Chapter 165 Wedding Dress
The living room was a mess, with overturned chairs, broken glasses, and torn curtains.
In the midst of this chaos, a burly man lay face down on the ground, a pool of dark red blood on the back of his head that was steadily expanding.
"What happened?"
Zheng Tianhe was stunned. She hadn't even shown her true skills yet!
She crouched down and checked the man's breath.
He is still alive, but his breathing is weak.
The woman huddled in the corner like a frightened rabbit: "You...you punched him like that, he was stunned, so I just pushed him..."
"I didn't mean to! I was just... just too scared..."
Call an ambulance! Otherwise, someone will die!
But wasn't it self-defense?
[The domestic abuser deserved it! Don't be afraid, young lady!]
Zheng Tianhe noticed the woman's wrists covered in alternating old and new marks, as if she had been frequently bound. Her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
"What's your name?" Zheng Tianhe asked softly.
“...Song Sha.”
Lu Yao's lips moved almost simultaneously with the woman's.
It's her!
The girl who once wept in her boudoir is still enduring the trials of the world after reincarnation.
But Lu Yao knew better than anyone else—
This frail body conceals a stubborn soul.
Those hardships will eventually become the knife that helps her break free from her cocoon.
Just like that figure from thousands of years ago, clutching her wedding dress and resolutely fleeing in the dead of night.
...
A thousand years ago.
In the boudoir of Miss Song Sha of the Song family, the candlelight flickered.
Her slender fingers held a silver needle as she embroidered the wings of the last pair of mandarin ducks on the red silk.
"Miss, it's getting dark. Let's embroider tomorrow," the maidservant advised softly.
Song Sha shook her head, a sweet smile playing on her lips: "This is the last injection left."
Her fingertips gently caressed the mandarin ducks with their necks intertwined, the vivid patterns seeming as if they would take flight from the brocade at any moment.
The red silk wedding dress shimmered with a gentle glow under the candlelight.
Song Sha held it to her chest, her cheeks flushed slightly.
The wedding date is set for one month from now.
When the matchmaker came to propose marriage that day, she hid behind a carved screen and heard the name of Yu Chengren, the second young master of the Yu family. Her fan almost fell to the ground.
She remembered the young man in a moon-white robe under the peach tree at Ciyun Temple.
A spring breeze swept by, scattering petals everywhere. The way he turned and looked at her made her heart pound.
Seven days later, the betrothal gifts from the Yu family were delivered to the Song residence.
The two families were well-matched, and everyone envied this marriage.
Song Sha embroidered her wedding dress in her boudoir every day, and also carefully prepared sachets and handkerchiefs for her beloved.
Every stitch and every thread is sewn with the girl's most beautiful dreams.
But the day after the wedding dress was completed.
The Yu family members arrived looking flustered and had a private conversation with the elders of the Song family in the main hall.
The servants in the mansion were silent as cicadas in winter, and even the thrushes under the eaves stopped chirping.
Song Sha leaned against the vermilion railing, her embroidered handkerchief twisted into a knot in her hand: "Could it be... that the marriage has changed?"
She didn't eat or drink anything all day.
As night fell, the mother, with red and swollen eyes, pushed open the door to her bedroom.
"My poor son..."
"Mother!" Song Sha threw herself into her mother's arms, her voice trembling, "But the Yu family..."
Her mother stroked her long, black hair, tears streaming down her face: "Sha'er, Young Master Yu... he's gone."
Song Sha staggered backward.
She opened her eyes wide, but couldn't see her mother's face clearly; all she could hear was her own rapid breathing. A tearing pain shot through her chest, and everything went black. She collapsed onto the brocade quilt embroidered with twin lotus blossoms.
When I awoke, the candle wax had piled up all over the bronze stand.
The bright red wedding dress hung quietly on the screen, the wings of the mandarin ducks trembling slightly in the dim light.
Her mother stroked her hair: "Sha'er, do you truly love him?"
The girl's tears soaked the embroidered pillow.
She was indeed tempted, but she understood even more clearly that the dead cannot be brought back to life.
"Mother, how did Young Master Yu die?"
Song's mother paused for a moment, "He fell into Changbai Lake. He wasn't a good swimmer, and by the time he was rescued, it was too late..."
"Changbai Lake..."
Song Sha repeated in murmur.
She clenched the embroidered handkerchief between her fingers, the three words "Changbai Lake" feeling like a needle piercing her heart.
The most famous feature of that stretch of water is the flower boats that float at dawn and dusk. The painted boats are adorned with vermilion lanterns, and the sounds of oars and the flickering lights reveal the absurd affairs of high-ranking officials and nobles.
My father once said he was going to the bow of the boat to admire the moon on Mid-Autumn Festival night, but he returned the next morning covered in makeup. My mother was so angry that she overturned his dressing case.
Song Sha fell silent.
Just as she was trying to pull herself together, her father walked in with heavy steps.
“Sha’er, I ask you,” her father’s voice was unusually calm, “are you willing to remain chaste for Young Master Yu? Are you willing… to hang yourself upon hearing the news?”
Song Sha looked up abruptly, and the light flashing in her father's eyes sent chills down her spine.
"Father! Your daughter is only sixteen!"
"If one can receive commendation from the imperial court and be granted a memorial archway for chastity, not only will one's family be honored, but the entire family will also be exempt from corvée labor and taxes."
The father became more and more agitated as he spoke, and he even stepped forward to hold her cold hand.
Song Sha stared blankly at her father's familiar yet unfamiliar face, suddenly feeling a chill run down her spine.
She slowly withdrew her hand. "So... Father wants to exchange my life for this glory?"
"I only think that since Sha'er and Young Master Yu are in love, if she can die for her husband and remain chaste, it will not only create a beautiful story, but also bring blessings to the family... Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"
It turns out that the phrase "the best of both worlds" could actually be used to describe her death.
Song Sha remained silent for a long time, then said, "...I'm afraid my daughter is unwilling."
The father's face turned cold, and he turned and left.
“The Yu family says that now that you have been betrothed, you are a member of the Yu family. Sha’er, you have no choice in the matter.”
...
Within the high walls of the Song mansion, the girl's sobs drifted like silk threads in the twilight.
The cries were sometimes suppressed like sobs, and sometimes shrill like cries of blood, causing all the neighbors to stop and sigh.
The servants of the Song family, holding a white silk cloth, casually explained at the alley entrance, "Our young lady hasn't eaten or drunk anything for two days since hearing the tragic news of Young Master Yu's passing... I'm afraid she'll have to join her husband in death..."
The neighbors sighed with regret.
"Miss Song is truly a virtuous and chaste woman!"
Such loyalty deserves to be honored with a memorial arch!
Suddenly, a crisp, cold laugh came from the base of the blue brick wall.
Everyone turned around and saw a girl with her hair tied in a Taoist bun leaning against the corner of the wall, tossing out a copper coin and catching it again, her almond-shaped eyes full of mockery.
"Are your ears all glued shut? This crying is seven parts resentment and three parts fear; it's clearly the sound of someone wailing for their own dying life. How can it be a trace of anything for that dead lover?"
The crowd fell silent instantly.
The steward of the Song family changed his expression suddenly. The master had specifically instructed that the news of the young lady's "voluntary martyrdom" be spread. How could he allow this wild Taoist priest to ruin things?
“休得胡言！”管事上前一步，扬起拳头，作势要揍她，“我家小姐与俞公子一见钟情，乃是天作之合！”
The young Taoist priest curled his lips and flicked his fingertips.
"bite--"
A copper coin shot out of the air, drawing a golden streak in the setting sun, and struck the steward squarely between the eyebrows.
"Ouch!"
The manager felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and he staggered backward, falling hard onto the muddy ground.
He clutched his rapidly swelling forehead, wincing in pain.
"If Heaven truly had eyes, how could it bestow such a good match upon a short-lived ghost?" the young Taoist priest scoffed.
The steward waved his arms angrily, yelling, "Break this girl's legs!"
Five or six burly henchmen grabbed sticks and rushed forward.
The young Taoist chuckled, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and darted onto the wall like a swallow.
As the sleeves fluttered, the copper coins transformed into several streaks of golden light.
Whoosh whoosh——
"Ouch! My nose!"
My knees!
The servants were immediately thrown into chaos, some clutching their bleeding noses, others rolling on the ground clutching their knees.
The copper coin traced a perfect arc in the air before obediently flying back into the little Taoist's palm.
She stood atop the wall, looking down at the servants rolling on the ground, then glanced one last time at the Song residence from which the cries were coming, before disappearing into the deepening twilight.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
