The distant sound of fireworks carried faintly through the air. Though the symbolic weight of the wedding night left both of them, ordinarily so unflappable, feeling somewhat out of sorts, Ning Yi’s feelings stemmed from his appreciation of the girl and the tangle of complicated emotions that came with it, rather than love or physical attraction. As for Xigua, in some sense she still held onto her self-awareness as a “lord,” and there was face to be maintained. And so, after a brief moment of silence, the two of them settled back into their usual poised, easy manner, each trying, in their own habitual way, to make the atmosphere feel natural.

At least for a while, the whole exchange did seem rather natural — though set against the backdrop of a wedding night, it also felt somewhat out of place.

Xigua was the first to speak. “They must have poured a lot of wine into Liheng, didn’t they?”

“Not too bad. Uncle Nan, Chen Fan, and Master Du all ran interference — I only had a few sips.”

“I had them prepare a hangover remedy for you, it’s right there on the table.”

Calling him “Liheng” by name, there was, faintly, a note of superiority in Xigua’s tone — much as there usually was whenever the two of them interacted; only at first it had felt natural, and later it had come to feel somewhat deliberate. Ever since she’d been swayed by Ning Yi into pushing for fairness and freedom-minded reforms within the Sabre Guard, that sense had mostly faded, though at this moment it seemed to resurface, slightly forced.

What was more, she usually either wore a veil or was discussing business with Ning Yi in a brisk, matter-of-fact manner. Now, dressed in her bridal gown, wearing the phoenix crown, carefully made up, her fine features made her seem smaller somehow, just a straightforward, spirited beauty. Considering the complicated feelings she must be dealing with, caught in a situation like this, Ning Yi couldn’t help feeling like he was somehow bullying her no matter how he carried himself outwardly, and so he took it upon himself to smooth over the atmosphere.

“You’ve been sitting here a while since you came in, haven’t you?”

“Mm, sitting the whole time… but it’s fine, it’s not that different from meditating.”

“About that hangover remedy…” Ning Yi picked up the bowl on the table and took a small sip, setting it aside, then gestured toward the other items on the table. “So… these…”

“Ah…”

Xigua blinked, caught off guard. Ning Yi was of course pointing to the various things already prepared on the table — dumplings, the cup for exchanging wine, jujubes, longan, peanuts, and the like. These were all customary steps before the wedding night, but since theirs was, by their own account, a sham marriage, Xigua hadn’t quite known whether to ask if they were even meant to go through with any of it. Even a moment ago, gesturing toward the bowl of hangover remedy, her expression had already turned somewhat complicated; now that Ning Yi had brought it up outright, she didn’t quite know what to say. “What…”

“Might as well just play house, I suppose…”

Knowing Xigua’s temperament, there was certainly no one eavesdropping outside on her wedding day, so Ning Yi wasn’t worried about being overheard. Having said as much, before he could say more, the girl had already nodded and walked over, adopting an air of not minding either way.

“Oh, all right… what do you mean, ‘play house’?”

“It’s a game children play — a bunch of boys and girls, pretending to be married and so on.”

“Getting married and all that, we call it that too… though I never played it. There weren’t many kids around who dared play that with me back then — they’d get laughed at, and whoever dared play with me, I probably would’ve cut them down… heh… what should we eat first…”

“Whatever’s handy… peanuts?”

Each of them ate a peanut.

“There’s plenty more on the bed too, walnuts, jujubes and so on — we’ll need to dig those out in a bit…”

“Mm, they say you’re not supposed to shake them out.”

When it came to the dumplings, they each bit off half of one, and Xigua handled it with equanimity, remarking simply, “It’s raw,” then, without looking at Ning Yi, chewed a few times and swallowed anyway. Clearly she’d known all along it would be raw, and that this was the customary auspicious remark to make.

Being able to suppress her own embarrassment to this degree, and even actively soothing his emotions, the man’s side of things, throughout much of their exchange — watching the girl’s composed, faintly flushed profile, Ning Yi found himself rather touched. When it came time to drink the cup-exchanging wine, she said, “How was your sister-in-law when you came over just now?”

“Nothing much — I’ll be apologizing on bended knee when I get back, what else can I do.”

“I suppose I’ve dragged you into this. Though I’m not going to worry about that part.”

By then their wrists were already linked together; Xigua raised her cup, said this with a clean, easy laugh, then tipped her head back and drained the wine along with Ning Yi in one motion, her pale neck like that of a beautiful swan.

There was, in truth, still plenty to do to pass the time. Once the eating and drinking was done, they washed up, then lay across the bed digging out the walnuts and jujubes hidden in the bedding. As the two of them worked slowly through it, Xigua said, “Liheng, haven’t you already been married once before? How is it you don’t even know the order of things?”

“Doing it once doesn’t make you an expert.” He found a walnut, cracked it open, and ate it. “Besides, last time I got married I was hit on the head with a brick and lost my memory afterward.”

“There’s really such a thing?”

Xigua stared at him, wide-eyed with curiosity.

“Back in Jiangning, I originally married in as a matrilocal husband. My wife at the time…” The red candle flickered faintly; the two of them sat on opposite sides of the large bed, and having paused their search through the bedding, he fell into recounting the past. “This and that happened… and then I lost my memory, and became the person I am now.”

“You lost your memory — you really don’t remember anything at all?”

“Mm. It’s like I suddenly just became who I am now.”

“So in that case, things weren’t so good between you and your sister-in-law from the start.”

“We’re all reasonable people — mutual respect, I suppose. Though she did run off on our own wedding day. We only really got to know each other properly after that…”

“So how did the two of you eventually…”

“It’s a long story…”

With nothing better to do, they talked their way from Jiangning onward, on and on — the business with the imperial merchants, then how Su Tan’er had once burned down a building — picking out the more selective bits as they went. As they finished clearing the walnuts and other things off the bedding, the two of them settled down to sit in the room; Ning Yi paced back and forth now and then, while Xigua sometimes perched on the edge of the bed, sometimes leaned over the round table, quite curious about all these stories. The peanuts, jujubes, and longan on the table were steadily eaten away, and the wine, drunk cup by desultory cup, was finished as well. Xigua occasionally shared stories of her own.

“Let me tell you, my father, back in the day, was really something…”

“Don’t think just because you’re the Bloody-Handed Butcher you’re all that — if my father were still around…”

“My father was killed by the authorities — they used wheel tactics against him… if it weren’t for that ambush…”

“Sometimes I really do miss my mother… though I can hardly picture her face anymore…”

Time passed by, minute by minute, in this atmosphere. Both of them were still perfectly clear-headed, but it was, after all, getting late. If they’d truly wanted to rack their brains for things to talk about, the conversation could have gone on until dawn, but at last, after a brief lull, Xigua smiled. “All right, it’s late, let’s sleep.”

“Why don’t you take the bed…”

“It’s fine, I’ll sleep on the inside — we’re both people of the martial world, needs must in a pinch.” Xigua had already adjusted to Ning Yi’s way of doing things; she tilted her head, laughing, and made a rather charming show of clasping her hands together in salute. She seemed at ease enough with it, shrugging off the great red outer robe first, then slipping off her embroidered shoes and climbing into bed.

Perhaps because of the cold, or perhaps because she had anticipated this moment, beneath her wedding robes the girl wore another layer — a pale moon-white gown embroidered faintly with lotus blossoms, the kind that wouldn’t be improper to wear even in front of someone reasonably close to her. By the time Ning Yi had climbed into bed as well, she lay naturally on her side, the blanket pulled up to her shoulders, hands folded together in front of her, gazing up at the top of the bed canopy, lost in thought.

“Do you think we can actually win this fight?”

“Who knows…”

“If we win, the things we want to do will be so much easier from here…”

“Winning won’t come easy either, I’m afraid.”

“After all, this is a wedding — don’t you have anything nice to say, Ning Liheng?”

“We’ll definitely make it!”

“Heh…”

They kept up their desultory conversation a while longer, and before long, Ning Yi blew out the candle. Lying side by side on the bed, the girl seemed to grow a little more restrained, an oddly strange night, Ning Yi thought to himself. Still, for a woman of this era to be able to stay this naturally at ease was truly remarkable, and Ning Yi couldn’t help but admire her for it — the girl sleeping beside him now, her easy manner didn’t come across as careless in the slightest, only, given the circumstances, particularly endearing. Before long, listening to Liu Xigua’s steady, gentle breathing, Ning Yi too drifted off to sleep with that same warm feeling in his heart.

It happened roughly an hour later.

Ning Yi woke from a hazy sleep, vaguely sensing something amiss beside him — it was only a subconscious feeling, so he simply asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

Everything seemed almost like an illusion. He raised himself up slightly and glanced over; in the darkness, the girl was still sleeping in her natural position, hands folded in front of her, breathing steady and even. Seeing this, Ning Yi lay back down and drifted off again.

Some time later — how long, he couldn’t say — Ning Yi woke once more, and this time he heard, from beside him, a somewhat labored breathing. He looked over; the girl was still in the same position, but her breathing had grown ragged, several times faster than before, her hands still folded in front of her, though her head was now moving painfully from side to side. Ning Yi frowned. “What’s wrong with you? Qianqian?”

“It’s nothing.” As Ning Yi reached a hand toward her, the girl’s eyes opened slightly, and she pushed his hand away, then turned over, wrapping herself in the blanket, facing the wall. “Just a bad dream. Go to sleep.”

Half-convinced, Ning Yi lay back down again. In the darkness, faint sounds drifted in from outside, but his mind wasn’t focused enough right then to pick them apart. Only after a while did he finally push himself upright again and reach a hand toward the girl. This time, with her back turned to him under the blanket, the moment his hand came near, it was suddenly seized in mid-air by one of hers — clearly an unconscious, reflexive grab. Once his hand was caught, Ning Yi realized there was hardly any strength in her grip at all, and touching more carefully, he found her hand was ice-cold and damp with moisture. Just as he was puzzling over this, the hand suddenly turned burning hot instead.

Ning Yi set his palm down, resting it on her forehead — soaked entirely in sweat, her whole body trembling faintly. This time he was truly alarmed; he got up, lit the lamp, and by then Liu Xigua had already sat up in bed. Not just her head and hands, but her entire body seemed to be sweating now, faint wisps of what looked like mist rising off her, her face somewhat pale, her lips — perhaps bitten by herself for some time — pale streaked with red, her eyes shot through with blood. The girl’s gaze, humiliated and complicated all at once, glanced at him briefly before she settled into a cross-legged sitting position, apparently beginning to circulate her internal energy.

“What exactly is wrong?” Ning Yi had no idea what was happening; he came to the bedside. Xigua kept her head lowered, then opened her eyes slightly. “It’s nothing.” She flipped her palm and pressed downward. A moment later, she coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the blanket. A term flashed through Ning Yi’s mind; he reached out halfway, then stopped himself. “Deviant cultivation? Your inner energy’s gone astray?”

What she practiced was, in fact, a superior form of internal martial arts — remarkable, in truth, in that with long-term cultivation, one could learn to control the circulation of one’s own blood and vital energy at will. To go astray usually meant either a serious injury or a disturbance of the mind and spirit throwing the flow of energy off course — a serious condition indeed, though Ning Yi couldn’t imagine what could possibly have caused her to fall into this state. He was about to turn and go find help when his hand was caught again. “I’m fine… don’t go, no need to call anyone…”

She was clearly forcing herself to endure it. Ning Yi thought for a moment, then said, “I understand — I won’t cause a stir, I’ll just get Uncle Nan, Sister Qian’er, and Old Physician Liu…” Though he still didn’t understand the cause, within the Sabre Guard, Liu Tiannan had some of the best internal energy among them, and Ji Qian’er, being a woman, could help with the massage techniques used to guide blood flow back into balance; the old physician would naturally need to be called as well. Having said all this, though there was still something the girl seemed to want to say and yet held back, in the end she let Ning Yi go.

The moment he stepped outside, Ning Yi sensed something was off. In the distance, a droning hum carried through the night sky, sounding like the noise of an army assaulting the city walls. He found Liu Tiannan, who, assuming Ning Yi had simply been startled awake by the commotion of the assault, spoke first. “Nothing to worry about — Tong Guan’s launching a night attack, probably saw the celebrations going on inside and figured he’d take advantage. But this is just for show — as long as we don’t let our guard down, he won’t actually commit real forces tonight, he just wants to keep us from getting any sleep. Why’d you even come out here?”

Ning Yi leaned in and said a few words in his ear; both Liu Tiannan and Ji Qian’er, who had just arrived, looked startled. “Deviant cultivation — how could that…” Both of them eyed Ning Yi with strange looks — after all, who had ever heard of a martial master having such a thing happen from getting too excited in bed?

But this was hardly the time to dwell on it. Before long, several people capable of helping made their way into the bridal chamber. Ning Yi, having no useful skills to contribute there, climbed up onto the roof of the courtyard instead, letting the night wind blow over him as he watched the distant activity along the city walls, wondering all the while why the girl might have gone astray like this. Before long, a figure climbed up beside him — Lu Hongti. Ning Yi knew her mastery of internal energy was the deepest among them, and when he asked her about it, she frowned as well. “How is that even possible — what exactly did the two of you do in there?”

“Nothing happened at all…” Ning Yi gave her a rough account of what had passed between him and Xigua — how she’d taken the inner side of the bed and he the outer, how he’d never touched her, entirely proper the whole way through. As he spoke, something occurred to him, and he trailed off. Lu Hongti seemed to arrive at the same realization; her expression shifted through a complicated range of emotions before she finally glanced at him and burst out laughing, walking off. “Even something like this can happen… you two really are something else…”

Ning Yi found himself both amused and exasperated. By this point, he could more or less piece together what must have been going through the mind of that seemingly carefree girl. Though she had kept up a natural front from the very start, Xigua was, at heart, a girl prone to overthinking things — and this was, after all, her wedding night. Once in bed, she’d probably spent the whole night second-guessing herself: what if he comes over and tries something, what do I do; what if he’s not asleep; what if he finds out I’m not asleep either; is this real or is it fake; how should I act; should I refuse him or just go along with it halfway — however excessive some of these thoughts might seem, she’d probably run through every one of them.

And to hide all this tangled thinking, she’d forced herself into an ever more perfectly natural sleeping posture, not daring to move a muscle all night, her internal energy circulating in a hazy, half-conscious loop the whole time, until finally she’d driven herself straight into a state of deviant cultivation…

This was something Ning Yi had truly never encountered before, never even heard of.

It was… simply too endearing.

Thinking it over, Ning Yi couldn’t help but sit there on the roof, laughing softly to himself.

Meeting a girl like this — even for him, it really was a remarkable thing.

In the distance, the forces within the city had already been mobilized; fire blazed continuously along the walls, and outside them, countless troops were pressing forward in what might well be a feint attack — though the spectacle of it was still striking all the same. Tong Guan, quite the character, seeing the commotion inside the city, had decided to launch this very attack in the early hours right after the festivities, making sure no one inside would get any sleep tonight. Of course, as long as no one let their guard down, in this weather Tong Guan wasn’t likely to actually commit serious forces — tonight, at least, ought to pass without real trouble.

Down in the courtyard, lanterns flickered; a few people who’d noticed the commotion had been stopped outside the gate. Liu Tiannan came out of the bridal chamber for a moment and made a gesture toward Ning Yi indicating that all was well, but Ning Yi understood that if he went in now, it would only leave the girl more embarrassed still. And so he stayed there on the roof.

Thinking over this war, this wedding, and the things he and Xigua had talked about in the bridal chamber, and all the strange things that had happened one after another since he’d first arrived in this era — Qin Siyuan was surely still striving away in Bianliang; the north was at war; countless people, countless souls clashing against one another; Jin, Liao, and the Wu Dynasty, victories and defeats; this city too was under siege now, thousands upon thousands of soldiers pressing toward these square walls, and the defenders within pressing back out to meet them, locked in combat — and he too had lived through so many strange and wondrous things of his own, good people and bad, faith and conviction, having killed Gu Yanzhen, killed Gou Zheng, killed that soldier on the road of retreat, killed Lou Jinlin, killed Lou Shuwang. He closed his eyes and drew a breath, and sometimes he truly felt that these countless events, these countless lives, might really amount to nothing more than the beginning, or perhaps just a fragment, of some chapter of history.

Softly, under his breath, he began to hum a tune — an old song about mountains serving as the rail of a ship setting sail across a thousand years, kindling the hearths of ages long past in the time it takes a single flower to bloom.

Opening his eyes, Ning Yi looked up at the stars overhead and hummed on, quietly, there on the rooftop. Chen Fan climbed up from below. “What’s going on? Not coming down?”

“It’s nothing, just sitting a while.” Ning Yi tilted his head toward the distant wall.

Chen Fan thought nothing of it and sat down beside him. “What were you just singing?”

“A song.”

“Oh? What song, did you write it?”

Ning Yi only smiled. Before long, Chen Fan could hear him humming softly again, and even those below caught faint traces of that strange melody — including Liu Tiannan and Liu Xigua, still in the bridal chamber, whose deep internal cultivation let them make out the sound drifting in from outside, right past the window of the bridal chamber, carried down from the silhouettes of the two men on the roof above.

The melody went on — something of the sea serving as a wellspring, of heaven and earth as a courtyard, of gazing upon verses filling every wall, measured out in the light of a thousand rivers’ moons.

Liu Xigua opened her eyes, her gaze calm and quiet, then closed them again. Outside the city, soldiers surged forward like a tide with their war cries; along the walls, bows and catapults stood primed and ready; countless lives, countless souls converged upon this stretch of earth, starlight spreading across the great river of heaven above…

The strange melody, sung on the rooftop through the night — looking back on it years later, it would seem almost like the setting-out of an entire era.