"Spring Weddings in the Capital City - Chapter One"
February in the capital city, the weather fluctuates between warm and cold, with patches of snow piled along the roadsides.
In the early hours before dawn, as the sky barely begins to lighten, a servant exhales a frosty breath while pushing open the main gate of Qinglan Garden, bowing low to clear the path. Yan Rongshi enters the Frosty Courtyard alone.
Qinglan Garden was where his mother had resided during her illness. Though exquisite, the courtyard was not particularly large and its location was rather secluded. It didn't quite befit the status of the Yan family's matriarch.
During the period of his mother's illness, her relationship with his father had already become quite strained.
Yan Rongshi walked along the quiet pebble path, devoid of people. A few winter plum branches, dusted with fine snow, bloomed beside the path. That vibrant splash of red was something his mother had adored in life.
On the small arched bridge, which servants had been specifically instructed not to clean, a layer of snow had accumulated over the past few days. The stream below had frozen and thawed again, and several koi fish that his mother had kept while alive swam lively beneath the ice-flecked water surface.
Yan Rongshi stepped onto the arched bridge, treading on the crushed snow. He stood at his mother's habitual spot for observing the fish and scattered a handful of fish food into the water.
The koi gathered to compete for the food, sending ripples across the calm water surface. Glutton, the plumpest and greediest, pushed to the front again, its tail thrashing wildly, shoving the bright red Awl Star to the side.
Yan Rongshi stood on the arched bridge, observing. After a long while, he smiled silently.
"Mother," he prayed inwardly, "Do you remember Ying Xiaoman, the young lady who entered Qinglan Garden that night last May?"
"She will soon marry into the Yan family. Xiaoman is the one I've chosen, and I hope you will love her too."
As he walked out through the flower-draped arch, stepping on fine snow, Sui Miao was already waiting outside.
"Young master, the carriage for entering the palace is ready. We can depart at any time."
Today's reason for entering the palace was special. It wasn't to attend a court session as an official, but to answer a summons from the Old Empress for an audience at Yongning Palace.
Yan Rongshi looked up at the sky. "Let's pay respects to grandmother first before we go."
The Old Matriarch of the Yan Family was Minister Yan's first wife. She was approaching eighty this year.
Her body was still relatively healthy, but she had become forgetful some years ago. As her age increased, her memory had worsened over the past two years. When looking at her children and grandchildren before her, she would call out the name of the long-deceased Minister Yan. The entire family treated the old matriarch like a child, coaxing her gently.
The old matriarch lived in Jinghai Pavilion on the north side of the Yan family estate.
Jinghai Pavilion had originally been Yan Rongshi's father's residence. For a long time, when he was younger, Yan Rongshi would have to take a deep breath before entering the solemn gates of Jinghai Pavilion.
After he became the head of the household, he politely sent his father away and had the old matriarch move in.
The current Jinghai Pavilion no longer held its former solemn and oppressive atmosphere. Due to the old matriarch's limited mobility, all the thresholds in Jinghai Pavilion had been sawed away, and all the sharp corners of tables and chairs had been smoothed into rounded edges.
When the old matriarch had nothing to do, she would wander around with her cane. If she was in a good mood, she would happily chat with anyone passing by for half a day.
When Yan Rongshi entered Jinghai Pavilion this morning, he could hear the old matriarch asking in a strong voice from afar: "What's for breakfast?"
The maid attending to her responded loudly: "A light chicken and fish porridge. Accompanied by your favorite side dishes: pickled vegetables, fish paste, spring bamboo shoots, and water shield, four small plates in total."
The old matriarch chuckled happily: "You've got it wrong! It's not me who loves eating porridge with pickled vegetables, it's the old man. Tell the old man to get up quickly and have some porridge, don't let him be late for the morning court. And where's Seventh Son? Seventh Son also loves pickled vegetables. Tell Seventh Son to join his grandfather for a bite..."
The serving maids were used to this. Amidst the bustling sounds of coaxing, Yan Rongshi lifted the curtain and stepped inside.
"Grandmother, your grandson is here."
The old matriarch's speech was jumbled. Though her pronunciation was clear, she repeated the same few sentences over and over.
Amidst the continuous mumbling, Yan Rongshi sat at the table, accompanying his grandmother as she ate a few mouthfuls of porridge and picked up some pickled vegetables with her chopsticks.
"Grandmother, today your grandson needs to accompany Xiaoman to the palace for an audience with the Old Empress. Xiaoman is the soon-to-be granddaughter-in-law who's about to enter our family. Grandmother hasn't met her yet."
The old matriarch patted his hand lovingly. Her mouth still muttering: "Stay close to your grandfather. The palace grounds are vast, and it's your first time entering the palace, don't wander off..."
In the early light of dawn, Yan Rongshi walked out of the main gate and mounted his horse.
The stallion let out a long neigh and trotted lightly along Changle Alley.
The lanterns carried by the Yan family's attendants illuminated the colorful tree trunks on both sides of Changle Alley.
With the Yan family's joyous event approaching, they were about to welcome a new mistress. The elm and willow trees on both sides of Changle Alley had their trunks wrapped in red silk, and various colored fabric flowers were tied to the higher branches.
It wasn't very noticeable in the early morning. But after nightfall, when the hundreds of lanterns hanging in the treetops were lit, the warm yellow light would reflect off the tree shadows in a myriad of colors, creating a beautiful sight. Every night, many locals would bring their children to enjoy the spectacle.
Yan Rongshi rode slowly through Changle Alley, holding the reins.
As his gaze swept over the festive, colorful fabric flowers tied along both sides of the road, a faint smile gradually appeared on his lips.
Seeing the flowers was like seeing her.
He missed Xiaoman.
Ying Xiaoman had also risen early today.
While Yan Rongshi was slowly riding out of Changle Alley in the north of the city, she was in the east.
Wearing a thick fur-trimmed jacket, she led Azhi, who had also risen early and was similarly dressed in fluffy attire, as they wandered around the courtyard.
With nothing to do, all three members of the Ying family were feeling restless.
Her adoptive mother sat in the warm room where a charcoal brazier had been lit, opening the window halfway to call out to her from inside.
"Stop wandering around, take a rest."
"The Old Empress will be summoning you to the palace soon. The Yan family has sent breakfast over, sit down and have some hot soup. Who knows if you'll be able to eat once you enter the palace."
Ying Xiaoman sat inside, poking at the breakfast sent by the Yan family with her chopsticks.
Hot porridge, rice, four types of sweet and savory steamed buns, and eight delicate pastries.
It was undoubtedly a sumptuous meal.
Ying Xiaoman poked around for a while, then put down her chopsticks and sighed.
"Such good food. But knowing it was sent by Yan Erlang makes it a bit hard to eat."
Her adoptive mother also sighed.
"Who can disagree with that," she murmured.
*
The three members of the Ying family had entered the capital on the tenth day of the second month.
On the way, Ying Xiaoman had discussed plans with her mother, and they had originally thought it out well. The two families had already exchanged most of the customary gifts, and the marriage was only lacking the final step of the groom coming to receive the bride. There was no need to be as cautious as last year.
Didn't Seventh Son have two vacant small houses in the west of the city? After returning to the capital, the Ying family could first settle in the small house in the west for a few days.
The wedding was set for the third month. There was a whole month's gap in between, enough time for the Ying family to rent a suitable new house and settle down in the capital. On the day of the Yan family's bride-fetching ceremony, Ying Xiaoman could leave from the newly rented house as a bride.
The plan was well thought out on the road, and Sui Miao had sent someone ahead on horseback to inform his young master. Yan Rongshi had also agreed to this arrangement.
But before their carriages had even entered the capital's territory, while the Yan family's welcoming party was still on the road out of the city, the Ying family was unexpectedly intercepted halfway.
—Ying Xiaoman had received an imperial edict from the Old Empress.
With banners leading the way front and back, and imperial guards in shining armor escorting the Ying family's carriages, they brazenly passed through the south gate of the capital and entered directly into the imperial city.
They were immediately summoned into the palace by the Old Empress.
The Old Empress kept Ying Xiaoman in Yongning Palace for three days. Each day she summoned her for a close look, sighing over the "poor little concubine" and remarking, "No wonder I thought she looked familiar from the start."
Ying Xiaoman was not a fool. Upon hearing the words "little concubine," she immediately asked the Old Empress: "Did Yan Erlang tell you this? That's Old Man Sheng's claim, it may not be true."
The Old Empress smiled and sighed: "What's false can't become true, and what's true can't become false. I know in my heart."
On the third day of Ying Xiaoman's stay in Yongning Palace, the Old Empress summoned the head nephew of the Yan family: the Marquis of Xingning, and arranged a family banquet for the two sides to formally meet.
By noon on the fourth day, when a palace carriage sent the three members of the Ying family to the Yan family residence in Mogan Lane in the east of the city—
The news that the Old Empress had taken a liking to Yan Rongshi's bride-to-be and intended to recognize the young lady of the Ying family as her adopted granddaughter had already spread like wildfire both inside and outside the imperial city.
*
The biting wind of the late spring chill in February was still fierce. Beneath the palace gate towers guarded by imperial soldiers, a carriage slowly came to a stop.
Ying Xiaoman jumped down from the carriage, touched the two jade hairpins in her thick black hair one by one, then smoothed her skirt and looked around. Seeing Yan Rongshi waiting at the foot of the palace gate, she smiled.
"Don't worry," Yan Rongshi said as he walked slowly towards her, his gaze filled with admiration and delight. "Your makeup and attire today are beautiful. You're radiant."
Ying Xiaoman wasn't worried. She was just a bit nervous.
"I've almost forgotten all the palace etiquette and rules that my two aunts taught me last year. A few days ago when I entered the palace, I kept saying 'I' in front of the Old Empress, and Aunt Ji nearly fainted. I was puzzled why her eye kept twitching. Later I realized she was trying to remind me with eye signals but didn't dare speak up."
"It's not a big deal to say 'I' a couple times in front of the Old Empress," Yan Rongshi said casually as he adjusted her jade hairpin, reinserting it into her thick black hair.
"After all, we're family, blood is thicker than water. When Yan Erlang speaks to the Old Empress, he also says 'I' all the time when he gets excited, and no one criticizes him for it."
"Besides, I'm with you today. If I tug on your hand, just pay attention to that."
As he spoke, Yan Rongshi indeed gently hooked her pinky finger under the cover of his wide sleeve.
Ying Xiaoman's heart was completely at ease, and she smiled with pursed lips.
She was wearing a thick coat today, with fluffy white rabbit fur trim on the cuffs that easily concealed things. Where no one could see, their fingers intertwined and swayed slightly.
The two walked side by side through the palace gates.
The Old Empress had a good New Year and was in high spirits. She ordered the windows opened and was carefully examining an old, faded light red swaddling cloth in the early spring light.
Ying Xiaoman recognized it from afar, her eyelid twitching as she stopped in her tracks.
"How did it end up in the Old Empress's hands?" She turned to glare at Yan Rongshi. They were already at the entrance to the inner hall, so she didn't dare speak loudly and asked in a whisper.
Yan Rongshi whispered back, "When the Old Empress summoned you to the palace, a court lady asked your mother about it. Your mother decided to give it to her."
"...My mother didn't tell me."
Yan Rongshi just smiled.
"Your mother was afraid you'd yell at her."
This son-in-law from the capital had a much better temper than Ying Xiaoman, the girl from Jingzhou. Her adoptive mother had entrusted her son-in-law to mention it to her daughter privately.
Government offices were closed during the New Year. Yan Rongshi had a good holiday, and his figure, which had become thin from overwork last summer and autumn, had regained its original slender and handsome form.
Sunlight filtered through the carved railings outside the corridor and into the hall entrance. The tall, crane-like gentleman stood beside her, his slightly upturned almond eyes shimmering like water rippling in the spring light. Now this affectionate spring water was rippling towards Ying Xiaoman.
Ying Xiaoman's heart skipped a beat.
On the day they returned to the capital in February, the Ying family was escorted into the imperial city by the imperial guards from just outside the boundary marker of the capital region.
The couple had only exchanged a glance from afar on the official road outside the city, and two days ago they had caught a second glimpse of each other across a palace gate.
The less they could openly be together, the more they missed each other.
As their faces drew closer and closer, Ying Xiaoman quickly raised her fluffy sleeve to block him. "Don't kiss me recklessly. We're in the Old Empress's palace."
Of course, Yan Rongshi knew this wasn't the time for intimacy.
He leaned in only to softly say, "Xiaoman looks so beautiful today."
"I'm always beautiful," Ying Xiaoman whispered back. "You just noticed?"
Yan Rongshi replied, "Usually you're like a clear water lotus, but today you've specially worn this pomegranate red brocade gown to enter the palace, like a blooming peony. With such a jewel before me, my soul is captivated and my eyes can't look away."
Ying Xiaoman smiled silently with pursed lips. What young lady doesn't like to hear praise from the man she fancies? She loved it.
She whispered, "You look handsome too, Seventh Brother. The vermilion official robe makes you look so spirited."
"Then I'll wear brighter colors more often in the future."
"Mm!"
Aunt Huang, who was leading the way ahead, coughed heavily. The young couple was whispering so heatedly, did they think the dozen or so palace servants standing outside the hall were all deaf?
"The Old Empress is waiting inside. This way please, Miss Ying."
After Ying Xiaoman entered the hall, the Old Empress clutched the swaddling cloth and discussed in low voices with the white-haired court lady beside her, sighing before summoning Ying Xiaoman closer.
The white-haired court lady was a trusted confidante who had accompanied the Old Empress since she entered the palace, and knew all the inside details. She reminisced about events from decades ago.
"Little Mei'er was about the same age when she ran away from home back then."
The Old Empress remarked wistfully, "I heard some rumors in the palace at the time. They said she was close to a merchant family's son. On one side was an aristocratic family, on the other was a famous wealthy merchant of the capital, but still far below in status. I even mentioned to you then that it would be difficult for things to work out, and Little Mei'er would inevitably have to cry a few times."
"This old servant remembers," said the white-haired court lady, who was also over seventy years old now.
"It's a pity about that merchant family's young man. His family was in the precious rose water business, and he tinkered with glass bottles for storing rose water at home. They say his craftsmanship was extraordinary. Ordinary glass bottles always had impurities, but the glass bottles he made were pure and flawless in color, just like the pure vase holding willow branches in Guanyin's hand. Even the Buddhist temples in the capital ordered many glass bottles from him to enshrine in their pagodas."
"That's right, the Sheng family with their big rose water business, they had quite a reputation back then. I still have a few bottles of their rose water stored away."
The Old Empress's expression was regretful. "It's a pity what happened later."
Ying Xiaoman sat beside the Old Empress, listening intently.
The Old Empress sighed softly a few times about the old matters, then stopped. Her gaze turned loving as she looked at the young lady in the prime of her youth before her.
"It was just idle chatter about past events, little one. Don't think too much of it. Let it go in one ear and out the other."
Ying Xiaoman nodded.
News of her birth parents, since it had been overheard by Yan Erlang, could not be kept from the Yan family of the Marquis of Xingning.
Because of her birth mother, the Old Empress had summoned her to the palace, and also summoned the Marquis of Xingning to meet her in person.
But the reasons could not be openly stated.
After all, the official story about Yan Mei, the suddenly disappeared young lady of the Yan family of the Marquis of Xingning, had remained the same all these years:
"She received enlightenment and became a nun to practice cultivation."
But since the Old Empress had summoned Ying Xiaoman to the palace to meet, and had specially summoned Yan Rongshi today as well, she clearly had plans in mind.
She called Yan Rongshi to come closer, examining him in the daylight for a few moments. The old lady smiled with joy, her expression just like an elder looking at her grand-niece's husband.
"I saw you often when you were little, coming to the palace with your grandfather for New Year's and festivals. It's been a few years, and now you've grown into a man."
The Old Empress remarked wistfully, "As it happens, you're the same age as Erlang. And you've grown up to be so refined and handsome. No wonder I often hear people comparing the two of you."
Yan Rongshi glanced at Ying Xiaoman sitting intimately by the Old Empress's side, and responded humbly, "We'll all be family from now on. The palm and back of the hand are both flesh, there's no need to make too many comparisons."
Those brief words delighted the Old Empress immensely.
"Well said! We'll all be family from now on."
She granted Yan Rongshi a seat as well, and seeing the young couple sitting close together, the Old Empress turned to smile towards the passageway to the inner hall:
"Did you hear that, Erlang? He's very magnanimous and won't hold your past disputes against you. Come out and greet each other, you'll all be family from now on."
Yan Erlang emerged from the back of the inner hall with an expressionless face.
The palace servants brought another small stool, and Yan Erlang also sat down across from the Empress Dowager.
Three small stools were lined up in front of her, with three young people seated on them. The gentleman was handsome, the young lady charming, and the Old Empress was filled with joy at the sight.
She said to Yan Erlang, "The other day I summoned your father to the palace and told him that this girl Xiaoman has caught my eye and has a connection to the Yan family. I intend to make her my goddaughter. Did your father tell you?"
Yan Erlang's father, the Marquis of Xingning, had immediately told his son about the Old Empress's intentions upon returning home from the palace that day.
But Yan Erlang was extremely reluctant in his heart.
True, he had planned something like this before. To have the Old Empress make Ying Xiaoman her goddaughter, so their families' status would match.
But now with the Yan family's little aunt in between, if the Old Empress made Xiaoman her goddaughter and arranged for Xiaoman to live in the Yan household...
Wouldn't that be like she was living in her maternal family waiting to be married off!
Yan Erlang had come, but he remained silent. He sat with his long legs bent before the Old Empress, casting a sidelong glance at the charming young lady beside him.
Xiaoman was wearing a pomegranate red gown today, with bright eyes and white teeth, truly beautiful!
So beautiful it made his heart itch.
He said nothing, and the Old Empress took his silence as agreement. She said happily to the young people seated in a row before her, "Now that everyone's here. Erlang, Xiaoman is now considered part of our Yan family, and you're her second older brother. In front of Xiaoman, you and Seventh Brother should turn swords into plowshares, clear up your past grievances, and be family from now on. What do you think?"
Yan Erlang: "..."
Yan Erlang's gaze finally tore away from Ying Xiaoman, sweeping over to Yan Rongshi calmly drinking tea beside her.
Who's family with him?
"There's nothing more to say," Yan Erlang coldly remarked, standing up to leave. "This nephew still has duties to attend to. I'll take my leave."
"Wait, wait, wait—" the Old Empress raised her hand to call him back.
Ying Xiaoman moved even quicker, getting up and taking a few steps to block him inside the hall.
"You dare to have such an attitude in front of an elder? Aren't you afraid of upsetting her?" Ying Xiaoman glared at him.
"If you were born in my family and dared to speak to elders like this, I'd knock your head off!"
Yan Erlang felt his anger surging rapidly.
She was all sweet smiles like honey towards the Seventh Prince, but turns to him with threats of 'knocking his head off'?!
"You're so used to listening to the elder, how come you didn't hear when the Old Empress just called me 'Second Brother'?" Yan Erlang crossed his arms and said with a curved lip, "Xiaoman, I'm eight years older than you. Is it proper to raise your hand against your own brother?"
Ying Xiaoman: "Pah! Who's your sister!"
Soft footsteps sounded from behind. Yan Rongshi had risen and followed, standing beside Ying Xiaoman. She calmly picked up the conversation:
"Erlang has a point. Xiaoman, after all, he is your Second Brother, and will be part of the Yan family's wedding escort next month when you get married. Scolding is one thing, but don't raise your hand against him."
Before she finished speaking, Yan Erlang exploded.
"Who's escorting who?! Explain yourself!"
Yan Rongshi patiently and clearly repeated.
"Naturally, Second Brother will be part of the wedding escort."
These seven short words made Ying Xiaoman bristle as well:
"I don't want him in my wedding escort!"
"Stop quarreling, stop quarreling," the Old Empress sighed from behind, trying to mediate.
"In front of me, you're all squabbling like fighting roosters. I'm afraid you'll come to blows once you leave the palace. Erlang, you've practiced martial arts since childhood and have the loudest voice. You're not allowed to bully these two."
Yan Erlang: ??
Old Empress, aren't you the Yan family's direct great-grandaunt? Among these three in front of you, who's bullying whom exactly?! Huh?!!