Chapter 124: The Marriage

No wonder the Qin family was able to obtain the secret manual "Obscure Character Art."

So it was something handed out everywhere.

But from Ding Yingqiu's words, Li Lin also sensed that this matter seemed to have... some conspiracy behind it.

By the standards of this era, a secret manual — not to mention the exaggeration of "passed down to males only" — was at least very valuable, so how could it be handed out everywhere?

Combined with the illusion phenomenon produced when he practiced the "Obscure" Character Art, Li Lin could not help but feel a certain worry about this thing.

After that, Li Lin dispatched the government office Runners to search the city for several days, but found no special "person" or organization, and only then gave up.

It seemed the County Assistant Magistrate's family had indeed been relocated.

But Li Lin kept that bronze token.

Time flew by, and two months of peaceful, uneventful days quickly passed.

The early autumn was slightly chilly, and on this day almost the entire county town was decked out in lanterns and decorations.

Because the County Magistrate was giving his daughter in marriage.

Bai Bufan stood by the street, watching the eight-bearer bridal sedan pass by, and said with great envy: "When I marry a wife in the future, I want this kind of grandeur too."

Bai Zhiwei smacked his head: "You want to empty out my family fortune?"

Bai Bufan chuckled: "Anyway, you've got plenty of money…"

Bai Zhiwei thought for a moment, then recalled that the few of them still had a "treasure" at the Bobai Military Town; bringing some back to put on such a show wouldn't be hard.

"Then let's give it a try." Bai Zhiwei said quietly: "But you have to bring back a woman from a decent family, otherwise I'll break your legs."

Bai Bufan stared at Bai Zhiwei in shock: "Uncle, you're serious?"

"Your father… your uncle here, still has some ability." Bai Zhiwei laughed: "Let's go, keep up, we have to protect the bride."

A group of children followed behind the flower sedan and arrived at Li Fu.

Huang Qi sat inside the sedan, wearing a bridal veil.

She could not see anything around her; before her eyes was only a patch of red.

But she was not worried at all, only filled with a dazed joy.

Everything she did next was guided by others.

Someone took her hand, led her into Li Fu, led her into a room, led her to bow to heaven and earth, then led her into a chamber.

She sat on the edge of the bed, the veil still not removed.

She waited quietly.

There was shyness, but more than that, anticipation.

Time passed bit by bit; outside was a great bustle, then everything gradually quieted down again.

Only now did she begin to feel nervous.

After a short while, someone lifted her veil.

Huang Qi looked at Li Lin before her, and unconsciously smiled.

They drank the cross-cupped wine, blew out the lamp.

The mandarin ducks entwined their necks!

Huang Qi finally understood what it meant to "stroll among the clouds" — when Hongluan had said it before, she couldn't comprehend it, but now she understood completely.

When she woke the next day, Li Lin was no longer beside her.

Hongluan came in carrying a basin of water and said: "Young Lady, let me wipe you down."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"It's what I should be doing anyway." Hongluan looked at Huang Qi with envy: "Young Lady, you've become even more beautiful."

Huang Qi laughed: "As long as my husband likes it."

After wiping her body and getting dressed, Huang Qi, supported by Hongluan, came to the main hall.

By then a table full of dishes had already been laid out there.

Huang Qi looked at the sky — it was almost noon.

"Come eat." Li Lin smiled.

Huang Qi looked at her gentle, jade-like husband, her eyes full of tenderness as well.

"From now on, the household matters will be handled by you." Li Lin said while eating: "Hongluan will be your helper; if there's anything you don't know, just ask her."

Huang Qi nodded.

"Also, the household money is under the bed, and the account book is in the first compartment of the wardrobe in the bedroom." Li Lin said: "Whatever the household needs money for, or whatever you and Hongluan need money for, just take it yourself — no need to ask me — just keep the accounts properly."

Huang Qi nodded repeatedly, her heart blooming with joy.

For a man to let a woman manage the money was to acknowledge her position as the principal wife.

Huang Qi had never expected Li Lin to have only herself as wife; Hongluan alone was already a concubine.

In this world where one could not be sure of seeing the next morning, the number of men was fewer than that of women, so monogamy simply had no market at all.

After finishing lunch, Li Lin went out to find Ding Yingqiu.

"The groom comes to my place on the very first day — isn't that a bit improper?" Ding Yingqiu teased: "Shouldn't you be keeping the bride company?"

Li Lin smiled: "There's plenty of time ahead, no rush. I came this time because I want to make a deal with you."

"What deal?"

"I've heard the Ding family has a dual-cultivation supreme art."

Ding Yingqiu's face reddened slightly: "Get lost, get lost, get lost — you come to an unmarried maiden like me with this kind of talk, are you sick in the head?"

"We're children of the jianghu, why be so particular."

Ding Yingqiu rolled her eyes at Li Lin in annoyance: "Fine, it's only because you're good-looking — if anyone else had spoken to me like that, I'd have beaten their brains out and sent them to a stall to be sprinkled with chili oil and sold to people as soup."

Li Lin couldn't help but hiss: "That's brutal."

"Tell me, what can you offer?"

"Money?"

"Our Ding family is not short on that."

"The Fallen Thunder Incantation…"

"The one you traded with the Heavenly Unity Sect?"

"Something a bit better than that. Recently I've gained some new insights into the Fallen Thunder Incantation."

Ding Yingqiu nodded. "Sounds good. Anything else?"

Li Lin thought for a moment, then said, "Paper Effigy Art? Guiding Paper Folk, and there are two kinds — the Soul-Guiding Paper Folk."

"Those pink ones, the very proud-looking paper folk?" Ding Yingqiu's eyes lit up.

She had naturally seen Li Lin's Guiding Paper Folk before — big eyes, a bit frightening at first glance, but after looking for a while, one would find them quite cute.

Moreover, women are naturally rather partial to the color pink.

"It's that kind of paper folk, but whether I can make them pink, I can't guarantee."

"Why not?"

"The appearance of the paper folk is tied to the maker's temperament," Li Lin explained. "A paper effigy inherits the caster's intent — in essence, it's an externalized avatar of the caster."

Just a weaker one.

Ding Yingqiu nodded and said expectantly, "Then the paper folk I make will surely be the very proud, delightful kind. Good, I've decided — it's the Paper Effigy Art."

"Then I'll go back, write it up, and bring it to you."

"Alright, it just so happens I need to copy out a handwritten version from memory too."

Two days later, the two exchanged their manuals.

So-called dual cultivation is the art of yin and yang complementing each other.

Yang energy… yin energy, both flow from the higher to the lower, until the two sides are balanced.

At first hearing, it seems the one with higher cultivation is at a disadvantage, but in truth, the account is not calculated that way.

In the first few days, there is indeed a bit of a loss — the cultivation painstakingly built up is all fed to the other person.

But when man and woman join, yin and yang give rise to each other… dual cultivation cultivates life itself, cultivates yin and yang.

Yang energy and yin energy circulate between the two, flowing ceaselessly, invisibly quickening the flow of yang and yin energy within the body, slowly widening one's meridians, and indirectly increasing the speed of cultivation.

Next is… after yin and yang complement each other, the quality of both yang energy and yin energy will be further enhanced.

After three days, the effects had already shown. Li Lin felt his qi-gathering speed had quickened considerably, and Huang Qi had also faintly developed a sense of 'qi.'

Li Lin took Huang Qi's pulse for a while, then smiled. "From now on, you can learn a martial art to keep yourself safe."

"I can learn?" Huang Qi widened her eyes.

"Naturally you couldn't before, but now you can — as long as you practice cultivation with me more in the evenings."

"But those postures are so embarrassing," Huang Qi said, blushing.

"Just say whether you're willing or not."

"Naturally… I am willing."

(End of chapter)