On the Jiachen day of the fourth month in the ninth year of Zhenguan, late spring, when duckweed first sprouted. The wind was gentle and the sun radiant, with spring’s beauty in full bloom.

The auspicious spirits of the hour: Yutang, Guiren, and Xishen. It was inadvisable to raise beams, repair roofs, conduct renovations, perform burials, take office, or travel. It was favorable for marriages, accepting sons-in-law, seeking wealth, opening markets, moving into new homes, meeting nobility, and… contemplating desperate measures.

Wei Shubin sat cross-legged under the apricot tree in her family courtyard, letting her maid undo her twin buns and style them into the fashionable half-turned updo. The maid then began inserting gold and silver hairpins from the tray placed on the felt carpet beside her, one after another.

Gathered around watching and chatting were her mother and sister, several distinguished female stewards from General Cheng Yaojin’s household who had come for the betrothal, and, somewhat oddly, the actual matchmaker, Madam Cui.

She was called the “actual matchmaker” because this marriage was indeed arranged entirely by Madam Cui. However, outside the screened area where the women sat, the official matchmaker sent by the district office was conducting the “Nazheng” ceremony with Minister Wei Zheng, alongside envoys from the Cheng family. They were all properly attired, bearing the marriage documents and exchanging formal bows with the bride’s family.

Musicians played in the courtyard. As both families held third-rank or higher official positions, the Ministry of Rites had sent ceremonial officers as required by law. Their well-practiced calls occasionally carried over the screens:

“…Having heard of your worthy eldest daughter’s virtuous reputation and mastery of the four virtues, we wish to form this noble alliance. Through this matchmaker…”

“…The first daughter, having just come of age, though not yet versed in propriety, accepts the Duke of Cheng’s kind intentions toward marriage with deepest respect…”

The Nazheng ceremony’s tables and braziers were set up in the front courtyard, where a group of men had gathered. According to Zhou Dynasty rites, it should have been held in the western wing of the main hall, however… the Wei residence currently lacked a “main hall.”

Their property in Pingkang Ward was granted in the early Zhenguan years. The plot was sizeable and conveniently close to the imperial palace for her father’s court duties, but the buildings were old and the main hall had collapsed, requiring reconstruction. Over the years, the family’s income had mostly been saved for wedding expenses. Her parents had considered rebuilding the main hall several times but always backed away after calculating the costs.

Thus, in the center of Minister Wei’s front courtyard, there remained only a perfectly square and level foundation, waiting for someday when the master might suddenly come into unexpected wealth to buy timber and tiles and hire workers to build… keep dreaming.

“Tsk tsk tsk, this truly shows how we eastern gentry genuinely uphold the sage’s teachings! Just look at Minister Xuancheng’s frugal lifestyle – where else in the whole court could you find such an example…”

Madam Cui’s face bloomed with smiles as she sat on the mat, endlessly praising everyone, appearing far more excited and delighted than the bride’s family. Looking at her bright, festive attire and demeanor, Wei Shubin suddenly felt less hatred toward her.

This Madam Cui was not unattractive, around fifty years old, and had originally married into a powerful family, once being the wife of a high official. However, during the chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty, all the men in her husband’s family perished, and she had to return with her young children to seek refuge with her distant cousin Cui Mingan. This Cui Mingan was now a prominent figure in the Boling Cui clan, but with so many relatives seeking shelter, he could hardly care for them all properly. To provide for her children’s food and clothing, Madam Cui gradually began matchmaking for those seeking marriage alliances with the Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang families, becoming quite renowned among Chang’an’s wealthy households.

Though successful in matchmaking, she rarely attended the Six Rites ceremonies officially as a matchmaker. The reason was simple: she was a widow.

It was only because Minister Wei’s wife, Madam Pei, was well-educated and reasonable that she didn’t consider a widow inauspicious and strongly invited Madam Cui to participate in the Nazheng ceremony—well, actually, because the character “zheng” was taboo due to the master’s name, the household referred to today’s ritual as the “betrothal ceremony.” The meaning was the same – after this ceremony, Minister Wei’s eldest daughter would become a married woman, the first-rank lady of the Duke of Su, and even if her natal family committed treason, it wouldn’t affect her.

Conversely, if Wei Shubin herself committed treason, it wouldn’t implicate her parents and siblings – that would be General Cheng’s responsibility to bear.

Very good, very good indeed.

Wei Shubin slightly curled her lips upward, raising her head to let the maid insert a large phoenix hairpin in the front of her updo. Most of these dazzling gold ornaments with swaying pearls were betrothal gifts from the Cheng family. Though she couldn’t see how they looked on herself, she saw the Cheng family women and Madam Cui clapping and praising, taking turns to compliment her noble bearing and heavenly beauty. When asked, her mother and sister, though teary-eyed, also nodded frequently, acknowledging General Cheng’s sincerity in this marriage.

The Cheng family was indeed sincere, with carriage loads worth fifty thousand bolts of silk.

According to Madam Cui, General Cheng, himself truly cherished Wei Shubin personally, though they’d only met twice, he kept praising “how interesting the young lady is, ahem, how talented and beautiful.” Earlier when discussing the betrothal gifts, it was agreed to marry the Wei family’s second daughter for thirty thousand bolts of silk, but upon hearing the first daughter was willing to marry, the General was so delighted he generously offered fifty thousand bolts instead, not minding how Wei Shubin had recently tarnished her reputation…

Of the fifty thousand bolts, thirty thousand had been sent before the Nazheng ceremony, knowing the Wei family needed to send betrothal gifts to the Cui family for their eldest son’s new bride last month. That grand occasion was still the talk of Pingkang Ward’s neighbors:

Two envoys riding horses with blue silk reins led the magnificent procession bearing betrothal gifts from the Duke of Su’s mansion in Huaide Ward, heading east toward Minister Wei’s residence in Pingkang Ward. Musicians on horseback led the way, three beautiful maids guarded the ceremonial documents and carriages containing black and red silk bundles and jade tablets drawn by four horses, followed by porters carrying colorful silks, large bundles of brocade, piles of copper coins, livestock, grain and oil, game meat, snacks and fruits, dairy and salt, sauces and seasonings… Half the city gathered to watch the spectacle, and naturally, news that “Minister Wei’s eldest daughter is to marry General Cheng as his second wife” spread throughout the capital.

Wei Shubin wasn’t home to receive the gifts that day. Until today, she had been hiding in Zixu Temple, deluding herself that this marriage was just a nightmare. Perhaps when the sun rose tomorrow, she would wake up.

Previously at Xingsheng Temple, she had promised her mother she would marry into the Cheng family. Her mother had wanted to bring her home then, putting past events behind them. But she had insisted on returning to Chai Yaoluo’s side “At least let me say a proper farewell and thank you.” Thinking of all the trouble her daughter had caused the Chai family lately, Madam Pei couldn’t refuse and allowed her to return with Jingxuan and the others.

Then Wei Shubin cried herself dry in Chai Yaoluo’s arms.

After learning the situation, the Zixu Temple master only sighed deeply and said “How difficult for you,” and her tears poured out like floodgates opening… she couldn’t even remember when they finally stopped. It seemed they flowed until the seas dried and stones crumbled and heaven and earth withered.

She didn’t regret her decision. If this marriage could please both her father and General Cheng while giving her a chance to save Prince Yuan Xie of Wu, or at least do something for him, then it was worth it. However, this knowledge did nothing to lessen her tears of sorrow.

Chai Yaoluo was still trying her best to help, making up an excuse that Master Sun Simiao, the Medicine King currently at Da’an Palace, had greatly admired Wei Shubin’s compilation of medical prescriptions and wanted her to stay at Zixu Temple to complete the collection of prescriptions for women, children, and the elderly, to help treat the Emperor Emeritus’s illness. Who would dare refuse when it concerned the Emperor’s health?

She had somehow also arranged with either the Ministry of Rites or the Bureau of Astronomy and Calendars to calculate that all auspicious dates for the marriage between General Cheng, Duke of Su, and Minister Wei’s daughter fell after the fourth month. Although the Cheng family was anxious to have a mistress manage social affairs, and the General couldn’t help but fume and glare, the dates for the wedding ceremony and consummation were still pushed back considerably. “This is all I can do to help you,” the Daoist priestess said to Wei Shubin with a bitter smile.

Wei Shubin had reached fifteen years of age, and besides her birth parents, no one’s kindness to her was deeper than Chai Yaoluo’s. Yet she couldn’t utter a single word of thanks, clutching the priestess and choking back sobs for a long while before shamelessly making another request:

“I want to see Young Lord Fourteen one more time… before I marry, to see him once more, and I’ll be content for this lifetime…”