Zhenzhen bid farewell to Yinqi. Seeing no one else coming to take the boat, Yinqi abandoned the small vessel and leaped ashore. He had just taken two steps in Zhenzhen’s direction when two lines of people suddenly emerged from among the flowering trees ahead, quickly coming to Yinqi’s side. There were palace servants holding parasols and fans and offering chairs, eunuchs serving tea and water, and a maid kneeling beside him with a silver basin, holding it up and waiting quietly for him to wash his hands. Two other maids approached, one carrying a tray with towels, the other with a tray containing “Princess Yonghe’s Fragrant Bathing Beans” made from a mixture of angelica, peach kernels, almond kernels, agarwood, gleditsia pods, and deer horn glue—all presented before him for his use.
Under the astonished gaze of Zhenzhen and the others, Yinqi calmly washed his hands and drank a cup of water prepared by the eunuchs, his manner composed and movements leisurely, as if he regarded this palace rear garden as his own home. At this moment, a noblewoman of about forty approached, her gauze robes floating with gold threads, her cloud-like hair adorned with pearls and jade. Her clothing was as exquisitely crafted as Consort Li’s. Upon seeing Yinqi, she lovingly wiped the light perspiration from his forehead with a silk handkerchief and said gently, “Qielan, you’ve been boating for so long, you must be tired. The Empress Dowager just asked about you. Come with mother quickly to pay respects to the Empress Dowager.”
Under her half-pulling, half-coaxing, Yinqi stood up and was led by the hand like a child toward the pavilion where the Empress Dowager resided. When they passed near Zhenzhen and the others, he paused slightly and smiled at them.
His mother, noticing this, gave a look to the maids behind her. Immediately, a maid approached carrying several hairpin charms and presented them to Zhenzhen, Feng Xian, and Ying Ge.
“These are some modest Dragon Boat Festival gifts. I hope the young ladies will accept them with my gratitude for accompanying my son on his lake excursion,” Yinqi’s mother said with a smile to Zhenzhen and the others.
The young ladies thought these were ordinary Dragon Boat Festival gifts, thanked the lady, and accepted the hairpin charms. Only after curtsying to see off Yinqi and his mother did they examine the gifts closely and discover that the small charms on the hairpins were not cut from colored silk, but hammered from gold leaf.
The young ladies looked at each other in amazement, none having expected this lady to regard their almost mercenary behavior toward Yinqi as companionship, and to be so generous with her gifts.
These lavish gifts also attracted the attention of nearby female officials. Among them was Tang Li, a female official who had entered the Royal Kitchen at age eight and was familiar with palace personnel. She sneered at them coldly, “I wondered why you were so bold, not caring about your lives, boarding Young Master Yin’s boat. It turns out you were after rewards from the Lady of Chen.”
After speaking, she walked away with a disdainful expression. Feng Xian took Zhenzhen’s hand and followed closely behind Tang Li. When they reached a secluded spot, Feng Xian circled around to face Tang Li and said apologetically, “We haven’t been in the palace long and don’t recognize many people or know many things. We rely entirely on elder sister’s guidance to avoid making serious mistakes. Today we boarded that boat in our ignorance, simply wanting to have fun. We didn’t know the young master’s identity, nor did we recognize the Lady of Chen. If there are any taboos regarding Young Master Yin and the Lady of Chen, please enlighten us, elder sister. If you don’t mind, please accept this hairpin charm as a token of our gratitude.”
Feng Xian presented the hairpin charm with both hands to Tang Li, and Zhenzhen immediately offered hers as well. Tang Li declined, but when the two insisted on giving them, she finally accepted Feng Xian’s and removed a jade hairpin from her own hair to give to Feng Xian, saying, “Let’s consider this an exchange of Dragon Boat Festival gifts.”
Seeing Feng Xian accept the jade hairpin, Tang Li’s expression softened, and she began explaining the situation to the two: “That Young Master Yin is the eldest son of Prince Yanping, the Empress Dowager’s brother. His mother, the Lady of Chen, is the eldest granddaughter of the late Grand Tutor Qi from the previous dynasty. Prince Yanping was born handsome with a gentle nature, always deeply beloved by the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor. Grand Tutor Qi, when alive, was also a Prime Minister valued by the late Emperor, so Prince Yanping’s family is prominent and honored, with abundant wealth that no other imperial relatives can match. However, there’s one flaw—when Young Master Yin was five or six years old, he suffered some unknown shock and developed hysteria…”
“Hysteria?” Zhenzhen couldn’t help but interject, “But when we spoke with him today, his manner was normal, gentle and polite, not at all like someone with hysteria.”
Tang Li replied, “His hysteria doesn’t occur daily—it comes in good and bad periods. During good times, he’s no different from ordinary people, but if he receives a shock, he becomes wildly violent. Last year, he attended a banquet at the Eastern Palace and liked a certain pastry served at the feast. The Eastern Palace steward then transferred the female official who made the pastry to serve him at Prince Yanping’s mansion. Unexpectedly, not long after, his hysteria struck, and he drew his younger brother Yin Rui’s sword and killed that female official.”
Feng Xian immediately understood—this was why Third Miss Ling would rather flee her home than marry Yinqi. Thinking of the marriage, Feng Xian asked Tang Li, “Is Young Master Yin married now?”
Tang Li shook her head, “Families of suitable status in the capital are unwilling to form marriage alliances with him. Last year, they reportedly arranged his engagement to the daughter of a frontier military commander. As the wedding approached, that family must have heard rumors and made excuses, unwilling to send their daughter for the marriage. This year they wanted to postpone the wedding date again, which angered the Lady of Chen, who recently insisted that Prince Yanping break off the engagement.”
Feng Xian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Tang Li continued, “Speaking of it, Young Master Yin is somewhat pitiful. He’s already twenty-two years old, and his marriage prospects are still uncertain.”
“He’s twenty-two?” Zhenzhen was very surprised, “He looks quite young. I thought he was at most seventeen or eighteen.”
“Because of his illness, he’s been confined to the prince’s mansion since childhood and rarely goes out, so his complexion is pale and he’s not as tall as his younger brother Yin Rui. He looks smaller. When standing with Yin Rui, everyone thinks the tall and martial Yin Rui is his older brother,” Tang Li explained patiently. “Yin Rui became a personal guard of the Imperial City Division at a young age, while Yinqi can only be locked at home. What he does most often is practice calligraphy, so his handwriting is quite good.”
Zhenzhen nodded, “His refined scholarly appearance indeed resembles that of a scholar.”
Tang Li smiled sarcastically, “His appearance is good—he closely resembles Prince Yanping in his youth. But you mustn’t forget he’s a patient who might have an episode at any time. Every time he comes to the palace, female officials avoid him if they can. Fortunately, he doesn’t enter the palace often, only once or twice a year. Today he said he wanted to cruise the lake alone, so the Lady of Chen found him a boat and secretly ordered people to protect him from other boats. We all stayed far from his boat, but you few were confused and rushed to board his empty boat, even persuading the young lady of the Shen family to board. I was sweating with worry for you. Luckily he didn’t fall ill today, or you wouldn’t have made it off the boat alive.”
Two days later, Pei Shangshi conveyed a message: the young lady of the Shen family said she felt an immediate connection with Yun Ying Ge and requested that Yun Ying Ge come to the Shen residence on the wedding day to manage the bridal chamber’s food and drink. Yun Ying Ge accepted the order and suggested to Pei Shangshi that Ling Feng Xian and Wu Zhenzhen, who had always coordinated well with her, should accompany her. Pei Shangshi agreed and added these two to the list of female officials going to the Shen residence on the wedding day.
The wedding date arrived in the blink of an eye. The groom Fu Junyi wore green robes and a flowered cap, rode a tall fine horse, and brought musicians with drums and pipes, along with a procession carrying flower vases, flower candles, incense balls, gauze washing implements, makeup boxes, mirror stands, skirt trunks, clothing chests, hundred-knot decorations, blue cooling umbrellas, and sedan chairs. They came to the Shen residence in grand procession to the sound of lively celebratory music.
The bride’s family blocked the door demanding lucky money, reciting poetry: “The celestial maiden gracefully descends to the mortal world, in an instant returning gloriously to the cave dwelling. Today the door is filled with joyful colors, the flower chest’s lucky money must not be stingy.”
Fu Junyi smilingly had his attendants present the required amount. After the door opened, an official holding a flower basket ceremoniously emerged and scattered the five grains, beans, money, and colored fruits from the basket toward the doorway for the children watching the excitement at the gate to scramble for. This ritual was called “scattering grains and beans,” aimed at suppressing the “three evils”—the green sheep, black chicken, and green ox—that were said to obstruct the newlyweds’ entry.
At this time, dark clouds rolled across the sky, obscuring the bright sun, and the light gradually dimmed as if a heavy rain was approaching. Fu Junyi frowned slightly, but seeing the children picking up grains and beans with undiminished enthusiasm and continuous laughter, he felt somewhat relieved and stepped inside.
The bride’s family welcomed the groom into the house, first hanging a piece of colored silk across the door lintel. When the groom entered, everyone competed to tear at the silk, calling it “lucky market door crossing,” seeking to receive good fortune and auspicious omens. After entering, Fu Junyi looked back to see everyone with eager faces and hundreds of hands competing. He felt quite pleased with himself and walked leisurely to sit in the room, waiting for the auspicious time.
When the time arrived, the ceremony official invited Fu Junyi and the bride to come to the hall. The bride wore gold-embroidered wide sleeves and a satin red long skirt, with a gold-embroidered head covering concealing her face. Though her features were temporarily invisible, her figure was graceful and her movements elegant. Fu Junyi, imagining Shen Rouran’s beauty, was filled with joy and kept a smile on his lips. A piece of red and green colored silk was tied into a lover’s knot. Fu Junyi held a locust wood tablet with one end of the silk attached, while the other end was held by the bride. Fu Junyi walked backward, leading the bride to the hall in a ritual called “leading the silk.”
The two newlyweds stood in the hall. According to custom, at this moment a woman with both sons and daughters, chosen from the groom’s relatives, should use scales or a weaving shuttle to lift the bride’s head covering, revealing her beautiful face. Then the two newlyweds would bow to the household gods and all relatives. However, Fu Junyi, citing his distance from home and the rushed timing, had not invited his relatives to attend the wedding, so the task of lifting the head covering was performed by the Shen family’s female relatives.
Fu Junyi stared at the bride’s head covering with a smile. The woman’s weaving shuttle gently probed under the covering and slowly lifted it, gradually revealing the bride’s fair and beautiful chin. The shuttle paused momentarily, then continued upward, revealing the bride’s beautifully curved, carefully painted lips.
Fu Junyi and all the guests held their breath and continued waiting.
The shuttle dipped slightly, paused for an instant, then suddenly rose, completely removing the head covering.
The bride kept her head slightly lowered. Fu Junyi first noticed her pearl and jade crown, then momentarily looked down along the seasonal crown flowers before his gaze collided with hers as she looked up at him.
Dark clouds in the sky held a rain that threatened to fall, with thunder rolling intermittently, making the hall dim. Fu Junyi stared at the bride, his smile already frozen. He blinked hard repeatedly, trying to prove he was momentarily dazzled and hadn’t really seen his former acquaintance.
A bolt of lightning suddenly illuminated everything with harsh clarity. The pale light lit up the bride’s face—those features were unmistakably hers from his memory, but her dark eyes held a thousand kinds of resentment, her crimson lips contained the coldest determination, and her skin, like the lightning, had an eerie lack of warm color. Her forehead hair was damp as if soaked with water, and there was even a drop of water sliding down her forehead.
Fu Junyi felt chills throughout his body and involuntarily stepped back, while the bride, with a cold expression, advanced toward him step by step. Fu Junyi trembled as he retreated to outside the hall, finally unable to suppress his inner fear. He turned and ran toward the main gate, but near the entrance were still grains and beans scattered earlier by the ceremony official. He stepped on several, his foot slipped, and he fell to the ground. He had just propped himself up to sit but hadn’t yet stood when the bride had already approached him, leaning down to trace his face with icy fingers, calling softly, “Scholar Fu…”
Fu Junyi screamed loudly, desperately shrinking backward, his teeth chattering as he cried out in extreme terror, “Ying Ge!”