), and other guests, stood on the side smiling as they watched the ceremony.
The master of ceremonies called out loudly: “First bow to Heaven and Earth—”
Unlike the confused bowing to Heaven and Earth when Xie Zheng had pretended to marry into the family before, the guests saw that the usually cold and stern Regent King had a faint smile on his lips, and his eyes held a hint of softness when looking at the bride as if he had been looking forward to this wedding for a very long time…
“Second bow to the parents—”
Grand Tutor Tao smiled so much that all the wrinkles around his eyes appeared. He stroked his beard and nodded, receiving this bow from the couple. This old man who had seen all sorts of ups and downs in his long life now had reddened eyes at this moment.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao stood on the side, one hand holding Chang Ning, the other constantly wiping their eyes. They had already cried so much they looked like tear-soaked people, but these were tears of joy.
In the hearts of the newlyweds, they sincerely hoped their parents in the underworld would know: that they were getting married.
“Husband and wife bow to each other—”
Just like years ago, when Fan Changyu lowered her head to bow, a breeze from somewhere lifted a corner of her bridal veil. The bride, whose makeup had been specially done by palace maids, with her red lips curled up and a pair of bright almond eyes just needed to look up with a smile, could intoxicate this land and rivers.
All the guests were cheering. When the bridal veil was almost completely blown open by the wind, a long, slender hand helped press it back down. Before the corner of the veil fell back, Fan Changyu saw the deep, affectionate eyes of the person in front of her.
Her red lips curled up even more.
This life, it would be this person.
The master of ceremonies also had a face full of smiles.
“The ceremony is complete! Escort them to the bridal chamber—”