Chapter 24 The night before, let's switch. Give me the bamboo cane, and you'll marry me...
On the eve of the wedding, A-Cai and her wet nurse went to the Tang State Mansion to set up the felt tent, as was customary.
The mother, Lady Gao, the maternal aunt, Lady Xianyu, the uncle, Changsun Chang, and the elder brother, Changsun Wuji, repeatedly confirmed the guest list.
"Who is this Wang Wude?" Changsun Wuji asked Changsun Qingjing with some doubt.
“A merchant from Liren City, who is probably acquainted with my uncle, don’t you remember him?” Changsun Qingjing replied, feigning composure. “’Kuzhi’ was sold, and he promised to find him for me.”
The brother and sister looked at each other for a moment, and the older brother clearly had an ominous premonition that they had been set up.
"You didn't pull any tricks, did you?" Changsun Wuji asked, still somewhat doubtful.
"You two should stop arguing. Whether the guests are merchants or scholars, receive them with the utmost care as your uncle has arranged. Tomorrow I will summon you, your uncle, your elder sisters, and Wu Yi. When the groom sets up the barricade, our Changsun and Gao families must make a grand spectacle, overshadowing the Li family's wedding procession. Is that alright?" Changsun Chang said with a smile.
“That would be great,” Gao and Xianyu said in unison. “If it’s quiet and deserted, it would be a loss of face for the maternal family.”
After the family had made their decision, the eldest grandson, Chang, took his leave, and Lady Gao had no choice but to personally see him off.
The others then began checking the dowry for anything missing. Changsun Wuji, on the other hand, was absent-minded and worried, constantly and unintentionally asking his aunt about the details of the "son-in-law".
"Someone's trying to cover it up," Changsun Qingjing said sarcastically, fiddling with the sideburns on her ceremonial crown. "Why don't you give me the bamboo cane tomorrow, and you can come and get married!"
"You..." Changsun Wuji hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.
"Isn't it a bit much to make things difficult for people?"
"You brat, whose family are you?" Xianyu pushed him out of the house. "My sister is going to try on her wedding dress, you can go out now..."
Urged by her aunt, Changsun Qingjing tried on her auspicious clothes and chose her hairstyle and hairpins. After some back and forth, Xianyu finally remembered to check whether the stitching of the shoes, socks, and boots that Changsun Qingjing presented when she paid respects to her aunt and uncle was fine and secure.
After repeatedly confirming the gifts, Xianyu ordered them to be packed into a box.
After taking a bath, Changsun Qingjing was ordered to rest. However, she tied up her thick, fluffy long hair, ran to her mother's residence, and pushed open the door. Madam Gao was kneeling in front of the Buddhist shrine, her hands clasped together, praying.
The girl approached her mother silently, like a raccoon dog. She wasn't a devout believer, but she was willing to accompany her family members who deeply loved her in prayer. Remarkably, her family also firmly believed that Qingjing was a more devout Buddhist than they were.
“Mother, I’ll stay with you.” Qingjing knelt beside her mother, bowing her head and silently praying, “May my maternal grandmother and Aunt Zheng live to be a hundred years old without worry, may my mother be blessed with good health and longevity, may my brother bring glory to our family, may my uncle return home safely, may my aunt give birth safely, may…” She blessed almost every relative who had ever cared about her, but didn’t pay much attention to making wishes for herself.
Mrs. Gao turned around: "I feel like a disordered spider has crawled into my heart, busy and hardworking, weaving a messy web." Mrs. Gao's prayer seemed to have ended, and she instead cupped her no longer delicate hands to Qingjing's rosy cheeks, and the mother and daughter touched forehead to forehead.
“Ah, I remember my uncle mentioning this, and Wuji also mentioned it,” Changsun Qingjing said eloquently. “My maternal grandfather was not an incompetent man; it was just that the late emperor deliberately made things difficult for the Qi royal family. The responsibility for the defeat did not lie entirely with my maternal grandfather. However, in order to protect himself, he had no choice but to form a marriage alliance with an important minister of the emperor.” Her daughter’s clear-headedness made Madam Gao even more embarrassed and saddened.
“Mother, you don’t need to dwell on these past events. An Ye said behind your back that Mother was opportunistic and even slandered her, claiming she had hysteria. Wuji and I have always disdained such things. Mother was a filial daughter to Grandfather, a virtuous wife to Father, and a loving mother to Wuji and me. Why should I care about those gossips!” The girl hugged her mother firmly, burying her head in Madam Gao’s arms. “Mother has lived up to Father’s expectations, remained faithful to her husband, and raised her children with love. That’s enough for me.”
Changsun Qingjing never presumptuously speculated about the wisdom of her maternal grandfather Gao Mai as a descendant of the Northern Qi imperial family, nor did she like to ponder the depth of her parents' love. She only saw that her father treated her mother, who was more than twenty years younger than her, with great respect, and that her uncle was still willing to take care of his impoverished sister many years after her maternal grandfather's death, and treated his nieces and nephews as his own children.
These people cherished her like a precious treasure, and she naturally reciprocated with heartfelt affection.
Madam Gao gently patted her eldest grandson Qingjing's back, stroking the girl's fluffy hair. "I've always looked forward to preparing a grander wedding for you. Unfortunately, things haven't gone as planned. You've suffered so many undeserved misfortunes lately, and your mother truly feels sorry for you. At first, I hated An Yetian for his shamelessness, then I hated your father for his poor arrangements before his death, and only after living with my uncle for a long time did I realize that I should hate myself the most for my ignorance, insensitivity, and incompetence. If you want to resent someone, resent your mother." Madam Gao sighed deeply, releasing the pent-up emotions in her heart, and felt somewhat relieved.
Changsun Qingjing had never expected his gentle mother to feel so much self-reproach. He couldn't help but move closer to Madam Gao and wipe away her tears: "Mother, it's all over now. The three of us, along with Grandmother and Aunt, must live well. We must not cause pain to our loved ones or joy to our enemies!"
"Now that I have such filial children like you, I am no longer attached to worldly matters. I only regret that I cannot accompany your father to your wedding." A sorrowful and melancholic mood spread throughout her. The mother tightly embraced her daughter with her arms, holding her tighter and tighter, as if she were a delicate and helpless infant who had just been born from her weak body.
The girl curled up, her ear pressed against her mother's trembling chest, feeling the firm, tense heartbeat. For the mother, tomorrow would bring another difficult and anticipated emotional "birth"—a girl who resembled her but was not entirely her, would be born from Gao's arms, perhaps repeating Gao's fate, or perhaps walking a completely different path.
The mother felt pain, boredom, and anxiety about the repetitive parts, while she was delighted, curious, and full of anticipation for the unknown parts. She didn't know how to define her anxiety and excitement, her sudden shifts in mood.
"If only your father were still alive, he would laugh at my self-pity, then play with marbles and a bow and arrow while making some indecent jokes: 'A daughter can't remain unmarried, and the son-in-law is someone I approve of. So, when the son-in-law is being married, let my nephews and nieces form a battle array with bamboo sticks and give him a good beating. This will both relieve my resentment at not being able to have my father's love and extinguish his arrogant and conceited attitude. Madam, are you willing to do that?' Wherever your father went, there was always laughter and chatter." When Madam Gao mentioned Changsun Sheng, her melancholy face lit up with a bright light, and the arm that had been tightly gripping Qingjing relaxed, as if it were the last support she would have for the rest of her life.
"Ha! You're already feeling sorry for your fiancé?" Madam Gao's face was full of strangeness and surprise. "I was just about to ask you about this! I don't even remember how many times you've met Li Shimin. How could he take those jokes your father and uncle made when you were young so seriously! Although your maternal grandmother and Princess Zheng both privately praised you for looking like a real lady of the Gao family, although it's common for young men to be blinded by lust, although his parents dote on him and indulge his lawlessness, and although your uncle's demotion shouldn't have implicated you, all these things together seem almost absurd! The son of a duke must have seen girls more beautiful than you. Even if his parents doted on him, they wouldn't deliberately choose a suspicious time to marry him! Did this boy argue with his parents for your sake, forcing them to give in? It's quite amusing." Changsun Qingjing sensed his mother trying hard to suppress her laughter.
“Maybe. Your uncle said not to interfere too much in the affairs of young people. How could I possibly understand?” Gao sighed. “Everything lately feels like a dream, and I can’t tell if I’m still dreaming or have finally woken up.”
Changsun Qingjing pondered whether to tell her mother about the events of watching the solar halo together, exchanging letters, making vows in the wilderness, and sharing her heart in the bookstore. She recalled how the Book of Songs, the poems of the Six Dynasties, the tales of women lamenting their loss, and the poignant stories of women betrayed, all depicted with blood and tears. The beautiful beginnings of those tragic tales were not so different from her own current situation; as for the outcome, she could only wait and see. Both elation and sorrow were unnecessary. Her girlish nature compelled her to tell her mother about her fiancé's boundless love, but her mature mind restrained her from indulging in fantasies of a future filled with illusions. The sweetness before her might not last, and the future held unpredictable and uncertain prospects.
"Guanyinbi, according to your father's wishes, you should be a dragon maiden with great wisdom. Don't be a foolish turtledove who's greedy for mulberries." Her mother's words were both a joke and a piece of advice.
"I am the Dragon Girl. I will give the precious pearl to my beloved and the poison to my enemy." Qingjing recited softly, lying on her side on Gao's lap, hugging her mother's leg like a mischievous child, and said with a smile, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely protect myself."
"Get up, you naughty lynx! You've made a mess of my new dress. I just hope that Lady Tang won't have a headache when she sees you, this rambunctious little dragon." Madam Gao withdrew her knee, and Qingjing exaggeratedly leaned back, her long black hair falling softly onto the cushions like a piece of silk, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight in the room.
“I’m very good at needlework, the Duke and Duchess will definitely love me! I also have beautiful handwriting, so I can copy Buddhist scriptures for the elders. And I have a wealth of knowledge about the imperial court, the common people, and overseas legends, so I can chat with the ladies without getting tired…” Changsun Qingjing grinned as he sat up from the cushions, crawled behind his mother, hooked his arm around Gao’s neck, and said with a grin, “Tonight I’ll keep you company, Mother. You have to tell me stories and legends.”
"Dream on! I won't tell!" Madam Gao dragged Qingjing in front of the bronze mirror, picked up a comb and tapped her daughter's back. "Sit still, your hair is all tangled up. Let me comb it for you."
Qingjing obediently knelt before the sea beast and grape mirror, trying to prepare a variety of different smiles for tomorrow's wedding. She tried dozens of different expressions on her lips and the corners of her eyes, but finally became exhausted and gave up.
She closed her eyes and meditated, letting the comb gently move across her head and hair. Her mother's touch was just right, like a warm spring breeze caressing graceful willow branches, like clear pool water gently swaying algae.
Gao hummed a Xianbei folk song from her childhood. The song seemed to come from the sky, splashing out thousands of echoes on the window lattice, like a gentle breeze and flowing water, traveling through the bricks and tiles of the corridor, lingering in her mind and heart.
This is not "Midnight Four Seasons Song" or "Spring River Flower Moon Night," but rather "The Song of Changle," the favorite of her distant relative, Emperor Shenwu of Qi. The gentle female voice softly sings and murmurs, the extremely melodious sound, combined with the desolate and generous lyrics, creating a strange beauty, interpreting the sublime sorrow of the age of gods with the pure and tender innocence of an observer.
And so, Changsun Qingjing could no longer distinguish between dream and reality. Before him lay an endless field of alfalfa, a radiant young woman awaiting her lover's return, a military-clad youth riding a tall horse home in glory, a craggy green hut with its curtains billowing in the wind, and purple alfalfa spikes hanging from the horse's mane…
In this boundless peace and warmth, Changsun Qingjing fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke again, dawn was breaking. The slumbering dark blue sky, the half-awake purple clouds, and the intensely crimson sunset were arranged in distinct layers before his eyes…
Changsun Qingjing put on his cloak, took a deep breath of the midwinter chill, and the vivid scent of alfalfa from his dream still lingered at the tip of his nose.
Author's Note: This chapter will describe a late-night conversation between mother and daughter.
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