Chapter 2: Do I need you to complete the marriage contract and wedding night? ...
Zhu Hao just laughed when he heard this, "Nonsense! Apart from the old man who is about to be buried, which young man in Huaicheng would dare to marry me?"
The man walked up to her holding a lily of the valley umbrella. He was only an arm's length away from Zhu Hao. He was tall and handsome, and Zhu Hao was not short, but she had to look up to see him.
He wore a gilded long gown over a dark blue undergarment. The collar was loose, revealing a red mole at his throat. A jade belt cinched his waist, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist without losing his strength. The candlelight was dim, yet he was shrouded in a shimmering light, his attire akin to that of an immortal. The Zhu family made their living by making clothes in a cloth workshop, but this was the first time she had seen such fabric.
Zhu Hao still couldn't see his face clearly, but judging from his posture, he could conclude that the person under the umbrella was definitely not an ordinary person.
The young man sneered, "On March 22nd, at 3:15 PM, you threw the ball at my statue. Gods cannot deceive mortals. I consider myself unlucky."
Zhu Hao blurted out: "If you are sick, go to the doctor..."
Before he could finish his words, the flower umbrella in the man's hand turned into powder in an instant, and the light rain fell all over Zhu Hao's body, but did not get even an inch close to him.
He said impatiently: "Marry or not?"
Zhu Hao saw the flames of the flower umbrella go out and the smoke disappeared in an instant, but he was even more surprised by his appearance.
The young man's eyebrows were slightly raised, his hair was tied with a white jade hairpin, and his whole body was as smooth as jade, but his phoenix eyes were sharp and murderous, his elegant and pure temperament had a sneer on his lips, and the anger on his face was not concealed. He wanted to marry her, but he looked tired and annoyed.
There are many handsome men in Huaicheng, but those with his stature and appearance can be counted on just five fingers.
Zhu Hao was surprised to find that she had seen him somewhere before. She pondered deeply and found that the man in front of her was quite similar to the statue.
He took a step toward her. The rain around Zhu Hao stopped, separating them from each other. A few feet away, the rain continued. Zhu Hao's thoughts drifted as if into a nightmare. She tried hard to connect the dots between the strange events before her. The man standing before her was particularly strange.
A gust of wind blew away Zhu Hao's half-wrap wedding veil, which happened to land on the woman's shoulders. He raised his sleeve to sweep it away, and his white jade-like black hair caressed her neck in the long wind. He looked unhappy, but with a simple tilt of his head, the wind stopped.
Zhu Hao took a few slow steps back, only to bump her waist against the sedan chair pole. She doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach. As Zhu Hao moved further away from him, the rain blanketed her.
It was a drizzle that softened her wedding gown. Zhu Hao used her sleeves to wipe away the stickiness on her face and brushed away the water droplets on her eyelashes.
When she opened her eyes again, the man was only two steps away from her.
The drizzling rain then drifted away from her.
She wanted to retreat again, but the sedan chair pole was pressing against her waist, leaving her in a dilemma.
Zhu Hao never believed in ghosts, gods or Buddha, but seeing the stagnant servants in the You Mansion and her husband who had a Taoist and immortal look and possessed magical skills, she had to believe in it after seeing these miraculous sights.
Zhu Hao tried her best to remain calm. She pretended to be calm and said, "According to what you just said, you... you are..."
"Do you know about the jade statue offered in Zhe'erzhai in Huaicheng? The statue that the people in the city call the deity is me. The believers parade the statue through the streets on the 22nd day of March every year. They burn incense and offer vegetables and food as they parade through the streets of Huaicheng. They pray for the health and well-being of the people in the city, for fertile fields and abundant harvests, and for the continuation of their families for generations. But on the day of the parade, you..." He said this with an annoyed look on his face, but he had tried his best to look pleasant to her.
He produced something from his empty palm. When Zhu Hao looked carefully, she was shocked. In her husband's palm was the hydrangea that she had thrown down from the pavilion that day. Logically, the hydrangea should have been burned by her aunt.
Zhu Hao had heard a bit about the story of the Zhe Zhe Zhai statue, but since she didn't believe in ghosts and gods, she hadn't paid much attention to it. She only knew that the jade statue had been enshrined in Huaicheng for a hundred years. This deity was extremely vicious, a fallen evil god. If no one offered sacrifices to it, Huaicheng would be struck by natural disasters, and this had been the case for a hundred years without exception.
Zhu Hao had doubts. Since he had already helped the people to avoid natural disasters, why should he be called an evil god or a fallen immortal?
The young man threw the hydrangea into Zhu Hao's arms, and she quickly caught up, "I'm sorry, if you are a true god, I did offend you, but I didn't mean to throw the hydrangea at you."
"What's the point of saying this now?" He took out a piece of paper and a bunch of keys from his sleeve. He first spread out the document and handed it to Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao took a closer look and saw that it was a contract of sale. Her name was written in the lower left corner, and there were also private seals of the Zhu and You families on it.
"The party making the contract, the daughter of the Zhu family, in her twentieth year of Chaohua, has pledged herself to Youliang for twenty taels of silver..."
The man corrected her, "Lang." As if worried she might not understand, he added, "It means beautiful and clean jade, and it can also be used as an onomatopoeia. Are there any poems by Wang Lan that are worth reading? There's a poem in the Shangao Lu titled with the word Lang."
Zhu Hao stopped reading. "Maybe I just saw it wrong," she muttered to herself. "Life is difficult; only immortals need to study hard... Pure and beautiful jade, that old man? Not only is he lustful, he's also used to oppressing the people. He relies on his father's official position to abuse his power. He's actually sullying this word. I won't read it."
The man said nothing, his face expressionless.
"The indenture was redeemed legitimately from You Lang's eldest son. You don't have to worry about the You family recovering it." He swung the key between his fingers. "This is a family home in the southern lane of Huaicheng. I've already placed the title deed in the main courtyard. Now you have two choices. One is that the home and the indenture are yours. From then on, you will be free from anyone's control. You will have your own life. No one will disturb you, not even me. But you must marry me."
Best wishes: "The second one?"
"You can turn around and run away now. I'll give you three incense sticks. If I don't find you, the house will be deeded to you. You will remain free, and I won't bother you from now on. Naturally, you don't have to marry me."
Zhu Hao felt an inexplicable tremor of fear in his chest, "What if... I get caught by the Immortal Lord?"
"It's not a big deal." He pulled the indenture from Zhu Hao's fingers and pretended to tear it up. "There's gain and loss. It's hard to have both in this world. The house and the indenture are both gone, but Miss Zhu still wants to marry me."
“…”So powerful.
Zhu Hao was known for her cleverness; she always knew whether to marry an octogenarian or a handsome immortal. Furthermore, she was weak and alone, so she was unlikely to escape his clutches. So, why not just submit and make her position clear? She could easily obtain her indenture contract.
"May I ask, Immortal Lord, why do you not bother me in this place? Since I'm going to marry you, we'll inevitably run into each other every few days in the same house." After she finished speaking, she looked up to see his expression, but unexpectedly, their eyes met. Seeing him assessing her, Zhu Hao panicked and pretended, "It's not that I dislike you, Immortal Lord, but I'm afraid... afraid that I might offend you."
He clearly didn't want to answer this question. He only heard his husband sigh before he spoke: "You and I only need to get married. From now on, you can do whatever you want. We will never see each other again. If you find a man you like, you can be with him, but you must not remarry. Even if you live and eat with him, I won't say a word. As long as he has no status and no position, as long as you and I are still together, even if you keep a concubine, it's nothing to worry about. The house I bought for you is not small."
Zhu Hao was stunned: "Is this how immortals play?"
She could whisper enough, but the man heard every word.
He pretended not to have heard anything and asked again, "How is it? Have you thought it through, young lady?"
"Nature chooses one."
She hoped that no matter what choice she made, she would not be at a disadvantage.
The young man looked pleased. He made another firm decision: "Are you really going to choose one? Once you make this decision, you can't regret it. You can only marry me in this life."
But he clearly didn't give her a chance to refuse.
The next moment, Zhu Hao felt a chill on her neck. The man's palm covered her neck, applying pressure. Zhu Hao leaned forward and knelt on the ground, but she didn't feel any pain. Zhu Hao was frightened by his sudden action. She instinctively pulled the dagger from her sleeve and swung it forward.
All that could be heard was the sound of a dagger breaking through the air and the sound of blood dripping. Her lover's right palm was cut by her and blood was gushing out.
Zhu Hao had only one thought in her mind: she was completely finished.
She raised her eyes to observe his expression and saw that his eyes were full of interest, not annoyance at all. He was looking at his bleeding palm with interest.
"Immortal... Why doesn't the Immortal Lord avoid it?"
"If I do something, will you still be alive?"
Zhu Hao put the dagger into her inner sleeve, and then she found that there was a hole in the blade. Without time to think about it, she hurriedly tore off a piece of her skirt and wrapped it around his palm.
Zhu Haofang wrapped his hand around it twice before pulling it away. "But it's about the wedding ceremony, why are you so nervous, Miss Zhu?"
She was stunned and looked around to see that the two of them were indeed bowing to each other. Before Zhu Hao could react, he pressed her neck and forced her to bow to all directions. In the end, the two of them bowed to each other again.
When they both stood up, his chin brushed against her forehead, making her feel itchy. "Shouldn't marriage be formal with three letters and six betrothal gifts? How is this even a wedding ceremony?" She tried to ask, "Is this your first time getting married, Immortal Lord?"
She was not coveting the betrothal gifts and prize money, but...isn't this the case for all relatives in the mortal world?
"According to Miss Zhu's opinion, if etiquette is indispensable..." He lowered his eyes to look at her, his eyes suddenly narrowed, "Do I need you to make up for the wedding night candles?"
Zhu Hao's cheeks flushed, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "No need! No need!"
He rested his chin on his hand, contemplating for a moment as he realized his wish for good fortune wasn't entirely without merit. He conjured a brush from his bare hands and, from his sleeve, pulled out a piece of gold paper with a phoenix pattern painted on it. The inkstone floated in the air, its basin saturated with ink from a golden cup. He dipped his brush in the ink and wrote in one stroke, pausing only briefly to sign his name.
Zhu Hao's pupils dilated, and the novelty overwhelmed his fear. This was much more interesting than the magic tricks in the city.
He handed the gold paper to Zhu Hao. She looked at it and saw the wet ink on the paper, which contained only three lines of writing. The handwriting was vigorous yet uneven. They say a person's handwriting reflects his personality, and it was indeed as unrestrained as his movements, yet the details between the strokes were meticulously considered, a rare and fine handwriting.
Her name is at the end of the book, and next to it is the title: Song Xieqing.
She looked up and found that the immortal also had a name.
Inscribed in small characters on the diagonal lines were their respective birth dates. Hers was correct, but his... Luo Yuan was born in the thirty-seventh year of his birth. Luo Yuan? Zhu Hao's thoughts buzzed. How many years ago was that?
Zhu Hao had attended a private school, and although she had neglected it for various reasons since her father passed away, she had heard of the Luoyuan Dynasty, which was so distant and had nothing to do with the current royal family.
He stretched out his hand towards Zhu Hao, and she understood and shook out the dagger from her sleeve, then handed it to his palm. Seeing that he was still frowning and staring at her, Zhu Hao could only take out the last of her belongings from the bottom of her boot and hand it to him.
...What does he want with such vulgar things?
Song Xieqing's palms were filled with copper coins and daggers. He turned his palm downwards and the things fell to the ground. "Miss Zhu, I mean... please give me your hand."
Although Zhu Hao was still frightened, she had no choice but to do as she was told. Song Xieqing immediately held her trembling hand.
Song Xieqing glanced at her and wished her a beautiful face. Her wedding dress made her look like a beautiful peach about to bud. Although there were only two clusters of pearl flowers on her temples, they sparkled brightly in the night.
He teased, "You were so straightforward when you hurt me just now, why are you so scared now?"
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com