Zhao Guanren[1] said that atmosphere played an essential role in creating a romantic relationship between men and women. Since ancient times, it had been told that being among the flowers under the moonlight[2] would create a sweet atmosphere for a man to pledge undying love to a woman.
Xin Mei went back to the Xinxie Manor to collect two baskets of flowers, changed into her most beautiful clothes, and the next day, she excitedly rode on Qiu Yue to the Imperial Mausoleum. However, Lu Qianqiao was not in his room, and Silan ignored her straight-faced. Thus, she had to wander around the Imperial Mausoleum, looking for Lu Qianqao with two baskets of flowers in her hands.
The scene looks like this. This is an apricot blossom forest in Yili, China. Don't confuse them with Japanese Cherry Blossoms. They are totally different. Apricot blossom is considered under plum blossom, but it blooms nearly at the same time as a cherry blossom.
Source | Easy Voyage
Source | Easy Voyage
In the southeast corner of the Imperial Mausoleum was a broken sacrificial platform. It was said that there was a huge sacrificial pit nearby where more than 4,000 people had been buried alive. Because of this, there had always been a lingering resentment in that area. So the monsters of the Imperial Mausoleum planted apricot blossom trees in the pits. Those apricot trees blossomed much better than in other places and never wilted. Although the area was a bit spooky, now that it was the beginning of dusk, when the setting sun gave the appearance of melting gold, the colour of the apricot blossom forest spread like a snow-covered sea, and it looked beautiful.
Lu Qianqiao stood on the high platform and brandished a whip. His movements were still not smooth as he was still in the early stages of healing from his serious injury. His whip struck the blue bricks occasionally, making a sharp cracking sound.
Are you exercising your muscles?
Xin Mei looked up at him from the audience. She thought he looked pretty touching as he swung the whip in the sunset for some reason. The wind blew under his arms, ruffling the black shirt draped over his shoulder as his glossy black hair swayed back and forth. He was more dazzling than the endless sea of apricot blossoms.
For the first time, she felt that watching silently and not speaking was more enjoyable than doing anything.
As Lu Qianqiao stretched his bones and muscles, he sensed someone's gaze on him. Turning around, he spotted Xin Mei at the platform's base, carrying two baskets of wilted flowers. She smiled broadly as if... she had discovered a delicious treat. Surprised, he lost control of his hand and accidentally threw the whip far away.
Xin Mei walked up to the high platform and approached him with a cheerful smile, "Liu Qianqiao, your whip dance is excellent."
He looked at the two baskets of flowers in her hand and hesitated. "What are those?"
"Oh," she pushed the two baskets of fresh flowers towards him. "These are for you, newly bloomed flowers from my home."
......what exactly did she mean by sending him two baskets of wilting flowers? However, it seemed that not accepting them would not be very good for him, so he slowly took them. Suddenly she asked, "Do you like them?"
He felt he couldn't really go against his conscience and say he liked these two baskets of listless flowers, so he secretly coughed to change the subject: "Have you eaten?"
"No. I'll eat in town." Xin Mei smiled and turned to leave. "I'll see you when the moon rises tonight! Lu Qianqiao, don't throw the flowers away."
He suddenly grabbed her sleeve, then lifted his hand to her hair and brushed it lightly. It was damp from the humidity of the cool and overcast mountain forests.
"Don't run around like that next time." Without waiting for her to explain, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down from the high platform. "Stay for dinner. Don't rush back tonight."
Xin Mei's eyes lit up. "Okay. Lu Qianqiao, would you like some wine?"
If there were flowers, wine and the moon, it would be an ideal atmosphere.
He remembered the last time the Bear Demon had been beaten until his mouth foamed and shook his head resolutely. "I'm not drinking."
"Not even a little drop?" She frowned, disappointed.
He hesitated momentarily and finally nodded. "Let's not drink too much."
She smiled as happiness spread across her face and hugged his arm, "Liu Qianqiao, you really are a good man.
A good man... Lu Qianqiao looked wistfully at the newly rising moon in the sky. What could he say at this time?
When Xin Mei returned to Lu Qianqao's house, the little moon was getting brighter. The two baskets of flowers she had brought were placed under the windowsill, reflecting the silvery moonlight. From the drooping, lifeless petals, she could sense the atmosphere of the flowers under the moonlight.
Xin Mei poured herself a glass of wine and anxiously thought about creating the so-called romantic atmosphere. Zhao Guanren[1] hadn't taught her this, so she had to scratch her head and think, but she still couldn't come up with an idea.
Lu Qianqiao put a sweet and sour pork rib in her bowl. "Eat some meat."
Xin Mei suddenly felt very hungry. For the past two days, she had been so busy thinking about how to catch him that she hadn't even felt like eating. She immediately put down her glass of wine and handed him a chopstick full of eggplants. "Eat some vegetables."
At first glance, Lu Qianqao knew that she was born rich and never suffered. There were four dishes on the small table. She picked up only the spareribs and bamboo shoots, not even touching the eggplants and radishes.
Silently, he put two dishes she didn't like into his bowl. Suddenly he heard her ask, "Lu Qianqiao, what do you like best?"
He shot back indifferently, "Why do you ask that?"
"Just tell me."
He didn't answer. Xin Mei took out a stack of papers from inside her chest collar. It was full of questions, ranging from what colour he liked best to what he loved to eat.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he muttered, "Childish."
Xin Mei pouted. "I want to understand you!"
As he lowered his head to drink the soup, a faint smile appeared as he softly asked, "What nonsense did Zhao Guanren[1] tell you this time?"
"Eh? How did you know he was the one who told me?"
"Only he can think of such boring things."
Xin Mei was immersed in her drink when he unexpectedly took the pile of papers and looked through them one by one, smiling patiently. After he came across the last question, he put them aside and asked her, "What will you do once you understand me?"
"Know the enemy, know yourself, and in every battle you will be victorious[3]." She answered smoothly.
"Do you want to fight with me?"
"After understanding you…" She paused and had another drink. "We'll talk about that later. Let's take one step at a time."
Seeing that her face was already red and the smell of wine overflowed every time she spoke, Lu Qianqao calmly picked up the wine pot and shook it gently. It was already empty. He was secretly worried about her, but Xin Mei grabbed his sleeve and leaned in closer as she pointed to the thin little moon covered by dark clouds outside and said, "That's... right, Lu Qianqao. The moon represents my heart."
His voice was calm as he pressed a hand to her burning forehead, "You're drunk."
She tried her best to get rid of his obstructive hand but couldn't, so she continued pointing at the moon, "Look, my heart is hanging in the sky."
He remained calm. "It's too small for me to see."
Xin Mei was anxious as she struggled to get on her feet and walked to the window to point clearly. Fearing that she might lose her footing and fall while she was in her drunken stupor, he wrapped his arms around her waist and sat her down beside him. Her arms were like soft tendrils around his neck as she stared at him solemnly without moving.
"Lu Qianqao, what kind of woman do you want to marry?" she asked earnestly.
Lu Qianqiao held her with one hand so she wouldn't slide down. Hearing this question, he smiled. "Do you think I'll tell you?"
"Don't be so stingy. If the worst comes to the worst, we can swap. Let me tell you first, I like someone good-looking and handy."
This…he could understand the good-looking part. Handy…handy about what? In what way was this person supposed to be handy? He was a little confused, and his ears were slightly red.
"I feel that you are impressively good-looking and very handy."
Another thunderbolt of a sentence that almost made him throw her out. Okay, this 'handy' couldn't mean what he thought it meant, right? Right?
"I'm not joking this time——well, how about being my husband? Just name your price, and don't ever be polite."
He said nothing, just touched her forehead and said, "You're drunk. I'll send you to the guest room to sleep."
Actually, she wasn't that drunk compared to the last time she'd been with the Bear Demon. It was just that he didn't know how to answer her question, so he avoided it.
"If you don't answer, I'll assume you tacitly agree."
Xin Mae hugged him tightly. This was her precious husband she had worked so hard to find. She couldn't let him run away. The face before her was genuinely loveable, no matter how often she looked at it. Although there was still a trace of facial paralysis on his face that he showed occasionally, he was still the best husband to her, and she didn't mind it much.
"Come here." She curled her finger at him.
Ignoring her, with one hand still on her forehead and the other wrapped around her waist, he tried to pull her up and throw her into the guest room.
Xin Mei struggled to free herself from the hand covering her eyes as she aimed at his straight nose and began to nibble at it.
…………
That night she had so many strange dreams that she found it hard to breathe because someone embraced her so tightly. Her lips felt so hot and sore that the skin threatened to crack. When she got up the following day, she saw that her lips were swollen red and some red spots on her neck.
She looked for Lu Qianqiao with a bitter face and complained, "There are insects in the guest room! Look at my mouth and neck!"
Lu Qianqiao's expression was so calm at that moment that it seemed completely unreal. He silently cut a piece of salve and threw it to her, then silently watched as she rode on Qiu Yue's back, avoiding her eyes from start to finish.
"Lu Qianqiao, I'm leaving." She turned and waved at him. "I'll be back tomorrow night when the moon is at its zenith."
She was extremely busy.
He knew what she wanted. What her bright and flashing eyes were looking at, and what was contained in the soft way she said 'Lu Qianqiao'.
He already knew.
But he only pretended not to know.
Liu Qianqiao did not look at or answer her and even threatened to close the window.
Suddenly, she leaned forward and glared at him, "Why aren't you talking to me?"
What a pampered and completely unreasonable girl.
His eyes involuntarily moved down and fell on her slightly swollen red lips, and his eyes suddenly became hot.
He seemed to be in a daze. Xin Mae's not-so-reliable heart began to flutter. She looked around. Very good, no one else is here. She raised her hands to hold his head. While he was still dazed, she planted a kiss on his very handsome face. Since she did it in broad daylight, he could not change his mind later.
She jumped away with a smile and hopped onto Qiu Yue's back like a rabbit.
"I'm leaving, don't forget to think of me!"
*
Xin Mei walked unusually fast and cheerfully all the way home, feeling that she could almost bring back this husband of hers just by stretching out her hand[4].
But she didn't expect him to be caught in her net soon...... uh, just a little too soon.
On the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month, Emperor Rongzheng of the Qiong Country sent an imperial edict to Xinxie Manor ordering a marriage between Xin Mei and General of the Flying Cavalry Liu Qianqiao within two months.
When a challenging situation met a tough one…..
The small moon at the zenith rose and fell, fell and rose, and gradually became round.
That day, Lu Qianqiao sat in front of the window again, waiting for the girl to push open the window and jump in with a smile as the moon rose. He waited until the moon was in the middle of the sky, but she still didn't appear.
How many days had it been? Did something happen?
He suddenly felt a little restless.
But what if she had come? Should he let her continue to have expectations of him? Waiting for an answer he couldn't possibly give?
The full moon was about to pass. There were only two more fortnights left.[📝]
Lu Qianqiao started to think about it again, hoping that she would come and also hoping that she would just not come at all...... Why do you keep dwelling on this question lately? He rubbed the corner of his forehead.
When the door was opened, Silan stepped inside. He did not look too good as he held up what he was holding——a roll of glistening yellow silk.
"General, the Emperor has issued another decree."
It must be urging him to return to the court to quell the civil unrest by himself again. This Emperor really was not a good guy. He listened to slander when there was no war, then demoted the General to guard the Imperial Mausoleum for no reason. Now that something had happened, he cried and issued several imperial edicts begging him to go back.
How despicable! Silan curled his lips in disdain.
There was no reaction from Lu Qianqiao. His mind was on whether Xin Mei would come as he looked at the small moon in the zenith.
"General, that girl is the kind of person who only fishes for three days and dries the net for two days[6]. And right now, she may have fallen in love with another respectable young man. How could she be suitable for you?"
Compared to the Emperor, Silan had even less good feelings towards Xin Mei. A woman should be like Miss Yinglian, gentle as water, demure and serene. A girl like Xin Mei could only be described as a cat, always puffing out its fur[7]. The General was wise and excellent in martial arts, so why was he so blind and fell for her?
Lu Qianqiao turned his head without saying anything. He just picked up the roll of Imperial Edicts and unfolded it for a casual glance, then suddenly froze.
The sprawling words written on the blank, pale pink paper inside the Imperial Decree were exquisitely beautiful——this was Emperor Rongzheng's bad habit. He wrote an Imperial Decree as if writing poetry, with each line densely packed.
But that was not the point.
He frowned and read it twice as his fingers slowly tightened.
Emperor Rongzheng had bestowed him a marriage, and the bride was Xin Mei... His mother had indeed poked her nose into this matter.
He stared intently at a passage in the Imperial Decree. His brow furrowed more and more as time passed.
"...... in the matter of death, both will be buried in the same grave after the death of one. Only then can all the rites and laws be fulfilled and live up to each other's affection."
The Qiong Country still maintained the system of burying the living with the dead till this day, and the Imperial Decree even said that if he died, Xin Mei would be buried together with him? He slammed the Imperial Decree down and instantly realised the meaning of his mother's words that day. She said she would ask Xin Mei to accompany him forever, even after his death. Was that what she had meant initially?!
“Silan, go get Lie Yun Hua!”
Lu Qianqiao tied up his overcoat and jumped out of the window. He was going to find Li Chaoyang!
Silan agreed in astonishment. He turned to look at the Imperial Decree that had fallen to the ground and couldn't help but pick it up and read it. He was instantly stunned.
"General! Did they just force you to marry that little girl?!" He yelled, "And be buried with the deceased?! What a shitty Emperor..."
"It's actually none of his business," Lu Qianqiao shook his head. "Go get Lie Yun Hua."
Silan ran off in a hurry, while Liu Qianqiao stood quietly in the moonlight, feeling his heart pounding in his chest and even his body trembling slightly.
He had a bad feeling...... The scene before him began to blur. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. The small moon in the sky seemed to have become countless.
He suddenly felt a wave of dizziness he had never felt before.
"General, the horse is here!"
Silan quickly dragged Lie Yun Hua back, and when he looked up, he could only see a pair of dark red eyes glowing brightly in the deep night like beasts.
*
The twenty-fifth day of the sixth lunar month was an auspicious day for a wedding.
Xin Mei put on her wedding dress and climbed into the festooned bridal sedan amid the deafening sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers.
Lu Qianqiao didn't come, but several officials sent by the Emperor did. It was said that since the General who had been demoted to guard the Imperial Mausoleum had not been granted leave, he could not set foot outside the mausoleum, and the matter of fetching the bride had to be left to others.
This small, unpleasant little detail did not dampen the good spirits of the people of Xinxie Manor. In any case, the little devil star who had been troubling them for sixteen years was finally getting married, and this ecstasy was entirely incomprehensible to outsiders.
Xin Xiong even burst into tears. When he saw a person standing alone, he took that person's hand and began to ramble, "With the blessing of God and her mother, Little Mei has finally been taken…"
And the person who would take her away was no ordinary person. Even if he was demoted to guarding the Imperial Mausoleum, he was still a general! Xin Xiong felt as if his life had changed overnight as he continued to receive congratulations from the masses of Lushui Town with a smug face. These bastards. The last time he tried to marry one of them to Xin Mei, they all ran away like rabbits. It was still his daughter's own ability to snare a husband right after she started her solo journey, and he was even a general!
Regardless of the reason why the Emperor suddenly granted the marriage, in a nutshell, it was the first time anyone had actually asked for Xin Mei!
Xin Mei waved to him from inside the bridal sedan. "Dad, I'll come to visit you during guining[8] in a few days. Don't cry; your nose is running."
Xin Xiong blew his nose hard and bellowed, "Let's postpone your guining[8] until after a month! Be aware that your husband's family won't want you if you decide to return home early!"
…her father must have been insane.
Xinmei shook her head and lowered the curtain. The leading spirit beast in front made a long whinny, flapped its wings and flew high into the clouds. The long wedding procession slowly rose like a red cloud and gradually disappeared from everyone's view.
What is Lu Qianqiao doing now? Xin Mae lifted the small piece of the bridal veil and leaned forward at the window to look at the white clouds outside.
For some reason, the thought of him swinging the long whip on the high platform that day, his back erect and distinguished, was completely unrelated to the fame, fortune and status that made the crowd envious. She was tempted to see him like that again, and it didn't matter if they didn't even talk.
Lu Qianqiao, are you already dressed in that silly red groom's clothes with red flowers on your chest waiting for me?
Are you happy now? Or are you curling your lips with disdain?
She was rather fond of making these kinds of speculations, expecting what his expression would be and what he would say——at this moment, she finally had a little experience of being a bride.
However, this experience disappeared when they arrived at the Imperial Mausoleum.
The clouds of Mist Array Formation that once surrounded the Imperial Mausoleum had long disappeared. Everything was in a mess, with remnants of flowers and soil covering the tomb's passages. Obviously, no one had cleaned it for a long time.
The wedding officials get out of the carriage to discuss for a moment. In the end, with some hesitation, they sent one of them to report to her. "Ma…Miss, no sight of the General's chariot ahead. This…is extremely rare."
Xin Mei thought momentarily, "Shall we go much further?"
This was the only way.
The wedding procession marched majestically into the depths of the Imperial Mausoleum, and they could see the dilapidated Offering Hall[9] by the roadside. The green water and blue mountains[10] were still there, but it was lifeless and messy everywhere. Only the roadside flower beds were quietly blooming, and the once noisy little monsters were nowhere to be seen.
The procession stopped in front of Lu Qianqiao's house. Someone had already knocked on the door. After waiting for a long time without anyone answering, he broke in. After a while, the man ran out in a panic. "There is no one in the house! It's a mess! The General is gone!"
Xin Mei suddenly felt like she was being splashed with a bucket of cold water in the middle of winter and couldn't help but shiver.
Like headless flies[11], the group of officials began to discuss the matter absentmindedly for a moment. As they couldn't think of any other alternative, they had to send someone to explain the situation to her. "That... we must ask Miss to wait here for the time being. We will immediately send people to search inside and outside the Imperial Mausoleum."
They had never seen anything like this before. The Imperial Decree had even been sent directly to the General's doorstep. The always stubborn and unruly General unexpectedly behaved like a d*mned thing. He did not even try to show his face and even dared to leave a bunch of people standing outside his house.
Tough life needed no explanation.
He didn't just throw away the Emperor's face completely; he even knocked his wife out with a slap. Poor girl, she's just got married, and she's already suffered this tragedy... This girl... Uh, how did that girl get herself out of the car?!
Xin Mei slowly exited the vehicle, pulled her bridal veil from her head and threw it to the ground. She patted her hands and walked forward.
The anxious officials rushed up to stop her. "Ma...... Miss! It's not good for the bride to wander off!"
She was in a bad mood and too lazy to talk, so she just waved her fist in front of the crowd. "Look, this is a fist."
A fist...... The crowd looked at her white and delicate hand, which was quite a good-looking fist...... And then what?
Then she pointed to the pear tree with a thick trunk beside her. "This is a tree."
So, so what about it?
The next moment, that beautiful fist struck the pear blossom tree with a thick trunk, only for everyone to hear the sound 'kacha' as the miserable pear blossom tree fell in tears.
In an instant, everyone retreated in three long strides as they respectfully cleared a path on the wide and open road and watched her walk away in silence, trembling.
*
Xin Mei had no idea where she was going but kept walking slowly and straight ahead.
She kept thinking back to all the things that had happened after she met Lu Qianqiao, and she couldn't figure it out——could it be that he hated her? Hated her so much that he emptied the Imperial Mausoleum overnight and didn't even leave her a note?
She used to think that the Imperial Mausoleum was a very annoying place because she was once forced to stay there under house arrest.
Later she realised that this place was actually wonderful because Liu Qianqiao was there.
Now that the blooming flowers and the crystal-clear water were still as before, she felt a deep sense of disgust again. There were many perplexities and grievances in her disgust.
Suddenly, her steps stopped.
In front of her was the endless forest of pale white apricot blossoms and the familiar-looking high platform. Xin Mei raised her eyes and looked up. She didn't know what answer she was looking for; perhaps she was hoping that if she looked up, she would see Lu Qianqiao standing on it, swinging his long whip as in the past.
Apricot blossoms fell on her sleeve. She hung her head down, and several large pearls from her bun slipped to the ground, scattering around like tears.
It's time to go back home, right? She should just let go of her naive fantasies since Lu Qianqiao hated her after all.
Yup… it's time to go back.
……
Go back, my a**!
Xin Mei tore off her wedding dress.
Where is that Lu Qianqao?! Where is that jerk hiding?! She wanted to dig him out, beat him to a pulp and chop off his hands and feet! She kicked a green brick at the edge of her foot. The brick flew like an arrow and crashed into an apricot blossom tree. A depressing sound of someone screaming in pain came from inside the tree.
Xin Mei leapt forward and raised her hand to fish inside the tree. The person hiding inside was in such a pitiful state since she had lifted him out by yanking his hair.
"It's you!"
"Ouch!"
They both screamed at the same time. Xin Mei looked up and glared at the man, who was in a very contorted position as she was still yanking his hair.
Silan.
He was also shocked to see her. His expression changed before a hint of pity finally leaked from his eyes.
"Let me go!" He struggled a little but couldn't free himself and immediately said frantically: "The General won't marry you! Give up! Go back! He will ask the Emperor to annul this marriage later!"
Xin Mei was furious. "Where is he?!"
Silan kept a straight face. "I'm not going to say anything! There's no point in beating me to death! In short, you better go back quickly! Not to mention the General, even I won't let him marry you. You two are not even compatible!"
Xin Mei stared at him earnestly for a long time before suddenly coming to an understanding. "You like him! You see me as your love rival?"
Silan nearly spat blood. "Nonsense!"
She raised her hand and threatened to slap his face. "If you don't tell me the truth again, I'll knock your teeth out."
Silan was in tears. Oh, General! I, Silan, could endure any torture for you! Even a slap from your beloved girl was no problem!
The hand she raised high in the air flew down at lightning speed, and before it could strike his face, she suddenly heard an indifferent voice behind him whisper, "Xin Mei."
She suddenly shivered and turned around in disbelief. Lu Qianqiao, whom no one could find, stood in the apricot blossom forest, looking at her quietly.
His eyes, once deep black, were now bloodshot red.
The author has something to say: The scene where Xin Mei shows off her prowess... I wrote it while I was in a great mood...
Footnotes Full List
- a respectful title for a man in the Song Dynasty
- Chinese idiom: an ideal setting for amorous dalliance; romantic surroundings
- Chinese proverb: Know both yourself and your opponent to enhance your strong points and attack his weak points. That is the secret of victory. - Learning Mandarin Chinese)
- from an idiom 'stretch out the hand and bring it back', meaning 'very easily'
- For the record, he will be 25 in four weeks.
- Chinese proverb: not to persist in doing sth.
- Silan said that Xin Mei always reacted strongly to even the slightest stimulation, just like cats when they were surprised or angry.
- (of a married woman) to visit one's parents
- The Offering Hall is a high altar used to lay out offerings and sacrifices to the gods and ancestors. It can also serve as a place for the officiating priests, the dignified ritual participants. Located on the central axis of the ancestral worship area, it is five rooms wide and five rooms deep. The single-storey between its double eave hip roof and the corridors surrounding it on four sides are copied from Ming Dynasty architecture. Similar-looking xieshan roofs are joined together to form a cross, completing the roof stage as a whole. Its height and degree of collapse are the highest of its kind, which is exceptionally spectacular among folk ritual sites and very rare in the whole country. - Source: Baidu
- Chinese idiom: beautiful scenery
- a metaphor for sb. rushing about frantically
Noob Translator's Musing
Xin Mei took Zhao Guanren[1] words at face value, which made her efforts to construct a romantic atmosphere in the way it was said in the idiom really funny. Lu Qianqao was right. Xin Mei is really like one of the characters inside the books where she lives in her own world, and her mind always wanders to things that were unthinkable to people back then, like how she thought Silan had a feeling for Lu Qianqao. ROFL.
Though it was kind of sad when Lu Qianqao 'abandoned' Xin Mei on their wedding day, Xin Mei's mad reaction after the 'abandonment' immediately covered the sad feeling that I just felt. Go kick his a**, Xin Mei!;
Xin Mei's father was funny too. What would he do if he learned that Xin Mei had fulfilled 98% of her 'curse'?
Regarding Xin Mei's curse of jinxing her husband. Will she jinx the fate of the war demon's fate that happens when they reach 25? Especially to a mixed demon like Lu Qianqiao, who usually dies during his transformation.
Tags:
A Match Made In Heaven