In the blink of an eye, the fourth day of the fourth month had arrived.

With the help of several women, Shen Zhuxi found herself in a daze, dressed in the brilliant red wedding gown borrowed from the Jinyin Pavilion, sitting on the new bed spread with its red satin coverlet, as they draped the bridal veil over her head.

The moment the wedding gown settled onto her body, so did the fear.

Though she told herself again and again that this was merely a temporary measure and not a true marriage, her heart grew more disordered and unsettled with every passing moment.

The solitude amplified her terror. The cheerful voices and laughter beyond the bedroom door seemed impossibly distant, and even Li Wu’s familiar booming voice had become something strange and foreign.

What if Li Wu had deceived her? Just as her father the emperor had deceived her mother, the Imperial Consort.

What if Li Wu had only showered her with sweet words and endless compliance in order to trick her into marrying him — and once the banquet was over, he would reveal his true face?

If he were to force himself upon her, what means would she have to resist?

The tragedy of her mother never left her thoughts. Her mother’s fate had shown her just how terrifying marriage could be for a woman. If she had the choice, Shen Zhuxi would rather shave her head and become a nun than be anyone’s wife.

The more she thought, the more frightened she became. Unable to stop herself, she reached under the pillow and found a rusty pair of scissors, which she tucked into her wide sleeve — and only then did she feel a little better.

Shen Zhuxi glanced out through the bamboo curtain. Figures moved about outside, laughter and voices flowing without pause. She both wanted this silent torment to end quickly, and wanted the banquet to go on forever.

The small courtyard was filled with tables and seats; even the open ground beyond the bamboo fence had been put to use. Li Kun was already fast asleep, hugging the osmanthus tree. Li Que’s face was flushed a deep red, as though he had been sitting next to a roaring fire.

Li Wu moved among the tables of guests. How much wine he had drunk by now was impossible to say. A flush of crimson coloured his cheekbones, and his collar was slightly open to let out the heat — even the green swimming phoenix seemed to have grown drunk. Yet his eyes were brighter and more vivid than usual.

Urged on by the cheers and jeering of the guests, Li Wu made his way toward the bridal chamber.

His bride sat quietly on the new bed, waiting for him.

The colour of Li Wu’s face was redder than the time, in his reckless youth, when he had drunk six entire jars of potent liquor in one go.

“May big brother and sister-in-law share a hundred years of joy and be blessed with children soon!” Li Que snatched a bowl of longans from the ceremonial matron’s hands and flung them into the air with abandon.

Round longans and flat dried lily flowers rained down in a cascade. Li Wu reached up and held his hand over Shen Zhuxi’s head, letting the longans pelt down on him one after another while he grinned from ear to ear.

“Hurry up and lift the bride’s veil!” someone called out teasingly.

Li Wu took a jade ruyi scepter that someone passed to him, hooked it carefully on the edge of the bridal veil, paused for a moment, then slowly lifted it.

Beneath the brilliantly coloured veil was a face streaked with tears.

The bedroom went suddenly still. The laughter and chatter behind Li Wu fell silent in unison, and the air seemed to thicken and congeal.

The silence stretched on — or perhaps it lasted only a fleeting instant.

The smile disappeared from Li Wu’s face.

“The veil has already been lifted. What are you all still gawking at? Waiting to watch me enter the bridal chamber?”

The moment Li Wu spoke, the stunned crowd seemed to wake from a dream. They made their excuses one after another:

“Right, right — the rest of the night belongs to the couple. We’ll head outside and keep drinking!”

“Old Zhu, don’t you sneak off! I’m not letting you go until you’re flat on the ground tonight!”

The guests scattered in a flurry, with unspoken mutual understanding, retreating to the tables outside the bamboo fence to continue their drinking.

Li Que, who was never short of words, was silent this time. He quietly pulled the main hall door shut behind him. Inside the room, only Shen Zhuxi and Li Wu remained.

Shen Zhuxi knew that her behaviour had brought great embarrassment upon Li Wu. She was furious with herself for crying at the most critical moment, and frightened that Li Wu, with the wine going to his head, might lash out and strike her.

But Li Wu only turned and walked out of the bedroom, and then out of the main hall.

Shen Zhuxi didn’t know whether what she felt was relief or disappointment.

She was so afraid of this marriage — the mere thought of it made her limbs go rigid and her breathing difficult. She had not been able to hold back her tears or steady her legs in the moment the veil was lifted. Not fleeing through the door had already been her greatest effort.

But apart from herself, who could understand the anguish inside her?

Li Wu must certainly be done with her now. It was her fault — she had made him lose face in front of everyone. Others who had seen it would no doubt think all manner of things, perhaps even that he had taken her by force. Yet Li Wu had never coerced her into anything.

That was true. Li Wu had never compelled her to do anything against her will.

But she had been so frightened. She truly had been so frightened. The moment she thought of what had befallen her father the emperor and her mother the consort, the terror of marriage and of men seized her. Why on earth had she agreed to marry Li Wu in the first place?

She would rather cut off her hair and become a nun! Was it still too late?

Shen Zhuxi felt she had ruined everything. Unable to help herself, she buried her face in her hands and wept.

The sound of the main hall door opening and closing came again. A familiar set of footsteps walked back in. Shen Zhuxi did not raise her head. She heard the steps stop in front of her. She wanted to say something in apology, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was sobbing.

Li Wu’s sigh sounded from above her head.

Then a large, warm hand drew her face away from her tear-soaked palms.

Li Wu crouched before the bed, looking at her with exasperated helplessness. In his hand was a wet cloth, clean and damp. With clumsy yet gentle strokes, he began wiping the tears and smeared makeup from her face.

“It’s a day of great joy. What are you crying for?” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi couldn’t answer his question. She simply cried, and while she cried, she kept trying to dodge his wiping.

She felt guilty — she couldn’t bring herself to accept his kindness.

Li Wu pressed one hand firmly against the back of her head so she had nowhere to retreat, and could only sit passively while the cloth was rubbed back and forth across her face.

“…Aren’t you angry with me?” Shen Zhuxi managed to squeeze the question out through her hiccupping sobs.

Li Wu wiped at her dishevelled face, and in the middle of it all spared a sideways glance at her.

“I’m furious.”

“Then why aren’t you shouting at me?” Shen Zhuxi sobbed. “Aren’t you going to hit me?”

“I don’t hit women — except in bed,” Li Wu said.

“…But this is exactly a bed right now.”

“You really are a little fool.” Li Wu suddenly reached out and flicked her on the forehead with a quick snap of his finger and thumb. “There — I hit you. Are you satisfied now?”

Shen Zhuxi sat on the bed in a daze, sniffling.

Was that really hitting? His thumb and forefinger had only lightly flicked her on the forehead. It hadn’t even been as hard as the times her mother the consort had struck her.

“Are you truly not angry?” Shen Zhuxi asked again.

“And if I am angry? How are you going to compensate me?” Li Wu cast her a sidelong look.

Shen Zhuxi was quiet for a moment, then said in a muffled voice, “Once I find my elder brother, I’ll have him give you a great deal of money.”

“I’m not short of money.”

“Then what are you short of?”

“Used to be short of a woman,” Li Wu said. “Not anymore.”

“But I ruined everything…” The tears rose to Shen Zhuxi’s eyes again. “I made you lose face.”

Li Wu’s brow creased. “Don’t flatter yourself. You shed a few tears — did you really think that’s enough to make me lose face?”

“Are you truly not angry?” Shen Zhuxi asked through her sobs.

“Why do you keep repeating the same line over and over?” Li Wu said. “Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

Shen Zhuxi shook her head. After crying so hard, she had no appetite at all.

“Are you drunk from the wine fumes? Do you want some sobering broth?” Shen Zhuxi asked.

“Can you make it?”

“…No.”

“Then what are you asking for?”

Shen Zhuxi pressed her lips together, and her eyes welled up again. Li Wu put on an expression of utter exasperation and pressed the damp cloth to her eyes. “My heavens, you’re the bane of my existence — please stop crying——”

The cloth was pressed haphazardly across her face, blocking her nose and mouth several times. Through the muffled fabric, Shen Zhuxi managed to say, “…It’s your own fault for saying rude things.”

“I’ll take you somewhere. Do you want to go?”

“Where?”

……

Shen Zhuxi had never imagined she would have a second chance to wear a wedding gown in this lifetime.

Nor had she imagined that on her wedding night, she would be wearing that very gown, fleeing into the dark with her husband.

Li Wu steadied her by the arm and helped her over the bamboo fence at the back of the yard. The two figures grew smaller and smaller in the night, slipping away unnoticed while the guests at the front of the courtyard remained entirely oblivious.

Li Wu took her to a crumbling old building that had fallen into disrepair over many long years.

It was no bigger than the bedroom where Shen Zhuxi now lived. More than half the mud walls had already collapsed. The floor was scattered with broken tiles and dried, rotting reed grass. Cold wind poured in freely through the wide-open gaps in the roof — this was a ruin so wretched that even beggars would have turned their noses up at it.

Li Wu led her onward past the broken house, and about half a li further ahead, a row of wooden fencing posts leaning in every direction came into view. Most of them had rotted through — some snapped in half, others half-buried under thick layers of dust and earth. A great tree, leafy and full of life, stood beside the fencing, its branches shielding this forsaken place from wind and rain.

The desolate sight filled Shen Zhuxi with a sudden, wordless melancholy at how ruthlessly the years pass. Before she could give voice to it, Li Wu had already hauled himself up into the large tree beside the fence. He planted his feet on the rough, broad trunk and in two easy moves had reached the place where the main trunk divided into branches.

He shifted to one side, then looked down and stretched out a hand toward Shen Zhuxi.

“Come up.”

“How am I supposed to come up?”

Shen Zhuxi stared at him, dumbfounded.

“The same way I did. Climb,” Li Wu said. “I’ll catch you.”

“I can’t!” Shen Zhuxi shook her head frantically.

Li Wu’s outstretched hand stayed where it was, not pulling back.

“If you don’t try, how will you know whether you can or not?” he said.

She knew perfectly well she couldn’t, without even trying!

What well-bred young lady could climb a tree wearing an elaborate wedding gown?

But Li Wu kept looking at her. His gaze was calm and patient, and the hand he held out above her showed no sign of retreating.

He waited for her, patiently.

Shen Zhuxi had long since forgotten the feeling of being waited upon with expectation. She never thought that in all her life, she would be waited upon by a man of rough origins like this.

And yet — she found that she wanted to live up to his expectation.

The hands hidden within Shen Zhuxi’s wide red sleeves stirred. She looked at that large hand suspended in the air above her, and no matter how long she looked, it showed no intention of withdrawing.

The hesitation inside her gradually faded, following the direction of that outstretched hand.

She reached up.

Li Wu’s lips curved into a slight smile. The hand that had been hovering steadily in mid-air suddenly moved.

He gripped Shen Zhuxi’s hand, and with his other hand taking hold of her arm, he pulled her whole body upward in one motion. Shen Zhuxi let out a startled cry as her feet instinctively pressed against the trunk.

Her feet found the bark. Then, with Li Wu’s help, she scrambled up in a flurry and managed to stand on the fork where the trunk divided.

Li Wu had her hold steady against the trunk. Every time he climbed another step higher, he turned back and helped her up another step as well.

Li Wu’s wedding garment flashed back and forth in front of her eyes. He never let her fall too far behind — just as whenever they walked side by side, she could always keep pace with him.

At last, they both reached the top of the tree.

Shen Zhuxi sat at the base of a thick branch, her back already damp with fine perspiration. A cool night breeze swept over her, and a few strands of hair that had come loose during the climb drifted across her face. She looked out at a sky and a world transformed, and the emotion surging through her chest was so overwhelming that she could not find a single word.

Li Wu said nothing either. The two sat in silence, gazing out at the vast expanse of night.

“This is the place where I grew up,” he said, after a long while.

“In that house?” Shen Zhuxi turned to look at the person beside her.

“Under this tree,” Li Wu said. “In this duck pen.”