Chapter 161: You're Here Too

Spring rain fell in fine dots; Hangzhou City brimmed with deep spring feeling, yet passersby walked in silence, the clamor of ordinary days gone. The Jiangnan ancient city, usually warm and moist, was now steeped in the rain-mist of an ice age, wave after wave of chill pressing threateningly against people.

Inside a private residence in Xiuyi Ward, a young woman was watching the rain by the window. She wore a blue blouse inside, with a goose-yellow outer jacket over it; her thick black hair was done up in the drifting-cloud chignon favored by court ladies, tassels hanging by her ears, her figure gracefully curved, her bearing elegant.

The girl at this moment rested her slender hand on her cheek, her beautiful eyes deep and still, lost in some unknown thought. A gust of wind blew, and a few crabapple branches outside the window suddenly poked their heads in; when water droplets splashed onto the girl, she let out a soft "Ah!" — in that instant, the painted scroll finally stirred to life.

Zhong Xiuxiu's features closely resembled her father's: a flat, straight forehead, thick eyebrows, a firm, straight nose bridge, and a strong, resolute jawline.

How to put it — these features, seen through the eyes of 17th-century Ming people, meant, at best, a hard fate. Should she ever encounter a fortune-teller or matchmaker who feared no power and scrupulously upheld professional ethics, they would tell you: this is the face of a husband-killer!

That a daughter of the Zhong Family was hard to marry off concealed this unspoken difficulty: facial attractiveness. Her face shape did not conform to 17th-century traditional aesthetic ideals — too hard, too bold.

However, and yet, if at this moment Zhong Xiuxiu were wearing a white blouse, with a ponytail, holding a colorful spiral lollipop in her hand, and standing in the later generations' Chedun Film and Television Base, she would rapidly draw a crowd. Tourists would come up one after another to take photos with her and praise the young woman for her high level of impersonation skill.

Yes — this Zhong family girl with the thick black eyebrows, high nose bridge, and hard, strong lines shared an 88% facial similarity with that mute lollipop girl of later generations.

Just as the girl, her thoughts heavy, was softly scolding the crabapple blossoms, two young men came running in, laughing and giggling, through the festooned gate of the courtyard. These two brothers, one dark and one fair, both around twenty years old and dressed like young masters, headed straight for Zhong Xiuxiu's boudoir the moment they entered, laughing.

Zhong Xiuxiu, who had already seen them coming from the window, hurriedly rose at this moment and instructed the maid to prepare a towel.

The fair-skinned young man was Zhong Xiuxiu's own brother, called Zhong Yi, Master Zhong's second son. The darker one was surnamed Xu, called Xu Qibao, the youngest son of Zhong Xiuxiu's adoptive father, Xu Xiangshen. From the time Zhong Xiuxiu was brought back to Hangzhou, these two had discovered they shared the same rotten tastes and spent their days carousing around Hangzhou City with a gang of idle young wastrels.

So, the talk of the Zhong Family's strict discipline was all nonsense — someone like Zhong Yi was exactly the sort of good-for-nothing loafer.

"Second Brother, Seventh Brother, what's made you so happy?" Zhong Xiuxiu asked, lifting the door curtain to one side.

"Jin Niang, that husband of yours has come — he's in the main hall talking with Father." Zhong Yi, not even waiting for the maid to bring a hand towel, blurted out the news in a rush, his round face habitually revealing a sly grin.

Zhong Xiuxiu, whose name was Jin Niang, blushed faintly upon hearing this. "Comes today, leaves tomorrow — no one can stop him anyway."

After Zhong Xiuxiu spoke this dampening remark, the atmosphere became slightly awkward.

During this period after Huang the Provincial Graduate had proposed, the Zhong family's days had been no easier.

The girl's marriage prospects, even before Huang the Provincial Graduate appeared, had long been a nightmare for both the Zhong and Xu families. When Master Zhong had originally taken his daughter away from the Xu family, the reason — "to find a good husband's family in Hangzhou City" — was the one argument the Xu family, country ruffians, could not resist. The highest-class husband's family a country ruffian could find for a daughter was still a country ruffian; how could it compare to a family of officials, with their bells ringing and cauldrons brimming with food?

Yet reality dealt Master Zhong a deep, mocking blow: after his own daughter returned to Hangzhou, she remained unsold for two full years. By this point, both the Zhong and Xu families were utterly stuck: send the daughter back to the Wenzhou countryside to find a country ruffian? Or lower the standards and find a poor scholar in Hangzhou City?

Things having reached this point, everyone, including Zhong Xiuxiu herself, had once fallen into despair.

This led to the situation where, after the fool with money, Huang the Provincial Graduate, appeared out of nowhere, the entire Zhong household, overnight, transformed into a state of neurotic anxiety: at the slightest rustle of wind or stir of grass, they feared something would go wrong and ruin everything.

Matchmaker Jin quickly sniffed out the mood. In these days, exploiting the Zhong family's state of mind, the thieving woman decisively broke the conventions of the matchmaking world, and for every completed step of the "Six Rites," she brazenly extorted 5 taels of silver from the Zhong family.

One must know, these procedures were usually not paid for separately — the service was already included in the total fee. Even Pan Jinlian, who had a fine pair of bound feet and considerable charm, had only been worth 30 taels of silver back then.

Yet the Zhong family members all held their noses and accepted this, including the Xu family's advance force, who rushed over after receiving the news — they all felt it best not to create complications. The main Xu family force was still on its way; Zhong Xiuxiu had seven country-ruffian elder brothers above her.

There's a saying, isn't there: the bad omen comes true, the good one doesn't.

Huang Zhicheng had no idea that during those few days when he went to the Official Courier Station to pay respects to his boss, the two families, Zhong and Xu, had experienced utter despair. When Zhong Fu received the rather vague message from Huang Fu about "postponing the wedding date," nearly everyone believed it was the precursor to a total collapse — Huang the Provincial Graduate had probably heard some rumor from somewhere, learned certain truths, or the whole truth.

After experiencing such violent emotional swings, an ordinary person would probably see through the red dust of the world and achieve great enlightenment. Fortunately, Zhong Xiuxiu had grown up in the countryside and had never played at the persona of a melancholy, sentimental maiden, so the young woman currently had no plans to become a nun.

Of course, becoming a nun was one thing; low spirits were another. Zhong Xiuxiu had lately been full of hidden bitterness. Just now, upon hearing her own brother mention that Huang the Provincial Graduate had come to the residence, Zhong Xiuxiu naturally spoke with a tone of helplessness — this feudal view of marriage was deadly!

"Jin Niang, it's good news!" Xu Qibao, the dark-skinned one, seeing Zhong Xiuxiu's discomfort, hurriedly recounted the conversation he had eavesdropped on from behind the screen: "That husband of yours turns out to be an office-chaser. A few days ago, he went to the Official Courier Station to pull strings, and it's said he caught the eye of some high official — he's to be given an official vacancy!"

"Ah!" Zhong Xiuxiu's beautiful eyes shifted, stunned.

"Huang the Filial and Upright came to the door today precisely to discuss the wedding date!" Zhong Yi added from the side. "He said he'll be leaving soon to serve as an official elsewhere, the wedding date is pressing, and it must be arranged quickly! Heh heh, heh heh." Zhong Yi couldn't help laughing as he said this.

"Which yamen will he serve in as an official? What official position?" Zhong Xiuxiu was bright and clever, and immediately thought of the next step. "Does this mean we'll be traveling far from home after the wedding?"

This string of questions directly dumbfounded the two frivolous wastrels. They hadn't understood clearly while hiding behind the screen — something about Dieshan, Xiong Wencan, courtesy name so-and-so, His Excellency this-and-that — the two simply hadn't figured out who was who.

In any case, today Huang Zhicheng had personally come to the residence to explain the reason, which genuinely gave the entire Zhong household a reassuring pill to swallow.

At this moment, matters had returned to how they were at the very beginning: after all these twists and turns, was everyone suddenly in a rush to make arrangements again?

After Master Zhong kept his future son-in-law for lunch, the invited feng shui master was also ready. Everyone settled on an auspicious date half a month later then and there. After this, Master Zhong, in excellent spirits, gave Huang Zhicheng an officialdom gift pack — Master Zhong wrote a letter.

The current Fujian Left Administration Commissioner was named Cai Shanji. His native place was Huzhou, Zhejiang, and the two families had been close friends for many years. During the Wanli Era, Cai Shanji had served as the Magistrate of Xiangshan, where, through his "Single-Cart Entering Ao" approach, he handled a case of Portuguese causing trouble, and subsequently formulated the "Ten Regulations for Governing Ao," earning great prestige among the Ao people and the high regard of the then Governor-General of Liangguang, Zhang Minggang.

Cai Shanji now held the official post of Fujian Left Administration Commissioner — precisely a major figure capable of influencing the situation in Fujian.

In writing this letter, Master Zhong hoped that when Huang Zhicheng went to Fujian in the future, he would have an extra person to look after him — not seeking meritorious deeds or a great career, only that his son-in-law return home safely. The father-in-law could not bear the thought of his ill-fated daughter becoming a widow again. If that happened, the charge that Zhong Xiuxiu was a husband-killer could never be washed clean.

And so the matter was finally settled.

In the remaining half month, Huang Zhicheng began preparing for the wedding with full effort. All kinds of betrothal gifts, all kinds of social engagements, all kinds of anxiety: even with a girl keeping him company at night, a major ceremony like marriage still brought psychological pressure for a bachelor from later generations.

Fortunately, Master Huang was ultimately different from those losers of later generations. Master Huang didn't need to toil personally for his wedding — just moving his lips was enough. Master Huang didn't need a loan to buy a house for his wedding — the Huang family compound could park many Range Rovers.

Half a month later, the auspicious day arrived. Huang the Provincial Graduate, in a full red robe, a red flower pinned to his chest, riding a fine steed, surrounded by drumming and wind music, led the procession grandly and vigorously all the way to Zhong Fu.

At Zhong Fu, the main gate had long been thrown wide open. Everyone, dressed in reds and greens, was beaming with joy, waiting only for the son-in-law to enter.

Huang Zhicheng, nominally remarrying but actually marrying for the first time, had already been dazed and confused by the preparations over the past two days. Huang, who had originally approached this with the mindset of just getting through a chore, now wore a silly grin on his face like a puppet, letting himself be manipulated like a robot.

After completing the entire sequence of rituals, the husband and wife bade farewell to the elder Master and Madam Zhong, and to Xu Xiangshen and his wife, who had made a special trip. Huang Zhicheng could finally lead the girl into the bridal sedan chair.

Thinking about the round of banquets still awaiting him back home, he now felt like dying. Hurrying to take the girls and flee Hangzhou was the best plan. He could already foresee how this venomous first wife of his, who had seven or eight elder brothers, would stir up storms in his Back Residence in the days to come.

"First bow to Heaven and Earth, second bow to the high hall..." Amid the loud calls of the master of ceremonies, in the main hall of Huang Fu, a deaf-mute old man, his toothless mouth agape, was receiving the bows of his "clan nephew" and wife.

This old man had been selected from the Beggar Sect a few days prior; after being scrubbed clean, he temporarily served as an "elder" of the Huang clan.

At last, everything was over.

After dealing with the wedding banquet, the moon was high in the sky. The transmigrator, Huang Zhicheng, wearing his large red robe, dragged his exhausted body step by step into the bridal chamber.

Exactly like in TV dramas, the bride was in full red bridal attire, covered with a large red veil, sitting motionless on the edge of the bed at this moment.

Huang Zhicheng at this point had no energy left for any damn romantic mood. He first poured himself a bowl of cold tea, gulped it down, wiped his mouth, then casually picked up the steelyard rod wrapped in red silk from the table and lifted the veil in one swift motion.

In that instant, beneath the phantom shadows of the red candles, light and darkness shifted, and four eyes met.

Zhong Xiuxiu swore she had never seen a person so astonishingly shocked with such an expression.

Huang Zhicheng's mouth was wide open, his eyeballs protruding, his expression blank, his forearms extended, frozen in the posture of lifting the veil, utterly motionless.

The clever Zhong Xiuxiu quickly understood: her husband was probably taken aback by her own hard-fated features.

At this moment, full of grievance, unwillingness, and heartache, Zhong Xiuxiu gritted her teeth, fiercely staring at the dumbstruck Huang Zhicheng before her, tears gradually welling up in her eyes.

Yet the groom did not raise a knife at this moment, meeting her eyes like Master Xing. The next instant — clang! — the steelyard fell to the ground. Zhong Xiuxiu heard her husband utter a strange sentence: "Shengyi, you're here too? Have you seen Cao Zong?"

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