The Evening Star rises in the east, while Venus shines in the west. The stars of salvation align in the heavens, bestowing their blessings upon the mortal realm.
This speaks of the Double Seventh Festival.
Madam Lu and the Elder Madam Lu sat in the hall, listening to Second Young Master Lu Xian continue his earnest speech: “…In truth, Cousin Luo’s background isn’t inferior at all. She comes from a scholarly family and knows everything a noble lady should know and understand. Moreover, the Luo clan of Ruyang fell only because they refused to open their city gates and submit to the Northern army. If the Luo clan had surrendered to the North that day, Ruyang wouldn’t have held out until reinforcements arrived, and Ruyang would now be Northern territory. The Luo clan of Ruyang demonstrated absolute loyalty, making such a great contribution to our Southern Kingdom – how can their descendants be looked down upon in Jianye?”
“Among all the scholarly families and noble houses in Jianye, how many can compare to the former Luo clan of Ruyang? Yet has the Luo clan received justice? Once fallen, they fell completely, with no one to care for their children. While others may not be our concern, since we of the Lu clan are related to the Luo clan by marriage, how can we not look after them?”
“I believe Third Brother and Cousin Luo are perfectly matched. Grandmother shouldn’t let prejudice about family status prevent their union.”
Madam Lu looked at her son with a strange expression. She couldn’t understand why Lu Xian was so concerned about Third Young Master Lu’s marriage. On this Double Seventh Festival for seeking skills, instead of visiting Princess Ningping, he was going on and on about someone else’s marriage… Madam Lu was truly disappointed in him. No wonder Third Young Master Lu had admirers everywhere while her son remained unmarried.
Elder Madam Lu pondered: “Did Third Son ask you to speak to me about this? Why doesn’t he come himself?”
Lu Xian hurriedly replied: “No, no, no, Third Brother never asked me to say any of this. I’m speaking entirely of my own accord.”
Elder Madam Lu didn’t believe him: “If he never approached you, how can you be sure he wants to marry Miss Luo?” After all, from Lu Yun’s tone, he had always been resistant to marriage.
Madam Lu was equally incredulous: “Indeed. Why are you speaking for others?”
Lu Xian was stunned for a moment, then spoke solemnly: “Because when I see Third Brother and Cousin Luo together, I can tell they’re perfectly suited. Grandmother, please give your consent.”
Elder Madam Lu: “…Whether I agree or not isn’t particularly urgent, there’s plenty of time for me to consider. I still need to write to your grandfather and ask his opinion. Second Son, I think you’ve forgotten that Miss Luo isn’t free to marry – she’s already betrothed. Even if the Lu family agrees, given Young Master Fan’s previous attention to Miss Luo, would the Fan clan of Nanyang easily release her?”
Second Young Master Lu was completely dumbfounded: “…”
This was bad – he had forgotten about Young Master Fan’s existence.
In his dream, Young Master Fan had been preoccupied with the chaos in Nanyang. After Prince Xingyang became betrothed to Luo Lingyu, the Fan clan of Nanyang had no energy to demand an explanation from Prince Xingyang. Having missed their chance, and with Prince Xingyang ascending to become Emperor, the Fan family couldn’t possibly compete with His Majesty for a woman, so they had to swallow this bitter pill.
But in reality, thanks to Lu Xian’s efforts, although Nanyang had experienced unrest, it wasn’t as severe as in his dream, where people could barely survive. Fan Qingchen had returned to Nanyang, but he hadn’t completely forgotten about his betrothal to Luo Lingyu. The Lu family was in Jianye, while the Fan family was in Nanyang – how could they overcome the local power? Were they hoping the Fan family would fall during the Nanyang conflicts? Lu Xian’s efforts had unexpectedly worked against Lu Yun’s marriage prospects. Lu Xian was troubled – he didn’t want any noble family to decline and further weaken the Southern Kingdom’s power.
It was truly a difficult situation.
Lu Xian could only say: “…One thing at a time. At least if Grandmother agrees, there might be hope with the other side. I thought we could work on both fronts…”
Madam Lu listened with growing impatience and turned away. Only Second Young Master Lu remained oblivious, continuing to plead with the two elders.
…
He feared that neither his Third Brother nor his cousin were as concerned about marriage as he was.
Under the grape trellis, seats were arranged with fruits and wine set out to worship the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars. Incense smoke rose to the clear night sky, and through the courtyard walls came the sound of maidservants’ laughter from the neighboring courtyard. In the brilliant lamplight, after silently offering prayers, the young ladies took out five-colored threads and nine-eyed needles to thread and sew, seeking the star deity’s blessing for marriage and skills. Some skillful ones took scissors to cut paper figures of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, which were pasted on wooden frames and illuminated by lanterns, casting shadows on the well. Only shadowy figures could be seen, light and shadow intermingling.
The ladies competed and laughed as they wove their five-colored threads. Luo Lingyu wove particularly quickly and beautifully, earning the admiration of the other ladies. After weaving the five-colored threads, the noble ladies cut flowers from colored paper and tied them with the woven threads. When the flower stems were tossed into the courtyard, the night sky above the green willows was filled with scattered five-colored light, flowing with radiance.
The ladies closed their eyes and wished: May I marry a good man. May I find my true love?
When most of the five-colored threads had been woven and most of the flowers scattered, the ladies exchanged glances and began making excuses to leave. Even though the Lu family’s young female cousins were staying at the Lu residence because of a certain someone, on this Double Seventh Festival, that person wasn’t present, so they planned to invite other young masters of the Lu family to join them. Clutching their five-colored threads, several ladies gazed distractedly into the distance, asking the Lu family’s young masters: Would Third Young Master Lu return tonight?
Threading nine-eyed needles, five-colored splendor like sunset clouds. How regrettable it would be if they couldn’t give their woven five-colored threads to the young men they admired?
Suddenly, a gust of wind whirled through the grape vines. The colored silk flowers and five-colored threads placed in the golden trays in the courtyard were blown into the air. Some became tangled in the treetops. Everyone lamented the waste, so they sought out ladders and stands to retrieve the tangled five-colored threads, not wanting to disappoint the ladies who had worked all evening.
Luo Lingyu hadn’t lost her five-colored thread – how could she lose something so important? With the five-colored thread safely tied around her wrist, the young lady wore a lotus flower half-sleeve dress, her graceful figure carrying a golden tray to help collect the scattered threads. She gradually walked further from the crowd, reaching a corner of the courtyard. Luo Lingyu set down her golden tray and crouched to pick up several five-colored threads that had fallen in the grass, patiently separating and arranging them.
A cough sounded from above.
Luo Lingyu looked up, surprised and delighted to find a young man sitting with bent knees on the wall. Her eyes immediately filled with tender emotion, rippling like waves.
It was still light out. Lu Yun sat on the wall in the tree’s shadow, wearing a single-layered white silk gauze robe, his hair bound with a precious stone crown, his features refined and handsome. What an elegant young man – his long hands rested on the wall as he sat in the shadows of the trees, yet he didn’t appear dark in the night, but rather seemed surrounded by a faint, gentle white light.
Like a most noble young lord, as precious as fine jade.
Third Young Master Lu jumped down from the wall, seeing Luo Lingyu approach him with joy in her eyes as well.
The golden tray filled with many five-colored threads was left on the ground as Luo Lingyu rose to greet the suddenly appearing Third Young Master Lu, whom all the other ladies were seeking. She came to his side, her left hand pressing against her right wrist where the five-colored thread was tied. The young lady quickly pulled off the thread and grabbed Lu Yun’s hand, tying it to him.
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow: …She acted fast.
The meaning of a lady giving her five-colored thread to a young man on Double Seventh Night was clear without words.
Lu Yun didn’t resist, calmly extending his wrist. His hands were long and well-proportioned, with calluses only on his fingertips, the entire hand as beautiful as jade. Luo Lingyu’s heart pounded as she carefully tied the silk thread, finally breathing a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn’t refused, and no one had interrupted. Luo Lingyu looked up at him shyly, though her hand still clutched his arm.
Luo Lingyu: “I thought you wouldn’t come back tonight.”
Lu Yun’s eyes were profound as he sighed: “…Otherwise I might see someone crying and weeping again afterward, asking me why I missed such an important festival.”
He was referring to how she had cried at her coming-of-age ceremony.
Luo Lingyu cursed him in her heart for being petty, remembering such an embarrassing thing so clearly. She turned her head, her eyes sparkling with spirit, enticing Lu Yun to look down at her: “Then I won’t pay attention to you. Tonight is also the Ladies’ Festival, I have other things to do. Brother Xuecen just returned, don’t you need to go change clothes?”
Third Young Master Lu glanced at her hand clutching his arm. Her words told him to go change, but she held his arm tightly, as if afraid he would leave.
Third Young Master Lu smiled without speaking: What a contradictory young lady.
Third Young Master Lu immediately raised his sleeve, taking her hand in return. His little finger lightly traced across her palm as his warm hand grasped her delicate, beautiful one. Luo Lingyu’s palm tingled at his touch, and she lowered her head with flushed cheeks. Lu Yun was consistently frivolous, teasing with a smile: “Why change clothes? On such a fine evening, doesn’t little sister Lingyu want to spend the spring night with me?”
Luo Lingyu was stunned, hearing the flirtatious implications in his words: “…?”
Lu Yun’s face heated up and he turned his head to cough. He enjoyed teasing her but had misspoken again. Lu Yun corrected himself: “I mean go out to play.”
Only then did Luo Lingyu nod with shy satisfaction: “Brother Xuecen, please wait, I’ll come to find you soon.”
Having Lu Yun accompany her was the goal all along. Lu Yun was a perceptive person who understood subtle meanings, and when she asked like that, he understood. Having such a romantic young man as a companion, Luo Lingyu’s heart was filled with joy as she carried away the golden tray. Because, unlike Lu Yun, she had always wanted to marry.
She wanted a good husband’s companionship and wanted marriage to confirm she wouldn’t be abandoned.
Previously in Nanyang, when she was with Fan Qingchen, the Double Seventh Festival was the day that made her most anxious – she was very afraid to be with Fan Qingchen.
But now it was different. She felt she had found the right person.
…
Second Young Master Lu was still chattering endlessly at Elder Madam Lu’s place, talking until both elders were drowsy.
Luo Lingyu had already cleverly made an excuse to separate from the family’s young ladies, lifting her skirts as she ran back to her courtyard. Although Lu Yun had returned, she knew all the young ladies in the family liked him. Usually, it didn’t matter, but Luo Lingyu didn’t want to share Lu Yun with the other ladies tonight – Lu Yun should be hers. He still wore her five-colored thread on his wrist.
Luo Lingyu returned to her courtyard and searched through her boxes to find and put on a muli veil. The muli was white gauze with pearl and jewel decorations on the edges, able to cover the entire body and face, both noble and gorgeous, quite popular among noble ladies. When noble women couldn’t conveniently meet guests, they would wear the muli to go out. Luo Lingyu took out the muli tonight because she didn’t want to be recognized by acquaintances. After putting on the muli, she left her room and stood at the corner of her courtyard wall, peering through the dark gauze wondering where Lu Yun was waiting for her.
Suddenly her waist was embraced as a hand reached out from behind a tree, pulling her away into an embrace.
Full of fragrance, intimate, and ambiguous. Lu Yun lowered his head to kiss her, but his nose bumped into a layer of gauze, only then noticing she wore a muli covering her face. Lu Yun’s motion of bending down paused: “…”
Luo Lingyu hadn’t noticed his subtle change in mood, only clutching his sleeve as she said softly: “Let’s go out to the streets.”
Lu Yun’s tone was slightly floating, his mind still dwelling on her beauty behind the gauze: “…Mm.”
Luo Lingyu said happily: “After touring the night market, tomorrow I still need to go to Mount Zhong, to get the talisman I previously requested from the master at Kaishan Temple.”
Lu Yun led her outward, asking casually: “You’re busy. What kind of talisman did you request?”
Luo Lingyu paused slightly.
Lu Yun was extremely sensitive.
He immediately looked down, his voice also tightening: “You requested it for me?”
Luo Lingyu: “…Yes.”
She felt the young man’s arm around her waist tighten, hard as iron.
Lu Yun slowly looked at her: “Then don’t go tomorrow. While I’m here tonight, I’ll take you to get it.”
Luo Lingyu: “Ah… but Mount Zhong is so far.”
Lu Yun said: “We’ll go by horse.”
Luo Lingyu protested: “I don’t know how…”
Lu Yun: “I’ll take you.”
Through the gauze, his smiling eyes looked at her: “At least for this entire night, I belong to little sister Lingyu – whatever she wants to do, we’ll do.”
Luo Lingyu: “…”
She regretted wearing the muli, as she couldn’t see the young man outside the curtain. He bent down to speak to her, showing rare affection, and she wanted so much to see it.
…
Luo Lingyu was lifted onto the horse by Lu Yun, and she fearfully nestled in his embrace, tightly clutching his sleeve. Her heart was filled with both sweetness and anxiety. From Danyang to Mount Zhong, they passed through alleys and streets, galloping past, the flowing lights of the night market flashing by.
Luo Lingyu buried her face in his chest, her heart’s fears of gain and loss ebbing and flowing like the tides-
She had embroidered a sachet, the first time in her life she would gift one to a young man.
She had prayed for Lu Yun’s blessing at Kaishan Temple.
The completed talisman would be placed in the sachet, which she would pretend to give casually to Lu Yun along with the sachet.
The blessed talisman would keep him safe.
But he surely didn’t know that the sachet held another secret. The sachet was embroidered on both sides, with two lines of text inside:
Through all time I ask one word from you, my love stay unmoved as mountains do.
…She wanted his love, yet wouldn’t admit it, wouldn’t say it aloud.
With other young men, she only wanted marriage, but with Third Young Master Lu, she needed his love. Therefore, although she pressured Lu Yun about marriage, she wasn’t pushing too urgently. She was a greedy young lady who wanted both power and wealth, as well as love—she had to have his love.