Wu Zhen held the pipa with one hand and plucked the strings with the other. The silk scarf draped over her arm swayed gently with her movements. The bright lamp illuminated half of her face, her skin glowing softly. The dancers and musicians stopped their performances and sat around, gazing up at her – she was like the most eye-catching flower in a luxurious bouquet.
Wu Zhen played a slightly modified version of Wan Niang’s tune. As she inadvertently looked up, she caught sight of her husband’s gaze from afar, and her whole being froze for a moment. Her husband sat with perfect posture, his face expressionless. But those eyes of his seemed to be brimming with radiance, focused solely on her as if no one else existed in this world but her.
Her heart stirred, and Wu Zhen suddenly thought that her husband had such beautiful eyes. Usually, they seemed ordinary, but when they occasionally shone with brilliance, they were truly captivating.
She had initially planned to put down the pipa after one song, but now she suddenly changed her mind. With a flick of her wrist, the pipa’s melody rose again. This time, she not only played the pipa but also began to sing softly.
“My young love, a jade tree with exquisite branches, graceful and talented,
Like a beautiful swallow among fragrant grass, in a distant orchid pavilion…”
“…Not knowing the joys of immortals, I wish to grow old together with you…”
Mei Zhuyu listened in surprise, his ears turning slightly red, but he continued to gaze at Wu Zhen with bright eyes. Unlike before when she had kept her eyes lowered while playing, she now occasionally looked up to meet his gaze. The way her eyes moved almost made him lose his composure, and he unconsciously gripped his hands tightly to control his emotions.
People of that time were often bold and uninhibited in their songs and dances. Wu Zhen’s song was a widely popular tune called “Congratulations to the New Husband.” As soon as Wu Zhen began singing, everyone turned to look at Mei Zhuyu, their eyes twinkling with teasing smiles.
‘Sister Zhen is flirting with her husband!’
‘Oh my, I can hardly bear to listen! How can Sister Zhen keep looking at Young Master Mei while singing? Isn’t she deliberately embarrassing him?’
‘I can’t watch, but why do I suddenly feel a bit envious?’
After exchanging meaningful glances, the crowd still wasn’t satisfied. When Wu Zhen finished her song, several people started coughing simultaneously, while others clapped and cheered, “Did you hear that, Young Master? You’re quite honored. Sister Zhen rarely sings, but she sang this song, especially for you.”
“Hey, hey, there are so many people watching! Wu Er Niang, you should restrain yourself a bit!” Someone else deliberately teased.
Wu Zhen put down the pipa and returned to Mei Zhuyu’s side. She glanced around at the giddy crowd and pointed at them, saying, “Go on, each of you sing a song for me. I’ve sung today, so none of you can escape.”
Someone else laughed and asked, “Then should Young Master Mei sing too?”
Wu Zhen raised an eyebrow: “Of course not. My husband will sing for me at home. Don’t even think about it.” She knew without asking that her husband definitely wouldn’t sing this kind of song. She had brought him here to have fun, not to be laughed at.
With her protecting him like this, no one dared to disrespect her. People began to sing one after another, laughing and joking. Some sang well, others not so much, but everyone was familiar with each other, and the teasing and laughter never stopped. Though the group wasn’t large, it was very lively.
After spending time together like this, Mei Zhuyu’s relationship with them improved considerably. The next day, Wu Zhen stayed at Mei Zhuyu’s residence, sleeping until late morning. When she woke up, she talked to him about the people she knew.
“I don’t know many officials in the Ministry of Justice, but I know the son and nephew of the Minister of Justice. We used to play together, and I have some influence there. I also know your Assistant Minister Xu. I once did him a big favor. If you have any trouble, you can go to him. I’ve already spoken to him about you…”
Although Mei Zhuyu didn’t understand why Wu Zhen would think he was being bullied in the Ministry of Justice, her thoughtfulness and care naturally made him happy. He couldn’t think of anything else, only gazing at her with gentle eyes and responding softly, not wanting to disappoint her good intentions.
As for Wu Zhen, this was the first time she had ever been so attentive and careful in taking care of someone. Sometimes she found it strange herself. Initially, she had only thought it wouldn’t matter to have another husband, but now she was unconsciously protective of him. No wonder a close female friend had teased her, saying she had been bewitched by a fox spirit. Wu Zhen suddenly reached out to cup Mei Zhuyu’s face, leaning in for a closer look. His masculine, strong features and ordinary appearance could be described as proper, but not handsome.
What kind of unremarkable fox spirit was this?
Wu Zhen casually scratched Mei Zhuyu’s chin and then saw his Adam’s apple move slightly. The husband who had been copying books put down his brush, took her hand, and leaned in to give her a restrained kiss on the forehead.
Wu Zhen, with one hand held by him, felt the warm kiss on her forehead. She smiled and reached out to scratch his Adam’s apple again. Mei Zhuyu tilted his head back, exhaling, and caught her other hand. Wu Zhen, with both hands caught, didn’t struggle. Instead, she playfully leaned in and bit his chin.
Young people, especially young men, can hardly resist such teasing, especially when it comes from their beloved, their wife who had been formally married before ancestors and heaven. If Mei Zhuyu didn’t have such strong self-control, they would have already been entangled together.
But the sunlight outside was bright, and Wu Zhen didn’t intend to do that kind of thing. Her eyes were full of playfulness; she just found him amusing like this. Mei Zhuyu couldn’t do anything about it, and he was increasingly distrusting his self-control. So he suddenly stood up, took his books, and went outside to sit on the steps under the back window to continue his copying.
Wu Zhen stayed alone for a while and felt bored. Although her young husband didn’t like to play around, she didn’t feel bored when he was around, which was strange. Wu Zhen was a few years older than Mei Zhuyu, but due to her nature, she tended to become willful once she was close and familiar with someone. She got up and followed him to the steps under the window.
There was a clump of bamboo growing there, with dappled sunlight dancing through the gaps in the bamboo shadows, falling on Mei Zhuyu’s face and head. He sat on the green steps, his silhouette particularly beautiful against the backdrop of the lush bamboo. Wu Zhen strolled over, broke off a small newly grown bamboo branch, and then draped herself over Mei Zhuyu’s back.
Mei Zhuyu caught off guard, bent forward under her weight. He felt the soft body pressed against his back and kept his head down, silently continuing to copy. Actually, this wasn’t anything important, and it didn’t matter whether he copied it or not, but… if he didn’t find something to occupy his hands, his attention would inevitably be drawn to Wu Zhen. If there were more people around it would be fine, but when it was just the two of them alone, he couldn’t help but think of some not-so… not-so-pure things. As a cultivator, he was supposed to have few desires, but now… it was going against his years of practiced habits.
From discovering that he too had desires, to directly facing and accepting these uncontrollable desires, Mei Zhuyu was still struggling. For now, he only hoped not to be too abrupt with her, at least not to be thinking about those unspeakable things all the time.
Wu Zhen, lying on her husband’s back, peered over to look at the characters he was writing. She felt that the writing was somewhat different from her husband himself. To her, he seemed calm and upright, not very expressive but kind and benevolent. But his handwriting was sharp and forceful, inconsistent with him. If Wu Zhen had only seen the writing, she would have thought it was written by a cold, sharp, and dangerous man.
People say that handwriting reflects the person, but it seems this isn’t always true. Wu Zhen thought to herself as she tugged on Mei Zhuyu’s earlobe, “Let’s go back inside to write. Don’t you feel uncomfortable out here?”
Seeing Mei Zhuyu hesitate, she smiled again, “I won’t bother you anymore.”
After pulling him back to the study, Wu Zhen casually placed the green bamboo branch she had been playing with into a small jar of clear water on the desk, then got up to leave. Seeing her about to go, Mei Zhuyu instinctively asked, “Where are you going?”
Wu Zhen had intended to go out, but seeing his reluctance, which he quickly tried to hide, her heart softened. She changed her mind on the spot and said, “Nowhere, I’ll take a nap nearby. Don’t mind me.”
She indeed went to take a nap by the window. The window was wide open and faced away from the sun, with a pond outside. The cool breeze and fragrant grass made it a nice place for an afternoon rest.
Idle during the day and entangled until midnight, Wu Zhen teasingly told her husband Mei that he became a different person at night. After two days like this, Wu Zhen was called back to the demon market by a letter from the Snake Lord, Liu Taizhen.
“What’s the matter now?”
Liu Taizhen handed her a letter written on red paper, letting her read it herself. Wu Zhen took it and quickly scanned the politely and humbly worded letter. She clicked her tongue twice and said, “How rare. An entire family moved to the Chang’an demon market, adding over forty demons at once. No wonder you called me here.”
Putting down the red paper, Wu Zhen asked, “Have you investigated? Why did this big family of fox spirits suddenly decide to move their entire clan to Chang’an? Is it really as they wrote?”
Liu Taizhen replied, “More or less. They used to live near Qu Prefecture. The human family that originally supported them has fallen, so they lost their patronage. Moreover, things have been unstable in Qu Prefecture recently. It seems some troublemaking great demon has appeared. These fox spirits aren’t very powerful and wanting to protect their clan, they decided to move directly to Chang’an. After all, with us protecting this place, most demons can live peacefully here as long as they don’t cause trouble.”
Wu Zhen: “So you’ve agreed to let them move in?”
Liu Taizhen used his brush handle to point at a purple sandalwood box nearby. Wu Zhen went over to open it and look inside, then nodded, “Hmm, not bad. They’re quite sincere. Let’s allow them to move in then.”
After all, this was the most prosperous city in the world, with a large population and many demons. With the Cat Lord and Snake Lord protecting it, naturally not just any demon could live in the demon market. First, they had to guarantee they wouldn’t harm ordinary people or cause trouble. Of course, it also helped me to be sensible and perceptive.
A small family of fox spirits from Qu Prefecture, over forty demons in total, had traveled thousands of li to move to Chang’an. Wu Zhen and Liu Taizhen, impressed by the contents of the box, had a good attitude and personally went to bring them into the demon market.
To live in the demon market, one needed to be stamped with two treasure seals. These two seals were held by the Cat Lord and Snake Lord. After being stamped with these two seals, one could freely enter and exit the East and West demon markets without being treated as an intruder. Moreover, with these two treasure seals, if they were harmed in Chang’an, the Cat Lord and Snake Lord would be aware of it, serving as a protective charm.
In the quiet night of Chang’an, a red lantern illuminated the surrounding area. Holding the lantern was a yellow-skinned fox wearing a white outer robe. Behind him were four slightly smaller foxes carrying a sedan chair, inside which sat a three-tailed white fox. Following the sedan chair were some large and small foxes carrying boxes and chests. Although they appeared as foxes, their movements and demeanor were no different from humans.
This procession of foxes stopped at the dark gate of the East-West Ward. The fox in the sedan chair came out and bowed to the ward gate. Then, with a flash of light, the group of foxes disappeared. When they reappeared, they were facing the bustling scene of the East-West demon market. All around were non-human beings, and two tall figures stood at the gate.
“Welcome to the Chang’an demon market,” Wu Zhen, wearing a crimson-collared Hu-style robe, smiled at them. Standing beside her, Liu Taizhen, dressed in a moon-white jacket and skirt, also nodded slightly in greeting.
Seeing them waiting there, the three-tailed white fox was overwhelmed with honor. It bowed to them, its voice soft and gentle, indistinguishable between male or female, “Thank you for your trouble, Cat Lord and Snake Lord. We humbly request your guidance and care in the future.”